Indiecast

Steven and Ian open by talking about J. Cole’s botched diss track targeted at Kendrick Lamar (0:26). Is it lame to record a diss track and immediately apologize? Or is this actually a sign of personal growth? From there, the guys talk about the slumping ticket sales for Coachella (12:43). Is this a temporary bump or is the festival headed for a permanent downturn?

The guys also check in with the Fantasy Album Draft, with th...

This week's episode opens with Steven and Ian remembering the old Pitchfork "stunt" review of Jet's 2006 album Shine On (0:27), which was dissected this week in an article by The Ringer. While stunt reviews are kind of dumb, Steven and Ian still miss them a little. The guys also explore the indie-rock guest stars on Beyoncé's new blockbuster album Cowboy Carter (7:11), including Adam Granduciel, Jonathan Rado, and some dud...

Steven and Ian begin this week's episode in an unlikely place — a discussion of the 2010 comedy Get Him To The Greek, which in light of the recent (horrifying) Sean Combs' news might be the most canceled film of the 21st century. From there, they quickly pivot to two other films about musicians, the forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet and a reported Bruce Springsteen film starring Th...

Steven and Ian begin this week's episode with a very non-indie rock topic — the story about Bruno Mars owing $50 million to a Las Vegas casino (4:29). They shoehorn a brief Sportscast about the emerging gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani, lamenting the bad side effects of gambling while also hoping to get some gambling sponsorships for the Fantasy Albums Draft. Speaking of which: Ian is killing Steven once again...

Steven and Ian open this week's episode by rehashing a surprising trend from last week — Indiecast angered some people online! The (minor) mishap prompts a discussion about previous Indiecast-related controversies. After that they proceed to a quick Sportscast about the latest insanity over Aaron Rodgers, and Steven's inability to simply enjoy the biggest Wisconsin sports stars (9:34).

Next, they talk about the recent contr...

Indiecast went on as usual last week, but Steven and Ian haven't actually recorded together in about two weeks. (It feels more like six months.) Steven was off recording the audiobook of his forthcoming Springsteen book There Was Nothing You Could Do (out May 28!), and he recounts the experience. (It was hard but rewarding!) (9:45). After a brief tangent about the recent "13 Albums To Know You" prompt that went v...

Was this a big indie news week? Steven and Ian hope it wasn't. Steven was off recording the audiobook version of his forthcoming book There Was Nothing You Could Do (out May 28, you can pre-order now!) so the guys had to bank this episode ahead of time. And you can immediately tell this was a banked episode, as they spend several minutes talking about the Kings Of Leon album that was announced last week. The...

Steven and Ian begin this week's episode with an impromptu Moviecast about the news that Sam Mendes is directing four separate biopics about each member of The Beatles. Steven has often said that he can't ever have too much Beatles content, but this might finally test that theory. The guys also try to think about music biopics that are actually good, and come up with 24 Hour Party People, Superstar: The Karen Car...

Steven and Ian open this week's episode by doing something they promised themselves they wouldn't do — taking shots at the new Idles album out today, TANGK (Even the title is annoying). Of course they then proceed with a quick Sportscast about the Super Bowl in which Steven explains how he can't bring himself to hate the Kansas City Chiefs in their current "dominant" era (5:05). During the Fantasy Draft upda...

Steven and Ian start today's episode with an in-depth critical analysis of one of the hottest songs in pop right now, Ice Spice's "Think U The Shit (Fart)." Probably too in-depth, really. But the song is truly a rich text. From there they do the inevitable Sportscast on this weekend's Super Bowl game. Anyone who gets their sports news from indie rock podcasts will want to hear Steven and Ian's predictions (6:51)....

Steven and Ian begin this week's episode by discussing the recent story about Talking Heads being offered $80 million to reunite for some festival gigs... and turning it down. Do they really hate each other that much? Or do they accept that you can't perform Stop Making Sense-style magic in your 70s? (2:34) The guys also apologize to the city of San Francisco for some recent sports-related slander and check ...

Today's episode begins with a quick Sportscast in which Steven mourns the defeat of his surprisingly good Green Bay Packers and pays tribute to the lovable Detroit Lions (3:49). He and Ian also compare Detroit and San Francisco as music cities — it's Bob Seger vs. Huey Lewis time! Then they do a quick update of the winter Fantasy Albums Draft, as it is a big day for Steven's team with new releases by The Smile an...

Steven and Ian recorded this week's episode a day earlier than normal, which means that the guys just missed the big (and bad) news about Pitchfork suffering massive layoffs and being folded into GQ. So they got together later and recorded an emergency 30-minute segment about what this all means for the fragile music media ecosystem and put it before the proper episode.

In the proper episode, they did a ...

Before Steven and Ian get into this week's episode, they had to hash out a longer-than-usual Sportscast about their respective football teams (the Packers and the Eagles) making the playoffs and the absolutely insane and hateful video Stephen A. Smith dropped about Jason Whitlock this week. Sports media in general is melting down this year, and the guys can't get enough. After that, they revisit their predictions made at t...

Steven and Ian have not recorded an episode in three weeks. Can you believe it? So there was a lot to talk about in the latest installment of Indiecast, starting with what the guys did over the holiday break. Ian won a ton of money playing fantasy football and Steven watched Paul Giamatti go full-Giamatti in The Holdovers (5:13). Once they were caught up with holiday talk, the guys paid tribute to Best Buy no lon...

Last week, Steven and Ian kicked off part one of their most sacred annual tradition, the Indiecasties. This week, they bring home part two. (This is a banked episode so if any major indie-rock news occurred this week, the guys won't be talking about it.)

Part one had many incredible categories. But Steven and Ian saved the really good stuff for this week. Categories include Biggest Disappointment (3:12), The Album We're Mos...

As we near the end of 2023, the time has come for Steven and Ian to revive their most sacred annual tradition: The Indiecasties! Like the Oscars, the Indiecasties goes long every year, so we actually are splitting it up into two episodes. (Part two drops next week.) Before that, however, the guys do a quick Sportscast about a wild week in Wisconsin-based athletics, including a Packers loss to Tommy DeVito and Giannis losin...

It's that time of the year again when critics try to think of every record they heard in the previous 11 months and determine their favorites. Steven and Ian are up to the challenge in this week's episode. But first they talk about the stock albums that seem to populate these lists — the "arty" and "obscure" hip-hop record with an unpronounceable name, the near-unlistenable "acclaimed" death-metal record, the "accessible" ...

It's the calm before the storm on the show this week — Steven and Ian are working on their year-end albums lists ahead of the big reveal in early December (1:57), so in the meantime they decided to answer to some listener questions. But before that, Ian shared the shocking news that he watched The Last Waltz for the first time over the Thanksgiving break. What did Ian think of this foundational film in Steven's l...