TuneDig is an in-depth and informed conversation between two lifelong friends about the power of music — one album at a time.
In each episode, we go down the rabbit hole to spend a while in the strange world we discover. We take an honest look at creativity in all its complexity—from writing and production to history and cultural impact.
We promise you’ll learn something new every time, no matter how much you already love the album we explore.
DIG IT.
Subscribe by email to get new episode announcements, vinyl giveaways, and the occasional announcement. ✌️
You can unsubscribe at any time. We won't sell your email address because we're not terrible people.
Friday Heavy: April 1, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Meshuggah – “Immutable”
2. Friday Heavy playlist full of high quality Meshuggah aping that AIN’T “djent”
3. The Bail Project
Another Friday Heavy is here. 🖤
Each short episode's got a new release, a playlist, and an organization worth supporting.
(If you like the new 'cast, do us a solid and give a follow or leave a review. 🙏) https://t.co/Dd2FmExPup
— TuneDig (@tunedig) April 1, 2022
Transcript
Note: our transcripts are mostly AI-generated for now.
Cliff: What’s up, everybody. Welcome back to Friday. Heavy your guide to the world of abrasive and aggressive, loud music. Just loud, loud, loud music. And it’s brought to you by the folks behind tuned deg. So I’m cliff. Thank God. thanks Kyle. So every episode we cover three things. We cover a brand new release and why we think it will be worth a spin.
We cover one playlist that we’ve curated to explore a heavy sub genre or an artist or an idea. We’ve got another killer one today. And then we also cover one organization doing critical and culture impacting work in their community so that you can do something with all the energy that I should. Hope you have a, if your eyeballs are open from time to time at all, so let’s get into it, this week.
Kyle, why don’t you take it away? Tell us what.
Kyle: We are talking about a guided tour through Khalif’s mind, palace, AKA immutable, the new album from it’s out today, April 1st, not an April fool’s joke, mistook his ninth album immutable on atomic fire. It was like almost hilariously either. They, they were where the bar was. And I was like, is there anything more compelling than my sugar to cover this week?
Nope. Let’s talk about my sugar and to be a little bit self-congratulatory, which I was, I’ve been very good about my whole life. Friday heavy is two for two so far on pics. If you’ll recall, we point you in the direction of a release before we’ve heard the whole thing, because we released the episode the same day as the new album and both NFM a month ago and soul glow two weeks ago, ended up being even better than we anticipated.
so not to pat ourselves on the back, but to pat heavy music on the back because the, those, if we’re at an every two week clip of albums of that quality. Then things are going pretty well. In having music, not on earth, there’s normally an inverse curve there.
Cliff: Yeah.
Kyle: cliff said before the episode, if we’re batting a thousand on this thing, and both at bats have been home runs, this is a blatant, intentional walk.
And that’s because you almost get option paralysis from the multitude of fantastical explanations of why my sugar is so important. Let’s use a quote from revolver just by way of. For the uninitiated, Michigan, aren’t like other bands. They’ve written some of the most complex unrelenting and terrifying songs in the history of metal they tour.
When they see fit, enter the studio on their own schedule and work only when they feel creative, their efforts haven’t been rewarded, great wealth, but their originality and savagery have inspired countless other groups, including count them, Deftones, Dillinger, escape, plan, a life once lost and has earned them an in-depth.
Architectonic analysis in the academic
journal music theory spectrum in 2007.
Cliff: that pronunciation dude
on.
Kyle: Architectonic
sounds like a song by the ocean.
Cliff: You said it was a tour of my brain, but Deftones, Dillinger escape plan and a life once loss is a pretty good triangulation of yours too.
Kyle: Yup. Yup. All of those bands are like me trying to make cliff type music. Like we try to do something far out and then we still wind up
on sort of blues groove.
Cliff: That’s not a bad way to
go.
Kyle: Yeah.
