Comfortable Place On The Couch: A Midnight Oil Podcast

Join the Couch-Sitters as they talk about Midnight Oil's 2002 CD, Capricornia. In an effort to be reasonable, the first episode consists solely of non-song "fluff." Catch up on Business as Usual, get into details of the lead-up to and recording of the album and then (with plenty of warning for those who might not be interested) spend a half-hour or so talking about the Xavier Herbert novel which i...

Join the Couch-Sitters as watch 1982's performance Saturday Night at the Capitol. Yes, it's a bit of a fashion show rundown, but really, with all Pete's costume changes, what did you expect the boys to comment on? The music? Oh yeah, they do a bunch of that too. Bass chorus, organs, flat rack-toms, computery-noises and all the great stuff from this iconic Oils concert!

Join the Couch-Sitters as spin 2000's The Real Thing. Learn why the guys consider this combination of EP and Live album Oil's canon. They'll spend lots of time catching up on business as usual, talking about harmoniums, and close-imonies. Darren tries to give as much credit to Martin as he possibly can and Robin has to correct him more than once when he ascribes Mogenius to Rotsey.

Join the Couch-Sitters as they finally complete Midnight Oil's 1998 CD, Redneck Wonderland. In the end, Redneck proves to be not as much of an ear-assault as they may have thought it would be. But there are other factors, that Darren and Robin discover, that play into the overall feel of the album. Enjoy the Beatles-esq harmonies and horns, the strum-alongs, glockenspiel and other gentle tones wit...

Join the Couch-Sitters as they spin Midnight Oil's 1998 CD, Redneck Wonderland. They talk a little bit about the state of Australia in the late 1990s that influenced the sonic and verbal assault that is Redneck. Is this album as aggressive as the Oils get? What about the strummy-strum songs on the disc? And surprise of surprises, they actually get to discussing the songs in this pod, the first fou...

Join the Couch-Sitters as they finish spinning Midnight Oil's 1996 CD, Breathe. Didn't get enough Malcom and Ringo jokes last episode? Darren and Robin have more! As well, they listen to the Oils most rocking-est song since who-knows-when as well as some of the sweetest tunes they've set to tape. Listen along as they come to their decisions and play The Game. How will Breathe fare against ESM?

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1996 CD, Breathe. Six songs get the treatment this time, which is almost half. Listen as the Couch-Sitters enjoy the liquid-ESM sounds of the first two tracks and then listen to a couple more before they hear the first acoustic guitar (of note.) Is Emmylou singing uncredited on multiple songs? Does Malcom want to play your instrument?...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they... well, they don't spin Midnight Oil's 1996 Album, Breathe. Not really. Your Couch-Sitters set aside the first podcast dedicated to Breathe to talk about the circumstances behind the making of the album what the band was up to prior to recording, the varied attitudes and reactions to working with producer Malcom Burn and some overall thoughts on the soun...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they put away Midnight Oil's 1993 album, Earth and Sun and Moon. Darren exhausts his supply of vinyl Oils albums, Robin changes his mind on how little he dislikes Now or Never Land and the two couch-sitters take some time to tackle the final four songs on a great album. But the big question is, does ESM have what it takes to win "the game" over Diesel or 10-9-...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they reflect on seeing Midnight Oil play in Minneapolis, on August 28, 2017 as part of the Great Circle Tour 2017. The Couch-Sitters reminisce on six glorious hours in line with some of the best people on the planet, gush over meeting the band and even talk about the concert, the music and the end of the Northern-Hemisphere portion of the Great Circle Tour, ak...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they continue spinning Midnight Oil's 1993 album, Earth and Sun and Moon. The Canadian Couchers get extra spaced-out on Jim's title-track lyrics, lament the total mishandling of Truganini (did it "ruin" the band's future?) and try to get the attention of Ground Control. Apparently, there's a man out in space and he's trying to reach you.

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1993 album, Earth and Sun and Moon. Your Couch-Sitters make it all the way through the first three songs before calling it an episode, but in their defence, there was a lot of business arising and general album discussion to get through before tackling the songs. And of course, there are giggles. Did I mention one-and-a-half hours?

