Discologist

Despite, or maybe because of, everything going on in the world, 2016 has been one of the best years for music in recent memory. Join us in the basement one last time this year as we count down our favorites, feel out our disappointments, and more.   WE SUPPORT THESE ORGANIZATIONS. YOU CAN TOO. DONATE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite, or maybe because of, everything going on in the world, 2016 has been one of the best years for music in recent memory. Join us in the basement one  last time this year as we count down our favorites, feel out our disappointments, and more. Show Notes Please enjoy our 2016 Song Of The Year by Wheeler Walker Jr.   WE SUPPORT THESE ORGANIZATIONS. YOU CAN TOO. DONATE Hosted on Acast...

In our final regular podcast of 2016, we're enlisting Paul Vodra  (Hometown Sounds), Joe Lapan ( Owner, Songbyrd Music House ), and Marcus Dowling  (Pitchfork, Bandcamp) to work through the year that was here in our hometown of Washington, DC, take a look at the "big picture", and much, Much more.  PLUS: Thoughts on the tragedy of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, CA. What can we...

Lin Manuel Miranda's acclaimed musical Hamilton isn't just one of the most successful musicals of all time, it's one of the most important works of art of the 21st Century. Join us as we dive deep into this new take on a modern masterpiece that is as much a celebration of modern hip-hop and pop music as it is a reaffirmation of the powerful and essential message of it's source material. Donate &nb...

What does it take to be a music journalist in 2016?  Marcus J. Moore  (Bandcamp),  Marcus K. Dowling  (Pitchfork), and Kevin discuss. On The Visitor,  Kadhja Bonet is mining the past and creating a soulful new sound that feels more than necessary in the crazy year that is 2016. Is it one of the years best, or does this hyper-talented artist from LA still have a little ways...

We thought the fighting was done. We thought the battles had been won. Amazon Music had other plans. The streaming wars, continue they must.  Hailing from the mighty Midwest, The Flat Five, the grooviest "supergroup" known to mankind, has arrived just in time with their debut LP,  It's A World Of Love And Hope . After years of performing as a holiday one off, members Kelly Hogan, Nora O’...

It's been eighteen years since A Tribe Called Quest released an album, but on their latest, and last, LP We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service,  the hip-hop legend's have delivered not just one of 2016's best, but a career defining masterpiece more than worthy of their legacy. Marcus J. Moore  (Bandcamp),  Chad Clark  (Beauty Pill) and Ian Taronji (The Lucky So &...

Hip hop's Danny Brown has made a career out of exploring the extremes of his personality. On his fourth LP,  Atrocity Exhibition  he's brought all of his demons and angels together to create strongest statement yet.   We've assembled an all-star panel featuring Sarah Godfrey ( Washington Post, City Paper ), Briana Younger ( Bandcamp, Washington Post ), and Marcus Dowling ( Pitchfork...

IT'S PODJAM TIME! On our latest abuse of the podcast format, Casey Rae, Marcus Dowling, a bottle of rye, and a whole lot of AMERICA join Kevin in the basement to work through this thing we call COUNTRY MUSIC.*^ * Length of podcast may require use of vacation time ^ Pick-up truck not required for general enjoyment Show Notes Experience the legend of Haggard Allman and his track "I Play To Lose" &nb...

Kingsley Flood frontman Naseem Khuri has built his career writing songs about social injustice and the importance of sticking up for the "little guy" On their latest album,  Another Other , he's turning his observational acumen inwards to explore not just how we relate to others, but, more importantly, why. Khuri joined us in the basement a week before America's historic election to talk...

Bob Dylan has won a Nobel Prize for Literature. This naturally has blown Patrick's mind. Another legendary poet/songwriter, Leonard Cohen is back with,  You Want It Darker , his  self-proclaimed final album. We're digging into Cohen's latest tome, exploring the legacy that he's leaving behind, and more. PLUS! Guitarist Daniel Bachman has a new self-titled album, and we've got your first...

Jenn Wasner has spent the better part of the past decade slaying as one half of indie powerhouse Wye Oak. Earlier this year, she released her long-in-the-works solo project,  If You See Me, Say Yes , under the name Flock Of Dimes. Predictably, it TOO, slayed. Before a recent tour stop in the nation's capital, Wasner joined us to talk about how Flock Of Dimes came about, creating versus destro...

