Quick To Listen

We listen through ten songs in which David Bowie contemplated oblivion, pausing to note some of his insights.  R.I.P.

After founding Blondie, Gary Lachman changed careers to become a leading historian on the esoteric and the occult.  We discuss his new book, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, which presents the West's long creative tension between left-brain and right-brain philosophical styles. Also discussed: the Internet, split-brain patients, Aleister Crowley, Rudolph Steiner, C.G. Jung, Colin Wilson, Jean Gebser, precognitive dreams, Gustav Mahler, silence

Why the Pink Floyd classic endures.

Briana Marela shares her wisdom on intentional happiness. Discussed:  Tumblr, Tai Chi, feminine vs. masculine music, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Scott Alario, alcohol, nihilism, children, Plato, hymnody, shape-note singing

An analysis of MGMT's second LP.  Literary critic Matthew Spencer helps us make sense of Congratulations' gothic narrative and strange hysteria. Discussed:  Syd Barrett, Dan Treacy, Brian Eno, Friedrich Nietzsche, Emil Cioran, Seneca, Leslie Fiedler, Anthony Ausgang, Michael Jackson, Daniel Dennett

In Human Accomplishment, AEI Scholar Charles Murray analyzes the conditions that have enabled -- and undercut -- scientific and artistic excellence throughout history.  His book presents a direct challenge to the postmodern, culturally relativist education of host Grant v.  How can one define musical greatness?  Will anything being made today last? Discussed:  Human Accomplishment by Charles Murray; David Hume; the Lotka curve;  Pitchfork's 10/10 review of Kid A; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Ceaseless Fun by Derek Spencer; Thomas Aquinas Bonus:  Dr. Murray explains why he thinks Groundhog Day will be watched hundreds of years from now:  http://bit.ly/1MoyHIS

Signs that Cake have been channeling the wisdom of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Discussed:  The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius;  On the Shortness of Life by Seneca;  The Discourses by Epictetus;  The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle;  Marcus Aurelius: A Life by Frank McLynn

Poet, rapper, and standup comic Baraka Noel discusses chaos magick, hip hop as religion, gentrification, and the meaning of death in a quantum multiverse.  He recently co-published Sweet Wolverine, "a collection of the hardest poetry and prose." Also discussed:  Bstep, The Author, R.A. the Rugged Man, sampling, Rob Schneider, Jim Carrey, Dying the First Time, Catholicism, Mount Olympus, Orson Scott Card, Tom Robbins, catcalling, Whiplash

Music theorist Rob Schultz explains Elliott Smith's fixation on paradox and how it manifested in his life, lyrics, and tonal language. We go in-depth with analyses of "Speed Trials," "Baby Britain," "Waltz No. 2," "Everything Means Nothing to Me," and "Sweet Adeline." Read Schultz' "Tonal Pairing and the Relative-Key Paradox in the Music of Elliott Smith":  www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.12.18.4/mto.12.18.4.schultz.html

Algorithmic composer David Cope explores the implications of Experiments in Musical Intelligence, his pioneering program that can produce music in the style of Bach, Prokofiev, or anyone.  Is meaning created by the artist or the listener?  Could it be that every plant, every human, and every sonata is part of the same grand, algorithmically-evolving tree of life?   Discussed:  Tinman, Tinman Too, Virtual Music, and Comes the Fiery Night by David Cope; semantic satiation; haiku; Jonathan Berger's Experiments in Musical Listening; Daniel Dennett; Karl Sims' Evolved Virtual Creatures; synchronicity; music as a science

Presidential Speculatainment host Danny Winslow joins us to analyze and rate the campaign songs of Election 2016.  Grant shares his theory that Donald Trump is both a genius and a de facto Satanist.  Plus an interview with PAUL+donna, the artist behind the viral “Hillary in the House.”  Discussed:  A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi; Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill;  The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale;  The Satanic Bible by Anton LeVay; The Bible; testosterone therapy

Psychobiographer William Todd Schultz sits down in Portland to discuss Elliott Smith and the tortured artist myth. Discussed:  Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith, Handbook of Psychobiography, and The Enchanted Abyss by William Todd Schultz; Albert Camus; Sigmund Freud; Wes Anderson; The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel; exes; prototypical scenes; false memories; Steven Paul Smith

Trying out the chant that is God Herself; reflecting on its effect and aesthetic qualities. Plus an interview with Doyal Gauranga Das, programming director for the Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York. Discussed: Chant and Be Happy by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada; Let’s Talk About Love by Carl Wilson; WatchMojo.com's Top 10 Cults; George Harrison; John Lennon; Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl; Eager to Love by Richard Rhor; 1965 vs. 2015; Bhagavad Gita; greatest hits tours; suicide; Robin Williams; reincarnation; the Lord’s Prayer

An analysis of Radiohead's seventh LP. Discussed:  The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri;  reincarnation; infidelity; Faust; Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss

Grammy-nominated composer and vocalist Theo Bleckmann shares his secret to happiness: stop seeking it.  We discuss how ice dancing and collage art have influenced his uncanny sound, which fuses showtunes and minimalism, zen and jazz, Berg and Bernstein.  Also discussed:  The Julia Hülsmann Quartet, Walt Whitman, overtone singing, Anna-Maria Hefele, Kate Bush, Men in Black, alien languages, death, silence, God, gospel, existentialism, Kurt Veill's "Mack the Knife," Ben Monder, the paintings of George W. Bush

International folk troubadour Robert Leslie on his radical decision to leave behind World of Warcraft for the world at large. Discussed: Super Mario Sunshine, Gabriel García Márquez, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman, Mac Demarco, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Adam Harper, author of Heaven Is Real: John Maus and the Truth of Pop, joins us to discuss the cult composer, whose lo-fi "mystical irony" melds 80s synths with Medieval liturgy. Discussed:  Josquin des Prez, Karl Marx, accelerationism, post-romantic utopianism, The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, Infinite Music by Adam Harper

Will Dan Deacon's hyper-dense electro assault unhinge your doors of perception?  An analysis of the cult psychedelic artist.Discussed:  marijuana, The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley, Mind Play by Robert Wiseman, "The Ways and Teachings of a Cult" by Raphael Rey, Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon be Announced by the White House! by Adi Da Samraj

New Age pioneer and "headless hermit" Ray Lynch breaks his long silence to give us insight into lifelong openheartedness, his composing process, and his upcoming book on sacred mathematics.  This is Ray's single most in-depth interview. Discussed:  Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced by the White House! by Adi Da Samraj, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, "My Favorite Things by Bach" by Bernard Chazelle, "Beethoven Was a Narcissistic Hooligan" by Dylan Evans

Gothy singer-songwriter Alicia Amiri reveals the philosophy behind "The Wanting," the new album from Nightmare Fortress: "I believe in power, and power crushes what's fair every single time."  Bonus never-before-heard demo "Ring the Bell," the recording that sparked the band. Discussed:  "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre, "Either/Or" by Søren Kierkegaard, "On Pessimism" by Arthur Shopenhauer, "The Gay Science" by Friedrich Nietzsche