Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Heat Rocks
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing Primer, MaxFun’s Newest Music Podcast | 21 May 2024 | 00:49:16 | |
Hello Heat Rockers! This is Producer Christian, I edited Heat Rocks and you might've heard my voice on a few episodes with Oliver and Morgan! So we've been working on a new music podcast here on Maximum Fun and I'm so excited to finally share it with you! Primer focuses on genres of music from outside the English-speaking world. This first season we're talking about Japanese City Pop and I will be hosting alongside Yosuke Kitazawa. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to Primer! I think you're really gonna love what we've made here. :) On November 5th, 1979, Miki Matsubara’s debut pop single “Mayonaka no Door/ Stay with Me” was released in her home country of Japan. It was a huge hit and remained her biggest and most beloved work throughout her entire career. Over 40 years after its original release, it soared in popularity once again when a whole new international audience discovered the song through TikTok. Its catchy hook and incredible vocals still resonate with listeners today and has become a staple in the City Pop genre. If you’ve heard one City Pop song, it’s probably Stay with Me. On our inaugural episode of Primer, radio/tv presenter Linda Marigliano joins us to discuss City Pop icon, Miki Matsubara and her debut record, Pocket Park. We get into the unexpected renewed interest in Mayonaka no Door, the story behind Miki’s sudden departure from the music scene, and Linda’s personal connection and discovery of City Pop. Check out our Spotify playlist for this episode! Follow Linda: Instagram | Twitter | Tough Love | Love Language | |||
| The Heat Rocks Appreciation Episode | 12 Aug 2021 | 00:55:55 | |
Well, we're finally here. After nearly 200 episodes, we're ending our run with Maximum Fun! We intend to come back sometime in 2022, and to celebrate this occasion, it's and Oliver, Morgan, and Producer Christian episode. We talk about our favorite moments from the show, the things we appreciate about the show, and we have a few good laughs. Follow Morgan and Oliver on Twitter to keep up with upcoming projects! Until next time, Heat Rockers. If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Vijay Iyer on Prince's "Sign O' The Times" (1987) | 11 Jun 2021 | 00:59:21 | |
This week, we discuss Prince for the SIXTH time on Heat Rocks with musician/scholar Vijay Iyer. We get into Prince's love of the drum machine, Vijay's love of the 80s, and the many sides of Prince we see on this record. More on Vijay Iyer More on Sign o' The Times
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Sign o'The Times unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Wendy & Lisa on Prince's "Around the World in a Day" (1985) | 09 Jan 2020 | 01:00:23 | |
We here at Heat Rocks talk a lot about Prince, and this marks the FIFTH episode where we're discussing an album of his. Around in the World in a Day incorporated more psychedelia and a wider variety of instruments, which made for a much more eclectic and unconventional album. This is also Morgan's favorite episode, so we couldn't be more excited to talk about this magnificent album. Wendy & Lisa of the Revolution come down to the studio to talk about creating this record with Prince, the funkiness of the record, and what life was like working alongside his purpleness for all those years. This is a very special episode you definitely do not want to miss. More on Wendy & Lisa
More on Around the World in a Day
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Around the World in a Day unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Our Heat Rocks of the 2010s | 02 Jan 2020 | 00:57:28 | |
Oliver's albums Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) (2010) Laura Mvula's Sing to the Moon (2013) Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) Frank Ocean's Blonde (2016) Tyler, The Creator's Flower Boy (2017) Morgan's albums Thundercat's The Golden Age of the Apocalypse (2011) Robert Glasper Experiment's Black Radio (2012) Beyoncé's Beyoncé (2013) D'Angelo's Black Messiah (2014) Kamasi Washington's The Epic (2015) Oliver and Morgan are kicking off the new decade and talking about their favorite albums from the 2010s. They discuss their own personal journeys through the decade and the changes in the music industry in general. Happy new year, Heat Rockers. Hope you all have a great one! Show Tracklisting:
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Holiday Music Special with Alonso Duralde redux | 26 Dec 2019 | 00:40:11 | |
The Albums: Vince Guraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) Andy Williams' The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963) Stax Records' Christmas in Soulsville (2007) Heat Rocks was hyped to have film critic Alonso Duralde (The Wrap), one of the hosts of Maximum Fun's movie podcast Who Shot Ya? guest with us to talk about our favorite Christmas songs, holiday fare, songs that should play when it's cold outside, baby. We visit the canon of Christmas music over the years (Andy Williams 1963 The Christmas Album, Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas and Stax Record's 2007 compilation Christmas In Soulsville and across genres and styles - crooners, sweeping orchestral cinematic pieces, summer songs vs. winter songs, modern Christmas traditions, etc. Alonso broke down the power of nostalgia as it relates to Christmas music and how our tastes in music are informed by tradition. Don't be a grinch. Listen to this wintery wonderland of an episode about favorite Christmas tracks. More on Alonso Duralde Show Tracklisting
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Cristela Alonzo on A Tribe Called Quest's "We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service" (2016) | 20 Dec 2019 | 00:59:30 | |
2016 was a hard year, to say the least. We lost Prince, David Bowie, Phife Dawg, Sharon Jones, and many others that year. And on top of that, we here in the US had to reckon with the results of the presidential election. On November 11th 2016, A Tribe Called Quest dropped their final album, We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service, with verses from Phife himself. It came at a time we needed Tribe the most. It went Gold and was widely regarded as one of the best albums of the year. Comedian Cristela Alonzo sat down with us to talk about We Got It From Here and why it quite literally changed the course of her life. We talk about the use of samples and how Tribe was able to update their sound for a modern audience without compromising the mission statement and production style that made them famous all those years ago. More on Cristela Alonzo
More on We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
Show Tracklisting (All songs from We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Father Amde of The Watts Prophets on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (1971) | 13 Dec 2019 | 00:51:30 | |
What's Going On? On May 21, 1971, Marvin Gaye released his eleventh studio album asking this simple question. It was a risky move, for sure. Gaye was at the height of his career and this new album was heavy, focusing on things affecting his community like drug abuse, poverty, injustice and the Vietnam War. People might not have been expecting this, but it was what he wanted to make. Fortunately, the gamble paid off. What's Going On went on to sell over two million copies and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and it's not hard to see why. It's a timeless record, as true back in 1971 as it is now. Father Amde of The Watts Prophets sits down with Morgan to talk about why this album was so groundbreaking, how he got to know Marvin Gaye when he was was still with us, and what Marvin might be talking about if her were here now. More on The Watts Prophets
More on What's Going On
