Junk Filter

TEASER - 230: Prefab Sprout: Jordan: The Comeback (with Jared Bailey)

Access this entire 161-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes, including the entire Prefab Sprout series) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/230-prefab-with-154429820On the fifth episode of the Junk Filter miniseries exploring the work of the cult UK band Prefab Sprout, Jared Bailey, the cohost of the Southern Accents pod, returns from Columbia, South Carolina to discuss their magnum opus, 1990’s Jordan: The Comeback.Conceived by frontman Paddy McAloon as a collection of “nuclear-powered Walt Disney film themes,” the 19-track album was produced by Thomas Dolby and reportedly cost half a million dollars. Structurally, it's divided into four distinct suites: a set of pop songs, a galaxy-brained section centered on Elvis Presley (including the idea of his faked death and surprise return), a medley of love songs, and a final movement contemplating God, death, and redemption.On Jordan, McAloon fuses the accessible melodicism of The Beatles and The Beach Boys with the lyrical and musical intricacy of Steely Dan, all filtered through his own literary and theatrical sensibilities, to create a dreamy, atmospheric, forward-facing masterpiece that sounds like nothing else and holds great appeal to modern ears. Jared and I go track-by-track on the album, which includes many of the band’s greatest songs.My thanks to the Sproutology website, the ultimate online resource for the band.Follow Jared Bailey on Twitter and Bluesky. Jared is the co-host (with @fenderbelly) of the new Tom Petty podcast Southern Accents. Listen to the show and support their Patreon!Radio Love (Prefab Sprout b-side from 1982)Music video for Carnival 2000 (1990)

229: The Secret Agent (with Gus Lanzetta)

CW: Spoilers for The Secret Agent.Writer and podcaster Gus Lanzetta joins us from São Paulo for a deep dive into two recent works of the great Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho.We explore how the northeastern coastal town of Recife serves as a lifelong muse for the director, starting with his 2023 personal "audio-visual essay," Pictures of Ghosts, which maps the fading movie palaces of his youth.That film sets the stage for his newest period piece, The Secret Agent, a “hangout thriller” set in 1977 starring Wagner Moura as a man on the run in Recife during the military dictatorship. Gus helps decode the local nuances for the non-Brazilians in the audience, explaining the historical "mischief" the film depicts, its powerful themes of memory, family and resistance and why Kleber is a director you just have to trust.Plus: is Toronto’s Matt Johnson Canada’s answer to Kleber?Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilterFollow Gus Lanzetta on Bluesky.Trailer for Pictures of Ghosts (Retratos Fantasmas - Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2023)North American trailer #1 for The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto - Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2023)

TEASER - 228: Prefab Sprout: Protest Songs (with Patrick Svensson)

Access this entire 115 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes, including the entire Prefab Sprout series) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/228-prefab-songs-151720106In the fourth episode of the Junk Filter miniseries exploring the work of the UK band Prefab Sprout, I’m joined by Patrick Svensson, a library worker in Seattle, for a track-by-track discussion of their “lost album” Protest Songs.Recorded quickly and cheaply in Newcastle right after Steve McQueen, Protest Songs was intended for release at the end of 1985 but shelved by CBS Records to avoid cannibalizing sales of the hit single “When Love Breaks Down”.  After four years of bootlegs and rumours, the album was released without fanfare in 1989, serving as a stopgap between From Langley Park to Memphis and Jordan: The Comeback, yielding no hit singles while still making the Top 20 UK album charts.Patrick and I wish to make a case for this album as one of their best releases, with a more stripped-back, less hyperproduced sound that captures the band's live energy and provides further background on Paddy McAloon’s upbringing and sensibilities, as he delivers “protest songs” about the struggles of daily existence in Thatcher’s England as opposed to stridently political material.We dive into our favourite Protest Songs tracks, era-specific B-sides, and the unmistakable influence of Steely Dan on McAloon’s songwriting.Follow Patrick Svensson on Bluesky.My thanks to the Sproutology website, the ultimate online resource for the band.Demo version #2 of Talkin’ Scarlet from 1983- more of a duet, with a different set of lyrics.Tiffanys, live in Munich, December 1985

227: Predator 2 (with Brian Abrams)

The film writer Brian Abrams returns to discuss Predator 2 (1990), directed by Stephen Hopkins. The sequel swaps Arnold Schwarzenegger for Danny Glover and transplants the action to a sweltering, near-future Los Angeles in 1997, where climate collapse and gang warfare create the ideal hunting ground for an extraterrestrial predator on safari.Often dismissed as a crass, hyper-violent downgrade from the original, Brian and I argue that Predator 2 is the only other truly worthy entry in the franchise. Its appeal lies in sheer excess, using escalation to meaningfully expand the series’ mythology. Nearly saddled with the newly introduced NC-17 rating due to its extreme violence, the film now plays like a meathead action satire in the vein of RoboCop. It offers a contradictory vision of future America—one shaped by imperialist blowback—depicting Los Angeles as a literal “concrete jungle,” populated by a multicultural cast trapped within a racially insensitive landscape of Colombian and Jamaican drug cartels and an ambulance-chasing tabloid culture, while a dreadlocked interstellar hunter methodically racks up bodies.We also dig into why Arnold didn’t return, how Steven Seagal was briefly considered as the lead, the film’s chaotic production history, and more.Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilterFollow Brian Abrams on Twitter and Letterboxd.Trailer #1 for Predator 2 (Stephen Hopkins, 1990)Some Predators and Danny Glover dancing on the set of Predator 2

TEASER - 226: Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park to Memphis (with Brice Ezell)

Access this supersized 148 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes, including the continuing Prefab Sprout series) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! Only $5 (USD) a month!https://www.patreon.com/posts/226-prefab-from-145775014In part three of the podcast’s series exploring the work of the extraordinary UK band Prefab Sprout, I am joined by Atlanta-based critic and theatre scholar Brice Ezell to discuss the band's most commercially successful album: 1988’s From Langley Park to Memphis.Following the critical acclaim of Steve McQueen, frontman Paddy McAloon aimed for a glossy, broadly commercial sound this time. With full label support, no expense was spared on production, a sweeping, cinematic soundscape that blends sophisticated synthesizers and polished studio techniques with full orchestration, gospel choirs, and even a guest appearance from Stevie Wonder.Heavily influenced by Barbra Streisand’s The Broadway Album, McAloon goes full Theatre Kid on this record. The project employed multiple producers (including the returning Thomas Dolby) and experimented across genres from arena rock to Broadway show tunes and adult contemporary. This approach generated two enduring UK radio hits: “The King of Rock ’n’ Roll” (their only Top Ten single) and “Cars and Girls” (a subtle critique of Bruce Springsteen’s persona).Brice and I dive deep on Langley Park, offering track-by-track analysis. We explore the album's surprising global footprint, tracing its influence from Norwegian singer-songwriters to Japanese City Pop, anime scores, and video game music. And we zero in on the album's central theme: an epic statement where Paddy deconstructs the American mythmaking machine from the vantage point of Northeast England, all while processing his band’s sudden success and grappling with an uncertain future.My thanks to the Sproutology website, the ultimate online resource for the band.Follow Brice Ezell on Bluesky.The King of Rock ’n’ Roll - from the Dutch music show TopPop, 1988Nightingales - Paddy McAloon on piano, from KCRW, 1988Mashup of Prefab Sprout’s Knock on Wood and a track from the Japanese anime High School Aura Buster.