The Millennial Hour

Today we talk about rock artists doing soundtracks to movies and documentaries. We also discuss our different ideas of what a rock opera is supposed to be. Colleen dishes about the smash musical "Rent" while Judson defends Greenday's "American Idiot" as a cultural touchstone.

Would you not work with somebody if their political views clashed with your own? What if that wouldn't impact the work you're doing in any way? Would you rather debate somebody from across the aisle or shut them out entirely? All good questions! We're not sure if we answered any of them, but we did manage to talk about Judson's musical alter ego, and how we need a new name for him. Rock on. Millennials.

We're back at it with our listening party. This week, rather than listening to music that neither of us are familiar with, we took turns spinning tracks that one of us love, and the other is a virgin to! Colleen takes Judson into the moody world of Mono and Bon Iver for the first time. Judson responds by introducing Colleen to the masterpiece that is Dream Theater's Metropolis Pt. 2, Scenes from a Memory, specifically the track "Home". Enjoy!

Theres a first time for everything! Here at the Millennial Hour, we like to think we know everything...because...of course we do. We got trophy's for showing up and stuff when we were kids. I heard the other day that over half high school students now graduate with an A- average, tell me it's not getting worse with time....um, I digress... Anyway, even though we know everything, it turns out that each of us knows different things. And we had very different listening experiences growing up. And we have different listening experiences than what turns out to be, almost everyone else. In this episode, we listen to some very popular tracks that neither of us have heard before. We also listen to some tracks that one of us may be familiar with, but the other is clueless about. Today we listen, for the first time, to Drake's One Dance, to John Adams' Phrygian Gates, to OutKast's Elevators and to Mumford and Sons Little Lion Man. Ok, maybe we've heard one of these before.

Each topic means different things to different people. In Judson's case, any subject related to the health and longevity of his beloved electric guitar deserves two episodes of discussion at least! We talk about possible solutions to 'Merica's current lack of an electric guitar icon and more in this week's episode. Also, Paul McCartney has finally gotten the rights to The Beatles' catalogue of music. We weigh in on that as well. In the meantime, stay young, forever.

Electric guitar needs a hero. At least that's what one NPR story is putting forth. In this two parter, we get two very different perspectives on the electric guitar as a cultural touchstone. Judson, has idolized guitarists his whole life, even for the 15 years he wasn't a guitarist. Colleen, on the other hand, has dedicated her life to music, yet has never played electric guitar, and sees the instrument as an important piece of a pop ensemble rather than the be all and end all of artistic expression. Check out our conversation here and please check out the link to the NPR story below! http://www.npr.org/2017/07/02/535235697/why-does-the-electric-guitar-need-a-hero