Show Tracklisting (All songs from What's Going On unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Van Hunt on The Sensational Nightingales' "It's Gonna Rain Again" (1972) | 05 Dec 2019 | 00:54:59 | |
We've talked a ton of gospel here on Heat Rocks, but this episode marks the first time we've discussed a full gospel album on the show, and from none other than one of the very first gospel quartets, The Sensational Nightingales. The group was formed in 1942 as simply The Nightingales, but it wasn't until 1946 and the introduction of the sensational singer Julius Cheeks when the band really began to hit their stride. The quartet still tours to this day, albeit with a slightly different lineup, but the soul and tradition of Southern black gospel music is alive and well. Singer/songwriter Van Hunt joins us in the studio to talk about his personal connection to gospel music, the influence of the Sensational Nightingales, and how artists can make the move from gospel to secular music. More on Van Hunt
More on The Sensational Nightingales
Show Tracklisting (All songs from It's Gonna Rain Again unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Phil Yu on Boyz II Men's "II" (1994) redux | 28 Nov 2019 | 00:48:01 | |
This episode originally ran 07/26/2018 The Album: Boyz II Men: II (1994) Phil Yu is better known to most as Angry Asian Man...except that he isn't actually all that angry (though he is Asian and a man). Phil started his titular site nearly 20 years ago and since then, it has become an indispensable news resource about Asian American culture, politics and related issues. Phil, along with Jeff Yang, also hosts his own Asian American culture podcast, They Call Us Bruce. Phil wanted to revisit one of the big hit albums of his youth: II by Boyz II Men. By '94, the group was already one of the biggest acts in all of R&B and expectations were beyond high for the follow-up. The quartet of crooners from Philly didn't disappoint as II continued the group's reign at the top, especially thanks to smooth ballads like "Water Runs Dry," "On Bended Knee" and of course, "I'll Make Love To You." (The three of us couldn't stop laughing when we were discussing the majesty that was the video for that single. Shout out to sexy finger wags.) More on Phil Yu
More on II
Show Tracklisting (all songs from II unless indicated otherwise):
If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Shana Redmond on Jodeci's "Forever My Lady" (1991) | 21 Nov 2019 | 00:45:52 | |
“Don’t talk, just listen.” Jodeci announced themselves to the world on their 1991 debut album, Forever My Lady. They didn’t invent new jack swing but few R&B groups so seamlessly melded the bravado of hip-hop style with soulful pipes that could melt hearts and quicken pulses. Backed by the musical mentorship of Al B. Sure and A&R-ed by a young Uptown intern named Sean “Puffy” Combs, Jodeci all but heralded the end of ‘80s quiet storm respectability and stepped left of the youthful innocence of early New Edition and even the genteel charm of their contemporaries, Boyz II Men. K-Ci, JoJo, Mr. Dalvin and DeVanté Swing were the self-proclaimed “bad boys of R&B” and they wore that attitude on their sleeve and in their songs. Forever My Lady was the pick of our guest, UCLA professor, Dr. Shana Redmond who studies popular music, race and politics. Her first book, from 2014, was Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora and she’s currently working on two new books including Everything Man about the life and legacy of singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson. She discovered Jodeci at the precocious age of 11 and along with Morgan and Oliver, they discussed how Jodeci cut a different path into R&B of the era, whether the album’s ballads or dance jams aged better, and whether or not Jodeci covering the ‘60s pop group, The Association, was a wise decision or not. More on Shana Redmond
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Forever My Lady unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Saul Williams on Portishead's "Dummy" (1994) | 14 Nov 2019 | 01:07:41 | |
Saul Williams is super talented. The multi-hyphenate artist not only has a way with words, he has an ear for heat rocks. And apparently kept a fire starting five in his CD changer. We were fortunate enough to have him bring his ear and words to the booth to discuss Portishead's debut album "Dummy" on Heat Rocks. Brooklyn meets Bristol in Atlanta, at a time when Saul was discovering global sounds, immersing himself in culture and scholarship - in other words, he and the album were both in the right place at the right time. We spoke about Beth Ortons haunting vocals, the rise of the trip hop genre, sampling as an aesthetic, lyrical ingenuity and why Atlanta’s club scene was unmatched in the 90s. More on Saul Williams
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Tisa Bryant on The Emotions' "Rejoice" (1977) | 07 Nov 2019 | 00:50:19 | |
The Emotions started out singing gospel as The Hutchinson Sunbeams, but when they signed a deal with Stax/Volt, they changed their name and switched to soul/R&B. They enjoyed modest success during those years, charting on the Hot 100, but Stax was going bankrupt, and The Emotions were left stranded. The group moved to Columbia Records and met Maurice White, who helped produce the biggest hits in their careers. "The Best of My Love" rocketed up the charts and reached the top spot on Billboard Pop and R&B and their album Rejoice went Platinum. Critic and professor Tisa Bryant talks to Oliver and guest co-host Ernest Hardy about the change in sound between the Stax/Volt and Columbia Records years, the role Maurice and Charles Stepney played in the production of this album, and The Emotions' place in the vast world of girl groups. More on Tisa
More on The Emotions
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Rejoice unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Patrick Paige II on The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ready to Die" (1994) | 03 Jun 2021 | 00:52:29 | |
Bassist/producer/rapper Patrick Paige II joins Oliver and Morgan to discuss Biggie's debut studio album Ready To Die. We get into Big's knack for storytelling, Patrick's very cool math teacher, and what Biggie's career might've looked like if he were still with us today. More on Patrick Paige II
More on Ready To Die
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Ready to Die unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Jason Concepcion on Herbie Hancock's "Thrust" (1974) | 31 Oct 2019 | 00:51:38 | |
Album: Herbie Hancock: Thrust (1974) Thrust followed on the heels of Herbie Hancock’s genre-altering best-seller Head Hunters album, one in which the gifted keyboardist and composer played with new conceptions of fusion jazz and synthesizer technology. Thrust, in many ways, could be considered a second half to Head Hunters; recorded within months of its predecessors with almost all the same players. Once again, Hancock and his team plumbed the possibilities of mixing funk rhythms with jazz improvisation, resulting in four tracks of fusion fire that, to our guest Jason Concepcion, marked a high point before a onslaught of “smooth jazz” would dial everything down. Concepcion is perhaps best known to people as a basketball savant as a staff writer for The Ringer and Emmy-winning producer behind their NBA Desktop segment. I first discovered him via Twitter, thanks to his expert, witty writing as @netw3rk. However, for all his sports acumen, Concepcion is also Berkelee School-trained, having once attended there with the ambition of going into film composition. Thrust was a revelatory way in which he engaged with the possibilities of jazz, soul and funk experimentations. During our conversation, we discussed Hancock’s penchant for innovation in that era, the highs and lows of 1970s fusion jazz plus we took a side trip into the current state of the 365 day NBA “season.” More on Jason Concepcion
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Thrust unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!
