Indiecast

This week’s episode of  Indiecast  kicks off with Steve and Ian recounting their worst and toughest interview experiences with artists. There’s a difference between a good bad interview, like a conversation with Liam Gallagher, and a plain bad interview, like an inaudible conference call with Migos. The main topic of this week’s episode is a conversation about new albums from  Manch...

Steve and Ian would be remiss if they didn’t kick off this week’s episode of  Indiecast  with a discussion of the Morrissey/Simpsons controversy, wherein The Smiths’ singer  called  the show’s depiction of him “hurtful” and “racist.” The main crux of this episode, however, returns to the  Indiecast  Hall Of Fame, which was designed to honor albums in the indie rock an...

This week’s episode of  Indiecast  kicks off with a discussion of the  new collaborative track from Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl , a very goofy moment in rock history. The conversation then segues into the mailbag segment, which raises the question of which indie artists should follow in Taylor Swift’s footsteps to take another stab at their earlier material. The main crux of this wee...

After a very long year without live music, it seems like there could finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. Bonnaroo is on the books for September, and Outside Lands is scheduled for late October. On this week’s episode of  Indiecast , Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen are feeling cautiously optimistic about what the return of these festivals could mean for the live music landscape, as a whole...

On  last week’s episode , Steven and Ian reflected on the year-end lists they made in 2011. They spent time discussing albums like Real Estate’s  Days  and M83’s  Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming , albums that were very highly regarded at the time. This week, they are using the benefit of hindsight to revise those lists and name the albums that might have flown under the critical radar...

A decade in the rearview, 2011 has revealed itself to be a very interesting year for indie rock. There are several albums that were considered to be very important in the moment, but have, in the years since, faded from the spotlight to become not much more than asterisks. Remember Whokill ? How about the first and only Wild Flag LP? That said, there are still some albums that stand the test of ti...

Steven and Ian kick off this week’s episode of  Indiecast  with a half-assed recap of last week’s Grammys. It doesn’t last long before the duo dive straight into a discussion of the aesthetic and influence of Kurt Vile in honor of the tenth anniversary of  Smoke Ring . The main topic this week is  Chemtrails Over The Country Club , the seventh studio album from Lana Del Rey. It...

Before Steven and Ian can jump into the latest all-mailbag episode of  Indiecast , they must address the story of Mumford And Sons  temporarily parting ways  with their banjo player Winston Marshall after he came under fire for praising known right-wing agitator Andy Ngo in a social media post. Mumford has killed one of his sons. This week’s mailbag is the most interesting collectio...

It’s been teased for weeks now, but the time has finally come:  Indiecast  is delving into the career and music of Animal Collective. At one point in the aughts, the Baltimore-based group was inextricable from the overall concept of indie rock, and thus indie rock as an actual force in pop music. These days, however, the band seems to have little to no profile or lasting impact. What hap...

With the consistent haze of winter slowly fading into the rearview, 2021 is finally starting to kick it into high gear on the new music front. This week, Steven and Ian are digging into new releases from Julien Baker and Cloud Nothings, but not before taking a moment to eulogize  the end of Daft Punk  after 28 years. For  Julien Baker , 'Little Oblivions' is her first albu...

This week, Steven and Ian are discussing two of the most exciting indie releases of the week. First up is a passionate discussion of  Open Door Policy , the new album from veteran rockers The Hold Steady. Steven appreciates the band’s long-running arc and recent comeback, while Ian has never connected with the Beat-style of what he calls “dude writing.” Next up on the docket is  A Billio...

After a week of banter about Phoebe Bridgers smashing her guitar on 'SNL' and the discourse that inevitably surrounds the annual announcement of nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Ian and Steven are spending this week’s episode of  Indiecast  reflecting on a simpler moment in indie history. The so-called indie R&B scene of the early 2010’s spawned some of the biggest a...

This week kicks off with an enlightening discussion of which indie bands should release greatest hits albums. Then, Steven and Ian are diving into one of the biggest releases of 2021 so far: Foo Fighters’ tenth studio album 'Medicine At Midnight.' The album doesn’t really sound like anything the Foos have released to date, continuing down the path that began with 2014’s 'Sonic Highways,'...

