While post-rock has become a better-known genre over the last decade, it's actually been building since the late 80s and has its roots in a wide variety of older musical styles. Post-rock tends to be emotionally potent, captivating, and experimental-- all things that we at Velocities in Music love to hear. In this podcast, we go through the history of post-rock and highlight some bands that have shaped the genre into what it is today.

If you'd like to hear all the songs featured in this podcast in their entirety, listen to our Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1213031281/playlist/3qeeG0OxoPorW9DmEEJkzW

In this podcast, we cover the following albums that came out in May 2016:

James Blake - The Colour In Anything
Death Grips - Bottomless Pit
Anohni - Hopelessness
White Lung - Paradise
Kaytranada - 99.9%
Twin Peaks - Down in Heaven
Julianna Barwick - Will
LUH - Spiritual Songs for Lovers To Sing
Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards - Memory
Mark Pritchard - Under the Sun
Yoni & Geti - Testarossa
David Bazan - Blanco
Fruit Bats - Absolute Loser
Kikagaku Moyo - House in the Tall Grass
Adia Victoria - Beyond the Bloodhounds
Hard Working Americans - Rest in Chaos
Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Islands - Should I Remain Here At Sea?
Islands - Taste
Modern Baseball - Holy Ghost
Karl Blau - Introducing Karl Blau
Jessy Lanza - Oh No
Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
Wolf Parade - EP 4 (EP)
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman
Mutual Beneift - Skip a Sinking Stone
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
Marissa Nadler - Strangers
Andy Shauf - The Party
Mudcrutch - 2
Saosin - Along the Shadow
Real Friends - The Home Inside My Head
Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere
PUP - The Dream is Over
Big Thief - Masterpiece
Holy Fuck - Congrats
Pelvis - R.I.P.
Tom Hummer - Dystopian Blues

In the final installment of this artist deep-dive, we go track by track through Radiohead's newest LP, A Moon Shaped Pool, including our thoughts on the album overall and our individual experiences with it.

In the second installment of this three-part series on Radiohead, we cover the years 2000 - 2011, including the albums:
- Kid A
- Amnesiac
- Hail to the Thief
- In Rainbows
- The King of Limbs

In this episode of Velocities in Music, we dive into the astounding career of one of our favorite bands, Radiohead. The first part of this three-part series covers their formation and early years through the creation of their 1997 classic, OK Computer.

Another month has come to an end! Here are the albums we cover on this wrap-up:

Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye
Andrew Bird - Are You Serious
Charles Bradley - Changes
Bibio - A Mineral Love
Black Mountain - IV
Weezer - Weezer (White Album)
Mogwai - Atomic
Frightened Rabbit - Painting of a Panic Attack
PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project
Tacocat - Lost Time
Pet Shop Boys - Super
Bombino - Azel
Explosions in the Sky - The Wilderness
Kanye West - The Life of Pablo (for real this time)
Deftones - Gore
M83 - Junk
Tim Hecker - Love Streams
Hammock - Everything and Nothing
Future of the Left - The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left
Woods - City Sun Eater in the River of Light
The Lumineers - Cleopatra
Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop - Love Letter for Fire
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Suuns - Hold/Still
The Jayhawks - Paging Mr. Proust
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity
Greys - Outer Heaven
Nicolas Godin - Contrepoint
Wire - Nocturnal Koreans
A$AP Ferg - Always Strive and Prosper
Xiu Xiu - Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
Kowton - Utility
Parquet Courts - Human Performance
Ben Watt - Fever Dream
Deakin - Sleep Cycle
Brian Eno - The Ship

We often discuss what attributes make a song or an album great, but how do you go about actually writing a great song or a great album? In this podcast, Velocities In Music’s very own Tom Hummer is put on the spot to tell his story of how he started writing music and the process he goes through when writing and recording material. From there, Tom gives us his personal take on how and why he writes music as he walks us through his personal discography.