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| Gabrielle Civil on Prince's "Parade" (1986) | 24 Oct 2019 | 01:00:44 | |
No single artist has come up on this show more than The Purple One and it's not hard to see why. His enormous discography is filled to the brim with timeless records and undeniable fire. Parade came at an interesting time in Prince's career; it would be the last album he recorded with The Revolution and was, ostensibly, the soundtrack to Prince's film Under the Cherry Moon, a critical and commercial flop. Parade endured and became one of his best selling albums, garnering near universal praise and launched his already successful career into the stratosphere. Writer and artist Gabrielle Civil joins Oliver and guest co-host Ernest Hardy in the studio to discuss Under the Cherry Moon, the chances Prince took with the production of Parade, and the role of women in his world. More on Gabrielle Civil
More on Parade
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Parade unless indicated otherwise)
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Luis Xtravaganza on the "Grease" soundtrack (1978) | 17 Oct 2019 | 00:56:22 | |
Although Grease was originally a somewhat raunchy Broadway musical, the film and the soundtrack (released 2 months ahead of the film's release) has left a lasting impact on millions of young adults the world over. Its relatable themes and catchy tunes have stuck with audiences, even 40 years after its initial release. The soundtrack contained numbers performed by the cast and more than a few songs by 1950s revivalist band, Sha Na Na. It went on to top the Billboard music charts, selling over 8 million copies, and helped launch Olivia Newton-John's career into a completely different direction. It also spawned a sequel, a recent live television special, and just this year, a Rydell High spinoff was just ordered by HBO. Dancer and choreographer Luis Xtravaganza joins Oliver and guest co-host Ernest Hardy to discuss his love of the soundtrack, the influence it had on his career, and why you just can't not dance to so many of these earworms. Grease is the word. More on Luis Xtravaganza More on the Grease OST
Show Tracklisting (all songs from the Grease soundtrack unless indicated otherwise)
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Gerrick Kennedy on Whitney Houston's "My Love Is Your Love" (1998) | 10 Oct 2019 | 00:56:43 | |
The Album: Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love (1998) What was initially supposed to be a greatest hits compilation ended up being a full-on album. Whitney got everyone on this record. Babyface, Kelly Price, Faith Evans, Missy, and even Mariah Carey, all came into the studio to help create a true heat rock; four times platinum, six Grammy nominations, and the Oscar for Best Original Song/ Writer and critic Gerrick Kennedy joins Oliver and Morgan in the studio to talk about Whitney's move to hip-hop, her growth as an artist from her last studio album, and how this record helped celebrate black womanhood in a way that was so rarely heard at that time. More on Gerrick Kennedy
More on My Love Is Your Love
Show Tracklisting (all songs from My Love Is Your Love unless otherwise stated)
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Luz Mendoza on Nina Simone's "To Love Somebody" (1969) | 03 Oct 2019 | 00:51:56 | |
The Album: Nina Simone To Love Somebody (1969) Nina Simone's discography is vast and full of true fire, but To Love Somebody often gets overlooked. Perhaps it's because it was released right after 'Nuff Said and Nina Simone and Piano, both fantastic albums in their own right. And although the album contained almost all covers (Revolution 1 and 2 were credited to Simone and Weldon Irvine), she found a way to make every single song truly her own. Luz Mendoza of Y La Bamba joins Oliver and Morgan in the studio to discuss the chances Nina took on this album, the smaller, quieter moments in the music, and what Nina told us about herself throughout this LP. This is an episode you definitely do not want to miss. More on Y La Bamba
More on To Love Somebody
Show Tracklisting (all songs from To Love unless indicated otherwise)
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts do it here! | |||
| Jason Woodbury on Karen Dalton's "In My Own Time" (1971) | 26 Sep 2019 | 00:57:09 | |
The Album: Karen Dalton In My Own Time (1971) In My Own Time was the second and final studio album by Karen Dalton, a musician who preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She didn't enjoy much commercial success when she was here with us, but the impact she left on the world is immeasurable. Artists like Joanna Newsom, Nick Cave, and Bob Dylan have cited her as an influence (Dylan would even back her up on harmonica in live performances). Her unique voice, often compared to Billie Holiday, was a blend of bluesy, world-weary, and haunting, but warm. Music writer James Woodbury joins Oliver and Morgan to discuss Karen's voice in the world of strangely captivating voices, the value of reissue labels, and Karen's interpretations of popular songs. Join us as we leave for the country and take a deep dive into this forgotten classic. More on Jason Woodbury
More on In My Own Time
Show Tracklisting (all songs from In My Own Time unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts do it here!
