Unsung Podcast

Unsung Podcast
  • 4.2 (13)
  • MUSIC
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

If there was a definitive discography of classic albums, what should be in it? Hosts Mark Fraser and Chris Cusack, plus the occasional guest, discuss and dissect perceived classic albums to decide which albums would make this list. We also interview amazing artists, do genre deep dives and throw a journalistic lens on musical topics you might not know much about.

  1. Are Cabaret Voltaire Britain's Most Pioneering Electronic Act? (Side A) with P6 from Stretchheads, Desalvo and OMO

    3D AGO

    Are Cabaret Voltaire Britain's Most Pioneering Electronic Act? (Side A) with P6 from Stretchheads, Desalvo and OMO

    Cabaret Voltaire are no one thing. Depending on which corner of the internet you found us from, you might know them as the caustic Sheffield noise act who preceded post-punk, the sinister electro-industrial outfit with a penchant for evangelical samples and anti-fascist agitprop, or the dancefloor-adjacent act who fetched up on Factory's Belgian satellite label and made something close to club music. You're all correct. This week, we have a guide. Phil Eaglesham — P6, former front person of Stretchheads and De Salvo, current singer in OMO, musical walking tour operator, man of broad and alarming musical learnings — is here to help us navigate one of the most complex and wilfully uncommercial bands to come out of the UK, via their transitional compilation Eight Crepuscule Tracks. We trace the band's origins in a Sheffield attic in 1973, chart their debts to dub, Black American music, and the sci-fi soundscapes that shaped a generation of working-class ears, and make the case that Cabaret Voltaire — despite their apparent difficulty — were one of the most industrious and fundamentally political bands of their era. We also get into their time at Western Works Studio, which functioned less like a recording facility and more like the gravitational centre of an entire Sheffield scene; their complicated relationship with Rough Trade; and their connections to Joy Division, Lydia Lunch, Clock DVA, and the bands that would become the Human League and ABC. Along the way, Phil brings original artefacts including a signed 1979 TG/Cab Vol/Rema Rema poster from Tottenham Court Road, and the original 12-inches the album is built from. We also ask what would have happened to Cabaret Voltaire without punk — and conclude they'd likely have ended up an academic footnote rather than a foundational text. Highlights: 00:00 Intro 03:56 Meet Phil Eaglesham 07:47 P6 — The Name and the Character 09:29 Queer Identity in the Industrial Scene 12:55 Pseudonyms and Rockism 17:44 Cabaret Voltaire: The Basics 22:32 Sheffield, Western Works, and the Scene 25:18 Rough Trade, The Fall, and Being Prolific 29:10 Working-Class Roots and Industrial Culture 32:33 Sci-Fi Soundscapes and Electronic Prehistory 35:11 Musique Concrète to Cab Vol: How Close Were They? 36:13 Dadaism, Situationism, and Confrontational Art 38:40 Punk's Effect on Audiences (Not Just Music) 40:11 The Counterfactual: Cab Vol Without Punk 41:43 Black Music, Funk, and the DNA Nobody Talks About 43:39 New Wave, No Wave, and New York Connections 46:29 Factory Records, Crépuscule, and the Belgian Connection 47:49 Original Artefacts: Posters, 12-Inches, and History 50:31 Why Eight Crepuscule Tracks? 52:54 Looking Towards Next Week and Outro

    57 min
  2. Did Hollywood Kill Jóhann Jóhannsson?

    MAY 4

    Did Hollywood Kill Jóhann Jóhannsson?

