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.
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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
Time for another Friday Heavy: short episodes with one featured new heavy release, a curated playlist to crush yourself with, and a nonprofit doing critical work for humans.
This week, we're bringing you @Wakegrind and @exploreplanets. 🧵
— TuneDig (@tunedig) July 22, 2022
Transcript
Note: our transcripts are mostly AI-generated for now.
Cliff: welcome to Friday, heavy your guide. Once again, to the world of aggressive and abrasive and music that is loud, feels loud and you feel loud while listening to it, brought to you by the folks behind tuned. I am cliff.
Kyle: And I’m Kyle, are you trying to say we got that loud
Cliff: Oh, yeah,
Kyle: Friday heavy. We got that loud.
Cliff: there was a TikTok where there was a recent, very small fire at the masquerade in Atlanta. Did you see this?
Kyle: I did not.
Cliff: And somebody’s doing a fake news report and they, ask one of the officials, it sounds like there was a fire inside. Can you confirm? And they said, listen, we’re still investigating.
We can’t tell you anything.
TikTok Video: Excuse me, sir. Can you comment on what happened with the fire? It’s still under investigation. We’ll get back with you later at the very least. Was it because someone was smoking Reggie .
Cliff: Thanking to my buddy, Josh, for sending that to me.
Kyle: It’s just a human person off the street. Borrowing Brent Heinz’s Halloween cop costume
that he probably legitimately stole from the trunk of an APD car.
Cliff: absolutely. Plus it’s a funny joke cuz you you’d be hard pressed funny Reggie. Anyway, so go ahead.
Kyle: not in this
city, not since the, not since the very early odds we heard. that little piece of discourse aside that I really do hope we leave in and don’t edit out Friday heavy. For those of you joining us for the first time. Welcome. We always love new friends in the world of heavy music.
If you’re in this pit with us, here’s the premise. Each episode, we cover three things. First, one brand new release in the world of heavy music, which we love and appreciate and have dedicated our lives to at the dark alter one brand new release and why we think it’ll be worth the spin. Secondly, one playlist that we’ve curated to explore. Uh, usually related sometimes not heavy sub genre or artist or scene. And thirdly, and most importantly by far one organization doing critical culture impacting work in their community. Cuz that’s what punk rock is all about. Let’s get into it. Cliff. What new release are we talking about today?
Cliff: Yes. So today we’re gonna talk about wake in their new release thought form dissent.
Kyle: which to me just sounds like the magnet words that you put on your fridge and they just got three together and they’re like, yeah, yeah.
That’s it. That’s the one, but no disrespect, cuz that’s a sick name and the album art work is sick and it all works.
Cliff: Actually love that the abrasive word collection that you could put on your fridge. That’d be great.
Kyle: They’re all in black metal logo font. So they’re very hard to read.
Cliff: No use, this is great. This is a great idea that this is my new retirement plan. So in the words of, uh, botch today’s episode features some of our great friends or friends in the great white north. So we’re gonna talk about a band from Canada because, uh, we are losing the country wars here in America.
So the only thing we have left to do is loosely make fun of Canada when it comes up. So.
Today on metal blade is thought form descent from wake stylized, all capital letters, w a K E they hail But I, I can’t say the band name without feeling like I’m in a trash talk song though.
Kyle: Yeah,
Cliff: Right? So wake hails from Calgary, Alberta and has been cranking out, honestly like a heck of a lot of grind core since 2011, actually. And what’s cool about this band.
Kyle: filling the dead and the dirt shaped hole in your heart
Cliff: We will forever stand that band as hard as
we possibly
Kyle: possib. Yeah. Cause they fucking ruled our IP dead and the dirt.
Cliff: man. So, but Wake’s style sort of shifted in 2020 that year they released a full length in an EP in the same year, the full length was called devouring rain. Uh, and that dropped first and it kind of signaled a new shift in the direction of the more kind of.
Atmospheric blackened sludge. That is a phrase that might not have meant something particular 10 or 15 years ago. And now very much does for heavy music fans, that’s gonna bring a sound to your brain pretty quickly. And then the confluence EP that they released quickly after that had even more of that kind of post metal lean.
