Bandsplain

Podcast on Spotify with 3-6 hour episodes on a given band/artist's career with intermittent musical selections. I'm a fan, though the quality of the episodes vary significantly based on the guest and Yasi's experience with the artist. Favorites so far:

- The Replacements episode with biographer Bob Mehr
- Gram Parsons episode with John Strohm of Blake Babies/Lemonheads/Rounder Records
- Dave Matthews Band episode with Grayson Haver Currin
- U2 episode with Rob Harvilla
- Pixies episode with Gina Arnold

episodes are three to six hours long??

lol yea...it's not "tight" at all. Most of these artists/bands have large discographies. They go album by album and tell the story of their arc, the recording and reception of each album, talk about a song or two and play it...It's made for a very specific audience.

the new two-part episode on The Cure (w/ guest Hanif Abdurraquib) is 7 hours and 27 minutes long.

:D :D

i love this goddamn gorgeous beautiful podcast so much

episodes are three to six hours long??

But I looked around and saw how long the episodes were and even with my long-ass commutes, I was like, damn son.

It's still too soon to know for sure, but I think the Joy Division ep may have permanently diminished my enjoyment of that band. Yuck.

Some bands maybe are just naturally resistant to 'splainin, or shouldn't ever be 'splained

all the more for me!

new season is HITTING for me so perfectly

The Cure two-parter was joyous, love how Hanif is just continually dropping beautifully eloquent insights, v lovely pairing w Yasi - great 2 parter, no notes

Joy Division included a lot of new info to me (I llove their music but never knew much beyond the headline) Dude from Ceremony was a nice guest but i felt bad bc he brought a little less insight/input to the table. But he had nice friendship chemistry so it was enjoyable more in a “friends talking” way

Enjoying Depeche so far <3

HILARIOUS to me that all the reddit comments are about the format change since they moved to The Ringer & how the full songs arent included anymore!?! like omg god forbid you seek out the music on yr own my god lmao lame poor Yasi

I mean, I do think it's a bummer SOMETIMES when they can't play the full song. She was talking all about how killer the lyrics to some song are, and then she played 5 seconds of music with no vocals. I understand the line they're trying to walk but when they really zero in on a particular song, it'd be nice to actually just hear the song. (Maybe they do this occasionally, I don't know. I'm only halfway through my second episode.)

idk, it never bothered me? but ymmv

Hang on, these fucken things are 7 hours long and that's not even because they're fitting in lots of music????

not anymore!

:D

oh man I hadn't realized they moved. That's a bummer, I really did like what they were doing with the included tracks thing. It felt new and interesting. I mean, I'll probably still listen and stuff because I think the pod is good even without that but I won't lie that feature was definitely a draw

I didn't realised they'd moved. Means I can grab as a podcast from my podcast app rather than using Spotify, which is useful. I'll admit, I liked having the songs *right there*, but I'll live.

the PJ harvey two-parter with Ann Powers (the god) truly healed me in ways I didn’t anticipate

i feel like i just took a college course in the best way <3

oh and the Clash 2-parter was interesting by contrast! Gaslight Anthem guy was the guest & he barely spoke! I think he was probably being respectful of Yasi & maybe not knowing the level of input expected but it was kinda funny. Her obsession w Bernie Rhodes made it a great listen though imo

the new Jane’s Addiction episode w Jessica Hopper is SO great imo

For me it scratches the same itch as the PJ Harvey two-parter w Ann Powers - maybe it sounds corny & obvious but i just love hearing two women talk about music in a way that celebrates and elevates it. sometimes intellectually, sometimes emotionally, sometimes “just vibes” as yasi would say. all-encompassing.

also their discussion of jane says is excellent

i love this goddamn gorgeous beautiful podcast so much

Since I've been listening to this podcast solidly for the last month I've started describing every song I hear in this way. I'm so glad I got over the host's annoying voice because I now love her and this podcast. She's so funny.

i have had to restrain myself from calling my friebds babe in group chats lol

"They've blocked out the wacky hats! They've blocked out the bongos! But I'm telling you, I was there. [...] This was part of the fabric of alternative culture. You cannot erase it."

