Best Bleav Unsung Podcast Podcasts (2024)

1
Hide the Kitchen Knives by The Paper Chase - 332 2:01:41

3h ago2:01:41

2:01:41

John Congleton is a great producer, and as it turns out, also a great musician. The Paper Chase were, for many years, his only musical project and even as his star began to rise as a producer, he was still churning out unsettling, chromatic, occasionally catchy, often nasty music. Often described as a combination of avant-garde jazz, indie and punk…

1
Unsong: Animal Nitrate by Suede - 331 58:51

1h ago58:51

58:51

Long terms fans of the show will know that we've spent altogether far too much time talking about Britpop. And the bad news is that it looks like it's ABOUT BECOME ALL ANYONE TALKS ABOUT when Oasis announce their reunion. We recorded this episode before those rumours started to creep out. Funny how these things happen. Anyway, Mark fell into a Sued…

1
Covermount Mixtape: Mojo Presents: Ok_Computer - 330 1:16:03

13d ago1:16:03

1:16:03

A quick note of correct: we haven't done a Mojo covermount before. It was Uncut, but the audience for both magazines was/is broadly the same... Or so Mojo would have you believe. We'll be honest: the bag of covermounts is full of questionable CDs, so it was actually something of a surprise to land on something interesting. This Mojo covermount is, …

1
PATREON BONUS UNLOCKED: In Session with Stoffel from Yacøpsæ 51:48

17d ago51:48

51:48

A few months ago we covered Tanz, Grozny Tanz by Yacøpsæ and if you listened to that episode, we mentioned how we'd reached out to the band for some info. They didn't get back to us in time, but band member Stoffel was keen to hear the podcast, so we sent him a link to it. Luckily he was a fan, but there was a few points he wanted to clear up. Afte…

1
Baader Meinhof by Baader Meinhof w/ Luminous - 329 1:44:14

24d ago1:44:14

1:44:14

Can you believe it was back in February 2020 when we did our Britpop mixtape? How wild is that? This week we're joined by Glaswegian musician Andy Isacsson, otherwise known as Luminous, who has picked this week’s record. We chat at length about his latest record, Precarious Karma, which took him about a decade to complete. We dive into the influenc…

1
Manic Compression by Quicksand - 328 1:43:59

15d ago1:43:59

1:43:59

Is this a controversial choice? Quicksand's debut album Slip is widely regarded a classic, and in my quarters the band are seen as being hugely influential. So in many ways, picking their second album, Manic Compression, as an unsung classic seems like a no-brainer. On this episode, Chris talk about why this album is not just an unsung classic, but…

1
Hour of the Ox by Katie Kim - 327 1:43:29

1M ago1:43:29

1:43:29

Hailing from Ireland, Katie Kim is an artist who has demonstrated remarkable musical growth over the course of her career so far. Evolving from lo-fi folk to dark, experimental, haunting, almost ambient alternative rock. This week, we talk about her entire discography, before diving into her riveting fourth album, Hour of the Ox.…

1
Eight Arms to Hold You by Veruca Salt - 326 1:44:30

29d ago1:44:30

1:44:30

One thing that we find particularly fun about this podcast (most of the time) is re-appraising records from our youth. Taking a closer, critical look at something you were once super familiar with is often eye opening. Particularly if it's a record you remember liking a lot at one time but have since stopped listening to. Most of the time, it's a f…

1
Vanishing Vision by X Japan - 325 1:26:50

1M ago1:26:50

1:26:50

X Japan have released a proper studio album since 1996. They did release a soundtrack in 2016, and released the occasional single too, but as for a longer release? Nada. Zilch. Of course, some of this is down to the fact they essentially broke up and only reunited in 2007. In this episode, we'll be talking about their 5 studio albums. Chris' album …

1
The History and Tragedy of X Japan - 324 56:09

2M ago56:09

56:09

There's been a fair amount of ink spilled on X Japan over the years in certain media outlets. You can even find recent interviews with drummer/pianist/primary songwriter and Japanese megastar Yoshiki in prestigious publications like Time magazine. X Japan, however, remain something of an enigma on British shores. Sure, Yoshiki – a classically train…

