Season 5 Podcast Review
Geoff refelcts on the fifth season of Abandoned Albums.
Geoff Calhoun looks back on the diversity of Season Five:
I am reflecting on another wonderful season of Abandoned Albums. 12 episodes: each with its own unique flavor, stories and highlights.
Here is my "Guide to Season 5":
S5E1: Mario Quintero of Spotlights. RIYL Hum, Shiner, MBV, Deftones. Mario is cooler than the other side of the pillow as he shares stories about being signed to Mike Patton's record label, touring with your spouse and reflections on some of the gear that allows Spotlights to deliver its massive wall of sound. Toured with Failure as guitar tech. Toured with Quicksand as mixing engineer. Toured with his own band opening for Mr. Bungle. And their new album is mind blowing- check it out if you don't know them already.
S5E2: Marvin Etzioni of Lone Justice. This episode was so fun because Keith came at it more a fan of the band Lone Justice, and I approached it more a fan of Marvin's producer work. There are deep cut stories about U2, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Counting Crows and the Beatles that make this conversation fun.
S5E3: Pete Argyropoulous of Sons of Silver. Keith and I made a concerted effort to talk with more "up and coming" hidden gems, and Sons of Silver fit the bill. An up and coming LA band with members boasting terrific pedigree. Keith describes them as "a tried and true rock band that plugs into and unlocks a flood of emotions energized by unbridled guitars, fluid percussion and a distinct vocal howl." I drew mild parallels to the Black Keys.
S5E4: Carrie Clark and Jeff Copas of Sixteen Deluxe. This is a self-indulgent episode for me, as I absolutely obsessed over their album "Emits Showers of Sparks" and interviewed Sixteen Deluxe during my time at WVUA fm. Its LSD-drenched grunge psychedelia, and Jeff and Carrie were awesome revisiting the rapid rise of their band when everyone wanted the next Nirvana. Sixteen Deluxe was more interested in being the next My Bloody Valentine or Butthole Surfers, and the music was (and is) amaaaaazing. Love them. RIYL Sonic Youth, Swervedriver, Butthole surfers, late 90s grunge.
S5E5: Mo Troper. I had no exposure to Mo prior to Keith sending me links to his music. Mo contributed to our friend SW Lauden's power pop book, and we did a deep dive on his thoughtful look at "I Am the Cosmos" from Big Star. I find Mo's music to be adjacent to many of the 4 track lofi heroes of indie rock like GBV with a slant towards the more rocked out power pop groups. RIYL Big Star, Guided by Voices, Sloan, power pop.
S5E6: Del Barber. An Americana singer-songwriter from Canada- a bit of an enigma but as honest and true a tune crafter as you'll ever hear. Another new music discovery for me that really opened my eyes to a genre that is not always my go to. I'm a big time hockey fan, so we had to get some love in on his album with all hockey themed songs (Del Barber and the No Regretzkys). RIYL Greg Brown, Counting Crows, Americana acoustic folk rock.
S5E7: Venus Hum Annette Strean and Tony Miracle from Venus Hum. Another self indulgent episode- "I was there" when this band launched their storied career and was delighted to hear of the rise, fall and rise again from the ashes of this deeply under appreciated pop masterclass. Their new music soars and highlights the group sounding as fresh and relevant as ever. And like- the nicest people ever. Great stories about JJ Abrams, Blue Man Group and mixing their record "in Pink Floyd's boat on the Thames river." RIYL Bjork, Frou Frou, Sneaker Pimps, delightful electronic pop.
S5E8: Justin Kline of Dungeon of Skeletons. This episode is one of my "Whoa whoa whoa" stop me in my tracks conversations. Keith discovered Dungeon of Skeletons and we were lucky enough to score them for an episode. If you have any love for power pop, do yourself a favor and check out this episode. What is not to love about a power pop-obsessed dude from Tennessee making a killer record with his four kids? Its as charming an hour of podcasting as you'll ever hear. RIYL Fountains of Wayne, Teenage Fanclub, Tinted Windows, Superdrag.
S5E9: Filmmaker Gorman Bechard. Gorman made the best Archers of Loaf documentary ever. And is responsible for the definitive documentary on the Replacements. The conversation is deep, insightful and captivating. I was sadly absent, but Keith killed it on this one. I want Gorman to make a documentary about Ned's Atomic Dustbin.
S5E10: Kate Griffin and Sean Murphy of Above the Moon. Wow we had a lot of "new music discovery" episodes this season! Kate and Sean deliver edgy indie rock tinged with punk rock drive- RIYL Dance Hall Crashers (without the ska), Bettie Serveert, Cub, Bayside
S5E11: Maros Assis of Cool Sorcery. This was my favorite new music discovery of 2022. Cool Sorcery's song "Detonation" went off in my head like Oppenheimer in IMAX. So I sought him out! A shy but cool kid from Brasil, this conversation opened our eyes to "bedroom punk" and we discovered part of the reason Cool Sorcery sounds so fresh (hint- listen for the McDonald's reference in this episode.) RIYL Devo, the OhSeas, surf punk meets electro. Spazzy. Weird. Youthful. Fun.
S5E12: Anders Parker. The man is a national treasure. I've been a massive fan since his group Varnaline was making me feel all my emotions with their catalogue of intensely honest psychedelic indie rock. His solo career has ascended to even greater heights. We caught Anders in between tour dates with Steve Earle and Son Volt. Earle described him as "the best solo performer I've ever seen." Anders prefers "Folk rock blues noise" but we agree genres are a poor way to capture what he does. We dive deep on his whole catalogue- collaborations with Jay Farrar on their project Gob Iron, a truly unique Woody Guthrie tribute and his most recent album. RIYL Son Volt, Wilco, Old 97s. Timeless songs from the heart and music so lovely in quality I wonder why the rest of the world has not made him a gagillionaire.
Wow. Season 5 was amazing. Thank you to all of the artists who agreed to talk with us. Thank you to Keith for launching an amazing podcast. Thank you to anyone who listened- even if it was just one episode. And SPECIAL thank you to those who listen to every episode. Thank you to my wife for giving me the bandwidth to spend time researching and interviewing these fascinating musicians.
Check out the episodes here: https://pod.link/1600596605...