The Beaten Track

We're back for our end of year round up. It's the only end of year list that matters, forget the rest. Who will come out on top of Louis and Joe's 2023 list? Will there be fights or will there be harmony? Featuring albums from PJ Harvey, Caroline Polachek, King Gizzard, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo.

This week we talk all things Manchester and the region's significant contribution to music. We focus in on A Certain Ratio's Sextet, a classic experimental album from the early Factory Records era. Contemporaries of Joy Division, this album saw them branch out into a new world music influenced sound. Elsewhere, Joe names his favourite Mancunian, Louis talks about the Verve for too long, and they both disagree on the best pub in Manchester.

We're feeling a little bit of nostalgia as two giants of the old radio rock world have come back with new albums recently. Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters have both supplied acclaimed new records and Louis and Joe discuss their favourite tracks, the differences between the bands, and some truly terrible song titles. Elsewhere in the episode we discuss our Glastonbury favourites and there's a Pitchfork quiz.

This week we discuss our new website and platform beatentrackpod.com. There's a discussion of what we're listening to at the moment including but not limited to; Wednesday, Model/Actriz, Pet Shop Boys and Queens of the Stone Age. We also touch on Kakashi, an ambient jazz record from Japanese composer Yasuaki Shimizu. Oh and yes, there's a really bad quiz at the end as well.

We're throwing out the rule book. If the Beaten Track has been known for anything it's a maverick attitude and unwillingness to bend to the popular will. Joe and Louis are back to take you through 2023 so far and in the new format we're not just talking one album, but multiple. We take you through our favourites of the year such as Boygenius, Lana Del Rey, Black Country New Road, Caroline Polachek and more. Also discussed is the not very popular Ticketmaster, the potential return of Supergroups, and the little people from Suffolk.

It is an exact science. Don't listen or read any other album round ups. This is the only one that matters. Joe and Louis count down the definitive top ten albums of 2022. Will BCNR top Joe's list two years on the bounce? Will Arctic Monkeys take each of the ten spots available for Louis? Listen to find out..

All bangers, no clangers! A seminal album to get us back into the swing of things. Few records sound as angular and mechanically violent as Gang of Four's minimalist post-punk classic 'Entertainment!'. From tracks such as 'Natural's Not in It' to 'Love Like Anthrax', the album will worm its way into your consciousness for good. Endlessly quotable, much like Joe and Louis.

The long awaited collaboration between the acclaimed producer Danger Mouse and Philadelphia's legendary Black Thought. Embracing old school hip hop soundscapes and dipping into 60s and 70s soul, psych and jazz sounds, this record is a triumph in producer/rapper collaborations. Joe and Louis discuss their favourite tracks on the record, including the feature from the late MF DOOM. Oh, and the quizzing features cheating, exploding cigars and bulletproof bananas.

We took our time with this one, ensuring we got each position in this top 5 album list exactly right. Elliott Smith deserves such close attention as well, with his remarkably strong discography which stretched from lo-fi demos to power pop ambitions. Louis and Joe take on the mammoth task of ranking classics like Either/Or, a posthumous release and the slap of Figure 8's full band sound.

This week it was a band that both Joe and Louis have great affection for. Canadian Indie Poppers Alvvays followed up their fuzzy and nostalgic debut in 2014 with Antisocialites, released in 2017 it brought more sugary hooks, delightful melodies and wonderfully crafted pop tunes. We talk you through each and every track on this all flawless record and finish off with the Superheroes of BMX.

Industry industry industry. This week we discussed the pioneers of industrial sound Throbbing Gristle and their ironically titled 20 Jazz and Funk Greats. Featuring a classic Beachy Head album cover and some of the most immersive and honest industrial sounds ever recorded. In tribute to the bands use of samples, listen out for the dog barking we cut into this weeks episode...

Another album ticked off in our grand quest to cover them all, and this one is from this year! Nilüfer Yanya delivered her much anticipated second album earlier in 2022 following her brilliant and messy Miss Universe in 2019, featuring the same knack for dynamic songwriting and artsy production this record is a more focused and coherent affair than her debut. Joe and Louis fire through the albums strong tracklist and do a pretty hopeless round up of the years music so far..

