Shows
The Cacophony SessionsAlbum of the Year 2024This is the audio-only version for the old school soldiers.The Cacophony Sessions Podcast returns to dive deep into our favourite records of 2024! Featuring Dan Whitell's returning ragtag band of cohorts Jim, Martyn and Tom this year, please enjoy this year's definitive channel list from a year that some were more enthusiastic about than others.All albums were scored out of ten to one decimal point, and naturally the scores presented are the collective scores from all of us combined. With deliciously juxtaposed snacks, accidental Partridge galore, terrifying forgotten adverts and another round o...
2025-02-241h 56The Cacophony SessionsS4E07 - Album of the Year 2023Late as ever (it's still February... just) following a technological catastrophe The Cacophony Sessions presents the season four finale, and the closing episode of the regular podcast.Join Dan Whitell and his regular band of bastards Alex, Martyn, Tom and Jim as we finally deliver our top ten albums of 2023!Featuring the biggest Does It Slap ever, a lovely story about corner shops and a heavy dose of swearing; the final regular episode is one of our strongest. We will continue the chaos on the YouTube channel, as old fa...
2024-02-281h 59The Cacophony SessionsS4E06 - Shredder's Revenge, or: Just Axin' Questions#music #podcast #guitarsolo The Cacophony Sessions are back with their thoughts on greatest guitar solos of all time. Joining Dan Whitell on this episode are Alex, Tom and Martyn; each with two pics for a discussion on what makes a guitar solo work - and what doesn't. The playlist containing all of our picks (including Dan B's and Jim's in spite of their absence from this episode) can be found on Apple Music and Spotify:https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/shredders-revenge-or-just-axin-questions/pl...
2023-11-121h 47The Cacophony SessionsS4E05 - The Top 15 Songs of 2003We wind the clock back 20 years on this episode of The Cacophony Sessions as Dan Whitell runs down the Top 15 Songs of 2003 with contributions from Martyn, Jim, Alex and Tom. 15 picks each, scored out of ten - some using the IGN scoring system and others…not doing that. This episode ranks the top 15, although all 75 songs can be found in alphabetical order on our Apple Music playlist and our Spotify playlist.A couple of Undeniable Bangers and tangents ahoy - LET’S FIND OUT which band may have suffered with...
2023-09-101h 58The Cacophony SessionsS4E04B - You Only Bang TwiceThe second part of The Cacophony Sessions' discussion of all 25 Bond themes continues in 'You Only Bang Twice', in which Dan Whitell, Tom, Dan B and Alex critique the Bond themes of the 1980s to the present. If you missed the first part, you can listen to the audio or watch the video to catch up on the scores so far. A playlist of all the themes in chronological order can be found on Apple Music (curated by Dan) and Spotify.As this is a bonus episode, it's not quite as long as s...
2023-07-281h 23The Cacophony SessionsS4E04A - Licence to BangAre you ready for our TWO PART James Bond Theme Special? You’d better be! Part One of The Cacophony Sessions Season 4 Episode 4 is here and features Dan Whitell with Alex, Dan B, Tom and Martyn as they chronologically rate each of the main themes from every James Bond movie. This part begins with the original 007 film Dr No from 1962 and takes us up to the end of the seventies, ending with 1979’s Moonraker.Part Two of this episode will be coming shortly containing the remaining movies. The only...
2023-07-021h 46The Cacophony SessionsS4E03 - The Cacophony Sessions Goes Pop! Again!The Cacophony Sessions do another dive into the UK top 10 (for the week commencing 14/4/23) and several artists now find themselves in the crosshairs for the first time. And an old nemesis comes back to haunt us. Join Dan Whitell with Alex, Dan B and Tom for a heated discussion on pop music of today.In this month's episode you'll find Lewis Capaldi, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Calvin Harris and others as well as the usual tangential chaos including mini reviews of gigs from Don Broco ...
