Ok, I was listening to these podcasts all day at work, and took some notes.
Khand - I thought I had heard this episode because I remember hearing about how he uses tracker software for producing his music and I thought that was really cool, but apparently I had heard that elsewhere because this episode was entirely new to me, and turned out to be one of my favorites. I actually found out about tracker music just this past year from some retro gaming podcast (tried to find which episode, no luck), and that really intrigued me, but sounded like a ton of work to get the hang of. So to hear that somebody utilizes that approach for DS is great, and I love that he really goes on about it for a while. The whole podcast could be about that as far as I'm concerned. Interestingly as he was talking about this stuff I started thinking "I wonder if that's what's going on with that Valor - La Lune Noire album," which I love partially because of that awesome crusty sample sound with clearly noticeable breaks in the loops. And then bizarrely mere moments later Mr. Khand says Valor used trackers! That's a weird synchronicity. I might've heard some of this episode after drinking or smoking a bit. In any case now I really want to start tinkering with tracker stuff. Listening to the new Khand album now though, and I'm not sure I'd draw a connection with the sound of something like Valor; there are some lofi sounds, but it still sounds really polished, definitely no noticeably broken loops. I'm really enjoying the album so far though.
A question I was wondering about while listening is whether he sources his own samples or just finds ones that others have made or a mix of both? He talked about Crypt Hop for a bit, which I think is an interesting topic, would like to hear from a guest that's really tuned into that at some point. Anyways, dude is a wealth of knowledge, was into this kind of music from the nineties and has clearly been thinking about it ever since. He has a lot to say and it's all on topic and all very interesting. And he is one of the main guys behind the
Dungeon Codex, what a legend!
Sombre Arcane - I definitely listened to this one before, but it was still a fun relisten. These guys seem very outgoing and sociable, which honestly makes me immediately skeptical of them when it comes to this type of music. Like how can you be a DS social-butterfly party-animal? That was my reaction the first time I heard this episode, but I've seen and heard enough from these guys since then to not only think they're legit, but super important to the development of the genre. I mean I got to the Visions of Ulnahar podcast later in the day and he was bemoaning the fact that there were no festivals like that in Europe, and I think that might be purely because no characters like these guys have cropped up.
Shane said at one point that "the best music of any genre is not genre music," which I understand and I think is important for people to consider, but on the other hand I want to push back a bit on. He gave black metal as an example, I can't remember whether he mentioned any band, but like the "second wave" was called that for a reason, they were playing in a tradition, while simultaneously sort of inventing a new genre, as was Mortiis. So I don't think one should explicitly avoid any association with or influence by a genre, but also one should probably not limit their expression to fit within a mold. But then again, I think limiting one's expression can often be inspiring in its own way.
I'm super jealous of their decade+ long D&D game, since I've never even finished a campaign even though I've been playing (mostly dming) off and on for even longer than that. My group usually only ever plays five or so sessions and then it fizzles out only to start a new campaign a year later.
Also at one point, I think it was Shane who said "I met all these great people and that's the only reason I make music..." but then backpedaled a bit to say that making music was also just a compulsion, but wow that is a bold statement and goes completely against the conception I've always had of it as being the ultimate loner music. But y'know what, I'm cool with that and glad to have these folks around because who else is going to organize stuff like the Sieges that actually bring all the rest of the isolated weirdos together? I definitely want to go to one at some point, but I'm poor, far away, and unaccustomed to travel.
Also one of them made a statement towards the end saying this podcast will be really important for people looking back on how this genre evolved, and I think that's definitely true.
Chaucerian Myth - Heard this one before but definitely enjoyed relistening to it. I will never not think "water trumpet" (RIP) when somebody asks what instruments to use on Facebook. Hearing how it scares his dog and annoys his girlfriend is hilarious.
The entire time of listening when first hearing the episode and for about half of this listen I was trying to figure out who his voice reminded me of. But I figured it out: Edward Snowden. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison or anything, but there's something about the cadence or accent or whatever that really correlates in my mind.
The music theory stuff was very interesting. The point that so many bands start out great but seem to run out of ideas, and often not knowing music theory, is a good argument for it. That said, I disagree that "all it can do is help." I think there's a sense of discovery when you're learning as you go, I mean one is still sort of learning music theory by just making albums even if they're not learning the terminology and systems and whatnot, but if you start out with that knowledge I think there's some amount of that sense of discovery that will be lost from the creative process from then on. That said, at this point in time I think encouraging learning theory is better than discouraging it. I think the best of both worlds is that people actually produce music while they're intentionally learning theory rather than trying to learn everything before they start producing.
Getting into Burzum and black metal in general at eleven is insane. Jacob, I'm glad you followed up on that. Don't got anything really to comment, just wow.
Crazy that it was even this recent that people were saying how little drama there was in the DS scene compared to others. Has it really changed that much in just the past year?
And lastly, gotta give at least a bit of criticism after all this praise, the sitcom discussion was boring and aggressively untrve!
Visions of Ulnahar - Relistening to this one. I really like that this guy is about mysticism and extraterrestrials and stuff, would've liked to hear more about that. I was getting into ancient alien stuff a few months ago. I don't buy into any of it, but it sure is fun.
Talked about interacting with Lord Lovidicus via the now seemingly dead youtube direct-message thing. I think that's how I communicated with him too back then, but totally forgot about that youtube direct message thing.
Lots of merch talk.
I noticed Jacob has asked a handful of folks if they have any sort of ritual while recording, and I think so far this is one of the most interesting and thorough. This guy cares for the sort of psychological soil from which the ideas spring.
Respect the H.P. Lovecraft knowledge.
I found it really funny how you, Jacob, were like "ok, I'm all tapped out of questions," and he's like "Nuh-uh the last guy got 30 more minutes!" Even funnier considering the Malfet episode where he's like "Thanks for the interview, gotta go eat dinner," and you're like "Ok, sure, but one more question," and then it went for a whole hour more. I love it.
Final thought: Relistening to some of these episodes really does make me think this podcast something special. Is there a podcast like this for black metal, where guests are just free to explain at length what they're all about? I've looked and couldn't find one.