Joe Juba is on CrossFade! Ask Him Stuff About Music or Whatever!

Nick from Atlanta

I have a very silly question for you two. What's better, a) All the music of the musical group Boston, or b) All the music about the city of New York? Answer wisely, as the other city may bar you from entering. -Nick from Atlanta

There are some groups where the music would sound flat or generic if the vocalist didn't have such a signature style, but IMO it's never the most important part. Easy to become a crutch actually (like that recent Tom's Diner cover everyone's freaking out about). July Talk is my go-to example of a band that makes good use of vocal idiosyncrasies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCN6OlpVuxw I started listening to Prince Daddy & The Hyena (h/t former CrossFade guest Blake Hester) and their vocalist has become a recent but less extreme example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5IV3vrJPus

whitemex

In your opinion, what makes a cover good or bad? Can you give examples of each and why? My song choice is a cover itself https://open.spotify.com/track/3GjL3KSjADxjGbKSZLeClC?si=8Wv4I3QZQdu9Q1Kaatb7hg&utm_source=copy-link

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats has a very distinctive and instantly recognizable voice, like say The Tallest Man On Earth or the Alt-J's singer. How important do you find this? What are some of your favourite unique and distinctive voices?

YokaiBlotch

What are some game/movie/tv soundtracks you absolutely love but have never played or watched? For example, I love the Katamari Damacy and Gravity Rush 2 soundtracks but have never played the games. Song suggestion - Rum Pum Pum by Lee Jin Ah: https://youtu.be/FmRXxNg3wIc Lee Jin Ah is a jazz pianist/singer-song writer who makes kpop music. Love the vocals and instruments in this song!

How long do you have to listen to an artist before you KNOW they're one of your favorites?

Just wanted to give praise to Joe for The Mountain Goats pick! I'd personally put Darnielle down as the Dylan of our time. Song suggestion is my personal favorite, happy TMG song. https://open.spotify.com/track/3TDMylLFIdog58gdTjeauu?si=23tELgLDSuyVy4GUhGRLqg&utm_source=copy-link

Mike Lynch

Hey Joe! As a long-time editor, did it ever bother you seeing people shorten words and drop punctuation in order to meet the character limit in their Tweets? ***** https://open.spotify.com/track/6kqXaZrIDOmA177KL9LHHf?si=tm0wtrU3T765tDu7-Wxo6g&utm_source=copy-link

Jason Wojnar

https://open.spotify.com/track/3bzBGZgWh4ldE7p5QHA9r9?si=63f084a1c5a94075 My suggestion is The Two Rings or Два Перстені, written by Volodymyr Ivasyuk and performed by Sofia Rotaru. Maybe I'm double-dipping with my song suggestions by including another song from the same album as last time, but it's just soooooooo damn good. The bass playing in particular is pure fire.

James Gameboy

What are some ACTUALLY good music videos? It seems rare (to me) for a music video to add anything meaningful to a song, or for it to be a better experience than just hearing it. I feel a bit bad for being dismissive of an entire medium, but I'm really and truly not interested in seeing bands pretend to play and sing.

umryan

Missed opportunity to make this a Purple Mountains Goats episode. RIP David Berman though, so sad.

I definitely agree with this! John Darnielle is just a good writer in all aspects.

PhillyYeetSteak

A suggestion for a song to cover! "Machine" by Misterwives. I love the mix of pop and aggression, and this was the song that made me check out the band's other albums. Good stuff! https://open.spotify.com/track/33yQjYsn7eCY2L23JX0m2b?si=0EPu7c_DSNuHrdPJijC6yw&utm_source=copy-link

Jordan Greer

Hey Joe, just want to say that if you like Mountain Goats and video games, check out John Darnielle's books. Good reads with themes of escapism.