No Filler Music Podcast - Best of 2023: Part One

Episode Date: November 18, 2023

Join us over the next few weeks as we count down our top tracks of 2023. Tracklist Narrow Head - Flesh & Solitude Death & Vanilla - Out For Magic Pia Fraus - Confidential Information Fiddlehead - Loserman Spotlights - Ballad in the Mirror Hotline TNT - Beauty Filter The Clientele - Fables of the Silverlink The Paper Kites - Black & Thunder Slowdive - skin in the game A. Savage - Hurtin’ or Healed Narrow Head - Medicine (Momma Cover)) This show is part of the Pantheon Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Hi, I'm Mike Judge, and you're listening to the Pantheon Network. Welcome to No Filler. I'm Quentin. And I'm Travis. And we are kicking things off a little bit early. this year for our best of episodes.

We're going to get it started in November this year and bring you an episode every two weeks. How about that? No more once every month. Malarkey that we've been bringing to you for the last year. And that's going to continue in 2024. So this is what we talked about. I think we maybe teased it a few episodes back. It's either we teased it or it's just something I texted you privately.

But I'm ready. I'm ready, dude, to get back. into our old school format. Yeah, your, you know, life is a new, a new daddy, as a new father, a new papa. It's not even, I don't even feel new. I feel like a pro now, dude. Like I'm in the dad club now officially. Yeah.

So now you got, apparently you got more time. So we're going to record at least two episodes a month. And so here's my thought to you is that we continue to do to what you're heard format for one of episodes and then the other episode is going to be like a return to to the old school no filler format yes and I and I think you I think you and Adrian did a great job dude thank you I felt like I was listening to old school no filler definitely and if you don't know what what Quinn's talking about then that means you haven't listened to the bonus Halloween episode that came out it was just like the old format of no filler

where we, me and our guest, Adrian, we had one band and we, you know, dove into the history a little bit. We played tracks from across their discography, which is exactly what we used to do. So we're going to get back into that. And yeah, go back and listen to that if you missed it. It was an episode on Italian horror director, Dario Argento, and the band that he featured in almost all of his movies. goblin. So go back and check that out if you missed it. Thank you again to Adrian for joining me. That was a great episode. So yeah, as I mentioned at the tippy top of the episode, this is our

best of 2023. We're kicking it off. We're bringing our favorites from the year. We're going to bring five tracks each episode. Just songs that we enjoyed throughout the year. I don't have like a top five. I wouldn't even say I have a top ten. I have some that I really, I have. I, I, I have some that I really, I I'd say I listened to more than others, but I'm bringing songs that, well, you know what, not even songs, but in some of these cases, albums that I was impressed by or thought were really cool throughout the year. Yeah. Well, and here's another thing. So, you know, I think we, maybe we say this every year.

But yeah, this isn't, you know, we do this at the end of every year. I think going back to like, maybe not the first year, but pretty much every year. I should like at least 2020. Yeah. is 2020. This is not like there's no, there's no criteria here for me, for my picks at least. This is just kind of like you said. It's just what do I like?

What was my favorite records that came out this year? So, you know, this is not, this is not, you know, we're not pitchfork or, you know, we're not trying to judge these based on any criteria other than just our own, you know, our own joy from these records. You know what I mean? there are dozens of lists, best of lists by, you know, music blogs and music publications that you can swing through. If you want to see like music critics, what they have determined are the best of the year. You can find those lists.

But for us, for no filler, this is just our favorite tracks of the year that we've heard. And you know what? That's the problem, dude. I wish I could have listened to more. music, like new music this year. You know, like, I feel like I didn't get to listen, like, look for music. I didn't, I didn't get as much of that this year, which kind of bummed me out. Well, I got you covered though, dude.

I got, I listened to quite a bit of new stuff this year. So you think that I would have, you know, an abundance of tracks to choose from. But I think I'm going to spend the next few weeks kind of kind of going back in time a little bit and reminding myself what I listen to. But I've got five tracks for today. So. And, you. You know, I don't think any of these artists are going to surprise anybody if you've listened to the show.

Yeah, that's what I tried to do as well, was not necessarily bring songs that from artists that I've already featured throughout the year. But that's, yeah, that's the thing. Like, I, you know, this whole year has just been episodes of like, here's the music we've been listening to. True. I'm listening to a lot of new music. Very true. Anyway, all right, Q, I will kick us off. Usually these guys appear in my top five back when I actually tried to put these in some kind of order, you know what I mean?

But I'm just bringing these to you, you know, based on whatever I feel like bringing, you know. So we're going to start with one of my favorite new grunge post-punk alt-rock bands of the last decade from Houston, Texas, Narrowhead. Hang on, I didn't even know they released something this year. Did you bring anything? You did, though. To watch your? Okay. Yeah, you did.

