Discologist

Musician. Educator. Podcast Host. Cat dad. Casey Rae is a man of many talents, and with William Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll he adds “author” to that list. Equal parts history of and on-ramp to all things Burroughs, Cult tells the tales of the long strange trips that artists throughout rock ‘n’ roll history took to worship before their pope of dope,” how the words of one man influenced...

Brad Mehldau, simply put, is one of the most respected living jazz players on the planet. He’s also one of the most prolific. Think Stephen King levels of prolific, but for music. Many of you may know him from his work covering some Radiohead tunes , but rest assured he is much MUCH more than that. In fact, on his new album Finding Gabriel , he is doing nothing less than searching for the meaning...

Pairing one of today’s most gifted jazz guitarists ( Anthony Pirog ) with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s fiercest rhythm sections ( Brendan Canty and Joe Lally ) was always going to be a recipe for success, but on their sophomore LP Anthropocosmic Nest , Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics are blowing past the old goals and delivering one of the most raucous and satisfying releases of the year. Wildly inve...

Now that she’s found true love, on her new album  Lover  pop domineer Taylor Swift is stepping out of the shade and leaving the H8R/revenge life behind. Or is she? Avoid Swifty Eduardo Nunes joins us to talk through the good, the bad, and the awkward of Swift’s latest which ***SPOILERS*** most definitely does not  “…hold the key to pop music’s survival ” but also might not be that b...

On August 7, 2019, beloved indie-rock poet laureate David Berman committed suicide, leaving his family, friends, and fans devasted. Purple Mountains, a sophisticated, sad, and often hilarious look at Berman’s interior and the world at large, is the final statement from an artist whose words and songs are stitched into the DNA of an entire generation. Join as we discuss Berman’s legacy, how depress...

After several years working behind the scenes, the legendary Raphael Saadiq returns to the spotlight to deliver his most personal, and compelling album to date. Jimmy Lee (named after his brother who was an addict who died of AIDS) takes a profoundly human look at not just the consequences of addiction, but the underlying causes. Oppression comes in many forms in this world, and Saadiq explores th...

Austin, TX's Mike and The Moonpies have come a long way from playing the dancehalls of their native Texas. On their new LP, Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold, the quintet is leaving the honky-tonk behind and exploring the sounds of smoothed out 70's Country with the help of their friends the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios, Cheap Silver is bringing country...

For their 15th album (and 2nd this year), Australia’s King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard take yet another musical turn, this time into THRASH METAL. Infest The Rat’s Nest has everything: HUGE CRUSHING RIFFS! THUNDERING DRUMS! SCI-FI ECO-DIMENSIONAL HORROR! It even has SATAN! But it’s that second-to-last point that’s so important. Somehow, impossibly, King Gizzard has made a metal album that not on...

On their seventh album (and first in five years) The Hold Steady isn’t so much “We’re BACK mother****ers!” as they are “Alright. Alright. Alllllright”-ing their way back into our hearts. Thrashing Thru The Passion finds the band sporting a slightly looser and expanded sound (horns!) and songwriter Craig Finn’s druggy, party-filled universe, a little older, a little beat down, but no less full of l...

Sleepwalkers 2014 LP Greenwood Shade was, and remains, one of our favorites of the past few years. Finally five years later their follow up, Ages , is here and it was well worth the wait. While Shade wore its shagginess on its sleeve, Ages sees brothers Michael and Austin York and co-conspirator Alex DeJong polishing up the edges and delivering the power-pop masterpiece we deserve just when we nee...

Chris Rosenau ( Collections of Colonies Of Bees , Volcano Choir ) and Nick Sanborn ( Sylvan Esso , Made Of Oak ) have traveled in the same creative circles for years now, but it was an off-the-cuff improv set at the inaugural Eaux Claires fest that has led to one of the most powerful releases of 2019, Bluebird. The open window and doors of the small North Carolina studio that Bluebird was recorded...

On his follow up to 2018’s The Optimist , Ryan Porter and his friends the West Coast Get Down are once again swinging for the fences and bring jazz into the spotlight for a whole new generation. Rehearsed and recorded in five-hour bursts in multiple locations, Force For Good is a fearless step forward into the future of American jazz that celebrates America’s greatest art form even as it challenge...

