Occasionally I will do a deep dive on a favourite artist's discography and collect my thoughts on a hashtag. I think this is all of them so far? 😁
#FSOLTime - The Future Sound of London
#SloanTime - Sloan
#BjörkTime - Björk
#EnoTime - Brian Eno
#AFXTime - Aphex Twin
#TMBGTime - They Might Be Giants
#HevyDevyTime - Devin Townsend
re: #introduction
You see before you a middle-aged white male standing over six feet. He has a scraggly chin beard trimmed on the jaw line, wavy brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, and hazel eyes behind frankly ridiculous black, wide-rimmed eyeglasses. He's dressed like a twelve year-old in baggy jeans, hoodie, Beths t-shirt, and a KEXP beanie. A laptop bag is on his shoulder and overpriced headphones are around his neck. He's trying to look nonchalant as you approach but you can't shake the feeling he'd rather be listening to #music than engaging face to face.
"I help admin linernotes.club, the premiere fediverse destination for music lovers who nod knowingly at each other from across the room when that song comes on but probably won't ever introduce themselves," he says, unprompted. That was weird. Then: "Oh, that was weird. Sorry. Uh, say, have you heard the new Sloan record? I've got it right here..."
So hey, I'm evilchili. I am cis/het and use he/him pronouns. I mostly toot about music, because it brings me joy, and I believe joy is an act of resistance. When I go looking for new music I post about it on #CrateDigging. When I listen to it, I post #TastingNotes. Sometimes I do long threads about an artist's discography, like #TMBGTime. I'm not here for politics, shitposting, or irony. If you toot or boost that stuff that's cool but I won't be following. Nazi punks fuck off. AI, crypto, techbro punks too. Usually all the same punk.
I run a #dnd homebrew game called #deadsands. I do post occasionally about that. I make #resin #dice and toot about it on @dicefail. I've been working in tech for over 30 years and getting ready to start my second act. I'm married, have twin boys, and an old, blind, stupid, sweet Greyhound named Rufus (after mssr. Wainwright). Ask me anything!
https://tmbgshop.com/collections/all/products/my-murdered-remains-download
TMBG's My Murdered Remains is a free download for a limited time. I didn't cover it in #TMBGTime but it's great! You should get it for $0!
Okay, that's a wrap for a very enjoyable wander through one of the most consistently excellent discographies in pop music and one of my very favourite bands. Thanks for following along!
Like many my age, the first time I heard #TMBG was on an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures; the show aired a musical episode that contained animated music videos for Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and Particle Man. I loved the songs but didn't realize they were an actual band for quite a while. So when I heard Flood for the first time it was a revelation and I was instantly a lifelong fan.
Birdhouse in Your Soul is maybe the greatest opening track of any album ever. It relies on trickery: the volume increases when the drums kick in, making the song feel absolutely huge (a technique they credit to Elvis Costello). Dead is just two voices and piano but is a songwriting masterclass -- that descending chromatic line at the 2min mark gives me shivers. Your Racist Friend is a kaleidoscope of ideas, a sort of 80s Paul Simon meets metal meets mariachi thing? What even is happening? The record continues like this: bizarre, idiosyncratic songwriting, inscrutable lyrics, complex arrangements, non-traditional song structures, beautiful, blended harmonies often sung in close harmony...I mean holy shit. It's baffling.
Flood isn't perfect; Minimum Wage and Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love are more sketches of songs than actual songs -- which perhaps explains why they do such weird things to Sapphire Bullets when played live -- but it remains their biggest commercial success, and for many everything that came after was judged in its shadow. But the through line of the Johns' catalogue is an endless, restless creativity, a hunger to discover what's next This was a band that was never going to stand still.
Good morning my little biggest ones! Last time on Evilchili Listens to A Large Discography and Toots About It, I had a look at the mighty Future Sound of London on #FSOLTime. We've also had some good #SloanTime, #BjörkTime, #EnoTime, and #AFXTime and maybe more I'm forgetting? Time is an illusion and toots doubly so.
Today I'm going to listen to some of my favourite records by They Might Be Giants. Why? Because I like fun. The book is long, friends: 34 albums and 15 EPs across nearly 40 years of recording, and if you're the casual listener who thinks the two Johns stopped being interesting when they put the band together, no! Get ready for a long tall weekend of great music: if you use your phone power to follow me you will surely glean how wonderful these records are. So if you've got the spine, join us on the flood of #TMBGTime!
(Or if you're already tired of me, join the eacape team and bury my murdered remains under a muted hashtag.)
evilchili