Two to three hours on the Dave Matthews Band?

I have always called my daughter some form of baby or babe, but since getting into Bandsplain, I've been giving it the Yasi inflection.

<3

omg also Jessica Hopper’s you weren’t truly a teen in the 90’s unless you’ve given a dry handjob under a giant Ritual de Lo Habitual wall poster had me ROLLING

xxpost jimbeaux it’s longer than that, it’s a two parter! also they’re yasi’s favorite band and it was her birthday

Don't drink the motha fuckin' water

what are you all doing while you're listening to this podcast?

working on a computer? hanging out in the living room? running on a treadmill? riding the bus?

i'm genuinely curious.

it's so long i have to listen to it on, like, five different afternoon walks. (i can't listen to it while working.)

The only podcast I listen to anywhere near that long is Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, each episode of which I have to break up into chunks. Long road trips do provide an extended listening opportunity.

I have a 20 minute drive to and from work each day. The stereo in my car doesn't work, I've got a small Bluetooth speaker which is rubbish for music so that's when I listen to Bandsplain. Took me about 2 weeks to get through the Cure episodes.

i listen to it mostly while walking, and while working (work from home) … often in chunks but i like being able to go back to it in installments

plus it’s not like they’re time-dependent, you can take as long as you want to listen to them

I have a pool that has to get scrubbed 2-3 times a week because it was poorly maintained and needs constant attention and I hate it. I listen to this when I scrub the pool which takes an hour.

So far the PJ Harvey episode was my favorite. I like the dense, longer episodes so much that a shorter one is disappointing.

I'm halfway through Neutral Milk Hotel which has been great, lots of stuff I had never heard before. Favorite bit: while recording In The Aeroplane... one of the bandmembers would wake Mangum up in the morning by saying "Hey Jeff, wake up, we're gonna make a classic album." and at first Jeff would say "we are?" After a while he started saying "yeah, we are."

xp: yeah, for me podcasts (particularly long ones) are just what I throw on to keep me from going insane when I do chores. Walking the dog? On goes a podcast for 10 minutes. Washing dishes, cooking dinner, etc.

the “24 Question Party People” episodes that Yasi is putting out on the Bandsplain feed are so great - literally not a bad episode yet

so far: Liz Phair, Adam Duritz, Jason Isbell, Ian Shelton (Militarie gun), and today is Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind)

what's the concept?

kind of a spin on the Proust Questionnaire - she asks 24 questions starting out with light easy fluff & delving into deeper personal/music questions as they go along. It’s quite revealing!

I listened to the Pixies one recently. Gina Arnold! Route 666: On The Road to Nirvana had the exact same impact on me that it did Yasi. I grew up in the middle of nowhere and finding that book exposed me to SO MUCH. It gave me a shopping list for my BMG/Columbia House orders. During the episode, Arnold talked about how nobody read the book except Yasi, so I wrote her an email telling her how much it meant to me. She wrote back a sweet reply. I printed it and tucked it in the book. I did a search and she doesn't get a lot of love around here, but she opened music up for me.

The Cure episode was really good. During the Pixies episode Yasi mentioned that she will do The Breeders in the future which I'm pretty excited about.

i requested Ginas book from the inter-library loan system after that Pixies episode, it’s next on my reading list!

xp that's awesome <3

I checked out Gina's book on Amazon, and stumbled on this gem in the reviews section:

my one problem is i found a number of discrepencies such as her naming chuck dukowski as the drummer of black flag? sorry sweetheart, he was the bass player.

(coincidentally(?), I also just started Yasi's podcast with the Liz Phair episode, where she describes her experiences with condescending gatekeeper rock dudes)

i went back and listened to the Gram Parson episode with John Strohm. Super-good episode. Strohm’s a huge fan but also brings a lot of musical insight, and he has a lovely chill vibe w Yasi.