On his latest album as Fruit Bats, Eric Johnson is looking back at dark times almost fondness, taking joy in the even the smallest of steps towards a brighter future that awaits. Gold Past Life — his first LP on Merge Records — signifies the start of a new era for the lauded singer/songwriter. The end of the road he started out on with 2014’s EDJ , it’s songs are overflowing with harmonies, hooks,...

In the modern music era, most new releases come saddled with histories we’re supposed to believe in, recycled narratives, and increasingly thirsty marketing “hooks.” Which is what makes Rose City Band’s self-titled debut such a unicorn of an album. There are only two things that we know for sure about this band: 1) Ripley Johnson (Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips) produced it. 2) It jams. Refreshing AF, ri...

On his nineteenth album (and first in five years) rock and roll legend / Broadway star Bruce Springsteen is turning his gaze to the “West,” and the results are a totally unique, if not polarizing, new entry into his lauded body of work. Western Stars utilizes the sounds of late 60’s Capitol Records (Glen Campbell, The Wrecking Crew, Phil Spector) to color the stories of men on the frontier, not ju...

Whether you see Born In The U.S.A. as Springsteen’s most significant achievement as an artist or just a strange, 80’s sounding outlier in an otherwise muscular catalog, it remains to this day one of the most potent statements about the down-and-out in America ever made. Despite its rock ‘n’ roll sheen, misunderstood rallying cries, and anthems to nostalgia, Born In The U.S.A. was a hopelessly blea...

Is Dedication , Carly Rae Jepsen’s follow up to her critically lauded 2015 LP E•MO•TION the realization of the pristine pop future that we were all promised or is it something…else. We’re digging in to one of 2019’s most anticipated releases to find the answers to this question and many more on an all new and {{{extremely}}} danceable episode of Discologist! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Thirty years ago Robert Smith and The Cure taught an entire generation how to experience the beauty of misery, and in the process made the best albums of their career. On the latest episode of Discologist, special guests Casey Rae and Wes Covey join us to talk about teenage feelings, commiseration through sound, and growing older with one of the biggest, most beautiful downers in music history. Ho...

On their new album Destroyer, Stephen McBean tempered their already ferocious sound in the forge of Valhalla and crafted one of the most thrilling releases of the year. Moog synth blasts, lakes of fire, and riffage for days make this rock-n’-roll fantasy essential listening for headbangers everywhere whether you’ve got a sweet 8-Track player in your van or not! PLUS! Motorcade is unleashing ‘Obliv...

On her new album Legacy! Legacy! Jamila Woods is channeling the voices of the artists and activists that have shaped her life and in the process claiming her place alongside them. A powerful meditation on the importance of self-love and the power each of us has to change the world, Legacy! Legacy! isn’t just one of the best albums of 2019, it is a cultural milepost that will continue to enrich and...

Roadkill Ghost Choir was a band. Roadkill Ghost Choir are our friends This is the story of how band is born, lived, and died. RIP Roadkill Ghost Choir. LONG LIVE ROADKILL GHOST CHOIR Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On his latest album, I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream. , Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man On Earth is, in part, following in the grand tradition of “life on the road” albums. The road is fucking hard. The road is fucking TOUGH man…but does the world in 2019 need any more sad songs? Special guest Wes Covey joins us to discuss sad songs and much more on an all-new Discologist. Show Notes Intro mus...

Hailing from the savage frozen North – otherwise known as Arvika Sweden – Enforcer are bringing the thundering sounds from the darkness of yore – otherwise known as mid to late 80’s metal – back on their new LP Zenith . Prepare your soul for the end of the universe and join us in these final hours as we journey through this timeless scream from the darkness. Don’t forget to tip your dark overlord...

On an all-new Discologist, two newbs take on the new release from one of the most prolific bands of the past 10 years. After releasing FIVE full-lengths in 2017, Australian psych-kings King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard slowed down the pace and discovered the power of boogie for their first album in a year, Fishing For Fishies . Jam-packed with technicolor freakouts and enough groove to satisfy...

On her third album and major label debut, Cuz I Love You , songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and liver of her best life Melissa Viviane Jefferson aka LIZZO is doubling down on the Prince vibes and in the process may be making the world a better place for us all. On this episode of Discologist special guest Philip Basnight joins us to discuss what makes a perfect pop album, the power of positivity,...