    We don't often cover classical or neoclassical music, as it’s a wee bit out of our wheelhouse. But that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy it—often, our entry into that world is via film soundtracks. Jóhann Jóhannsson is a perfect example, having scored some of the most iconic films of the last 20 years. However, that’s only part of the story. Jóhannsson also released a series of acclaimed solo records; this week, we’re focusing almost exclusively on that solo output, while also providing an account of his life, his key cinematic works, and his tragic passing in 2018. We chart his path from early days in indie bands to the cross-genre think tank Kitchen Motors, and his meteoric rise as a composer for films like Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival, and The Theory of Everything (for which he won a Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination). From there, we take a closer look at his solo discography, including IBM 1401: A User’s Manual (built from his father’s vintage computer recordings), Fordlandia, and the short-film soundtrack And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees, as well as posthumous releases like Gold Dust. We cap things off with a discussion regarding his death and the question of whether the pressures of Hollywood played a role in his demise, before focusing exclusively on his 2016 masterpiece, Orphée. 00:00 Intro 03:56 Meet Jóhann Jóhannsson 07:47 Early Life And Indie Bands 09:29 Labels And Influences 12:55 Chris' Hildur Guðnadóttir Facebook Scam Story 17:44 Solo Albums Breakdown 22:32 IBM 1401 Masterpiece 25:18 Fordlandia And Later Works 29:10 Film Breakthrough And Awards 32:33 Blade Runner Score Rejected 35:11 Blade Runner Score Shakeup 36:13 Zimmer Versus Vangelis 38:40 Jóhann Interview Clues 40:11 Who Made The Call 41:43 mother! And The Scrapped Soundtrack 43:39 Experimental Sound Design 46:29 Final Projects And Legacy 47:49 Last And First Men 50:31 Posthumous Releases 52:54 Death And Tributes 55:39 Did Hollywood Kill Him 58:48 Orphée Album Deep Dive 01:08:32 Why His Music Matters

    1h 22m
  3. Rock and Roll Killing Machine by Drowningman

    APR 20

    Rock and Roll Killing Machine by Drowningman

    This week, we're talking about two things we think are quite interesting. First off, we chat about the early mathcore/metalcore band Drowningman and reflect on why they never quite reached the heights of their peers, such as Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan—bands they often found themselves touring with in the late 90s and early 00s. While that story is compelling in itself, Drowningman can also count themselves among the artists who tried to sabotage a contractual obligation to a record label. As the story goes, they hit the studio with Kurt Ballou (Converge, God City Studios) to record a very weird album, tentatively titled Best Album Ever. The record was never officially released; it was allegedly created with the sole intention of being purposefully bad in order to satisfy, and terminate, their two-album contract with Revelation Records. In the end it never saw the light of day. This got us thinking about other artists who have tried to escape their contractual obligations. We use this lens to take a wee sojourn into the annals of music history, unearthing stories of several big-name artists who tried, and sometimes succeeded, in doing something similar. We hope you enjoy! Highlights: 00:00 Intro 01:27 Skipping the Discourse 01:56 Viral Bands Debate 02:59 Patreon Pitch 05:37 Awkward Party Exits 06:17 Meet Drowningman 08:19 Origins and Scene 12:00 Early Releases Breakdown 16:07 Rock and Roll Killing Machine Era 21:07 Later Records and Fadeout 24:47 Did They Deserve Bigger 27:05 Contractual Obligation Albums 35:38 Ozzy Contract Loophole 36:25 Speak of the Devil Drama 38:05 Ozzy Album Aftermath 38:57 Neil Young vs Geffen 39:49 Beach Boys Owed Album 40:55 More Contract Escapes 42:40 Sisters of Mercy SSV 45:46 More Obligation Oddities 47:43 Rolling Stones Provocation 50:31 Zappa Lather Bootleg 51:25 Prince vs Warner Saga 57:42 Drowning Man Review 59:32 Track Highlights Breakdown 01:02:56 Final Verdict and Wrap 01:06:21 Outro and Thanks