Parsons*

Misfits was probably my least favorite. It was informative, but there was no chemistry between the hosts.

Randy Newman, on the other hand, was fabulous. Molly Lambert and Yasi almost broke my brain with the multi-layered vocal fry. They were having so much fun together that it was infectious, especially in the back half when they had loosened up and were getting into Randy's awkward years ("Masterman and Baby J").

The 24 Question Party People with Liz Phair also did this, but less so.

Radiohead episode blew my mind; they had a dude who knows a lot about music composition and it gave me new respect for a band that I already loved.

Molly Lambert is great - her podcast Heidiworld about Heidi Fleiss was so good

Radiohead episode blew my mind; they had a dude who knows a lot about music composition and it gave me new respect for a band that I already loved.

― Cow_Art, Tuesday, August 1, 2023 12:44 AM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

If you liked that episode you should listen to his podcast Dissect. It's rap focused and insanely detailed, occasionally ridiculous, but all around a great listen if you like the album he's dissecting.

The Talking Heads episodes with Rob Harvilla are a good time and well worth a listen. Yasi cracks me up, and they have a great dynamic together. The Paramore episode was interesting, as I'd known some but not a lot about their start and band turmoil, but I found the guest a bit short on insight.

I have to admit that the "new" format with short song snippets is a big improvement...Since I only really listen to the episodes of acts I already dig, I'm not sure there was much benefit to 1-1.5 hours worth of music I already know well being mixed in.

I had to bail out of the Dave Matthews Band Redux episode (part 1) after a couple of hours. I had already heard the original (shorter) version, and it was just too much DMB, who I don't like at all. I would get interested in the story and feel invested, and then they would play a clip and fuuuuuuuck no, it's just the wrong sound for my ears. Every instrument sounds like the worst version of that instrument. Nope nope nope

The Misfits episode wasn't too great, mainly because the guest was kinda humorless and thinks Danzig is a lyrical genius or something.

I'm enjoying this but only listening to ones about bands I like. Maybe I'll try others once I run out of those, I dunno if the vibes are enough to carry me through hours of DMB talk. Really enjoyed the epic Cure one, liked Jane's Addiction and Paramore.

I enjoyed the first part of the Talking Heads one, but I pretty quickly found the second one a little self-satisfied (even by the standard set by the first episode). I think I found it frustrating that so much of it is really well researched and funny/perceptive, but there are also these gaps that they (sometimes amusingly) just have no interest in filling. I dunno, felt kinda like a sober episode of Drunk History. I'll probably still finish it, though, it's mostly pretty enjoyable. And I really want to hear the Cure one.

Much as I love Rob H, he wasn’t the right guest for the Albini memorial.

I take that back. The last 10 minutes, he pulls it out.

the last 30 minutes of the Alice In Chains bandsplain is just me crying nonstop ;_;

i knew what i was in for but every time it just punches me in the stomach

they were a special band for me as a teen. i had a lot of anger & depression & struggled with selfharm… their music was so different & that angst & anger & fragility just made me feel so much less alone. i never told my friends or anyone about about my dark shit at the time, so AIC were kind of like my fuckedup therapy where i could feel my feelings in a cathartic way. RiP Layne.

I was looking for a heart emoji for that post. Thank god for music.

The Layne stuff in Lanegan's autobiography haunts me. Clearly a total dude, fucked-up and all, but a dude.

The last hour of this is so goddamn sad. Jesus.

i keep trying with this podcast, but ultimately it's a good concept that would be better off in the hands of more competent people: a producer who will tighten things up in general and a host who is charming but also listens to their guests and engages in conversation rather than prioritizing jokes, personal anecdotes and notes from the research. some of that is fine, of course, but not *this* much and not for 4+ hours.

Hunh! I find Salek's insights pretty unique and have helped recontextualize a lot of artists I'd just kinda worn out and discarded. Interview with Kim Thayil might be my favorite thing she's done, 'cause he's been such an opaque figure, really felt Iike I got where his artistic impulses came from.