Singer/songwriter Skylar Gudasz's debut LP,  Oleander,  is a sublime exploration of modern romance that wears its influences on its sleeve and is bursting at the seams with humor, heart, and class. It's also one of the best albums of 2016. When she's not busy making great albums, Gudasz can be found palling around on stage with members of Big Star, Wilco, R.E.M., and more. She's KINDA a...

In 1971, history was made when brothers Bobby, Dannis, and David Hackney got together to jam, and inadvertently "created" punk music in the process. That history wouldn't be discovered until almost 40 years later, and having their story told in the documentary A Band Called Death   in 2013 ,  the group is touring again, making new music, and finding new fans everywhere they turn. Mo...

Put two musical powerhouses together and blend them up, and what comes out is bound to be (mostly) genius. We've assembled an all-star panel featuring Marcus J. Moore  (Bandcamp,Pitchfork),  Briana Younger  (Washington Post,Bandcamp),  Marcus K. Dowling  (Bandcamp,Pitchfork) and Julian Kimble  (The Undefeated, Washington Post), to dig deep into NxWorries Yes Lawd...

Over the course of her career, Sara Watkins (I'm With Her, Nickel Creek) has stretched the boundaries of bluegrass, toured the world, and collaborated with legends of the music industry, all the while continuing to shape her own formidable legacy. Right now, she's sitting down to chat with us about her new album Young In All The Wrong Ways,  how she got hooked on music and more.  Fo...

Like a sexier version of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, you can now mix your Tinder with your Spotify. Join us as three middle-aged men discuss the implications, you've obviously come to the most qualified source for these sort of things. Scottish indie-rock legends Teenage Fanclub are back with a new label (Merge!) and a new album ( Here !). Kevin's neighbor (and lifelong Teenage Fanclub fan) Micha...

A free tier is all fun and games, until you start getting served malware in it's ads. We're getting to the bottom of this so-obvious-we-can't-believe-it-hadn't-happened-yet "crisis" so you don't have to.  On her latest album Day Breaks,  nine time Grammy winner Norah Jones is returning to the jazz sound that made her famous. Join us as we dig into this modern greats' newest chapter. Mose...

With A Seat At The Table,  Solange Knowles hasn't just made the best album of her career, she's made one of the most compelling, and most important albums of 2016. We're going deep into this modern masterpiece with the help of music journo heavyweights Marcus K. Dowling  and Sarah Godfrey  (!!!). PLUS:  Daveed Diggs'  band Clipping. latest album   Splendor & Miser...

In the 21st century one of the greatest scourges on the music industry is piracy. Time was though that Seymour Butts could get twelve albums for one shiny penny.  M.C. Taylor's Hiss Golden Messenger is back with his follow up to 2014's critically lauded,  Lateness Of Dancers . On Heart Like A Levee,  the North Carolina singer/songwriters second album for Merge Records, Taylor is goi...

WAMU's Bluegrass Country is on the chopping block and up for sale. Help save it, and by doing so, save a little bit of us all. Bon Iver returns after a five year hiatus, and the results are polarizing. We're choosing sides in the war of 22, A Million. Ever wonder how to make great, kinda weird, super-intellectual pop music that actually works? Louis Weeks has the answers that you seek. A...

Aaron "Ab" Abernathy has built his career on helping artists like Black Milk and Slum Village elevate their art, but now he's breaking out on his own with his new album,  Monologue . A potent combination of autobiography and R&B retrospect,  Monologue  is a capital "S" SOUL record, that recounts Abernathy's formative years growing up outside Cleveland, Ohio. We sit down with Aar...

The protest song is nothing new, but now in 2016 it may be the best defense we have against, well, 2016. And speaking of protest songs... Drive-By Truckers have always infused their songs with politics, but the scorching truths of their latest album,  American Band,  may be their strongest, most important statement yet. We're going in on the band's history, why this album is essential li...

The next great battle in the streaming wars may have just been started by Pandora with the announcement of their "half-price" streaming service. Is $4.99 a month the future of the music industry, or the beginning the end of it as we know it? After a career conquering the indie airwaves as one half of Wye Oak, Jenn Wasner is breaking out on her own under the name Flock Of Dimes.  Washington, D...

Nelly is in trouble with the tax man, and it's teh INTERNET to the rescue! Wait...really? We're reviewing Florida Georgia Line's latest, guys. This is happening. Strap in for a wild ride with Eduardo and Marcus Dowling as we dig into one of this years biggest releases that everyone loves to hate. Or DO they? LVL UP's third album Return To Love is out 9/23, and on Sub Pop no less! We're taking thei...