Well, let's put it this way. I brought a track from this record. I think it might have just been an intro track. So maybe that's why you don't remember because like it wasn't featured prominently on the, on the episode or whenever they showed up. But probably like January, probably is when I brought the, or February maybe, because that's the, that's when this album came out. So it came out early, 2003. But yeah, Netrihead, they put out a new record called Moments of Clarity, and I just love everything that these guys do.

I think they've been featured the last two years on my best-of episode for that year. Or let's put it this way. Anytime they've put out a new record, they've shown up on my best-up for that year. You know what I mean? Because they're just so good at the, you know, basically the resurgence of the grunge sound. in the post-punk sound, like they've got it perfected, you know. There's a lot of bands that are doing it out there,

and I think these guys do it better than most, right? Yeah, right. Yeah, that is something to mention. Yeah, there's a lot of artists doing this right now. And we featured a lot of them. Yeah, it's hard to stick out from the crown. But there's just something about the way that these guys, they got to figure it out with hooks and, like, you know,

song structure, like, these guys are legit. Anyway, so I'm going to play, one of the tracks off this record that really stood out to me. This one, I think it's going to feel more like a, more like a deaf tones record if you wanted to try to compare this to a group from the 90s. And that's the thing about this record. This one more so than any of their records has like a almost like a pop punk sound. A lot of their songs on here actually sound like Blink 1282 when they put out the self-titled record, right? That era of Linkway 2.

Okay. The singer of Narrowhead, it sounds like Mark Hopp is on some of the tracks, which is interesting. But anyway, let me just jump right to this here. So, yeah, this one's going to be a little bit heavier because, like I said, Def Tons, right? But here we go. So this song is called Flesh and Solitude.

So, yeah, that was totally different than their stuff from the last few years. Yeah, this takes me. back to like their earlier stuff. Did they ever have any of those heavy screams? Yeah. I mean, they've had those throughout, I mean, all their records, they will sneak that in here and there. But the majority of this record has more of a pop punk sound.

And I'm saying that like, it's not like a Sun 41 or, you know, newfound glory or that, that era of pop punk, but just like, it's just a little bit more like positive sound. I don't know. That's oversimplifying it. But I mean, their record that that caught my attention when I first started listening to them, satisfaction, that one had a darker, very, very grunge forward sound. You know what I mean? And then like as they've evolved and then put out more records, they came out with 12th House Rock in 2020. You know, they've started to put in more like, you know, there's hints of emo in some of their stuff and there's like some, some more like alt rock type stuff like hum is a big influence for them what's cool is there if

you know as they evolve it seems like they're still just sticking in that pocket like they're sticking in the early 2000s and emo and 90s sound yeah they're just staying in those eras yeah i think i've i've said this before about them it's like if you think of every great 90s rock band grunge you know emo, post-punk, like there's elements of that in all of their music, you know? Yeah. It's like, that's why, when you listen to their records,

everything sounds familiar, you know, because it's like, man, where have I heard a riff like that before, you know, or like, that vocal melody sounds vaguely familiar to me. Like, it's all like, it's like they, they disperfected the tone and, like, the song structures of that era, like, perfectly, you know?

So it's just, it's like an amalgamation of, of all your favorite 90s and early 2000s rock bands basically. You know what I mean? All right Q, what do you got for your first pick? All right, so I brought a song from this group

maybe a couple years ago, maybe last year, don't remember. This is one of those groups that brings you back to like the posh 70s go-go boots kind of stuff. Sound carriers-esque or, um, okay. What's the other big group, dude?

I know you're big fat the broadcast stereo lab stereo live all those groups yeah this is just another one of those groups

that has perfected that sound and I'm a huge sucker that kind of like lounge jazzy loungey jazzy stuff from like this

60s like late 60s 70s lava lamps lava lamps exactly shag rugs and stuff yep the group is called

death and vanilla they dropped a new record back in March called Flickr. And I'm just going to get you started off with the first track on the record. This song is called Out for Magic. It doesn't get any better than that, can. I love that stuff, man.