Cliff: Yeah, that’s this is for sure. The tip of the iceberg, why it is worth checking out Mississauga, if you haven’t. If you do want to know how true that is I don’t know that the Tuneday cinematic universe is going to have tremendous crossover like this always going forward.
But you’re going to have,
over an hour of discussion coming up for you next Friday, on the regular tune dig podcast feed because we covered there 2008 release OBS and, uh, and you’ll, you’ll get the full, like Meshuggah gospel there. So if this is interesting to you, because you already like it or interesting to you, because you’re willing to hear a little bit more seriously, go over there and check out an entire conversation about it.
Cause today we just want you to make sure that you’re going to spin it. Now
that it’s coming out, this new release at least. And so for now, we’ll summarize that by just saying this band is quite literally like, as all this Kyle and me are, uh, as existing humans on this planet, as far as we know, based on linear time.
And if you love heavy music. like th There is something to be found in, Michigan for you, even if you don’t end up loving the band itself, there’s something for you to learn here and experiment with something that makes you think
differently.
Kyle: The thesis of next week’s whole episode is even in, especially if you don’t like having music, Misha is the band to open a new door in your brain about the way you think about music there. They’re just an interesting lens, musically
period.
Cliff: 100%. We don’t well, we don’t normally care. I think too much, or won’t care too much about early reviews. And when people do get advances of the stuff, but I think it’s interesting to call.
out here that I read a few early reviews from folks who did get advanced copies. And it sounds like immutable is maybe going to have some range that the singles are not necessarily going to indicate to you, but we’ve still got plenty to work with.
from three singles, because three Misha singles is a 15 minute EAP by itself.
so walking through them real fast, the first single was the abysmal I, uh, and that dropped a while back and had a music video. Uh, We’re just going to show the latest two singles in this episode.
uh, after that was light, the shortening fuse, which you will now be treated to a, and if you’ve never heard my sugar, this is the moment where something is going to go very right or very wrong.
Cliff: And so that’s a pretty immediately recognizable, like 100% authentic brand name.
like Ms. Sugar products. Okay. what we do here that’s new about this is Maybe a new
production approach that potentially is going to make listening to this album a little bit more bearable on the whole.
It’s something we discuss a lot.
is that’s a tall order to listen to these albums all the way through
sometimes.
Kyle: And I do think abysmal lie is the most thing that you’re going to get of these three, for sure. Smart to release that one first, it’s got that intense double bass, like for the fans of bleed for the drum, cover people on YouTube and a really intense sort of TAPI solo. So very like thrash type Meshuggah then light the shortening fuse.
I texted you the week that single came out and I was like, I have had this one song. Pretty much all day. Cause it’s got that really cool swing and then it’s got an interesting bridge part where miss sugar would normally put the riff underneath and then do the sort of atonal jazz solo thing.
Yeah. So songs of the humpback whale. But they sort of take a different approach. Like they have written an entirely different bridge part and and it’s, it’s just like an unusual thing that they do there. they’re pushing for breadth where you would expect sort of a signature sugar thing in certain places.
Like the shortening fuse is one of the examples. Oh, okay. I’m into that. That, that feels an all feels totally natural. Like you don’t think about it until the fifth, sixth, seventh. Listen. Even if you’re a, a deeply
initiated sugar listener,
Cliff: Absolutely. And then the latest single, you know, it, especially inside this format where we’re showing people 30 seconds of like a five or six or seven minutes, super complex song w what we have to offer you C is kind of what those first 30 seconds are going to show. So the latest single called.
Thirst kicks off with more of the like slow March groove that they’ve really been evolving towards as a band, Especially
in recent years. Um, so again, that’s the thing that’s going to make almost zero sense to you if you don’t love this band yet, but if you do everything I said, just clicks everything we just talked about just makes total, like you hear the risks, the kind of patterns start to slot in, and you can imagine not only what this is supposed to sound. like, but then to Kyle’s point.
You can start to hear the places where.
they’re very intentionally doing something different because it requires a little bit of commitment to get there with
this
band.
