Unsung Podcast

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Episode 242 - No Other by Gene Clark (Side A)

This week we’re not doing The Gaslight Anthem due to some scheduling issues, so we’ve pivoted to Gene Clark (y’know, of The Byrd’s fame) and his fourth album No Other. When it was released this album was seen as a bit of a misfire for Gene. It didn’t land well critically, and given that it was turned in way over budget, it appeared that even the label, Asylum records, were keen to drop it in the dust bin of history. Indeed, they deleted the record from their catalogue less than two years after its release. Clark then played things for the rest of his solo career, diving right into Southern fried country rock for the majority of it. In the years afterwards, Clark lamented the lack of success and acclaim for the album and continued to state that it was his masterpiece. It wouldn’t see the light of day again until 1989, when a small German label reissued it around the time Clark’s solo career was on the wane. After his death (and perhaps because of it) interest in his work began to climb again through the 1990s. This led to two songs from No Other appearing on a compilation that was released soon after. Yet it wasn’t until the late 2010s when the album was finally released again, this time given the full 5.1 surround sounds, SACD/Blu ray treatment. This super deluxe treatment, remastered at Abbey Road and loaded with alternate studio version of the tracks, stands as true testament to his genius. He was indeed right all along – it is his best work. We go through his entire career in this episode, talking about the good and the bad. Join us next week as we dive into the album itself.

Episode 241 - The... Band That Emerged and is Better Known for the Later Success of its Members Than For Their Own Music Mixtape

We really need to come up with a much better name for this weird phenomenon. This week’s episode is inspired by a little known Glasgow(ish) band called Julia Thirteen, an act that gained some prominence in the mid-00s, signed to a major label then vanished into obscurity, only for all of their members to turn up in a bunch of different acts. In some cases, these were acts which were significantly more successful. We get into all of that in this episode. We use this band to talk about other artists that have had the same fortune. Examples include Big In Japan, Green River and….well, so fucking many more to be honest. We dive into a whole bunch of those in this episode whilst also wondering just what the hell to call this thing. Any thoughts? Let us know!

Episode 240 - Harmacy by Sebadoh (Side B)

Wasn’t the interview with Lou Barlow himself last week just lovely? If you missed it, you can check it out here. This week we’re going to unpack a lot of what he said in the interview, and give our own reactions to it. We recommend you checking that out before you start that episode. After that, we talk about Sebadoh’s extensive discography, from the lo-fi beginnings to this year’s Act Surprised. And then, of course, we get into Harmacy itself.

Episode 239 - Harmacy by Sebadoh w/ Lou Barlow (Side A)

Very rarely do the stars align on this podcast. Indeed, given Mark’s absence this week due a scheduling conflict, it’s possible that you could call this another case of the stars failing to align. However, we’re here to disprove that notion entirely because it just so happens that they week we chose to do Sebadoh, Lou Barlow himself just happened to be in town. Which means that our episode on the band’s sixth album. Harmacy, has now become a two parter where in part one, Chris chats to Lou Barlow about the band’s legacy. He reflects on his favourite Sebadoh records, regales us with a couple of stories about the band from over the years, and then goes fairly deep into the whole Harmacy (and to a latter extent, Bakesale) era. A thoroughly amiable chap all around, we’re grateful to Lou for taking some time out of his schedule (he had not long arrived in Glasgow and was due to play with Dinosaur Jr that very evening) and for giving us his true opinion on the album. He answered a few questions we had about the album, yet left us with a bunch more, which we’ll dive into in part two. Next week we’ll chat more fully about the band’s career and of course Harmacy itself.

Sound is a Pound - Episode 5

We loved the last Sound is a Pound so much that we thought we’d go away and record another. You know the drill - each of us goes into a Poundland and buys two albums for £1 then “gifts” them to the other two hosts. You’d be surprised at some of the gems you can find in a Poundland store, actually… But we opted not to buy any of those classics. Instead, we opted for something a little more…bland. Mark got A Place in the Sun by Lit, Chris got Gran Turismo by The Cardigans and Dave got Deserter’s Songs by Mercury Rev. In a sea of beige, these were the best we could come up with. The results are not quite what you expect though. Well, not in every case. Lit is sheer garbage, but Chris and Dave managed to find unexpected things in their albums. Things that they, well, liked is a strong word, but certainly appreciated in some way. We hope you enjoyed this excursion into Poundland albums. We’ll have another for you soon. Next week? Manic Pop Thrill by That Petrol Emotion and the return of our favourite Italian, Ferro. Our new record club starts shipping this week! You still have time to sign up where you can not only support our podcast, get access to bonus content and episodes a few days early, but also get a new hand picked album from a host of your choice every single month. Available in digital and vinyl variants. Sign up here: http://www.patreon.com/unsungpod

Episode 238 - Hard Core by Lil Kim (Side B)