Me too. Me too. I'll never get tired of it. It's just so, like, effortlessly, like, cool, you know? Yeah, I don't know why there's not more music like this, but I'm also glad that there isn't. But that's the thing about this, this, like, so it's like psychedelic. pop right but like very it's like very narrowed down to like a very specific style because stereo lab does it exactly like this so does the sound carriers but like they're all slightly different you know

right right they sound so similar but there's a distinction enough between these kind of groups that like i can queue up any of their records and and just love what i'm going to hear i just love the like the twanginess of the guitars like the i don't know this one is yeah there's a little bit more twang to to to the way they play their guitars is a little bit more like i don't want to say country that's not the right word but you know what i'm saying it's like a more like yeah it's probably the the tone of the guitar yeah yeah is what makes it that that way and she's got one of those classic voices dude for this kind of music yeah uh-huh great record dude definitely cue it up man um yeah that's that's what i'm kicking it off this year dude and you know what it's one of those things

where it's like this should be a top five right but like yeah why not just play it why not just kick us off with it you know it doesn't matter cute exactly this is our top 40 i guess right because we each bring in damn five did 40 songs yeah 40 songs doesn't matter the order they're all bangers you know that's right and i'm going to pass it to you by then you're going to keep it in this vein um not really in the same vein, but I mean, I think this is a good, a good transition. And I think here's the thing.

I think I brought, I think I, this has happened a lot too for both of us. We've discovered an artist that, you know, was putting out records, you know, a decade or more ago.

And then like, suddenly they're putting out a new record, you know, and it's like, oh, sweet. New music from this band. Yeah, that hasn't been putting on music for a long time. And,

discover them. So it's like, you know, we'd have to wait very long for new music like some of their diehard fans, right? Yeah, it happens a lot. It's always magical when that happens. Anyway, so Pia Frouse is the name of this band. And maybe I'm mispronouncing it, but this is like a dream pop group from Estonia. And they put on a new record called Evening Colors, come out in July of this year. So I did bring a song called Fog on the Hills, I believe is what I brought. So, I'm going to bring another track this time. And I think I think this has got kind of that same quality of like 60s lounge type of music, you know what I mean?

But not in the same vein of like a stereo lab or whatever. But I think you'll see what I mean. They're harmonizing kind of sounds 60s, you know. So here we go. Again, this band is called Pia Frouse. And this song is called Confidential Information. Fucking great. I mean, I feel like we're just going to keep saying that over and over after each song.

I mean, I really hope so. This is our best up. So they should all be really good. That was kind of in the same vein. Yeah, you're right. You're right. Who was it that I just brought? As death and vanilla.

You're right, you. Yeah, but like, but totally different. Yes. And that's a thing. Like, you know, I think this record has that quality more so than some of the stuff they were putting out a couple decades ago. I think they would be considered more shoe gazing back in their heyday. But this new stuff, yeah, it's very, like you heard, I think there's like a xylophone or something like that on that track. This is what it makes it kind of sound like that.

You know, it has that kind of 60 vibe to it. But yeah, just a great record. It's one of those, one of those, you know, straight through, just played straight through the whole thing's great. But again, that band was called Pia Frouse. that record is called Evening Colors. The song I just played is called Confidential Information. And yeah, I'm looking at the list of band members. I don't see any in a xylophone, so maybe I'm wrong there.

But percussion. I mean, is a xylophone considered percussion? For sure, dude. Okay, then. Maybe it was Mr. Rain Fux. his name Fuchs probably It's probably pronounced fooks

But F-U-K-S Ah yes I think that's Fox dude I Let's go with Fox All right Q Back to you

What are we doing Where are we going Surely you don't have another track That sounds like that Not really Dude Okay Let's mix it up a little bit here

all right well then we gotta just turn it all on its head brother i'll just you know what i'll just bring something that i wasn't gonna bring until later on okay but i can't get enough of this band dude i haven't been able to stop lesson in them since i found out about them in 2021 with their album between the richness you know who i'm talking about brother do fiddlehead oh yeah joy boy I know that's your favorite song of theirs to bring up every time you hear because it's a dope track it's a great track dude and they fills me with joy well I just brought one of their tracks from this new album which is called death is nothing to us not long after it came out

and I'm gonna bring another one dude this is such a great album dude and it's a little bit different I'd say it's way heavier than between the richness you got me interested and I would Also, maybe say it's a little bit more punk, pop, kind of like how you're trying to describe the new narrowhead sound. Okay. It's different. I mean, I feel like Joy Boy has always been pop-punk, right?

Kind of emo. It's way heavier. Let's just put it. Okay. All right. The same goods, way heavier. Same with the way he sings. It's just a little heavier this time around.

So the song I brought a few months back was Sleepy Head. And I'm bringing the very next track on the record. this one is called loser man that's yeah dude they're awesome man they're so great they're they're just great and like i mean they've been doing this for a long time right so it's like this is a band that has just like perfected that sound from that era or are they are they relatively new they're relatively new brother okay that's what i'm saying like it sounds pitch perfect for like the era of like like you know post-punk emo that we that we grew up with you know Like, tooth and nail records type stuff, you know what I mean?

Right, right. But here's the deal. These guys aren't new to the game. Yeah, they're a post-hardcore super group, apparently. Yeah. Fiddlehead is staffed by former members of Massachusetts punk outfit have heart and UK band Basement. I've heard a basement. Yeah, me too.

