Putting a magnifying glass over one song each episode and picking it apart, Song Exploder is a music nerd’s dream. Host Hrishikesh Hirway stays out of the way, letting the musicians themselves break apart their songs and tell in-depth stories about how they were made. Guests range in genre and popularity—from Weezer to Flatbush Zombies—so it’s a safe bet you’ll find something to enjoy in the show’s deep catalog of 100+ episodes.
Spotify releases a new original podcast, “United States of Music,” hosted by comedian Sasheer Zamata. The podcast series consists of six episodes, and uses Spotify listening data to uncover stories about people who make music, people who love music and the stories that connect them, one city at a time.
Sasheer Zamata, who is herself a big music fan, explains, “I’m excited to help share this show with listeners. I talked to some cool people across the US to learn about the music in their city and the impact it had on their lives, and I got a deeper look into the communities in this country than I thought I would. I can’t wait for people to hear these unique stories from artists and music fans.”
Each episode will take listeners to a different city across the United States, as it explores interesting, in some cases previously untold music stories that are deeply rooted in place. In addition, episodes feature artists like Tyler Glenn and Elaine Bradley of electro-pop band Neon Trees, poet and rapper Malcolm London, and LeNard Brown of soul group The Controllers, in addition to venue owners, fans, and local legends.
The series tells stories that range from funny to weird to moving, in cities such as Birmingham, Tucson and Provo. Listeners will discover why Chicagoans want to dance in the rain, when most people just want to curl up and listen to mellow music. Other episodes head to Southeast L.A., which has the most loyal music fans in the country, those that listen to Regional Mexican music, and Provo, Utah, where some of the biggest acts in electro-pop, including Neon Trees and Imagine Dragons, have gotten their start in a club named Velour.
Explore these stories and more throughout “United States of Music,” only on Spotify.
All episodes are available for streaming now at https://open.spotify.com/show/3iYwphRGrIjQiF3dLxChUg
Episode descriptions:
Episode 1: Blood Brothers (Provo, UT):
At Brigham Young University, students love to listen to white noise, for studying, for sleeping, and to soothe their children. But just a few minutes outside of campus, there’s a club called Velour. The venue’s longtime owner Corey Fox is credited with fostering local talent like Neon Trees, Imagine Dragons, and The Moth & The Flame. But Corey Fox has been keeping a secret. Something he’s been holding onto his whole life, that could affect not only his life, but the fate of his beloved Velour, and the entire music community.
Episode 2: A Mix Tape in the Rain (Chicago, IL):
In most of the country when it rains people put on mellow music. But when it rains in Chicago, people dance. WHY? What is it about Chicago? (Featuring Malcolm London, Ohmme and Whitney).
Episode 3: The Iranian Cowboy (Tucson, AZ):
Over the decades, country music has created many outlaws, rebels, gamblers and ramblers, superstars, and pop idols. But it has only produced ONE Iranian Cowboy.
Episode 4: Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN):
For a long time, Dawn Watley, of the band Black Kids, thought that her music wasn’t important. That it couldn’t make an impact in the world. Then, she met Andrew.
Episode 5: King of Corridos (Southeast LA, CA):
A true crime story about one of the most beloved Mexican singers…ever: Chalino Sanchez.
Episode 6: The Soul Controller (Birmingham, AL):
When he was just 15 years old, one musical moment changed LeNard Brown’s life forever. And after 40 years, there’s still one song he refuses to sing. No no no no.
“My motto is: try everything, life is short,” says John Dwyer, the leader of San Francisco garage rockers Thee Oh Sees. “We are growing at every turn. Every day you get a little older, a little closer to the grave – you should taste it all.”
A master of contemporary garage rock, he came into prominence as part of the fruitful San Francisco scene of the early 2000s. Since then Thee Oh Sees have rattled out 21 LPs of bewilderingly consistent quality, under various iterations of their name, and Dwyer has written, recorded and released another 20 albums with other collaborators, encompassing everything from industrial electronics to improvised jazz and death metal.
In a recent interview with Marc Maron, Dwyer talked of his love of Scott Walker and, in particular, a scene in the Walker documentary 30th Century Man when a percussionist is recorded punching a side of beef; Dwyer has similarly tried to master new sounds, be it a flute on Thee Oh Sees’ Dog Poison or electronic bagpipes on his most recent Damaged Bug LP. His career is full of examples of how to explore genres on a shoestring, too – there are projects that are just drums and vocals (the Drums) or a hefty death metal record squeezed out of three people (Dig That Body Up, It’s Alive). We asked him where to begin in his vast back catalogue.
Coachwhips rewrote the punk aesthetic for the 21st century. Raw, stripped back to the bones of guitar, drums and keys, their shows were chaotic and rambunctious. Bangers vs Fuckers epitomises that, squeezing 11 tracks into 18 minutes, and was notable for Dwyer’s use of a telephone transducer rather than a microphone. “It was very simplistic and was meant to be bombastic and primitive,” Dwyer says. “Doing it the most direct path was key. The music was so abrasive and forward that no one would have noticed any of our innovation. It was a sort of as-much-as-you-can-squeeze-from-nothing aesthetic.”
“This goes hand-in-hand with the amount of marijuana I was smoking at the time,” is Dwyer’s take on this early OCS material, a stunningly delicate collection of untitled tracks that marks the only time an acoustic guitar has been given prominence in one of his records.
The first time Dwyer worked extensively with abrasive electronics was in his band Zeigenbock Kopf. The group aped German industrial to create an abrasive noise overlaid with homoerotic subject matter – the IDM of the title stands for “I dig men” and the cover featured Dwyer dressed as a leather daddy. “I got a lot of heat from this band,” he says. “We had a real mix of people who loved and hated it. I think it goes to show that not every idea is a good idea or needs to be a reality. I was much more into heavier drugs and beats and distorted electronics, so it felt perfect. I had this idea of doing a faux German band, and the leather daddy thing sort of fell into line with it.”
This project with Randy Sutherland and Shaun O’Dell wraps duelling saxophones around blistering percussion. “I love jazz and improvisation,” he says. “That band was real fun. We played a lot of shows in the woods, on the street, in art galleries and bookstores. Even today we have massive segments of improvisation in Thee Oh Sees, so why not [do it]? It would be boring otherwise.”
With Thee Oh Sees constantly touring and recording, it is astounding that Dwyer finds time to work on his own Damaged Bug solo project, full of instrumental experiments (like the aforementioned bagpipes). “It’s my meditation – I love doing it,” Dwyer says. “I love to be consumed in art, whether it be my own or somebody else’s. I love Philip K Dick, Truman Capote, Flannery O’Connor, Peter Watts, Ben Wheatley, Stanley Kubrick, Peter Weir … the list could go on for days. I’m always working.” With that approach, it would not be a surprise to see 40 more releases over the next two decades.