March saw a lot of great new album releases as 2016 is starting to pick up. Here are the albums we cover in this podcast:

Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered
Robert Pollard - Of Course You Are
Ray LaMontagne - Ouroboros
Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evolution
Lapsley - Long Way Home
M. Ward - More Rain
The Coral - Distance Inbetween
Miike Snow - III
Loretta Lynn - Full Circle
Violent Femmes - We Can Do Anything
Polica - United Crushers
Wussy - Forever Sounds
Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion
Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend
Flatbush Zombies - 3001: A Laced Odyssey
Into It. Over It. - Standards
Emmy the Great - Second Love
Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression
Glenn Jones - Fleeting
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
Damien Jurado - Visions of Us on the Land
Primal Scream - Chaosmosis
Lucy Dacus - No Burden
The Range - Potential
Anna Meredith - Varmints
Thug Entrancer - Arcology
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down - A Man Alive
RJD2 - Dame Fortune
The Thermals - We Disappear
Bob Mould - Patch the Sky
Open Mike Eagle - Hella Personal Film Festival
White Denim - Stiff
Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter

In the early 1990s, grunge music found an unlikely place in mainstream radio and started selling albums in a way that "alternative" music had never seen in previous decades. In this podcast, we trace grunge's history and musical evolution, diving into its major influencers and key albums, and exploring how it has impacted music today.

There's always at least one genre that each of us just doesn't like. But where does this aversion come from? Is it preventing us from digging into an artist or album that we might otherwise like? In this podcast, we discuss the concept of genre bias and how it affects the average listener, as well as some ways of potentially getting around it.

Since 2002, Coheed and Cambria have been putting out albums in their unique blend of pop-punk, emo, post-hardcore, prog, and metal. So far, their career has displayed an ambition and musical variety that very few bands have been able to match while maintaining a similar level of quality. In this artist deep-dive, we go through every Coheed and Cambria album released to date and highlight where they succeed, where they fail, and where we hope to see them go next.

In this monthly wrap-up, we discuss the following albums:

Field Music - Commontime
Peter Astor - Spilt Milk
DIIV - Is the Is Are
Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony
Sidestepper - Supernatural Love
Junior Boys - Big Black Coat
Nonkeen - The Gamble
Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night
Dr. Dog - The Psychedelic Swamp
Future - EVOL
The Black Queen - Fever Daydream
Rokia Traore - Ne So
Radiation City - Synesthetica
Pinegrove - Cardinal
Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm a Witch Too
Cavern of Anti-Matter - Void Beats / Invocation Trex
Animal Collective - Painting With
School of Seven Bells - SVIIB
Bonnie Raitt - Dig In Deep
Steve Mason - Meet the Humans
Emma Pollock - In Search of Harperfield
Santigold - 99 Cents
Barry Adamson - Know Where To Run
Wild Nothing - Life of Pause
Memoryhouse - Soft Hate

This year, we swallowed our pride and watched The Grammys in their entirety. There were some good performances, even more terrible performances, and a relatively small number of awards given, considering it's, um, supposed to be an awards show? We think?

In this podcast, we give our thoughts on the year's most commercial night of music, and give a play-by-play breakdown of what happened.

Once again, the Grammys are upon us. It's one musical night we tend to get cynical about, and yet we can't help but watch the train wreck of fake smiles, awkward performances, and undeserved acclaim. In this podcast, we go through our general thoughts of the Grammys and highlight a handful of the notable categories, along with who we believe will win and who we think deserves to win.

In this podcast, we discuss albums that were released in January 2016, including:

David Bowie - Blackstar
Hinds - Leave Me Alone
Savages - Adore Life
Tortoise - The Catastrophist
Eleanor Friedberger - New View
Panic! At the Disco - Death of a Bachelor
The Besnard Lakes - A Coliseum Complex Museum
Tindersticks - The Waiting Room
Daughter - Not To Disappear
Cauldron - In Ruin
Anderson Paak - Malibu
Megadeth - Dystopia
Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow
Suede - Night Thoughts
Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger
Chairlift - Moth
Cross Record - Wabi Sabi
Nevermen - Nevermen
Cian Nugent - Night Fiction
Turin Brakes - Lost Property
Saul Williams - MartyrLoserKing
MONEY - Suicide Songs
Bloc Party - Hymns
Sia - This Is Acting
Dream Theater - The Astonishing
Milk Teeth - Vile Child
Your Friend - Gumption
Night Beats - Who Sold My Generation
Wet - Don't You
The Han Solo Project - The Force Hits Snooze

In 1966, The Beatles played their last official concert and holed up in the studio for the remainder of their musical career. The result? Some of the most genius and groundbreaking recordings that the world had heard and likely ever will. But as the 60s came to a close, relations within the group began to erode until personal and creative differences between the members became irreconcilable. In this podcast, we cover the last five years of The Beatles' career, from the recording of Revolver to the release of Let It Be.