1
The Music of James Bond (Side B) - 323 2:01:36

3M ago2:01:36

2:01:36

We knew this episode was gonna grow arms and legs when we realised that there are 27 Bond songs to talk about. So, now that we've dispensed with the history of Bond music, it's time to tackle every single one of these songs in chronological order. This doesn't include the original Bond theme from Dr. No (cause we discussed that at length in side A)…

1
The Music of James Bond (Side A) - 322 1:42:00

3M ago1:42:00

1:42:00

What if we told you that the musical history of James Bond is actually so much more interesting than the history of the films? And that's not knocking the history of the films - they're plenty fascinating too. The music though? Super interesting. From the theory and the cultural cache of the Bond song, to the near misses and the rejected tracks, we…

1
Mata Leão by Biohazard w/ Scott Walker from Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast - 321 2:12:10

3M ago2:12:10

2:12:10

If it feels like the length of our episode are getting longer on average then you’d be correct. This is likely because we have lost all pretence of restraint around how comprehensive we are. This week, we’re joined by Scott Walker for the Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast to do a fairly definitive overview of the band Biohazard. A band who are als…

1
The Steve Albini Retrospective (Side B) - 320 2:23:18

3M ago2:23:18

2:23:18

Here it is. Another whopper of an episode. But this one has lots and LOTS of contributors. From one time and former hosts and a bunch of your suggestions too, we tried to be as comprehensive as possible within our little sphere of listeners. Thanks for your contributions to this episode. It really made it feel like a communal affair, and that's an …

1
The Steve Albini Retrospective (Side A) - 319 1:09:32

4M ago1:09:32

1:09:32

Steve Albini's impact on alternative music is undeniable. From the sheer number of artists he collaborated with to his unwavering defense of fair treatment for musicians, his presence continues to be felt. His anti-capitalist views on the music industry may not have always aligned with everyone's, but his convictions were never in doubt. This influ…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 38 - La Roux by La Roux 1:10:36

4M ago1:10:36

1:10:36

This week, much like last week, wanted to provide a vault episode that was a contrast to Thursday, and you can't get much further away from Thursday than La Roux. Chris is a huge fan of this album and because Dave and Mark couldn't quite believe that, this record and episode continually gets referenced on various episodes. It's just so improbable, …

1
Common Existence by Thursday (Side B) w/ Sean Patrick Campbell (Damn Teeth, Thin Privilege) - 318 2:15:40

4M ago2:15:40

2:15:40

If you thought we'd prattled on about the history of Thursday a little too much in episode one well we've got some news for you - part two is a BEAST. It's 2 hours and 15 minutes long. Why? Because that's the unsung way. We give their discography a thorough analysis whilst continuing to chart the band's history. We also hear about how Geoff Rickly …

1
FROM THE VAULT: UNSONG - Real American by Rick Derringer 41:25

4M ago41:25

41:25

Turns out that Chris and Mark are big wrestling fans. Mark moreso than Chris, but still, probably something only die hard fans of the pod are aware of. That's not the reason we did an episode on Rick Derringer's Real American though (otherwise known as Hulk Hogan's theme song). It's because the song is great and comes with a pretty mad story. So ye…

1
Common Existence by Thursday (Side A) w/ Sean Patrick Campbell (Damn Teeth, Thin Privilege) - 317 1:01:47

4M ago1:01:47

1:01:47

As a die-hard Thursday fan, this week's guest comes right out the gates in explaining why Thursday he'll always love. And as it turns out, they're quite an easy band to love due to their ethics and overall affability as a band. Geoff Rickly himself often comes across earnestly and well in interviews, which is something Chris is keen to point out an…

1
FROM THE VAULT: The Nu Metal Mixtape 1:20:33

4M ago1:20:33

1:20:33

Just over 6 years ago we came up with an idea. Well, Chris did, to be precise. What if we do an episode where we each pick an album and then put them head to head, with the public deciding which one is best. That's how our mixtape was born. Since then, it's kinda moved away the format of each of us picking an album and backing it, and started to be…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 209 – The History of the Covermount CD 1:19:15

