Sardonic and decidedly leftist political podcast Chapo Trap House are launching a new history podcast series, Hell on Earth: The 30 Years War and the Violent Birth of Capitalism, on January 11. Here’s the description from the PR:
It’s a 10 episode deep dive into the very confusing and cataclysmic conflict in 17th century Europe, all the causes and repercussions of it, and how it birthed modernity and capitalism as we know it. But it’s also the story of climate change, financial collapse, moral panics, speculative bubbles, pandemic, crisis in institutional legitimacy, of conspiracy theories driving policy, and an information revolution that changes the way everyday people relate to their political leaders.
You can listen to a 20-minute preview of Hell on Earth below, and they will be in Brooklyn for a live episode taping at Littlefield on January 20.
Meanwhile, Chapo Trap House’s Will Menaker, Felix Biederman, Matt Christman and Chris Wade have given us their Best of 2022 lists, which includes music (Donzii, Viagra Boys, King Gizzard, more), other podcasts, and more. Read their lists, complete with commentary, below.
CHAPO TRAP HOUSE – BEST OF 2022
Will Menaker
“Unsubscribe Me, Don’t Buy My Music” by RXK Nephew
No song better captures the unhinged feeling of the last two years for me than this song. Probably listened to this one more than I should have.
“Naatu Naatu” from the RRR soundtrack
The best song, from the best scene of the best movie of the year.
“Green Elevator” by Donzii
Donzii opened for us in Ft. Lauderdale. They also opened for New Order. By transitive properties that makes me as good as New Order.
Felix Biederman
“Rumors” by Gucci and Lil Durk, that’s the song of the year.
7220 by Lil Durk
My favorite album of the year. 7220 was great. No notes. I am not a music writer. I am not going to call it iridescent.
Matt Christman
Roger Miller’s “Dang Me.” Miller is an American bard. There should be a Roger Miller jukebox musical set in a 30s Hobo Jungle.
Chris Wade
1. The most meaningful music to me this year is from all the bands that opened for us on tour this year:
Donzii – “Grave”
2nd-ing Will’s Donzii rec: Donzii just put out a new album like, today. Tremendously fun, icy, spikey no-wave/post-punk with vocals that veer between sultry and confrontational.
Somehow Miami, Florida of all places produced the new Siouxsie and the Banshees
95 Bulls – “Golden Tooth”
One of NYC’s best case for DIY’s not dead, infectious whip crack punk tunes & dive bar bangers from one of the most fun live acts I’ve had the joy of seeing all over the city,
from Our Wicked Lady to with Chapo on Broadway. Em Ash is a star!
L.A. Witch -“Fire Starter”
Tho the album’s from 2020, we got to have LA Witch open for us in, appropriately, LA. Road house rock that seems cut for a Tarantino flick or the Bang Bang Bar. Top down road trip through the desert tunes.
Solipse – “The News Unfit”
Propulsive, yearning indie from our friend Charles Austin from the Episode 1 podcast. And If I can double plug Charles’ work, Episode 1 also put out their 2nd compilation of music from the show this year, “Pitchfork Gave This a 9.3” that is, for my money, the best collection of song/genre parody tracks I’ve heard outside “Weird” Al.
2. Some Personal Favs:
Viagra Boys – “Ain’t No Thief”
Ain’t No Thief SOTY, Cave World AOTY and Viagra Boys BOTY for me. We had Jerry Casale from DEVO on the showearlier this year and we’re kind of discussing if there were any bands that carried Devo’s mantle today. Well, after becoming obsessed with this album, then especially seeing them live, Viagra Boys easily take the title. Just a wild collection of insanely raucous, funny, synth & sax spiked punk tunes, each in turn looking at a world full of irrationality, insanity, squares & rubes and concluding a life of degeneracy is the only logical choice. Leave society, be a monke.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – “The Dripping Tap”
I’d known of them for a few years but 2022 is the year I took the Gizzpill (seeing them live twice def helped). I really appreciate that these guys can sound like anything from Metallica to CAN to like, MGMT, (often better than those groups themselves), when they want to. Here’s one song that contains all those elements together in one 20-min jam. And it’s just one song of one of the FOUR albums plus other releases they put out this year. I’m also just very grateful we’ve got this whole constellation of new psych/prog/garage groups out there now, including my beloved Osees (who also put out some great releases this year) and Frankie and the Witch Fingers, who we got to see while playing Pickathon this year and also blew me away!
Northern Boys – “Party Time”
See, you think this is gonna be a joke, then you actually start listening to it and are like “how is this real?” Apparently there’s a whole scene of elderly British men doing really credible grime/drill/hip-hop over the UK, who knew? Add it to the seemingly endless list of great new acts flowing out of that island right now. Anyway, this song is fun as hell, the American Boy sample has never sounded harder, and my wife and I are just constantly mumbling lines from this track back and forth to each other; “gotta go and take a number three / that’s a piss and a shit and a wank in a tree”