You started to feel a little bit more of the like cold of Luna ISIS, San type stuff. Um, and it’s.
So the two singles that they’ve dropped off of thought form descent indicate that that course out from grind towards fuller sounding, progressive death metal and all that stuff is well on its way.
And just to throw out some shape to this band, especially if you’re not as familiar, like you’re about to hear
Singles that an indicate an album. That’s probably gonna touch on anything from like, imagine I’m making like a constellation now, right. Of like GoGets ulcerate artificial brain ISIS buried inside deaf heaven.
Kind of all those big touch points of like bands that started pushing on a weird angle and made it work. So the first thing we wanna hit is infinite inward and we’ll jump about 30 seconds into it. So you can get an idea of the buildup.
Cliff: And the next up is another single that they release called swallow the light. And frankly, you could convince me this was an intra not song. If I couldn’t be looking at the album art or the artist, and that for me is a very positive thing. I mean that very well.
Kyle:
So if you dig that, check out, thought form descent again, out today on metal blade, go listen to it. However you want, and then send this band, your money through shows through merch or through a direct donation. I. Was not hip to this band at all. Prior to you throwing them in the DMS. And I can’t, I personally can’t wait to go see this band live.
I, I would put ’em in the conjure slot where it was a band I had not heard of. You sent me the record and it was like, oh shit, this is the thing that I want to see how they pull it off live. So kudos to you. Wake, rip a new record. We’re we’re very excited to see where it goes from.
Cliff: And speaking of real quick, I know we covered candy in a recent episode and they’re playing tonight at 5 29 in Atlanta. And that is another band that I think we both pretty quickly went. Let’s see this life. Let’s see them do this life. Cuz I wanna
see
that chaos in person.
Kyle: I was so looking forward to that show and still have a faint line COVID positive after two years of outrun it. So I hope they rip, but they’re coming back with vain in a couple of months. So we’re very excited to check candy out.
Cliff: Thank you, Kyle, for being a decent human being and not taking your positive. COVID bullshit to a show in an enclosed space with a bunch of unasked people.
Kyle: Does require a thanks. Just fuck anybody who would even consider doing that. That is insane. I hope you get kicked out of every Applebee’s forever.
Cliff: Oh, the analogy of getting kicked outta Applebee’s will never not make me laugh when I’m looking at your face when I hear it. Okay. So I tipped you off to this band. It sounds like. What direction did you take with the
playlist this time around.
Kyle: I’ll be honest. This is the farthest outside of my heavy comfort zone that we’ve gone so far, nor like for the first 10 episodes. We’ve stayed pretty directly in the middle of the VIN diagram. So it, it wasn’t something that like grabbed right at me right away.
Infinite N word, at least swallow the light. I was like, okay, this is tight. I’m into this. I think it was mostly cuz it was very hard to pin down genre wise for me. What are they going for? And it’s for all the reasons that you said in the intro, which is a, it’s a great thing. And it’s very exciting.
So after a few listens, what jumped out to me was the Christmas of the sound. so really all I did was use, wow, this sounds good as a filter which as we know is sometimes more of an exception than a rule in heavy music. It’s very hard to pro to record and produce and mix and master heavy music. Very well.
There’s a lot of ways that it could go wrong. But using, wow, this sounds good. As a filter, I pulled some sighted inspiration, some bands from. The list that you mentioned earlier some touchpoints that you and I both think they evoke beyond that, a little post to this, a little black, that and voila.
Noel is in there. I think Noel is a band that we’re also very excited about. If for no other reason, then they have the sickest merch right now. I’ve not put an arch Byre song in anything, also an Nu Nero or what it. Dragon’s breath. Something’s breath, snakes, breath. I an all Nero Irish for snakes breath.
That was a fun one to look up. And then a, a handful of just for cliff winks the city and the sea from Olian by ocean, a shared heavy music record that we both loved for a long time. Some, a little, little bit of old ISIS little, three inches of blood, some black Dahlia murder. R I P Trevor.
