TRAPPO's Mail Bag #1
Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2022. We're deep in the sci-fi numbers and it's freaking me out. Twenty-two years into the 21st Century already. Time really flies, doesn't it? I trust you've all enjoyed your holiday season, dear listeners. But now all that good stuff's behind us, and we've got a long, bleak winter ahead. And that's okay, because you've got your pals at TRAPPO. to help see you through all the relentless misery of these barren months before spring finally arrives and all the flowers bloom once again, etc. Unless you're from the Southern Hemisphere, that is. If you are, then you're hip-deep in the good ol' summertime right now, and you don't really need anybody to cheer you out of the winter doldrums, and that's cool. Also, some folks are perfectly fine with winter and are never bothered by Seasonal Affective Disorder, myself included, but it takes all kinds to enjoy TRAPPO., friends. We're an inclusive podcast.
For this first episode of a brand-new year, we've decided to do something a little different and let you, dear listeners, call the shots. That's right, we're introducing the first installment of what we hope to be an ongoing series here called TRAPPO's Mail Bag! Basically your intrepid hosts have gathered a cornucopia of viewer comments taken from this very blog, and we're devoting an entire episode to discussing them all. It's a revolutionary idea, I'm aware, but I think we can make it work. You can listen to the new episode below, or find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, Stitcher and Spotify. So choose your own adventure and enjoy the show.
If you'd like to join the conversation and contribute to a future installment of TRAPPO's Mail Bag, just leave a comment on this post, or any other past or future post that catches your fancy, and we'll probably address your comment on the air. We would very much like to make the Mail Bag a regular feature here, so don't be shy. Give us feedback on old episodes. Give us your ideas for future topics. What would you like to see inducted in the TRAPPO Essentials Ca(n)non? Share your thoughts with us! If you're feeling particularly wordy, you can always send us an email, and we'd be glad to read it. And don't forget that you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram for the full TRAPPO. experience.
That's all for now. We'll be back next week with a new episode, so stay tuned!
I actually used to follow your old blog for years. I dropped off over the past year or two once your writing started getting more anti-American and anti-religion, but I figured this podcast was a clean slate. More pop culture oriented with no religion or political talk. Your old podcasts even sounded better somehow. What the hell is up with that? And listening to this episode, after you addressed my comment I was willing to keep listening to the show, even though I felt maybe a bit slighted by your comments. Then I got to the end of the epsodie, and I'm fucking done. You want to insult me with your childish ranting? That's how you want to treat your listeners? You can't even take a little constructive critisism, you thin skinned baby. You can take your garbage-sounding podcast and shove it up your narrow ass, pal.
ReplyDeleteFuck Trappo and fuck you.
I'd like to see somebody acknowledge Melissa Manchester for once. She's a very underrated pop artist from back in the day who I don't think people talk enough about. Try listening to "For The Working Girl" or "Emergency" or "Mathematics" sometime and see if maybe you guys think she's good enough to load in your cannon. She started her career as one of Bette Midler's "Harlettes" backup singers and she broke out on her own in the mid-1970s. The title track on "For The Working Girl" was co-written by Bernie Taupin and was a pretty big hit if I recall correctly. "Mathematics" definitely leans into the new wave synth pop stylings of the 1980s time period, but I think it's pretty solid work, and I believe Quincy Jones was executive producer. Give her stuff a shot. Those three albums I mentioned are her personal favorites, but her whole catalogue is decent. There's my suggestion. I would love to see one of Melissa Manchester's albums included in your cannon. She deserves the recognition.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Annie Clarke, AKA St. Vincent, so I would like to see some of her stuff make it to your CANNON. I'd say take your pick, because most of her stuff is pretty great, but if I have to narrow things down, I'd go with 2017's "Masseduction", which I guess is the album that resonates the most with me. But if you're going to look at that one, you'll need to take a look at hr follow-up, "MassEducation", which is kind of a radical re-imagining of "Masseduction" into something more intimate, maybe more personal. THe two albums are really just two sides of the same coin, so I think it makes sense to judge them both as one larger work, but that's just me, and you asked for opinions, so there's mine. Keep on trapping.
ReplyDeleteSomebody else has been scarred for life by Johnny Five's traumatic beat-down in "Short Circuit 2", I see. It's such a detailed and horrifying scene that it still haunts me to this day, even though I don't I've seen the movie since I was 10 years old. Including a sound clip from that scene in the podcast was just mean, man. It made me feel like a war vet with PTSD. I don't ever need to hear that poor robot beg for his life while getting beaten to death by some fat bank robber's flunkies again. You're looking for some potential new members of the Trappo hall of fame class of 2022> I've got a few music picks I'd like eto throw out there.
ReplyDeleteFirst is "Black Widow" by In This Moment. It's their best album by far. A big, angry, aggressive epic, and Maria Brink's vocals are a firestorm.
Second is "Low" by David Bowie. You've already got one Bowie album on your Canon I know, but for my money this is his greatest album. It just clicks with me from beginning to end. "Breaking Glass", "Sound And Vision" and "A New Career In A New Town" are all-time greats. A new sound, pushing the boundaries. You can't go wrong.
Keep it upp!
These are the same guys who do Trappo's Chap House. I listen to that show on iTunes but it hasn't been updated in months. I check the blog and it has a link to a new blog dedicated to a new show with basically the same name. So I'm already confused. Then I start listening to the new show, and it's a completely different thing. You're like a normal podcast now, with topics and stuff. That's pretty cool, but what happened to the old show? Is it dead? Or did it just become this? If so, you didn't tell anybody who listened to the other show about this, myself included, so that's pretty confusing.. Don't get me wrong, because I like this show so far, but I've only listened to a few episodes. I think it's cool that you're encouraging listener responeses here, which is more that you ever did on the old podcast. Everybody else seems t obe telling you what they want in the canon, so I have a few suggestions as well.
ReplyDeleteCloser To Grey by The Chromatics - but it has to be the sprawling 2020 deluxe version, the one that includes a whole bunch of new material and remixes. It's a genuine synthwave epic, and it might be Johnny Jewel's magnum opus. (I know I'm using the big words for this one, but I think the music deserves it). You can even buy the album directly from the website, the whole thing, for one dollar. You can't beat that value. There's a new album out called Faded Now, but it's just material from the deluxe edition of Closer To Grey and not a standalone album.
Software by Grace Slick. - she recorded this album after she rejoined Jefferson Starship, and it's deep in the 1980s electronic buzzy music bullshit that destroyed a lot of otherwise good music of the period, and Slick seems to be chasing that sound here rather than making something organically electro, but I think it works. She was a 44 year old woman trying to make it work during a weird ass decade, and the album is bizarre and strange and maybe not for everybody, but I like it a lot.
Big Mess by Danny Elfman - - this came out last year, and it's just great. Apparently he never intended to make another solo album, but after making a few songs that were supposed to debut at Coachella 2020 (which was canceles due to the pandemic), his creative juices just started flowing and he made this entire weird album that reminds me a lot of some Nine Inch Nails stuff, but through this guy's quirky filter. Cool stuff.
Good job so far and all that!
I would like your podcast to look at the career of Natalie Merchant. She's been around for quite a while, and starting with the band 10,000 Maniacs, she's built up quite a discography. I'm not sure what I would recommend, exactly, since all of her albums have some very high highs, at least as far as I'm concerned, but maybe the fascinating differences between 1995's breakthrough album Tigerlily and 2015's Paradise is There, Natalie's re-visting of Tigerlily with 20 years of life and experience under her belt. That's probably the best place to start for my money, but I'd be happy with any real substantial look at Merchant' s music here. Thank you.
ReplyDelete