Kyle: So there are two things for the uninitiated that might be interesting. And maybe you start with, I am that thirst if you’ve never listened to the span. Cause I wrote down. Up up, down, down left, left, right, right. AB AB whatever. Uh, the verse riff. And I am that thirst kind of sounds like if they tried to notate a riff with video game controls, like it just, it bins at weird angles and it’s not quite like anything else I’ve ever heard.
So that’s an interesting way to think about writing a riff. And then I don’t know that there are that many miss sugar breakdowns and towards the end of the song, it, it straight up does that. It does. Oh, hardcore slowdown thing. It sort of goes back to the tempo of the first part of the song, but it was like, oh, and I haven’t had a chance to even texts you about that yet.
But I finally made it all the way through that brand new single, and was like, this is different. I’m excited. So I’m like, I’m, carving out time in my weekend to listen
to this full album sort of immediately.
Cliff: Absolutely. Yeah, it sounds like it’s going to be the theme a bit that they’re kind of bringing in other elements of metal. When my sugar is usually a band who specifically doesn’t show any cracks or edges towards anyone other than exactly what
they’ve
done.
Kyle: And then in typical Swedish humor, they call it immutable, unable to change. I li I like, I love them. I just, the more you press in on this band, they become sort of impossible not to love. So nine, nine albums in more excited than
I’ve ever been for any release from them
Cliff: Yup. And they love what they do and they care about it and they. Of time, and energy and love and effort into it. So it’s awesome. So check out, immutable out today on atomic fire. records, I just want to call out the atomic fire is from the.
founder of, of nuclear blast. There’s a really interesting story on all that but we love when new labels, especially new indie labels get spun up and bands can come over and release what they really want and have a focus on great physical products in merchant, all that.
So as we like to remind you go stream this thing, however you want. And then just go send the band of money through way more effective means than streaming it once or twice on a service. Okay. Go to shows, uh, Michelle is going on tour this year, for sure. We’re going to be
there.
Kyle: We will see you at the Atlanta show. If you
Cliff: Yup. Go to shows by Merck or just send them money. Cause that’s always something worth considering. So that’s the new release and we nailed it. because there’s no way really not to nail that. But We got a good curated playlist this week, and honestly, I’m pretty jacked up about it. I mean,
Kyle: So called this one, OBS infinity you, there’s no way to make a good playlist of bands that want to be . Cause that would just be a jet. And if that’s your deal then fine, whatever go. Just Google that there’s a Spotify playlist for that I’m sure. But my sugar isn’t equitable. So instead of recognizing imitators, we made a playlist to celebrate innovators.
So. I would describe this as other bands who also have been rifts in weird ways, all the way back into an aura, Boris of a sort of four, four groove. They’re all like Meshuggah and spirit. I E they’re singular. So you have a life once lost on here. You have the Deftones on here. You have bands that we could never find a way to.
Probably celebrate on tune, dig in a meaningful way, like coalesce or the handshake, murderers bands that go way deep for us, but are like sort of way way in a niche. This play lists rules. This is maybe my favorite one that we’ve made so far. I would have thought for sure, the punk one for soul glow would have been my favorite, but this is like, you can stay in sort of a transi groove with this whole thing.
The longer that
you put it on. So enjoy.
Cliff: oh, I love everything here So much.
So
we also cover every episode, one organization and to check out, uh, we try to make sure that you got somewhere, all that.
time and thought and energy. Cause we want to encourage each other to actually do things about the things that matter to us and happen around because music is great.
But we are the people who are alive and have to actually do things to make life better for other people. Let’s talk this week about community bail funds. And we’re going to talk about.
them for two reasons. And I’m going to call it both of these reasons because they could be organizations that we cover in the future themselves.
They’re their own topic, but there are a couple of kind of concentric circles that are important to pay attention to here because they impact you, whoever you are right now, listening to if you are in America.
specifically, literally impacts you. If you’re around the world, it impacts you indirectly, but it still matters.
