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Step back in time to the last great decade of rock music: the 1990s, with Dig Me Out. We’ve been producing weekly episodes for over 12 years, bringing you in-depth album reviews, insider interviews, and cultural discussions that provide a comprehensive look at the music of the time. Our community of passionate listeners chooses the artists, albums, and topics we feature, making it a collaborative experience for all. Join us as we celebrate the unparalleled creativity and cultural significance of the music of the 90s - subscribe now!
Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
Major label debuts for any artist can be a double-edged sword. Recording a group of songs you've had years to craft means they've spent plenty of time in the woodshed, but the pressure to produce a hit, especially in the back half of the 90s, means sometimes the obvious singles get the most attention in the studio and post-production. That is the semi-issue with Tracy Bonham's 1996 freshman release The Burdens of Being Upright. Chock full of interesting, catchy tunes like the hit single "Mother Mother," the bouncy "The One," the punky "Bulldog," and others helps the record fly by in entertaining fashion. As high as the highs are, there are no low lows, just some disappointing valleys that sound like the first draft of what could have been much more.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Navy Bean
16:28 - Mother Mother
22:45 - Tell It To The Sky
32:29 - Sharks Can't Sleep
Outro - The One
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Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Before changing their name to Diffuser and scoring a couple of hits in the early 00s, the long island quartet Flu Thirteen banged out jagged post-hardcore riffs and rhythms on par with bands of the time. Getting producer J. Robbins, whose work in the 90s on albums by Braid, Texas Is The Reason, The Promise Ring, and many more helped define the late 90s indie rock sound, was a perfect match to help refine and define the band's sound. On their 1998 album In The Foul Key of V, the band unleashes a steady stream of dynamic arrangements, shifting between blazing dissonance and subdued restraint that occasionally recalls the valleys of Sunny Day Real Estate.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Romeo-Core
12:30 - Stale
17:41 - The Ghost of the Organ Player at the Hockey Coliseum
20:45 - Accessing the Know-How
26:10 -Jerome Does a Dance in Hi-Fidelity
Outro - My Beijing Hot Rod
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Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
"Sell-out" was a phrase tossed around in the 1990s whenever an indie or small-label band jumped to a major record label. Among the most surprising were Bad Religion because their guitarist Brett Gurewitz owned the label they had released their first seven albums on Epitaph Records. While sell-outs were accused of trading integrity for money, Bad Religion's eighth album "Stranger Than Fiction" makes the case that not only was the jump a good move, but helped kick-start the pop-punk takeover of 1994 along with Green Day and The Offspring, who released million-selling albums the same year in "Dookie" and "Smash," respectively. Thanks to a re-recording of "21st Century (Digital Boy)," a song the band was unhappy with the previous studio version, they had a proper radio and MTV single to expose the suburban masses around the United States to a headier lyrical approach backed by sugar-sweet harmonies.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Incomplete
25:23 - 21st Century (Digital Boy)
30:46 - Stranger Than Fiction
38:39 - Infected
Outro - The Handshake
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Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Incorrectly tagged as Rage Against The Machine followers (they actually existed before Rage), downset. offer a glimpse into the Los Angeles hardcore and metal scene as it transitioned from the 80s to the 90s. Like Rage, downset. combined big guitar riffs with social and political commentary on their self-titled 1994 debut, but traded the guitar histrionics of Tom Morello for a more streamlined approach. The result is a prime example of the unique 90s rock subgenre of rap rock, which would later evolve into nu-metal with the emergence of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, who brought the volume without the content.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Downset
18:54 - Ritual
22:18 - Anger
30:22 - My American Prayer
Outro - About To Blast
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Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
Tuesday Aug 29, 2023
We don't think of many bands coming out of the UK in the early nineties that could fit nicely on a bill with The Jesus Lizard or Mudhoney, but the 1991 album Tantrum by UK band Milk makes the case that noise rock wasn't just an American phenomenon coming out of hardcore. Frenetic rhythms and dissonant guitars shine on the record, covering for a solid but unremarkable vocal performance. The band is at its best when the volume and intensity quickly shift into quasi-blues riffs and thrash metal shredding via Neil Young.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Is That It?