And like a bolt from the blue it's 3 episodes in 3 weeks for the best alternative music podcast out there. And this week it's a beautiful, bright, noisy, pummelling, maelstrom of sound from Rhode Island noise duo Lightning Bolt. Creating a wall of pulsating sound with just drums and pitch shifted bass (oh and some distorted vocals from inside a ski mask) they took their cue from the Japanese noise scene as well as incorporating some free jazz and art-rock styles on their 2003 album. Join us as we take you through the record and reveal the cost of purchasing 30,00 toy monkeys.

What a Killer! Miraculously Louis has waited 65 episodes to choose a Neil Young album to discuss but finally the moment has come. With over 3,000 studio albums and over 1 million if you count the live ones, lost ones and archives it can be difficult to choose a starting point but we managed. The 1975 record Zuma signalled the return of his backing band Crazy Horse and was a momentous record for the development of the guitar sound that would later influence many Grunge artists. Louis and Joe discuss monster tracks Danger Bird and Cortez the Killer, and round off with some lacklustre quizzing.

After a short break we're back to what we do best, diving head first into a shoegaze swirl with this 1996 album from Swirlies. With an impressively long album title and even more impressive experimental songwriting, the album provides an alternative form of this distortion heavy sound. We discuss fuzzy guitars, drum machines and vocoders, whilst Joe's motorsport knowledge is put firmly to the test in an exciting closing quiz.

It's a whopping great double album for Louis and Joe to dive into this week. Big Thief's big album demands big praise. After two albums in 2019 from the Indie Folk outfit they spent the pandemic recording an eclectic collection of songs across four different recording sessions. The result is an immense display of songwriting talent, boundless exploration and boingy harp sounds. Oh, and Joe actually did a quiz this time as well...

Plunging our feet into the sludge this week with the young dinosaurs. With wild, distortion heavy, flanged out guitars and sugary hooks Dinosaur Jr. led the move away from the hardcore punk of the 80s. An iconic band in terms of their influence upon underground music, their 1987 effort saw them at perhaps their most raw and powerful. With an unbalanced mix and a dangerous edge, this slacker band still pack a punch. Joe and Louis peel pieces of scuzzy guitar off them after the onslaught and discuss the definitive Police song.

A compilation? Gospel music? Are you sure? Yes, do not adjust your sets we're venturing into the gospel universe through the lens of a compilation record released on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label in 2019. Wonderfully crafted and combining the more soul and R&B elements of the 70s gospel scene, the record surprises and delights in it's more personal image of gospel music. Joe and Louis only reference Life of Brian once and bring back the jewel in the podcast's crown, the 'uppy downy side to side higher or lower pitchfork album review quiz'.

Don't you wish you never, never met her. Although we'll never know what the PJ stands for (pearl jam? percy jackson? personal jesus?), we know that her discography stands as one of the very best of modern times. Erupting from the 90s alternative scene and admired by John Peel and Rolling Stone alike, Harvey has gone on to become one of the most iconic and singular artists we have. Joe and Louis use their almighty authority to rank her top 5 albums. Also listen out for Joe's voice being mysteriously stolen by the podcast gods. 

Black Country, New Album! Joe wasn't going to let us miss this one was he? Our latest episode tackles the second album from the offbeat and multi-instrumental Cambridgeshire outfit. Its release has coincided with the departure of frontman Isaac Wood but he, along with his teammates provided us with a monster record to show for his time. And in tribute to this, we cap off the episode with a pretty lame aviation based quiz.

BOO! Scared you didn't I... Well get used to it cos this week we've got some ghostly garage rock from the Wytches. Released in 2014, their debut album Annabel Dream Reader fused doomy atmosphere, monster riffs and spooky surf rock. Louis and Joe discuss this graveyard infused record and place Sabrina the teenage witch in a band of her own.

On the last day of 2021 we bring you a ranking of our favourite albums of the year. Will there be harmony across the camps like last year or will there instead be mild disagreement and bickering? 

Ho Ho Ho. What better way to celebrate the festive season than a slice of Australian Post Punk? Rowland S. Howard cuts a murky figure in the alternative guitar scene, as the former lead guitarist of the Birthday Party he had perhaps slipped into the shadow of his former bandmate Nick Cave. But before his passing he left us with a debut solo album to remember. Joe and Louis discuss their favourite tracks on the record and produce a powerfully mediocre quiz about Australian music.