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| Jeff Chang on the "Wild Style" soundtrack (1983) | 19 Sep 2019 | 00:54:57 | |
The Album: Wild Style soundtrack(1983) Wild Style began as a low budget but ambitious film project, centered around Zoro, a young graffiti writer swashbuckling his way through the style wars of early ‘80s New York. Directed by Charlie Ahearn and starring Lee Quinones as Zoro, Wild Style would become more of a quasi-documentary of hip-hop’s on its cusp from South Bronx street culture into the global phenomenon we know today. Filled with MC, graffiti, DJ and b-boy performances from a host of now legends, Wild Style would inadvertently spread the hip-hop gospel to a generation of youth around the world, enraptured with how it depictions of an explosive, impossibly colorful subculture that few had laid eyes on outside of the five boroughs. Its soundtrack, overseen by Fab Five Freddy and Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, was largely built off an exclusive disc of original breakbeats that became the sound bed for various live performance scenes throughout the movie. Electric, dynamic and fly as hell, the Wild Style soundtrack helped capture the sound of early hip-hop’s energy and flair from A to motherf—ng Z. For a young Jeff Chang, growing up far away from the Bronx in Honolulu, Wild Style was like a secret cypher that he and his friends could pass around and decrypt. Long before the days of streaming video, if you didn’t catch a theatrical screening of this tiny, indie flick, you had to rely on nth generation bootleg dubs on VHS but as crappy as the images might have been, the inspiration was no less dimmed. This put Chang on the path to eventually become one of the most accomplished hip-hop critics in the formative ‘90s era, eventually culminating in his award winning Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (2005), which, among other things, digs deep into hip-hop’s earliest days preceding even the Wild Style era. He’s since followed that up with Who We Be: The Colorization of America (2014) and most recently, We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation (2016) which became the inspiration behind the digital video series of the same name which just debuted this year. More on Jeff Chang
More on The Wild Style soundtrack
Show Tracklisting (all songs from The Wild Style soundtrack unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Lee Fields on Sam Cooke's "Portrait Of A Legend" (2003) | 12 Sep 2019 | 00:45:46 | |
The Album: Sam Cooke Portrait Of A Legend (2003) Legendary soul singer Lee Fields (Daptone, Truth & Soul, Big Crown Records) stopped by Heat Rocks to discuss the 30 tracks compiled by ABKCO records on Sam Cooke, Portrait of A Legend, released in the summer of 2003. The album covers multi-genres including gospel, pop and soul - Sam's hits, during his storied 15 year career which ended tragically with his untimely death at 33. Referred to as, "the man who invented soul" Sam Cooke hummed and crooned his way into soul music's canon starting with three words: You Send Me. Lee Fields' career began 50 years ago with the release of his first single on the Bedford label "Bewildered". Since then he's released dance tracks, recorded with The Expressions, had his music placed in shows like Atlanta and Dear White People, toured the country and has his songs remixed by some of the best. He and Morgan discussed the gospel according to Sam Cooke, symbolism in A Change Is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke as a lyricist, Sam Cooke as a storyteller. A veteran soul singer in conversation about one of the architects of soul music It gets no better. More on Lee Fields More on Sam Cooke Show Tracklisting (all songs from Portrait Of A Legend unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Lorraine Ali on M.I.A's "Kala" (2007) | 05 Sep 2019 | 00:50:11 | |
The Album: M.I.A. Kala (2007) In 2005, when M.I.A. dropped onto the pop scene with her debut, Arular, heads weren’t quite ready. It was like she brought the full force of Global South dance culture in with her — gloriously bombastic — and the Sri Lankan/British singer/rapper simply didn’t sound like anyone else on the charts. For her follow-up, the idea on paper seemed smart: why not pair M.I.A. with one of the most innovative American producers of that era: Timbaland. Alas, in a post-9/11 world, Homeland Security deemed M.I.A. a threat to national security and refused to give her the necessary visa to come work in the U.S. Undaunted, M.I.A. and producer Switch jumped around the world, recording parts of what would eventually become Kala in cities across South America, Africa and Asia. The resulting masterpiece, propelled on the strength of the eventual mega-smash “Paper Planes,” all but established M.I.A. as a key voice in a different kind of new world order, one in which the borders of nationalism and colonialism were imploding and emergent movements and calls to action were part of that destabilization. As it turned out, M.I.A. didn’t need to come to the U.S. to help invade it with her sound. Kala was the album pick of this week’s guest, Lorraine Ali who currently writes about television for the Los Angeles Times but also got her start as a music critic. As one of the few Muslim American culture critics out there, Lorraine connected heavily with who and what M.I.A. represented and during the course of our conversation, we got into what it was like to listen to Kala in the wake of the second Gulf War, burgeoning refugee crises and the shifting geo-political map in which the music of the Global South could be heard as a subversive force, bamboo bangas and all. More on Lorraine Ali
More on Kala
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Kala unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Allen Thayer on João Gilberto's "João Gilberto" (1973) | 29 Aug 2019 | 00:55:50 | |
The Album: João Gilberto João Gilberto (1973) Before the summer got away from us, we wanted to record one more episode for the season and we invited a guest to pick the perfect LP for the end of the summer. We were not disappointed... João Gilberto was as integral to Brazil’s bossa nova movement as Ray Charles was to soul or Run DMC was to hip-hop; it’s impossible to imagine its sound and style without his touch. By 1973, Gilberto was largely living outside of Brazil and on a stint in the U.S, he rolled through New Jersey with just a single accompanying musician, percussionist Sonny Carr. Together, they crafted what’s considered a minimalist masterpiece of the genre, Gilberto’s equivalent to the Beatles’ White Album. Parts of it sound like a dream, others like a lullaby, but at the heart, it’s the soothing voice of Gilberto and his nimble guitar playing that anchors all of it. Our guest Allen Thayer, aka The Ambassador, is no stranger to Brazilian music. Though he hails from the Pacific Northwest, he’s long been fascinated with south Atlantic sounds. Author of last year’s 33.3 book on Tim Maia's Racional Vol. 1 & 2, Thayer also hosts the weekly “Brazilian Beat” radio show on KMHD and you can find him spinning Brazilian grooves (amongst other tasty treats) in and around Portland on the regular when he’s not penning articles for Wax Poetics. More on Allen Thayer
More on João Gilberto
Show Tracklisting (all songs from João Gilberto unless indicated otherwise):
If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Steve Arrington on Heatwave's "Too Hot To Handle" (1976) | 27 May 2021 | 00:50:46 | |
Musician/producer/minister Steve Arrington sits down with Morgan and guest co-host Jocelyn Brown to discuss Heatwave's debut scorcher, Too Hot To Handle. We talk about the music scene in Dayton, Rod Temperton's prolific career, and Heatwave's ability to meld various genres into one cohesive and funky record. More on Steve Arrington More on Heatwave Show Tracklisting (all songs from Too Hot To Handle unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| 100th Episode Spectacular: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings' "100 Days 100 Nights" (2007) | 22 Aug 2019 | 01:02:51 | |
