Shows
Eggplant: The Secret Lives of GamesEP: A Year of UFO 50 - Waldorf’s JourneyWe're joined by Liz Ryerson (Sounds from the Abyss) and Ben Esposito (Neon White) to discuss Waldorf’s Journey, the 21st game in the UFO 50 collection. "Waldorf didn't go looking for adventure. He was just trying to enjoy a nice nap..." Next week: Porgy Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Show Notes: Terry’s Other Games – A collection of Terry Cavanagh’s smaller works https://terrycavanagh.itch.io/terrys-other-games Paralect https://igf.com/paralect-0 Waldorf’s Journey Speedrun World Record by MACH https://www.youtub...2025-02-141h 38
What Happened to Chiptune?Liz RyersonReference:- The Blood Zone - https://thebloodzone.libsyn.com/- Kitschfork - https://kitschfork.podbean.com/- Meet Me In The Bathroom - https://www.harpercollins.com/products/meet-me-in-the-bathroom-lizzy-goodman- OCRemix - https://ocremix.org/- VGMix - https://vgmixarchive.com/- MAGFest - https://www.magfest.org/- Electronicon - https://knockdown.center/event/electronicon_2023/- Equip - https://worldofequip.bandcamp.com/music- Zan-zan-zawa-veia - https://zan-zan-zawa-veia.bandcamp.com/- Problem Attic - https://lizryerson.itch...2024-05-011h 47
Kitschfork#19 - I WILL take it too far!! (Xiu Xiu - A Promise)for Pride month we finally tackle a beloved (musically) unhinged artist for an unhinged time. continuing on in our 2003 Best New Music era, we talk about perennial Pitchfork critical darling and twitter album poll winner Xiu Xiu and their dark, quiet, and disturbing 2003 cult album "A Promise" - an album that feels just as relevant as ever. the band is still active today via primary member Jamie Stewart, and has had a vast amount of influence on the landscape via their one-of-a-kind hyper intense queer industrial/experimental/pop sound and Jamie's incredibly emotive vocals. their influence only seems to...2023-06-152h 03
Kitschfork#18 - Us and Eric Adams Down By The Schoolyard (!!! - Me and Giuliani single & TV on the Radio - Young Liars EP)
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
we continue on with our Best New Music circa 2003 era of Kitschfork by taking a visit back to the biggest apple of them all, Nu Yawk City baybee, in this special twofer episode. we first take a dip into 00's dancepunk revival with the ungoogleable !!!'s "Me and Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard" single (which curiously landed a 7.8 on Pitchfork but still made Best New Music), a thing we feel... sort of whatever about. and then we unearth a popular Brooklyn indie rock band's first notable release with TV On The Radio's "Young...2023-05-251h 57
Kitschfork#17 - Cottagecore At The Kmart (Sufjan Stevens - Michigan)EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
folks, it's time to get twee. for the first of our two twitter poll winners, we start season 2 of Kitschfork off with perennially beloved indie artist Sufjan Stevens and his 2003 breakout album "Michigan" which Pitchfork helped break with its brand new (circa 2003) "Best New Music" category. because of this, Liz talks about the history of Pitchfork's Best New Music and also the disputed history of this album's review. Max and Liz also have a very spirited disagreement about Sufjan. Much discussion about Sufjan's strengths (and failures) as an artist and this era's...2023-05-071h 41
Kitschfork#16 - The Mallfucking Of America feat. Aaron Casias (Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
before we officially begin Kitschfork Season Two (aka our Best New Music era) and return back to our rightful place in the 2000's, we still have another 90's album to get to. that's right! we have finally made good on our intentions to talk about the (at the time very young, now rapidly aging) indie rock stars Modest Mouse's seminal 1997 double-album The Lonesome Crowded West. this time we are joined by 90's culture aficionado Aaron Casias, co-host of the 90's movie podcast Hit Factory...2023-04-212h 40
Kitschfork#15 - Better No Cred Than Dead (Pearl Jam - No Code)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
today we delay the inevitable Modest Mouse coverage to go back again to the 90's to talk about an unkillable musical behemoth - Pearl Jam, and their (probably) weirdest album - 1996's No Code.
