//Music Friends//

Danny Bennett
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Music History

//Danny Bennett is a writer and when he’s writing and when he’s not he’s anxious//curious//restless//stoked on what he doesn’t know about music//Music Friends chips away at what Danny doesn’t know//Every episode covers two albums//One selected by Danny//One selected by one of his Music Friends//The selection is always recorded live and posted as a teaser for the next episode//Additional segments are posted with additional Music Friends here and there//

  1. Aug 26

    //28//

    //00:00//The Beatles' Revolver (1966)//On R.I.P. The Bunker*//On Cultural Scripture//On Church v. John Lennon by the numbers//On anthemic cultural shifts//On re-shaping conscious trajectories//On Revolver as the Sonic Moon Landing//On a Billy Elliot quote for the ages//On revolutionary implementation of technology as production//On sneaky Motown vibrations//On Bizarro Rubber Soul//On starting to make music not to be played live//On Pritchy--Mr. Sunshine//On Danny--hating all sunshiny Beatles songs//On Tomorrow Never Knows eternally//On Don Draper thinking Revolver was mid//On Taxman coming up repeatedly//On George levelling up helped to hit their ceiling and would ultimately rip them apart//On Taxman still//On 1 for you, 19 for me//On "You could recreate all of Rock n' Roll with Revolver"//   //(52:43)//The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)//On concept album scripture//On sneaky tidy album//On rock as high art//On Kaleidoscopic Parlor Pop//On rock as theatre//On song or vingette?//On sonically omniverous Sgt. Pepper's//On one's own strength buckling under the power of one's own strength a la Bo Jackson//On A Day in The Life//On Superior-deep metaphor//On an anxious lived-in experience//On Paul leading the way//On Mr. Kite's claustrophobic nature//On Lovely Rita truly being lovely//On the rock vanguard's biggest leap yet//On Within You and Without You as non-duel consciousness scripture//On being 'the one'//   //(1:38:04)//Preview of episode//29// *This episode got put through the ringer and I feel the need to lay it out.  I’d wanted to do Sgt. Pepper’s forever.  I knew I was going to do it with Pritch.  When he and my Mom came to help us with baby #2, we recorded a special teaser colored with a hyper speed backstory of The Beatles leading into their back-to-back albums covered here.  It was the first recording in the completed studio space I’d been chipping away at for 3+ years.  The room flooded two days after we recorded the teaser and I still can’t express my heartbreak to have had to tear it down over the course of a 24-hour period. R.I.P. The Bunker. We recorded the episode a few days after that, on schedule, in an impromptu location, and I blew the dunk on the setup in myriad ways.  The plan the whole way was to embed samples of Beatles songs to amplify the density and importance of tip-toeing on such hallowed ground.  I botched isolating the different tracks.  I botched a sophisticated sound check on my microphone.  The result was my mic sounding awful (Pritch’s sounding good as a consolation) and an inability to properly edit separate channels because I’d combined them improperly. I ran the audio through a lot of AI doctoring and EQ gymnastics and it sounded..ok.  I posted the episode and was proud of it but also distraught at the numerous ways this dream episode didn’t manifest in the way I wanted.  Spotify then pulled the episode from all platforms because I’d apparently used too long or too many Beatles samples.  On replay I can’t actually dispute either claim and perhaps I was distracted which had my mind off of that potential trip-up. The episode here in final form is the doctored version which siphoned off the music samples, enhanced my mic sound (significantly, which I’m happy about), and serves as the final draft of the podcast episode which took, by far, the most effort to complete.  Pritch and I are like Andy Dufresne climbing through football fields of shit to bring you this overwrought, overdramatic, overly thought-out overview of the peak of The Beatles career.  Enjoy.

