Love That Album

It’s been a few months since the release of a new LTA podcast…a lot has
happened in my life that meant I had to stand back from the show –
not for the first time in its (nearly) 15 year existence….yet, I
come back because discussing music with fellow music lovers, and
putting those discussions into your earholes is something I love
doing. With that said…….

...welcome to episode 192 of Love That Album Podcast.

Music is supposed to bring us happiness and joy. Sometimes though, it’s
created as a form of catharsis for songwriters or performers. In
1998, Mark Everett’s band / collective Eels released their second
LP Electro-Shock Blues. Everett had faced truly difficult times with
the death of his sister Liz from suicide, and the death of his mother
from cancer. His father had died several years earlier. Mark barely
knew him as he was absorbed in his work as a quantum physicist. A
genius in his field, but reportedly, the opposite as a father.

To mentally cope with his awful situation, Everett wrote the songs for
Electro Shock Blues that deal with what was in his head and what was
in his sister’s head leading up to her death. It’s not a cathartic record in the same way that the Lennon Plastic Ono Band is – there’s no Janov screaming, and Everett’s music is often wistful even if his stories are not. It’s written with nuance and is direct – is that a contradiction in terms?
There is catharsis, but not in a tear-down the walls way.

Electro-Shock Blues is not a joyful listen, but it’s not ugly either. It’s
a series of aural vignettes about a man coming to terms with tragedy.
It's musically dark but it's also playful at times. I didn’t feel like making this a conversation with a fellow music lover – this episode is me going through the album’s history, and unpacking what Everett is doing, both lyrically and musically, and trying to determine his mental state at the time. To some, this may seem like a peculiar way for me to re-enter podcasting, but it was a show I felt compelled to do. I hope you get something out of it.

The book I sourced for information was Mark Everett’s autobiography
“Things The Grandchildren Should Know. The BBC documentary I refer
to is called “Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives”. It lives on
Youtube at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsqlWaSviTk

If you enjoy the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on
whatever podcast platform you listen on and let your friends know
that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at
http://pantheonpodcasts.com

You can send me feedback at [email protected] (written or mp3
voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum

You can download the show by searching for Love That Album on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An announcement about Love That Album's status for a period of time.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm taking a break this month, so my great friend and fellow music
obsessive Dave Blom has come to the rescue. He realised that the LTA
audience needed their monthly dose of music discussion that thousands of other music podcasts couldn't provide....

Welcometo episode 191 of Love That Album.

Dave loves his rawwwwwwwk, so he's decided to record an episode to talk about the debut LP from Sydney band Wolfmother. Coming out in 2005, it tipped its hat at old school hard rock and psychedelia. Dave will
give you his personal history with the album, and a breakdown of each
of its songs.

Thanks immensely for keeping the light on at LTA HQ while I do other stuff, Blommy. Go back into the LTA archives and find previous episodes
where he's saved my hide in a similar fashion (LTA112 “Jet”,
Episode 92 “Blackfeather” and “Avalanche”, Episode 102 - “The
Vines) as well as a few episodes where we went head to head.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a
favourable review on whatever podcast platform you listen on and let
your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show,
tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows
at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

You can send me feedback at [email protected] (written or mp3
voicemail) or join the Facebook group
at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum

You can download the show by searching for Love That Album on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here we are at the end of another year. I won't pretend it was
wonderful....part of it was downright horrible to be honest.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, two things made me happy – the kindness of
some people and wonderful music. Love That Album is all about the
music.

Welcome to episode 190 of Love That Album.

As long time listeners will know, at the end of most years, I like to
reach out to some of my music loving and musically articulate friends
to chat about what music excited them that year. The emphasis is on
music discovery – some of it may be have been released but some of
it may be 50 years old. As long as it's new for my guests, that's all
that matters. I now present for you the 2025 edition of this
tradition.