we also go into the background of Pearl Jam as both the most popular band in the world for a time, and also as the whipping boys of indie rock forum hipsters everywhere in the 00's. we reflect on the Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam conflict and the dangers...2023-02-162h 27
Kitschfork#14 - Subterranean Non-Linear Ancestors (Dälek - From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
WE'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD!
today on our 14th episode (originally recorded in late November last year), we talk about experimental/industrial hip-hop pioneers from New Jersey, Dälek (aka Will Brooks & company) and their seminal 2002 album "From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots"
we talk about how much Dälek's cross-genre inspirations (while still maintaining a traditional hip-hop essence) and high-minded experimentation set the stage for a lot of experimental hip-hop that came later in the 2010's. also how th...2023-01-241h 52
Kitschfork#13 - Twee And Horny (Mirah - Advisory Committee)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
today during this very autumnal season we look at a very autumnal 2002 album from DIY bedroom pop progenitor/(former) Olympia Washington K Records twee-adjacent indie songwriter/musical cousin and collaborator of Phil Elvrum's: Mirah's (aka Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) "Advisory Committee"
we talk K Records and the 90's Olympia music scene, about Mirah's background as a DIY artist, and her being one of the few visible and celebrated queer artists in the indie space at a time when there wasn't a lot...2022-11-102h 05
Kitschfork#12 - Ride The Apocalypse feat. James Webster (...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
various forces of humanity and nature conspired against you hearing this episode, but we have prevailed. we welcome James Webster, member of the cult vaporwave/electronic music group Death's Dynamic Shroud, to talk about an album that influenced him greatly, as well as a famous Pitchfork 10.0... 2002's "Source Tags & Codes" by Austin art rock band ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead.
has this album had the lasting cultural impact of other famously acclaimed Pitchfork albums? maybe not. is...2022-10-182h 24
Kitschfork#11 - Revolver Meets Jock Jams (Spoon - Girls Can Tell + more)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
(most of the episodes of) Max's old podcast Desert Island Discourse: https://archive.org/details/podcast_desert-island-discourse_1204078946?tab=collection
today we begin by looking at a band that truly embodies 2000's indie rock in all its tropes (for better or worse): Spoon, and their breakout album - 2001's "Girls Can Tell". we examine why and how Spoon reformed itself from a Pixies-inspired 90's bar band floundering on a major label into being the archetypal mid-60's mod-inspired too cool for school hipster...2022-09-222h 06
Kitschfork#10 - Disney Horror (Björk - Vespertine)our sponsor: https://imitone.com/kitschfork/
EMAIL us: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
for our very special 10th episode, we're taking a visit to the utopian musical island of a very special artist. yes that's right: it's the one, the only, everyone's favorite Icelandic pop goddess Björk. the duo congratulate themselves on their excellent timing on this episode right before a podcast series/new album is on the way from Björk herself. Liz also reflects on her very fraught relationship with the work of Björk as a former Björk stan, and there's commiseration on h...2022-08-312h 24
Kitschfork#09 - Sunny Day, Just Got Paid (Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow)we try our best as non-experts tip-toeing into the realm of hip-hop and the very artistically fruitful period of the early 00's indie hip-hop by looking at a highly acclaimed (at the time), but also semi-forgotten indie hip-hop album Blazing Arrow by former Bay Area hip-hop duo Blackalicious. RIP Gift of Gab.
