Welcome to Episode 67 of This Is Not Happening. An Album of the Month podcast. In Part 1, we do a deep drive review of our Album of the Month. This month Joey brings a slice of sophisticated, R&B tinged pop with Eliza's Jill latest album 'The Darkening Green'.In Part 2, we play Spin It or Bin It, we pick a theme and all pick songs that represent that theme. This month the theme is 'Sophisticated Pop'. —— Part 1 | Album of the Month | Eliza | The Darkening Green ——Eliza is an enigma. She has recorded under a different name but has been recording under 'Eliza' for the past 10 years or so.After 3 long, very complex albums on the pod we take a new direction, 9 tracks and 35 minutes of sophisticated pop, stylish soul driven vibes. Its full of grooves, it's full of tunes and its full of all of the emotions. I have become quite obsessed with this and am recommending it to everyone.Listen to the original album here.Read some interviews and bits here and here.If you love this album like I do … buy it here. —————- Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | New Music —————- The theme is Sophisticaed Pop … but we also get a bit confused between this and 'sophisti-pop' and to be honest, Nolan looses his shit. The task is pick a track that fits the theme, the objective, get more 'spins' than your friends. We each pick four tracks for a 16 track play list . We then each pick select 1 track and ask the simple question 'Spin It Or Bin It'?Nolan chose 'Dance Little Sister' by Sanada Maitreya.David chose 'Uncertain Smile' by The The.Joey chose 'Sweetest Taboo' by Sade.Guy chose 'Hold me Now' by Thompson Twins.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time for us decide on our individual Top 10 Favourite albums list. Once this is done, we hand this to David, who fires up the TINH algorithm and a collective Top 10 is created. Sometimes it’s predictable, sometimes it’s not, more often than not Guy feels like the TINH black-sheep but every year we tell him we love him and it all works out well.
Part 1 | TINH Collective Top 10 List.
We run down our top 10 list, introducing the albums and why they made it into our top 10. We always plan to be short and snapy. We always fail. But hopefully you enjoy it.
Part 2 | Spin It Or Bin It | Favourite Track of 2024.
We usually create a short list of 4 tracks each and pick a single track to represent the theme. With it being the end of the year, the theme is obvious, Favourite Track of the Year. But we each created a 10 track ‘short’ list this time.
The 40 track ‘Favourite Tracks of 2024 is available here and it’s a belter.
In Part 2 we each talk through our favourite track of the year and then ask the question … Spin It or Bin It where we try to decide a track of the year.
Welcome to Episode 67 of This Is Not Happening. An Album of the Month podcast. In Part 1, we do a deep drive review of our Album of the Month. This month Joey brings a slice of sophisticated, R&B tinged pop with Eliza's Jill latest album 'The Darkening Green'.In Part 2, we play Spin It or Bin It, we pick a theme and all pick songs that represent that theme. This month the theme is 'Sophisticated Pop'. —— Part 1 | Album of the Month | Eliza | The Darkening Green ——Eliza is an enigma. She has recorded under a different name but has been recording under 'Eliza' for the past 10 years or so.After 3 long, very complex albums on the pod we take a new direction, 9 tracks and 35 minutes of sophisticated pop, stylish soul driven vibes. Its full of grooves, it's full of tunes and its full of all of the emotions. I have become quite obsessed with this and am recommending it to everyone.Listen to the original album here.Read some interviews and bits here and here.If you love this album like I do … buy it here. —————- Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | New Music —————- The theme is Sophisticaed Pop … but we also get a bit confused between this and 'sophisti-pop' and to be honest, Nolan looses his shit. The task is pick a track that fits the theme, the objective, get more 'spins' than your friends. We each pick four tracks for a 16 track play list . We then each pick select 1 track and ask the simple question 'Spin It Or Bin It'?Nolan chose 'Dance Little Sister' by Sanada Maitreya.David chose 'Uncertain Smile' by The The.Joey chose 'Sweetest Taboo' by Sade.Guy chose 'Hold me Now' by Thompson Twins.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
Another month, another pod. A very warm and most welcome to Episode 51 of This is Not Happening (TINH), an Album of the Month (AOTM) Podcast. In Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’. This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’?
This month, in Part 1, Joey sits in the middle of a ‘divisive discussion’ focused on Caribou’s new album Honey. One of us think it’s some of the best of Caribou’s work, one of us thinks it’s much less than that.
In Part 2, Spin It or Bin It, our theme this month is ‘Basslines’, for once we stipulated no other rules.
Part 1 | Caribou | ‘Honey’
We all love Caribou. There are few artists that sit in the centre of the TINH venn diagram, but Caribou is one of them. However, we all have different favourite Caribou albums and therefore have different expectations and hopes when it comes to a new Caribou album.
The debate is fierce. We cover many topics including how to be fair when an artist produces something we weren’t expecting, can you remove the bias of your disappointment and critique the album without bias? Unfortunately, we also end up talking about AI and music too.