The Album: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007) On the occasion of our 100th episode, we decided to devote a Host’s Choice episode to talking about the breakout 2007 album from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Coming out hot on the heels of Amy Winehouse’s best-selling Back to Black (2007) which featured the Dap-Kings horn section, 100 Days, 100 Nights made it clear who the queen (and kings) of the retro-soul sound was. As their third album, that latest LP showcased the group’s growing prowess as songwriters and Jones was in top form with a voice able to bring heft and spark to the group’s stylings on Southern soul, uptempo funk and deep gospel. Morgan and Oliver are mostly excited to have made it to #100 and we wanted to thank all our listeners, guests and producers for their support of our show over its first two years. Here’s to 100 more! More on 100 Days, 100 Nights
Show Tracklisting (all songs from 100 Days, 100 Nights unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Raphael Saadiq on Earth, Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World" (1975) + Remembering Nipsey Hussle | 15 Aug 2019 | 01:21:31 | |
The Album: Earth, Wind & Fire That's The Way Of The World (1975) On March 15, 1975, Columbia Records released "That's The Way Of The World" the sixth studio album of Earth Wind & Fire, a band of 10 members who fused rock, jazz, funk and soul. The album sold five million units, and won a Grammy for the single "Shining Star" (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group). Produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, the album focused on EWF's familiar themes, spirituality, oneness, love. Oscar and Golden Globe nominated composer Raphael Saadiq joined Oliver and Morgan in studio to talk "That's The Way of The World" and all the things that made EWF iconic including, Philip Bailey's falsetto, Maurice White's mysticisms and drum heroics, Charles Stepney's production and the harmonies that caught his ear and his attention and the happy feelings the band's music inspired in his own musicianship as a youth growing up in Oakland. You'll want to catch this one. Because Reasons. And stay tuned after the interview for a special segment celebrating the life and music of Nipsey Hussle, who would have turned 34 this week. Rest in power, Nipsey. More on Raphael Saadiq
More on That's The Way Of The World
Show Tracklisting (all songs from That's The Way Of The World unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Mark "Frosty" McNeill on Nina Simone's "It Is Finished" (1974) | 08 Aug 2019 | 00:54:46 | |
The Album: Nina Simone It Is Finished (1974) It Is Finished is an ominous title, least of all given where Nina Simone was in her personal life at the time. Much of the early ‘70s had seen the High Priestess of Soul escaping to Barbados, first to avoid a troubled marriage, then to avoid the IRS. But RCA Records lured her back to New York to tape a live show, much of which would go into It Is Finished alongside a few tracks from an earlier studio session. One of those vault cuts, “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter” would become an unlikely hit on the funk/soul dance floor circuit but It Is Finished was far more than one-tracker, especially as Simone dipped into Afro-Caribbean spirituality via the (under-credited) participation of Exuma on much of this album. Our guest, Mark “Frosty” McNeill is the co-founder of the long-running Dublab internet (now terrestrial) radio station and together, we got deep into Nina’s public and personal tribulations of that era, how the album reflects a particular moment in black cultural identity and a spirited debate about Tina vs. Nina. More on Mark McNeill More on It Is Finished
Show Tracklisting (all songs from It Is Finished unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Summer Spectacular feat. Quetzal (redux) | 01 Aug 2019 | 00:52:05 | |
Guests: Quetzal The Albums:
Note: This is a rerun of an episode from 2018 that has been re-edited and remastered. We wanted to dedicate an episode to talking about the music of summer, easily the one season that people have the deepest sonic associations with. To that aim, we invited the two founding members of L.A.'s Quetzal, Martha Gonzalez and Quetzal Flores. Since 1992, the group has melded the son jarocho tradition into all manners of other genres, resulting in seven albums (and counting), including 2017's The Eternal Getdown. Together, each of our quartet got to pick an album that we associate with the summer and as you see above, we covered a whirlwind of styles and eras that bring up all manners of thoughts and feelings for us. Summer love may be fleeting but it lingers, always. More on Quetzal
Show Tracklisting:
If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Jimetta Rose on Rufus & Chaka Khan's "From Rags to Rufus" (1974) | 26 Jul 2019 | 00:57:37 | |
The Album: Rufus & Chaka Khan From Rags to Rufus (1974) Los Angeles soul singer, Jimetta Rose, has been making music for a long time, working with artists like Talib Kweli, Meshell Ndgeocello, and Shuggie Otis. Her velvety smooth vocals and thoughtful writing made her a force of nature in the LA music scene, bodying anything from R&B to jazz, to rap, and so much more. Jimetta was on a journey, searching for a Chaka Khan dance record, and on her way there, found the funk. Jimetta sat down with us to talk Rufus and Chaka Khan's "From Rags to Rufus." We discussed the origins of Rufus and their transition to funk, the impact Chaka had on the band, and why her voice resonates with women from all walks of life, including a young Jimetta Rose. More on Jimetta Rose
More on From Rags to Rufus
Show Tracklisting (all songs from From Rags to Rufus unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| David Ma on GZA's "Liquid Swords" (1995) | 18 Jul 2019 | 00:54:22 | |
The Album: GZA Liquid Swords (1995) Music journalist David Ma has been in the game for a long time, writing for The Guardian, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Source, and many, many others. He's also the host of Dad Bod Rap Pod, a hip-hop roundtable discussion show from the Bay area. When he told us he wanted to talk about GZA's debut solo effort, Liquid Swords, we knew we were in for a good conversation. We talk about GZA's new jack swing beginnings, his role within the Wu-Tang Clan, and his seemingly endless vocabulary. Even within the Wu's solo efforts, Liquid Swords stands out, with its gritty production, complex lyricism, and hard-hitting flow. It stood the test of time and still bounces, Shogun Assassin samples included. More on David Ma
More on Liquid Swords
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Liquid Swords unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Gavin Turek on Carole King's "Tapestry" (1971) | 11 Jul 2019 | 00:55:50 | |
The Album: Carole King Tapestry (1971) LA singer songwriter Gavin Turek's relationship with Carole King's Tapestry album began in her childhood, listening to her father play virtually every song featured on the piano. He taught her the notes, the chords, the vocals until the earth moved under her feet and made her a die hard fan. She joined Heat Rocks to discuss what made this album fire, the west coast leanings of Tapestry, Carole's lyrical approach to the realness of relationships and why having a cat featured on your cover art is lit and progressive. There are so many heaters on this album, she had four favorites. Listen in and you'll understand why. More on Gavin Turek
More on Tapestry
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Tapestry unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Art of Sampling #2 with Thes One on Nas's "Illmatic" (1994) | 04 Jul 2019 | 01:05:08 | |