Now, first of all right now.
The city and state of New York specific politicians inside of them are making a lot of noise about bail reform. And the reason that,
noise is coming up is because key political figures who, who want something who want to do something need a real. That the current systems aren’t working or the current reforms aren’t working so they can you know, add police drones or something. So these figures want to blame bail reform and other reforms like that for the kind of ever exaggerated.
crime problem. Um, which, you know, w we could probably spend a while talking about that big air quotes, crime problem. But
th
the
Kyle: Producers reminder it is an election year. There’s no depths to what’s. They will, stoop
Cliff: That’s right. Crime is always going up in an election year. but secondly, okay. bills are popping up in American state legislatures right now, that directly.
limit your ability to protest, um, in including one that’s in the state of Georgia right now, that looks like it’s probably going to kind of sail through on party lines.
The government, especially loves to put you in jail.
for protesting. Even though it is definitely the clearest. Transparently open, right? For every human being that exists inside of that system of government. And so we were losing our rights on top of that. And so we see that both of these have in common. is this underlying concept actually, of cash bail.
Having this big outsize impact on people cash. Bail is this kind of situation where lawfully innocent people can be indefinitely, until they can afford to pay the government some specific amount of money. and that’s always pretty arbitrary in the literal meaning of the sense based on wherever
you are, who you are, what the judge is and how they think about things.
And all of those laws are so different. And so opaque. And so there’s a lot to say about how terrible. The whole thing is, and it’s something that we should get rid of.
and we really can, and a lot of people have already figured out
how to do it and reforms are in fact working, but right now,
It’s not reformed in a lot of places right now.
It still does wrap people up in the system. Not
only is the cash bail system ineffective, but it’s, it’s massively inflating the jail population in the U S and this is.
all related again, to kind of this Pretrial detention
idea where you have to pay to get out of jail before you’re actually proven guilty of anything that you’ve done in that that catches people up today.
Today, people are caught up in that cycle today. people are stuck in jail, because they can’t get out because of. Four to pay to get out and they need help today. So while we want to push for the changes that we want, we also have to acknowledge what’s happening now and figure out how to help people now.
So that’s where community bail funds come in. Uh, in one example, we want to give is the Bronx freedom fund because they’ve grown into an organization called the bail project and the project,
is a national nonprofit organization providing free bail assistance and pre-trial support to thousands of low income people every year.
And the bail project, is cool to highlight because they become nationwide They work in cities, across the us and partner with local.
organizations and public defender offices to identify people who are in need of that assistance And to then provide community based services,
and support upon release. If there is a way to do it, that is the way, find a way to get money to the right.
places, closer to the people who need it and into the community systems and services where people actually understand what’s necessary there. And So communities and cities often have their own local bail funds. So for me and Kyle those are the Atlanta solidarity. That’s the Georgia immigrant bond fund paying into these community bond funds means directly supporting the people who are caught up in this unjust system that we’re talking about.
And now it ties all the way,
back to your right to protest, which we brought up earlier because.
the immediate reflex of an intolerant government is it’s support you in jail for making noise. I mean, so quick,
Many of us watched friends and family go to jail for protesting and specifically for protesting police brutality, which was just a layer of infuriating irony.
Uh, that was those really difficult to handle. And so you, as a lawful protester are immediately caught up in the cash bail system and that cash bail system ends up working as a means to suppress your. to speak out because as soon as you’re caught up in and I can promise you, you’re not going to want to go through it again.
So this really matters. It matters to change in the long-term and it matters
to support people now. so you can learn more about the bail [email protected] and consider making a donation to them, or your local community.
bond fund, because your money will make a real difference in somebody’s life.
Like a real literal, actual, meaningful one today.
