Episode 136 — Hallelujah the Hills

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Lauren Lapkus, Mike Still, and Jeff Hiller are here along with special musical guest Hallelujah the Hills for a magical musical episode of improv4humans with Matt Besser! For the first time ever, the entire band Hallelujah the Hills have set themselves up in the studio to play some songs from their latest album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? to inspire some improvised scenes. Tune in to hear what it’s like for an automated phone attendant to become sentient, what lengths a person will take to win an argument, and what your favorite band is really saying if you listen closely to the lyrics. Make sure to get the UCB Comedy Improv Manual, Matt Besser’s new comedy album at mattbesser.com, and Hallelujah The Hills’ new album at http://hallelujahthehills.bandcamp.com/!

[nathanpierce 400]

Wow, surprised with how full the band was able to sound. Really good stuff. Love Hallelujah The Hills.

[Dhezballah 462]

I feel like this year is going to be great for I4H, we've already had so many incredible episodes. I don't know if Besser checks these threads much but I'd like to thank him for bringing such a great lineup and show every week.

[DylanLoquaciousMedford 2]

Please. Please. Please stop having these fucking musical guests on IMPROV for humans.

So far not a single band has had any rockin sauce or good jams. It's always this Pedro the Lion horseshit.

[bohren 56]

If Besser managed to have the Mountain Goats on an episode I think I would be able to die happy.

 

They're playing in L.A. on June 17 FYI.

[AllThisPaperwork 80]

If you're in Boston, Hallelujah the Hills play their CD release show Friday night at Great Scott!

[JacobCrites 4977]

Can't say I was a fan of the music (they were fine, but sounded like they just wanted to be Pavement with a horn section) but the scenes were off the chain hilarious.

 

In general, though, I love the musical guests. They introduced me to David Bazan, who's just a genius.

[Schach 34]

The musical episodes of this show are so good it just drives me nuts. Every guest in general is awesome. The show is! Makes me think of some modern day salon-style gathering or some other highfalutin nerd shit I can't properly express.

 

You guys should see if you can get Jason Isbell. I know Matt liked his latest album (because it is a masterpiece). He did WTF and judging from his Twitter he has a sense of humor.

[BenjaminJones 231]

What a fucking lineup!

Like a well oiled machine.

I find it very difficult to believe that the lyric

"a stillborn Chinese baby speaking backwards" didn't ignite anything.

If you don't like the music, ask for a refund.

 

 

[robinsbruce 4985]

Please. Please. Please stop having these fucking musical guests on IMPROV for humans.

So far not a single band has had any rockin sauce or good jams. It's always this Pedro the Lion horseshit.

 

If you don't like the musical guests or the episodes that feature them then just skip that week. It's Matt's show and most people enjoy his taste in guests. Please. Please. Please don't register an account just to be a dick.

 

P.S. Jeff Hiller is always awesome.

[mattbesser 605]

Please. Please. Please stop having these fucking musical guests on IMPROV for humans.

So far not a single band has had any rockin sauce or good jams. It's always this Pedro the Lion horseshit.

Just so I understand where you are coming from, give me a couple of examples of bands with good jams.

[CameronMascari 329]

On all podcasts I never really know beforehand if I am going to enjoy having a band on the show, that said, there hasn't been one band on I4h that I haven't really enjoyed and I'm not just blowing smoke. I just started the episode and really liked the first song, exciting stuff.

[PuncturedJesus 354]

I haven't started this episode yet, but I enjoy the band episodes. I even bought a Ben Lee album the other day.

[daveB from Oakland 364]

 

If you don't like the musical guests or the episodes that feature them then just skip that week. It's Matt's show and most people enjoy his taste in guests. Please. Please. Please don't register an account just to be a dick.

 

P.S. Jeff Hiller is always awesome.

 

I liked the band a lot ... but if you don't, you don't even have to skip the episode. If you have the slightest modicum of podskillz, you can fast forward thru the parts you don't like. Come on, frostebutts. Sheesh.

 

The telephone survey scene was "best of" worthy ... Lauren killed on that one.

[greggy 15909]

ahhh im so excited to hear more about mr besser's tv project

 

my musical tastes are different but i can live with it, music episodes have lead to some great scenes

[CameronMascari 329]

I've come across a lot of great music because of the podcasts I listen to, yeah I don't always sync with the music but if podcasts never had musicians on I never would have become a fan of St. Vincent or Langhorne Slim or numerous other bands.

 

People just like to complain, like really you're going to create an account for one comment just so you can bitch about something on a FREE podcast? I don't understand people like that.

[justinmh05 1968]

I've come across a lot of great music because of the podcasts I listen to, yeah I don't always sync with the music but if podcasts never had musicians on I never would have become a fan of St. Vincent or Langhorne Slim or numerous other bands.

 

People just like to complain, like really you're going to create an account for one comment just so you can bitch about something on a FREE podcast? I don't understand people like that.

 

Especially since, in this instance, you can just fast forward right through the songs and miss NOTHING!

 

If you don't like one of the guests, I can see critiquing because it's impossible to skip over an improviser in a particular episode. But the songs have very little impact on the actual sketches!

[Poika 615]

Rather than having a band that features good jams, can you please focus on the rockin sauce? If there's one thing I like about music and improv, it's rockin sauce.

[Kickpuncher 5012]

While it's virtually impossible to follow Jess, Len, and Zouks, they did one hell of a job here. The band was great, and three of the best Humans all killed it.

[daveB from Oakland 364]

 

Especially since, in this instance, you can just fast forward right through the songs and miss NOTHING!

 

If you don't like one of the guests, I can see critiquing because it's impossible to skip over an improviser in a particular episode. But the songs have very little impact on the actual sketches!

 

I mostly agree, but I think in this particular case the songs had interesting lyrical content that provided good fuel for the sketches.

[blockofice 82]

If Besser managed to have the Mountain Goats on an episode I think I would be able to die happy.

 

They're playing in L.A. on June 17 FYI.

That would be an absolute dream. I can't imagine someone that would be able to elucidate the stories behind the songs better.

[PuncturedJesus 354]

I'm a sucker for horns. Why don't more bands have horns?!?

[brick face 35]

I recently got into Improv4Humans and I got to say that I loved this episode. The music was great. Hope these guys come to Toronto!

[AllThisPaperwork 80]

Thanks for listening, guys! We had the best time. Most of the songs we played our from our new album:

 

http://hallelujahthehills.bandcamp.com/album/have-you-ever-done-something-evil

 

And we love all u haters too! XO, HTH

[HipsterNonsense 402]

I don't really get the band hate. If you haven't heard them before is it going to ruin your life to try a couple songs? If you already know you don't like them, as mentioned you can skip over the songs without being lost as to what the scenes are about. As a 23 year old with all the coolness of an 80 year old man, I don't know where to find interesting new music. So I'm thankful the rare handful of times artists appear on EarWolf shows.

 

If you trust Matt or Scott's comedic tastes and sensibilities, why not at least give bands they enjoy a chance?

 

Sorry for completely ignoring the actual content of the show, but I've been busy and am only about halfway through.