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Ep. #287: Fake Limbs

Fake Limbs are a noisy rock band who hail from the west side of Chicago, Illinois. Known for creating a kind of “social justice street rock” that’s exhilarating and outspoken, the band formed in 2011 and have released three acclaimed full-length albums, including 2016’s Matronly, which is out now via Don Giovanni Records. Fake Limbs have been on the road a bunch of late and, before their recent show at the Silver Dollar in Toronto, lead singer Stephen Sowley and I ate some pizza at Fresca, just west of College and Spadina, and then we talked about his time in Toronto and tour managing, Jenny Hval, Screaming Females don’t really need roadies, driving and sleeping in cars and planes, Brendan Fraser and The Mummy, Danny Brown’s leather sleep mask, flight recliners, Ted, Colin Atrophy’s Slice Harvester, Fresca Pizza in Toronto, Chicago and Montreal, living in upstate New York, Second City and comedy, The Blues Brothers, not from Chicago, the Cubs’ World Series win, loser town, a goat and Steve Bartman, baseball points, a momentary Sowley curse, loving the Cubs and Wrigley Field and Toronto Blue Jays fans, so Grohl, working at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini, studio managing, encountering Iggy and the Stooges within weeks of taking a job at EA, the Breeders, working at Reckless Records, cashing Albini out on his first day at RR, lending Iggy $40, going to see Gimme Danger on election night, how Jim Jarmusch’s film basically overlooked the last Stooges record The Weirdness, which Albini engineered, election night predictions, phones on and off in the movie theatre, no surprise, voter participation, echo chambers, the shock, feeling ill- and misinformed about class-based anger, how Trump did everything he possibly could to willfully lose this election, people steeling themselves for the next four years, people who protest, The Dark Knight Rises, the left and exclusion and intersectionality, Michael Moore’s Facebook Live report during a recent protest in New York City, rationale, the ‘this will be good for comedy/punk rock’ stupidity, hoping for empathy, talking about Fake Limbs and their album Matronly, Black Lives Matter and “An Inconvenience,” Trump’s cabinet, what is punk, dinner with Grace Ambrose, Phleg Camp, the Jesus Lizard, Carla Bozulich, influence projection, idiots, Don Giovanni Records, Moor Mother’s Fetish Bones, more hugs, Bandcamp and Jes Skolnik, the Fugazi Live Archive, the song “Lil Bit,” and that was all from Fresca.

Related links: dongiovannirecords.com fakelimbs.com frescapizzapasta.com vishkhanna.com

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News Podcast

Ep. #261: Hooded Fang

Hooded Fang is an excellent and adventurous rock ‘n’ roll band from Toronto. Over the past decade, the band has toured the world and released a number of daring records that chart a unique, ever-changing sound steeped in underground rock idioms and exciting ideas. Their latest album is called Venus on Edge, it’s out now via Daps Records, and has compelled Hooded Fang to travel to different cities, including Guelph recently, where Daniel Lee, April Aliermo, and Lane Halley joined me in the CFRU studios to discuss watching me tech this episode, whether or not it’s really all that fun to do it yourself, women in music, the meaning behind Venus on Edge, a sex show, many meanings, what love’s got to do with it, existential crises, more tension, boredom and fun and side projects, Lazy Lane, playing with yourself, Itchy Lane, guitars on fire, playing guitar in BART, through composition, Phèdre and Lee Paradise, April knows Daniel or so the marketers would have us believe, sassy music videos, children are excuses, working with kids, the rise of Toronto’s consciousness, marginalized people speaking for themselves, Toronto is in Canada, progressive kids, times I’ve experienced racism, Tariq Hussain, Samir Khan, co-opting oppressive motifs, Kanye West and the Yeezus and Watch the Throne tours, hot and sauerkraut, mixed people and The Future of Hate™, what will happen to the racists, Maureen Tucker and Ralph Molina, talking about everything, post-Rob Ford, including Lane, Toronto’s all-ages punk scene, trying to do good but also tokenism, doing not talking, it can take time to get things done, VCR, pronoun awareness, Jonah Falco, including Lane, the Lawnya Vawnya Long Night talk show and its programming, baby formula tastes like science, writing what you talk, nice looking condos, needing things to write songs about, making people feel things, a pre-Sled Island show and Sappyfest, Lane’s family in PEI, google.com, Where the Streets Have Been Renamed, Daps Records, the song “A Final Hello,” and that was the end of this talking.

Related links: hoodedfang.com dapsrecords.com vishkhanna.com

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News Podcast

Ep. #223: Ian MacKaye & Steve Albini (Part I)

Ian MacKaye was once in bands like Minor Threat and Embrace and is currently in the bands Fugazi and the Evens. He also co-founded and continues to oversee the excellent label Dischord Records, which is based in his hometown of Washington D.C. Steve Albini has been in bands like Big Black and Rapeman and is currently in the vital and wondrous rock trio, Shellac of North America. He’s a very well-respected recording engineer who owns and operates the Electrical Audio facility in the city of Chicago, Illinois, where he has lived for a good long time. In this first of a two-part moderated conversation between Ian and Steve, we discuss how they first met via either the late John Loder or Corey Rusk, Steve’s harshly written published review of the Rites of Spring record, Big Black playing D.C., machines and heartbeats, the formalization of punk, the influence of Minor Threat, punk violence, the Butthole Surfers, one-upmanship, explaining Pailhead and how Ian came to work with Al Jourgensen, the significance of John Loder, his company Southern Records, and its role in distributing underground music, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Wax Trax! Records, Strike Under, punk to electronic music, Paul “Ion” Barker, the Blackouts, Bill Rieflin, drumming, Chicago’s drug scene, Minor Threat’s ferocity and execution, the time Pailhead employed an Ian MacKaye impersonator at shows, Adrian Sherwood almost working with Big Black, the story behind the In on the Kill Taker sessions, staying in London and missing John Loder, why Fugazi recorded in Chicago, how the greatest session ever yielded the saddest demo tapes, Fugazi let its guard down, Steve’s magical rapport with bands, Fugazi goes hard, how Steve bonded with Fugazi during their session together, stifling your fandom as an engineer, treating people you record with respect and trusting their vision, Ian teaches Steve how to double vocals, Ian’s phrasing, single vocals are just fine, trumpets, Ian as a prolific producer, the first Teen Idles recording session with a mean engineer, how Terrie from the Ex obtained his first guitar, Skip Groff and Don Zientara, Inner Ear Studio, Round Raoul Records, resisting technological trends when running a studio, how the In on the Kill Taker sessions with Steve ended up circulating publicly, Fugazi tried to bury it, how records leak, the song “Great Cop,” and that was the end of part one.

Related links: dischord.com electricalaudio.com vishkhanna.com

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