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Curiouscast

Ongoing History of New Music looks at things from the alt-rock universe to hip hop, from artist profiles to various thematic explorations. It is Canada’s most well known music documentary hosted by the legendary Alan Cross. Whatever the episode, you’re definitely going to learn something that you might not find anywhere else. Trust us on this.

Ongoing History of New Music

What exactly is "Post‑Rock"?

In this first installment of a two‑part deep dive, we unpack one of the most misunderstood labels in modern music. From its origins in the 1960s to its evolving relationship with rock, ambient, jazz, and experimental traditions...Post-Rock has come to mean different things to different listeners.

In part 1, we focus on where the term came from and what it was originally trying to describe. We explore ideas like:

 The cultural and musical context that gave rise to post‑rock

 Why the genre resists simple definitions

 Early artists and scenes that shaped its sound and philosophy

 How “using rock instruments for non‑rock purposes” became both a manifesto and a limitation

Rather than treating post‑rock as a fixed style, we look at it as an idea...one that reflects broader shifts in how music moved away from verse‑chorus structures and toward texture, atmosphere, and long‑form composition.

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What Exactly is Post-Rock? Part 1

I'll be honest and say that this is not a happy show…in fact, it’s probably the saddest episode of the year…then again, it’s an opportunity to pay tribute to the musicians we lost in 2025.

They’re gone, but that’s the thing about being a musician…the songs they left behind will remain with us for many, many years.

 I’m going to go through a list of deaths…this list isn’t comprehensive because we just don’t have the time to cover all the “RIP's” that happened...and because there are so many, I’ll probably miss a few, and for that, I apologize in advance.

This is 2025 in memoriam, a tribute to rock stars who passed.
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2025 In Memoriam

On October 12, 1978, punk’s most infamous couple...Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and Nancy Spungen...hit rock bottom at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Nancy was found dead from a single stab wound in Room 100. Sid was charged with murder, but was he really the killer? 

Or was it someone else in their chaotic circle?

This is “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”…and this time, it’s the wild story of the death of Nancy Spungen and the questions that still remain decades later…Was it a drug-fueled accident, a robbery gone wrong, or something darker?

 
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Introducing "Uncharted": Sid Vicious and Questions About the Murder of Nancy Spungen

We are going to talk about drummers on this show…i just want you to know right from the start just in case you wanna roll your eyes and go “really? Do we have to?”

 

Yes, we have to…there have been countless stories told about great guitarists and singers and keyboardists…drummers?... Not so much, unless your name is Dave Grohl. And we will get to him.

 

So this was going to a profile of my favourite drummers in alt-rock…but then I got to thinking: how much do we know what about drummers play?... How many histories of the electric guitar have been written?... Monographs, coffee table books, books on collectible guitars…

 

Now think about the books written about keyboards…there’s about three linear feet of bookshelf in my office taken up just by books on the history of synthesizers…

 

But what about the drums today’s drummers play?... 

 

No, I think it’s time that we not only talked about drummers but also drums…think about it: how did the modern drumkit come into being?...there’s a pretty standard sort of set-up…how did that come about?...why do we play drums the way we do?... And who should we thank for making drums into what they are today?...cymbals and foot pedals and snare…where did all that come from?...

 

See?...you’re curious now, aren’t you?...well, stand by…the history of the modern drumkit is coming up…this is stuff even most drummers don’t know…
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History of the Modern Drum Kit

I once had a conversation with someone about the craziest tours in the history of music…the usual names came up.

 

The who trashing hotel rooms…led zeppelin’s tours with their private jet, groupies, and tons of drugs…that time in Atlanta when Ozzy drank himself into oblivion, passed out in the wrong hotel room for 24 hours, and missed a show as a result.

 

In 1976, ZZ Top tried to take the entire Texas experience on the road, which involved transporting real live animals to every gig…a buffalo escaped and managed to wreck nine rented limos that were parked at the gig.

 

Around the same time, there was the disastrous Sex Pistols tour of America…there were also stories about The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Van Halen, and all the usual suspects.

But the conversation turned to the subject of the most depraved and dangerous tour of all time…who was responsible for that?... Motley Crue?...Marilyn Manson?...Oasis?

 

The debate when on for some time—until someone mentioned a road trip in 1993 that nearly killed every member of the group.

