MUSIC is not a GENRE - Moving Every Conversation Forward
MUSIC TALK FROM A MUSIC INSIDER!
MUSIC is not a GENRE goes beyond music critique, beyond opinion, and WAY beyond gimmicks to get at the heart of music and how it connects to the rest of the world.
Every episode starts with a main music topic and connects it to cultural, social & political issues in unexpected ways. It challenges music lovers to think as if THERE IS NO BOX AT ALL. No one kind of music can be confined to a genre. And the whole "genre" of "music" itself can't be separated from the totality of our experience.
All the Episodes
Everything you want to know on all your favorite episodes, including: video & audio links to full versions, time stamps of key comments, complete text, featured songs & more info.
SEASON 4
Episode 40: The Freewheeling Catch-Up Machine #1 - Know Your MinaG Terms Edition
Episode 39: The Show That Never Ends - The Book That WASN'T LONG ENOUGH! - Book Talk #4
Episode 38: Belle & Sebastian - When QUIET Was the REVOLUTION
Episode 37: Death is DUMB Volume 9: Terry Kath - The Spirit & Sinew of Chicago
Episode 36: Negative Reviews - Constructive Critique or Pathetic Power Play?
Episode 35: TWO Hours with Bridget Hogan (Part 2) - Interview Edition #24
Episode 34: Meet the BEATLES BOOKS ! – ASK ME WHY We Always Want More - Book Talk #3
Episode 33: TWO Hours with Bridget Hogan (Part 1) - Interview Edition #23
Episode 32: Heavy Flute & Crime Jazz - Cool is Where You Find It
Episode 31: An Hour with Jacqueline B. Arnold - Interview Edition #22
Episode 30: PRE-MO DREAMO EMO SCREAMO GLEAMO FE-MO RAP! … Real Emo DOESN'T EXIST
Episode 29: MIXES and the CD-ARRR: At Some Point We Were ALL PIRATES
Episode 27: Super Groups: How Super Are They? – Audioslave, Velvet Revolver & the Rest
Episode 26: Death is DUMB Volume 8: Nirvana - Reopening the Heartbreak-Shaped Box
Episode 25: Can Good Production Save Bad Music? - Fleshing Out the Framework Effect
Episode 24: An Hour with Lon Dorsey - Interview Edition #21
Episode 23: Box Sets - Do We Even Care Anymore?
Episode 22: An Hour with Steve Erickson - Interview Edition #20
Episode 21: The Smithereens - A New Jersey Revival Band That Deserves ITS OWN REVIVIAL
Episode 20: Lou Rawls' Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho! - Why PLAYLISTS MATTER
Episode 19: Eminem - One of the Greatest Poets of All Time?
Episode 18: The Freewheeling Catch-Up Machine #1 - Goomba Edition
Episode 17: Lenny Kravitz - Turning TRIBUTE into TRUTH
Episode 16: An Hour with Mike Indovina - Interview Edition #19
Episode 14: An Hour with Patrick Tape Fleming - Interview Edition #18
Episode 13: The Share Tingles, or Why Almost NOTHING is Better Alone
Episode 12: An Hour with Paul Leschen - Interview Edition #17
Episode 11: Billy Joel vs. … Are You People Serious?!?
Episode 10: An Hour with David Dabbon - Interview Edition #16
Episode 9: Death is DUMB Volume 7: Soundgarden - The Epic Voice of Modern Opera
Episode 8: An Hour with Leslie Goshko - Interview Edition #15
Episode 7: Fatboy Slim & Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Book) - Are DJs ARTISTS?
Episode 6: Nicky DeMatteo - The Mega Q&A! - Interview Edition #14
Episode 5: Nick DeMatteo - Interviewed by Cathryn Lynne! - Interview Edition #13
Episode 4: Out of Time NOT Out of Mind – Paying Attention to the Future NOW
Episode 3: The Hives – Sweden F*cking Rules Cuz It SUPPORTS ITS ARTISTS
Episode 2: Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Califormulation of True LEGENDS
Episode 1: Some Things Happen – The Flood, the New Season & What YOU Want
SEASON 3
Episode 36: Death is DUMB Volume 6: PRINCE and the EVOLUTION
Episode 35: The Foo Fighters - Drummers Who RULE Once They Get OFF the Throne
Episode 34: It's Olivia's World, We Just Apple Elephant - The Awesome Weird Retro of Elephant 6
Episode 33: Death is DUMB Volume 5: John Lennon - The End Started Here
Episode 32: The Grey Album - Sampling, Bootlegs, Mashups & a Beatles Time Twist
Episode 31: TWO Hours with Shok (Part 2) - Interview Edition #12
Episode 30: The White Stripes - Three-Toned Rock
Episode 29: TWO Hours with Shok (Part 1) - Interview Edition #11
Episode 28: Death is DUMB Volume 4: Alice in Chains - Harmony in the Dark
Episode 27: Broken Windows Listening – The Reductive & Destructive Choice of Surface Over Substance
Episode 26: Love @ the Crossroads - G. Love & Philly's Special Sauce
Episode 25: Some Days are Hard, Some Days are Easy - Bands with Day Names
Episode 24: An Hour with Fred Sauter - Interview Edition #10
Episode 23: Death is DUMB Volume 3: Beastie Boys - WTF x3 ?!?
