Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran & Babs Barbara Mendes-Jorge

Joined by content creator, musician, amateur historian, YouTuber, journalist & author Christian Patrick, we're discussing two glam bands on, arguably, the opposite of the fame spectrum this week...

First up, another sacred cow under the microscope - we're talking about behemoths Queen, specifically their output from the 70's...like most people, Christian, Fran & Babs like some of their output - but going into the discussion, we all agree that they're overrated...will a five-track playlist change anyone's mind?

Christian is close friends with his underrated pick - Swedish band and Eurovision participants The Ark - having met them when he was living in Milan. He's such a fan, he even wrote a book about them. Fran already knew the band - and says the best gig he probably has ever seen was their show at Barfly (!) - but Babs doesn't know them very well (although it turns out, she had known their Swedish-language song Kolla Kolla from the film Shortbus). Can she be convinced to become a fan on a similar level to Christian or Fran?

Christian is on Instagram @Obscurist_Tourist. Check out Christian's YouTube channel Obscurist Tourist, for "travel videos and reviews of hidden gems, quirky places, and all things off the beaten path." He also has a website. Christian's book on the Ark is called 'No End: The Story Of The Ark'.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's Part II of our Record Label special, where we're talking about Wilmington, Delaware's Jade Tree Records (check out Part I where we discussed Washington DC's Dischord Records).

Fran & Babs hadn't previously heard of Jade Tree Records - and didn't know many of the bands on their roster. Founded in 1990 and initially focused on post-hardcore and noise rock bands, Jade Tree began incorporating emo, punk, melodic hardcore, and experimental groups later on that decade. Chris & Mark make a good case for it being underrated, picking five interesting, diverse acts from the label.

Check out Chris & Mark's ⁠Unsung Podcast⁠, especially the two Muse episodes Fran & Babs guested on (Side A & Side B) as well as the Millionaire episode which sees Babs discuss some of her fave Belgian music in depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Mark & Chris' playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's a different approach for today's episode - our guests have picked two different record labels and five bands who released records from them to make up each playlist, and we're all discussing whether a label can be classified as overrated or underrated.

In Part I we're talking about Washington DC's Dischord Records, an ⁠independent record label⁠ specializing in ⁠punk rock⁠, co-founded by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye & Minor Threat's Jeff Nelson.

As people involved in the punk scene, Mark & Chris have been extremely influenced by both the music and ethos of the label - Dischord is notable for employing a DIY ethic, producing all of its albums and selling them at discount prices without financial input from major distributors. While the label is undoubtedly important and produces some excellent music, does it completely deserve the high pedestal it's on?

Join us next week for Part II where we'll be talking about Wilmington, Delaware's Jade Tree Records.

Check out Chris & Mark's ⁠Unsung Podcast⁠, especially the two Muse episodes Fran & Babs guested on (Side A & Side B) as well as the Millionaire episode which sees Babs discuss some of her fave Belgian music in depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Mark & Chris' playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Following on from our Eurovision 2023 episode, we popped online for a quick chat to talk about an entertaining short film - Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Documentary which is available on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.

Fans of Eurovision 2022 will definitely remember Subwoolfer, the yellow Norwegian space wolves who managed to keep their identities under wrap throughout the competition - or did they?

The documentary explores how the song was conceived at a writing camp, how A1's Ben Adams and Norwegian Idol runner-up Gaute Ormåsen became semi-permanent Subwoolfer members Keith and Jim, why they chose to hide their identity in the first place and how Norwegian journalists managed to uncover them way before they revealed themselves spectacularly at the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix 2023.

As with our previous episode, we invited some special guests to send us voice notes about this year's Eurovision competition - so thank you to François Diderrich, Ceri Mitchell, Paulo Mendes-Jorge as well as teacher Les Pemberton and students Elene and Sofia from the British International School of Tbilisi, Georgia for their contributions to this episode 🇪🇺

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes our Eurovision 2023 best and worst picks from our previous episode, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during this episode...

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

It's our yearly Eurovision special - we've listened to all 37 songs from this year's competition and picked our five favourite and least favourite tunes. This time, we're also joined by contributors across Europe giving their opinions on the competition and some of the entries we talk about!

If you enjoy this episode, you should check out our 2022 and 2021 episodes as well as our two-part special with Babs' dad, which analyses Eurovision 1958-2019 - both the underrated and overrated aspects, of course...

Thanks to Paula Wiseman, Shane McMenemy, Iva Babić, Riku Pudas, Sara Lucas, Georgette Cullum, Tena Lavrenčić, Daniel Bellqvist & George Thurley for their contributions to this episode 🇪🇺

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes our Eurovision 2023 best and worst picks, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during this episode (as well as songs relating to an upcoming bonus episode)...

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Shane McMenemy from the Mixtaping Identity podcast, we're talking about one of his all-time favourite bands - as well as a DJ he's not super-keen on.

It's not that Shane massively dislikes Calvin Harris (Dumfries), but he feels his music is "cynically-produced and commercially-driven" - Shane feels Calvin is good at capitalising on trends, but there's little substance. Will Fran & Babs agree - or is his music hitting them right in the feels?

Frightened Rabbit (Selkirk) are a hugely important band for Shane - for the music as well as lead singer Scott Hutchison's heartfelt lyrics. Falling under the indie folk category, the band is much more up Fran's street than Babs' - so can Shane's playlist soften her hardened heart?

You should check out Shane's excellent ⁠Mixtaping Identity podcast⁠, especially - of course - the episode that Babs guested on, picking a fifteen-track playlist that defines her life so far.

The charity set up following Scott Hutchinson's death, Tiny Changes, aims to "transform young people’s mental health in Scotland". Check out their website and their shop to find out more.

Shane is YakEnemy on Twitch and he also wanted to shout out Jacqui Lumsden's song Closer.

Please also enjoy some Calvin Harris memes: wenomechainsama and Me As A Professional Pianist For Calvin Harris.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Shane's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.