  2. Apr 26

    //27//

    //00:00//Neil Young’s On The Beach (1974)//On Music Friends via Geese//On the perils and glory of vinyl addiction//On Neil enters the chat//On Neil as we know enters the chat//On American Hero Neil//On cautiously optimistic depression rock//On perfectly imperfect Neil//On Wurlitzer slap slap slap//On No Country For Honey Slides//On Sautéed Marijuana Depression Rock//On going to the radio interview and ending up alone//On 10 million dune buggies coming down the mountain//On Charlie Manson—secret genius??//On hating and secretly loving 80s Neil//On sneaky influential album//On artists left-turning// //(55:07)//Rosalía’s Lux (2025)//On life between your rosary and your cigarette case//On masterpiece obligation//On grappling with the grandeur and totality of this record//On shared shamelessness around Barcelona//On a sneaky breakup record//On the worst part of this album is Rosalía’s hotness//On let’s talk about Yves Tumor on Berghain//On celestially hypnotic Rosalía//On God Bless vinyl goodies//On the 3% being 84 separate entities//On being Mahomes in her pocket// //(2:05:14)//Preview of episode//28// Lux is Latin for light.  Only 18 words of the album’s 3,622 present in Western Civilization’s ancestral mother tongue, but don’t take the bait.  Lux is pursuant of it however it manifests for you.  Don’t take the bait or get distracted and eventually you’ll bask in it.   Maybe the contours of the movements will move you.  A holy and earthly thematic arc tracing the record that could make your favorite Prog band shudder.  Earthly existence juxtaposed with heaven.  Sacred and profane not separate poles to judge from but of a piece in humanhood at large.   Maybe.  Maybe not.  Beneath Spanish spoken or Ukrainian sung or Italian obliterated.  Below God and womanhood and what happens after.  Above the density, brilliance and grandeur is Rosalía’s voice.     With authority absolute and ambition approaching apex, across an album dripping with what is and isn’t divine, it’s her voice that is assuredly celestially hypnotic.

  3. 12/20/2025

    //26//

    //00:00//Coheed and Cambria's Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe [New Entities Edition] (2025)//On Koi Boyz assemble//On straight into THE LORE//On intimate Claudio//On Space Opera//On thumbs medium//On Dillon SMASHING the Nick Fell question//On King James Claudio//On Zakk Dickinson and Gold-Plated diapers//On more Andre flute//On best of Coheed??//ON MORE LORE//On earthed emotions sans lore//On "are we sure we're starting cryptic string motif then an accoustic song?"//On Good Apollo's accesible violence//On lore-master Dil//On the Amen Break//On the Keith Lapid question genesis//On heliocentric Keith-ball// //(1:16:56)//Jack's Mannequin's Everything In Transit (2005)//On concept//On before and after albums//On electric newness//On hook-downs//On roller skates being silly walking--legendary Dillon take//On I'm Ready laugh track//On legendary Andrew McMahon social commentary//On legendary dirty laundry commentary//On thank you Andrew McMahon for the best laugh of my decade//On least likely Tommy Lee cameo ever//On SoCo v. J'sM//On Andrew McMahon's voice sucking//On gimme any other singer//On everybody still being a mess//On doing things no one is asking for// //(2:22:42)//Preview of episode//26//

  4. 05/05/2025

    //25//

    //00:00//Tom Petty's Wildflowers (1994)//On love at first listen//On a true Music Friends record//On coming to it through The Heartland//On subconscious Wildflowers memory//On a Happy Music Sad Family record//On Most Things We Worry About Never Happen Anyway//On nourishment//On league-leading WPM and WORW for Zach//On not a party record//On back porch record Hall of Fame//On divisive Honey Bee//On maybe Coen Bros are too narrow a filmography//On sky-high VORP for Petty and Rubin and Tench//On Stan Lynch going Mid-Kanye//On Zach Leaving Virginia Alone//On difficulty pin-pointing Petty's most culturally resonant moment// //(1:10:04)//Tom Petty's Wildflowers & All The Rest (2020)//Alllllll The Rest//On desecrating Tom Petty's deliberate and specific desire to have Wake Up Time conclude the great work of his career//On tasteful re-ordering//On Ugliest Rock n' Roll Frontman Mount Rushmore//On tough pod for Stan Lynch Stans//On would you rather Heartbreakers or Solo stuff//On I turned around and he was gone//On Petty forever// //(1:28:07)//Preview of episode//26//

