Happy New Year! Nick kicks things off with Three For Thursday: 2024 Albums of the Year Edition. We’ve heard songs from these albums over the past year, but Nick believes they’re the cream of the crop in 2024.

Songs:

Ghost Note - “Where’s Danny?”

Vampire Weekend - “Mary Boone”

Plantoid - “Insomniac (Don’t Worry)”

Greg brings us up to speed on a documentary he’s recommending we all watch over the holiday break. Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary can be found on Max and recounts the rise in popularity of the, later dubbed, yacht rock genre that emerged from the west coast in the late 70s.

Song: Doobie Brothers - “What a Fool Believes”

Jay wraps the week (and the year) with a fantastic article in the Jan 2025 Harpers Magazine titled “The Ghosts in the Machine” [Harpers Magazine]. The article reports Spotify’s internal program aimed at filling ‘background music’ playlists with licensed sound-alike content that costs much less that the royalties paid to streaming artists. It re-raises a familiar question on the show, can the economics of the music industry ever result in a system that benefits and is fair to its artists.

Song: Frank Zappa - “Andy” (checkout Tyler Bartrem’s video about this song if you’re interested -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Jq0DX0bfc )

Jay is out this week rehearsing with the Ken Demith Collection so friend of the show Keith Grasso is sitting in, and he’s bringing a substantial amount of, much needed, holiday cheer. Last year Keith decided to record his own rendition of “Blue Christmas” and he enjoyed the process so much that he’s done it again this year.

Songs:

Keith Grasso - “Christmastime is Here”

Keith Grasso & John Rossman - “Hard Candy Christmas”

In lieu of actual presents, Nick found some feel good news story to share via “News with Nick.” Notre Dame’s organist returns for the grand opening, Pearl Jam announces a tour, as does the Middle Aged Dad Jam Band.

Song: Barenaked Ladies - “Deck the Stills”

Greg wraps up our show this week with a Three for Thursday. New music from Opeth & Kelsey Shell, and a classic Christmas Carol by Bill Evans.

Songs:

Opeth - “§3”

Kelsey Shell (album - sleepwalker) - “When You’re Lying There”

Bill Evans - “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays everyone, thanks so much for listening!

Greg brings some news & a guest this week. Friend of the show and Greg’s little brother, Austin Loman is back on the show this week! Greg & Austin usually jam over the holidays and decided to book a show this year. If you’re in or around DC on Saturday, December 28, you can catch The Loman Brothers at Bossa Bistro + Lounge from 7:30pm-9:30pm (all ages welcome).

Songs:

Austin Loman Band - “After Image”

Jeff Beck (Live at Ronnie Scotts) - “Angel (Footsteps)”

Alan Holdsworth - “Looking Glass”

Taylor Swift has just concluded her twenty-one month, 149 show, worldwide Eras Tour, which is on record as the highest grossing tour of all time. Jay brings us all the stats on Tay Tay Today.

Song: Bill Evans Trio - “Nardis (Live, 1970, Norway)”

Finally, Nick came across a Top 50 Albums of the 21st Century post on a spammy looking website. The post relied entirely on Metacritic to determine the albums and rankings. Metacritic is an aggregator of music reviews, weighted based on the critic and/or publication’s reputation. The resulting list is quite interesting. (https://stacker.com/music/50-best-albums-21st-century-according-critics).

Song: Wadada Lee Smith - “Dred Scott, 1857”

We kick things off this week with “News with Nick.” Joey Kramer closes his coffee line right as Push T launches his own. Meanwhile, Drake’s 2nd petition against UMG claims defamation while Kendrick’s GNX lands No. 1 album.

Song - Avishai Cohen - “Beyond”

Next up, Greg digs into Lamar’s new album GNX by way of “Review the Review.” The NY Times review by Jon Caramica portrays a provoked Lamar settling back into his comfort zone. The guys debate it out and ultimately, review the review. If you care to read the review, you can find it here.

Songs:

Kendrick Lamar - “Reincarnated”

Kendrick Lamar - “TV off”

Kendrick Lamar - “Peekaboo”

Jay shares some music discussions he had with his family at Thanksgiving and introduces us to his nephew’s current favorite band, The Rare Occasions (thanks Will). The topic at hand, however, is the 2024 Consequence Artist of the Year, Jack White. While Greg loved him from the start, it’s taken years of persistent awesomeness for Nick & Jay to fully embrace his. Nevertheless, the guys are all on board.

