The Richard Wooten Podcast

Ep20: Gothcast (current faves)

"I'll do anything, to make you..."
 
Recorded 2/18/2022
Every now and then we do a current faves episode to cleanse that palette. For this one we talked about Grave Babies: Holographic Violence, Type-O-Negative: October Rust, and Les Discrets: Predateurs. Along with a bunch of other tangents as per usual
 
00:00 Intro
1:53 Why it’s taking so long to release the episodes and some podcast editing shop talk
11:29 Dan Olsens “Line Goes Up” video, some breatube love, and other folding ideas vids
 
34:51 Topic start and intro
40:15 Grave Babies
1:20:23 Tool’s changing stage presence, Rammstein and Foo Fighter’s mid show acoustic sets, love old bands new albums, and christ adler doesn’t get enough credit
1:31:39 October Rust
2:12:29 The Stadium Arcadium Story ie “Richard is dumb and deprives himself of joy”
2:16:37 Les DiscretsGrave Babies - Holographic Violence
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mWW-2Ep65lf5xanv7s6EKhDf4CHp1cl98
 
Type-O-Negative - October Rust
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lNP0kF67wb3o6plzpuZjMBBpZ6JzARfEY
 
Les Discrets - Prédateurs
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mfbyyavR79g_suuEI15zs5ZdQIgoD0yWk
Line goes up
https://youtu.be/YQ_xWvX1n9g

Ep19: Rich’s Jazz Journey pt2 [playlist included]

Recorded 1/21/2022
 
Part 2: 2003
==============
 
This playlist represents more exploration that occurred while learning/playing jazz in college. Compared to the first playlist this has more music that friends told me about. Things here tend much more toward the fusion side of things. It was interesting to see how some of this hit Robert. We also riff on performance vs composition, hip hop in jazz, cultural appropriation, how this music influenced my improv chops, and challenges in navigating big band charts. 
Preamble
00:00 Intro
00:52 Social Media affecting the creative process
17:31 Bill Hicks spiritual word salad, health & wellness peeps ruined Ram Das for me, nationalism sucks, and armageddon is pure propaganda
35:58 Critical thinking when consuming info and high school football is a misallocation of resources54:28 post columbine high school environment, post 9/11 flights, and Corey Taylor’s antiracist speech at the Pledge of Allegiance tour
Topic
1:05:54 Jazz composition vs performance; cuong vu, herbie hancock, candiria, john zorn, and steve coleman
1:47:57 World music, cultural appropriation, leave Lil Wayne alone, and racist aspects of metal culture
2:08:53 more jazz: mccoy tyner, andre 3000, hip hop & jazz, roy hargrove, and max roach
2:42:30 How this music prepared me for extreme non-jazz improv situations in the yoga and ecstatic dance communities
2:51:48 what makes reading a big band drum chart so hard
3:05:15 frustration of finding jazz/classical music that you like, players vs composition, and wrap up. 
Playlisthttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1ehdPJqgyBbMn3gkqwT-Qp8q
spreadsheet
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1szoNRmO35WWOubjzK8Afl9I89zVgxk00/view?usp=sharing
 
Trio Da Paz - Manhattan Style
Manfredo Fest - Guararpes
Miles Davis - Orbits
McCoy Tyner - search for peace
Max Roach - Driva'man
Jeff Tain Watts - JC is the Man
Steve Coleman and the Metrics - Hyped
Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain, Eric Harland
Candiria - Constant Velocity Is As Natural As Being at Rest
Cuong Vu - Bound
Lake Trout - #2, Little Things
Herbie Hancock - kebero pt.1 (ends at 3:10 in video), essence, be still
John Zorn - You Will Be Shot, Latin Quarter
RH Factor - Hardgroove, I'll Stay (Ft. D'Angelo)

Ep18: Rich’s Jazz Journey pt.1 [playlist included]

Recorded 1/14/2022
Part 1: 2002
==============
 
This is mostly a reflection of how I immersed myself in Jazz when I started taking formal drum lessons in college. My drum instructor made me join the big band so I had a lot to learn fast. This is not a history of jazz or what I think the most important jazz songs are. This is an attempt at identifying the songs that I came across that greatly affected me in one way or another. Some of these songs are very emotional for me, some are just influential to me as a musician or drummer, and some I just like. I also talk a bit about the difference between subgenres of jazz, the history of the drumset, flaws in the perception of music history, and the nature of striving during a performance. 
 
