🎙️ Songs That Don’t Suck, Ep. 94: Vinyl Mythbusting, Water Drums, and Songs You Should Hear

It’s time again for your weekly curated sanity break—Songs That Don’t Suck—and this week, host Mark Bradbournehits both cerebral and sonic highs.

💿 The Vinyl Sales Panic? False Alarm.

Last week, Mark reported that vinyl sales had dropped by 30% year-over-year based on data from Billboard.

Correction: Billboard walked it back.

Turns out the drop wasn’t real—it was caused by Luminate, the reporting partner, tightening its submission standards. That change excluded smaller indie stores, which led to a huge undercount.

“Vinyl’s not dying. The math was just dumb.”

The reality: physical media still has cultural value, but data handling in the music industry? Not so much.

🎻 The Cleveland Orchestra and the Power of Weird

Mark crossed off a bucket list item: seeing the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. But it wasn’t just Beethoven or Bach—it was Tan Dun’s “Water Concerto”.

This avant-garde piece features:

• 💧 Clear acrylic bowls filled with water
• 🥄 Percussionists using hands, ladles, brushes, and bowls
• 🎺 Wind players buzzing mouthpieces alone
• 🎻 Violins used like drums

“Modern composers are fearless. This was beautiful, weird, and wild.”

A highlight? The soloist playing a bowl of water like a drumkit—with such intensity that Mark almost thought it would shatter.

If you’ve never seen an orchestra live, especially one of this caliber—fix that.

🎶 Four Songs That Don’t Suck This Week

This week’s batch brings genre diversity, unexpected sonic choices, and music made by both legacy-adjacent and under-the-radar talent.

1. Taipei Houston – “Brain Deaf”

🎸 Garage Rock | Muse Vibes | Metallica Kids Unite
Yes, it’s Lars Ulrich’s sons, Miles and Layne. But this isn’t just nepotism rock—it’s legit. Fuzzy, punchy, and full of raw urgency. Equal parts Muse, early Royal Blood, and White Stripes chaos.

🎧 Listen for: That wild bass tone. It roars like a V8.

2. Gift – “Later”

🌫️ Shoegaze Pop | Jangly Synth | Retro Tension
Mark admits he’s not a Smiths guy, but this track scratches that melancholy guitar itch with a modern shimmer. It’s dreamy, catchy, and just left-of-center enough to demand attention.

🎧 Feels like: A montage from an A24 film you’ll pretend you understood.

3. Stop Drop Rewind – “Compulsion”

🧮 Mathy Jazz-Pop | Midwest Fusion | Sax Solo Magic
Wild time signatures, jazz piano, vocal hooks, and a saxophone solo? It’s like a prog band and a pop trio walked into a bar—and actually finished the track.

🎧 Mark’s take: “Confusing and catchy—a rare combo that actually works.”

4. Flycatcher – “Brother”

🎤 Indie Rock | Dynamic Shifts | Grunge Feels
This one builds beautifully, using subtle dynamic moves—like muting drums mid-verse—to create emotion. Think Everclear meets early 2000s alt rock with just enough nuance to stand apart.

🎧 Why it sticks: The arrangement rewards repeat listens. Also: tasteful rim clicks.

🧠 Final Reflection

“I needed this episode. Not because the world needed it—but because I did.”

Mark closes with gratitude—for music, for water-based percussion, and for everyone still out here making and listening to music that moves people.

📸 …and I quote…

❝ Vinyl isn’t dying. Billboard’s math was just dumb. ❞
— Mark Bradbourne, Songs That Don’t Suck 💿📉