I know a secret or two about Goo. For our 55th episode we address the legends of alternative noise music, Sonic Youth. On the back of their breakout record Daydream Nation the band moved to major label Geffen, but lost none of their subversive sound. Listen as Joe and Louis get caught in the slimy, gloopy, wonderful mess that is Goo.

This week we conceptualise the concept album. Made popular in the days of prog excesses, concept albums have made a sort of mini comeback in recent years. Join us as Joe provides us one of his great big lists and we focus in on the best concept album of the 2000s. The Streets' sophomore album A Grand Don't Come for Free mixed Mike Skinner's idiosyncratic flow with everyday storytelling. It's a pretty great album and is done justice by a quiz based on the contested National Registry of Concept Albums.

Serge Gainsbourg once said 'I am incapable of mediocrity'. Who better then to discuss his output than a podcast enveloped in mediocrity. Louis and Joe take you through France's controversial cult legend and his 1973 album Vu de l'extérieur. A record packed with gorgeous melodies, gentle instrumentation, and a light smattering of toilet humour. Oh and also, there's some bad quizzing at the end. 

A vinyl crackle and a skittering beat. The second album from electronic musician Burial provided us with one of the most influential works of the noughties. Full of atmosphere and distance, Burial incorporates submerged sounds, pitch shifted vocals and ambiguous samples to create an ambient collage of sounds. Joe and Louis take you through the nocturnal cityscape of the record and do it no justice in a 2007 based pitchfork quiz. 

We drop our little wooden bucket into the well of folk this week. The Waterboys surprised many when, on the brink of mainstream success, they dipped into the world of traditional Celtic folk. We are glad they did though, as it brought us Fisherman's Blues an album packed with charm, escapism and extremely rewarding tracks. Louis and Joe provide you with bad quizzing, ramblings, and a bang on the ear.

Louis and Joe dig out one of the great American alternative rock outfits, Sleater-Kinney. A band with a remarkably strong discography who sprung as an offshoot of the riot grrrl scene, Sleater-Kinney certainly provided our most challenging ranking list yet. Will their be harmony in our lists? Or will it come to blows as per usual?

Horses, horses, horses. Patti Smith  is the best. You know it, I know it, even Joe knows it now. This week we take you through a classic piece of punk from the world's coolest poet. Joe and Louis talk all things Horses and it's remarkable free form nature. Naturally, our quiz this week features great opening album lines.

In a historic episode of mild disagreement and general nonsense, Joe brings on a grungy noise-pop odyssey that Louis finds a bit flat. Luckily this under-heard 90s album inspires the duo to create some memorable quizzes, with Louis challenging Joe to guess the correct band roles of various mythical creatures. 

Diving into a garage rock revival classic, Joe and Louis discuss the legacy and immediate appeal of everyone's favourite dynamic duo. The bread and butter of musical pairings, Jack White's bombastic, howling guitar ripples above Meg's thundering drumbeats, creating some of the most authentic and blisteringly loud tunes of the early aughts. Also discussed is the band's deliberate attempts at conjuring a mysterious identity, as well as their repeated lyrical themes of innocence, anger and heartbreak.

'Take a walk around my CAN album, gentleman, he's a colossus'. A quote from krautrock fanatic Bill Shankly that sums up this monstrous album from the German avant-garde outfit. With two tracks clocking in over 17 minutes, bewildering vocals, and some fat drum grooves, CAN's second album is quite the thing to behold. Louis and Joe make an exception to their love of the shorter album, and embrace every note of the 1970 release. Elsewhere Joe guesses the price of a wooden Mushroom. 

Joe and Louis take you through the comeback album from iconic Jazz poet Gill Scott-Heron. Released in 2010, I'm New Here delved into post-industrial textures, trip hop, and even folk. It's a truly remarkable album and in tribute we have a spectacularly rubbish quiz.

I was lookin' back to see if you were looking back at me to see you listening to this pod. We review an absolute classic of the trip-hop genre this week and the album that started it all. Massive Attack's Blue Lines provided a unique blend of sounds when released in 1991 and still feels just as urgent today. Joe and Louis take you through the multiple stand out tracks and elsewhere, Banksy makes a late appearance, and Joe makes a big change of opinion.  

This week we delve into some pretty essential post punk listening. Despite a short-lived career, Au Pairs produced one of the standout albums of the era. Playing with a Different Sex mixes economical post punk sound with sharp and aggressive lyrics. Joe and Louis walk you through the tracklist, mention Gang of Four too many times, and produce more rubbish quizzes. 