Watch this short of Dan talking about ‘Volume’ … HERE
BBC Sounds interview with Dan Snaith from this month … HERE
Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | ‘Basslines’
The best Spin It or Bin It’s are often the simplest. This month, the theme is one word and no extra rules or exclusions, ‘Basslines’. However you want to interpret it, it’s cool.N
Welcome to Episode 67 of This Is Not Happening. An Album of the Month podcast. In Part 1, we do a deep drive review of our Album of the Month. This month Joey brings a slice of sophisticated, R&B tinged pop with Eliza's Jill latest album 'The Darkening Green'.In Part 2, we play Spin It or Bin It, we pick a theme and all pick songs that represent that theme. This month the theme is 'Sophisticated Pop'. —— Part 1 | Album of the Month | Eliza | The Darkening Green ——Eliza is an enigma. She has recorded under a different name but has been recording under 'Eliza' for the past 10 years or so.After 3 long, very complex albums on the pod we take a new direction, 9 tracks and 35 minutes of sophisticated pop, stylish soul driven vibes. Its full of grooves, it's full of tunes and its full of all of the emotions. I have become quite obsessed with this and am recommending it to everyone.Listen to the original album here.Read some interviews and bits here and here.If you love this album like I do … buy it here. —————- Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | New Music —————- The theme is Sophisticaed Pop … but we also get a bit confused between this and 'sophisti-pop' and to be honest, Nolan looses his shit. The task is pick a track that fits the theme, the objective, get more 'spins' than your friends. We each pick four tracks for a 16 track play list . We then each pick select 1 track and ask the simple question 'Spin It Or Bin It'?Nolan chose 'Dance Little Sister' by Sanada Maitreya.David chose 'Uncertain Smile' by The The.Joey chose 'Sweetest Taboo' by Sade.Guy chose 'Hold me Now' by Thompson Twins.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
Welcome to Episode 49 of This is Not Happening (TINH). An Album of the Month (AOTM) Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’. This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’?
This month, in Part 1, Nolan goes back to his spiritual home, Hip Hop and has picked an album that the genre has been waiting decades for – Common and Pete Rock, The Auditorium Vol. 1.
In Part 2, Spin It or Bin It, the theme sounds simple but it turned out to be deceptively divisive. This month we delve into ‘Power Ballads’ … but what actually is a Power Ballad?
Part 1 | Common & Pete Rock | The Auditorium Vol. 1
If you’re age (old AF) and you like Hip Hop then you’ve probably been listening to these two legends for 30 odd years. Common is 52, Mr. Rock is 54. They’ve been at the top of their games for decades but does the combination deliver synergy or something a little less?
So what is a Power Ballad? We all know the classics, but if we try and bring something a little different then first we have to have some sort of definition. We’ve picked 4 tracks that aren’t on many Power Ballad playlists …
As we’ve discussed for many years; making music is tough, consistently making fantastic music is near impossible. Vampire Weekend’s span has placed well placed albums that have all sounded great and have stood the test of time. Not bad going, nevertheless resulting in high hopes for their latest release ‘Only God Was Above Us’.
Since their debut (2008’s self titled Vampire Weekend) I’ve been a big fan of the band. It was like they were the perfect band for me. With a well balanced mixture of something old, something new, something borrowed and something Paul Simon they filled a gap that was missing. Over their previous four albums they’ve created some of the best songs to dance, sing and not know all the words to over the years. Although a pod favourite, we have only reviewed one Vampire Weekend album previously (2013’s Modern Vampire’s of the City) the love for this band has never been hidden within the ThisIsNotHappening crew.
The initial singles were great, though listening to the album as a whole for me resulted in pure joy and excitement. There’s a well-rounded confidence on this album. The evolution from their first album has been evident through their previous albums. Only God Was Above Us exudes a confidence that they have found the sound they’ve been working towards. Brother David has already (controversially) argued that this may be their best album.
So what’s so good about the album? Each song holds its own for me which says a lot. Classical is a great example of the band’s ever so slight evolution as it tips its’ cap to the experienced ensemble at their best. Creating a welcoming hug of a song that makes you want to dance and sing along like you’ve heard the song a million times before and it’s full of memories. For clarity my wife isn’t fully sold. It’s too screechy for her. I get it what’s she’s saying; but I sort of think it makes the song.
I’ve read a few reviews of this album, and have listened to a few internet audio reviews. They generally have been very good. One unnamed reviewer had issues with The Surfer. He said it let the album down. I disagree. It nicely breaks up the album…. And it’s SO Vampire Weekend. And there it is. This is a band that have their own distinct sound. I get that their influences are vast and obvious at times. But they’ve found a seamless way of navigating through a mish mash of things that shouldn’t work together. With each album this melting pot has been more complex. With this album they seem to have found their purple patch. Connect is a great example of this. What could be a very confusing song is just, well, sonically brilliant.
Whilst previous albums have presented a Riddler like lyric sheet from Ezra Koenig, his lyrics seems less aloof this time around. Not downplaying their content and meaning as there’s a lot to go at. Perhaps his accomplished approach has allowed confidence in more upfront lyrics to communicate his thoughts? Is there anyone that makes talking about mortality, plus his and others emotions so well whilst sounding like he’s having fun?
Each song is a joy to the ears, complimented by seamless programming. Hope is a wonderful album finisher. It’s wall of sound delight. An eight minute wave goodbye (ironically) delving into not trying too hard letting go.
With the exception of their debut album, none of their albums have clicked as quickly as Only God Above Us for me. Currently at #6 on Metacritics best albums of 2024 (at time of writing in mid April), the latest effort from Vampire Weekend has already embedding itself into the hearts of many (me included). It will struggle to stay out of my top 10 for the year. But is the familiar nostalgia enough to tick the rest of your boxes. I look forward to your thoughts.
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