Kyle: was so hesitant about trying to work in that last section, like trying to tie a quote unquote heavy issue, but now that we’ve done a handful of them, I get more appreciative about your passion and clarity of thought around it each time. and I, I hope. That we can encourage you to pause and just give thanks for the gift of music and pay a little bit forward with the spirit and the energy that music has given you.
So just thanks, man. I’d like, I enjoy this exercise. It’s a quick get in, get out every other week.
And I’m glad for this thing that we’re doing together,
Cliff: Absolutely. And I hope it’s helpful to other people.
and we’re open to feedback about it, but I mean, I’d encourage everyone, especially like the same way that we encourage you to think about bands as someone that you can just give some money to. It doesn’t have to be a ton. don’t have to be wealthy.
You don’t have to do it monthly. If you can spare some money for someone who’s done something for you. Give him the money. And so in this case, like we can highlight a nonprofit. And for me, it’s become a little bit easier to just say, you know what? I just learned about them. I may not be able to give them a thousand dollars every week or something like that, but I’m going to give you what I can today.
Cause I thought about you and I saw what you did, you know, and if more of us do that we can make some real
impacts.
Kyle: Thanks punk rock
for teaching us how to use our energy.
Cliff: Hell yeah. Community all the way, baby. All right. This has been Friday heavy. We’ll see you in a couple of.
Kyle: Peace.
Cliff: Go to tunedig.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter for links to the new release, the playlist and the organization that we talked about today.
Original "Bitches Brew" Art
To celebrate the endless creativity of Bitches Brew—and especially its famous album artwork—TuneDig partnered with two incredible Atlanta-based artists to create one-of-a-kind, handpainted gatefolds.
With the spirit of the original art in mind, each artist brought their own vision to life. These pieces will spark conversation for any jazz fan.
Each piece includes a new vinyl copy of Bitches Brew. 100% of the purchase price goes directly to the artist, so take this opportunity to support the arts in the raddest possible way.
Seriously. There’s literally only one of each. Make it yours. 😎
-
“Bitches Brew” Vinyl with Handpainted Original Gatefold by George F. Baker III
$350.00 Add to cart -
“Bitches Brew” Vinyl with Handpainted Original Gatefold by Sachi Rome (Variant 1 of 2)
$350.00 Add to cart -
“Bitches Brew” Vinyl with Handpainted Original Gatefold by Sachi Rome (Variant 2 of 2)
$350.00 Add to cart
SEASON 6
Season 6—featuring our most eclectic selection of albums yet—concludes July 1, 2022.
TuneDig Episode 50: Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain”
Before uniting one nation under a groove, the lysergic lords of chaos in Funkadelic harnessed wild lightning into an amulet called Maggot Brain, bestowing the bearer with raw, dark power stronger than any force known to man. Between reaching our 50th episode and coping with the “maggots in the mind” of today’s universe, it felt like the right time to free our minds. We hope y’all’s asses will follow.
TuneDig Episode 49: Alice Coltrane’s “Journey in Satchidananda”
The story of Alice Coltrane — an accomplished bebop pianist from Detroit who transcended into something far greater before walking away from public life altogether — is a glimpse into what it means to be truly free. Alice’s masterpiece "Journey in Satchidananda" is a cosmic dance that sparked creation from destruction. And in a time when we’re all desperately searching for a spark of meaning and hope, Journey abides abundantly.
TuneDig Episode 48: Heart’s “Little Queen”
Take a moment to appreciate Ann and Nancy Wilson, who kicked down the doors of rock ‘n’ roll’s boys’ club with their peerless guitar work, soaring soul vocals, and tight songcraft. 1977’s Little Queen — an oft-overlooked gem in the classic rock canon — offers a snapshot of those elements at their most urgent and pure, powered by the Wilsons’ simple motivation (as described by their producer): “It was a war.”