    1h 19m
  4. FROM THE VAULT: Corollaries by Lubomyr Melnyk

    APR 13 ·  BONUS

    FROM THE VAULT: Corollaries by Lubomyr Melnyk

    This week's episode is another FROM THE VAULT as we travel back to one of our (sadly) many episodes that were recorded during the pandemic. This one is actually a condensing of two episodes on the weird/genius/odd/interesting music, and personality, of pianist Lubomyr Melnyk. Enjoy! Chris has been chomping at the bit to do this Lubomyr Melnyk album for a while. In fact, some may even remember that he brought it up during our Pandemic Mixtape. Well, the time has come to finally tackle this post-classical/minimalist work and in doing so we absolutely had to cover his…interesting thoughts on musical philosophy. Which cascades into his questionable thoughts on the actual science of how sound works. Which takes us down a big old rabbit hole, as I’m sure you can imagine. All of this to say that it takes us a while to get to the album as a result. Also, the dude’s done like 20+ albums (although we don’t cover all of them) so that’s another whole thing we had to deal with. We also talk about continuous music (the genre he reckons he’s in…of which he is the only practitioner), his incredible piano playing speed and a bunch more things. Our voyage into continuous music comes to a close as we dig into Lubomyr Melnyk’s eighteenth (!) album Corollaries. For the unfamiliar, Melnyk categorises his style as being something almost beyond classical music, yet this release sees him team up with neoclassical composers Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick. This album seemed to give Melnyk a new lease of life; upon getting together with Frahm and Broderick he stated “Where were you in my thirties?”, a statement that stands in stark contrast to his general aversion to playing with other musicians in the years before. There’s a lot to be said about Melnyk’s playing, and I think we cover most of that in the episode. Once again, potato quality audio from Mark but hey, it isn’t terrible.

    1h 35m
  5. FROM THE VAULT: Never Better by P.O.S

    APR 6 ·  BONUS

    FROM THE VAULT: Never Better by P.O.S

    THIS WEEK ON FROM THE VAULT we revisit episode 25 and our dive into Never Better by P.O.S. It's a great example of what this podcast does best, and we hope you dig this episode if you haven't heard it before. In the intro Mark talks a little about what's happened to P.O.S since too, specifically around the allegations made against him in 2020, his apology, and where he is now. Original shownotes follow: 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 drawn pretty clearly on this album. P.O.S himself was a punk kid, but growing up in the cultural and musical melting pot that is Minneapolis meant that there was a great deal of other influential music lurking just around the corner. Indeed, the diversity of the artists that come from the city is telling of the city's cultural and creative landscape. And did we mention that it was the home of Prince, perhaps one of the masters of genre-hopping? This is P.O.S third album, and like every album before or since, it's a singular musical, tonal entity in his oeuvre. He's artist that never wants to cover the same ground twice, and whilst we all couldn't necessarily agree on if each of his records are successful at melding together as many disparate influences as this one, we all certainly agreed that this is his best work. And we all agreed that this should indeed make it into our discography of unsung classics.

    1h 1m
  6. The Band That Made One Album About the End of the World (Then Disappeared)

    MAR 31

    The Band That Made One Album About the End of the World (Then Disappeared)

    You may be shocked to hear that Lift to Experience made one album. One. A ninety-minute double CD concept record about the apocalypse, set entirely in Texas, written by three boys from Pentecostal and Baptist backgrounds who genuinely believed they had something to say to God. And then, more or less, they vanished. In this episode we cover the Texas Jerusalem Crossroads in full — the vision behind it, the religious fervour that powered it, and the question of whether you need to share any of that fervour to find the record genuinely moving. We'd argue you don't, and the band themselves seemed fairly relaxed about that. We also get into the wider story, which turns out to be just as compelling as the music. The album that couldn't be bought in its home country for years. The label that mixed it without the band present and broke their hearts. The tour that never happened. The beard competition. The sandwich grill. Along the way we ask a question that feels increasingly relevant right now — what does it actually mean when Americans start singing about Texas as the site of the final battle between good and evil? In 2001 it seemed like a grand artistic conceit. In 2025 it feels a little different. Is the Texas Jerusalem Crossroads the unsung post rock record with actual things to say? We think so. But it's a ninety-minute album, so you've got time to make up your own mind. Highlights: 00:00 Intro and Whether We’re Actually Living in the End Times 03:11 Album Introduction 04:46 Millennium Anxiety 09:17 Band Origins 11:19 Sound and Influences 12:22 Post Rock With Vocals?! 17:33 Name and Release 19:48 Religion and Meaning 25:46 Art Versus Belief 29:46 Lyrics and Apocalypse 32:00 Track Highlights 33:51 Shoegaze Favourite Track 34:50 Dynamics of Cloud Nine 36:27 Maximalist Texas Vibes 37:03 Album Art Joke Explained 38:56 Religion and Tech Rants 40:53 UK Success US Absence 44:22 Recording Struggles and SXSW Myth 49:19 Bad Mix and Band Fallout 53:17 Aftermath and Cult Legacy 56:02 Reunion and 2017 Reissue 59:41 Remix Reviews and Changes 01:02:42 Apocalypse Talk and Final Thoughts 01:07:45 Outro