Okay. So they've formed from other post-hardcore greats, which is why they said. sound fucking awesome, dude, and why they're bringing it along into the 2023s, dude. Got it. Well, yeah. Well, that's the thing. Like we said earlier, there's actually a lot of brand spanking new bands that are making music, you know, from this era. Yeah.

I love that it's still going strong. And like you said, like there's new young artists and bands forming that are emulating the sound because, I mean, it's not just nostalgic for us, dude. It's just a great fucking sound. Oh, yeah, 100%. Yeah. All right, man. So that was Fiddlehead. The brand new record, death is nothing to us.

Pass it back to you, brother. All right. So let's see what we're going to do here. Okay. So this is a band that I think we've mentioned a few times. I think we actually brought them up recently. But they were featured probably first on No Filler on our. Doomgays episode.

Great episode. Great episode. So this band is called Spotlights. And they're one of my favorite finds of the last decade for sure. Like I love this band. Their record Seismic came out in 2017. And their record Love and Decay that came out in 2019. Both amazing, amazing records.

And so, yeah, the term doom gaze, if you've never heard that before, He's exactly what it sounds like. So it's the mixture of doom metal and shoegaze. And so it's like the sludgy guitar riffs of doom metal, but with like all the reverb and wall of sound and like vocal qualities of like a shoe gaze, right? So it's, it's awesome. Like what a perfect marriage, right? For sure.

So anyway, they put out a new record this year in April called Alchemy for the Dead. I haven't featured a track from this record on any of our episodes this year. So this is the first time this music is coming to the pod. So here we go. I think this song is like from what I just described, like this is a perfect example of what happens if you were to take Dune Metal and merge it with you guys. So we go. This song is called Ballad in the Mirror.

And that was awesome because that was fucking sick, bro. Yeah, man. I've said this before. I'll say it again. Say it. Doom gaze. That's it for me, man. For metal, that's where I, that's my.

This is your gateway to metal. Yes. Well, you know what? I don't even want to go through the gate. I have no desire to get any farther into the metal world. This is you just kind of get, you know, dipping your toe, though. Dude, I've been dipping my toe for years. Why can't I just wait on this?

pool. Well, that's the thing. This is, this is metal. I mean, this is, you're, you're in, dude. You're already, you're, you just step through. You're in. So my question to you is, brother, why would you want to listen to someone screaming their brains out? Like Mushugur, when you got stuff like this. Uh, don't you dare, dude. You, you, you ruined Mishugur for me, Travis. You threw me in the deep end and I almost drowned. Mishugur, uh, Mishugia is a acquired taste cute, but Masugah is one of my favorite. I just, I don't know

what to say other than just like there's something about what you just described, the screaming and stuff like that. It's cathartic, dude. That's all I can say. To the point you're making, yeah. DoomGaze provides

the heaviness and the solid guitar riffs of metal with the nice soft vocals of shoe gaze. And that's what makes it so great. You don't have to listen to the screaming, guttural, you know, vocal qualities that usually associate with metal, right? So I hear what you're saying. And that's why this is a great, this is a great subgenre for you, Q, to where you can listen to metal and get the, get the head banging that comes with metal, but you can do it with the comfort with like the it's like it's like you're bowling with like the the umpers on you know

in terms of like you know you get that nice guardrail of uh of the ethereal soft vocal quality of if i if i'm gonna listen to metal i want to increase my chances of getting strikes you know well this album is nothing most drags cute so um i'm gonna read a little sentence here a couple sentences from a review of this record from a website called metal sucks.net, which is awesome. I love it. Anyway, so it says here, the powerful halftime vibe of ballad in the mirror puts smoky stoner rock riffs front and center. It's no surprise that spotlights can maintain sultry ambience and such a head-bangable song. the verses bridge the gap between extremes with performances as explosive as they are serene.

That's a great summary, I think, of what makes Doomgay so great. It's explosive and serene, right? Yeah. And that song is that, exactly. So, all right, again, that song was called Ballad in the Mirror off of Spotlights, record Alchemy for the Dead. go listen to everything that they've done because they're awesome. All right, Q, I'm going to throw it back to you. What do you get?

