Unsung Podcast

Folks, we did it. We managed to find a hip hop record that Chris Cusack enjoyed. We're fairly sure that this is one of the signs of the apocalypse so we're probably just going to end the podcast here. Thanks to everyone who listened. Joking aside though, this is a screamer of an album. People have been drawing comparisons between punk and hip hop since...well, forever. The line between the two is...

The aforementioned unfortunate circumstances which led to last week's change of plan loom large over this week's episode. Cat Power's difficulties with her mental health are well documented, and we felt we needed to give this episode a little extra time to address not only those, but how musicians in general deal with their own personal demons.  The original plan was to follow Episode 22 with Neve...

This week we're doing things a little differently. Due to recent tragic events Mr Weaver could not join us this week, so Chris and Mark decided to pull the trigger on an idea we've been thinking about for ages and do a Scottish music themed mixtape. By sheer coincidence they separately picked two records by two bands from Dundee (and bands which shared a bassist, no less) and used it as platform t...

Let's dive right back into the punk side of things here and talk about perhaps one of the most important punk bands around right now. Against Me! have had quite the career thus far. Dealing with every conceivable issue a band could face and then some.   Mark gives us a pretty concise history of the band leading up to this record, and gives a little of what happened afterwards too. Chris then steer...

Aaron Funk has released a vertiable shed load of albums throughout his illustrious career. This, his 15th, is considered his definitive work. Weaver brings it to the table and tries to convince Mark and Chris that it is worthy of inclusion in our discography? Chris and Mark had never heard anything like this before, and thus approached it, and its frankly ridiculous concept, with a certain amount...

Before we started this podcast we knew that we’d cover Cave In. We collectively agreed that we would talk about ‘Jupiter’. We just didn’t think it’d be this soon. Tragedy struck the band recently when their bassist Caleb Schofield had his life cut short in a car accident. We never thought that such circumstances would come to us so soon - heroes of ours, or at least "rock stars" of our generation...

Everything that needs to be said about Bjork has already been said. Her discography, like her talent, is vast, and unable to pass up the chance to talk about anything weird, we thought we’d say our piece. Weaver is a huge fan, and when quizzed about what album we should talk about he immediately picked ‘Vespertine’. Neither Chris or Mark were too familiar with her work, so the conversation in this...

If you live in Scotland and are even remotely familiar with the indie scene, The Twilight Sad, alongside Frightened Rabbit, are a seemingly indomitable force. A band whose influence and position loom large over the country’s music landscape, and for the past decade their fanbase has only increased, their profile growing larger with every record. On this week’s episode Chris and Weaver take it righ...

Going from indie pop to noisy rock n roll? That's another thing we love to do on Unsung. This week we're getting torn in to 'Mclusky Do Dallas' by Mclusky. It's a record which has achieved a cult status amongst fans of the more angular side of British rock music, and it's positively brimming with attitude and energy. Over the years this record has made many a "best of" list, but it still goes shoc...

If you’re expecting us to wax lyrical on how rubbish nu metal was then you’re going to be a little disappointed. The key thing we learned from doing this episode is that yes, while there was indeed a crazy amount of garbage music floating around at the time (and honestly, what makes that any different to any other era of music?), nu metal represents alternative music’s last great mainstream hurrah...

You may get whiplash as we move from metal to indie/dream pop but that's just how we roll here at Unsung. Chris loves this album and he may very well have converted Mark and Weaver to his cause. The production, songwriting and sheer attention to detail on offer here make '23' quite the journey.  Somewhat of a departure from the band's art rock roots, Chris offers some reasons as to why they may ha...

Meshuggah have been confounding fans and fellow musicians for over 30 years. Think about that for a second. Think about how long they’ve been in this game, and how much they’ve changed the game. Perhaps one of the most celebrated and lauded technical metal bands of our generation, their discography is replete with album after album of sheer quality. On this episode, our resident metalhead/Meshugga...

It's part three of our chat with Jonah Matranga. We felt bad for taking up like three hours of his day to do this, but we found out some fascinating things. Like how Chris Cusack likes Kiss. And how Jonah, Mark and Weaver don't. We try to get to the bottom of this baffling facet of Chris' music taste and along the way we talk about power dynamics in the music industry, the Bay City Rollers, sexual...

Death Grips are something of a cultural phenomenon at this point. We regularly joke about the ‘alt-right’ on this show, and it seems that there’s even in people in that movement who like the band. Which is baffling to us, frankly. William Shatner aside, this debut mixtape is a force of nature. One could perhaps argue that since it’s not technically an album it probably shouldn’t be included in our...

What do they put in the water in Sacramento? After chatting to Jonah Matranga and listening to Will Haven’s third album ‘Carpe Diem’, we’re left wondering what it is about that place which chucks out such genre bending bands like Will Haven, Far and Deftones. In our view, ‘Carpe Diem’ is the greatest expression of Will Haven’s unique songwriting talents. It’s always a struggle to accurately descri...

Our second "In Session" episode is with post-hardcore legend Jonah Matranga. In part two we asked him to pick three records he thinks are unsung classics and we got into an interesting discussion about Neil Young, not giving a fuck about how popular you are, and how KRS-One may very well be some kind of modern day prophet. 

It's not an obvious choice, but one of us feels that 'Cool to Be You' by the Descendents is their best album. Of course, not everyone agrees with that, but we do all agree on how this record is a good example of the exact reason this podcast exists - to celebrate unsung classics.

Our first "In Session" episode is with post-hardcore legend Jonah Matranga. In part one we discuss his back catalogue pretty extensively, stretching from the beginnings of Far right up until the present day. 

‘Third’ by Portishead is a record which exudes the kind of artistic confidence that only seasoned artists have. It’s also dark. Really dark. We quite liked it, as things go. But should it be in our discography?

You know it. You've probably heard it. You're probably even vaguely familiar with the lore around it, but it's a record that just keeps on giving is responsible for the rise of one of alternative music's most popular, and enduring figures. Is 'The Downward Spiral' the definitive Nine Inch Nails record?

Often described as being a ‘slowcore’ band, there’s no doubt that Low’s 2002 album ‘Trust’ is nothing if not slow. But we think there’s a great deal of compelling, wonderful music to be found on this record. Do you think it should be added to our discography? Listen and vote, and voice your opinion.

If you know it, you know it. But if you don't know it, should you? Does this death metal classic deserve a place in the discography of all time classic albums? Or is has the much imitated sound been improved upon by others?

Harp powered prog-esque folk is the aim of the game this week, and Joanna Newsom's lush, spacious, ambitious 'Ys' is often considered to be a staggering piece of work. Should it be in our discography though? Only you can tell us.

Alan McGee likes this record, apparently. Which, depending on your opinion, either says it all or says nothing at all. You can listen to what we have to say and decide. We heard he sometimes talks about a really famous band he discovered once...

AV Club called this record "trip-hop's crowning achievement" and really, who are we to argue? 'Endtroducing' is perhaps one of the most influential electronic and hip hop records ever written. But not all of us see it that way, so strap in for lively discussion on this episode of Unsung.