Podcast Corner: Indie heaven, Metallica and Blindboy among the new offerings
Metallica have produced a new podcast.
If I had to pick a Mastermind subject, it would probably be British indie music circa 2003-2008 - often disparagingly/lovingly referred to as landfill indie. Think Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, the Libertines, and The View.
So you can imagine my joy at discovering 22 Grand Pod, hosted by Harry H and Tom Atkin from the Paddingtons (!) and referring to a song by the Rakes.
With episodes released ad hoc since April 2020, the 28 so far include interviews with the likes of Dominic Masters from the Others, Preston from the Ordinary Boys, and Ross from Futureheads, covering topics of the era such as Libertines forums, Myspace, and Johnny Borrell.
It’s done in good faith - though NME editor Conor McNicholas’ episode is hilarious for revealing the excesses of the time, such as the magazine’s Cool List and Donny Tourette, who he claims pulled a knife on him backstage. McNicholas’ response: “Grow up!”
Another one for the music nostalgists: September 10 marks 30 years since Metallica released ‘The Black Album’ and to celebrate, there’s an eight-episode podcast series looking back on the start of the band, the making of the record, and how it helped the foursome become one of the biggest acts in the world.
Metallica are responsible for one of the greatest music documentaries, Some Kind of Monster (if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favour and put it at the top of your Netflix watchlist right now - it is amazing!), but we doubt this series will be quite as revealing. Similar to official podcasts about the likes of Prince and Joy Division, which we’ve covered before, The Metallica Podcast: Volume One should nonetheless bring back good memories, no matter the age of metal fan.
As well as a return to live music, in-person podcast events are beginning to make a comeback. On Thursday, Mark Horgan brings his award-winning Where is George Gibney? podcast to Connolly’s of Leap in West Cork for a debut live outing. He’ll be talking with journalist Sinead O’Carroll about making the series.
At It Takes a Village in Trabolgan on September 17-19, Blindboy is one of the biggest names on the lineup, while Ian Lynch will be doing a second live show for his brilliant historical trad-music podcast Fire Draw Near, following an afternoon show this Saturday, September 4, at the inaugural Dun Laoghaire Folk Festival.
Looking further ahead, Cyprus Avenue is hosting the brilliant Bandwagons podcast on November 12 - you’d better hurry to snap up tickets as it sounds like Bríd Browne and Fionnuala Jones are heading for a sellout.