TuneDig Episode 47: Tangerine Dream’s “Phaedra”
When you think of “electronic music,” what comes to mind may not be a genre you deeply love — hip-hop, house, new wave, or even dub reggae — but all of it owes some debt, scientifically or otherwise, to Tangerine Dream. Dig in with us as we study a prime example of the band’s brand of effortful innovation, where they patiently and persistently labored at the cutting edge of electronic technology to open a portal to new worlds in our minds.
TuneDig Episode 46: Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR”
Did you catch one of 2021’s biggest albums, or like us, did you almost overlook it? If you have any expectations of pop music, "SOUR" will likely subvert them. Teenage dream this is not; it’s an exquisitely universal portrait of a weird time to be alive.
TuneDig Episode 45: Fela Kuti’s “Expensive Shit”
The story of Fela Kuti — one of the most famous people on an *entire continent* passionately struggling to liberate power to more people — is absolutely one worth deeply knowing, regardless of whether you find yourself drawn to Afrobeat or (cringe) “world music.” But once you know it, it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with Fela and Afrika 70 as their revolutionary grooves rewire your brain in magical and meaningful ways.
TuneDig Episode 44: Meshuggah’s “ObZen”
Meshuggah’s ObZen—an artifact of human creativity pushing the limits of what’s possible—will quite literally make you hear music differently. If you’re looking for a new musical adventure, and especially if you don’t think you like “heavy” or “weird” music, consider this your sign to push past your comfort zone.
TuneDig Episode 43: mewithoutYou’s “Catch For Us the Foxes”
A misunderstood wise man once said “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds.” In our most personal and vulnerable episode yet, we do some seeking through the lens of songs that fill us with the bravery and sincerity to love ourselves and others fully. Dig deep with us as we fish for words about our tiny place in the universe and dance with gratitude for our ability to do so.
TuneDig Episode 42: Erykah Badu’s “Mama’s Gun”
Y’all tryna raise your vibrations? Erykah Badu is here to help. Season 6 kicks off with a meditation on realness and what being on “your own wavelength” really means. (Spoiler: it ain’t a single frequency — it’s a whole spectrum.)
FRIDAY HEAVY
For lifelong headbangers and the musically curious alike, a new podcast from TuneDig is here to push your palette with aggressive, abrasive art. Each short, fast-paced episode offers (1) a new metal, punk, noise, or experimental release we recommend, (2) a related playlist we’ve curated, and (3) a heavy issue to consider and an organization doing something about it. Join us in the void.
Friday Heavy: End of Year Review 2022
It was a great year in heavy music. In this episode, we look back at all the new releases we featured and the curated playlists they spawned.
It was a NOT great year in many other ways. We leave you with a parting message of encouragement to connect your energy and angst to on-the-ground organizations doing the work in your community.
Friday Heavy: November 11, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- He Is Legend – Endless Hallway
- Curated playlist sussing out the depths of He Is Legend’s roots, weirdness, and attitude
- Protect Our Winters (POW)
Friday Heavy: October 28, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- Witch Fever – “Congregation”
- Curated playlist of eclectic, high energy that might get your inner goth stoked on (briefly) going out
- Housing Justice League
Friday Heavy: October 14, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- The Lord † Petra Haden – “Devotional”
- Friday Heavy playlist densely packed with thick, meditative vibrations across the spectrum of drone
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
Friday Heavy: September 30, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- Escuela Grind – “Memory Theater”
- Friday Heavy playlist dedicated to the absolutely fucking hostile energy that powerviolence can bring to radical inclusion
- Zealous
Friday Heavy: September 16, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- Holy Fawn – Dimensional Bleed
- Friday Heavy playlist showcasing the incalculably extensive and wildly diverse Shoegaze Cinematic Universe (aka post-rock)
- MTB Atlanta
Friday Heavy: September 2, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- The Callous Daoboys – “Celebrity Therapist”
