What Is This Music?!

Malcolm Fraser
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  • MUSIC INTERVIEWS

A podcast about the mysteries of musical taste — why we like the music we like (and hate what we hate). Hosted by Malcolm Fraser, writer/musician/filmmaker based in Montreal.

  1. 12/28/2023

    Episode 35: Sean Kelly - Hair to the Throne

    Sean Kelly is a longtime musician and the author of Don't Call It Hair Metal: Art in the Excess of '80s Rock (ECW Press, 2023). He joins me to talk about why people dismiss hair metal, Sean's "duality of mind" regarding problematic lyrics, Brian Vollmer of Helix, our shared love of Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen, metal's prejudice against keyboards, the lines between musical taste, identity and insecurity, and a whole bunch of 80s rock talk. Check out Sean's Spotify playlist documenting the history of hair metal, one song per year from 1978-1991.

    40 min

  2. 05/17/2023

    Episode 34: Steve Byrne - Metal Breakdown

    Psychologist, professor, writer, and metalhead Steve Byrne joins me for a big discussion about the psychology of extreme music fandom. We get into the weeds on how heavy music serves unmet needs, the distinctions (and similarities) between metal and punk, oppositional defiant disorder, musical and psychological dynamics, gatekeeping in extreme music communities, and more. Read Steve's blog Metal Health Matters and his article on gatekeeping in metal for Loudwire.

    55 min

  3. 05/01/2023

    Episode 33: Tracey Lindeman - Productive Rage

    Tracey Lindeman is a journalist and the author of BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care (ECW Press, 2023). She joins me to discuss discovering punk rock through the book Please Kill Me, why people hate ska, machismo in punk, the value of anger, and more. Photo: Benjamin Cruz Spotify playlist of Tracey's chapter titles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6IyjdJidJScKFBMaCCr7pL?si=0184c9184c39497e Playlist inspired by BLEED: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FwoZa0hegizExjnDIKrC4?si=1ae0f5eb5f2a442e

    38 min

  4. 04/17/2023

    Episode 32: Jason Schreurs - Therapeutic Punk

    Photo: Megan Cole Jason Schreurs describes his mental health struggles, and his connection to punk music, in the podcast and new book Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey Through Mental Health. He joins me to discuss his book, getting into punk through metal, music we pretend to dislike, fronting perhaps the world's first and only punk jam band, and more. Buy Jason's book or find out more about his project at https://screamtherapyhq.com/.

    38 min

  5. 06/10/2022

    Episode 31: Lily E. Hirsch - From Politics to Parody

    Musicologist Lily E. Hirsch joins me for a conversation about her many projects. We touch on everything from music used to repel teenagers from public spaces, to parenting and music lessons, to toxic ideas about musical genius, to her recent book on Weird Al, and much more.   Find out more about Lily's work at lilyhirsch.com.

    39 min

  6. 01/16/2022

    Episode 30: David John Baker - Melodic Memory

    Scientist, researcher and musician David John Baker first came to my attention through his involvement with the Music For Brainwaves project, an experiment with designing music to invoke certain mental and emotional states. In addition to discussing this, we talk about the overlap of music and science, what it means to be "musical," the perception of genre, Big Data's role in shaping musical taste, and other topics. Find out more about Dave and his work on his personal website or follow him on Twitter @davidjohnbaker. For those curious, the work Dave refers to on the episode regarding streaming recommendations is by Brian Miller: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/twentieth-century-music/article/why-the-next-song-matters-streaming-recommendation-scarcity/B2584C7C27DB8314121F4B45049EDEC2

    49 min

  7. 12/03/2021

    Episode 29: In the Valley

    A fan raises the metal horns for Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf at Hellfest 2014 On this Very Special Episode, I discuss the beginnings of What Is This Music?! at the Hellfest metal festival in France in 2014, and give an overview of where the project is at, touching on the audience for stoner/doom metal, theories about genre and musical communities, science and technology, and assorted random thoughts. Further reading: my 2014 report on Hellfest for Vice—and, if you want to go really deep, my companion report on the neighbouring snail-sampling station entitled Shellfest.

    20 min

  8. 08/29/2021

    Episode 28: Nick Fraser - Sibling Revelry

    Noted Toronto jazz drummer (and my brother) Nick Fraser joins me to talk about the concept of genre, musical narcissism, the difficulty in separating music from nostalgia, why he loves (and so many people hate) free jazz, what he looks for in music, and (of course) Rush, among other topics. Find Nick's recordings, gigs and news on his website. And stick around after the interview for a major What Is This Music?! announcement. Photo of Nick by Bo Huang.

    1h 3m
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About

A podcast about the mysteries of musical taste — why we like the music we like (and hate what we hate). Hosted by Malcolm Fraser, writer/musician/filmmaker based in Montreal.

Information

  • Creator
    Malcolm Fraser
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2023
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    What Is This Music?!