Despite a handful of  optimistic festival announcements , the return of live music still doesn’t look to be closing in ( unless you live in New Zealand) . With the absence of in-person events, many artists have been turning to both free and paid livestream concerts to keep their fans engaged. This week, Steven and Ian are discussing the pros and cons of a virtual future for the live music ind...

This week, Steven and Ian are once again taking questions from listeners. The episode kicks off with a discussion ska, the oft-maligned sect of punk that people tend to joke about, but also have an encyclopedic understanding of its intricacies. After the recent critical reevaluation of nu metal, is ska next in line for a reinvention? Jeff Rosenstock has been  proudly waving the flag of ska&nb...

There are albums in the indie rock and alternative rock realm that were influential and beloved at the time of their release, but have since been lost to the test of time and sadly — some might say shamefully — left out of the widely accepted canon of the genre. On this episode, Steven and Ian are looking to right these wrongs with the creation the  Indiecast  Hall Of Fame. This week, Hy...

After a long year, 2021 is finally here, bringing with it new episodes of  Indiecast . To kick off the first episode of the new year, Steven and Ian are discussing musical trends that took hold in the 2010’s that might begin to fade out as we settle into the 2020’s. It’s impossible to predict what the next decade is going to look like, musically, but we can only hope that it will be something...

In the second of a special two-part episode, Steven and Ian are wrapping up the show for the year by awarding the highly sought-after Indiecasties to the most surprising, overrated, and genuinely impressive releases of the year from artists like The Killers, Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, and more. This week, the duo are ready to bestow some trophies upon the albums that best embodied the aesthetic...

Just like everyone, as the year winds down, Steven and Ian are getting reflective. But rather than just continue breaking down the best of 2020 in a standard list form, they are launching the official Indiecast awards show, The Indiecasties. Across two episodes, the duo will be awarding the highly sought-after Indiecasties to the best, worst, and downright strangest releases of the year....

Approximately 25 years after it started, 2020 is finally coming to an end. As is customary in the music world, before one can look ahead, one must look back. Our latest episode is no exception, with Steven and Ian reflecting on a year of excellent releases in the indie world to choose their ultimate top five. Featuring efforts from The 1975, Bartees Strange, Dogleg, Bob Dylan, and more, Steven and...

Something we can all agree upon is that it’s been far too long since we’ve heard live music in person. In 2020, recordings of live shows feel more relevant than ever, with the roar of a crowd imbuing nostalgia for a simpler time. This is the central focus of our latest episode, which finds Steven and Ian digging in to the swath of live albums that are on the docket for the remainder of the year, i...

This week, Steven and Ian are once again taking questions from listeners. One listener was interested in exploring the place of CDs in the modern music industry, both in terms of audio quality, as well as the best method of listening. The result is a spirited conversation about how CDs compare in quality to that of streaming and vinyl, and the sense of ownership that comes with holding in your han...

With Wilco’s 'Summerteeth' reissue coming later this month to (belatedly) celebrate its twentieth anniversary, Steven and Ian are looking back to 1999. While it might not have necessarily been a more  innocent  time, it was certainly a  simpler  time where teen pop and nu-metal ruled the radio waves and alternative rock was starting to become plain old indie rock. For...

This week's episode kicks off with a reader question asking for Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen's thoughts on the artists of the 2000's and 2010's that were hugely influential to the new crop of indie musicians coming out today. Each "scene" has its own central name, but Cohen is quick to assign roles of leadership to artists like Mac DeMarco, Frankie Cosmos, Alex G, and Title Fight. Hyden is also...

After quarantine set in, it wasn’t long before Adrianne Lenker got to work on some more music, opting for a solo project since she was unable to see her bandmates. While Big Thief apparently were able to reconvene and record a new album over the summer, Lenker has shared the result of her musical exploration at the beginning of quarantine, two new solo LPs titled 'songs' and 'instru...