Songs:

The Rare Occasions - “Backwards”

Jack White - “Bless Yourself”

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks so much for listening.

Jay brings us a Thanksgiving-themed Three for Thursday. The holiday may not be known for its music, but there’s plenty of songs with titles that belong on a Thanksgiving table.

Songs:

Certainly So - “Turkey Leg”

Ray Charles - “Sweet Potato Pie”

Dogs on Fleas - “Cranberry Sauce Flotilla”

Nick wants to provide some music related news for discussion at the family gathering, it’s “News with Nick.” Tame Imapala’s Kevin Parker invented a new instrument, and Apple is making an authorized Fleetwood Mac documentary. Shaboozy’s “A Bar Song” is ties a No. 1 Billboard record, and Drake sues UMG because he lost to Kendrick.

Song: Roy Haynes Quartet - “Long Wharf”

Finally, we end with a game. The full lineup for Coachelle 2025 has been released and Greg quizzes Nick & Jay in another episode of “Marquee or Snarky.”

Song: Kendrick Lamar - “Squabble Up”

Bandmates get to know each other really well on the road. Last week Greg spent some time listening to jam bands, a favorite genre of Red Not’s drummer Pete. This week we’re gonna listen to some jam bands (and a song by Chick Corea featuring Roy Haynes). It’s Three For Thursday!

Songs:

Phish - “Down With Disease (from ‘Bittersweet Motel’)”

Grateful Dead - “China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider (5-3-72)”

Chick Corea - “Steps/What Was”

Nick found his way back to Pitchfork and discovered a throwback Sunday review of Pink Floyd’s 1975 Wish You Were Here. The album was the band’s follow up to Dark Side of the Moon and when Nick was a kid, he listened to it the way a kid listens to his favorite anything. Anyway, this is “Review the Review.”

Songs:

Pink Floyd - “Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5”

Pink Floyd - “Wish You Were Here”

Jay found a recent published list, titled “50 Global Guitar Greats” and shares some newly discovered gems from the list. We have a rare “Three More For Thursday” for you this week.

Songs:

Robbie Basho - “A North American Raga (The Plumstar)”

Derek Gripper - “Jarabi (Passion)”

Franco & le T.P OK Jazz - “Massu”

With Halloween behind us, Jay decided that it was time again for his nearly-annual Audio Advisor HiFi Gift Giving Guide Gameshow! Hear the description of the product and guess the price. The nearest price without going over is the winner. It’s yet another totally original YSCIO gameshow!

Song: You Can Dance - “Addis Abèba bété”

Nick brings us the 2025 Grammy nominees and a deep dive into how this list is made every year.

Song: Tyler the Creator - “Judge Judy”

Greg catches us up on some news and throws in a new episode of “Tourrror Stories.” We find ourselves with The Resilient at a fly-in country club in Florida…

Song: Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Sikamikanico”

Get ready for it, it’s News with Nick. King Gizzard announces a 2025 orchestral world tour, Thom Yorke does not appreciate being heckled, MadLib sues former manager, and Young Thug is released from jail after pleading guilty and getting time served.

Song: King Gizzard - “Phantom Island”

Greg joins us from vacation in Hawaii this week and he wants to take us on a little journey. We’ll be accompanied by the music of Squarepusher on our travels. Welcome back to “Three for Thursday.”

Songs:

Squarepusher - “Tensor in Green”

Squarepusher - “My Red Hot Car”

Squarepusher - “lambic 9 poetry”

Squarepusher - “Unreal Square”

Jay leads us into a celebration of Quincy Jones, who died last week at the age of 91. An accomplished musician, bandleader, record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer, Jones won 28 Grammy Awards and many other accolades in his 70 year career. We could do entire shows about this guy and still miss important contributions that he made to music. He lived a long and productive life and we’re grateful for it.

Songs:

Quincy Jones - “Ai No Corrida”

Quincy Jones - “Soul Bossa Nova”

Frank Sinatra - “You Make Me Feel So Young”