The Album: Nas Illmatic (1994) In our first episode from our four-part Art of Sampling series, we focused on one of the classic sources of samples from the mid-80s: the James Brown anthology, In the Jungle Groove. For #2, we wanted to turn our attention to an album whose use of samples helped influences sampling culture and for that, we went with a giant celebrating its 25th anniversary this year: Nas's debut album, Illmatic. So much has been said about this LP over the years, we shouldn’t need to make a case for it but here’s the short version: it’s not simply considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time but it’s universally lauded as one of the greatest debut albums in any genre, least of all given the intense hype around Nas leading up to it. Befitting that anticipation, Illmatic drew, really for the first time, a Dream Team-esque assemblage of some of New York’s finest producers including Q-Tip, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and L.E.S. Their production decisions, including the samples that powered their now iconic tracks, marked one peak in hip-hop’s golden era of sample-based production. To help us break all this down, we invited one of Los Angeles’s finest: Thes One, half of People Under the Stairs (and composer of our theme song!) While Thes generally doesn’t like talking about other producers’ work, as a 16 year old hip-hop head hyped for Illmatic when it dropped in ’94, Thes brought his insights as both a producer and fan, and we touched on everything from the use of nostalgia in sample choices, how Nas’s flow worked with different beats, and why DJ Premier’s “bubba chip” drum programming was a game changer. More on Thes One
More on Illmatic
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Illmatic unless indicated otherwise):
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| Kier Lehman on Steely Dan's "Aja" (1977) | 27 Jun 2019 | 00:41:17 | |
The Album: Steely Dan Aja (1977) If you love the music on Insecure, you'll love the fact that Heat Rocks had an opportunity to sit down with the brainchild behind in. Kier Lehman, well known for his work on Insecure, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Being Mary Jane, Entourage, Love Is, sat down with us to talk about the seminal 1977 album that is a tastemakers dream and beloved across generations. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and 36 of the best and brightest musicians and vocalists in the business assembled on the west coast to produce seven tracks which dripped with jazz, rock, punk, soul and fire! Music writers and critics across publication and decades all agree that Aja is a masterpiece and belongs in the canon of great albums. What happens when two music supes sit down to unpack it? Tune in to find out. More on Kier Lehman
More on Aja
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Aja unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Comeback Albums and Mailbag Special | 20 Jun 2019 | 00:57:31 | |
We here at Heat Rocks took a break from recording episodes in order to recharge our batteries. We thought we'd celebrate our return with an episode partly dedicated to our favorite comeback albums. In the second half, we rummage through the Heat Rocks mailbag and answer listener questions about great debut albums, summer jams, the weirdest record sleeve finds, and more! Show Tracklisting:
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Pell on N.E.R.D's "In Search Of..." (2002) | 20 May 2021 | 00:55:47 | |
Rapper/producer Pell sits down with us to talk about N.E.R.D's "In Search Of..." We get into the sex, drugs, rock & roll of it all, The Neptunes' prolific career, and N.E.R.D's influence on Pell's own work. More on Pell More on N.E.R.D.
Show Tracklisting (all songs from In Search Of... unless otherwise indicated):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you’re not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Prince Special | 13 Jun 2019 | 01:00:23 | |
The Albums:
Hard to believe but Prince's landmark album Purple Rain turns 35 years this week (and the Purple One himself would have just celebrated his 61st birthday last week). In honor of these milestones and the fact that Prince is one of Heat Rocks' Triple Crown winners (i.e. his albums have been featured three times so far), we decided to offer you a "Best of Prince" episode that splices together highlights from our previous three Prince eps: Show Tracklisting (All songs by Prince unless indicated otherwise):
Shout out to our Producer Supreme, Christian Duenas, for doing the edit work on this episode and if you enjoyed the highlights, be sure to download and listen to the entire episodes! | |||
| Hua Hsu on Depeche Mode's "Violator" (1990) | 06 Jun 2019 | 00:52:56 | |
The Album: Depeche Mode: Violator (1990) By the time Depeche Mode released Violator in 1990, they had already become one of the giants of the modern rock world but Violator took the group to new heights of global success. Dark and moody yet intimately dance-able, the group and their album marked a height of synth-pop’s growth across the 1980s, a zenith that would soon be eclipsed by the on-rush of grunge and competing forms of so-called “alternative” rock. Violator was the pick of guest Hua Hsu, staff writer at the New Yorker and English professor at Vassar College. For him, Violator was part of a soundscape of growing up in the Bay Area, least of all as an Asian American. As he and Oliver (flying solo this week) discuss, modern rock became a soundtrack for a generation of Asian American youth, at least those growing up in West Coast suburbs for whom songs centered on alienation and otherness felt all too familiar. Besides, as Hsu notes, we all had piano lessons so a music built around synthesizers was an easy sell. More on Hua Hsu
More on Violator
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Violator unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Guy Branum on Ani DiFranco's "Plastic Little Castle" (1998) Recorded LIVE | 30 May 2019 | 00:44:10 | |
The Album: Ani DiFranco: Little Plastic Castle (1998) Ani DiFranco has never been a pop star by conventional measure but Little Plastic Castle was her dealing with the costs of stardom within her niche of alternative pop/rock world. The result is what's considered one of her best albums ever — it ended up being her best-selling at the very least — one where she tries to work through what happens when public scrutiny and fan indignity begin to feel invasive and you wonder what it's all for. For DiFranco though, she reminds us: she's got better things to do than survive. Little Plastic Castle was the pick of our guest, comedian Guy Branum who, until very recently, was the host of the Maximum Fun pop culture panel podcast Pop Rocket (alas, recently cancelled, RIP!). Pre-Heat Rocks, Oliver was on Pop Rocket for two years and got to see, first hand, Guy's pop polymath skills in action. Taped earlier in the spring, live in front of an audience as part of the Voyager Institute series, the three of us discussed DiFranco's album within the context of Lilith Fair-era female artists, the politics of queer authenticity and how her invocation of cherry bombs probably doesn't refer to firecrackers. More on Guy Branum
More on Little Plastic Castle
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Little Plastic Castle unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Vikki Tobak and Joseph Patel on Gang Starr's "Hard to Earn" (1994) | 23 May 2019 | 00:58:58 | |
The Album: Gang Starr: Hard to Earn (1994) Gang Starr's Hard to Earn dropped in the pivotal year of 1994, arguably the height of the Golden Era as it came alongside everything from Biggie's Ready to Die to Nas's Illmatic to OutKast's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Unlike those other debut albums, this was Gang Starr's fourth LP and by '94, they had established themselves as the (no pun intended) premier rap duo, avatars of a boom bap/braggadocio style that would help define an entire era. For DJ Premier, Hard to Earn marked the beginning of his imperial era, where the telltale sound of a Primo scratch was a mark of quality. Meanwhile, G.U.R.U.'s lyrical craft stepped up another notch (even if it was still "mostly tha voice" that got folks up). Fans will debate whether this was Gang Starr's best album but for Morgan and Oliver, it happened to be their favorite by the group. Aight? Chill. Hard to Earn was the pick of a dynamic duo of guests. First up: Vikki Tobak, author of the astounding new book, Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop, quite possibly the best rap photography book ever created. She was in town as part of the new Contact High exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography (which is up through August, come catch it!). As part of the exhibit, there's a wonderful documentary video that accompanies, assembled by other other guest: Joseph "Jazzbo" Patel. He and Oliver go back to the '90s when both were young writers at URB Magazine and by the '00s, Patel had moved into video content, becoming one of the most influential behind-the-scenes talents at places like Vice TV, MTV, The Fader and Vevo. (He and Vikki are now working on a docu-series based on Contact High). In tackling this album, the four of us discussed everything from the highs and lows of the jazz-hip-hop era of the early '90s to why we need to bring back answering machine/voicemail skits to how to properly pronounce "DWYCK." More on Vikki Tobak and Joseph Patel