Episode 22: An Hour with Rich Berta - Interview Edition #9
Episode 21: Violent Femmes & Gender Duality - Bands with Perfect Names
Episode 20: Is POP a Bad Word? - Promoting the NO-BROW Approach
Episode 19: Hyper, Social, Short & Canned – They Might Be FUTURE Giants
Episode 18: An Hour with hot glue & the gun - Interview Edition #8
Episode 17: Death is DUMB Volume 2: STP - The Reinventor's Edge
Episode 16: An Hour with Gustavo Rodriguez - Interview Edition #7
Episode 15: When the Clash Became BAD - A Stellar Second Act That's Still SO Punk
Episode 14: An Hour PLUS with James Castelli - Interview Edition #6
Episode 13: Death is DUMB Volume 1: Fountains of Wayne - Power Pop BLISS
Episode 12: An Hour with Daniel Cousins - Interview Edition #5
Episode 11: Liz F*cking Phair - This Title Doesn't Need a Qualifier
Episode 10: TWO Hours with Nicky DeMatteo (Part 2) - Interview Edition #4
Episode 9: Third Stream Music - The Jazz-Classical Alchemy of Jacques Loussier
Episode 8: TWO Hours with Nicky DeMatteo (Part 1) - Interview Edition #3
Episode 7: Sweet Sounds of POWER POP - Why is Matthew Sweet Not a SUPERSTAR?!
Episode 6: An Hour with Stephanie Kay - Interview Edition #2
Episode 5: What is a CHRONOLOGRAPHY? - And Why Does It Make The Bee Gees Even More Awesomer?
Episode 4: An Hour with Cathryn Lynne - Interview Edition #1
Episode 3: You Never Forget Your First - The Triumph & Controversy of George Michael's Faith
Episode 2: Everything OLD is SOLD Again - Reissues SAVE the Music Industry
Episode 1: Which Audio Format is Best? - The Answer May Surprise You
SEASON 2
Episode 37: Vice VERSUS - The Destructive and BOGUS Origins of Music Rivalries
Episode 36: Bad Ocean Freddie 5 Whistle Bird - This is the END of VINYL
Episode 35: Not-So HIDDEN TALENTS - Oh, the Things We DON'T Know About Shaun Cassidy
Episode 34: MUSIC is not a GENRE is ... NOW on PATREON
Episode 33: How do you GIFT MUSIC these days? - Seriously. I'm asking.
Episode 32: There's NO SUCH THING as WORLD MUSIC - Except for ... EVERYTHING
Episode 31: The COVERS vs. ORIGINALS CHALLENGE! - A Hazy Shade of AWESOME
Episode 30: Where DISCO Went When It STOPPED BEING DISCO - The Evolution of Dance Music 1978-1987
Episode 29: The DEMOCRATIZATION of Music - Why TRENDS No Longer Matter
Episode 28: Why SOUTHERN ROCK Might Just Be IDEAL AMERICA - Or How Little Feat Will Save Us All
Episode 27: Pay MAJOR Attention to the Person Behind the Curtain - The ILLUSION Episodes Part 4
Episode 26: Psychedelic, Man. Like, So Trippy. - The ILLUSION Episodes Part 3
Episode 25: That Song is SO REAL! ... No. It's not. - The ILLUSION Episodes Part 2
Episode 24: Do We Really Know What's REAL? - The ILLUSION Episodes Part 1
Episode 23: RETRO is SO Five Years Ago - Society's MEMORY Problem
Episode 22: What Makes CONTROVERSY Matter - And Why Dancing is ESSENTIAL for LIFE
Episode 21: Multitasking is REAL - Ask ANY Musician
Episode 20: THRIFT STORE Gems - Why FOUND SOUND is Always Awesome
Episode 19: The Identity Bubble - Expanding What It Means to be YOU
Episode 18: Musical JOKES Get Serious - When a Quirky Idea Becomes the NEXT BIG THING
Episode 17: In Service of the SONG - Why CHOPS are Often ANTI-MUSIC
Episode 16: Can We Separate the ART from the ARTIST? - Dissecting the Michael Jackson Elephant
Episode 15: The Tyranny of the Many - Majority Rules SUCKS
Episode 14: K-TEL was the ORIGINAL "MUSIC is not a GENRE" - Why Compilations are More Important than EVER
Episode 13: Music is Music because of the MUSIC - Why LYRICS Will Always Come SECOND
Episode 12: Appropriation. Adaptation. Homage. Integration - HOW You "Steal" MATTERS
Episode 11: Why TOP TEN LISTS are BULLSHIT ... and why we should STILL HAVE THEM
Episode 10: We're Living in HOUSE's House - How House Music INVENTED Modern Pop
Episode 9: ALL MUSIC is BLACK MUSIC - Period.