- Friday Heavy playlist confronting the under-appreciation of Atlanta’s heavy and weird music scene
- Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition – Water Fund
Friday Heavy: August 19, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- Osees – “A Foul Form”
- Friday Heavy playlist fuzzed out on oddball punk that smells like cigarettes just thinking about it
- Women on the Rise GA
Friday Heavy: August 5, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- Chat Pile – “God’s Country”
- Friday Heavy playlist with, uh, a bunch of very pissed off songs directed at christofascist terrorism
- The Grocery Spot
Friday Heavy: July 22, 2022
This week, we discuss:
- WAKE – “Thought Form Descent”
- Friday Heavy playlist that anchors its sound in modern production of sludge, blackened death, and post-metal
- The Planetary Society
Friday Heavy: July 8, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Vomit Forth – “Seething Malevolence”
2. Friday Heavy playlist that’s unsettling in the best way, leaving you feeling a little off your axis
3. Trees Atlanta
Friday Heavy: June 24, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. CANDY – “Heaven is Here”
2. Friday Heavy playlist packed with off-the-beaten-path punk and hardcore from bands that deserve space on your battle jacket
3. Round Rock Black Parents Association
Friday Heavy: June 10, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Sasquatch – “Fever Fantasy”
2. Friday Heavy playlist of heavy grooves for late desert nights and hazy generator parties
3. Feed Buffalo
Friday Heavy: May 27, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Decapitated – “Cancer Culture”
2. Friday Heavy playlist stacked with bands putting their unique and modern spin on (occasionally tech) death metal
3. PropelATL
Friday Heavy: May 13, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Primitive Man – “Insurmountable”
2. Friday Heavy playlist full of SLOW, enveloping, massive and crunchy tone and big feedback
3. National Network of Abortion Funds
Friday Heavy: April 29, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Heriot – “Profound Morality”
2. Friday Heavy playlist packed with mid-tempo, huge guitar tone, big atmosphere and lots of industrial grit and grind
3. Invisible People
Friday Heavy: April 15, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Greyhaven – “The Bright And Beautiful World”
2. Friday Heavy playlist for fans of more choatic + melodic combinations
3. Campaign for Working Families
Friday Heavy: April 1, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Meshuggah – “Immutable”
2. Friday Heavy playlist full of high quality Meshuggah aping that AIN’T “djent”
3. The Bail Project
Friday Heavy: March 18, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Soul Glo – “Diaspora Problems”
2. Friday Heavy playlist with 20+ songs in under 40 minutes, (almost) all under 2 minutes each
3. Equality Texas
Friday Heavy: March 4, 2022
This week, we discuss:
1. Vein.fm – “This World Is Going To Ruin You”
2. Friday Heavy playlist exploring more of Will Putney’s work
3. Books to Prisoners
SEASON 5
TuneDig Episode 41: Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”
Let’s be clear: "Bitches Brew" is a challenging record, even to some of the best musicians in the world — but all of them say it’s worth the investment. It’s the kind of trip that, even if we *could* draw a map, it wouldn’t take you there. Let go of the need for meaning and enjoy the ride with us. We can promise you’ll be pleasantly surprised where you end up.
TuneDig Episode 40: Fiona Apple’s “Tidal”
On the heels of one of 2020's most acclaimed albums — Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters — we revisited Apple’s debut Tidal and wound up working to extract ourselves from the mostly male gazes that made its reception … much different. We arrive at a question much like writer Jenn Pelly had: “People would constantly prod Fiona on how an 18-year-old could write songs as mature as these ... Why did they not ask instead how she became a genius?”
TuneDig Episode 39: Death Grips’s “The Money Store”
The modern world is accelerating beyond our control, shaping our reality in ways we can’t yet perceive or understand. Enter Death Grips, an art project capturing the chaotic energy and illustrating the absurdity of our hubris in trying to harmonize the surreal and extremely real — never more perfectly than on 2012’s prescient "The Money Store".