2023-05-161h 43The Cacophony SessionsS4E02 - The Fab FourApril’s Cacophony Sessions Podcast is an episode in which Dan Whitell, joined by Tom, Martyn and Dan B, attempts to discuss the most famous band in pop music history. We have divided the conversation loosely into four parts - our favourite albums, songs, Beatles themselves and lastly covers of their songs. Undoubtedly full of controversial takes as well as our usual party pieces such as Does It Slap; this episode also includes a brief tribute to another 1960s musical icon - the late, great Burt Bacharach.Uncover their best work an...
2023-04-021h 31
The Cacophony SessionsS4E01 - Album of the Year 2022Season Four of The Cacophony Sessions Podcast kicks off with our Album of the Year 2022 episode. Join Dan Whitell as well as Tom, Jim, Martyn and Alex as we collectively rank our favourite ten records of last year.This year's list features some previous favourites from our 2020 and 2021 lists, as well as some new bands; it's time to separate the new from the old and the weak from the chaff as we discuss our own top ten - with detours including tributes to the late Terry Hall, Jeff Beck and Maxi...
2023-02-281h 43
The Cacophony SessionsS3E07 - Songs on TrialOur final recording of 2022 is the season finale of The Cacophony Sessions Podcast. Dan joins Martyn, Jim, Alex and Tom for a deep dive into ten of our own personal favourites. From Funkadelic to Run-DMC to Nirvana to Insane Clown Posse, this eclectic discussion covers a variety of different genres and we've made a playlist available via Apple Music so you can follow along with the tracks here.Elsewhere, discover which band is the Australian Duran Duran; see Jim's new spicy content; unveil FOUR undeniable bangers and allow us to answer...
2023-02-151h 55
The Cacophony SessionsS3E06 - The Top 10 Pop Punk Songs EverWelcome to another episode of The Cacophony Sessions Podcast, as we deliver our Top Ten Pop Punk Songs Ever! Join Dan Whitell, Tom, Martyn, Dan B, Jim and Al as we fight over the quality of the songs we’ve hand-picked and rated, and argue both for and against their places within the lineage of the genre.As well as an ever-heated discussion, we also discuss other topics as always and this month you’ll discover bad accents, storm-outs, the Triple H effect, who the The white Temptations are and Al takes an opportunity to play Batman. Tantrums, tang...
2022-12-101h 47The Cacophony SessionsS3E05 - Nuthin' but a Podcast About a "G" ThangThis month's episode of The Cacophony Sessions sees Dan Whitell invite Al, Jim, Martyn and Tom into the theatre of conflict as we discuss our favourite albums, MCs and producers in hip-hop during the early nineties. Whether you're East Coast, West Coast or something in between this is one of our more free-flowing conversations in which we offer our personal favourites for you to either newly discover or to take umbrage with.Discover quite how this pertains to Michael Barrymore, an undeniable banger from My Chemical Romance, Arctic Monkeys and Gregorian...
2022-11-071h 49The Cacophony SessionsS3E04 - The Top 15 Songs of 1987The Cacophony Sessions is here to analyse another of the greatest years in music history. From synthpop to hip-hop; sophisti-pop to post-punk - this episode's six-man panel of Dan Whitell, Dan B, Tom, Jim, Martyn and Alex rank their favourite songs of 1987 from our selection of 75 tunes that can be found listed on our blog (note: the list will spoil the episode).As well some 35 year-old tunes we discuss some more recent music, we play Does It Slap again and reveal our hips and happenings of the last few months - including one of us developing a passion...
2022-09-212h 08The Cacophony SessionsS3E03 - The Cacophony Sessions Goes Pop! USAThe Cacophony Sessions is here to discuss the US Billboard Hot 100, specifically the top ten from the week commencing 21/5/22. Join Dan W, Alex, Tom, Dan B and our newest voice Jim as we discuss Harry Styles, Lizzo and too many tracks from Bad Bunny. We provide our thoughts on our personal favourites from the top ten and ponder on just what exactly streaming services have done to the singles charts.Our examination of American pop comes with a side order of Smashing Pumpkins (drink), Prince (drink) and all the usual side dishes. Does...