4M ago1:19:15

1:19:15

The covermount CD is certainly a relic from a bygone era. We actually have a bag full of them, all acquired through various means, none of them worth anything. But when was the covermount CD, or tape born, why, and what were the political and economic factors involved in magazines creating them, and artists getting on them? We break it all down in …

1
Covermount Mixtape: Radio Kerrang! Vol. 6 (Side B) w/ Grant Donaldson (Moni Jitchell) - 316 1:16:50

5M ago1:16:50

1:16:50

With the exception of Soul Asylum and the Presidents of the USA, unless you were seriously tuned into Kerrang! and/or alternative music in the 90s there are very few bands you'll remember, let alone recognise, in the back half of this CD. Bullyrag, Janus Stark, Pulkas, Cecil, Pissing Razors and Genitorturers have all vanished more or less into obli…

1
Covermount Mixtape: Radio Kerrang! Vol. 6 (Side A) w/ Grant Donaldson (Moni Jitchell) - 315 54:11

5M ago54:11

54:11

This week Grant Donaldson joins us to talk about this Kerrang! covermount CD that came out during the hey day of nu metal. Turns out Grant is quite unfamiliar with nu metal so this was a real fun episode. In side A we talk about the first half of this CD, which includes the talents of Jerry Cantrell, Everclear, Bad Religion, Psycore and One Minutes…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Sound is a Pound Episode 1 - (Onka's Big Moka by Toploader) 19:49

5M ago19:49

19:49

Born from a fever dream, Mark had the idea to review records found in poundland. You used to be able to get some primo garbage for a quid. Sadly, you can no longer buy CDs in poundland but the memory lives on. To that end, we thought it'd be fun to revisit the first in our series called Sound is a Pound. And on episode one, we reviewed Onka's Big M…

1
The Jingle-Bangers and Adver-tunes Mixtape (Side B) - 314 1:00:17

5M ago1:00:17

1:00:17

We break down the usage of music in ads into four categories: best original ad jingles and songs, songs made famous by adverts, famous songs best appropriated, songs ruined by ads. We also hear from our listeners on their favourite and least favourite tunes in adverts.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
The Jingle-Bangers and Adver-tunes Mixtape (Side A) - 313 48:07

5M ago48:07

48:07

Given the sheer amount of work we've done lately on the pod, we thought we'd do something a little easy and do an episode on music in advertising. Except, it actually turned out to NOT be that easy because, well, this is a pretty fascinating topic. In part one we talk about the history of music in advertising and pick a couple of examples.…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 68 - Terrifyer by Pig Destroyer 1:29:35

5M ago1:29:35

1:29:35

We've been on a real run of pulling out shows from 2019 recently and it seems the trend is not gonna break this week. We decided that we'd double down on the heavy, dirty misery of Yacøpsæ and revisit our episode on Pig Destroyer. Y'know, a proper grindcore band.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
Tanz, Grosny, Tanz by Yacøpsæ (Side B) with Joe McGlynn from Man Must Die, Go Down Fighting and the Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast - 312 1:29:39

5M ago1:29:39

1:29:39

It's time to get really grindy and real with the band's more recent material, which is very fast, brutal and dark. It's a bracing but also fun. This band have a lot of songs but it's all quite short, so you can really batter through their discography in short order. Joe also gives us some of his thoughts on the band and then we get to the nexus.…

1
Tanz, Grosny, Tanz by Yacøpsæ (Side A) with Joe McGlynn from Man Must Die, Go Down Fighting and the Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast - 311 1:02:37

5M ago1:02:37

1:02:37

There's a fair chance you haven't heard of Yacøpsæ before unless you're very much in tune with DIY grind/powerviolence. One of the things we started this podcast to do was to shine a light on great bands were think are truly unsung. This band are one such example of that. They're very underground, and are very, very, very brutal. In part one we tal…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 90 - Shaking the Habitual by The Knife 1:35:16

