Podcast hosts Sarah Dowdey and Deblina Chakraborty share Soundtrack memories from their college days
Sarah Dowdey: I started listening to the New Pornographers in the last few months of college. They were easy to like — a big sound, very fun, and all with fantastic solo projects that I came to know over the next year or so. Many of their songs are favorites, but the top spot goes to the The Bleeding Heart Show off of Twin Cinema. In spring of 2008, I went back to my college town, Athens, GA, to see a show at the historic Georgia Theatre for their Challengers Tour. Apparently their first foray to Athens years earlier hadn’t been a great success, and they were determined to more-than-impress the already thrilled crowd. Dan Bejar (of Destroyer) hadn’t made the show, and Neko Case was stuck perched on a stool thanks to a broken ankle, but by the time they got the encore, The Bleeding Heart Show — which already has a dramatic build — the old wooden movie theatre was shaking. Since then, it’s been my favorite song of theirs; I thought of it a year after the show, when the Georgia Theatre burned in a major fire, and again last year when it finally reopened, restored and ready for more music. Listen to the New Pornographers on Last.fm
Deblina Chakraborty: Pinback’s third album, Summer in Abaddon, came out the year after I moved to Boston and in pretty short order, provided the background music for just about everything I did — studying for grad school, working long hours at my publishing job, trudging home on cold, snowy nights. As I found my way in my new city, the mix of tracks — including AFK and Non Photo-Blue — always seemed to provide exactly what I needed: great, energetic rhythms to groove to when I was in the mood to focus and get creative, and a healthy dose of melancholy for the homesick moments and mini-setbacks. Listening to Abaddon kicked off a full-on obsession with Pinback’s music that continues today. But that particular album is special because it takes me back to a time in my life when I was growing up, in a way, and to a city where I no longer live, but will always love. Listen to Pinback on Last.fm
Sarah and Deblina are the hosts of the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast, which explores world history at HowStuffWorks.com
