Last Things

Realms upon realms of eccentric music, culture, and thought

A Lifer in Death Rap with Necro 03/18/2024

A Lifer in Death Rap with Necro Necro is a true legend of underground rap, pioneer of the death rap sub-genre, renown producer, and inspiring entrepreneur. We talk about his new metal track, being white in rap, Metallica's note choices, jails in Europe, fake Hasidic crackheads, and his complex relationship with his Uncle Howie. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: patreon.com/lastthingspodcast 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/30424963

Of Runes and Love with Sean Ragon 10/30/2023

Of Runes and Love with Sean Ragon Sean Ragon has been active in industrial, and experimental music communities for over fifteen years, and in DIY punk in general going back to the 90s. He’s primarily known as the frontman of neofolk collective Cult of Youth, which triumphantly returned from a long hiatus last year. Sean also makes electronic music as Venerence. He’s deep in the culture, and his contributions over the years have been truly original and widely respected. Sean and I talk about runic yoga, Asatru, attempting to remain apolitical in polarized scenes, being married by Genesis P-Orridge , Cult of Youth’s comeback album, “With Open Arms”, and why Sean had to flee America to Berlin. Buy Cult of Youth's recent double LP 'With Open Arms' : 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: patreon.com/lastthingspodcast 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: http://eepurl.com/do92G5 /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/28466453

Magick and Melodic Morality 09/26/2023

Magick and Melodic Morality Kavus Torabi is a British guitarist, vocalist, and composer, with a long and prolific career in the world of avant-garde rock music. He is known for his collaborative work in the 90s with Monsoon Bassoon, and the 00s with cult math-rock heroes Cardiacs, as well as his solo work as Knifeworld, and under his own name. He's also a member of the current line-up of legendary psych rock band Gong. Kavus and I have been fans of each other’s musics for years. Our fun conversation gets into the vibrant artistic family surrounding Cardiacs, melodies that make us angry, psychedelia, autism, and coming to the occult later in life. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: . 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/28149251

Aesthetics of Annoyance with Justin Pearson (the Locust, Deaf Club) 09/04/2023

Aesthetics of Annoyance with Justin Pearson (the Locust, Deaf Club) Justin Pearson has been a vital and prolific force in underground music since the 90s. His many bands, including the Locust, Dead Cross, Head Wound City, and Retox, have made an indelible mark on the canon of heavy music, and his long-running label, Three One G, has been an important platform for numerous like-minded experimentalists. We talk about “Annoying” as a genre, healthy inter-band competition on tour, the uniqueness of the 90s San Diego hardcore scene, and our different experiences at the same Marilyn Manson afterparty. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: https://www.patreon.com/lastthingspod.... 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: http://eepurl.com/do92G5 /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27935838

Parenthetical Girls' 'Safe As Houses' with Sophie Leetmaa 08/28/2023

Parenthetical Girls' 'Safe As Houses' with Sophie Leetmaa Musician, visual artist, and actress, Sophie Leetmaa joins me to talk about Parenthetical Girls’ art-damaged baroque pop cult classic, ‘Safe as Houses’ (2006). We get into bloodletting, the Tumblr era, listening to Tori in the bath, music from Popeye, and lore from the unsung 00s micro-scene that spawned P Grrrls. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: . 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27871971

Hydrating the Desiccated Legions in Phonographic Evaluation with Wyattxhim 08/23/2023

Hydrating the Desiccated Legions in Phonographic Evaluation with Wyattxhim Wyattxhim's YouTube channel is a rich, one-of-a-kind resource for commentary on black metal, death metal, and all related genres of heavy music. From his album reviews, to iceberg charts, to nuanced video essays, Wyatt’s depth of knowledge, humor, and elite taste have been attracting a rapidly-growing following of extreme music cognoscenti. Wyatt and I talk about crying to Peter Sotos, left-wing black metal that's actually good, the purity of old-school YouTubing, and the importance of challenging one’s own beliefs. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27830163

Practicing Loss with Nick Podgurski 08/14/2023

Practicing Loss with Nick Podgurski Nick Podgurski is a musician, artist, educator, and contemplative mentor interested in transformation and the nature of creativity. Since the 00s, he has been growing a truly unique body of work and thought, with his own projects Feast of the Epiphany and New Firmament, and as a collaborator with GRID, Lydia Lunch, Extra Life, and Yukon. Nick and I go way back, to the original line-up of Extra Life. Nick and I talk about practicing loss, George Gurdjieff, and the importance of Something Else. 👉 Many thanks to my PATREON patrons! Consider becoming one here: . 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 Sign up for the Last Things Newsletter here : /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27746502

The Possessed Synthesizer with Heinali 08/02/2023

The Possessed Synthesizer with Heinali Heinali is the moniker of Oleh Shpudeiko, a composer from Kyiv, Ukraine, whose work reimagines Medieval music with a modular synthesizer, borrowing techniques from contemporary analog synthesis, generative music, and improvisation. His recent activities have been a highly acclaimed live performance from inside a bomb shelter, and a new Heinali record, Kyiv Eternal. His past projects have included installations and collaborations around the world, and the award-winning music for the video game BOUND. We talk about the hollowed-out sacred, Ukrainian artistic identity, possessed synthesizers, generative music as a garden, the deflation of ambient, music education, and trauma. Check out the new Heinali record here: 👉 Many thanks to my PATREON patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 Sign up for the Last Things Newsletter here : /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27638937

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, with Sam Mickens 07/24/2023

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, with Sam Mickens Sam Mickens is a singer, guitarist, composer, and performance artist based in Los Angeles, whose powerful, idiosyncratic work brings together sweet soul, glam rock, classical music, comic books, and professional wrestling. His many projects include The Sam Mickens Ecstatic Showband & Revue, his ‘00s art-rock band, The Dead Science, the theater piece “Kayfabe: Game of Death”, and his many recent solo records. Sam and I go deep here on one of our favorite books, Yukio Mishima’s “The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea", grappling with death, glory, being a touring musician, capital punishment, The Great Cause, and working out your Seppuku muscles. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27553860

Social Death with Patrick Higgins 07/20/2023

Social Death with Patrick Higgins Patrick Higgins is a composer of experimental music, including works for chamber orchestra, string quartet, percussion ensemble, and his own virtuosic and unique language on guitar and electronic processing. He’s been a member of the classic New York avant-garde band ZS since 2012, and his music has been performed around the world. Our conversation gets into Pat’s amazing string quartets, the meaning of narrative in instrumental music, opening up space to think differently, his concept of “social death”, and the moral valence of making experimental music. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here : /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27435120

Refined Ooze with Zev Deans 07/11/2023

Refined Ooze with Zev Deans Visual artist turned music video director, Zev Deans, has been responsible for some of the most iconic visuals in heavy music since 2010, including work with Portal and Behemoth, as well as mainstream artists like St. Vincent. He has also done film restoration work with the HR Giger estate, and fabrication work for Matthew Barney. Zev is a deeply respected and beloved fixture in my corner of culture. Zev and I talk about gentlemen duels, Polish catacombs, deepfakes, the role of AI in his recent work, the legacy of Kenneth Anger, and some upcoming projects that he’s a bit skittish about detailing. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/27424224

Visual Noise with Jesse Moynihan 05/17/2023

Visual Noise with Jesse Moynihan Jesse Moynihan is a cartoonist, storyboard artist, and writer who has worked on Adventure Time, Midnight Gospel and his own critically acclaimed graphic novel series, Forming. Our conversation gets into Jesse's roots in the Philadelphia experimental music scene, the connection of prog rock to animation, the meaning of visual noise, Ai anxiety in art and music, the wackness of '00s New Atheism, and Jesse's newest personal project, Jesus 2. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here : /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26865975

Obscura with Colin Marston 05/08/2023

Obscura with Colin Marston Colin Marston is a prolific multi-instrumentalist and record producer, who has been a vital fixture in the worlds of metal and experimental music since the 00s. Between his bands Krallice, Behold...the Arctopus, and Dysrhythmia, his studio, Menegroth the Thousand Caves, his numerous solo projects and collaborations, and his membership of the reunion line-up of tech-death legends Gorguts, his body of work is immense and many-tentacled. Colin joins me to talk about Gorguts' 1998 avant-garde masterpiece, 'Obscura', regarded as one of the most important records in the history of death metal. 👉 Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: 👉 If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: 👉 If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26781837

The Believer with Jeremiah Cymerman 03/23/2023

The Believer with Jeremiah Cymerman 'The Believer' (2001) is Ryan Gosling's first movie, about a neo-Nazi who's secretly Jewish. It sounds like a Chappelle sketch, but it's a truly deep meditation on both anti- and philo-semitism. Billy Zane plays a Yarvin-esque highbrow reactionary hottie. Jeremiah and I have been obsessed with this film for years. Our discussion takes us through a lesser-known midrash on Isaac vs Jesus, the incomprehensible vs the idiotic, questioning as mystical practice, Marxism, and nothingness-without-end. Many thanks to my patrons! Consider becoming one here: If you'd like to join my Discord server, you can request an invitation here: If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly Last Things newsletter, sign up here: /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26321229

Being and Becoming with Peter Evans 03/14/2023

Being and Becoming with Peter Evans Peter Evans is recognized as one of the world's leading voices on the trumpet, a true innovator on the instrument, as well as an important composer. He's worked with experimental luminaries including John Zorn, Brian Ferneyhough, and Kanye West, and his own music has been performed around the globe to great acclaim. We talk about Peter’s wild new compositions for MIDI piano, AI anxiety, Bach, Onlyfans, the African clave rhythm, and defending Truth and Beauty. Last Things: For video streams, music history videos, and rants, For exclusive streams, music instruction, Charlie Looker music, To stay up to date, /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26222010

Clouded Loops with Dylan Reznick 03/04/2023

Clouded Loops with Dylan Reznick Dylan Reznick is a cloud-rap pioneer, known for his projects FRIENDZONE and Chlorine Mist, as well as his beats and production for A$AP Rocky, Main Attrakionz, Yung Lean, and Mykki Blanco. I've known Dylan since his early days in the amazing weirdo noise crew Religious Girls. We talk about early '10s micro-genres, the collapse of the music press, AI, chopping up vocals, and Dylan's fantastic brand new releases under his Birthplace moniker. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26124180

Plague Mass with M Lamar 03/04/2023

Plague Mass with M Lamar M Lamar, the incomparable composer, artist, operatic countertenor, coiner of the term "negrogothic", good friend, and long-time collaborator of mine, graces the live stream to discuss Diamanda Galas' 1990 live record, 'Plague Mass'. Lamar's work spans opera, metal, performance, video, sculpture and installation to craft sprawling narratives of radical becomings. We talk about mourning, the Devil, how Lamar got to know Diamanda, and questions about the definition of the word "avant garde" This stream was our first collaboration since our short-lived 2018 podcast, 'Fluid Exchange'! /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26124030

Sing Your Life with Karl D'Silva 03/04/2023

Sing Your Life with Karl D'Silva Karl D'Silva is a fascinating figure in the UK underground music scene. His dark electronic pop songs are both subtly slippery and crushingly direct, and he's blessed with the kind of powerhouse singing voice that you just have to hear to believe. He's also prolific as a saxophonist and collaborator in far more overtly experimental contexts, working with Helm, VANISHING, Rian Treanor, Ex-Easter Island Head, and a million others. Here, Karl and I talk a lot about the voice: finding one's own, overcoming shame, and some of Karl's unusual warm-ups and recording techniques. We also talk about Glenn Branca, early industrial music, and the unique realm of the Northern UK. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/26123874

Telekinesis with Tyondai Braxton 12/19/2022

Telekinesis with Tyondai Braxton Tyondai Braxton is a world-renowned composer of orchestral and electronic music, whose body of work has cut across minimalism, dance music, prog rock, film scores, and improvisation. From his accolades as a member of the band Battles in the 00s, to his recent appointment as a professor at Princeton, Ty has remained a brilliant maverick, as well as a truly stand-up person. We talk about the conceptual and compositional foundations of Ty's crushing new orchestral record, 'Telekinesis', his evolution as an artist, and what it means to experience awe. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/25367379

To Pimp a Butterfly with Se'nam Palmer 12/12/2022

To Pimp a Butterfly with Se'nam Palmer Se'nam Palmer describes himself as a 29-year-old black person, musician and faux-losopher. His main band is Crispin Wah. He came by to talk about Kendrick Lamar's 2015 chart-topper, 'To Pimp a Butterfly', which takes us through issues of inner conflict, hoteps, and the joys of being a session musician. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/25306356

Textual Personae with Steff (@poetrygrifter) 12/08/2022

Textual Personae with Steff (@poetrygrifter) Steff (@poetrygrifter) is a semi-anonymous poet and poaster in an MFA creative writing program. We went deep about her adopting of various historical personae in her recent work, today's bleeding edge literary scene, identity politics and representation, the reactionary twitter-sphere, and more. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/25264260