 

We’re not talking about any sort of violence…it was a tour featuring so much alcohol, so many drugs, and so much stupid behaviour that members suffered heart attacks, seizures, serious mental illness, and overdoses so serious that one member was clinically dead for two minutes.

 That was a summary of something called “The Devotional Tour”…at the centre of it was Depeche Mode…it has gone down in rock history as “the most debauched rock tour ever”.

 

This is episode 37 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry,” an inside look at the tour that nearly took down Depeche Mode forever…and it was all their fault.
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Introducing "Uncharted": Depeche Mode and the Debauched Devotional Tour

This is my annual data dump featuring music information you didn’t know you needed…over the last 12 months, I’ve collected this material on scraps of paper, post-it notes, on my iPhone’s “notes” app, and in various files on my computer…and these are the best 60 mind-blowing facts about music I can offer for 2025.

 This is the 11th year that I’ve been doing this…maybe there’s a book in here somewhere…i don’t know…maybe…one day…

Whatever…a lot of random information is about to come your way…do your best to ingest what you can…ready?....let’s go.
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60 Mind-Blowing Facts About Music in 40 or so Minutes (2025 Edition)

In this third and final chapter of our look at Why Bowie Still Matters, we explore the last two decades of his life and the innovations that cemented his legacy. 

From pioneering digital music distribution and launching BowieNet, to creating “Bowie Bonds”...something that changed the music business...Bowie was always ahead of the curve. 

We revisit his late-career albums, his secret comeback with "The Next Day", and the farewell gift of "Blackstar". 

Plus, the stories behind his art, his influence on countless genres, and why his impact continues to grow even ten years after his passing. 

Bowie didn’t just make music...he reshaped culture...and this is Why Bowie Still Matters.
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Why Bowie Still Matters - Part 3

David Bowie wasn’t just a rock star...he was a cultural architect who reinvented music, fashion, and identity. 

In part 2 of "Why Bowie Still Matters", we explore Bowie’s groundbreaking mid-70s to early-80s era: from the cocaine-fueled chaos of Station to Station and the birth of the Thin White Duke, his "Berlin Trilogy" with Brian Eno that shaped post-punk and electronic music. And we’ll explore how albums like Low, Heroes, and Lodger influenced everyone from Joy Division to Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and others.

Meanwhile, Bowie’s constant creativity sparked movements like New Wave and the New Romantics. And then we reach Bowie’s bold reinvention...again... in the 90s with Tin Machine and Trent Reznor. 

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Why Bowie Still Matters - Part 2

It’s been nearly a decade since David Bowie left us, and the world hasn’t really been the same since.

In the first of a three part series, we explore why Bowie’s influence goes far beyond music...shaping fashion, art, technology, and even social movements. From his early days writing songs he would really rather forger about...to the birth of Ziggy Stardust...his role in shaping glam rock, gender expression, and even the evolution of punk.

Bowie changed everything.

David Bowie redefined what it meant to be a rock star...and this is why his legacy matters.
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Why Bowie Still Matters - Part 1

If there’s an official mission statement for the kind of music we all love, it’s “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll” …these are the three main food groups in this world…

All three of these things affect the same portions of the brain: the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens, and the cerebellum…. All of them are involved in the secretion and regulation of dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone… 

Dopamine is a very addictive hormone…whenever our brains squirt it out, the body goes “this is good! I want more!” …it happens when we hear a great song….it happens with certain drugs and alcohol, which is the basis of addiction…and it happens with an orgasm…

Once you’re inside this bubble, you may find things rather permissive…as long as you’re producing, people will look the other way…there’s no one to tell you “no”…and it doesn’t take long for some people to get lost in this world, coming to believe that normal rules of polite society don’t apply….you’re special, meaning that you can do anything…

That’s when your judgement starts to become suspect…and that’s when things start to get strange…how strange?...well…

Welcome to a show all about rock’n’roll and weird tales of sex.
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Tales of Weird Rock’n’Roll Sex

This is the fifth edition of an occasional series called “The Rock Explainer.” The idea is to explore the strange, unexplained, and traditional aspects of rock culture that don’t get enough attention and analysis…

In many cases, we just accept these things and don’t question them as much as we should…but if we stop for just a second and cock a quizzical eyebrow and actually ask the question, then it’s possible to review new things about music that you might never have imagined…

Where do accents go when people sing?...why do artists sing the melody lines when they perform live?... How come we hear lyrics wrong?...let’s answer those questions and more.
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The Rock Explainer 5

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