13:08 - Claws
19:46 - Hot Seat
28:36 - Book One, Page One
Outro - Billy and Bobby
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Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
The slowcore sound can be simplified down to tempo and a minimalist approach, but like every genre or subgenre of rock music, there are always those pushing the boundaries and reinventing. On the 1996 album Three Sheets To The Wind by Idaho, the boundary pushing comes as a pair of straight-up rock songs that wouldn't sound out place on a Dinosaur Jr. or Heatmiser album. From there, the band adds jazzy and soulful elements - brushed drums here, an electric piano there - paired with Jeff Martin's evocative vocal that falls somewhere between the folky sadcore of American Music Club's Mark Eitzel and the more experimental post-rock of Low's Alan Sparhawk.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - If You Dare
18:18 - A Sound Awake
23:03 - Shame
30:08 - Alive Again
34:00 - Pomegranate Bleeding
Outro - Catapult
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Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Ever wonder what it would sound like if Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, famous for producing the likes of Janet Jackson and Boyz II Men, got behind the board of a three-piece rock band? And what if that band drew influence from bands like Queen, Van Halen, and Faith No More? You might end up with the 1992 self-titled (and lone) album from T-Ride, a record that sounds simultaneously of the time and completely out of place during the grunge explosion. Though tagged as "heavy metal," even a cursory listen informs the listener that there is much more going on, from the deranged power-pop of "Luxury Cruiser" to the industrial dance of "Hit Squad." At just thirty-four minutes long, the band finds a sweet spot of not overstaying their welcome but loading up each song with sonic gold nuggets that demand multiple listens.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Luxury Cruiser
15:28 - Hit Squad
25:09 - I Hunger
31:40 - Fire It Up
Outro - Zombies From Hell
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Monday Aug 07, 2023
Monday Aug 07, 2023
An established band changing lead singers is always a tricky proposition. With the departure of founding member, singer, and bassist Ian Masters following their second album In Ribbons due to a lack of interest in touring, Pale Saints could have called it quits. Instead, guitarist and backing vocalist Meriel Barham stepped into the fire, having briefly filled the same spot in Lush well before the band established themselves. The result draws obvious comparisons to Barham's former band, but Pale Saints have a few more tricks of their sleeves on their third album Slow Buildings. Whether it is long, slow burn tracks like "Henry" or "Suggestion," or three-minute rockers like "Under Your Nose" or "Angel (Will You Be My)," the band gels around the ethereal voice of Barham.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Angel (Will You Be My)
18:59 - Under Your Nose
27:53 - King Fade
33:19 - Little Friend
Outro - Henry
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Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
After splitting from Depeche Mode in 1995, Alan Wilder focused his full attention on Recoil, his side-project going back to the mid-1980s. In 1997, the same year DM released "Ultra," Wilder released the fourth Recoil studio album, "Unsound Methods." Free to explore the electronic soundscape, Wilder enlisted several vocalists to tackle the electronic/trip-hop material, including Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb and NYC spoken word artist Maggie Estep. The result is both of the time and ahead of its time, fitting in nicely with the mid-90s trip-hop sounds of Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps, and Portishead, while also foreshadowing the more experimental and cinematic sounds of James Lavelle's Unkle.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Stalker
16:19 - Incubus
29:11 - Control Freak
36:14 - Drifting
Outro - Missing Piece
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Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Skirting the edges of stardom, Chris Whitley passed away far too young at 45, but left a catalog of albums more influential than they were ever popular. A wide array of artists, from John Mayer to Joe Bonamassa have lauded Whitley's playing and songwriting, so we're diving into this 1995 sophomore album Din of Ecstasy. Whereas his debut was a slickly produced blues rock album that produced a Top 40 Mainstream Rock chart hit, the follow-up sounds more in line with the happenings of the decade. The big fuzz of Dinosaur Jr. appears on "Din," while a guitar solo on "God Thing" conjures images of Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, as Whitley embraces complex guitar riffs and atmospheric production that sound both of the time and timeless. The only hitch? The album is a slow burn, and a checked-out, background noise listen won't do it justice.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Din
22:21 - God Thing
40:06 - Know
45:20 - Some Candy Talking
59:02 - Never
Outro - Narcotic Prayer
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.