  5. 03/11/2025

    //24//

    //00:00//Kendrick Lamar's GNX (2024)//On commission assembled//On Peakaboo, Coach!//On an immidiate pantheon Los Angeles Album for episode//24//On Kobe 2-4 in July 1-0//On a bit Carter IIIish//On meticulous Kenny//On breezier Kendrick//On Grand Nationals not bein' rational//On exponential Reincarnated rise//On Kendrick's compression socks//On GNX to the summit for Danny//On the great rap war of 2024//On the seven game rap war//On Euphoria as moving Draymond to the 5//On giving Drake his due//On sinister Meet The Grahams//On JF going back to Eminem, again//On Drake taking his eye off the ball//On Luka Booker Game Seven//On R.I.P. shopping rap//On Drake The Appropriator//On "Hey Drake, I hear you like acting"// //(1:17:44)//Kendrick Lamar's ⁠Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022)⁠//Recorded 5-17-2022//On grown Kendrick//On shepherd Kendrick//On therapy//On Eckhart Tolle and Kodak Black back-to-back//On the hurt hurting others//On singular Kendrick//On the holy quadology of pop stardom//On not savior Kendrick//On the Kyrie stamp of approval//On Kodak's imperfections as our imperfections?//On humor sprinkles//On early Eminem tracks// //(2:13:03)//Kendrick Lamar's ⁠DAMN. (2017)⁠//Recorded 4-17-2017//On the To Pimp a Butterfly release valve//On the uptempo vs. downtempo ratio//On wickedness vs. weakness//On the depth of Kendrick//On back-to-back-to-back champs//On bedroom rap//On mysterious Kendrick//On not doing it for the gram//On forcing his way into the conversation//On storytelling wizardry//On Kendrick's 2016 Finals' comeback moment//On Mike Will energy//On covering all the bases// //(2:57:41)//Preview of episode//25//

  6. 03/10/2025

    //23//

    //00:00//Lou Reed's Transformer (1972)//On going solo!//On being hard to pin down//On all roads leading to Little Richard//On being smart, sensitive and intense//On electroshock//On The Beatles, again//On being in the main tent of the Andy Warhol circus//On Velvet Underground's not so underground resonance//On Vicious's viciousness//On a sneak Bowie masterpiece//On Hendrix always//On a beautiful accident of a record (?)//On keeping going--you don't know when and how things will hit unless you do//On Bowie casually crafting a classic// //(37:49)//Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)//On PJ life//On your notebook as the gym where your thoughts get swole//On RZA as the hood Lorne Michaels//On Raekwon's time to be Honey Nut Cheerios//On beachside writing//On the 5%ers//On low-key RZA//On total mythical cultural saturation//On The Staircase to Stage//On all hail the Purple Tape// //(1:17:09)//Preview of episode//24//