More on Hard to Earn
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Hard to Earn unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| DJ Rashida on OutKast's "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" (1994) | 16 May 2019 | 00:52:26 | |
The Album: OutKast Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994) Antwan (Big Boi) Patton and Andre (Dre) Benjamin began collaborating in 1992 and paired their genuis presenting it for the world to see on their debut project SouthernPlayalisticadillacmuzik which released on LaFace records in the spring of 1994. LA’s own DJ Rashida sat with us to talk southern charm, the musicality of this album, black consciousness through the lyrics, what made the interludes so compelling and why this album stands the real test of time. More on DJ Rashida More on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Moby on Joy Division's "Closer" (1980) | 09 May 2019 | 01:05:12 | |
The Album: Joy Division Closer (1980) Moby has been in the game for over three decades, making punk, electronic, alt-rock, dance, and everything in between. When we heard he was coming on Heat Rocks, we had no idea what album he'd pick, but we knew it was going to be some absolute fire. Joy Division were pioneers, blending genres and helping create and popularize the sound that would become post-punk. Unfortunately, Closer would be Joy Division's final album. On May 18th 1980, just weeks before Joy Division's first tour in America, lead singer Ian Curtis took his own life. Factory Records released the album a few months later, and the remaining members would go on to form New Order. We sat down with Moby to talk about post-punk, the wildly varied music scene on the East coast in the 80s, and the shift from Joy Division to New Order. We chat about Ian's deteriorating mental wellness and Moby's own experiences playing with New Order and covering Joy Division songs. Grab a chair, this conversation goes deep. Moby's new book, "Then It Fell Apart" is out now. Cop it at your local bookstore. More on Moby
More on Closer
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Closer unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| RJ Smith on James Blood Ulmer's "Odyssey" (1984) | 02 May 2019 | 00:49:55 | |
The Album: James Blood Ulmer: Odyssey (1984) “Electric guitar” and “free jazz” may not be terms that folks normally pair together but when James Blood Ulmer first began collaborating with jazz giant Ornette Coleman in the mid 1970s, Ulmer found an instant kinship is the heady, improvisational style of Coleman’s harmolodics theory. The influence would shape the beginnings of Ulmer’s solo career later in the decade, culminating, for many, in Odyssey, recorded in 1983 with just Ulmer, drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham. Since then, the album is considered one of Ulmer’s greatest achievements, what longtime New York music critic, Robert Christgau lauded as a “ur-American synthesis that takes in jazz, rock, Delta blues and even country music…you’d be hard-pressed to pin just one style on any of this painfully beautiful stuff.” Odyssey came to us via music historian and author RJ Smith. He's already written books on everything from the Los Angeles post-war jazz scene to photographer Robert Frank to an R&B artist named James Brown. He's currently working on a new biography, this one about Chuck Berry. For RJ, Ulmer's masterpiece represented a distillation of musical movements all colliding together in early 1980s New York City and where Odyssey's opening song felt like an invitation to prayer and mediation. More on RJ Smith
More on Odyssey
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Odyssey unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Karen Tongson on The Carpenters' "A Song For You" (1972) | 25 Apr 2019 | 00:51:53 | |
The Album: The Carpenters' A Song For You (1972) dulcet (adjective) used to describe a sound that is soothing and soft, like the dulcet harmonies in a 70s pop song or the dulcet tones of a harp. It seems like Karen Carpenter invented dulcet tones. Her velvet buttery vocals floated and soared on songs like "We've Only Just Begun", "Top Of The World", "Close To You". Alongside her brother Richard, she created a signature sound built around layered arrangements and harmonies. Our guest, Pop Rocket's own Karen Tongson, sat with us on Heat Rocks to deep dive into the Carpenters seminal, Close To You, their second studio album released on August 19th, 1970. We talked about what made Karen Carpenter's voice inimitable and extraordinary, how the Carpenters invented the power ballad, Karen's enunciations and lower register, and listened to acapellas that made us all swoon. Karen's book "Why Karen Carpenter" makes its debut on June 1st and will cover all the ground we didn't in this episode, sans music, but Heat Rocks recommends that you listen to music of The Carpenters in prep! More on Karen Tongson
More on A Song For You
Show Tracklisting (all songs from A Song For You unless indicated otherwise):
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| Sy Smith on Meshell Ndgeocellos "Plantation Lullabies" (1993) | 18 Apr 2019 | 00:55:14 | |
When Plantation Lullabies first hit the scene back in 1993, there wasn't anything really like it. Meshell Ndgeocello was a bald, badass, and bold woman with bars talking about sexuality, racism, and gender relations while paving the way for neo-soul music and artists. Plantation Lullabies gave us many, many things, and Sy Smith (who has played alongside Meshell for years) came by the studio to talk to us about it. We discuss the impact it had on neo-soul, the shades of funk and go-go throughout the record, and the freedom it offered to black America. Settle in, because this episode and this album are essential to any Heat Rocker. More on Sy Smith
More on Plantation Lullabies Show Tracklisting (all songs from Plantation Lullabies unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Bhi Bhiman on Sly and the Family Stone's "Stand!" (1969) | 11 Apr 2019 | 00:55:07 | |
The Album: Sly and the Family Stone: Stand! (1969) When San Francisco’s Sylvester Stewart and his Family Stone released Stand! in the spring of the 1969, it further cemented the group’s reputation as the definitive pop act of the era, whose multiracial makeup mirrored the band’s multi-musical fluency in rock, pop, soul and funk. They captured the post-summer of love optimism of the times in songs like “Everyday People” and “You Can Make It If You Try” and though those good times wouldn’t last in the years to follow, for that brief, shining moment, Stand! thrust Sly and the Family Stone into the spotlight as avatars for a national feeling of possibility and positivity. Can it be it was all so simple then? Stand! was the pick of guest Bhi Bhiman, the singer/songwriter from Los Angeles (by way of St. Louis). Armed with an eclectic set of influences, Bhiman's dabbled in everything from songwriting with The Coup's Boots Riley to collaborating with comedian Keegan-Michael Key to releasing his most recent album, 2019's Peace of Mind, as a podcast. Together, we discuss how Stand! reflected the soon-to-be-dashed optimism of its time, how the Family Stone doesn't get enough credit for Sly's sound and ponder how Ike and Tina Turner managed to rip off "Sing a Simple Song" without catching heat. More on Bhi Bhiman
More on Stand!