All right, this is another one that I was going to save for a few more episodes, but I think it pairs pretty damn well with that. It's not anywhere near as heavy. But do you want to talk about Brand Spank and New? So we're recording this on November 5th. This album came out two days ago, November 3rd. Fresh. all things to pitchfork and my Google news app algorithm I found out about it I read the review of this album it popped up on my feed and this is on their best new music list on pitchfork I hadn't heard this group before they're called hotline TNT you're on her of them yeah I'm pretty sure I brought them before to the

show. It's possible. It couldn't have been that long ago. Their last, well, I guess three years ago could have been years ago because their first full-length album was in 2021 called 19 In Love. I think I brought a track from that record, probably for what you heard in 2021. So yeah, it's been a couple years. Well, I haven't actually been able to listen to this album all the way through because, like I said, it's two days old. I haven't had a chance. But first I'm going to read the first paragraph of this review because it sums up. This resurgence, I guess it really sums up the trajectory of Shugays over the last, you know, several decades.

It sums it up real nice here. It says for most of its existence, Shugay's promised a glimpse of an alternate plan of existence, either in the womb, the afterlife, or the unconscious. I'll see up ahead here. Mere words melt into suggestive nonverbal cues, the typical hierarchy of, rock band instrumentation dissolves. The guitars and bass and drums surging as one utopian sound wave. And though Shugas has repeatedly rejuvenated itself by merging with Digicor, black metal, emo, and even Alt-Country, perhaps the most impactful change for the genre over the past decade

is its acceptance of life on life's shittiest terms, emerging now from the cramped apartments and overworked laptops of the bummed out and broke. such as Will Anderson, the mid-30s mastermind behind Hotline TNT's intoxicating second LP cartwheel, where an average guy's everyday heartbreak is blown up into a loveless for the love lorn. Okay. So this is a project of one guy, Will Anderson. And here we go, dude. This is track three on the record, big fan of it.

This song is called Beauty Filter. Yeah, I feel like that's kind of along the same vein as that era, that 2000s era, like post-punk. I'm just so happy that it's back, dude. Maybe I'm just hearing Mark Koppas everywhere, but he kind of sounded like Markopas. Speaking of Link 1-2, man, they're back and they put out a new record this year. Don't. Probably won't be bringing, now, I'm just saying it's interesting, right? Mark, Tom, and Travis are back, I should say.

Because, you know, Blake Way 2 put out a record, I don't know, a few years back, a couple years back, and it was somebody else instead of Tom, right? No, I didn't know. But, yeah. The record they put out this year is, you know, the trio. I haven't listened to it. I'm afraid to listen to it, yeah, because I heard a little bit of the single. Yeah, just done.

And just got out of there real quick. Just down. But anyway, I'm just saying it's interesting that they're back, right, with the kind of resurgence of their sound. But anyway, that was great. Great. Way different than what I remember from the track I played a couple of years back. I haven't even listened to that other record. Yeah, these guys are brand new to me as far as I'm concerned.

You know? Yeah, sure. Yeah. As far for what I've heard of them, it's not much. And I love what I've heard so far. Yeah, cool. So yeah, that was Hotline T&T. Pass back to you, brother.

All right. So this is also, well, it's new to me. I should have listened to it when it came out. I think I remember listening to the single and maybe wasn't too impressed with the single, so I kind of like slept on this record. But it's a dear friend of mine, Q, in terms of like a band that, I don't know these people. I mean, I just made it sound like a dear friend in the sense that like I've been listening to this band for a very, very long time. We saw them open.

it was either for Spoon or for Kings of Leon, I think it was Spoon, because they're on, they're on Merge Records. Clientel. So the clientele, they put out a new record. I was not there for that. You weren't there for that? Yeah, I must have been Spoon. I know you've seen Spoon more than I have.

Like, who did I see them with then? Because I feel like every time I've seen Spoon, at least back then, I think you were there. But maybe. Yeah, I definitely wasn't there. I think it was the clientele, the like. which is that girl band. Or was that Keyzellon? That was Keyzellian, dude.

But the band that opened for the like was the features. You remember them? The features. That's right. Yep. Oh, you know what it was? It was this microwave world, the clientele spoon. Okay, cool.

So I was there for that. You were totally there for that. Damn. That was at trees. Yeah, probably. Shout out to trees. I think they're back. They closed down for a little bit.

That was such a cool venue, dude. There was like a tree trunk in the middle. the concert floor. Yeah. Which is why I was called Trains. All right. Anyway, so this is an interesting record. It's a double record, 19 tracks, just over an hour long.

But this opening track really kind of surprised me and kind of pulled me in. And I was like, you know what? Maybe I should have listened to this record when I came out. So yeah, I listened to this last week for the first time. Really good. And clientele, they're just one of the most consistent bands. They perfected their sound like 20 years ago or whatever, and they've just been putting out that sound consistently and perfectly,

you know, with everything that they put out. And you want to talk about another like 60s throwback. Like these guys sound like Britpop, you know, from back of the day, like thank Beatles and stuff like that. Or, you know, maybe like maybe zombies. is a better comparison. But anyway, so I'm just going to play this first track

here off the record. So the album is called I Am Not There Anymore. It came out in July of this year. This is the first track on the record. This song is called Fables of the Silver Link. That was really cool. Yeah, and it wasn't even halfway through the song.