She’s pretty inconsistent — some episodes definitely better than others for her particular quirks. Seems to track with her general mental well being? Kim Thayil episode was great. Soundgarden episodes were good, altho when you’ve got Hanif Abdurraqib on your podcast, for god’s sake, girlie, let him cook!

i really enjoyed the Soundgarden eps and that Kim Thayil interview was so great.

i had been dreading the end of the Soundgarden final ep surrounding Chris’s death but she seemed to dodge most of the details
which I guess is good but felt a bit odd?. Like I didn’t WANT it but I didn’t want nothing? But I guess it’s complicated & weird so I get it.

new Happy Mondays & Stone Roses ep today :D

guests are John Niven and Chlöe Walsh who are v fun

john & chloe correcting yasi’s pronunciations & giving her needed insight on slang is proving v enjoyable

Yeah that was a good one. I loved the story of the original Happy Mondays berating the original bassist for getting a fry-up by himself.

also this:

John Cale: Tell me about your chords
Mark Day: uh I got them at Marks & Spencer i think
Gaz: He means your guitar chords you tit, not your pants!

I heard there were some stylish chords
That Day had worn and it pleased the Lord
Cause you don’t want them super tight now do ya?
“Where’d you get ‘em?” the Welshman barks
Mark sez “I think at Marks & Sparks”
“Your guitar chords, you tit,” says Gaz, “Ah, screw ya”

lmao

A+

Excellent work

Cause you don’t want them super tight now do ya?

A loose fit, if you will.

You might even say .. resembling a bag

This may be my favorite thing Salek has yet done. This four hour gab about two bands I don't care about is one of the most amusing music discussions I've ever heard. Such great rapport between the three, taking all her deep digging and giving it a context. The year I lived in London was during the rise of these bands, and I didn't get it. I was dedicated to the Blast First/Creation/Earache gig circuits, so the woozy sounds of these bands was just a small enough difference to frustrate. I actually gave the Stone Roses album a listen a few months ago and finally liked it quite a bit, but my cassette of Bummed was hardly ever played through. I still cant hear the funk that moves so many people. The podcast did a better job than even 24-Hour Party People at explaining the charm/exasperation of the personas in and around the Mondays, but I have to accept the the proper combination of drugs and room sound will never line up for me.

Niven & Walsh do some top shelf color commentary, it really feels like story-time down at the pub or something

really looking forward to part 2

omg

I was listening to pt2 of Happy Mondays/Stone Roses .. when Yasi got to the story of how they hired a vocal coach for Ian Brown on the Second Coming tour who pretended to be a friend of a friend? I had to stop & lean against a tree i was laughing so hard.

Truly the funniest, enjoyable series she’s done maybe ever thanks to the craziness of these 2 bands

Niven & Walsh absolutely topshelf guests, such great stuff from them

fascinated by chloe walsh’s globe-spanning accent, which varies between continents even within words, but yeah these episodes are amazing

their final story, Niven & Walsh going to see the Roses together in Sweden is gold, so fucking funny

Really surprised there was no mention of how Baggy was so huge that U2 adopted its sound wholesale for Achtung Baby. Or is that just so obvious that it didn’t even need mentioning?

I think there may be a separate thread but I'm very much enjoying the new season of Sixty Songs That Explain the 90s (The 2000s).

Harvilla thread: Rob Harvilla's 60 Songs that Explain the 90s

> fascinated by chloe walsh’s globe-spanning accent, which varies between continents even within words, but yeah these episodes are amazing

Headspinning! The sudden LA to London syllable shifts is like playing GeoGuesser.

Very jarring hearing Niven refer to Stevie Nicks as "bitch"

thanks for repping for these episodes. so much fun. i had gotten a bit tired of the pod during the last season but yasi is fantastic here

I had given this podcast a long break, but I listened to most of the first episode of the Mondays/Roses story on a flight and it was a hoot. Maybe it helps that I've never really listened to either of these bands so was not invested in her takes? Anyway, the stories are legendary, the hangout cadence infectious, the slang impenetrable (and her mispronunciations amusing), and I've learned a lot about that scene (not least why some would consider the Mondays touched by genius despite the Roses being objectively "better"). The Mondays story specifically, it's like a glimpse into some strange parallel universe/invented world. So many postal workers!