2022-07-162h 07The Cacophony SessionsS3E02 - Drum and DrummerOUR BIGGEST EPISODE YET!Following the recent death of Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins, The Cacophony Sessions Podcast decided it would be an appropriate time to discuss our fifteen favourite drummers of all time according to tonight's panel. Banging on about drums for over three hours this time around are Dan Whitell, Dan B, Alex, Martyn and Tom each with three nominations.We cover a lot of different aspects of drumming, from both a technical standpoint as well as from a more casual perspective. Hopefully we can help you to develop a n...
2022-05-163h 09The Cacophony SessionsS3E01 - Album of the Year 2021The third season premiere sees The Cacophony Sessions rating our favourite records of 2021. Join Dan Whitell, Tom, 'Housewife's Choice' Martyn, Dave and 'Butcher's Boy' Alex as we present the top ten albums of last year, a couple of months after the dust has settled (and everyone else has had a go).With Fontaines DC taking home the prize for 2020, who will claim the most hallowed of accolades for the burning trash fire that was 2021? Along the way we cover all our usual sweary tangents - Tom's latest listenings; a tribute to the recently...
2022-03-251h 53The Cacophony SessionsBONUS - The Young One (featuring Taylor Parkes of Chart Music Podcast)Two weeks after everyone else, The Cacophony Sessions weighs in on the Neil Young vs. Joe Rogan & Spotify debate by dedicating one of our bonus episodes to the mythical Canadian singer-songwriter and his massive discography - from Crosby, Stills Nash & Young to Buffalo Springfield. Usual voices Dan Whitell and Tom are joined by the illustrious music writer Taylor Parkes, as we do our best to choose Neil Young's best songs and albums; the best Neil Young covers; our thoughts on the recent controversy and everything in between from George Michael: rap...
2022-03-151h 37
The Cacophony SessionsS2E07 - Under the CoversOur first episode of 2022 is the last episode we recorded in 2021 and it's a whopping three hour extravaganza discussing the best and worst cover versions we can think of.It's a full house as Dan Whitell welcomes Alex, Tom, Martyn, Dan B and Dave to bring to the table their favourite studio covers, live covers and the covers we'd like thrown carelessly to the Patch of Turd. Along the way, we discuss The Big Four, the plural of 'Dan', Tom's money-saving tips, and why Martyn is drawn to Failure. Baphomet remains...
2022-01-192h 56
The Cacophony SessionsS2E06 - Undeniable Bangers 2: Bang Harder (introducing the Clang)We've been away for a few months due to personal circumstances, but that does not matter anymore as The Cacophony Sessions Podcast returns for some of our best argumentative dialogue yet, surrounding songs that we think are both Undeniable Bangers and, this time, the opposite - Undeniable Clangers.Joining The Court Jester of Funk Dan Whitell are co-hosts Dave, Tom, Alex, Martyn and the debut of new voice Dan B. On this one we discover which of us is perversely affected by an old Manchester United video compilation, Paul McCartney gets a...
2021-11-132h 16
The Cacophony SessionsS2E05 - Bangers on the Box (TV Themes)After some scheduling conflicts, The Cacophony Sessions returns to discuss 16 of our favourite TV themes of all time. Dan is joined by CO-HOSTS Alex, Dave and Tom as we discuss some iconic and some obscure music used in the opening sequence of various television shows and put them to the sword.Over the course of this episode we discuss DJing in the new COVID era; why Alex has paint on his face; which one of us hung out with a Grammy-winning rapper and we give Hugh Grant some life advice.
2021-08-201h 48
The Cacophony SessionsBONUS - Rule Britannia 1977-79 (featuring David Stubbs of Chart Music Podcast)It's time for another of our bonus episodes and this month we are extremely lucky to have secured the services of British music journalism royalty, David Stubbs. Dan and Tom pick out the best and worst of British music from the pre-Thatcher era of 1977-79. David was a staff writer at Melody Maker magazine in the 80s as well as numerous other music publications and has his own bibliography of British comedy analysis and musical deep dives so adds a tremendous volume of knowledge to our usual discussion in the round. We highlight our favourite...