Joining me for this year's discussion are:

- Shane Pacey. Shane is part of the LTA furniture at this stage.
Discussing music with him is always a treat. He's the front man for
both the Bondi Cigars and the Shane Pacey Trio. He's a great
musician, sure, but he's a passionate advocate for music history and
a great raconteur in that regard. Check out his music at either
https://shanepaceytriomusic.bandcamp.com/ or https://bondicigars.com/

- Farmer John (aka John Couture). Farmer John is the host of the superb
Vinyl Relics podcast dedicated to the history of (mostly) obscure
bands from the late 60s / early 70s rock era. He discusses albums
with musicians who didn't always get their day in the sun but should
have. Psychedelia, hard rock, pop and folk are his passions. He's
also a guitarist and songwriter for a great band called Newport
Electric. Get Vinyl Relics wherever you get podcasts, and find his
music at https://www.newportelectricmusic.com/

- Brian Nankervis. In Australia, Brian needs no introduction....but for
the rest of you, Brian is most famous for being the co host (with
Julia Zemiro of Rockwiz) – previously a TV program (which yours
truly had 15 minutes of infamy on), now a live touring show. Brian is
indeed a rock music brain. He also hosts a weekly show on the ABC in
Melbourne with Jacinta Parsons, The Friday Revue.

- Jeff Jenkins. Jeff is a music journalist and has been writing a
weekly column called Howzat for many many years, as well as writing
books about Molly Meldrum and Skyhooks. He also is a regular guest on
RRR's The Australian Mood with Neil Rogers. JJ was also the very
first guest to be a part of LTA 14 and a half years ago, back when
most people didn't even know what a podcast was. You can read his articles at http://www.livinginthelandofoz.com/howzat.html

I'm truly grateful for these marvelous musical folk for giving me their
time and great conversations.

In the off chance you were interested in what some of my favourite
discoveries were this year, I have recorded solo segments I play in
between my chats with my guests giving 3 albums that gave me pleasure
this year – there were many more, but I didn't want this to be a 10
hour show.

If you've listened to an episode this year or sent me a correspondence
or posted in the Facebook group to have music discussions or
recommended LTA or See Hear Podcast to your friends or have been a
guest on the show, I offer my gratitude to you.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a
favourable review on whatever podcast platform you listen on and let
your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show,
tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at
http://pantheonpodcasts.com

You can send me feedback at [email protected] (written or mp3
voicemail) or join the Facebook group
at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum

You can download the show by searching for Love That Album on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chances are if you have ever been asked “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?” and you answered “No Way. Get F#$*ed. F#$* Off”, it means:

(a) You're a fan of The Angels,

(b) You're insensitive,
or

(c) You're both.

Welcome to episode 189 of Love That Album podcast.

I'm joined by genuine Australian rock music royalty, drummer Graham “Buzz” Bidstrup....but his career extends to so much more than being drummer and songwriter for The Angels (Angel City in North America) and
Ganggajang. He's been an audio engineer, producer, film composer,
multi instrumentalist, artist manager, and CEO of the hugely
important Thumbs Up Foundation dedicated to Indigenous health,
literacy, and numeracy instigated by the late Jimmy Little.

If you have any Australian rock albums from the 70s onwards in your collection, chances are very strong Buzz has some connection to those records. He's just released a memoir called “No Secrets: An Oz-Rock Memoir of Music and Mayhem”. I found it a great read because it covers
more than stories about performance and band politics (although
they're definitely in there). Buzz went to places many other
musicians didn't...it wasn't always a pleasant ride, but he's here to
tell the tale, and his proudest achievement is....well, you'll have
to tune in to find out.

My thanks to literary agent, Brendan Fredericks for making the introduction. The book should be available at your local bricks and mortar book shop in Australia, or wherever you order books / ebooks online anywhere on the planet.

If you want to read about Jimmy Little's Thumbs Up Foundation, then go to
https://thumbsup.org.au/

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on whatever podcast platform you listen on and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

You can send me feedback at [email protected] (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum

You can download the show by searching for Love That Album on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices