Gonkcast

I see some American music lads have started an Ae podcast. It's not bad, they seem fairly knowledgeable, I've listened to first two on Incunabula and Amber. Now, I don't think it's music that leans heavily towards discussing what it sounds like particularly well and they seem a bit reliant on American critique like Pitchfork but thought it might appeal to some of you. Just to be clear I have no personal involvement in this.

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/gonkcastpod

Yeah, it's mostly their opinions and observations. It would be a lot more interesting if they quoted interviews or had researched the albums before talking about them. I don't really need to listen to a couple of blokes just responding to the music, basically. Good name, though. Maybe it will evolve into something more informative that compiles more objective insight into the making of various records.

I've listened to the first one while working out, and it's alright, kind of reading a WATMM megathread except it's just two people insted of twelve.

  On 11/25/2020 at 6:08 PM, Mic Finger said:

Yeah, it's mostly their opinions and observations. It would be a lot more interesting if they quoted interviews or had researched the albums before talking about them. I don't really need to listen to a couple of blokes just responding to the music, basically. Good name, though. Maybe it will evolve into something more informative that compiles more objective insight into the making of various records.

Yeah this is a good point actually. Also, can't really put it in context given they are American. Well they could if they did research. Like the Anti EP discussion was pointless.

Still, good to see it happening I guess. 

  On 11/25/2020 at 8:00 AM, oscillik said:

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festIV

set of two

prelit gonk 

There u go. Three perfect track titles for an ep. Seansan Robob pls make it happen.

yeah I've been listening to this and agree it's too focused on reviews/ratings and the album discussions can be rather nitpicky. it seems like a lot of the material is new to them too, I'd rather hear discussion from hardcore fans like myself who have spent years delving into their discography and aren't just forming first impressions. still, some interesting comments here and there and I'll consume just about any autechre related content that's out there.

the people who do this podcast post it on reddit in r/autechre.  I've never listened to it. seems like younger people who are just getting into autechre and discovering the lore.

I hate ratings focused reviews so won't listen. there's more interesting podcasts i'm sure. 

it's inevitable though. autechre podcast. i'm sure by next year they'll "take another look at (insert album)________" and have different thoughts.  I think it's rare for a younger person who didn't live through the evolution of a thing to really have anything interesting to say about it as a first impression. not knowing the context of something etc.. blah blah. 

edit: but whatever floats your boat of course. not trying to be harsh. it's probably useful podcast for people just getting into more experimental type music. i'm just a fuckn curmudgeon. 

  On 11/27/2020 at 6:17 PM, ignatius said:

the people who do this podcast post it on reddit in r/autechre.  I've never listened to it. seems like younger people who are just getting into autechre and discovering the lore.

I hate ratings focused reviews so won't listen. there's more interesting podcasts i'm sure. 

it's inevitable though. autechre podcast. i'm sure by next year they'll "take another look at (insert album)________" and have different thoughts.  I think it's rare for a younger person who didn't live through the evolution of a thing to really have anything interesting to say about it as a first impression. not knowing the context of something etc.. blah blah. 

edit: but whatever floats your boat of course. not trying to be harsh. it's probably useful podcast for people just getting into more experimental type music. i'm just a fuckn curmudgeon. 

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I'm not sure exactly who they are, but they don't sound very young at all. Apparently they're both "experimental musicians" and seem to be longtime Autechre fans too. They also have a podcast called Pop Shield which has been running since at least 2016 or something and seems really decent from the episode titles (they have features on Warp etc.), so I guess I'll check that out as well.

If nothing else, this Gonkcast is a nice opportunity to go back to the older albums and see if I agree with their opinions or not. Is it perfect? No, but it adds a little perspective on something I love, which can be enjoyable once in a while. Deep Cuts, my usual favorite, is on hiatus, so now while doing sit-ups, I listen to these dudes blabber on to numb the pain.

  On 11/27/2020 at 10:27 PM, IDEM said:

I'm not sure exactly who they are, but they don't sound very young at all. Apparently they're both "experimental musicians" and seem to be longtime Autechre fans too. They also have a podcast called Pop Shield which has been running since at least 2016 or something and seems really decent from the episode titles (they have features on Warp etc.), so I guess I'll check that out as well.

If nothing else, this Gonkcast is a nice opportunity to go back to the older albums and see if I agree with their opinions or not. Is it perfect? No, but it adds a little perspective on something I love, which can be enjoyable once in a while. Deep Cuts, my usual favorite, is on hiatus, so now while doing sit-ups, I listen to these dudes blabber on to numb the pain.

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idk.. i listened to the first few minutes of the LP5/EP7 episode and it wasn't awful. the one guy seems to get it. i scanned through some of it.  it still makes me feel like i'm listening to people sitting around talking about the show "The Big Bang Theory" and for some reason i find it really frustrating. i wish i could hand them a joint and turn up the music so they'll stfu.  not that they aren't listening intently. sounds like they're both attentive listeners. 

idk. i'm a curmudgeon. it's not for me. 

Just started listening the past few days. 
I find it a bit of a mixed bag. 
I disagree with the notion that they seem like they are only just getting into Ae. 
The last episode I listened to they discussed how they were grateful to have gotten into Ae before the days of streaming. One referenced maybe starting listening in 2006.
So... while they may be newer to Autechre than myself and may others around here, I don't think they come off as uninitiated (on the surface)

That being said, one of the early episodes they seemed like they were unsure if they should bother covering cichlisuite (they ended up covering it). 
But to even be on the fence about discussing that ep makes me doubt everything about them 
I also heard one of them refer to the era between Confield and Quaristice as one he struggled to get into the most. 
I hope for their sake the act of going through the discography for this podcast makes them re-evaluate some of the albums in that era

I have yet to listen to their take on LP5 and EP7. I feel like that will be the defining moment for if I keep listening to them

I've been listening to a few episodes of this podcast - they're essentially going through Ae's discography in chronological order and providing their opinions on each release, discussing stand-out tracks, the background and history of each release etc.

They also quote directly from Sean and Rob when discussing how some of the albums were made, different approaches taken with each one, interview excerpts from the lads etc.

I actually find their discussions interesting to listen to. Some of their discussions looks at technical details too. Good on them for giving this a go - Ae's music is very difficult to talk about and I'm not saying Gonkcast is perfect at this but hearing people's different views and interpretations of Ae's music is quite interesting to hear in an audio format as opposed to reading watmm threads where you usually get one liner responses to tracks as opposed to long form discussions.

Definitely find it a bit odd though that one of the guys thinks Untilted is their worst release yet (wtf - blasphemy).

  On 6/22/2021 at 10:00 PM, Dale said:

Definitely find it a bit odd though that one of the guys thinks Untilted is their worst release yet (wtf - blasphemy).

It's pretty understandable since it's comparatively dry and tight, a sore thumb of sorts

Listened to them, sporadically, but there's nothing new for me here. What I remember is, one guy says something, then the other one typically: "Yeeeeeeeeah, <blah>".

  On 12/2/2020 at 2:04 AM, fizzkinz said:

I have yet to listen to their take on LP5 and EP7. I feel like that will be the defining moment for if I keep listening to them

Please don't keep us hanging!

Personally, I'm afraid I can't be bothered about hearing 2 guys spitting opinions about Ae. If I want to hear an opinion, I'll go for a Fandango Needledrop youtube. So, I'll pass.

This is quite fun. Seeing tracks like wetgelis and pearl as radio show style timestamps was an interesting idea. They need to stop saying blade-ellorres though. 

i couldn't believe someone made a whole podcast about autechre and then it's like describing how their tracks sound .. like.. make a podcast about the sky and talk about how blue it is

most useless thing ever

I've been enjoying the gonkcast quite a bit and will miss it when its over.

I like the fact the two guys are fans, but not like super long time  uberfans, so theyre well informed enough to discuss the tracks, but are not overly familiar with a lot of the discography. The listener emails also mean you get a wider range of voices than just the two main guys  Granted, a lot of those comments are just stoned overwrought descriptions of minds-eye visualisations of trax and suchlike.

Their taste in ae is quite a bit different to mine. They definitely prefer the more recent Ae, and I'd say overrate the early stuff and are quite down on the mid period. Draft is one of my fave LPs so it was a frustrating listen hearing them slate it.

  On 7/2/2021 at 8:51 AM, Key said:

Their taste in ae is quite a bit different to mine. They definitely prefer the more recent Ae, and I'd say overrate the early stuff and are quite down on the mid period. Draft is one of my fave LPs so it was a frustrating listen hearing them slate it.

Really, they did? I mean Surripere alone made it an album of the year.