2021-06-211h 25
The Cacophony SessionsS2E04 - The Cacophony Sessions Makes a Sex MixtapeThe latest episode of The Cacophony Sessions sees regulars Dan, Martyn, Alex, Tom and Dave nominating their favourite songs designed for getting one's proverbial freak on. This month we discern your Barry Whites from your Cilla Blacks so join us as we select three songs each to get you through the sexiest of times. This one obviously contains some adult themes, as well as the normal amount of swearing and fighting. Find out which all-time sex jam was used in Robin Williams' Bicentennial Man, which two songs have been certified as undeniably banging...
2021-06-051h 31
The Cacophony SessionsS2E03 - Hits to Die For: Patrick Bateman's Killer PlaylistLife got in the way, but do not fret as The Cacophony Sessions Podcast is back and longer than ever! The first of two episodes in May to make up for the lack of an update in April sees Dan as well as the regular line up Alex, Martyn, Tom and Dave selecting songs that we suspect would be found on the walkman of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman from the years 1985-88.The 1991 book and 2000 film are both renowned for their use of musical references delivered from the perspective...
2021-05-112h 26
The Cacophony SessionsS2E02 - The Top 20 Songs of 1991For the thirtieth anniversary, the latest episode of The Cacophony Sessions sees Dan, Tom, Alex, Martyn and Dave nominating what we think are the twenty best songs of 1991. We each nominated thirty songs and scored them out of fifty, and tonight, we discuss the scores. We cover everything from hip-hop to dance to grunge so we hope you'll agree with at least some of them!Other than that we find the links between Pearl Jam, Ronan Keating and the Star Wars theme, Al gives us his best Sepultura karaoke, Baphomet remains elusive and...
2021-03-221h 57
The Cacophony SessionsS2E01 - Album of the Year 2020We're back for our second season of The Cacophony Sessions! In the first main episode of 2021 the whole gang looks back at the best albums of what was a very strange year for all of us. Join Dan, Dave, Alex, Tom and Martyn as we count down our top 15 records of 2020. Along the way find out what happened Dave at the end of last season, which homoerotic posters are the best ones to adorn your walls with, our best lookalikes, and just exactly how many slave masters are posing on your dollar. All with our...
2021-02-232h 16
The Cacophony SessionsBONUS - A Purple Episode (featuring Arthur Turnbull of The Music Snobs Podcast)As you know if you've listened to us for more than four minutes, Dan is a huge Prince fan. This has been a long time coming, so along with Dave and Martyn we've recruited Arthur of the wonderful Music Snobs podcast to help as we discuss our favourite side-projects, and main albums and what we'd like to see in the future from the mythical Paisley Park vault.Whether you're a True Funk Soldier or if you know [two thousand] zero, zero about Prince, we promise there's something here for yo...
2021-02-061h 57
The Cacophony SessionsS1E07B - Cacfest 2020 (Part Two)Welcome to Episode Eight, where we finish running down our dream festival line-up, covering hip-hop and miscellaneous choices and all of our favourite acts from history.Dan, Alex, Martyn, Dave and Tom assembled to continue the episode, but not everyone made it to the end of the festival. Typical. A few technical issues and the longest episode ever mean that this is a few days later than anticipated. Originally pegged as our Christmas special, the festive trimmings are kept to the end of the conversation so it doesn't feel too out of season...
2021-01-012h 14
The Cacophony SessionsS1E07A - Cacfest 2020 (Part One)You know what we really miss? Festivals and live music. Fuck you 2020. This episode of The Cacophony Sessions sets up the stage for our own dream festival as Dan asks Martyn, Al, Dave and Tom to help him build a line-up for the ages.Stay tuned for a steaming dump of hot content before Christmas, Funkateers, but in the meantime please enjoy this - the first part of our largest and most expansive episode yet as we find out Tom's ulterior motive for inviting you to see Sigur Ros with him; M...
