FULL VERSION 35 Mins now online. Apologies:

It's a real clash of the titans this week in the Classic Albums studio - two totally gaga doyens of the homemade masterpiece and two dubious northern reviewers stroking their chins over them. So, will the honking, skronking pot-and-pans of Tom Waits get a thumbs up from Gary and will Stephen warm to the romantic fantasies of Kate Bush? Just fix yourself a sandwich, get into some loose-fitting trousers, and find out.

Apologies to our devoted listeners and bloggers. The file I posted last week seems to have been corrupted in some way as some of you complained. Thanks for spotting it. This new'un is just the mustard. Please download/overwrite, relisten etc.

Two sides of the same coin this show: sunshine-spangled, country-flecked, guitar pop from the venerable indie kids Teenage Fanclub and odd clankings and backroad melodies from the strange and beautiful Jim White. We bring you the top 5 songs about Autumn (well, we try - well, one of us tries!) and discuss the oddest records in our already odd collection. All you have to do is get comfy and enjoy.

We're back - sorry it's been a while, O devoted few. We explain all in the show. For your delectation then, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's bruised and broken folk on Master & Everyone and Wilco's broken and bruised rock on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. An althogether cheerful brace of records for an altogether cheerful pair of reviewers. Which one is voted 'ravishing' by an enraptured podcaster and what are the longest song titles in pop? Don't forget to tell us what you think on the messageboad at www.classicalbums.libsyn.com!

The 90's was the ample mother of a range of styles and genres and this issue Gary and Stephen bring you their take on the punky britpop of Supergrass' dayglo debut I Should Coco and Kim Deal of the Pixies' stylish bubblegrunge side-project, Last Splash with her mainly female offshoot, The Breeders.

Which one, in the opinion of the Classic Albums Podcast's corduroy boys is 'too varied' and which 'not varied enough'? All this plus a top 5 to match the recent summer deluge, the aridity of the current music scene and the results of our 80's challenge. Better value than cheese at fourpence.

Irresponsibly, the normally clean-living boys from the Classic Albums Podcast present two albums about sex and drugs, The Velvet Underground's debut set from 1967 and Queens of the Stone Age's scary thunderbox Rated R. Also, the top 5 songs with 1 word titles (which Gary gets muddled - again). Remember, bloggers. Albums from the 80s please, by next issue or else.

We're 1 year old this week! Happy birthday to us all!

So, in a fight between the street-ready, razor carrying Clash and the soft-centered, dewy-eyed Welsh wizards Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, who would come out on top? Is that like asking who'd win a war between the babies and the panthers? Tune in to the show and find out which band gets the most grooves and which the least boos. Also in this programme, as summer is here and the kids are alright we chinwag about the best summer songs and issue a fresh challenge familiar to regular listeners. The Classic Albums Podcast - never knowingly under-opinionated.

We're back, devoted listeners, after a brief sabbatical, bringing you our partisan musings on Stereolab's motorik masterpiece Emperor Tomato ketchup and the Eels' string-washed sobfest Daisies of the Galaxy. That, and all the quality and charm you have come to expect from The Classic Albums Podcast. Often imitated - never bettered.

Power pop and Americana are discussed this week when we consider Armed Forces by Elvis Costello and the Attractions and Regard the End by Willard Grant Conspiracy.

 

Sweep is a guest on the show and his squeaks of joy are a testament to the quality of the Classic Albums experience. We look at swearing in songs, listeners' failed excursions into the world of rock and pop and rules for gigs.

 

What more could you possibly want?

 

Stephen returns, so let the ranting begin. This week we discuss a Britpop giant, Oasis's 'What's the Story Morning Glory'. Pitted against it is a stream of consciousness – folk – jazz masterpiece in the form of Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’.

More views from the blog. More talking points. More top fives.

We really are the show that gives you more.

 

We are back. Sorry if you thought we had disappeared. In order to swell listener numbers Stephen has taken it upon himself to reproduce. Still busy with dad duties Dan is drafted in to replace Stephen for one show only (Stephen was very specific).

This week we look at Pearl Jam's 'Versus' and Ride's 'Carnival of Light'. Dan and Gary muse over a whole range of artforms in order to make a musical point and discuss food's relationship with the musical form.

See whatya think.

Two very different albums this week. We have the Aussie 'mash fest' that is The Avalanches' 'Since I Left You' and Nick Drake's pastoral masterpiece 'Five Leaves Left'.

Also within this weeks cultural smorgasbord we have top five dance tracks and pop's top to toe; charting the body from the head to the soles of the feet.

Stephen tells the kids to 'keep it real' and Gary reveals some of his fantasies, but what has provoked this reaction? Well it is the opportunity to review two albums never before heard in the Classic Albums studio.

Two albums from the 90's suggested by listeners of the podcast: This Mortal Coil's 'Blood' and Leftfield's 'Leftism'. Also on offer, 'a year in the life of rock' and opinions about rock, pop, indie and life in general.

 

Never too concerned about brevity, our intrepid podcasting partnership ramble on at great length about all things musical. This week it is the turn of Bob Dylan with his critically acclaimed double album ‘Blonde On Blonde’, together with a nineties classic ‘Dummy’ by Portishead.

Top five this week is ‘best last track’. There is lots of action on the blog, recent listening favourites and the outcome of our competition to select an album from the 1990’s that Gary and Stephen haven’t heard, but would like to review.

 Lots going on then.

 

Add a couple of bottles of cheap Lidl beer to the equation and it just gets silly. A tired and emotional Gary and Stephen discuss Elbow's slowburning smoothfest Cast of Thousands and The JAMC's late flowering of crunchy sleaze-rock Honey's Dead, plus the top 5 songs about bad weather, and an un-called-for Dylan rant. Now by whom could that be...?

Well, we're back after a slight hiatus with our usual chewing of the fat of rock's great and varied hilights. This issue Stephen asks Gary to get his ears around The Beatles' seminal psychedelic concept album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Gary serves up Stephen a steaming slice of Joni Mitchell's heartfelt confessional Blue. Also - the top 5 songs about the Demon Drink, Stephen in New Music Shock and a challenge for regular listeners to get themselves heard on the podcast!

FYI the email address given in the programme is slightly wrong. It should be classicalbumspodcast@hotmail.co.uk not .com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Back on fine form after our festive hiatus, the podcast bursts back onto the airwaves with Beirut's 'The Flying Club Cup' and Laura Veirs' 'Saltbreakers' identified as the two must-hear albums of 2007.

Also discusssed: top songs and finest musical events.

Have a listen, see if you agree and let us know.

Merry Christmas from the Classic Albums studio. A real treat this week; a special guest demonstrates that even geeks have friends. The topic is guilty pleasures with 'Enya' by Enya, 'Misplaced Childhood' by Marillion and 'Fallen' by Evanescence.

Will the chuntering continue, or will a third person ensure Stephen and Gary are on their best behaviour.

Listen in and find out.

Two corkers this week. Surely there won't be any disagreement about either of these thoroughbreds. The Pogues outstanding second 'Rum Sodomy and the Lash' vying for praise with Super Fury Animals first outing 'Fuzzy Logic'.

Also under discussion 'Winter Warmers', songs to help you while away those long winter evenings. Contributions from the blog and details of Stephen's first gang.

Listen, laugh, learn?