Preamble
00:00 Intro
01:24 Old School recording with Roland Vs1680 and some NFT talk
25:46 Frank Turner lyrics and why I respect KISS’s political stances
Topic
39:12: my first drum lessons with jazz drummer Joel Fulgham 
47:56 Playlist riffage begins. 
 
*Note* Big screw up, around the 2 hr 26 min mark, I forgot that Ella Fitzgerald did Solitude not Billie Holiday. Both are amazing but different, listen 
 
Spreadsheet
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12PXQ5Fz4Q3hIPYgU_H_0HnWpjmcYs69_/view?usp=sharing
 
Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1ehcxkRXE4UaBijlEo55mdxe
 
Buddy Rich - Mercy, Mercy
Miles Davis (trumpet) - So What, Milestones, Seven Steps to Heaven
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - The Opener
Max Roach - For Big Sid
Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five - Heebie Jeebies
Duke Ellington - Black Beauty
Count Basie - Jumpin At The Woodside
Sonny Rollins - St. Thomas
Weather report  - Birdland 
Gordon Goodwin - Count Bubba
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
John Coltrane (tenor) - Pt. 1 Acknowledgement 
Roy Hargrove (trumpet) - O My Seh Yeh

Ep17: Rob’s Fave Video Game OSTs 2014-2021 [Playlist Included]

Recorded 1/6/2022
 
00:00 intro
00:59 Preamble
5:03 Don’t look up 
47:16 Type O Negative makes sad man music and October Rust has programmed drums?!?!
 
57:00 topic start
1:05:10 Undertale
1:29:10 Rando Percussion talk, Shovel Knight, and Retro Game riffage
1:39:32 Nier Automata
1:55:24 Necrodancer and Persona 5
2:12:24 Garth Brooks story and beer rant
2:21:00 What the F*#k kind of game is Inscryption?!
2:31:54 Gravity Rush
2:55:16 bonus
Rob sez:
 
Why these specific games/tracks:
==============
Special to me/nostalgia
Tended to favor rhythmically interesting over atmospheric for Richard's benefit
Just good tunes
There are many other tracks from games that I love, but weren't as interesting to talk about or required specific experience because they're more mood builders/enhancers
 
Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzvA9F-7moDf-8u-IItwhxzCezQ9P5D
 
Part 4: 2014 - 2021
===============
Shovel Knight
- Jake Kaufman, USA, 2014, Retro Platformer, Difficult
Undertale
- Toby Fox, USA, 2015, RPG, Absurdist humor, Sincerity
Gravity Rush 2
- Kohei Tanaka, Japan, 2017, Anti-gravity 3D Platformer, Ghibli-esque world
Nier: Automata
- Various, Japan, 2017, Action RPG, Character-focused, Existential dread, Hope?
Persona 5
- Shoji Meguro, Lyn Inaizumi, etc, Japan, 2016, Modern-day Supernatural Japanese RPG
Crypt of the Necrodancer
- Danny Baranowsky, USA, 2015, Rhythm, Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike
Inscryption
- Jonah Senzel, USA, 2021, Room Escape, Card Battler, Roguelike, Seeecrets

Ep16: Rob’s Fave Video Game OSTs 2009-2012 [Playlist Included]

Recorded 11/19/2021
 
00:00 Intro
01:26 Preamble: Kevin smith aint hurting anybody, Rob Zombie makes trauma films not horror films, what and boys in Live have in common with fauxcest, and more
23:09 When did our tastes diverge and why didn’t Rob go deeper into extreme metal. Includes riffing on Strapping young lad, meshuggah, fear factory, electronic music, black sabbath, our different approaches to our instruments, and nitpicking metal subgenres)
01:02:32 Why this format is so interesting to me
 
01:07:27 Topic intro
1:12:10 Inmomentum
1:20:44 Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery
1:26:37 Binding of Isaac
1:47:56 Shatter
1:57:39 digression about being consistent when deviating from artistic norms and guitar usage in video game osts
2:10:25 Fez
2:18:45 Nier:Gestalt (“The reason these playlists exist”)
2:38:20 Dustforce
2:40:53 Demon’s souls 
2:50:39 why these games
Rob sez:
 
Why these specific games/tracks:
==============
Special to me/nostalgia
Tended to favor rhythmically interesting over atmospheric for Richard's benefit
Just good tunes
There are many other tracks from games that I love, but weren't as interesting to talk about or required specific experience because they're more mood builders/enhancers
 
Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzvA9F-7mpmLmUV5VyyUEweurMEEGlP
 
Part 3: 2009 - 2013
===============
Demon’s Souls
- Shunsuke Kida, Japan, 2009, Action RPG, Methodical, Masochistic, Weird?
Inmomentum
- Gareth Coker, United Kingdom, 2011, Parkour, Rhythm
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery
- Jim Guthrie, Canada, 2011, Adventure, Atmospheric
The Binding of Isaac
- Danny Baranowsky, USA, 2011, Roguelike, Religious, Gory, Grotesque
Shatter
- Module, New Zealand, 2009, Arcade, Frenetic, Breakout-like
Fez
- Disasterpeace, USA, 2012, Platformer, Puzzle, Mysterious, Fourth-wall
Nier: Gestalt
- Keiichi Okabe & Emi Evans, Japan, 2010, Action RPG, Character-focused, Existential dread
Dustforce
- Lifeformed, Taiwan, 2012, Time/score attack, Precision platformer, Janitorial

Ep15: Richard’s Exposure to Death Metal Pt2 [playlist included]

The Middle Period and Suffocation 2002-2016
recorded 11/04/2021
 
00:00 Intro
00:52 Making art, getting distract with business stuff, and my plans for the pod
15:35 Rob’s tiny social battery and socializing in the pando
27:45 Richard joined some online bands and it’s awesome
 
35:28 Topic overview
38:24 Group 1(opeth, god dethroned, dimmu…)1:21:18 The gospel of crotchduster
1:26:49 Gojira
1:35:20 Group 2 (Nile, decapitated, necrophagist…)
1:56:46 Group 3 (Suffocation lovefest, my return to the extreme, and meeting the guys)
Part 2: The Middle Period and Suffocation 2002-2016
==============
This carries on with death metal and death metal inspired music that I was exposed to throughout the 00s, mostly through friends etc… Then in 2016, on a whim, I went to the summer slaughter tour and saw/heard suffocation for the first time and it changed my life. Partly because Suffocation is amazing and I had somehow avoided hearing them until that day and also because of their new drummer at the time, Eric Morotti. I had never heard an extreme metal drummer sound that good live. Ever. Seeing him play live inspired me to get back into this style of drumming. 
 
Playlists==============
Youtube playlist: 
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1eg6h7mYM8JQObw4uZyNXMRw
 
Spreadsheet:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ra9tJPyd2i7AUKmHRR1JfJM8gyA4hkxY/view?usp=sharing
 
Eric Morotti Links:
Liege of Inveracity (for maximum kick clarity)
https://youtu.be/F0VHIil0nSw
 
Clarity Through Deprivation Live (start around the 1:54 mark for maximum effect)
https://youtu.be/MoGTOisf9LM
 
Here is a full show of the lineup that I saw, really good overall sound. Maybe skip around in here. 
https://youtu.be/dpZWrRdpE8s
Songs
==============
Group 1: 2002-2007
Opeth  - Deliverance
God Dethroned  -  Serpent King, Nocturnal, Execution Protocol
Dimmu Borgir  -  Blessing Upon the Throne of Tyranny
Strapping Young Lad  -  Force Fed
Cephalic Carnage  -  Scolopendra Cingulata, Foruitous Oddity, Black Metal Sabbath
Crotchduster  -  Let me into Starfish Land
Bloodbath  -  Eaten
Gojira  -  Backbone
 
Group 2: 2009-2011
Nile  -  Utterances of the Crawling Dead
Necrophagist  -  Stabwound
Decapitated  -  Day 69
Arch Enemy  -  Enemy Within
Amon Amarth  -  Valhalla Awaits Me
Group 3:  Suffocation (Summer Slaughter 2016)
Suffocation   -  Thrones of Blood, Pierced From Within, Funeral Inception, Entrails of You, As Grace Descends

Ep14: Richard’s Early Exposure to Grindcore and Death Metal pt1 [playlist included]

recorded 10/28/20212
 
Preamble
00:00 intro
00:41 Pantera is amazing live and metal bands sounded like garbage live in the mid to late 2000s
20:46 Sting, police reunion tour, and learning odd times from Joel
30: 52 Richard’s compass graph for rock drummers (Ringo, Bonham, Neil, and Stewart)
37:52 Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters
 