69 Love Songs with Will Samson 12/08/2022

69 Love Songs with Will Samson Will Samson is a music aficionado and co-host of Resident Life Enjoyers 151 podcast. He returns to Last Things to discuss the Magnetic Fields' classic 1999 three-volume opus, '69 Love Songs'. We get into artifice, chord progressions, my complex relationship to twee-ness, and what it means for music to be 'charming'. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/25263891

Timeless Crisis and Undead Music with Björn Schmelzer 12/08/2022

Timeless Crisis and Undead Music with Björn Schmelzer Björn Schmelzer is a Belgian conductor, musicologist, and anthropologist, though he frequently crosses disciplines and incorporates many academic and creative influences in his work. He founded the vocal ensemble Graindelavoix in 1999, a group devoted to radical, heterogeneous reimaginings of vocal music from the Medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary periods. We go deep here, exploring Björn's unique ideas around the meaning of modernity, crisis, and trauma in the artistic experience, the essence of the Gothic, the undead-ness of ancient polyphony, and his critique of reactionary/conservative tendencies in Early Music scholarship. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/25263372

Infant Meat at the Bottom of Heaven with Nandor Nevai 11/08/2022

Infant Meat at the Bottom of Heaven with Nandor Nevai Nandor Nevai is a true American iconoclast and cult figure. A rigorous modernist composer, renegade philosopher, and comedian of the margins, he has waged a decades-long assault on all things digestible and sane. Nevai's own work has intersected with "Brutal Classical", noise, war metal, and improvisation, and his myriad collaborations have included To Live and Shave in L.A., Aborted Christ Childe, and Laundry Room Squelchers. We talk about psychism, free metal, abortion, chem trails, and Nandor's CIA clearance level. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24939399

John Coltrane's 'Crescent' w/ Jeremiah Cymerman 11/08/2022

John Coltrane's 'Crescent' w/ Jeremiah Cymerman 'Crescent' (1964) is my favorite John Coltrane record, and Jeremiah is my favorite guy to chop it up with. This is kind of Trane's goth record, deeply underrated. It sparks off a conversation about humility, lyricism, ecstasy, and the idea of late work. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24937986

Brutal Modernism with Weasel Walter 11/07/2022

Brutal Modernism with Weasel Walter Since the 90s, Weasel Walter has been a prolific and influential force in the worlds of no wave, free jazz, metal, and modern composition. An iconoclastic drummer, guitarist, composer, and improviser, Weasel has led the Flying Luttenbachers, and Cellular Chaos, as well as countless other, more collaborative projects. We talk about Iannis Xenakis, Natasha Leggero, ignorant death metal, and being a musical lifer. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24769449

Rare Reality with Danny Diablo & Paul Delaney 10/05/2022

Rare Reality with Danny Diablo & Paul Delaney International hardcore superstar Danny Diablo aka Lord Ezec (Crown of Thornz, Skarhead) and black metal riff-lord Paul Delaney (Black Anvil) join me to talk about not being pigeon-holed, standing up for your friends even when they’re wrong, helping your fans cut the perfect line of coke, and the Jewish roots of the Ary*n Br*therh**d. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24594681

Uneasy Listening with Hannah A. Barnes 10/05/2022

Uneasy Listening with Hannah A. Barnes Hannah A. Barnes is a composer of powerful, alien chamber and orchestral music, as well as a conductor, and lecturer at DePaul University. We talk about the importance of aesthetic difficulty, accusations of musical fascism, her relationship to the canon, and how her music subverts linear time. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24588690

Sacrificial Violence and NY Muscle with Eugene Robinson 10/05/2022

Sacrificial Violence and NY Muscle with Eugene Robinson Eugene Robinson is one of the most original underground cultural figures of the past 40 years. As the lead singer of numerous projects including Oxbow and Whipping Boy, a renowned martial arts fighter, journalist, and author, Eugene has defied categories and expectations at every turn. We talk about 80s hardcore vs No Wave, Rene Girard, sacrifice, evil, and leaving New York. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24588375

Jane's Addiction with Toby Driver 10/04/2022

Jane's Addiction with Toby Driver Toby Driver is best known as the mastermind of long-running goth-prog legends Kayo Dot, as well as a member of Bloodmist and Secret Chiefs 3. We talk about Jane's Addiction's 1990 record, Ritual de lo Habitual, as well as white dreadlocks, what constitutes New Age music, and Toby's horrific Jane's A concert experience. /episode/index/show/lastthings/id/24587652

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