Crash Chords Podcast

To inaugurate “Season 2″ of Crash Chords Podcast, we dive into something a little more complex: The Envisage Conundrum by the Welsh Prog trio, Godsticks. Then we talk a bit about the developing interactive capabilities of music, how marketable they are, and whether or not they’ll be a positive move for the industry. Continue reading

Well, we’ve made it! Fifty episodes of previews, reviews, interviews, and issues. After covering such a variety of styles and subjects, we’ve decided to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Music is, after all, a single art form—a favorite of ours, as you might imagine—which is why we feel the need to have a little intervention. We shine the spotlight on music and objectively compare it against all the other arts, humanities, and disciplines out there. What do they share? Where do they differ? Are any of them more versatile? These questions and more get hashed out on this special edition of Crash Chords Podcast. Continue reading

At the cusp of our one-year anniversary, this week’s episode looks toward the future by first glancing at the past. We review the recent Daft Punk LP, Random Access Memories, an original work that chronicles Electronica through the decades. From there, we jump to a heavy conjecture-driven debate on the future of mainstream music (as once imagined, and as we perceive it today). We explore how paragon shifts hinge on cultural phenomena, such as technology, invention, adaptation, and revolution. Continue reading

This week we're joined by the indomitable Gary Oransky and Nate Rider (a.k.a. Gary_O & JediN8) from the Average Intelligence Podcast. Apart from taking our weekly digressions to even scarier frontiers, they also deliver us our first music-comedy album, "Weird Al" Yankovic's biting answer to the 1990s, Running with Scissors. Afterwards, Gary and Nate discuss their panoptical role on Average Intelligence as the self-described "bastard children of Pop Culture and Momma Media." And so, what better way to wrap up a pop culture discussion than to sit back and gab about film sequels! Continue reading

This week we venture into pure Hip-Hop territory with an especially dense review for an especially dense album: The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Afterwards, we touch upon what it means to be an independent label, and then play fisticuffs with the ineffable vs. the naked truth. Continue reading

This week, prepare to unleash your inner goth for a review of Tears on Tape by the Finnish “Love Metal” band, HIM. Then, listen in while we wrestle the topic of overseas music culture and the far-reaching impacts of globalization. Continue reading

Today we’re delighted to welcome another charming burlesque artist, the creative and talented Kita St. Cyr, who presents us with our album of the week: Tabu! Volume 1, a 1960s compilation of Exotica, Rockabilly, Blues, and you name it! We also receive a fascinating lesson on Exotica as a genre, and of course get the inside scoop on Kita and her art. Continue reading

Today’s rowdy gathering of antics and philosophy is brought to you by a local Brooklyn talent and treasure, self-described “Celt-ish” cover band, The Waysties. Join us as we interview them on everything from the band’s origins to their influences, side-projects, hobbies, interests, and much more! We also dive into a big discussion on Steampunk as a movement and a form of expressionism. To top it all off, the band treats us to some live performances, so stay on your toes! Continue reading

This week we mellow out to the crooners of the Great Lakes, Low, and review their tenth studio album, The Invisible Way. Don’t have the album? We got you covered — follow along with our new Spotify widget! Then stick around for a whopper of a debate on the influential power of art, exploring music’s sociopolitical relationship with prejudice, conscience, and choice. Continue reading

This week we’re excited to be reviewing Paramore’s latest self-titled LP, their fourth studio album and first full-length since 2009, Paramore. We also send out a head-nod to Adam Schartoff with Filmwax Radio and then take some time out to speculate on Paramore’s discographical future. Continue reading

This week, we review OneRepublic’s third studio album, Native, followed by an overview of common lyrical formats, implementation, and lyrics’ capacity to strike a bigger chord than the chords that support them. Continue reading

This week we dive into last year’s LP, Swing Lo Magellan, by Dirty Projectors. Then we preface the topic of “interpretation” by hashing out the distinctions between artists’ music and their visual affectations. Continue reading

This week is full of throwbacks and smokestacks as we get down to the brassiest of tacks with the steampunk stylings of Steam Powered Giraffe, and their latest full-length, The 2¢ Show. Then we talk a little about music’s therapeutic capabilities, while gauging the polar extremes of musical receptivity. Continue reading

As the year presses on, we finally get around to reviewing our first 2013 release, the—wait for it—SIXTEENTH studio album by They Might Be Giants, called Nanobots. Join us for a peek at what they’ve been up to. From there, we begin to speculate on the next big “paradigm shift” for music (if indeed it’s coming or if it’s right around the bend). Continue reading

This week we have quite the mixed bag. For starters, we’re presenting our first-ever “NO pick” review, for Green Day’s third and final installment of their trilogy, ¡Tré! Then we talk a little about the staying power of music on things such as breakups, recoveries, and fond memories — followed by a fun tangent on hipsterism! Continue reading

It's finally time to tackle our first EP, an original work by Walk off the Earth called R.E.V.O., which we discuss alongside a selection of self-released covers. This rare combo-review comes courtesy of our guest, the enterprising thespian known as "Joe Rude" of The Kings of Karaoke and of The Society of American Fight Directors.  He tells us a bit about Karaoke as a business, and also as a haven for quelling inhibitions, one show at a time. Stick around at the end for a treat performance! Continue reading

Welcome, welcome… or should I say, “thank ya, thank ya,” because this week we’re traveling to the bygone days of Lawrence Welk with his 1960s compilation album, The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk. This review is brought to us by today’s guest, the lovely Hazel Honeysuckle, a talented NYC-based burlesque performer who enlightens us with her unique perspective on music as an on-stage tool, as well as a brief history of burlesque and its resurgence as a popular performance art. Continue reading

This week we dive into a review of Break It Yourself by Andrew Bird. Then we talk a bit about our emotional connections with music, what we seek to gain, and the implications we ascribe to certain styles and genres. Continue reading

This week, we review Sublime Currency by Abandoned Pools, and then we press on with last week’s discussion of intelligence vs. creativity. Continue reading

This week, our review is Take the Crown by Robbie Williams, followed by an intense discussion on intelligence vs. creativity. Continue reading