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they flip over Midnight Oil's 1992 live album, Scream In Blue. Knocking off five tracks, an encore and bonus material, the couch-sitters still manage to ramble down some bunny-trails and set themselves to laughter. Perhaps there's even more disagreement on side two as your hosts cannot agree on what Bones is doing at the end of Progress, if Rob fails in Beds,...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1992 live album, Scream In Blue. As per the norm, the Couch-Sitters are taking their time and in this first episode, they butt heads on the effort (or lack thereof) the band put into Brave Faces, and the nothing-new-to-listen-to-here of Warburton. Apparently, this album has polarizing tracks unlike any before... Also, test your Midnigh...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they insert Midnight Oil's 1990 video Black Rain Falls into the VCR. Between nostalgic tangents and Siri's interruptions, the couch-sitter manage to enjoy this live performance and try to understand what made this guerrilla-action so memorable to their young eyes and ears that 27 years later, certain parts just snap back into memory like they've always been th...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they flip over Midnight Oil's 1990 album Blue Sky Mining. Taking a very reasonable fifty-odd minutes, the couch-sitters race through "King of the Mountain" so they can spend more time with the other side-two songs. Darren laments the use of pan-pipes and Robin gets excited about guitar explosions.

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1990 album Blue Sky Mining. They welcome the Oils' longest bass-playing member, the man with the Golden Tones: Bones Hillman, learn about the hard time the band had putting together a follow-up to D and D and speculate on how some of the sound we hear on the blue vinyl reach back to the 10, 9, 8 and Red Sails era of recording. Finally,...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they continue to spin Midnight Oil's 1987 album Diesel and Dust. In this hour-plus podcast, the couch-sitters talk with each other about the strengths and weaknesses of side two and if Sometimes makes for a better conclusion to the album than Gunbarrel Highway. The purple Kangaroo sweater makes a return, Robin almost gets killed by a plummeting piece of SkyLab...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1987 album Diesel and Dust. The couch-sitters really take their time with D and D. This was their introduction to the Oils and despite thinking that they were tired of it, they manage to spend an hour and a half on the first side. They start by talking about the Blackfella/Whitefella tour and throwing in lots of stories about two nerdy...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's 1985 EP Species Deceases. Have you been practicing your counting? Because it's time to count along with the couch sitter. Count the fake endings. Count the radio-friendly hits! Count the pick-slides! Things get a little excited when the couch-sitters have a disagreement on what constitutes acappella singing. Maybe you can help them com...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they pop in the Oils on the Water DVD and watch the famous Goat Island Concert... Darren for the first time (in it's entirety.) The couch-sitters offer up lots of fashion commentary in addition to reactions to the live performance of songs from the last couple albums they've been spinning for the podcast.

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they reflect on seeing Midnight Oil play in Toronto, on May 20, 2017, as part of their Great Circle Tour 2017. The couch-sitters count their steps, visit with folks in line, enjoy listening to Boy Toy, and, oh, really enjoy their first Oils experience in over fifteen years.

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's Red Sails in the Sunset from 1984. Things get a little silly this episode as the Couch-Sitters take their sweet time talking about the album in detail. Listen in as orchestra hits, disco beats and didgeridoos all get put under the audio-microscope while optimum glasses of Sake and the number of trumpets in Bakerman are counted.

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's Ten, Nine, Eight from 1982. They talk about every plucked piano string, gated drum, soaring note and even Peter Garrett's absolutely beautiful voice on Scream in Blue. Robin picks a safe favourite track while Darren goes for something a bit more divisive, and they eventually get around to playing that awful, awful game where they snap...

Join Darren and Robin on the couch as they spin Midnight Oil's Place Without A Postcard from 1981. The Oils have arrived at an exciting new stage in their recording career that Darren dubs “80s Oils.” Robin extols the magnificence of bass chorus and Darren points out each track that employs their drum-assist technique. In addition the Couch-Sitters talk about the Oils time in England; recording wi...