Death Metal
50:19 Topic overview
1:01:36 Group 1 (Morbid Angel etc…)
1:55:45 Group 2 (Cradle of Filth, Emperor, etc…)
2:11:27 Slipknot and eeyore shoutout to Cj
2:21:54 Group 3 (Terrorizer, Napalm 
2:39:16 Honorable mentions (slayer, slipknot)
2:49:59 Outro
 
Part 1: The Early Years 1998-2002
==============
 
This list is in chronological order of the death metal and grindcore I was exposed to. Not all of these bands are strictly grindcore or death metal but the songs contain elements of these genres. The songs often represent an early exposure to one or more of those elements (guttural vocals, blast beats, grindy D-beats, etc..). 
 
Ace Ventura clip:
https://youtu.be/8dM_TN7I5m8
 
Playlist: 
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1ehmG7qaMVl5d7EmfwcZUyy1
 
Spreadsheet:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ra9tJPyd2i7AUKmHRR1JfJM8gyA4hkxY/view?usp=sharing
 
Honorable mentions playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1ejXOqB5ZS8d5ZuYjlYzOK89
Group 1: 1998, Early Exploration
Morbid Angel  -  Nothing is Not, Heaving Earth
Fear Factory  -  Scapegoat
Human Remains  -  Weeding out the Thorns, Waste of Time
Arch Enemy  -  Beast of Man
Strapping Young Lad  -  All Hail the New Flesh
Grave  -  Restrained
Nile  -  Barra Edinazzu
At the gates  -  Blinded by Fear
Carcass  -  No Love Lost
Cryptopsy  -  Slit Your Guts
 
Group 2: 1999-2000
Testament  -  Demonic Refusal
Cradle of Filth  -  Desire in Violent Overture
Emperor  -  Curse you all men
slipknot  -  eeyore
Lock up  -  Submission
Brujeria  -  Pititis Te Invoco, Labratorio Cristalitos
Morbid Angel  -  Summoning Redemption

 
Group 3: Emusic research
Terrorizer  -  After World Obliteration
Napalm Death  -  Scum
Napalm Death  -  Evolved as One, It's a MANS World
Opeth  -  Demon of the Fall
 
Group 4: Honorable mentions, not included in main playist
 Slayer  -  Angel of Death (main riff and double bass), Necrophobic
Emperor  -  Ye entrancemperium, loss and curse of reverence 
Slipknot  -  surfacing (palm muted bridge riff), People=shit (intro),  Disasterpiece     (second half)
System of a Down  -  X (verses)

Ep13: Rob’s Fave Video Game OSTs 2001-2008 [Playlist Included]

recorded 10/21/2021 with Robert Rabel
 
Intro: 00:00
Preamble
FD Signifier, Kanye, Kayfabe in metal/rap music, and Kayfabe Kowalcyk: 00:37
Bad Author Friend and virtue signaling: 40:07
 
Topic Overview: 49:31
Playlist Breakdown (Silent Hill, Eve, & Half-Life): 1:10:24
Synthwave will be the Yacht Rock of our Generation: 1:38:11
Rob’s Top 3 games and cool af grandparents: 1:50:34
More Playlist (splinter cell, persona, & portal): 1:53:28
Rob sez:
 
Why these specific games/tracks:
==============
Special to me/nostalgia
Tended to favor rhythmically interesting over atmospheric for Richard's benefit
Just good tunes
There are many other tracks from games that I love, but weren't as interesting to talk about or required specific experience because they're more mood builders/enhancers
 
Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzvA9F-7mpJ07a58uks6PLB_o1qCVXM
 
Part 2: 2001 - 2008
===============
Silent HIll 2
- Akira Yamaoka, 2001, Supernatural Religious Psychological Survival-horror
Silent HIll 3
- Akira Yamaoka, 2003, Supernatural Religious Psychological Survival-horror
Eve Online
- Jón Hallur Haraldsson, 2003, Lonely Deep Space Ship-building MMO
Half Life 2
- Kelly Bailey, 2004, Story-focused Sci-fi Shooter
Half Life 2: Episode 1
- Kelly Bailey, 2006, Story-focused Sci-fi Shooter
Half Life 2: Episode 2
- Kelly Bailey, 2007, Story-focused Sci-fi Shooter
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
- Amon Tobin, 2005, Globe-trotting Political Stealth
Persona 3
- Shoji Meguro, 2006, Modern-day Supernatural Japanese RPG
Persona 4
- Shoji Meguro, 2008, Modern-day Supernatural Japanese RPG
Portal
- Jonathan Coulton, 2007, Sci-fi Puzzle FPS