Show Tracklisting (all songs from Stand! unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Kemp Powers on De La Soul's "De La Soul Is Dead" (1991) | 13 May 2021 | 01:07:05 | |
It’s #MaxFunDrive and if you like what we’re doing here on Heat Rocks, please consider supporting us and our network and help keep the show going!
Director and screenwriter Kemp Powers sits down with us to discuss De La Soul's sophomore effort, De La Soul Is Dead. We get into DLS's shift in image and tone, the growth of Prince Paul as a producer, and Kemp's very , ahem, special connection to the song "Let, Let Me In" And stay tuned to the very end for a short bonus beats on Kemp's love of dancehall music! More on Kemp
More on De La Soul Is Dead
Show Tracklisting (all songs from De La Soul Is Dead unless otherwise indicated):
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| The Art of Sampling #1, James Brown's "In the Jungle Groove" (1984) | 04 Apr 2019 | 00:39:42 | |
The Album: James Brown: In the Jungle Groove (1986) This is the first of what will eventually be four episodes, released quarterly, that focus on the art of sampling. As Morgan explains in this episode, sampling isn't simply a key aesthetic within pop music styles, especially hip-hop, it's also an important way through which the past becomes present, allowing us to rediscover artists of yore. No artist in the 1980s benefitted more from this than James Brown. By the end of the decade, Brown's long funk discography had seemingly been mined thousands of ways over but if you had to trace things back to a ground zero, you'd find In the Jungle Groove, the 1986 compilation from Polydor that practically felt designed for sampling, especially by highlighting some of Brown's fiercest and funkiest tracks, complete with new edits and remixes, none more far-reaching than "Funky Drummer," a former 45-only jam that the comp not only released in its full form but also took Clyde Stubblefield's iconic breakbeat and looped it into its own standalone track. For our inaugural Art of Sampling episode, we revisit In the Jungle Groove and talk about both our favorite songs off the comp as well as our favorite uses of those various tracks. Listen to how we give it up and turn it loose. More on In the Jungle Groove
Show Tracklisting (all songs from In the Jungle Groove unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Joey Dosik on Bill Withers's "+Justments" (1974) | 28 Mar 2019 | 00:56:01 | |
The Album: Bill Withers: +Justments (1974) Despite the massive success of Withers's first two albums, Just As I Am and Still Bill, label problems prevented +Justments (his fourth LP) from being released on CD until 2010. As such, it's been a sleeper of an album despite how good it is. Withers was never the most confessional of artists but this album, which came about during the dissolution of Withers's marriage to Denise Nicholas (amidst accusations of abuse), is about as close to he gets to talking about his personal life via song. Meanwhile, scoring all this were former members of the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band, as good a rhythm section that any artist in L.A. could hope to be hooked up with. +Justments was the pick by L.A. soulster Joey Dosik, who's recorded extensively with Vulfpeck but has recently branched into his solo career with his debut album from last year, Inside Voice, which includes a cover of "Stories" from Withers's album. Amongst other things, we discussed how Dosik discovered this slept-on album in his ex-girlfriend's crates, how he learned his own singing voice by studying Withers's, and how drumming great James Gadson is supernaturally clean in the pocket. We are in the home stretch of the MaxFunDrive! If you like what we make, please head over to maximumfun.org/donate and become a member today! Your support means the world to us. Note: the first half of our episode was taped in the MaxFun kitchen on a remote rig because the power had gone out in our building. We were able to get back into the studio properly for the second half but we apologize for the uneven sound quality of the first half. More on Joey Dosik
More on +Justments
Show Tracklisting (all songs from +Justments unless indicated otherwise):
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here! | |||
| Heartbreak Radio on the "Chungking Express" soundtrack (1994) | 21 Mar 2019 | 00:54:53 | |
The Album: Chungking Express Soundtrack (1994) Legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai has long been known for how he integrates pop songs into his films and soundtracks. Chungking Express, Wong's breakout international hit, was no exception as he worked in everything from '60s folk pop to '70s reggae to '90s alternative in the mix, alongside an original score by longtime composer partners Roel Garcia and Frankie Chan. To discuss the melding of sound, image and story in Wong's fanciful tale of two cops and the women who (may or may not) love them, we brought in the hosts of Heartbreak Radio, Lady Imix and DJ Phatrick. Heartbreak Radio which began as an internet show devoted to the sounds of "beautiful sadness" and now it broadcasts every two weeks on KQBH LP, 101.5 FM, a micro-transmitter station out of Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. Imix (aka Sol) and Phatrick (aka Patrick) are now old hands at the sounds of love and longing and it was obvious why they'd want to muse on the music of Chungking Express. Together we talked about how Wong Kar Wai's movies use pop, how the right song can enhance a character and whether or not Oliver is bugging out when he says that he can't stand to hear "California Dreamin'" anymore. The MaxFunDrive is in full swing! If you like what we do, please consider becoming a monthly supporter. We love making this show and we are able to make it because of your support! Head over to maximumfun.org/donate now! More on Lady Imix and DJ Phatrick
More on the music of Chungking Express
Show Tracklisting (all songs from the soundtrack of Chungking Express unless indicated otherwise):
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