2022-08-172h 25
Kitschfork#08 - The Evil is Blatant (Boards of Canada - Geogaddi)EMAIL US: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
for our podcast about 2000's indie music kitsch that is inextricably tied to its time... we have an artist an album that feels as out of time, and untethered to a singular era as possible. we are, of course, talking about the beloved electronic music artist Boards of Canada, in all their uncanny nostalgia, and their dark masterpiece album Geogaddi from 2002. Liz is excited to finally cover some electronic music... so it's time to sit back and learn about where a bunch of samples came from
website episode photo taken...2022-08-032h 00
Kitschfork#07 - Phair and Balanced feat. Audrey Whitesides (Liz Phair - self-titled)EMAIL US: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
Audrey Whitesides (@audreyotherway) of the bands Mal Blum and Speedy Ortiz joins us in our discussion of Chicago indie music darling Liz Phair and her infamous Liz Phair Goes Mainstream Pop self-titled album from 2003 that netted much disgust from music critics and a 0.0 from our friends at Pitchfork. why did she get so much hate? why doesn't the album have the reputation anymore for being the Bad Album it had in its day? what can we learn from this? (probably nothing). find out here!
2022-07-222h 25
Kitschfork#06 - gAY??????? (12 Rods - Gay? + grabbag episode)Liz surfs the currents of fucked-up audio (sorry) as we briefly knock off the obligatory first Pitchfork 10.0, the EP "Gay?" by the Minneapolis band 12 Rods. who were they? good question!
then we spend the rest of the episode talking about David Cross, Kate Bush, Spotify, why something like 00's indie couldn't sustain itself today, if there is a chance for genuine real "protest" music in the wake of crumbling institutions, and other related things!
end music is "Precious Park" from the game Armored Core: For Answer by Kota Hoshino
2022-07-052h 00
Kitschfork#05 - Pieces Of Me You’ve Never Seen (Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes)EMAIL US QUESTIONS: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
we take a break from our usual fare of irony-tinged commentary about 2000's indie kitsch to dance in graveyards with vampires till dawn and talk about a real deal musical titan, Tori Amos. much fan fawning ensues, this time towards her classic debut solo album "Little Earthquakes" which had its 30th birthday earlier this year. why doesn't she still fully get her due? why do so many people still don't really get how important she is? we discuss.
2022-06-212h 07
Kitschfork#04 - Fornication Crimes (Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People)EMAIL US: kitschforkpodcast@gmail.com
we take a trip to our neighbors to the north to look at the Toronto experimental/indie rock musical collective that may or may not encompass the entire Canadian music industry, Broken Social Scene. will you learn more than you probably ever wanted to know about the Canadian music scene of the 90's? probably. are they the "indie rock white people Wu Tang clan" as described by many? yes. was Broken Social Scene a harbinger of many more big Canadian indie acts to come in the 00's? also yes. anyway, enjoy.
2022-06-072h 18
Kitschfork#03 - New York Doesn’t Care (Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights)for the third episode we finally get to the NYC post-punk revival scene of the 00's, covered in the book Meet Me In The Bathroom, via its earliest critical success - Interpol's debut album "Turn On The Bright Lights" from 2002. we talk about the history of the band and then dive in - and have some disagreements! is the album still a classic, or was Pitchfork right to retroactively downgrade their initial high praise of the album 20 years later in their recent "rescored" article? are the lyrics as bad as everyone says? why does Liz hate 00's post-punk revival...2022-05-242h 02
Kitschfork#02 - Indie-tastic (The Shins - Oh, Inverted World)for the second episode we look at the inaugural album from the band which became a staple of 2000's indie pop new sincerity, The Shins. we discuss the band's DIY beginnings, their surprising (depending on whom you ask) popularity, the intersection of The Shins with the cultural zeitgeist of the early 00's (esp via the feature in the movie Garden State), and whether any of it is paraseable at all in the current moment. and of, course, we talk about the pitchfork review.
2022-05-101h 26
Kitschfork#01 - We Are American Aquarium Drinkers (Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)on our inaugural episode of the Kitschfork podcast, we talk about the much mythologized staple of early 2000's music criticism, Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". in order to understand the album's very complicated backstory behind its conception and release, we also discuss the documentary "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" which captures the band during this period.
2022-04-261h 59