Possibly a hangover from Mondays/Roses but the Blur ep didnt really hit for me - and i usually love CR & yasi :/

mainly because Yasi is so in the bag for Song 2 era that evertything before it is “chimney sweep” … and i was largely off the bus after Song 2. I guess it’s an age thing.

I did a puzzle at the weekend and binged the two Roses/Mondays episodes. I just finished the last 30 minutes or so, and it was like coming off a long flight — glad to be out of the tube but kind of sorry to lose the comfort of the bubble.

Ironically, I don't think I'll ever finish it until I'm on another long flight.

The Blur/Oasis ranking ep last week was a bit ordinary (the drafts & ranking of things is the curse of listening to many shows on Ringer network), but i’m looking forward to the Oasis standalone series/ep this week

My shit analogy didn't really do much of a job of explaining how much I enjoyed myself.

Yeah, the feud episode seemed a bit of a rehash of things already covered in the previous one. Also raised my eyebrow at Sawyer's downplaying/dismissal of the "Blur should catch AIDS and die" controversy as political correctness gone mad. Overall, though, I've really enjoyed these episodes for the reasons discussed above, even if my own opinion of Oasis is quite a bit lower than Salek's and her guests'.

Also, thanks to the slang episode, I finally understand the "funky little boat race" line in "All the Young Dudes." All these years, I've assumed it was just a bit of nonsense. 

yeah Sawyer was infuriatingly glib over the AIDS comment, tbh i turned it off at that

I'm 5 hours into the Mondays/Roses ones and I'm enjoying it, even though I can't stand most of the music (although if I have to choose, it's definitely the Mondays). Turns out this show works for me a lot better when I don't know the music or the story at all coming into it, I guess.

heh that was my takeaway too.

I did finish this epic, and it was a lot of fun but more than enough. One thing I wish it went into was ... maybe it was the second part, where the Stone Roses album finally comes out? After listening to her guests rhapsody about it, she kind of points out, politely, that the Roses album doesn't exactly sound revolutionary or anything, so why do people talk about it in such awed, revelatory terms? And what she gets back is more or less "you had to be there," which only half explains it. Because just like Yasi, I think the album is good, but it also sounds pretty standard sorta '60s styled guitar rock, not exactly mind blowing or anything.

Related, another helpful thing about this podcast is that I was always confused why so many of these "Madchester" acts struck me similarly, as just more or less standard rock with the occasional nod to dance music, whether one album ("Screamadelica," say) or one track ("Fools Gold"). As opposed to, for example, New Order, who fused guitars and machines more or less from day one. I guess the whole baggy scene was pretty fleeting, and for those couple of years sucked in everything remotely in the periphery, even if the only qualifying feature was the band's footwear.

I did love how both the Roses and Mondays camps were at times either pirating or bootlegging themselves, like a bunch of idiots. Like, the notion of the Roses buying their own laminating machine to print backstage passes to their own shows, that's ... something.

Yeah this Madchester episode is so up my alley, I love it. I do wish she had a proper Mancunian accent in the mix, but the guests are fine. I love the stories. There can never be too many Happy Mondays stories in the world.

their shared story about “seeing” the Roses for that last performance was so fucking funny, truly a top-tier episode for me

xxpost It was of course the Mondays that bought their own laminating machine, my bad. The Roses's shifty manager was the one selling bootleg Roses shirts and pocketing the money.

Yasi writes on Instagram that she lost her house and all her stuff in the Altadena fire. This is so bad.

:(((

oh man, that is awful, awful, awful.

devastating :( poor yasi

oh man, that’s horrible

Oh shit

Oh no, sorry to hear it.

The intro essay for this week’s episode about “uncool bands that seemed like grunge when you were a kid but arent” is delightful and SO in my wheelhouse, am having a blast over here