Kitschfork – Details, episodes & analysis

Kitschfork is back and in full form in yet another classic episode! this time it's to talk about one of the important cult indie bands of the 2000's and the Pitchfork 9.6 that caused a great stir in the world of indie music in 2004 - it's Blueberry Boat by The Fiery Furnaces, of course.

Max and Liz unpack why The Fiery Furnaces were indeed an essential musical force to be reckoned with of the era, even accounting for some of their infamous musical overindulgences, via breaking down their most well-known album. they also make a plea for the kids of today to dig into the Fiery Furnaces discography more - it very much holds up!

buy Blueberry Boat album on bandcamp:

https://thefieryfurnaces.bandcamp.com/album/blueberry-boat

songs featured in the episode (not including the ones on Blueberry Boat):

the fiery furnaces - chris michaels (live) mercury rev - blue and black rogue wave - be kind & remind men at work - land down under crowded house - don't dream (it's over) yeasayer - 2080 matthew friedberger - wisconsin river blues hip tanaka & keiichi suzuki - hospital (from Earthbound) hip tanaka & keiichi suzuki - fourside (from Earthbound) the velvet underground - european son oneida - ceasar's column the fiery furnaces - slavin' away (live)

Max and Liz finally return for their first full episode recording in over a year. they catch up about Pitchfork layoffs, dead music websites of old, the sorry state of culture criticism in general... and the recent death of a very important musical figure.

they then turn to talk about one of 2000's indie's great "What If's", Minneapolis-based Andrew Broder aka Fog, a hip-hop DJ turned multi genre wonder ahead of his time who never really hit the zeitgeist but nonetheless did score a Pitchfork Best New Music with his melancholy 2003 experimental ambient folk album "Ether Teeth". Max and Liz speculate on why he never really seemed to hit as an artist, and why "Ether Teeth" holds up in unexpected and surprising ways.

Andrew Broder/Yoni Wolf podcast interview from 2013 mentioned in the episode: https://soundcloud.com/thewanderingwolf/episode-3-andrew-broder

Fog/Andrew Broder performance and interview clips from 2003: https://www.youtube.com/@work-kh2bo

Andrew Broder's solo bandcamp:

https://andrewbroder.bandcamp.com/

song list:

Cockeyed Cookie Pusher Pneumonia Check Fraud A Word of Advice "Fuel" - Idaho Plumb Dumb What a Day Day See It? See It? The Girl from the Gum Commercial CheerUpCheerily Under a Anvil Tree No Boys Allowed Apologizing to Mystery I Call This Song Old Tyme Dudes Wall Paper Sink or Swim Just a Kid Growing Up

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EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

today during this very autumnal season we look at a very autumnal 2002 album from DIY bedroom pop progenitor/(former) Olympia Washington K Records twee-adjacent indie songwriter/musical cousin and collaborator of Phil Elvrum's: Mirah's (aka Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) "Advisory Committee"

we talk K Records and the 90's Olympia music scene, about Mirah's background as a DIY artist, and her being one of the few visible and celebrated queer artists in the indie space at a time when there wasn't a lot. and of course... we talk about the music. which we both find to be generally likeable and fun, with occasional moments of brilliance.

we also get into Liz's brief twitter feud with a few Pitchfork writers that happened a century ago and the increasingly dire situation for touring musicians.

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EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

various forces of humanity and nature conspired against you hearing this episode, but we have prevailed. we welcome James Webster, member of the cult vaporwave/electronic music group Death's Dynamic Shroud, to talk about an album that influenced him greatly, as well as a famous Pitchfork 10.0... 2002's "Source Tags & Codes" by Austin art rock band ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead.

has this album had the lasting cultural impact of other famously acclaimed Pitchfork albums? maybe not. is the band made up of cringey fantasy dorks who didn't really fit the rock zeitgeist at the time? definitely yes. but also - who cares? in 2022, this album is still great.

follow James on twitter here: https://mobile.twitter.com/HCMJmagic

listen to Darklife here: https://deathsdynamicshroud.bandcamp.com/album/darklife-2

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EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

(most of the episodes of) Max's old podcast Desert Island Discourse: https://archive.org/details/podcast_desert-island-discourse_1204078946?tab=collection

today we begin by looking at a band that truly embodies 2000's indie rock in all its tropes (for better or worse): Spoon, and their breakout album - 2001's "Girls Can Tell". we examine why and how Spoon reformed itself from a Pixies-inspired 90's bar band floundering on a major label into being the archetypal mid-60's mod-inspired too cool for school hipster band that personified its big indie label, Merge Records, and the indie kitsch of the era. also we go into why neither of us feel particularly strongly about (or have much to say about) Spoon.

after that, we have another discussion about various news in the music world (at least at the time this episode was recorded...lol). from our thoughts about the current 'indie sleaze' revival which may or may not actually exist, to early 2000's nostalgia tours and why so much 'indie' music of the era sort of feels like the sound of gentrification, to people giving up on music in their 30's, to the Arcade Fire/Win Butler allegations... and more

our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/

EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

for our very special 10th episode, we're taking a visit to the utopian musical island of a very special artist. yes that's right: it's the one, the only, everyone's favorite Icelandic pop goddess Björk. the duo congratulate themselves on their excellent timing on this episode right before a podcast series/new album is on the way from Björk herself. Liz also reflects on her very fraught relationship with the work of Björk as a former Björk stan, and there's commiseration on her (terrible) MoMA exhibition in 2015. and somewhere in there, music gets talked about. one of a kind, heart demolishing music.

we try our best as non-experts tip-toeing into the realm of hip-hop and the very artistically fruitful period of the early 00's indie hip-hop by looking at a highly acclaimed (at the time), but also semi-forgotten indie hip-hop album Blazing Arrow by former Bay Area hip-hop duo Blackalicious. RIP Gift of Gab.

EMAIL US: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

for our podcast about 2000's indie music kitsch that is inextricably tied to its time... we have an artist an album that feels as out of time, and untethered to a singular era as possible. we are, of course, talking about the beloved electronic music artist Boards of Canada, in all their uncanny nostalgia, and their dark masterpiece album Geogaddi from 2002. Liz is excited to finally cover some electronic music... so it's time to sit back and learn about where a bunch of samples came from

website episode photo taken from: https://imgur.com/a/lKl0m

outro song is "Midnight Star - The Midas Touch (Hell Interface remix)"

EMAIL US: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com

Audrey Whitesides (@audreyotherway) of the bands Mal Blum and Speedy Ortiz joins us in our discussion of Chicago indie music darling Liz Phair and her infamous Liz Phair Goes Mainstream Pop self-titled album from 2003 that netted much disgust from music critics and a 0.0 from our friends at Pitchfork. why did she get so much hate? why doesn't the album have the reputation anymore for being the Bad Album it had in its day? what can we learn from this? (probably nothing). find out here!

Liz surfs the currents of fucked-up audio (sorry) as we briefly knock off the obligatory first Pitchfork 10.0, the EP "Gay?" by the Minneapolis band 12 Rods. who were they? good question!

then we spend the rest of the episode talking about David Cross, Kate Bush, Spotify, why something like 00's indie couldn't sustain itself today, if there is a chance for genuine real "protest" music in the wake of crumbling institutions, and other related things!

end music is "Precious Park" from the game Armored Core: For Answer by Kota Hoshino