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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 Jul 09, 2019
Tuesday Jul 09, 2019
By the end of the 90s, a number of bands had penetrated the mainstream with ambitious, layered albums. Like with OK Computer, The Soft Bulletin, Deserter's Songs and Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, dEUS took a turn on their third album, 1999's The Ideal Crash. Dialing down the Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart influences and incorporating contemporary sounds from trip-hop, electronica and alternative rock slot The Ideal Crash nicely alongside the aforementioned, even managing to find spots for banjos and theremins. But like so many bands utilizing the compact disc format, too much of a good thing can be a negative, as the band often turns what could be a three minute gem into five-plus minutes.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Put The Freaks Up Front
11:44 - Instant Street
16:03 - The Ideal Crash
27:33 - Everybody's Weird
Outro - Magdalena
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Thursday Jul 04, 2019
Thursday Jul 04, 2019
If there is a new episode of Dig Me Out in your feed on a Thursday, that can only mean one thing - we sharing with you a preview of our latest Dig Me Out '80s episodes. With the help our Patreon Board of Directors and Steering Committee tiers, we're revisiting another album from the 1980s based on suggestions and votes of our patrons. This month we're checking out the 1983 album Flick Of The Switch by AC/DC. Join the DMO Union for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus content like this episode, vote in our album review polls, get exclusive merchandise and more!
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Jul 02, 2019
Tuesday Jul 02, 2019
We're kicking off a new roundtable series with Slim Moon and Kill Rock Stars, who shares with the history of the Olympia, Washington (now Portland, Oregon) independent label that has been home to an amazing roster of musicians and bands, including Sleater-Kinney, Unwound, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, The Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Huggy Bear, Mary Lou Lord, Gossip, Deerhoof and many more. We discuss how the label got started, leaning on K Records founder Calvin Johnson for advice, the riotgrrl scene and bands in Olympia, how bands were discovered, the impact of success with Elliott Smith and the importance of legacy catalogs, the end of the decade digital music revolution, and so much more.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - New Energy by Unwound
3:45 - Words and Guitar by Sleater-Kinney
1:07:45 - Between The Bars by Elliott Smith
Outro - I Could Have Loved You by The Peechees
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Tuesday Jun 25, 2019
Tuesday Jun 25, 2019
In 1991, Material Issue released their long-in-the-works debut album International Pop Overthrow. Along with bands and artists like Jellyfish, Matthew Sweet, The Posies, Redd Kross, major labels were taking chances on the hard-to-pin-down genre known as Power Pop, and the future looked bright until the steamroller known as Nirvana arrived in the fall. Rather than scoop up the next Big Star or Cheap Trick influenced outfit, the next Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains were the priority, and Beatles, Byrds and Badfinger devotees rarely found their favorite bands on mainstream radio or MTV. In retrospect, that might be what makes an album like IPO so listenable after so many years.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Valerie Loves Me
13:12 - Diane
18:02 - This Far Before
22:27 - This Letter
Outro - Li'l Christine
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Tuesday Jun 18, 2019
Tuesday Jun 18, 2019
What's your memory of The Verve Pipe? Are they filed away with the alternative rock one-hit wonders of the 90s thanks to the single "The Freshman"? Are they lumped in with other mid-decade "alt rock" bands like Live and Bush? Did you see them in their early indie days when the were Midwest up-and-comers? Did you bother to check out their 1999 post-hit follow-up album? Did you check out more than the singles? As listeners who reassess with an ear on the past and present, the 1996 album Villain provides lots to chew on. Album tracks reveal divergences into slightly more adventures territory while the singles show off noisy guitar licks and tones that sound foreign compared to the modern Top 40.
Songs On This Episode:
Intro - Cup Of Tea
18:01 - The Freshman
23:11 - Villains
26:39 - Photograph
37:28 - Real
Outro - Barely (If At All)
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Tuesday Jun 11, 2019
Tuesday Jun 11, 2019
The 1991 album Spiderland by Slint has taken on icon status since release, the bridge between Sonic Youth noise, Velvet Underground drone, Joy Division dread and the 1990s wave of post, math, indie and other alternative rock sub-genres. Like so many revered albums discovered via slow burn over years thanks to the accolades of musicians and rock journalists, the influence of Spiderland can be heard in bits and pieces in dozens of bands, yet tracing them back to the source leads us to a perplexing conclusion - what happens when an album of modest creation becomes mythic when listening with fresh years decades after the release?