Episode 8: The ALSO-RANs Matter Too! - Wherein I Connect the Fat Boys with the Kinks
Episode 7: Who are Your HEART ARTISTS? - Music You Can't Live Without
Episode 6: Things That Happened BEFORE THEY HAPPENED - Pop Will Eat Itself
Episode 5: TECHNOLOGY is a NET POSITIVE - 'Cuz It's ALL ON US
Episode 4: Who the F@(K is ZEITMAHL?!? - Kinda Connections from my Sorta Dark Past
Episode 3: Why RECORDED Music is BETTER than LIVE
Episode 2: Not the Way I Remember It - Oldies & Our WEAK MEMORIES
Episode 1: NEW Season - NEW Format - NEW Thoughts - MORE MUSIC
SEASON 1
Episode 30: Mixing & Cutting & Scratching 1986 Style - Watch Me SOLVE A MYSTERY
Episode 29: When 1980s Production NAILED IT - Second Tier Singles YOU NEED TO KNOW
Episode 28: 1980s Pop Electro-Funk MASTERS - Why Don't You KNOW THESE???
Episode 27: FREAK OUT and DANCE! - EXCEPTIONS that PROVE the RULE
Episode 26: Wanna Learn how to BREAKDANCE? - YES this was REALLY a THING
Episode 25: Making ART from Digital NOISE - The Art of Noise & George Kranz
Episode 24: EIGHT Albums from FOUR Bands with NO GENRE CONNECTION
Episode 23: The Mega 15 Vinyl BLOWOUT - The Cure, Prince, U2
Episode 22: Do NOT Even JOKE - The Beastie Boys & "Let It Wreck Your Mind"
Episode 21: Pre-Musical-Awakening Music - Air Supply & "Up All Day"
Episode 20: From the ASHES of JOY - New Order & "Any Universe"
Episode 19: Happy Music + Sad Lyrics = Happy Me - The Smiths
Episode 18: The One AFTER the Good One - The Alarm & JUST MISSING the Peak
Episode 17: All About My Dad - The Legendary Nicky DeMatteo
Episode 16: Comedy & Music are FRATERNAL TWINS - Eddie Murphy & the McKenzie Brothers
Episode 15: Were the Violent Femmes ... Country? - This is Why GENRE BOXING is Ridiculous
Episode 14: HITS Albums are the GREATEST - Chart Action 83 & Clear to Sunrise
Episode 13: This One's All About Me - Nick DeMatteo & REC
Episode 12: It's the Songs You DON'T Hear All the Time - LL Cool J & Me
Episode 11: The OTHER Slow Burn - 10,000 Maniacs & Black-Eyed Susan
Episode 10: Ya Gotta Understand ... it was High School - Agent Orange & "In Your Dreams Tonight"
Episode 9: The Five Phases of CHICAGO - DEVOLUTION Sucks & "One Minute Shy of Forever"
Episode 8: The FUTURE was THEN - "Pac-Man Fever' & "Korean Pop Song"
Episode 7: There are ALWAYS NEW CLASSICS - Wham! & "Up All Day"
Episode 6: Can't Be IGNORED - Run-D.M.C. and "The Power of Repetition"
Episode 5: The SLOW BURN - Talking Heads & "Make Me Mic My Mouth"
Episode 4: How Do You Discover Music Today? - Royal Crescent Mob's Spin the World
Episode 3: Irreverent Reverence - Four Albums by The Dead Milkmen
Episode 2: BOY What a First Album! - U2's Debut Album Boy
Episode 1: The CURE for WHAT AILED ME - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me