Ready for action, nip it in the bud, we’re never relaxin’, this podcast is everlasting! In this episode, Rich has somethin’ to say about OutKast, the Atlanta duo consisting of Antwon “Big Boi” Patton and André “3000” Benjamin, who conquered hip-hop in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s before quietly parting ways. The most fascinating characteristic of OutKast is the duality between Big Boi’s extroverted, in-your-face gangsta persona and Andre’s introverted, quiet philosopher poet persona, a contrast they thoroughly explore on their 1998 album Aquemini, whose title is a portmanteau of their astrological signs. The duo emerged from Atlanta at a time when Southern hip-hop was struggling to be taken seriously amid the dominant West Coast/East Coast narrative, and on this album OutKast proudly make an argument for themselves as masters of the genre with music that’s both overwhelmingly colorful and layered with history and cultural subtext, all in a way that’s distinctly Southern. So if you’ve been on the fence about getting into hip-hop, Aquemini may be the album that helps you get the hump up out your back now.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/173-outkast-aquemini-1998

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Today we're wrapping up the first disc of The Wrecking Crew! In this episode: the surprise return of a Discord & Rhyme hero, an all-time great that deserves revisiting, and possibly the worst Jan and Dean song ever.

Today's tracks:

• Chris Montez - Let's Dance
• The Mamas & the Papas - Monday, Monday
• The Teddy Bears - To Know Him Is To Love Him
• The Sandpipers - Guantanamera

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Ben Marlin

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/

Big Star are your favorite eighties band’s favorite band; but while you've heard their influence, you may not have heard their music. In the early 1970s, this Memphis-based band recorded two albums filled with jangly power-pop and yearning balladry that should have been huge but that had to settle for being mysterious and legendary. Ben found those albums on his 19th birthday, and he's loved them ever since. Joined by Rich and Phil, he explores the band’s sparkling debut album, #1 Record.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Rich Bunnell, Phil Maddox

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/172-big-star-1-record-1972

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

Episode 2 of our Wrecking Crew series features one of the best pop songs of all time followed by one of the worst, with some okay ones in between! Try not to get too excited as we discuss how these incredible musicians could work with just about anything.

Today's tracks:

• The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
• The Fifth Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic
• The Routers - Let's Go (Pony)
• Nino Tempo & April Stevens - Deep Purple
• Ritchie Valens - Donna

The "Let's Go" montage:

• Bay City Rollers - Saturday Night
• Ramones - Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
• John Fogerty - Centerfield
• Slade - Give Us a Goal
• The Cars - Let's Go
• Hoodoo Gurus - Like Wow - Wipeout!
• Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon - Dog Show
• The Seatbelts - Doggy Dog
• England FanChants - England (Clap)

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

https://kennethkraylie.bandcamp.com/
https://casinos.bandcamp.com/
https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/

GoddammitbabyyouknowIain'tlyintoyouThisIsDiscordAndRhyyyymeYEEEEEAAAAHHHHWWWW!!! Van Halen was a cultural phenomenon in the late 1970s and early 1980s until David Lee Roth split with the band, and they’re one of the first bands that John had any real opinions on in his journey of getting into rock music. With this album, the band largely redefined the boundaries of what an electric guitar could do in a rock context, but they also found a way to make this boundary-pushing fun and light on its feet in a way that largely helped shape rock music for the next decade. About half of this album is radio staples, but the other half has some real gems as well, so come listen to John lead a discussion (with Rich and Mike) about a great album from what was, for a few years, an absolutely great band.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/171-van-halen-van-halen-1978

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

This Is Comp is back! We're reviving our compilation series with a great one: The Wrecking Crew!, released in 2015 as a soundtrack to the excellent documentary film of the same name. The songs on this comp cover a huge range of genre and quality, but the session musicians are always top-notch. From weird crossover country to Mexican folk to one of the finest pop songs ever recorded, we had a ton of fun with this first batch of songs and we're thrilled to be back.

Cohosts: Ben Marlin, Amanda Rodgers, Sean Rodgers

Songs:

• The Ronettes - Be My Baby
• The Moments - Walk Right In
• Gary Lewis and the Playboys - This Diamond Ring
• Jewel Akens - The Birds and the Bees
• Ritchie Valens - La Bamba
• Shelley Fabares - Johnny Angel

The "Be My Baby" montage:

• Daryl Hall & John Oates - The Last Time
• Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl to Do?
• The Afghan Whigs - Algiers
• The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
• Clinic - I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth
• The Magnetic Fields - Candy
• Deerhunter - Vox Humana
• Billy Joel - Say Goodbye to Hollywood
• Camera Obscura - Eighties Fan
• The Barracudas - (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again
• Johnny Boy - You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve
• The Clash - The Card Cheat

Links:

The Wrecking Crew! liner notes on Discogs

Lesley Gore on the T.A.M.I. Show

It … is happening … again! This week, Producer Mike rings in 2026 with NorCal producer DJ Shadow’s 1996 masterpiece Endtroducing….., whose release was a watershed moment for the art of instrumental hip-hop. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first album to be composed entirely out of sampled sounds, but focusing on the technical achievement seriously undersells the depths of Shadow’s artistry. This is lively, organic music, with compositions that feel like sculptures crafted from the clay of music history, and the entire 21st-century DJing movement stands on the foundation of what Shadow accomplished here. Mike himself is a composer of sample-based music (including our awesome theme song) and a long-time admirer of Shadow’s work, and he’s invited Rich and returning special guest Shivam Bhatt to deconstruct an album that builds a mighty head of steam out of a grain of salt.

Cohosts: Mike DeFabio, Rich Bunnell, Shivam Bhatt

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/170-dj-shadow-endtroducing-1996

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

It feels like there shouldn't be anything left to say about The Dark Side of the Moon. It's one of the best-selling albums of all time, and it's consistently rated as one of the greatest albums of all time by critics. If you tune into a classic rock station for more than a couple of hours, chances are better than 50/50 that you'll hear a track or three from it get played. It's so common to hear tracks from here out of context that it's become easy to forget that these tracks, when heard in order from start to finish, constitute one of the most stunningly coherent artistic statements of the album era, and that makes it an album that Discord & Rhyme had to cover in depth at some point. Join Amanda, Mike, Rich, and John as they discuss the 1973 classic that transformed Pink Floyd from a niche-famous British prog-adjacent band into one of the most famous bands in the world.

Cohosts: Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/169-pink-floyd-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-1973

Discord & Rhyme's merch store: http://tee.pub/lic/discordpod

Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod