It somehow took us 96 episodes for Discord & Rhyme’s first movie soundtrack, so we’re rectifying this with possibly the greatest movie soundtrack of all time. In 1972, Curtis Mayfield had just capped off a career writing legendary civil rights anthems with the Impressions and defining the sound of Chicago soul by launching what would prove to be an equally legendary solo career. For his soundtrack to the classic blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield served as both the film’s Greek chorus and its conscience, subtly critiquing the film as a “cocaine infomercial” while acknowledging that this was the only life path available to its protagonists. And it’s a truly musically groundbreaking work, paving the way for both the musical language and verbal iconography of the hip-hop genre. Rich will be your pusherman this week, so join him as our hosts run wild and give a stellar soundtrack all of their love.
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Things get weird again at Discord and Rhyme as we dig into Mr. Bungle’s 1999 genre-defying opus California. After the demise of his day job with Faith No More, singer Mike Patton returned to his more esoteric side hustle to record a collection of songs that fuse Beach Boys pop, death metal, lounge music, and Eastern-European influences together as if they’re natural bedfellows. Join us as we discuss how the band managed to synthesize all of these disparate influences into what is easily their most cohesive and accessible album.
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After going more than a full calendar year without covering a Moody Blues album, Discord & Rhyme has reverted to its truest self with this episode on A Question of Balance, the 1970 album that the band created after realizing they needed to start recording more songs they could actually play live. Join us as we discuss the band’s most democratic and often weirdest album, one where the band tried to figure out how to make the transition from the 60s to the 70s and tried to make sense of all of the world’s problems simultaneously. They didn’t completely succeed with either of these tasks, but they did a fine job nonetheless with both, and this made for an interesting album that we had a fun time talking about.
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Swedish pop band ABBA has become a beloved cultural institution in the four decades since they disbanded, but in a world of ABBA Gold and "Mamma Mia!," the band is typically remembered in terms of individual songs more than in terms of their albums. John, however, got into them primarily through their albums, and for this episode, John lead a discussion (along with Rich, Amanda, and Phil) on ABBA: The Album (aka The Album), the 1977 album by ABBA that in many ways is the most album album that ABBA ever released in a string of terrific albums. Take a chance on the ABBA album, ABBA: The Album, and learn why the band always thought of itself much less as a singles band and much more as an albums band. If you've never heard "Eagle" or "I'm a Marionette," then you have a hole in your soul.
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Can’s music is part of the DNA of an incredible variety of music - from indie rock, to new wave, to electronica, to ambient, and most points in between. Despite this, Can are not well known outside of music geeks like the Discord and Rhyme crew. They have long been one of Phil’s very favorite bands, though, and he’s here to talk about perhaps the band’s greatest album, 1971’s Tago Mago, along with John and Mike. Together, they’ll demonstrate that while the voyage into the world of Can can be a somewhat difficult trip, it’s a trip very much worth taking.
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Before Neil Finn was the New Lindsay Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, and after he labored in the shadow of his brother Tim in Split Enz, he was the singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band Crowded House. In 1985, Finn, drummer Paul Hester, and bassist Nick Seymour recorded Crowded House's debut album with producer Mitchell Froom, featuring the hits “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong.” Ben, Amanda, and Rich talk about this collection of punchy, melodic, and thought-provoking anthems that broke a band of New Zealanders and Australians big in America.
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In 1994, the charts were dominated by the likes of Mariah Carey, Beck, Gin Blossoms, Ace of Base, and Pearl Jam - and then out of left field came elder statesman Tom Petty with a new album that was heartfelt, thoughtful, and beautiful, but could still rock your face off if it wanted to. Petty may have already released his greatest hits album, but Wildflowers showed that he was nowhere near done writing excellent songs. In fact, there were so many that several had to be cut in order to fit it all onto one album. As a result, Wildflowers is kind of a mess - but it’s an emotional, charming, and very interesting mess that we had a great time talking about. Tonight we ride.
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Eins, zwei, drei, vier! This week, Producer Mike brings our winter of electronic music to a close with a band that didn’t just pioneer electronic music – they basically wrote the source code. Kraftwerk formed in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1969 and started messing around with basically anything with wires that made a funny noise. They weren’t the first band to experiment with electronic music, but they infused it with a quirky, creative sense of humanity that transcended language and resonated with audiences worldwide. None of the members of Kraftwerk owned a computer when they recorded their 1981 album Computer World, but the album is shockingly prescient, anticipating the myriad ways computers have wormed their way into every aspect of daily life, and it’s also among their most influential, echoing through genres like hip-hop, electro, and basically any music with an electronic pulse. So get ready to beam yourself into the future, because Discord & Rhyme is going fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf der Autobahn.
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We used to think that the day would never come, but Discord & Rhyme has reached a new milestone: it’s our first singles compilation! New Order issued Substance in an effort to bail out Factory Records, whose financial mismanagement is the stuff of legend. But that also meant that the label was willing to spend money on cool new equipment for the band, which meant that they were always one step ahead of the game technologically, leading an unintentional revolution in electronic dance music. Substance spans the years 1981–1987, during which the band rose from the ashes of Joy Division, issued the groundbreaking 12-inch single “Blue Monday,” and ascended to arena stardom with appearances on major soundtracks such as Pretty in Pink and hits such as “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “True Faith.” They’re one of Rich’s very favorite bands, so join us as he leads Mike and John on the journey from Manchester to Madchester.
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Renaissance formed in 1969 as the classical-folk-rock brainchild of two former Yardbirds, turned over its entire lineup by its third album, and spent the bulk of the 1970s churning out a brand of prog rock that brought them a devoted cult following but nothing like the commercial success of peers like Yes, Genesis, or ELP. This cult following, however, includes John, who has loved their 1973 album Ashes are Burning for over 20 years and successfully roped Amanda, Mike, and Phil into letting him wax rhapsodic about it and about the angelic vocal gifts of Annie Haslam. Join us as we cover an album and band that may borrow extensively from other prog rock bands (when they’re not borrowing from classical composers of all eras) but that still carved out its own unique identity and created some of John’s very favorite music.
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