And then. Some newer BT band, which I think is still the high water mark for production quality in terms of recorded heavy music. So a little bit all over the place, but all of it sounds really crisp. And I think this is one of the best opportunities to like, not think about genre or energy so much as focusing on.
Wow, this sounds really good. I want to explore this artist on. Some more like technical dynamic merits. I also wanna point out that we’re 11 playlist in, and we’ve almost entirely avoided repeating artists certainly albums or songs. And we’re really trying to avoid combinations that feel algorithmic or like repeating a lot of the same little niches over and over.
We really wanna serve you up different stuff every time we’re always going for that magic that comes from, well, I wouldn’t have necessarily put these artists together. These sub genres together. So I can’t quite describe why it works as well as it does, but it really does. That’s, sort of the like motivation behind these playlists each episode,
Cliff: I love it. And you know, a couple of. Little Canadian connections as well. Like I know Kenya, Canada’s a massive area, right. So it’s not surprising. We get a lot of good music from it, but there are some really unique metal acts that come outta there,
but to, yeah. So to be able to touch on not only wake like we have today but then, three inches of blood is from Canada, arch spires from Canada.
I mean, those are, you would probably put those on really different ends of a, of a metal spectrum. But they, you know, three inches of blood, especially they’ve been around forever just
committing to bits. Like so many of these bands commit to whatever their bit is so hard and then allow it to evolve.
Uh, and, and that’s a lot of what we’re seeing here awake. So that’s why that’s, I think you nailed this playlist relative to that. It really gives us sensation of like an arc of letting things
develop. And then
Kyle: Very, very evolutionary acts, all very, very original bands. Like no two of these bands, I think have an analog anywhere else. Whereas some of these in previous playlists, a lot of the stuff you’re like, yep.
Put five of these on a bill and it all makes a ton of sense. All these bands are super, super different to me,
Cliff: Plus it’s nice to see the black Dahlia murder in the playlist. R I P Trevor.
There’s. Yeah I tried really hard to come up with a way to like, oh, there’s a person worth having a dedication to, and saying some words about it’s not our place. Other people have said much better words. But listen and shred some black value of murder as much as you can appreciate what that band has done and what Trevor has done specifically and, and what he did while he was kind of blessing us on this planet with his very passionate look into.
Especially death metal. No one cared more about that whole scene than he did. Uh, he was a true efficient auto of the whole thing. So
Kyle: well said.
Cliff: as well. Yep.
Kyle: Well said, speaking of planets, this one and others let’s get into this cause.
Cliff: This one’s fun. as the world competes to present each day’s edition of, uh, the worst news possible, we had a bright spot in the last couple of weeks that reconnects us to our sense of wonder and humanity. There is no sarcastic, but coming we really mean that. And
Kyle: and no, don’t hold your breath. Just feel good for a minute. Just allow yourself to feel
Cliff: Yes
Kyle: one, minute. Yeah.
Cliff: So we saw our first images from the James web space telescope, and hopefully they are once again, reminding you how, like cosmically, infinitesimal, you all are. I mean, we’re not even looking at countless galaxies and stars and planets. Like we’re looking at little dots that existed 13 billion years ago.
In a lot of modern space exploration rate has been driven by, especially over the decades. By really passionate and highly intelligent and dedicated people who really care about the raw potential potential that space represents. Right? It’s not just like the, oh, when we pay billions of dollars to send people to the moon, we, it wind up with space pens and Tempur-Pedic mattresses.
Like it goes to like way further than that. And so even though we were really driven as a country, uh, in the us early on towards space exploration and what that produced for. Investment in NASA did not really thoughtfully keep up with that. And so in 1980, Carl Sagan Lewis, Friedman and Bruce Murray founded the planetary society which is a us based nonprofit.
They saw that there was like a lot of public interest in space, but that interest wasn’t reflected by government investment. Uh, and they kept seeing NASA’s budget being cut over and over. And so, you know, just a little tidbit, cuz this really isn’t about him, but it’s, it’s fun to place it. The current CEO of the planetary society, nonprofit is bill
NY, right?
Kyle: hell yeah.