The album up for discussion this week is the recently released second album from the experimental rock group, Black Midi. Join us as Louis struggles to pronounce the album title, Joe correctly pronounces Marlene Dietrich, and Spud from Bob the Builder gets a passing mention. 

You find us this week deep in the world of lost albums. What sort of gems will we find hidden deep in the musical underworld? Joe and Louis take you through the world of unreleased, rumoured, and little known albums, focusing on the stunning solo recording of Sibylle Baier that was released over 35 years after being recorded. Oh, and there's also some awful quizzing at the end.

Well, it's that time again. It's our 40th episode and this week we're ranking the albums of the Smiths. Six albums in total make the grade with 4 studio albums along with the compilations Louder Than Bombs and Hatful of Hollow. Which will come out on top? Will their be some disagreement? What difference does it make?

Did you notice we were gone? After a week with no episode and thousands of unhappy fans we're back with some new and pretty great music. St Vincent's Daddy's Home draws on 70s sounds and New York landscapes to create another stellar album from the pop wizard. Louis and Joe take you through their favourite tracks and some Will Ferrell based quizzing.

Get get get get got got got got. Louis and Joe turn the attention to the world of Death Grips and their acclaimed debut The Money Store. Following their pack-a-punch mixtape Exmilitary, the Sacramento based group released this frenzied, chaotic, and pretty spectacular album. Elsewhere Louis manages to slide in a mention of the Fall and Joe provides some quiz questions on hackers.

This week we reviewed one of Louis' favourite albums and a stone-cold classic from one of music's most iconic figures in popular music. It has become clear we needed an androgynous, bisexual, alien rockstar to save us from our pandemic apocalypse, so we felt it only right to discuss Ziggy and his bandmates, the Spiders from Mars. 

It's a Podcast about Broadcast. In today's episode, Joe and Louis talk all about Dream Pop outfit Broadcast and their atmospheric 2000 debut, The Noise Made By People. The Birmingham based band triggered our interest in Brum's music history and thus, Joe was put to the test on his knowledge of many exciting metal, new wave, and britpop bands.

There is a lot going on in this week's episode as we discuss a collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, who teamed up to put music to some of folk legend Woody Guthrie's unheard lyrics. If that wasn't enough, there's mentions of Ingrid Bergman, Walt Whitman's niece and Christ as a presidential candidate. And despite all this we still manage to squeeze in some nonsense quizzes. 

Join us this week as we return to that long-forgotten format of discussing a genre and one of its landmark albums. Post-hardcore represented a shift from the rigidity of the hardcore punk scene towards more melodic and experimental sounds. At The Drive In produced some of the most notable work of the early 2000s scene, in particular their frenetic and incredible Relationship of Command. Louis and Joe take you through the genre and the album and as always, round it off with some dodgy quiz questions about John Wayne westerns and drive-in cinemas.

Well, it was only a matter of time before we entered the wonderful and frightening world of The Fall. Join us as we discuss everyone's favourite cult band and their quiet and unassuming leader, Mark E Smith. We focus on their 1986 record Bend Sinister, delve into some of Mark's great quotes and discuss the 'Indie News' of the week.

This week's album comes from a hallowed year for music. Xiu Xiu's Forget was released in 2017 and marked a more accessible point in their experimental catalogue. In the episode, we discuss some of the standout tracks from the album, Louis fails at another of Joe's trivia quizzes, and the 'Uppy Downy Side to Side Higher or Lower Pitchfork Album Reviews' quiz returns.

I wanna be your pod! This week we talked all about the legendary Iggy Pop and his 2016 collaboration with Josh Homme, Post Pop Depression. The album marked an interesting revival of Iggy's long and remarkable career, dotted with sharp lyrics and instrumentation. Also in the episode, we talk about the best honorific nicknames in music. 

For our 30th episode we ranked our top 5 Joy Division and New Order albums.

In this week's episode, we ventured into the world of music in cinema with Babylon, a cult classic based upon Jamaican sound system culture in 1980s London. The film focuses on the racism, poverty, and, police brutality experienced by the black Caribbean community in Thatchers Britain. There's also a fantastic score from Dennis Bovell that provides a pulsating soundtrack for this incendiary drama.