2020-12-171h 57
The Cacophony SessionsS1E06 - Michael Jackson's Thriller, or: What Happens When You're Late for HalloweenWe were going to post a Halloween episode of The Cacophony Sessions but as this is coming to you in November on this episode instead we run down the biggest selling album of all time, track by track. We are of course talking about Michael Jackson's Thriller and all of its seven singles and two album tracks.Regulars Martyn, Alex, Dave and Tom are here alongside host Dan for a full breakdown of the album, as well as discussions about our favourite Michael Jackson songs. Although certain aspects of h...
2020-11-221h 34
The Cacophony SessionsBONUS - Say It Isn't Soul (featuring Aldo Vanucci)In a special bonus episode of The Cacophony Sessions, Dan, Martyn and Dave chat with legendary Plymouth-based DJ Aldo Vanucci all about our favourite soul records of all time. We cover a lot of the greats - Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield to name but a few. Don't worry, we still find time to divert the talk train away from the station, as per usual.We would like to thank Aldo for his time in chatting with us and we hope you all enjoy what...
2020-10-171h 18
The Cacophony SessionsS1E05 - The Cacophony Sessions Goes Pop!In our longest, sweariest and most divisive conversation yet, The Cacophony Sessions listens to the Official UK Top Ten* and gets all hip and trendy. Join Martyn, Dave, Alex, Tom and our perennial concierge Dan as we go way, way out of our comfort zone. Featuring discussions on Pop Smoke, DJ Khaled, Cardi B and Drake, we ditch our normal brand of music snobbery for something a bit different - including which members of BTS Alex fancies the most. Expect TWO HOURS of the normal curmudgeonly tangents and constant mentions of Pearl Jam...
2020-10-152h 04
The Cacophony SessionsS1E04 - A New Hope (Soundtracks)Episode Four of The Cacophony Sessions is (mostly) all about movie soundtracks, save our usual tangential tendencies and the occasional video game soundtrack for good measure. Alex, Martyn, Tom and Dave join host Dan, who (spoiler alert) finally unleashes the purple fury in the longest episode yet.In our sights this week are musicals, compilations, 80s bangers, Biffy Clyro, Deftones and even a bit of classical music for the cultured listeners out there. Who are we kidding? We know you're here to hear some musical toss get a good...
2020-09-121h 53
The Cacophony SessionsS1E03 - We've Been to the Year 2000The Cacophony Sessions discusses an entire decade of music as we explore the Noughties. The best and worst trends, genres, albums and songs are all on the table here as Dan, Martyn, Dave, Tom and newcomer Alex give their thoughts on the first decade of the 21st Century. Some bands do not escape unscathed as some knockout blows are delivered. Episode Four features a bonus introduction as we also find out which year Alex thinks is the greatest in music history, and our newest panel member also tries his luck at finding his o...
2020-08-221h 39
The Cacophony SessionsS1E02 - Undeniable BangersWe're back for more of The Cacophony Sessions!The gloves are off as we go head-to-head this week in an attempt to crown the most undeniable banger of all time (that we could think of). Tom's hungover, Martyn's lost in Cornwall and Dan tries really hard not to talk about Prince. Featuring discussions about Pearl Jam, All Saints, William Orbit, Human League, New Order, Doobie Brothers, Run DMC and many more.Episode Two features your host Dan as well as guests Tom, Martyn, Pete and Dave. Join...
2020-07-181h 33The Cacophony SessionsS1E01 - Not Holding Back the YearsThe first episode of The Cacophony Sessions sees Dan, Pete, Martyn, Tom and Dave talking about time. Specifically, the years we think are the greatest. Join us to find out about our musical tastes, what we've been listening to in during lockdown, inflation rates, Brian Eno's leopard print cardigans and which band sounds most like the run-of-the-mill Turin Brakes/Fleetwood Mac/Godspeed! You Black Emperor every other band sounds like these days.Join us as we step into the boxing ring of musical debate and thrash out our thoughts. We hope...
2020-06-201h 39