Cliff: the, literal science guy, um, and. So the planetary society as an organization, not only this is another one of those orgs that does a really good job of doing both the advocacy and the sort of building up of the community around the idea, like actually doing work, but then also, you know, putting themselves to work to advocate.
And so they definitely educate folks and they’re advocating for the public through policy, but they also do their own programs that they. One program in particular was called light sale. They crowdfunded a project designed to successfully prove that sunlight alone can power a small spacecraft. And they did it, they did it.
It’s awesome. And actually they had to try it multiple times because the rockets that they kept attaching it to kept. Failing and it wasn’t their fault it was someone else’s. But like all of that’s critical or like the, the lifestyle project is an example of something that’s critical work because it sort of actively undermines the urge of the growing commercial space industry to turn everything into a profit center.
It’s it’s the same story over and over again. The light sail project. Helps bring down the cost of space exploration for future teams. By for instance, here, proving that you can power a spacecraft through solar power instead of, combustion and everything else that’s being used currently.
So I felt like that was such a good example of I hate the word disruption, cuz it normally means something so stupid, but this is a really good example of like we advocate for good policy. We want people to care about space, but also if we need to, we’ll do a project to prove to you that we can move this stuff
along
further.
than private contractors can.
Kyle: Yeah. But you nailed it on the head.
I think the reason that we love the planetary society and, and things like it. Is because it represents an ongoing opportunity to let something in this case, space exploration, improve the lives of every human being equitably and to do it in a really meaningful and focused way, allowing it to turn into another like free market is not a foregone conclusion.
We don’t have to let capitalism run wild with this thing. Like we have with almost everything else, space represents something even more significant to the oppressed. And, you know, this is something that I’ve been very like turned onto for a long time because of my musical influences and really from no other source other than music and artist.
If that is not something that you are also hip to, I would encourage you to go down the rabbit hole, reading about Afro futur. There’s a lot of incredible writing that we’d be happy to point you to. You can go back to our outcast or Janelle Monet or childish Gambino or Funkadelic episodes of tune, dig to get hip on that stuff.
One artist that we love and we haven’t covered on tuned. Dig is sun raw, who sort of the master of spaces, the place and the possibilities of equitable beyond. It’s really all about how the infinity of the unknown universe reaches back into historical mythology and cosm. And helps us envision a better world for all people.
So if you’re psyched on all that, to learn more about the planetary society and to support their mission, visit planetary.org, you can donate to specific programs like light sale, which is rad, or you can just become a monthly member, which is also rad. Ultimately though, just let those James Webb images rock your insides in a year like 20, 22, when your insides may be crumbling a little bit, just remind yourself that you’re at once infinitely small and you don’t matter, but that’s the best possible thing because you’re also a cosmic part of one of the grandest scenes that we’ve ever witnessed everything together collectively matters.
And that’s the best thing.
Cliff: I love it. We don’t matter, but we’re made of all the stuff that does.
Kyle: Hell. Yeah.
Cliff: Well, I love it so much. Oh, I’m glad we got to talk about space. Uh, and the, the difference that all of that stuff makes it was really inspiring for me personally, to see those images I’m really impacted by ’em. But I’ll also leave you with, Kyle I ruined your day with this, but you know, if you wanna see somebody really integrate these images into a visual performance, you’ll have to check out the latest Coldplay , which was a, a true both moment of excitement and let down because they ki they nailed everything about integrating these images into a giant stage show.
That looked really cool. But it only really worked if your phone was on.
Kyle: It’s Coldplay like a Tesla. I mean, it’s, it’s beautiful, beautiful production on the outside and just kind of a horrible core product on the inside. God bless it. I mean, Coldplay’s doing their thing. I can’t fault ’em they have an amazing live show and people love their songs. It’s just not for us.
You could also think of on a much on a, not James web quality scale, how sleep opens their shows by playing actual NASA recordings in the 20 minutes, leading up to their deafening sets.
Cliff: Oh, yeah.
Kyle: Now cold play and sleep are linked in your minds and you’ll probably never forgive us, but hopefully that won’t be too much to bring you back to the next Friday, heavy coming your way two weeks.
Cliff: This has been Friday happy. We’ll see you then.
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.