Two bored men play their favourite game: analysing music. Each episode, they choose an established artist and rank their albums in order of greatness, sometimes with the help or hindrance of some special guests and friends. It's a real rankfest.
Chris and Nikki rank and discuss the albums of the alternative-pop-musical-frankenstein-but-with-mad-guitar-skills-Grammy-winner.Part 1 covers Marry Me, Actor, Strange Mercy and St Vincent.
Chris & Nikki return to the Rock Sound magazine CDs for this latest edition of our bonus format, where they take it in turns to eliminate songs from the tracklist until only the best remains!This will be added to the greatest compilation playlist of all time: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=60c6292ddd7d4ce5We also start with a timely rant about Brockwell Live being deemed illegal by the High Court thanks to a group of local joy-sappers.
Chris and Nikki discuss their thoughts on the new Lady Gaga album, MAYHEM, and decide where it sits among her existing discography ranking!
Chris and Nikki return to their exploration of the Deftones discography with the last 5 albums. This includes two rather spicy disagreements in ranking!This part covers Saturday Night Wrist, Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan, Gore and Ohms.
HOW HAS IT TAKEN 57 EPISODES?!Inspired by the upcoming London summer show and news of new music on the horizon, Chris and Nikki finally rank the albums of Sacramento, California Nu-Metal pioneers and evolvers and general heavy music gods... Deftones!In Part 1 the influence and personal importance of the band gets discussed as the album ranking and discussion of the Terry Date era of albums: Adrenaline, Around The Fur, White Pony and Deftones.
Nikki and Chris take it in turns to delete a song from the soundtrack compilation of 00s rockomedy (yes that is a thing, because we said so) movie, School of Rock.The remaining two tracks will be added to the greatest compilation/playlist of all time: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=3f3f4c7aebf3482e
Chris and Nikki discuss the new album from Scottish don't-call-them-post-rockers Mogwai, 'The Bad Fire'.Listen to the end to hear where it lands in the existing album rankings.
Chris and Nikki return with guest and friend, Tom, to discuss the final three Supergrass albums: Life on Other Planets, Road To Rouen and Diamond Hoo Ha.
Chris and Nikki are joined by good friend, Tom, to rank and discuss the albums of Oxford's britpop outliers Supergrass!In part one, expect chat about sideburns on a thirteen year old, thrust and 80s trade union icons as we discuss 'I Should Coco', 'In It For The Money' and 'Supergrass' (the x-ray album).
Just to shuffle things up a bit... Chris and Nikki jump from the 1980s to the 2010s to wittle down 2013's pop compilation, Now That's What I Call Music 84 until only the best three tracks remain!The ultimate compilation playlist so far can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=3d6a81a697d645b0
Chris and Nikki conclude their chat about Elliott Smith's discography with major label debut 'XO', progressive pop-rocker 'Figure 8' and posthumous release 'From A Basement On The Hill' After that, stick around for 'I Used To Be With It, Then They Changed What It Was', where we rank our top 5 artists that more famous artists were once a part of... plus about a million honorable mentions (sorryyyy).
Don't kick away the January blues, indulge them with a celebration of Elliott Smith's melancholy magic! In part 1, Chris and Nikki rank the 6 albums of the Portland Singer-Songwriter and get into the first three: Roman Candle, Elliott Smith and Either/Or.
In the absolute nick of time yet again, Chris and Nikki run through their favourite albums of 2024! They discuss some general trends, honourable mentions and then discuss each of their top 10 albums of the year... and what a wonderful year in music it has been!
Seasocompelimination's Greetings! Or some such. Chris and Nikki take a Christmas compilation album and take it in turns to delete songs from the tracklist until only the best remain! This time we're turning to Xfm/Jeepster records' indie rock christmas compilation from 2000, 'It's a Cool, Cool Christmas', originally released in aid of The Big Issue, subsequently reissued in aid of War Child in 2021 and discovered by us at Resident Records in Brighton in 2024... Remember, all of the winning songs across all Compelimination episodes are being put together to form the ultimate compilation playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=0a780297742b46c1
Welcome back to Compelimination, where Chris and Nikki take a compilation album and take it in turns to delete songs from the tracklist until only the best remain! This time we're turning to the world of video games with combined soundtracks of the first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games (from 1999 and 2000), often credited with playing a significant part in introducing a new generation to the joys of punk, hardcore, ska and more! Remember, all of the winning songs across all Compelimination episodes are being put together to form the ultimate compilation playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=0a780297742b46c1
Chris and Nikki return to their discussion of Garbage's discography, covering the three most recent self-released albums: 'Not Your Kind of People', 'Strange Little Birds' and 'No Gods No Masters' with a positivity and enthusiasm that wasn't entirely expected! Stick around for the special feature, Trash of the Titans, in which Chris and Nikki choose their top 5 examples of awful songs by artists they otherwise consider to be wonderful.