It's like an eight-minute song. And that's how they opened the record. I mean, crazy, right? There's so many things happening, right? Yeah. Yeah. Lots of, I almost feel like, have you ever watched the movie Walk Hard, Jeff? Probably, but no, yeah. The Dewey Cox story. Yeah, yeah. I felt like this was them, this was like his Brian Wilson moment where he was just trying to just throw anything at the wall to see what sticks. And that sounds negative, but it sounds like an insult, yeah. Well,

I don't know anything much, I don't know as much about the clientele. as you, but like, I feel like that was kind of out of left field. I mean, their songs usually aren't this, like, sweeping and like, yeah, with a lot of different moving parts and stuff, which is what, you know, made me decide, oh, maybe I should listen to this, you know what I mean? Because, like, usually there's songs are a little bit more straightforward, kind of Britpop songs. Those vocals are really cool that came in.

Yeah, I need to find the name, but, I mean, it's a guest vocalist, obviously, but, yeah, so let me read a sentence from the Pitchfork review here, which, by the way, I think this is one of pitchfork's best of 2023 so far. They have like a running list. Anyway, so here we go. This is interesting. If the key difference for I am not there anymore, as McLeon has observed, which is the lead singer, is the clientele's purchase of a computer, then with all due respect, what took them so long?

album opener fables of the silver link brings fractured electronic beats and haunting spanish language guest vocals to a bustling eight and a half minutes worth of chamber pop so that like electronic drumbeat that's kind of throughout this that's the first time they've done something like that so that's interesting so like their their songwriting is is you know changing a little bit in the sense that they're like you know bringing a laptop into the mix right yeah which is interesting. But yeah, and I think that's probably just the way that this kind of feels more kind of like, you know, with the vocals coming in and stuff like that, just feels more like, it just feels experimental,

which makes sense because like if they're playing around with laptops and stuff, then it makes sense that their song structures are going to be a little bit different than they usually are. And that's definitely the case. But, you know, throughout this record, like I said, there's 19 tracks.

There are more straightforward clientele songs on here too. So you get a little bit of everything. And they've got these like, you know, 30-second little tracks that are thrown in it to kind of transition you from track to track. So they're really trying to do something like kind of big on this record, which I thought was interesting. Anyway, the clientele that record is, I am not there anymore. Came out in July of this year on Merge Records. Check it out. All right, Q, I'm going to throw it back to you.

What do you got for us here? Giving another shout out to Wesley. Brought him up quite a few times. I guess I'd call him my nephew, nephew-in-law, I guess. My niece's husband, he got me onto this record. This is actually, I think, his favorite band.

They're called the Paper Kites. And I brought a track earlier. The band that was like a live band. Yeah, yeah. So I looked. Live recording. Yes, this band released an album called

at the roadhouse back in September. And the story goes that they basically set up shop and played a month-long residency in this small bar and this town called Campbell's Creek in Australia. And from what Wesley had heard about it, that these songs, these are actually recordings from that residency, but from what it sounds like from what I'm reading, these songs were born out of those that month-long residency. But I'm reading here that they created their own studio slash dive bar in an abandoned building. So they set up shop in an abandoned building, opened up a bar, and also recorded the songs

in the studio. They workshopped new material during the week and jammed out on Friday. Saturday nights for any locals who happened to be drawn in like moths to a flame. Pretty fucking cool. And yeah, the record's beautiful, man. I'll say it's not really my usual cup of tea for music, you know, not really up my alley for most of the songs, but there's a few on there that tick enough boxes for me that I really enjoyed it. The song I brought earlier this year is called I Don't Want to Go That

Way. Really beautiful song. And yeah, I just think the whole story's cool, dude. It's a cool, it's a cool, like, creative process that they went through. So anyways, I'm going to bring track three from the record. The song is called Black and Thunder. I got like immediate, I thought it was a cover almost of I don't know like writers on the storm or something Yeah Or it almost had that same melody Yeah

So that was cool man Very 70s vibe Almost had like a like a do it again Steely Dan Yeah I thought Steely Dan You know what I mean? Yeah

Yeah I was cool Just freaking clean man like the recording is just awesome They had a studio that they set up in this building and had a, you know, a bar front in it as well. And they didn't announce any of these shows, you know, like they just, they were there for the entire month in the small town. And yeah, so these songs were born from those jam sessions. Awesome.

So, yeah, I'm trying to pinpoint down if that really was, if any of what's on this record, it actually is actually like recordings from those nights or not. But either way, dude. Really cool. Really cool idea to just like workshop these songs on anyone who showed up to the bar. It's almost like comedians. You know how comedians workshop their material? Yeah, totally.

