ED007 / Mike Vennart

Pavement - 'Wowee Zowee', 1995. Released on Matador in 1995, Pavement's third record was seen as a departure from the more radio-friendly fare of their previous records, containing no obvious singles to follow on from the big-hitting indie cuts 'Cut Your Hair' and 'Range Life'. At the time, guitarist and Oceansize mainman Mike Vennart was oblivious to most matters Pavement, but in the intervening years, he discovered in 'Wowee Zowee' a high watermark of improvised, off-the-cuff creativity, inspiring him to harness a little of its spirit of happenstance in his own songwriting.

Music played: Pavement - 'Grounded', 'We Dance', 'Fight This Generation', 'Best Friend's Arm', 'Serpentine Pad', 'Grave Architecture'.

About the record: Wikipedia  -  Spotify  - iTunes - Consequence of Sound: Pavement's Weirdest Album Turns 20 - Rolling Stone: When Did Pavement's 'Wowee Zowee' Become a Masterpiece?   /  Podcast: Subscribe - Listen on iTunes - Listen on Stitcher

ED006 / Alex Newport

Tricky - 'Pre-Millenium Tension', 1996. Used to the power of crunching guitars having played in the bands Fudge Tunnel and Nailbomb, by 1996 Alex Newport had left his native UK for the States and was starting to engineer, produce and mix records, increasingly inspired by music that spoke to him in a more considered, emotional way. One such inspiration was Tricky's 'Pre-Millenium Tension', a pivotal moment for the moody instrumental British hip-hop scene that also included Portishead and Massive Attack. The dark, discombobulated feel of Tricky's music was never more powerful than on this, his second album - its disconnected beats and murmured exhortations becoming to Alex a revelation, energising him to delve deeper into production, to look at music from a whole new perspective.

Music played: Tricky - 'Sex Drive', 'Vent', Disco Inferno - 'D.I. Goes Pop', Tricky - 'Makes Me Wanna Die'. 

About the record: Wikipedia  -  Spotify  - iTunes - Don't Forget the Songs: 'Makes Me Wanna Die' -  On Don Delillo's 'Underworld' and Lenny Bruce's 'We're All Gonna Die' routine  /  Podcast: Subscribe - Listen on iTunes - Listen on Stitcher

ED005 / Jason Reece

Unwound - 'Fake Train' - 1993. Drawn to the artsy, do-it-yourself punk community growing in Olympia, Washington at the beginning of the 90s, Jason Reece would find himself sharing stages and values with many of the people that would go on to make the Pacific Northwest a cultural landmark in music. Out of this scene, one of the most distinctive bands to emerge was Unwound, whose 1993 'Fake Train' was the first album of music to appear on Kill Rock Stars, the label that would become archetypical of the creative, independent spirit of Olympia. Between swirling passages that roamed between discord and beauty, 'Fake Train' spoke of the boundaries that punk rock was ready to push at and then shatter: for Jason it sowed a seed that would later flower in Austin in the form of his band ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

Music played: Unwound - 'Dragnalus', 'Kantina', 'Pure Pain Sugar'. 

About the record: Wikipedia  -  Spotify  - iTunes - AV Club: Why Unwound is the best band of the 90s -  The Unwound Archive /  Podcast: Subscribe - Listen on iTunes - Listen on Stitcher

ED004 / Tim Dellow

Mansun - 'Six', 1998. A sprawling, twisting, conceptual - as opposed to 'concept' - record, Mansun's 1998 follow-up to their number one debut 'Attack Of The Grey Lantern' continues to puzzle and thrill in equal measures, over a decade and a half since its release. Tim Dellow, co-founder of Transgressive Records, was an impressionable adolescent when 'Six' fell to earth, finding himself drawn down its enveloping, cryptic corridors. The spills and dark corners of this record can be navigated as if travelling an allegory of the music industry itself, which in its grand folly 'Six' probably represented as much to its authors as it does to those who continue to find new sounds and ideas within it.

Music played: Mansun - 'Fall Out', 'Being A Girl (Part One)', 'Six'. 

About the record: Wikipedia  -  Spotify  - iTunes - Paul Draper's 'Six' blog - Gordon's discussion of 'Six' and nostalgia on Cuepoint /  Podcast: Subscribe - Listen on iTunes - Listen on Stitcher

ED003 / Chris Hrasky

Fugazi - 'In On The Killtaker', 1993. A fiercely independent and politicised band formed in late-80s Washington DC, Fugazi set a new benchmark for integrity in the punk tradition by establishing their own Dischord label and taking complete control of their own affairs. Chris Hrasky, who's been the drummer in the influential Austin band Explosions In The Sky for over fifteen years, has his own take on the majesty and power of Fugazi, typified by 1993's uncompromising but never-more-accessible 'In On The Killtaker'. It's a record which swings from fist-pumping righteousness to tender, dreamy guitar interplay via all points in-between, and demonstrates not only the searing intelligence and appeal of the band but also serves as a window on the long arc of inspiration and evolution that any band aspiring to the long-haul can relate to.

Music played: Fugazi - 'Returning The Screw', 'Great Cop', 'Cassavetes', 'Sweet And Low'.  

About the record: Wikipedia  -  Spotify  - iTunes - The Fugazi stage monologues - 'Instrument' documentary  /  Podcast: Subscribe - Listen on iTunes - Listen on Stitcher