As it turns out, talking about music that I actually enjoy on this show is really fun. On this episode, I chose to showcase some songs from "Choke Enough" an album that I got really into earlier this year. You wouldn't think that I'd be into something like this, but I can't control myself sometimes. This slipped through the cracks of my taste, and maybe if you listen to the episode, you'll understand why.
There's a new guy in town in Nashville... or is he really so new? Stephen Wilson Jr. has been trying to get his music career going for a while now, it seems, and only now is he finally starting to get some big time institutional support. Every article about him I can find has to mention his wild backstory (he was taught by his dad how to box starting at age 7 and going all the way up through high school, after which he went to college and became a research scientist) and he might be poised to become the next Jelly Roll. So, we had better find out what he sounds like.
After being in the Coldplay trenches for several weeks, we finally re-emerge for some good old classic Scumbag Files. Fuel, The Calling, and Theory of a Deadman have all released new songs, so it's time to see what these has-beens of the 2000s radio rock world are up to these days. Spoiler: it's nothing particularly interesting.
Finally, it is here. Over the course of 6 chronological episodes of the show, I tracked the musical & artistic evolution of Coldplay, all the way from their first independent EP up to the present day. This is a re-make of a show that I originally did live on air shortly after the flood happened. That show did not get taped because our backup equipment didn't have a recording setup at the time. But now - bigger and better than before - The Evolution of Coldplay exists in the Scumbag Files canon as a real archived show that you can listen to. All 4 and a half hours of it, because I edited it down into one giant show, making this the first ever Scumbag Files Special. I also edited out a bunch of stammering and tangents, so your listening experience can be more streamlined.
In the final installment of this series, we get to hear Avril become an adult contemporary balladeer, find Jesus, create a culturally incoherent dubstep-tinged song, and attempt to reclaim her pop punk crown, among other things.
Love truly does sux.
On the second installment in this series, we find out that Avril's output nosedived in quality after her second album, she basically turned into a parody of herself on her third album, and changed genres very suddenly on her fourth album. Unfortunate, but we still have three more albums to go, so maybe there's some more quality in store for us.
It's been a while since I've done an "evolution" show, so in this short series, I track and evaluate how Avril Lavigne evolved as a musical artist over time. On this first episode in a series of 3, we take a look at songs from her first two albums and nail down the style and persona that made her famous originally.