Anyways. Yeah, great record. Really, really cool. I feel like more bands should, if they have the means to, they should do that. It's a really cool idea. All right. Last pick for you tonight, Traff. What'd you get?

All right. So this is the year, Q, for new releases from classic shoegaze bands. So we, I believe, played one of the singles from this record as an intro to one of our episodes this year. I'm bringing a slow dive track. All right, man. I knew it was some in one of these days. Yep. From their brand new record, Everything is Alive, which came out in September.

So this is their first record. since 2017 self-titled record. And yeah, iconic band, right? And man, this album is just beautifully recorded. Like, it just sounds great. The production quality is amazing. And the songs are mostly just like these haunting. And there, yeah, I said a cue.

I said haunting. Well, it's true, man, for this one. Yeah, yeah. It's true. There's even like a kind of like an apparition looking, kind of ghostly looking figure on the record cover. or at least it looks like this late leady in black kind of thing anyway so i want to play this was tough for me to narrow down oh man i'm even torn right now dude which one am i going to go with um

but you know i don't want to in things slowly so i'm going to in things a little bit more upbeat so this song actually no i'm changing my mind the last minute i think skin of the game skin of the game i think is is different and that's why i wanted to play because i think i was torn between a life and skin in the game and I think I want to go skin in the game so here we go again this is slow dive and this song is called skin in the game he's got one of the most haunting voices in the game I love his voice I love his voice you heard Rachel Goswell's voice as well which is the other singer in the band like harmonizing with them and like very filtered like I said like they sounded almost like they were underwater in some of those parts

but yeah just a beautiful song just kind of you know the lyrics are kind of I don't know sad and like kind of I don't know just beautiful that's all I could take you what more do I need to say well I'll say I'll say one thing about that record dude

and I think I kind of mission this to you man it just left me wanting more you know I don't think I wish it was longer it's just yeah you wish that you wish that they were more yeah it's just eight tracks yeah it's not very long and yeah and some of

just kind of fade out. Like, I'm like, man, I just want to hear more. I want to hear more from you guys. So, yeah, it sounds like the production, like the history of this record is actually kind of sad. So like they originally went into the studio to record these three years prior to the release. So in September 2020, to begin recording the album.

And they were, I guess, originally they were going to, to. recorded in April of 2020, but I had to cancel because of COVID-19. So, like, Rachel Goswell lost her mother. Oh, shit. And, you know, another, I think father of one of the other members, like, lost. So, like, you know, they went through some heartache. So, yeah, he says that the music was more of an escape from the darkness that the band's

members were going through. So maybe that's why this album sounds like this, you know. Yeah. So yeah, and it says here, Rachel struggled with alcoholism in the wake of her grief. So yeah, I think the record kind of reflects that. And it's interesting. The name of this record is called Everything is Alive. Anyway.

So beautiful record. Again, this album is called Everything Is Alive from Legendary Shugays Act, Slow Dive. All right, Q, how are you going to close us out? What's your last pick for us today? All right, dude. I'm bringing a track from a member of, I'd say, one of the, one of the OGs of the, I guess, indie pop scene in the early 2000s, dude. You remember Ferguson Geronimo, right?

Yeah, I sure do. I mean, we used to run in the same circles as that guy, the lead to least singer, I think. Yeah, Andrew Savage. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I did not know this, but he's released a couple solo. albums under the name A Savage. That's his name. And that's it.

And he just released one in October. So this is pretty fresh. Oh, cool. Called several songs about fire. It's awesome, dude. It's nothing like you'd expect. Awesome. Granted, I haven't seen, I haven't heard his other full-length solo record called

Thawing Dawn. and that came on 2017. So he says that these are songs that he imagines himself playing in a small club that is slowly burning. That's what he says. Okay. Great. Hence the title. It's a great premise.

Yeah. Dude, he's a great storyteller in his songs, his lyrics. And we're going to play the first track on the record. You're going to love this, dude. All right. This song is called Hurtin or Healed Stranger

Just to my With the same I study He spat and watched the phone That sizzled slightly Then observed Yeah those lyrics are cool man Yeah very

Like observational Just kind of Sprighting down what's going on You know I like I like those kind of lyricists Definitely a story So like

I think what jumped out to me Was this line there in the devil's favorite typeface is my address and my name. That's cool. Yeah, remaining balance, the largest sum yet final notice printed boldly. So he got like a final notice in the mail. From the devil.