Nikki and Chris take on the discography of transatlantic electro-grunge-pop legends, Garbage! Part 1 sees them discuss their overall thoughts on the band, rank the seven studio albums and discuss the first four albums (Garbage, Version 2.0, beautifulgarbage and Bleed Like Me) in more detail.
You know the drill... Chris and Nikki take a compilation album and take it in turns to delete songs from the tracklist until only the best remain! This time we're back to the 'Now' series for the third installment featuring some big hitters (and some big stinkers) from 1984. Remember, all of the winning songs across all Compelimination episodes are being put together to form the ultimate compilation playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=0a780297742b46c1
*SORRY!* Due to human error, this part was recorded in much poorer quality than usual... In part 2 Nikki and Chris discuss the final three albums of the Oasis discography: Heathen Chemistry, Don't Believe The Truth and Dig Out Your Soul. Stick around for the special feature, They're Just A Little Wrinkly; They're Still Good, They're Still Good, where Chris and Nikki reveal their top 5 acts that they would prefer to spend £400 to see reform than Oasis.
Chris and Nikki are back to jump on the hype train just as it leaves the platform and rank the 7 albums of the feuding Manchester Britpop comeback heroes (of ticketmaster's pockets), Oasis! In part 1, the conversation starts with a general musing on the significance of the band and their unexpected reunion as well as Chris and Nikki's personal history with the band's music. The discography is ranked and the first four albums (Definitely Maybe, (What's The Story) Morning Glory, Be Here Now and Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants) are discussed in more detail.
Join Nikki and Chris as they explore this 90s time capsule of a compilation! Featuring tracks all recorded on the same day by some of the biggest names in UK 90s music, this is a treat. Tracks are eliminated until the two very best remain, which get added to our ultimate compilation playlist (don't click until you've listened if you don't want spoilers!): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=f5271b4e98b04688
Nikki and Chris continue their discussion of the Gorillaz discography with probably their biggest ranking disagreement so far in 2017's Humanz, followed by The Now Now, Song Machine and 2023's Cracker Island. The special feature for this episode is "I have to go now. My label needs me" to choose the best 5 featured artist performances of all time!
Chris and Nikki are back to rank the 8 albums of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's surprisingly long running art/music project, greatest (only?) animated band in the world: Gorillaz. In part 1, the albums get ranked and the first 4 get discussed in more detail (Gorillaz, Demon Days, Plastic Beach and The Fall). There are some spicy ranking differences here!