As fascinating as Lil Kim’s career is, what is also fascinating is the way her music helped to bring female sexuality “into the mainstream”. In part two of our deep dive into her career, we look a little deeper at this aspect of her music, as well as the legacy this particular approach has left. Often touted as a feminist, Lil Kim recently said that feminism has always been something of a grey area for her because first and foremost, for her, it’s all about supporting women. It’s clear that her debut album was ground-breaking in how it brought female sexuality to the forefront of popular music in a way which was equally as lewd as what many male rappers were doing at the time. Is her music empowering? Or does she, by trying to outdo male rappers, become another one of the “boys”, by projecting an image of what men expect a woman to be? And what of her legacy? Many female rappers cite her as an influence, but are Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion actually talking the talk (by creating music that is thematically similar to hers) but failing to walk the walk (by making comments in interviews that demonstrate conservative views that are at odds with the message in their music)? We grapple with this and bring in some academic sources both from third parties and our own in house academic Marisa Androvik. We then talk about Hard Core as an album, Chris uncovers his dislike for any kind of humour in music, and we have some properly great nexuses too.

Episode 237 - Hard Core by Lil Kim (Side A)

We were supposed to do this episode months ago but we just couldn’t get someone with more than on X chromosone in the room. Once we asked our latest guest host Marisa if she fancied joining us though…well, it was GAME ON. So here we are. Doing an episode on the “controversial” Lil Kim. A protege of Biggie Smalls, she shocked the world with her debut album Hard Core then went onto craft quite the legacy for herself, challenging the norm in the male dominated hip-hop scene and, as some might argue, paving the way for women in rap to be sexual, and not be afraid to talk all sex. We didn’t plan for this to two into a two parter but there’s just so much to talk about when it comes to Kim. From the albums to the beefs, to the feminism and feminist critique of her work, it became clear that we’d need to dedicate some serious time to unpacking all of it. On this episode we chat mostly about her back catalogue and her life outside of the music. There’s plenty of banter and music clips too. We hope you enjoy!

Episode 236 - Diskin by The Drum

History is littered with bands that went “experimental” for one album and then broke up after said album. A lot of the time, fans and press assume that the reasons for that are simply because they couldn’t stand the rejection from their fans. That’s not always the case. Formed in 1989, The Drum also go by the name China Drum. If you were around in the 90s and read musi mags or followed the Britrock scene at the time, the name China Drum is probably familiar to you. At the end of the 90s, they decided to embrace new technology and new songwriting techniques (spurred by the addition of a fourth member). The result was a radically different sound, which led them to change their name to The Drum and release their third/debut album Diskin. It’s a very different prospect in comparison to the pop punk tinged alt-rock of their previous two albums - Goosefair and Self Made Maniac - but the result is, we feel, thrilling. On this episode we dive inside the band’s career and this album, complete with some first hand testimony from singer Adam Lee himself.

Episode 235 - These Songs for You, Live! by Donny Hathaway

If you were wondering why we had a small break last week and teased you with some of the sweet bonus content our subs get (which you can get access to by signing up at www.patreon.com/unsungpod - starting at £4 a month!) it’s because we needed a little time to get our research hats on. This week we’re bringing you another monster episode and the topic is Donny Hathaway. Donny Hathaway was a remarkable musician. That’s not in dispute. A prodigious talent from a very young age, he transitioned from gospel choir singer to a house songwriter for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records, whilst also working with a number of seminal soul and RnB artists in the late 60s. As the 70s rolled in, he started to explore a solo career and the rest is, as they say, history. From 1970 to 197 he delivered a lot of output in a very short space of time, before mental health issues began to take their toll, sending him off into creative silence for the remainder of the 1970s. As far as soul and RnB singers go, Donny is one of the most influential you’ve probably never heard of. A real musician’s musician, so to speak, he garnered a lengthy list of admirers in his lifetime, and an even greater list since his tragic passing in 1979. On this week’s episode Crag takes on a deep dive into all of his albums before we discuss his posthumous live collection Songs for You, Live! And get to the bottom of whether or not his truly unsung.

Episode 234 - Head to Head: The Blackened Air vs You Follow Me by Nina Nastasia (Side B)

It got pretty heavy last week, and whilst we’re not apologising for covering such weighty topics, we do understand that some levity is required. In the form of a mighty two hour opus about Nina Nastasia’s discography. Yes, you read that right - this episode is two hours long. It is perhaps our longest single episode to date. Even though Nastasia has a smaller discography than many of the artists we’ve covered in the past, both Chris and Vicki had a lot to say about her work, so we just let the conversation flow. We cover her entire career here, before doing deep dives on The Blackened Air and You Follow Me. There’s also a fair amount of hilarity too, which we absolutely won’t spoil for you, but suffice to say it really does address the balance after the sombre mood of last week’s episode. What do you folks think? Is The Blackened Air her best record? Or is it You Follow Me? Or is it ANOTHER OPTION? Let us know!

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