Podcast Episode 24 – Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

Ep. 31 | Young Fathers | Heavy Heavy – This Is Not Happening – An Album Of The Month Podcast

In Part 1 we speak in depth about Young Fathers latest album 'Heavy Heavy' and how it packs such a punch in 32 minutes.  In Part 2 we play 'Spin it or bin it?', the theme this month is the curious anomaly that is 'Post Genre'.Part 1 | Album of the Month | Young Fathers | Heavy HeavyIt's Guy's choice this month and we return back to an artist that we spoke about 9 years ago when they released their debut 'Dead'. Across 3 previous releases, Young Fathers have secured near universal critical acclaim, yet little commercial success. Is Heavy Heavy the album that will change this. It looks like it. But that doesn't mean this is a collection of easy listening pop tunes. We discuss what this is, what we love and the live experience.  If you know them enjoy, if you don't dig in!Go listen to the album – Here Go watch some videos – Here Go buy some of their stuff – HereA few Heavy Heavy things that we highly recommend checking out;Unmuted Unmastered Podcast – HereLine of Best Fit interview – HereSome live performances – Here and Hereand HerePart 2 | Spin It or Bin It | Post GenreWhat the hell is post genre? In this discussion we prove that we're really not sure!Guy chose – Mantra by Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul Nolan Chose – BTSTU by Jai Paul Joey chose – B.O.B. by Outkast David chose – L'Elephant by Tom Tom Club A 16 track Post Genre playlist (4 tracks each) can be found – Here (this is a good one!)Next MonthJoey brings Kelela's  'Raven' for Album of the Month and we play 'Spin It or Bin It?' but what will be the theme?We've been writing a blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/

1. Ep. 31 | Young Fathers | Heavy Heavy 01:09:29
2. Ep 30 | Rozi Plain | Prize 01:17:16
3. Ep 29 | Ab-Soul | Herbert 01:09:25
4. Ep 28 | 2022 Top 10 Albums + Top Tracks 01:25:45
5. Ep 27 | Sudan Archives | Natural Brown Prom Queen 01:07:26

Our last Album of the Month (AOTM) was the beautiful ‘Life on Earth’ by Hurray for the Riff Raff. This month the  This Is Not Happening crew tackle Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’  head on! We get stuck right into this challenging album in Part 1 of the pod. In Part 2, we play ‘Spin It or Bin It?’ where we judge the tracks that we’ve chosen for this month’s theme.

Part 1 – Album of the Month

This month it’s Nolan’s choice, Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’ . We discuss the album in length, favourite tracks and their impact on us and other music fans and if there is a missing track from this album. 

We want you to have access to great conversations about great music – here are some links to some of the best content on this album that we’ve consumed;

• A great ‘explainer’ article from Ambrosia for Heads  – read here
• NYT’s Popcast Podcast Episode (this one is great for a Kendrick Sceptic view) – listen here
• Great Tempo Tribe Podcast conversation – listen here
• A shorter listen at 22 mins – the NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast – listen here

This was one of our toughest albums to think and to talk about … but we hope you enjoy it.

Part 2 – Spin it or Bin It

In the second part of this episode we get stuck into 4 tracks representing this months theme – ‘LA Tracks’ – or favourite tracks from LA based artists. We all pick a track,  introduce our track and ask the others the painfully binary critical question; ‘spin it’ or ‘bin it?’ 

We try not to go super-obvious on our track selections each month … this is what we chose to represent LA;

1. Joey’s track selection is – ‘Chum’ by Earl Sweatshirt
2. David’s track selection is – ‘Twelve Thirty’ by The Mamas and the Papas
3. Nolan’s track selection is – ‘Runners’ by Evidence ft. Defari
4. Guy’s track selection is – ’86’ by Truncate

Next Month

Episode #25 will be with you soon – Guy will be guiding us through ‘We’ by Arcade Fire one of is favourite artists ever … what could go wrong? Have a listen to the album and  share some thoughts with us on the blog or on our Insta.

Other episodes of the pod and 10 years of the blog;

If you enjoyed this episode, please check out the others. If that’s not enough for you then there’s 10 years worth of music discussion on the blog at www.thisisnothappening.net, which runs alongside the podcast choices and much, much more. So check them out so to see what we like and where we clash, and comment if something catches your eye. We’d love to see what you think.