Welcome back to Compelimination, where Chris & Nikki take a music compilation and take it in turns to eliminate tracks one by one until only the best remains. These get added to a playlist that will eventually create the greatest compilation of all time! This time, we continue our exploration of the Rock Sound magazine free CDs with 1999's Music With Attitude, Vol.2! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Chris and Nikki conclude their chat through the discography of Glasgow's Post-rock giants, Mogwai. In Part 2, they cover Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, Rave Tapes, Every Country's Sun and As The Love Continues. Stick around for this episode's special feature, "Oops, I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet", where Chris and Nikki rank their top 5 bands named after film references! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Just like the subject of this episode... it's been a long quiet build up resulting in a big ol' satisfying ending, as Chris and Nikki finally get around to ranking and discussing the ten albums of Glaswegian post-rock titans, Mogwai! Part 1 includes a brief chat about the band and their legacy, the abum rankings and evaluations of Mogwai Young Team, Come On Die Young, Rock Action, Happy Songs for Happy People, Mr Beast and The Hawk is Howling. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
A bonus episode in tribute to the great Steve Albini. Chris and Nikki discuss Steve's impact on their music tastes and outlooks and rank their favourite albums that he had a part in making (but if we're really honest, the ranking element of this episode is more of an excuse to talk about all of his incredible work). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Welcome back to another edition of Compelimination! Chris and Nikki return to 1984 for the second compilation in the NTWICM series to eliminate bangers and flops, one by one, until only the best three remain! Those three songs will be added to our ultimate compilation playlist along with other winning songs from Compelimination episodes: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=9bd3bae96e424ec6 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Welcome back to another edition of Compelimination! This time, Nikki chose the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet for Chris and herself to eliminate tracks from, one by one, until only the best two remain! Those two songs will be added to our ultimate compilation playlist along with other winning songs from Compelimination episodes: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1wv4z1EZzDpD3VqYqhZH07?si=9bd3bae96e424ec6 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Oooo-aaaaaaaaaaah I wanna rank with you everywhere! Chris and Nikki continue their discussion of Fleetwood Mac's discography from the majestic Tango in the Night, to the disappointment of Behind the Mask, swiftly swimming over the murky depths of Time and ending with the pleasantly surprising Say You Will! Stick around for 'A Beatles Wig and a Ukelele', where they will each choose their top 5 songs from transatlantic bands. Let us know if we missed any! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
OH BOY. Ridiculously, this is the 50th full episode of the Black Band T-Shirt podcast... so we had to do something big! Join Chris and Nikki as they rank and discuss the 8 albums of what we're calling the Buckingham and Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac, from 1975's self titled album through all the highs and lows to 2003's Say You Will. Part one is a slightly epic affair due to a Fleetwood Mac obsessive being given the chance to talk about two of the greatest albums ever made... sorry about that! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Welcom back to Compelimination, where Chris & Nikki take a music compilation and take it in turns to eliminate tracks one by one until only the best remains. These get added to a playlist that will eventually create the greatest compilation of all time! This time, we start our exploration of the Rock Sound magazine free CDs with 1999's Music With Attitude, Vol.1! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Chris is joined again by Arkady following their conversation last year, ranking the albums of pop-punk megastars Blink 182, to discuss the new album: One More Time... As usual, best and worst songs and we try to place the album in our existing rankings. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Nikki and Chris conclude their discussion of Girls Aloud's albums with guest Lucy, covering Tangled Up and final album, Out Of Control. Stick around to play along with the bonus quiz feature, 'So I Tuned In To Pop Idol, Which Was The Style At The Time'. The playlist of our top song choices is here, should you wish to listen along: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Ebp0Mhz5nfaIfC532SAyq?si=0a9dda1ed496445b --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Lucy returns to Black Band T-Shirt with a slight shift from her previous topic of choice (Metallica), as she joins Chris and Nikki to discuss the career and rank the five albums of TV talent show success story and acclaimed pop group, Girls Aloud! In part 1 you can enjoy a god ol' chinwag about the origins of the group, general thoughts and deeper discussion of the first three albums: Sound of the Underground, What Will The Neighbours Say? and Chemistry. The playlist of our top song choices is here, should you wish to listen along: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Ebp0Mhz5nfaIfC532SAyq?si=0a9dda1ed496445b --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Welcome to the new bonus format from Black Band T-Shirt Podcast! Each time, Chris & Nikki take a music compilation and take it in turns to eliminate tracks one by one until only the best three remain. These get added to a playlist that will eventually create the greatest compilation of all time! Where better place to start than the first ever That's What I Call Music compilation from 1983. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Nikki and Chris continue their stumble through The Pogues' discography, from the commercially successful 'If I Should Fall From Grace with God', through the less successful 'Peace and Love' and 'Hell's Ditch' and Shane's departure from the band. We might not have loved it all, but there's plenty to talk about! Stick around for this episode's feature, 'You Might Remember Me From Songs Such As...' (AKA: top 5 songs produced by famous musicans). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