5M ago1:35:16

1:35:16

We're throwing it back to Sept 2019 on this episode, as Chris talks about an album he adores - Shaking the Habitual by The Knife. This was the band/act that Karin was in before they did Fever Ray and it is very very good indeed. Hope you dig this look back!By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
Radical Romantics by Fever Ray (Side A) - 309 45:58

5M ago45:58

45:58

When we suggested doing Fever Ray after our episode on The Knife's Shaking the Habitual back in Sept 2019, this album didn't even exist. Indeed, Radical Romantics now takes the title of the most recent album covered on Unsung. Back in 2019 Chris would have picked their debut album but as you can see, that's now longer the album he thinks is the bes…

1
Radical Romantics by Fever Ray (Side B) - 310 1:02:36

5M ago1:02:36

1:02:36

And to wrap up our two episodes on Fever Ray we talk about Plunge before Chris goes deep on why their new album, Radical Romantics, is the best thing they've yet done.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 140 - The Ugly Organ by Cursive 1:21:16

5M ago1:21:16

1:21:16

The pandemic was still stalking the world when we recorded this episode, so you'll have to bear with the sound quality. It's decent, mind, but recorded remotely. Anyway, this was, until recently, our only flirtation with a Saddle Creek artist so we thought it fittings to bring this one out of the vault. We do talk a little about the label, Bright E…

1
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes w/ Kyle Wood from Lovers Turn to Monsters (Side C) - 308 49:15

5M ago49:15

49:15

THE CONCLUSION. Kyle's still alive. Barely. In side C we get to the point of this whole sorry triumvirate of episodes: to discuss Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. And the nexus. Of course.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes w/ Kyle Wood from Lovers Turn to Monsters (Side B) - 307 56:43

5M ago56:43

56:43

Kyle's still with us in this episode, but he's dreaming about taking a bath. Which we kept him from. Sorry. Sadly, there was work to do. And that work is to continue our chat about Bright Eyes' back catalogue, covering everything from Fevers and Mirrors to Down In the Weeds, Where the World One Was.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes w/ Kyle Wood from Lovers Turn to Monsters (Side A) - 306 57:55

5M ago57:55

57:55

This week we're joined by Kyle Wood, who creates music under the name of Lovers Turn to Monsters. He has chosen Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes, claiming rather boldly, that it's amongst the band's best work. Which many fans would no doubt disagree with. In side A we talk a wee bit about Conor Oberst, his history, the pre-Bright Eyes mo…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 210 - The Covermount Mixtape: Radio Kerrang! Vol. 5 1:22:33

6M ago1:22:33

1:22:33

Calling in our good friend Crag from Australia, we chat about the covermount CD from a 1998 issue of Kerrang! The CD is called, obviously, Radio Kerrang! Vol. 5 and it has an intro from the Deftones and an exclusive Soulfly track on it. Remember how bad nu-metal could be at times? Well, it's all on display in this pearler of a collection. Relive it…

1
The Unsung History of Turbofolk (Side D) - 305 37:43

6M ago37:43

37:43

On this episode we look at modern turbofolk. It's still hugely popular in some areas of the Balkans, in particular Croatia. So we dive into some recent examples from the genre and then take a wee peek into what the future of the genre might be.By Bleav + Unsung Podcast

1
The Unsung History of Turbofolk (Side C) - 304 41:17

6M ago41:17

41:17

Last week was heavy. We ended on a pretty sour note. This week is slightly better if only because you get to hear some actual music and we talk a lot less about war criminals. Operative word here being less; we're talking about Ceca this week which means we must talk about Arkan. After that we then get start to look at some of the other popular tur…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 71 - Weezer (White Album) by Weezer 1:23:54

6M ago1:23:54

1:23:54

Turbofolk is heavy. Not musically. Thematically. You'll notice that, if you've made it through both episodes, that Side B ends with Weezer, so for this week's From the Value episode we thought, let's go back to that episode! The band have a massive back catalogue. One which has only grown since. It's a tough listen at times, but we did it. Rumour h…