Well, yeah, right. Yeah, which is kind of cool. Maybe like, you know, your time is up kind of thing, you know. And also, yeah, in the mirror someone's crying with the same eyes as me. that's fucking creepy I love it but dude he's singing about himself I've seen that horror movie

dude I remember what it was called but I've definitely seen a horror movie like that the whole album's this man you know like it doesn't all sound G-S like this where it's very but it's just muted you know so is a but I mean does he have a drummer

or I'm sorry did you not hear the drummer and bass player in this song no I didn't it was too hyper-focused on that the vocals man yeah there's a saxophone player? All right.

Yeah. There's all kinds of people coming into this record. Okay, okay. Yeah. And apparently it was recorded in just 10 days, the whole record.

10 tracks, 10 days, dude. Anyways, yeah. Andrew Savage, A. Savage for his solo stuff. Yeah, dude. But great songwriter, great performer,

great lyricist. Just, yeah, good dude. Cool. Good stuff. So, yeah, man, I got my work cut. for me for the next few weeks, dude. Because like, I've got lists.

I've got songs, you know. But I know that there's a lot more great music that I heard that I didn't necessarily get a chance to like write down, you know? Yeah. There's a bunch of great music that came out this year. Yeah. And I brought a lot of great stuff tonight. So.

Yes. Same. Same. Yeah. Because I've definitely got, I've got a couple tracks that I'm saving for the last episode. Yeah. My favorite, favorite records of the year.

But like you, dude, I got a, I got a, I got a, I got to listen to some music over the next couple weeks to get, get my next five narrowed down. So, yeah. All right, Hugh, well, I've got a song to close us out, so I'll tee it up in a little bit here. But, and you're going to, you're going to love this, dude. Anyway, in the meantime, check us out on Instagram, message us on Instagram. Dude, I forgot that Andrew Savage is also in Parquet courts. Yeah, dude. I didn't even mention that.

All right, anyways. Yeah, dude. Guys, prolific. Yeah, so reach out to us on Instagram. Tell us what your favorite tracks were of this year. So I think we did this last year and maybe the year before. Like, we try to get people to reach out to us. And if you do reach out to us, we will.

And if we don't think your song suggestion is, you know, terrible, then we might, you know, have it as our outro for the next episode. So yeah, send us your favorite tracks of this year to our Instagram account. Just search for No Filler Podcasts. We'll pop right up. But yeah, so that's it. We'll bring the next 10 tracks in a couple weeks. So we'll space these out. And then we'll have two more two more episodes next month to close out the year. And then 2024, we are increasing the episode count, people. So two episodes a month going forward. And yeah, maybe that's, maybe that's the new, the new, uh, sweet spot for us, you know. That's more manageable. I still can't believe we pulled off one new episode a week for as long as we

did, man. It is kind of shocking. Yeah. Crazy. We must have just, you know, just gotten into a rhythm or something like that. For sure. We did, yeah. Uh, well, anyway. All right. So Q, uh, you actually brought this song. in, I think it was last year's best of 2022. Part 3, this was your first track. Wouldn't you know it, Kew, just this week, or last week, I should say. Well, you know, early November. Narrowhead put out a single with this group.

They're called Mama. Do you remember them? Oh, dude, I freaking love. man, I still think about that song. It still pops into my head every day. Madison? Yeah, well, Nairhead covered it. What?

Yeah. Awesome, man. They put a split single with Mama. So Mama covered Narahead song Sunday. Cool. From their new record and Narahead covered medicine. So I'm going to play Nairhead's cover of Medicine. All right.

Yeah, it's just a perfect, perfect poppy little punk song. It's great. I love this song, man. Narrowhead just I hope they do it justice. They do it perfect justice, dude. All right, cool. And let me tell you, dude, Mama's version of Sunday is also really, really good. So anyway.

Cool. Anyway, this literally came out Halloween night or Halloween, whatever, October 31st. So anyway, yeah. Hey, here we go, cute. I figured out a way to sneak in another narrowhead song. So they are one of my favorite groups, if that's not obvious. All right. So that's going to close us out.

Again, this is Narrowhead covering Mama's. song medicine. And we will come at you guys here in another couple of weeks with our next 10 picks for our best of 2023 wrap-up. My name is Travis. Thanks for listening. And I'm Quentin. Take care. Holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you. From festive and cozy fashion to Lux Beauty and Fragrant Sets. Our special selection has something for every style and price point. Visit our Holtz holiday shop and store or online at Holtrenfrew.com. I'm Sophia Loprecaro, host of the Before the Chorus Podcast. We dive into the life experiences behind the music we love.

Artists of all genres are welcome. And I've been joined by some pretty amazing folks, like glass animals. I guess that was the idea, was to try something personal and see what happened. And Japanese breakfast. I thought that the most surprising thing I could offer was an album about joy. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and remember, so much happens before the chorus. A night before the gathering and all through the house.

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