1.3M
Downloads
814
Episodes
J and Tim dig into the grunge, alt-rock, and indie albums that changed everything—the forgotten classics, the underappreciated masterpieces, and the legends worth hearing again. One album at a time. Let’s dig it out.
Episodes
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Once the alternative gold rush hit for bands in the 90s, one song could make or break an album. But for every Sex And Candy, Cumbersome or Possum Kingdom, hundreds of other bands failed to make the Top 40 for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the music. Take Vancouver, Canada's Odds, whose third album Good Weird Feeling is a smart combination of alternative guitar rock powered by two strong singers with a knack for lyrical twists. The two obvious singles, "Eat My Brain" and "Truth Untold" never found a home on American mainstream radio, and like so many of their northern counterparts, the band remains almost entirely unknown in the lower forty-eight.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Satisfied
17:41 - Oh Sorrow Oh Shame
20:55 - Break The Bed
24:56 - Truth Untold
31:07 - I Would Be Your Man
Outro - Eat My Brain
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
Though not as lauded as grunge, Brit-pop, the rise of pop-punk or other 90s-centric genres, electronic music evolved throughout the decade as well thanks to subtler sounds coming out of the UK. While electronica and trip-hop each had their moments in the mainstream spotlight, groups like the brother-duo Boards of Canada from Scotland slid under the radar with slightly different takes, theirs being a more chill, downtempo approach utilizing vintage synths and drum machines, tape loops and field recordings. Music Has The Right To Children, their 1998 debut after several well-regarded singles and EPs, takes full advantage of the tools, creating atmospheric soundscapes backed by drum and bass loops that lived-in rather than dialed-up, giving the record a timeless element that so many of their contemporaries failed to achieve.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Telephasic Workshop
18:06 - Roygbiv
20:48 - Turquoise Hexagon Sun
27:09 - Aquarius
Outro - Open The Light
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
Though the mid-to-late nights are more regarded for the commercial rise of electronic music, specifically in the form of UK electronica from the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and others, the mainstream interest in high octane beats and synth-over-guitar was nothing new. As the 80s transitioned to the 90s, bands like Depeche Mode and New Order were firmly established global phenomenons, while up-and-comers like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails were bringing industrial sounds to the mainstream on MTV. Nitzer Ebb began in 1982 and established themselves throughout the decade as an Electronic Body Music (EBM) pillar, but when 90s arrives the band pivoted to a more pop sound, and on 1991's Ebbhead, the band fully embraced pop structure and sound, crafting catchy hooks at trimmed down lengths. But that evolution, while moderately successful in getting the band on mainstream rock radio, didn't necessarily sit well with the fans who discovered the band during their EBM period.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Reasons
12:52 - I Give To You
15:09 - Lakeside Drive
18:57 - Godhead
28:00 - Family Man
Outro - Sugar Sweet
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 24, 2020
Tuesday Mar 24, 2020
As we have learned in our Sophomore Slump Revisited roundtable series, there are many factors and circumstances that can sink a band's second album, especially when coming off a hit single. In the case of Dada and their 1994 release American Highway Flower, the lack of an obvious radio single to match Dizz Knee Land off their debut is a fair consideration. Rather than repeat a formula, the skilled trio of singer-guitarist Michael Gurley, singer-bassist Joie Calio and drummer Phil Leavitt pushed the band in a variety of directions while maintaining a more consistent sound than their first release. But pushing the envelope doesn't always result in a match with the cultural trends, and while the band flexes their muscle with harmonious power-pop and '60s psychedelic flourishes while unafraid to get extra noisy or delicately hushed. They may not have scored a Top 5 single or moved a million units with American Highway Flower, but that doesn't mean this sophomore release qualifies as a slump.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - All I Am
13:11 - Feet To The Sun
17:22 - Feel Me Don't You
23:00 - Real Soon
30:35 - S.F. Bar '63
Outro - Pretty Girls Make Graves
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 17, 2020
Tuesday Mar 17, 2020
Edward James "Ed" Hamell, better know as Hamell On Trial, has been writing, recording, and touring for over thirty years, bouncing from major labels to minor labels to his own, with either a studio or live album out almost every other year. While production values have shifted, the fiery anti-folk and spoken word approach has remained constant, and his 1999 album is definitely on the lower end of the recording quality spectrum. That doesn't impact the performances or songs, as Hamell On Trial makes stunning use of his Gibson acoustic guitar, plucking out staccato rhythms on one track before leading a dirty blues romp on the next. All of it adds up to a uniquely singular performance and vision, one that can definitely split opinions on what worked and didn't work.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Hamell's Ramble
17:56 - I'm Gonna Watch You Sleep
24:07 - The Lottery
28:10 - Nancy's Got a New Boyfriend
35:18 - When Bobby Comes Down
46:30 - Shout Outs
Outro - Bill Hicks
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
