OoO highlights great but under-appreciated music albums, mostly from the 21st century, as selected by host DJ Poseur and a rotating brigade of fellow obsessives. Each co-host chooses an album pick to discuss at length, including consideration of why we think it’s awesome but woefully unknown to the listening public. All picks meet stringent criteria for obscurity (Under 50 user reviews in All Music Guide, Under 100k streams on YouTube). Features include games for the listener to play along with, like “The Obscurity Quiz” (in which albums are ranked by a contestant from most obscure to most famous), “Score the List” (in which cohosts compare their knowledge and music collections to online “Top 10” lists), “Stump the DJ” (in which the cohosts challenge one another’s knowledge of obscure bands), and the occasional “Scheduled Digression” (in which we tackle a specific topic in music or the music industry). See also the companion subreddit (www.reddit.com) for links to all the albums featured in OoO episodes if you'd rather skip our yakking: r/MusicNobodyElseLikes Who should listen to OoO? Anyone dissatisfied by contemporary pop music. Anyone unfamiliar with but interested in independent music of the 21st century. Fellow obsessives who want reviews of beloved but obscure albums and find existing online resources limited. People who want something totally out of left field to spice up their music listening experience. Anyone who enjoys a contentious dialog about art. Rather than being the kind of podcast whose any given episode will be of general interest, it is hoped that with time, with an accumulated body of work, we will hit upon an album or at least a very specific style of music that is beloved by potential listeners as much as by us. Welcome to the wild, weird, and wondrous world of OoO!
Episodes
Saturday Nov 13, 2021
Saturday Nov 13, 2021
Buy our album picks on Bandcamp, 3/4 on a “name your price” basis: https://capillaryaction.bandcamp.com/album/capsized & https://discorporate.bandcamp.com/album/squeeze-me-ahead-of-line
STRUCTURE: OG introduces CA & his history w/ them, attending & booking concerts, the awe of discovering something completely new, the importance of venue, stripping down the band on tour, DJ Poseur’s ignorance of Oberlin but mutual co-op Hobart worship, CA is recommended for whom? (0:00-13:20) Drummers w/ energy & turning on a dime, composition versus improvisation, any accessible entry points?, NO Mr. Bungle!, “Capsized” & “So Embarrassing”, associates of CA, OG’s concert bookings in the bygone days of Myspace, the early days of social media, one doesn’t get into music for the money, underground & “self-released” music (13:20-24:18) Being an amazing opening act w/ a famous tour versus headlining, collaboration & exposure, ratings & critical reviews, Pitchfork readers poll & Joe Tangari’s reviews of CA (24:18-30:20) individual songs on “Capsized”, the convergence of extreme complexity & unintentionally genius incompetence, a van accident, the Kevin Shea tributes, side projects & day jobs as the tragedy of the millennial generation’s musical luminaries, WI (30:20-39:48) CA’s elusive discography, documentation of OGs glory days w/ CA, the meaning of CA, RIYLs (39:48-45:35) ratings, metal adjacency & the need for experimentation (45:35-48:50) transition between album picks (48:50-56:33) no such thing as bad music? acquired tastes & the need for repeated listening to appreciate versus being a rock edgelord (compared to the more American practice of getting really into obscure forms of Christianity), are they done making music?, pushing the boundaries of rock in the 2020s, hooks, complexity, drumming (56:33-59:59) electronics sour the rock purists, vocal comparison, unusual song structures & unpredictability > soloing. “Squeeze Me Ahead of Line”, Discorporate & Tzadik Records, collaborators famous and obscure, plugging Bandcamp call to action (59:59-1:06:25) review on “All About Jazz” and elsewhere & when screaming vocals are appropriate, then individual songs on “a subtle album”, quasi-jazz comparisons, songs blending versus being individually distinguishable, music for driving, the explosion of subgenres, is it offensive or an easy/“soothing” listen? (1:06:25-1:14:37) How serious are their boastful self-descriptions on Bandcamp?, mystique, avant-garde, the slow return of live music post-Covid (1:14:37-1:17:17) ratings & comparison to their previous EP “Caudle Cameo” (1:17:17-end)
Capillary Action is RIYL: Mike Patton, FZ, The Season Standard, Basset Hounds, Jouska, Head of Femur, pele, The Book of Knots, Hi Red Center, Need New Body, Volcano!, Zs, Make a Rising, Many Arms & other raucously ambitious acts on Tzadik. I hear Elvis Costello in his voice; OG hears Sinatra (!) & says Mr. Pfeffer mentioned Archie Shepp as a big influence.
The Season Standard is RIYL: Mahogany Frog, Capillary Action, Phil Manzanera, Deerhoof ("Xylan" especially), T.J. Kirk, King Crimson
A great, insightful interview w/ Jonathan Pfeffer of CA in a source I’d never heard of (about the previous album, “So Embarrassing”: http://www.tokafi.com/15questions/interview-capillary-action/ .
“So Embarrassing” is NYP on Discorporate Records.
A cool rendition of “Sweepstakes” in an indoor overpass.
I would absolutely have loved to see a double bill of CA & Už Jsme Doma in Madison, mentioned by OG as his first meeting of the bandleader. Here’s the music video for “Mariana”. They should have an album pick on a future OoO episode.
OG also mentioned Charlie Looker , Psalm Zero, and Extra Life. Mike Watt as a collaborator & jamming partner also comes up.
Pitchfork’s reviewer does a good, thorough job with CA, comparing them both aptly and humorously to Need New Body. “Feeding Frenzy” is compared to the experimental yelling (& apparently storytelling) album by Liars, “They Were Wrong, So We Drowned.”
The performance that led me to Pele for a jazz connection is “The Mind of Minolta”.
A very positive, helpful review of “Squeeze Me Ahead of Line” in an unexpected source: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/squeeze-me-ahead-of-line-the-season-standard-unsung-records-review-by-john-kelman
OG connects them to Stick Men & obviously King Crimson.
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