The Beatles are arguably one of the greatest and most influential bands in music history, releasing 13 studio albums over just eight years. While they certainly weren't the only big act in 60s Britain, there were several things that set them apart from other artists of the time and allowed them to reach the unmatched levels of acclaim they did. In this podcast, we cover The Beatles' first six albums and discuss how their sound evolved in terms of lyrical content, instrumentation, production, and performance. 

Everyone defines their criteria for a "great" album differently. However, there are certain aspects of an album that will always be present-- people just prioritize them differently. In this podcast, we talk about album attributes, how important each of them are to us, and some examples of great albums.

List of albums mentioned in this podcast: http://www.velocitiesinmusic.com/lists/what-makes-an-album-great-mentioned-artists/

2015 had a lot of great albums, and naturally we weren't able to listen to all of them. Thanks to your terrific feedback, we found some key albums to highlight as honorable mentions from the year, and even some that we just missed altogether. However, each year also comes with some major disappointments-- albums that you expected and hoped would be better, but just fell flat. In this podcast we talk through some key albums from 2015 that fit into those categories for us.

In this podcast we highlight our 30 favorite songs from 2015.

To listen to the top 70, check out our Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1213031281/playlist/4xa2h2nMAukmVX89UgndZg

As 2015 comes to an end, we went through and relistened to the albums we were loving throughout the year, as well as some late newcomers. In this episode, we talk through how we go about making lists, what they mean to us, and dig into our 20 favorite albums of 2015.

Here's a link to that Liam Neeson bit we're always referring to: https://youtu.be/sqA577_IoBk

Our full 2015 list: http://www.velocitiesinmusic.com/lists/favorite-albums-2015/

Musical duos have a very unique dynamic compared to solo artists and larger bands. A duo indicates a partnership, with some kind of give and take or checks and balances within the creative process. While defining what makes a duo may seem like a simple task, it becomes more complicated when we take into account the roles each member play and the contributions they make.

Here are some great duos that you will NOT hear on this podcast but we would still recommend you check out:
- The Black Keys
- Suicide
- Richard and Linda Thompson
- The Kills
- Death From Above 1979
- Lightning Bolt
- Blood Red Shoes
- Rodrigo y Gabriela
- Cults
- Department of Eagles
- Majical Cloudz
- Matt and Kim
- No Age
- Ratatat
- Hall and Oates

Christmas music is a divisive subject this time of year, and not just for music aficionados. It's an inescapable part of the holiday season that some choose to embrace, while others strive to avoid. In this podcast, we go through our favorite Christmas songs, our most hated, and our favorite 10 Christmas albums.

November usually shows a decline in album releases as we approach the end of the year, but there were still a few great albums released this month. Here are the ones we highlight:

Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You
Grimes - Art Angels
Floating Points - Elaenia
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Bill Ryder-Jones - West Kirby County Primary
Teeth of the Sea - Highly Deadly Black Tarantula
Cee Lo Green - Heart Blanche
Justin Bieber - Purpose
Lanterns on the Lake - Beings
Wreckless Eric - America
Anna von Hausswolff - The Miraculous
Adele - 25
Arca - Mutant
Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt
Chorusgirl - Chorusgirl
TRAAMS - Modern Dancing
Shye Ben-Tzur - Junun
Ty Dolla $ign - Free TC
Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone in the Universe
Enya - Dark Sky Island
Ringo Deathstarr - Pure Mood
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Paper Mache Dream Balloon
Logic - The Incredible True Story

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Double albums are naturally a very high-risk, high-reward venture for a musical artist. It can be an opportunity to wow listeners with your songwriting variety and conceptual prowess, or turn them away with a self-indulgent epic that simply could have been trimmed down to a single LP. Despite the risk, double albums are a medium that some of the best artists in history have chosen to tackle, and the successes end up being some of the most memorable moments in music. In this podcast, Jake and Tom talk through their top ten double albums, what makes a double album successful, and how we define them.

See the full list here: http://www.velocitiesinmusic.com/lists/favorite-double-albums/