Sunny Day Real Estate has famously been a band of influence but impermanence, with multiple break-ups and rumors of an unfinished album in the can for over a decade. On their second release, the 1995 self-titled or Pink Album or LP2, vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Jeremy Enigk left unfinished vocals as placeholders as the band splintered. What it creates is something unique, while words or phrases pop in occasion, the majority of the record utilizes the vocals as an instrument in a way that a band like My Bloody Valentine features vocalist Bilinda Butcher. But what makes SDRE special is the contributions from all four members - who each get their moment to shine in a way that recalls 1970s progressive rock without overly-long world-building and self-indulgence.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Red Elephant
16:38 - Rodeo Jones
22:45 - 5/4
30:36 - 8
Outro - J'Nuh
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
So many bands got signed to major labels in the 1990s it could keep our podcast going well into the 22nd century. Rarely did artists get a second go-around as a new act, as was the case with vocalist Blake Smith and bassist Mike Willison after the breakup of their band Fig Dish. After recruiting a new guitarist and drummer, they formed Caviar and in 2000 released their self-titled debut on Island Records. While Smith's catchy melodies are still present, the band takes advantage of their second major-label chance by adding a variety of samples, including a bossa nova intro on the single "Tangerine Speedo." The band tries to walk a thin line between the quirky pop sounds of Sugar Ray, Smashmouth or Cake, the more aggressive pop-punk guitar of bands like Blink-182 or Weezer.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Tangerine Speedo
19:42 - OK Nightmare
22:09 - I Am The Monument
26:13 - Goldmine
30:39 - Looked So Hard I Nearly Wrecked My Eyes
Outro - Sugarless
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Feb 25, 2020
Tuesday Feb 25, 2020
Lots of bands were successful in the 90s, but few reached the decade long highs and success that R.E.M. managed while constantly shifting their sound. Perhaps only U2 matched the same levels of critical acclaim and pushback, album sales and slumps, turmoil and triumph of R.E.M., conquering not only their home countries but stadiums around the globe. In our past "In The 90s" episodes, we've looked back at bands that first gained success and notoriety in the 1980s and traced their path through the alternative landscape of the 1990s, but it could be said that R.E.M. was leading the charge of the underground into the mainstream long before anyone else. As they entered the 90s, they were no longer college radio upstarts, but MTV and commercial radio regulars who would shoot through the stratosphere with "Losing My Religion" of 1991's Out Of Time. The rest of the decade would see them tackle everything from fuzzed-out 1970s glam rock to minimalist programmed beats to Beach Boys-esque harmonies. In other words, they evolved, but in doing so, did they lose the sound that made them stand out in the first place? We revisit the decade with a group of knowledgable R.E.M. fans who walk us through an often exciting and occasionally perplexing decade for the band.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro Medley - Losing My Religion/Everybody Hurts/What's The Frequency, Kenneth?/Bittersweet Me/Daysleeper
18:15 - Country Feedback from Out Of Time
28:45 - Drive from Automatic For The People
42:36 - Star 69 from Monster
55:02 - The Wake Up Bomb from New Adventures In Hi-Fi
1:09:53 - At My Most Beautiful
Outro - Man On The Moon from Automatic For The People
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Among the many signings by the legendary Sub Pop label in the 1980s and 1990s, a few bands get tagged with "the first" label. The Afghan Whigs were the first band from outside region to be signed to the label, and in the case of this week's episode, The Walkabouts were the first country (or folk, or Americana, or alt-country) band to be signed to the label. Core members vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist/songwriter Chris Eckman started playing together in 1984, and by the time of their sixth album Satisfied Mind released in 1993, the band had built up quite a following and list of friends in the area. Guests include Mark Lanegan of the Screaming Trees, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Ivan Kral of the Patti Smith Band, who all manage to blend into this uniquely timeless sound channeling some expected artists (The Carter Family, Gene Clark, Charlie Rich) and some more unexpected choices (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, John Cale, Patti Smith) that all sound seamless together.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Satisfied Mind
15:09 - Free Money
20:51 - Buffalo Ballet
23:53 - Feel Like Going Home
28:44 - Dear Darling
Outro - Loom Of The Land
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Feb 11, 2020
Tuesday Feb 11, 2020
You may ask yourself, why is a 90s-centric podcast revisiting an album from 2000? Well, we are nothing without our listeners, and if they suggest and then vote for an album that came out in 2000, but was from a band that got their start and had several releases in the 90s, who are we to argue. And it turns out revisiting Idlewild's 2000 album 100 Broken Windows gave us an excellent opportunity to look back upon the decade and see how its various sounds and genres were interpreted by younger artists. In the case of Idlewild, with veteran producers Dave Eringa and Bob Weston behind the board for the young band meant channeling the volume and chaos of their earlier releases into a weapon to be deployed skillfully, giving the band a blistering edge and allowing vocalist Roddy Woomble the opportunity to craft unique earworm melodies. It may not make the top 100 albums of the decade or the year, but there's a case to be made for 100 Broken Windows as one of the finest distillations of everything that went right musically in the 90s.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Little Discourage
19:45 - Idea Track
24:26 - Roseability
29:52 - Mistake Pageant
Outro - These Wooden Ideas
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.