  7. 10/08/2024

    //22//

    //00:00//Peter Gabriel's So (1986)//THE DAD POD//On Daddest-Mommest albums//On Albums as social phenomenon//On Generational Sgt. Pepper's importance//On Art Pop World Rock//On Gabriel out of the closet//On the JF "In Your Eyes" necklace//On "Is That Jimmy Buffet's music??"//On Bumper Cars Bumpin'//On JF on African Love Songs//On JF 2 Beers//On poor Freud and Jung discourse//On JF 3 Beers//On Basketball intermissions//On Graceland Drive-bys//On Gabriel strange-ness//On Lanois and there finally being women at the shows//On Total Mythical Cultural Gabriel Saturation//On The Art vs. Cash tension// //(54:32)//Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV (1971)//On The Daddest album of them all//On Led Zeppelin = departure from rock destination cosmos//On JF 4 Beers//On copping a Stairway to Heaven//On my Mom Going To California//On waiting around for the next Zeppelin record//On the sterling pseudo-un-cancellable LZ brand//On Zeppelin for the brews, Floyd for the joints//On The Avengers of proto-metal//On JF 5 Beers//On all roads leading to Prince//On the 2017 Led Zeppelin Warriors roster//On John Paul Jones Draymond//On Julian wondering if Jimmy Page is actually good?//On JF 6 Beers//On Plant or Page as Leonardo?//On it still being all about Stairway//On JF doing Plant//On JF 7 Beers//On "Haaave a gooood one" lololololololol// //(1:45:29)//The 20th High School Reunion Podcast!!//On it's gotta be Limp Bizkit//On Freakish Saves The Day fandom//On 8 whole minutes before Blink gets mentioned//On Gen Blink//On an early match!//On Danny hero ball//On Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gateway band//On Dashboard Unplugged FTW//On cassettes, burned CDs and VHSs//On getting older and connecting deeper//On ear condoms//On Keith 7.5 folder only//On Tidal Waves of electric violin//On ghosts of Music Friends' past//On explaining to my son what Pepsi Points were//On The Matches ruling always//On all roads leading to Arcade Fire//On essential MySpace references//On Rihanna ref #3// //(3:19:34)//Preview of episode//23//

  8. 06/29/2024

    //21//

    //00:00//Mariachi El Bronx's Mariachi El Bronx (I) (2009)//On listening changing over time//On pod brain v. music brain//On [Cough-f-theran]//On tasteful cultural appropriation//On better to outro than fadeaway//On your whole life to make your first album and 4 weeks to make your second//On Aqua Teen Mariachi Force//On not belonging to any time period//On following your creative instincts//On total, mythical, mariachi saturation//On Craig Finn El Bronx//On favorite albums// //(1:23:29)//Arcade Fire's Neon Bible (2007)//On evangelical AF fandom//On sacrificial listenability for purposeful album dedication//On Win Butler gloomathoning//On a sneaky Heartland record//On a sneaky New Orleans band//On a sneaky Ocean album//On liking music better than art//On the greatest rock act of the century (?)//On Radiohead being for the (middle-aged) people//On Régine is the spice of life//Win Butler Cultural Foreshadowing//On what exactly a Good Christian Man means//On living in an age that calls darkness light//On Black Mirrors//On where to place your most important words// //(2:49:02)//!!2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show Top Five All-Time!!//On Surprise! You're Middle-Aged!//67'-92' "Let's Send a Positive Message" Era//93'-04' "Wait, Why Haven't We Been Booking Stars For This Thing?" Era//05'-Present "The Artist Is The Theme, Let's Sell More Pepsi!" Era//On the transparency of the SBHTS//On key ingredients of a classic SBHTS//On honorable mentions and a surprise cringe choice//On 34 minutes of preamble!// //James////5//Bruno Mars (2014)////4//Beyoncé (2013)////3//Lady GaGa (2017)////2//Michael Jackson (1993)////1//Prince (2007)// //Danny////5//Kendrick Lamar (2025)////4//Shakira and JLo (2020)////3//U2 (2002)////2//Prince (2007)////1//Lady GaGa (2017)⁠// //(3:59:49)//Preview of episode//22//DAD POD!//

See All (28)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

//Danny Bennett is a writer and when he’s writing and when he’s not he’s anxious//curious//restless//stoked on what he doesn’t know about music//Music Friends chips away at what Danny doesn’t know//Every episode covers two albums//One selected by Danny//One selected by one of his Music Friends//The selection is always recorded live and posted as a teaser for the next episode//Additional segments are posted with additional Music Friends here and there//

Information

  • Creator
    Danny Bennett
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Danny Bennett
  • Show Website
    //Music Friends//