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Breadcrumb Trail
8:49 - Good Morning Captain
25:06 - Nosferatu Man
35:33 - Washer
Outro - For Dinner...
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Tuesday Jun 04, 2019
Tuesday Jun 04, 2019
Twenty-five years after the release, Mike Gent of The Figgs stops by to tells us about their 1994 release Low-Fi At Society High. From the small town of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, The Figgs spent years writing, recording and playing out long before the rest of the nation got a taste of their punk, mod, power-pop and rock sound that recalls the best of Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Cheap Trick and The Jam, treading familiar ground with an updated take. We discuss their brief tenure on the Imago label, recording with producer Don Gehman (R.E.M., John Mellencamp, Hootie and the Blowfish), hooking up with legendary new wave/pub rocker Graham Parker to be his backing band, and much, much more.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Favorite Shirt
25:25 - Stood Up
38:47 - Step Back Let's Go Pop
1:16:16 - Tint
Outro - Chevy Nova
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Tuesday May 28, 2019
Tuesday May 28, 2019
We often discuss production as an aspect of what makes a record sound good to our ears, but the truth is that different styles of music often demand different production choices. On the 1995 sophomore album Hi Fi Way by You Am I, terms like organic or immediate get tossed around to describe the sound of a band that gives a performance not fussed over, but clearly considered. With Sonic Youth's Lee Renaldo behind the board, the band gets the most of out their limited recording schedule, as every instrument gets a chance to shine with minimal overdubs and effects. While other 90s alternative rock bands might have taken the opportunity to layer track upon track or head down indulgent tangents, You Am I focus on melody and concise song structures, resulting in an album that surpasses their debut in every way.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - She Digs Her
11:43 - The Applecross Wing Commander
15:15 - Handwasher
19:19 - Pizza Guy
26:45 - Ain't Gone And Open
Outro - Jewels And Bullets
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Tuesday May 21, 2019
Tuesday May 21, 2019
Some bands and artists leave you wanting more, with only a single album to their name. In some cases, they are one-off side projects or solo releases that act as an outlet for material not in-line with the primary band. Sometimes, personalities clash and bands quickly implode. In other cases, tragedy strikes down an artist at the start of their career. The 1990s, like every other decade, have their share of unique "one and done" albums from bands and artists for all different reasons. We revisit those lesser known albums worthy of revisiting, talk about those that came with hype but slipped off the radar, as well as those that didn't live up to it, our wish list for sophomore albums that will never come, and our personal favorite one and done albums of the decade.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley
9:53 - Life's A Gas (T. Rex cover) by Replicants
20:30 - Shake My Tree by Coverdale/Page
30:20 - Burning Tree by Burning Tree
41:01 - Pushing Forward Back by Temple Of The Dog
Outro - River Of Deceit by Mad Season
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Tuesday May 14, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
The 1997 album Nothing Feels Good by The Promise Ring lays at an interesting crossroad. On the one hand, vocalist Davey Von Bohlen can grind on a melodic hook like a power pop pro, giving the listener plenty of ear candy on this tightly constructed record, while backed by a tight and creative rhythm section that never looses the groove. On the other hand, there are enough jarring structures, repetitious lyrics and twin-guitar abrasiveness to keep the hardcore kids happy. With vet J. Robbins behind the board, they definitely add some muscle, but it's not the clean and beefy guitar sounds he would get out of Braid, or what Jimmy Ear World would accomplish with Clarity, leaving us slightly underwhelmed.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Nothing Feels Good
14:35 - Perfect Lines
19:06 - Is This Thing On?
20:56 - Raspberry Rush
Outro - Pink Chimneys
To support the podcast, join us at Patreon for bonus content and more.