    1h 14m
  7. FROM THE VAULT: Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

    MAR 23 ·  BONUS

    FROM THE VAULT: Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

    This week we're throwing back to June 2018, when this pod was only six months old. Things were simpler - the research was less onerous, episodes were shorter (this would easily be a two parter these days), Dave was still part of the crew and the world wasn't ending... Godspeed You! Black Emperor don't really do brevity. They do epic, sweeping, often joyous, always elaborate, suites of music that are designed to move you. They're thorough, crafting songs with painstaking attention to detail. In keeping with the spirit of the band, we thought we'd do the same, so we present to your our longest episode yet. But trust us when we say that it's probably up there with our most interesting listens. We dive deep into the band's back catalogue, stopping along the way to talk about the politics of the band and yes, we do offer a take on some thorny subjects. With this band it's something that can often be inseparable from the way their music, and image, is presented, so it had to happen. The Foo Fighters Nexus also returns (jingle pending) and Chris has a full on GY!BE superfan nerdgasm, while Weaver whacks his politics degree on the table and Mark takes issue with the label "post-rock". This is a fun and captivating listen. We understand that the title of "best Godspeed album" is a contentious one, so we're intrigued to see if people agree with our decision to include this in our canon Unsung classics.

    1h 31m
  8. When Artists Aren't What They Seem - Ghost Bath Musical Catfishing and Hoax Bands - 380

    MAR 16

    When Artists Aren't What They Seem - Ghost Bath Musical Catfishing and Hoax Bands - 380

    You may be shocked to hear that musicians sometimes lie about who they are. Some may say this is not shocking at all - it's almost a tradition. But there's a meaningful difference between Ziggy Stardust and a band from North Dakota claiming to be a Chinese black metal act to game the press. In this episode we try to map that difference. We spend a healthy portion of time on what we're not talking about - aliases, concept bands, anonymity for anonymity's sake - before getting into the genuinely murky territory of bands that have used fabricated identities for commercial advantage. We cover the fake Zombies that toured America simultaneously in 1969, The Masked Marauders and the elaborate Rolling Stone prank that accidentally became a real album, Silibil n Brains, Dundee rappers who got signed to Island Records on the strength of their American accents, before discussing Ghost Bath, the project that brought this whole phenomenon into focus for us. Along the way we also get into AI-generated music, Milli Vanilli (and why what they did is arguably less dishonest than what plenty of current pop stars do routinely, and a genuinely unresolved case involving a supposedly Iraqi black metal band that may or may not have put its members in real danger. The question running through all of it: does context change how we hear music? And if it does — what does that say about us? Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 01:24 Catfish and Hoax Bands Explained 02:11 Patreon 05:10 Famous Death Hoaxes 05:42 Mystique Versus Scams 09:02 Not Aliases or Roleplay 10:43 Anonymity and Masks 13:23 Fake Touring Lineups 19:03 Concept Bands and Bits 24:28 AI Bands and Deception 27:54 Outright Music Scams 30:13 Milli Vanilli Then and Now 30:53 Pop Star Fraud Culture 33:39 Mask Marauders Hoax 35:20 Orion Elvis Impostor 38:50 Platinum Weird Backstory 40:25 Syllable American Rap Ruse 43:38 Jana Mystery Metal Band 46:06 Velvet Cocoon Troll Scam 48:36 Ghost Bath Identity Debate 54:40 Context and Cultural Relativism 58:10 Ghost Bath Fallout and Ethics 01:02:53 Outro

    1h 8m
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About

If there was a definitive discography of classic albums, what should be in it? Hosts Mark Fraser and Chris Cusack, plus the occasional guest, discuss and dissect perceived classic albums to decide which albums would make this list. We also interview amazing artists, do genre deep dives and throw a journalistic lens on musical topics you might not know much about.

Information

  • Creator
    Unsung Podcast
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    451
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Unsung Podcast
  • Show Website
    Unsung Podcast

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