Ep12: Rob’s Fave Video Game OSTs 1991 - 2000 [Playlist Included]

recorded 10/14/2021 with Robert Rabel
 
Rob's favorite Video Game OSTs Pt1
 
Intro: 00:00
Overview and general impressions: 00:43
Playlist Breakdown: 34:42
Stuck Mojo digression: 1:24:03
Wrap up: 1:31:40
 
Rob sez:
 
Why these specific games/tracks:
==============
Special to me/nostalgia
Tended to favor rhythmically interesting over atmospheric for Richard's benefit
Just good tunes
There are many other tracks from games that I love, but weren't as interesting to talk about or required specific experience because they're more mood builders/enhancers
 
Why this is an especially difficult topic:
==============
So much of what music does for a game comes from the context in which it is experienced. This means that without the visuals, control feel, sound effects, story, characters, etc that comprise a game, you're never going to get the full understanding of what the music "means" to the experience.
 
Also: better to do a more personal retrospective or a more medium-representative one? I went with personal, since you can find any number of Best Gaming OSTs of the 90s/00s/10s out there, and they usually contain the same few games. Or stuff like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or Grand Theft Auto which contain primarily or solely licensed music created outside the scope of the game. All of the music I've chosen for these lists was written specifically for these games, often in creative tandem.
 
Very interested to see how these hit Richard's ear, because despite me still *believing* that I think it's all good music, I can't honestly say that I'm hearing it objectively. For instance, every track on here (to varying extents) calls to mind some part of the game it's from and even some tangentially related memories.
 
Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzvA9F-7moCMAnko3hlnRAzv_FWxjTg
 
Part 1: 1991-2000
==============
Sonic the Hedgehog 1
- Masato Nakamura, 1991, Mascot platformer, Fast
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Masato Nakamura, 1992, Mascot platformer, Fast
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Various (and more, incl. Michael Jackson), 1994, Mascot platformer, Fast
Streets of Rage 1
- Yuzo Koshiro, 1991, Beat-em-up
Streets of Rage 2
- Yuzo Koshiro, 1992, Beat-em-up
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Michiru Yamane, 1997, Metroidvania (the O.G.)
Final Fantasy VII
- Nobuo Uematsu, 1997, JRPG
Deus Ex
- Alexander Brandon (and more, incl. Reeves Gabrels), 2000, Immersive Sim
Pictionary
- Tim Follin (Tim chill it's just Pictionary), 1990, Board Game

Ep11: The Triumphs and Cringey Faceplants of Live Pt2

Recorded 10/7/2021 with Robert Rabel
https://youtu.be/dn12l0fGsDs
 
Here we speculate what exactly Ed Kowalcyk was thinking as his desire to destroy his band’s career migrated from his subconscious to conscious.
 
I use this as a starting point to reflect on my own experiences concerning the desire to be spiritual while wrestling with my unnamed performative masculinity. I projected much of this onto Ed, sometimes unfairly but sometimes… he really deserves it. 
Preamble “what have we been listening to recently?”
01:34 start
08:47 Mastodon, metal elitists, and breaking Kayfabe in metal
48:05 Kanye’s first few records, different forms of racism, and why Richard doesn’t jump to criticize Kanye’s public shenanigans 
01:11:16 Deal with the Live BS
01:12:56 Distance to Here
01:21:36 V… briefly
01:26:03 Birds of Pray
01:36:46 Songs from Black Mountain
01:41:39 Band breakup, solo projects, Gracious Few, and born again BS
01:47:08 the turn  and Jerry “miracle editor” Harrison
01:50:10 “I still have so much to learn from the songs I’ve written”  and other full of sh*t, things Ed says in this interview https://youtu.be/sCqCJGz7-8o
02:09:53 Deep analysis of the lyric Horror that is V 
02:40:32 Eastern philosophy, performative masculinity, and the allure of being born again. Richard reflects on the parallels between Ed’s journey and his. 
Live is a great band
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1ehStiqsl-NmFWGAvJB1UOJj
 
Live writes terrible songs
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDy9MGihz1egRJAbHpznY0_pQXRqhHiIk