In the first episode of 2024, Nikki and Chris rank the five Shane MacGowan era albums from The Pogues! We've been keen to do this one for a while and figured that, with Shane's passing late last year, it would be a good time to take it on. Don't forget to listen along to our top picks with the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WEsEBhWrATH1pCOOYkgW1?si=f883795aab2e482d --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Nikki and Chris have left it right up to the last minute to discuss their favourite albums of 2023! They go through some (many) honourable mentions and then (because we are a ranking podcast, after all) give the rundown of each of their top ten albums of the year! To guide you through, here's a playlist with a song from every album mentioned: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3qQ0NU7FaKES6uH57jWQiT?si=1010aa225c164fdd Hopefully there's still something left in here for you to discover! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Well slap my baubles and call me Jolly Saint Nick! It's time for a bit of harmless bonus festive ranking, as Nikki and Chris get into some of their favourite Christmas films and the musical delights to be found within! If it's a song and appears in a film loosely linked to Christmas, it counts! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Just the one slightly longer part for this episode, as Chris and Nikki take on the 5 albums of weird, post-punk pioneers, Magazine! Stick around to the end for the special feature: "Marge, I've Never Read a Magazine in My Life and I'm Not Gonna Start Now!" CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussion of lyrics involving sexual assault and suicide. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Nikki got to choose the subject of her birthday episode, so she chose for Chris and herself to rank Jeff Buckley's Top 5 Songs! What a treat! They discuss highlights from the many posthumous releases before revealing their Top 5 songs, ending with a chat about/general gushing over the legendary album, Grace. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
After delving into and ranking Animal Collective's discography back in July, Nikki and Chris are already returning to the experimental indie poppers to discuss their new album, 'Isn't It Now?' Keep listening to the end to find out where they'd rank it amongst the existing albums. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Nikki and Chris continue their discussion of Turnover's discography with the most recent two albums: Altogether and Myself in The Way. Stick around for this episode's bonus feature, "Lyric? What's a lyric?", where both give their top 5 songs that mention baked goods in the lyrics (but where said baked good is not in the song title)! Catchy, eh?! The playlist with favourite Turnover songs and 'Lyric? What's a lyric?' choices is here, should you wish to listen along: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27JFP4SHZv666QWxW5I0z4?si=7de5471b12e244fe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
With the most contemporary subject for a little while, Chris and Nikki rank the five albums of Virginia shapeshifters, Turnover. Part one sees a general chat about the band and where they fit in the musical landscape as well as discussion of their first three albums: Magnolia, Peripheral Vision and Good Nature. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
We go all the way back to Episode 15 to discuss PJ Harvey's 10th album, July 2023's ethereal, wondrous 'I Inside The Old Year Dying'. Chris decides where this fits within his existing ranking and, due to not being present for the original episode despite being a Polly fan, Nikki gives her full PJ Harvey album ranking as of this week! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Chris and Nikki are back with Paul Chave for the third and final part of their journey through the discography of The Smashing Pumpkins. In this part, the albums from the pulpy pumpkin mash that is the latter era of the band's career are discussed with... varying enthusiasm. Stick around at the end for this episode's special feature, 'Famous Musician, Smiling Politely', inspired by Billy Corgan's wonderful Disneyland photo. Check out our X (Twitter) posts @BBTS_pod to see the photos we discuss while you listen along! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Welcome back, as Chris, Nikki and special guest ranker Paul continue discussing the ups and downs of The Smashing Pumpkins discography! Part 2 starts with a chat about why Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness is Chris and Paul's favourite Pumpkins album and Nikki's number two, followed by thoughts on Adore and Machina/The Machines of God. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
At long last, we bring you our ranking and deep dive into the discography of The Smashing Pumpkins! Joining Chris and Nikki on this murky odyssey is returning guest and front man of Lincoln's Bat Flattery, Paul Chave! In part one, you can hear everyone's rankings, a long ol' chat about our thoughts on The Smashing Pumpkins in general (because, oh boy, is there a lot to discuss) and chat about the first two albums, Gish and Siamese Dream. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Chris and Nikki are back from a brief summer break to discuss their personal Top 5 Songs from the discography of Macclesfield/Salford/Manchester's post-punk pioneers, Joy Division. The two albums get discussed in detail along with the compilations, Substance and Still, before they settle on the top 5. As always, a playlist of the top picks can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EAwuigKS5tfrtoG9RC6qf?si=902af143c65c4922 Find us on Twitter/X/Musk's forsaken playground: @BBTS_pod or Instagram/Threads: @grimheartpromo --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
Lucy returns to chat about Metallica's long awaited new album with Chris and Nikki and decides where it would fit amongst the rest of their discography, --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackbandtshirt/message
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