1
The Unsung History of Turbofolk (Side B) - 303 49:46

6M ago49:46

49:46

WARNING: This episode contains some pretty hideous shit. We play samples and quote some truly despicable lyrics. Now that we've laid the foundations for what turbofolk is and the environment from which it came, we talk about some actual music in side B. We looked at Rate Your Music's list of the most critically acclaimed turbofolk albums and decide…

1
The Unsung History of Turbofolk (Side A) - 302 47:33

6M ago47:33

47:33

Turbofolk is basically Serbian, and sometimes occasionally Balkan, pop music. It's something of a thriving scene these days - think eurodance with traditional Balkan rhythms - but it's origins are very, very murky. It came to prominence in Serbia during the Yugoslav wars in the 90s, and was heavily exploited by Slobodan Milosevic government. In fac…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 145 - Mitch's Movie Mixtape (Side B) 1:40:00

6M ago1:40:00

1:40:00

Four people with a bunch of songs each is, as it turns out, a whole lot of songs to talk about. That's why Mitch's Movie Mixtape is split into two parts. Across both episodes, the first of which you can find here, we chat about our favourite needle drops in films. We also talk about why they work and also chat more generally about film. Mark even d…

1
Any Other City by Life Without Buildings (Side B) - 301 1:12:06

6M ago1:12:06

1:12:06

Modern post-punk music (the post-punk revival revival?) has a fair few acts that all indulge in sprechgesang and sprechstimme vocals. From Dry Cleaning and Squid to Idles and Fontaines D.C., there's a whole lot of artists out there using the same vocal technique that Sue Tompkins deploys effectively on Any Other City. In part two we chat about mode…

1
Any Other City by Life Without Buildings (Side A) - 300 48:29

6M ago48:29

48:29

In part one we chat a little about Life Without Buildings and their origins. In doing so, we're forced to reckon with the particular vocal style of Sue Tompkins. In some quarters it's been quite divisive (there's a particularly bad NME interview that is a good example of this) but really her style is part of a much longer and larger legacy, one tha…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 144 - Mitch's Movie Mixtape (Side A) 1:28:55

6M ago1:28:55

1:28:55

With our levels of existential dread reaching the normal level following our episodes on The Haxan Cloak, we thought we'd stick on the movie theme but go in a completely different direction for this week's From the Vault episode. We're going back to pandemic times and revisiting our excellent two part movie mixtape with our good friend Mitch Bain. …

1
Excavation by The Haxan Cloak (Side B) - 299 1:13:38

6M ago1:13:38

1:13:38

We wrap up this week's dual episodes on The Haxan Cloak with Mark going deep into the Returnal soundtrack, doing a quick drive-by on the Beef soundtrack, touching on a couple of other movie scores, before taking Excavation on in its entirety. Due to the hype around Excavation when it came out, we go on quite the tangent about PR in music. We discus…

1
Excavation by The Haxan Cloak (Side A) - 298 48:16

6M ago48:16

48:16

Diving deep into the discography of R.E.M. rapidly turned into a sorta of existential torture, particularly as we got towards the end of their career. So what did we decide to follow it up with? A journey into what existential despair may ACTUALLY sound like with The Haxan Cloak. Under the guise of The Haxah Cloak, Bobby Krilc has only released two…

1
FROM THE VAULT: Episode 93 - Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol 1:32:35

7M ago1:32:35

1:32:35

This week's From the Vault episode is from the pre-pandemic days when we were starting to get into the flow of how this show goes. There's still a few rough edges, but the dynamic and banter are all here. There's some particularly spirited debate in this episode where Chris talks about one of his favourite albums ever and Mark absolutely detests ev…

1
New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M. (Side D) - 297 51:39

7M ago51:39

51:39

Well, we did it. We got to the end of R.E.M.'s discography and now we turn our attention to the album that started this journey in the first place - New Adventures in Hi-Fi-. Chris explains to us why he thinks it's unsung classic, and grapples with the possibility that his choice may not have been the right one. And as ever, we drop the nexus too. …

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