TuneDig Episode 38: Augustus Pablo’s “King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown”
Reggae music is easy to take for granted, but its impact is underappreciated and massive — in the case of dub in particular, everyone from Radiohead to Johnny Rotten to Run-DMC owes it a debt. Augustus Pablo and King Tubby together created what’s regarded as “one of the finest examples of dub ever recorded.” Join us as we dive into the culture, history, and unique engineering experiments that made it possible.
TuneDig Episode 37: Rihanna’s “ANTI”
By every measure — sales, awards, chart-toppers, global name recognition — Rihanna is objectively as big as the Beatles ever were. In fact, ANTI is so big it’s still on the charts, a record five full years later. Take a closer look with us at “the record you make when you don’t need to sell records”, and get a taste of the true freedom that comes from focusing on your inner voice when faced with insurmountable expectations.
TuneDig Episode 36: Son House’s “Father of Folk Blues”
All American music traces back to the blues, and deep at the root sits Son House. That the recordings on "Father of Folk Blues" even exist is something of a gray area that cuts to the heart of the great American myth, but wherever you land after hearing these stories, you’ll find that what matters most is what the great Muddy Waters once said of House: “That man was the king.”
TuneDig Episode 35: Melvins’s “Stoner Witch”
The futility of describing the Melvins has stretched critics in the direction of absurd words like “Dadaist” for nearly 40 years now. They’ve belligerently flogged any attempt to pinpoint their essence simply by being themselves, but "Stoner Witch" remains a reliable mall directory for the Melvins’ vast and wild discography. Grab yourself some pretzel bites.
TuneDig Episode 34: Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”
We should talk about Dolly the way we talk about Prince. Her extraordinary kindness and unique kitsch both make her universally loved, but what gets left out of the conversation is the very thing that made her famous: the music. Join in as we focus attention on the sonics and songwriting of the low-key masterpiece "Jolene".
TuneDig Episode 33: The Allman Brothers Band’s “The Allman Brothers Band”
Six enlightened rogues out of Macon, Georgia birthed an entire genre simply by being their soul-powered selves. We have not come to testify, but we’re still hung up on the dream The Allman Brothers Band helped us see. By the end of this episode, you will be, too.
TUNEDIG RADIO
SEASON 4
SEASON 3
SEASON 2
SEASON 1
BONUS TRACK EPISODES
BONUS TRACK: How We Got Here
We got a bunch of interesting listener feedback in our off-season, and it encouraged us to shed some light on why we do things the way we do ‘em. Also, we reflect on our first writeup, which was ... interesting.
WHO WE ARE
We're Cliff (right) and Kyle (left). We’re two dudes born and raised in ATL with day jobs in tech and sustainability, respectively.
We met in middle school, and in one way or another, music’s been the thing that’s kept us close for the two decades since — whether it’s sharing and talking about new music (like this podcast, except in our texts or over beers), going to shows, or working with our favorite record stores to help them survive and thrive.
We started TuneDig as a little art project that connects us more deeply ourselves and to the world through the infinite gift of music. We hope you’ll join us for the conversations, let us know what you think, and share discoveries of your own.
More About TuneDig
TuneDig began as a little something called MusicGrid.me, which we created after realizing there was no place online to directly exchange music recommendations with your friends. Our aim was simple: to make rating albums simple, useful, and social. We got some love from places like Mashable, Wired, Evolver.fm, and Hypebot. We managed to foster conversation between music lovers, get thousands of reviews, and meet great people.
Along the way, we realized that record stores were an essential part of the music lovers’ community. After many a conversation about how we could helpfully connect them to the people who loved them, we began helping them leverage technology to create new revenue streams and embrace streaming services without giving up what’s unique to them: expertise and curation. (Long live the counter clerk who knows exactly which record will be the right introduction to jazz fusion!)
TuneDig is our vision to connect music lovers with the music they love, because no matter how much has changed in the way we discover and enjoy music, recommendations from people you trust and respect will always be the best way to find new music you’ll dig. With this podcast, we’re channeling the spirit of trusted curation pioneered by record stores, and bringing you something to take you deeper into music you can love.