The Cacophony Sessions

Late as ever (it's still February... just) following a technological catastrophe The Cacophony Sessions presents the season four finale, and the closing episode of the regular podcast.

Join Dan Whitell and his regular band of bastards Alex, Martyn, Tom and Jim as we finally deliver our top ten albums of 2023!

Featuring the biggest Does It Slap ever, a lovely story about corner shops and a heavy dose of swearing; the final regular episode is one of our strongest. We will continue the chaos on the YouTube channel, as old favourite episodes like The Cacophony Sessions Goes Pop will be shortened and sharpened to deliver more regular content.

AOTY will be back for 2024 but in the mean time please follow us on social media, keep your eyes on www.cacophonysessions.com for the latest video drops and consider subscribing to the Patreon!

Foreign Voices' merch store is here.

Thank you for your support and as always, Stay Funky.

#music #podcast #guitarsolo

The Cacophony Sessions are back with their thoughts on greatest guitar solos of all time. Joining Dan Whitell on this episode are Alex, Tom and Martyn; each with two pics for a discussion on what makes a guitar solo work - and what doesn't. The playlist containing all of our picks (including Dan B's and Jim's in spite of their absence from this episode) can be found on Apple Music and Spotify:

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/shredders-revenge-or-just-axin-questions/pl.u-xlyNBoltkJxKX8
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Vg5tA1SbXXB6HWNImQL7L

In this episode we spend a good thirty minutes or so going through some of the comments we've had on the subject as well, meaning that we cover a lot of different songs in this one. Also discover the two reasons Tom hates guitar solos (feat. science), Alex's latest band name, Baphomet's penchant for gran turismo, carnival metal and one of us channels our inner Dennis Reynolds.

From this point on, all of our episodes will be available for free in full on both audio platforms and the YouTube channel. If you are interested in supporting our Patreon we will now be making monthly Q&A videos so sign up to have your questions answered by a member of the Cacophony Sessions team! As always, make sure you follow us on social media, and please like and subscribe to keep this Cac train rolling.

Thanks for watching, see you in December for our overrated episode!

Stay Funky

https://cacophonysessions.com/
https://www.patreon.com/TheCacophonySessions

We wind the clock back 20 years on this episode of The Cacophony Sessions as Dan Whitell runs down the Top 15 Songs of 2003 with contributions from Martyn, Jim, Alex and Tom. 15 picks each, scored out of ten - some using the IGN scoring system and others…not doing that. This episode ranks the top 15, although all 75 songs can be found in alphabetical order on our Apple Music playlist and our Spotify playlist.

A couple of Undeniable Bangers and tangents ahoy - LET’S FIND OUT which band may have suffered with a head lice problem, which indie rock band was banned from the Fry household, which one of us got married recently and we introduce a banger of a new gameshow - What Has Martyn Been Up To? Answers on a postcard, please.
 
As you may have seen, we have a new website - www.cacophonysessions.com. You can find all of our episodes, all our video content including Dan’s Slammin’ Seven series and our The Cacophony Sessions Meets… interview series. There will also be another episode of CAC News coming in the near future. The first half of this episode is available on YouTube. If you wish to see the whole thing, it is available by joining the Funkatier of our Patreon for £5 a month. All proceeds will be reflected in production values! Of course if money is tight, which we know it is, all of the audio will always be uploaded to all podcast platforms.

Let us know your thoughts and make sure to leave us a like or comment where possible. We’ll see you in the next one, when we’ll be covering our favourite guitar solos in “Shredder’s Revenger, or: Just Axin’ Questions.”

Stay Funky

The Cacophony Sessions crew.

The second part of The Cacophony Sessions'  discussion of all 25 Bond themes continues in 'You Only Bang Twice', in which Dan Whitell, Tom, Dan B and Alex critique the Bond themes of the 1980s to the present. If you missed the first part, you can listen to the audio or watch the video to catch up on the scores so far. A playlist of all the themes in chronological order can be found on Apple Music (curated by Dan) and Spotify.

As this is a bonus episode, it's not quite as long as some of our previous episodes so we've made the entire thing available over on the YouTube channel for free this month! That doesn't mean we'll be getting straight to the point though - everyone ends up having a go on Does It Slap and we end up covering bands that would suck at Bond themes, a few acts that should have been given the chance and there are way too many Limp Bizkit references. Dan throws some Prince mentions out there for good measure and tries his hand at his worst chart rundown voice.

We'll be moving away from Bond in August and will be presenting the Top 15 Songs of 2003 next so make sure you keep yourself notified by subscribing to our YouTube channel and reading our blog, where you can find a summary of all our scoring as well as links to other articles and further information about us. As mentioned we're on Instagram now too, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Patreon. If you can't give £5 a month to support us (and see every episode just as you can with this one), please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or give us a like or even a comment on any of our various social media accounts.

Don't forget you can check out our exclusive interview with The Scribes and we'll have a Wham Slammin' Seven and a brand new CAC News coming at your senses in the next couple of weeks too!

Stay Funky, Cacophants.

Are you ready for our TWO PART James Bond Theme Special? You’d better be! Part One of The Cacophony Sessions Season 4 Episode 4 is here and features Dan Whitell with Alex, Dan B, Tom and Martyn as they chronologically rate each of the main themes from every James Bond movie. This part begins with the original 007 film Dr No from 1962 and takes us up to the end of the seventies, ending with 1979’s Moonraker.

Part Two of this episode will be coming shortly containing the remaining movies. The only way to cover it comprehensively was to record two full-length episodes so consider that a bonus!

If you think this means we are going to rush through without our usual brand of subjective butt-hurt ranting, we’re glad to disappoint as in this part we take some time to respond to YouTube comments, bang on about Run-DMC for a bit, contemplate becoming Den with ven and use the Factchecker 3000’s blindspots to spout questionable facts about football. As always, the language is very sweary and this time, Dan has a wonky green screen which will undoubtedly ruin his bid to be the next Bond.

Thanks for listening, and if you weren’t aware a large taster of every episode is uploaded in video format to our YouTube channel. We also post other videos, such as CAC News, where we give you a rundown of the latest goings on in music every couple of months, and Dan’s recent interview with Bristol hip-hop trio The Scribes! Become a Cacophant by joining our Patreon for just £5 a month to gain access to the video link to each episode in full. You can hurl abuse at us over on Twitter or Facebook and now, you can follow us on TikTok and Instagram where we’ll be posting various shorts from the episodes and other music-related pictures and videos. This is all detailed over at our hub of operations - the Cacophony Sessions Blog.

Oh, and we encourage you to all have a go at our cardigans or other opinions. Leave us a review if you like. Cardigan or content, either is helpful.

The Cacophony Sessions do another dive into the UK top 10 (for the week commencing 14/4/23) and several artists now find themselves in the crosshairs for the first time. And an old nemesis comes back to haunt us. Join Dan Whitell with Alex, Dan B and Tom for a heated discussion on pop music of today.

In this month's episode you'll find Lewis Capaldi, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Calvin Harris and others as well as the usual tangential chaos including mini reviews of gigs from Don Broco and The Pharcyde. We also cover Metallica, Plymouth Argyle, In Flames and everything else we could think of too so there's plenty for everyone.

This episode contains some very spicy language as always. Let us know your thoughts over on Twitter and check out the list of certified UBs and more over at the Blog. If you're looking for the Patreon - it's here. Oh and if you haven't already, please check out the video versions over on our YouTube Channel, including our new show CAC News.

'Define' by Foreign Voices is provided with permission from the band. Check out the new self-titled EP available now! All other music courtesy of Martyn Ley, Dan Whitell, Dave McGlinchey and Descript stock music.

April’s Cacophony Sessions Podcast is an episode in which Dan Whitell, joined by Tom, Martyn and Dan B, attempts to discuss the most famous band in pop music history. We have divided the conversation loosely into four parts - our favourite albums, songs, Beatles themselves and lastly covers of their songs. Undoubtedly full of controversial takes as well as our usual party pieces such as Does It Slap; this episode also includes a brief tribute to another 1960s musical icon - the late, great Burt Bacharach.

Uncover their best work and their faults with us over the course of 90 minutes and discover the real reason  Martyn especially loves John Lennon. The discourse covers their body of work as a band but also their solo work as well.

After you're done, please check The Cacophony Sessions Blog for further updates, including how you can view all of our episodes in full on Patreon. As always, the audio of this podcast is available for nothing on all podcast services, and you can watch the first part for free on YouTube. We’ve extended the preview this month to include more of the meat and potatoes as everyone has an opinion on the Beatles.

Let us know how we fared on Facebook and Twitter and please leave us a review, like or comment if you can. See you next month when we’re going back to a more contemporary topic…

Season Four of The Cacophony Sessions Podcast kicks off with our Album of the Year 2022 episode. Join Dan Whitell as well as Tom, Jim, Martyn and Alex as we collectively rank our favourite ten records of last year.

This year's list features some previous favourites from our 2020 and 2021 lists, as well as some new bands; it's time to separate the new from the old and the weak from the chaff as we discuss our own top ten - with detours including tributes to the late Terry Hall, Jeff Beck and Maxi Jazz, another round of Does It Slap and all the usual nonsense.

As always, the full episode is available on all podcast platforms. The first thirty minutes of video are available for free on YouTube, but you can find the full video version on Patreon if you subscribe for just £5 a month. Feel free to hit us up on Twitter or Facebook, and stay up-to-date on our latest news and releases at our blog.

Our final recording of 2022 is the season finale of The Cacophony Sessions Podcast. Dan joins Martyn, Jim, Alex and Tom for a deep dive into ten of our own personal favourites. From Funkadelic to Run-DMC to Nirvana to Insane Clown Posse, this eclectic discussion covers a variety of different genres and we've made a playlist available via Apple Music so you can follow along with the tracks here.

Elsewhere, discover which band is the Australian Duran Duran; see Jim's new spicy content; unveil FOUR undeniable bangers and allow us to answer the most pertinent question in pop culture history - would Twin Peaks have been better if Limp Bizkit did the music?

The full audio is available for free wherever you listens to your podcasts. Watch the opening for free on YouTube and join our Patreon for just £5 a month, where you can now watch the entire two-hours in glorious Technicolor! As always, check out our Blog for updates, and hit us up on Twitter and Facebook if you want to get in touch. We'll see you again this month for Album of the Year 2022.

This month's episode of The Cacophony Sessions sees Dan Whitell invite Al, Jim, Martyn and Tom into the theatre of conflict as we discuss our favourite albums, MCs and producers in hip-hop during the early nineties. Whether you're East Coast, West Coast or something in between this is one of our more free-flowing conversations in which we offer our personal favourites for you to either newly discover or to take umbrage with.

Discover quite how this pertains to Michael Barrymore, an undeniable banger from My Chemical Romance, Arctic Monkeys and Gregorian chanting as we release our latest broadcast of madness to every podcast platform.

As always, please find us on Twitter, Facebook and of course The Cacophony Sessions Blog where you can find all our recent articles. Spread the word and if you can, give us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Until the next one, keep it light and stay funky.

The Cacophony Sessions is here to discuss the US Billboard Hot 100, specifically the top ten from the week commencing 21/5/22. Join Dan W, Alex, Tom, Dan B and our newest voice Jim as we discuss Harry Styles, Lizzo and too many tracks from Bad Bunny. We provide our thoughts on our personal favourites from the top ten and ponder on just what exactly streaming services have done to the singles charts.

Our examination of American pop comes with a side order of Smashing Pumpkins (drink), Prince (drink) and all the usual side dishes. Does It Slap makes its glorious return, we discuss parp punk, Eurovision, Radiohead, our favourite new releases and a lot more in this two-hour-plus episode. Trigger Warning: Robbie Williams is mentioned more than twice, so we are legally obliged to advertise this fact.

Don't forget to support us where you can - leave a review on Apple Music or follow us over at Twitter or our blog. Let us know which episodes you'd like us to cover in the future or please give us some feedback!

We're back in August with our long-awaited best of 1987 episode.

OUR BIGGEST EPISODE YET!

Following the recent death of Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins, The Cacophony Sessions Podcast decided it would be an appropriate time to discuss our fifteen favourite drummers of all time according to tonight's panel. Banging on about drums for over three hours this time around are Dan Whitell, Dan B, Alex, Martyn and Tom each with three nominations.

We cover a lot of different aspects of drumming, from both a technical standpoint as well as from a more casual perspective. Hopefully we can help you to develop a newfound passion for these purveyors of percussion. If not, we still have all our usual swearing, fighting and outlandish opinions, with a new segment called 'Does It Slap?' (complete with a shit jingle), rock's greatest sneeze, posing for photos with Daniel Day-Lewis lookalikes and all the latest new releases that have caught our attention.

As mentioned in this episode, please hit us up on Twitter or Our Blog for the latest CSP news and ask us your burning questions with a view to our future plans for Patreon Q&A specials. Leave us a review on Apple Music and subscribe where you can. Thanks to our friends at Chart Music and The Simon Says Music Podcast as well; please go and support them and we'll see you all next month for The Cacophony Sessions Goes Pop USA!

Stay Funky.

All music courtesy of Dan Whitell and Martyn Ley.

The third season premiere sees The Cacophony Sessions rating our favourite records of 2021. Join Dan Whitell, Tom, 'Housewife's Choice' Martyn, Dave and 'Butcher's Boy' Alex as we present the top ten albums of last year, a couple of months after the dust has settled (and everyone else has had a go).

With Fontaines DC taking home the prize for 2020, who will claim the most hallowed of accolades for the burning trash fire that was 2021? Along the way we cover all our usual sweary tangents - Tom's latest listenings; a tribute to the recently departed Meat Loaf and Alex turning full-blown heel and living up to his newly-bestowed moniker.

We apologise we couldn't present this sooner but it was fraught with technical issues, some of which are still heard on Dave's audio. We've cleaned it up as much as we can and it's time to reveal the winners! Our scores can be found here (spoilers within).

Remember to leave us a review on Apple Music, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and stand by for more episodes as we bring you a third year of musical chaos.

All musical interludes are written and performed by us.

Two weeks after everyone else, The Cacophony Sessions weighs in on the Neil Young vs. Joe Rogan & Spotify debate by dedicating one of our bonus episodes to the mythical Canadian singer-songwriter and his massive discography - from Crosby, Stills Nash & Young to Buffalo Springfield.

Usual voices Dan Whitell and Tom are joined by the illustrious music writer Taylor Parkes, as we do our best to choose Neil Young's best songs and albums; the best Neil Young covers; our thoughts on the recent controversy and everything in between from George Michael: rap pioneer, to Ian Brown: martial artist.

We would like to thank Taylor for taking the time to talk with us and for the love of Noel Edmonds please go and listen to Chart Music. It's wonderful.

Info on Chart Music can be found here.
The Cacophony Sessions Blog can be found here.

All background music courtesy of Dan Whitell & Martyn Ley. Season Three is on the way very soon!

Our first episode of 2022 is the last episode we recorded in 2021 and it's a whopping three hour extravaganza discussing the best and worst cover versions we can think of.

It's a full house as Dan Whitell welcomes Alex, Tom, Martyn, Dan B and Dave to bring to the table their favourite studio covers, live covers and the covers we'd like thrown carelessly to the Patch of Turd. Along the way, we discuss The Big Four, the plural of 'Dan', Tom's money-saving tips, and why Martyn is drawn to Failure. Baphomet remains elusive, Dan shills for YouTube and Dave 'does a Dave'.

Don't forget to catch our blog (including a brand new article on Dan Whitell's most played songs of 2021) here. We also would like to draw attention to our YouTube channel here. Please like, leave a review if you can and let us know your thoughts on our inane chatter in the comments sections. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with our Album of the Year 2021 episode to kick off a new season.

All music is courtesy of Danny W, DJ Funktapuss, Longships and Tom Fry.

In loving memory of Geoff Whitell (1963-2021). Stay Funky, Dad.

We've been away for a few months due to personal circumstances, but that does not matter anymore as The Cacophony Sessions Podcast  returns for some of our best argumentative dialogue yet, surrounding songs that we think are both Undeniable Bangers and, this time, the opposite - Undeniable Clangers.

Joining The Court Jester of Funk Dan Whitell are co-hosts Dave, Tom, Alex, Martyn and the debut of new voice Dan B. On this one we discover which of us is perversely affected by an old Manchester United video compilation, Paul McCartney gets a pasting again and Martyn tries to pass Duran Duran into the Chamber of Bangers. Again.

Twenty four songs in total - twelve good and twelve bad. All drizzled with irreverent chat, too many beers and some incredibly erroneous opinions. It's like we were never away.

Let us know how wrong we are on Twitter, see our updated blog for the full list of bangers and you can now subscribe to our YouTube channel for video content! 

Please leave reviews where you can and give us some feedback. We hope you enjoy the episode - the next one will be out much sooner.

All music is owned by us.

After some scheduling conflicts, The Cacophony Sessions returns to discuss 16 of our favourite TV themes of all time. Dan is joined by CO-HOSTS Alex, Dave and Tom as we discuss some iconic and some obscure music used in the opening sequence of various television shows and put them to the sword.

Over the course of this episode we discuss DJing in the new COVID era; why Alex has paint on his face; which one of us hung out with a Grammy-winning rapper and we give Hugh Grant some life advice.

Best consumed with YouTube at hand to experience the tunes in real time, this list is not ranked. It's just for fun! For fans of telly, we're sure you'll find some of our talking points infuriating as we present our usual brand of swearing, sweeping statements and baseless speculation, all verified with the Official Cacophony Sessions Fact Checker 3000.

Go follow us on Twitter (@cacsessionspod), Facebook (The Cacophony Sessions) and be sure to subscribe on Apple Music or tell your friends about us if you have any. Following some of these picks (and no doubt some omissions) we may not have that luxury anymore!

All music used is our own material courtesy of Danny W & The Dope, DJ Funkapuss and Longships.

It's time for another of our bonus episodes and this month we are extremely lucky to have secured the services of British music journalism royalty, David Stubbs. Dan and Tom pick out the best and worst of British music from the pre-Thatcher era of 1977-79. David was a staff writer at Melody Maker magazine in the 80s as well as numerous other music publications and has his own bibliography of British comedy analysis and musical deep dives so adds a tremendous volume of knowledge to our usual discussion in the round. We highlight our favourite singles and albums as well as the bands that we find to be quite overhyped, and discover which particular artist was not a fan of one of David's reviews as well as, obviously, the most pertinent of questions in his favourite musical year and selection for the undeniable banger hall of fame.

We would like to thank David for taking the time to chat with us, and for the uninitiated we implore you to check out his contributions to Chart Music Podcast for their hilarious Top of the Pops commentary. You can find them on Twitter here, David's account here and our own Twitter page right here. Let us know your thoughts on some of our controversial selections and we'll be back with another episode soon, with more new voices!