379. Bob Dylan special ft Robyn Hitchcock, Ketch Secor, Steven Hyden, Brian Koppelman and Bill Wyman
Well, we’re only seven months late. But here at long last is our Bob Dylan 80th Birthday special, featuring new conversations with some of favourite guests from the history of the podcast talking about different aspects of Dylan and his music from the 60s to the 90s to now. - Old Crow Medicine’s Show Ketch Secor on how Bob Dylan changed Nashville, and the process of excavating and finally falling in love with Blonde on Blonde as Old Crow made their album length tribute. - Robyn Hitchcock dissects the A side of Blonde on Blonde track by track - Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, Pledging My Time, Visions of Johanna and One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later). - Brian Koppelman on why Chrissie Hynde’s Dylan tribute record is the perfect onramp for non-fans, and the underrated beauty of Bob’s 1993 blues album World Gone Wrong, which set the tone for the second half of his career. - Bill Wyman on thirty years of Dylan’s Never Ending Tour and why he’s unlike every other rock star of his generation. - Steven Hyden on why Dylan’s real secret might be that he’s a pretty normal guy.
31 Joulu 20211h 39min
378. Client Liaison on Prince 'The Rainbow Children' (2001) and Cut Copy 'Bright Like Neon Love' (2004)
Today we’re bringing you a first for the show - a two part conversation about two records with two members of mutli-award winning Australian duo Client Liaison, whose conflicting taste comes together in a fascinating way in their own music. First I talk to Monte Morgan about Prince’s turn of the century concept album ‘The Rainbow Children’. We dig into this album’s different reputations amongst casual and die hard fans, the Jehovah’s Witness inspired story, how Prince was able to keep reinventing himself through his albums and Monte’s experience being invited up on stage by the man himself at a concert. Then I talk to Harvey Miller about Cut Copy’s ‘Bright Like Neon Love’. We talk about how the music of your teen years stays with you, how the world of this music intersected with fashion and French House music, the early days of music on the internet in the MySpace era, how Cut Copy’s success made being from Melbourne and making great music seem more realistic and more.
12 Joulu 202138min
377. Thom Zimny on Bruce Springsteen 'Live in the Promised Land' (1978)
Today, filmmaker and longtime Bruce Springsteen collaborator (Letter to You, Western Stars) Thom Zimny joins me to unpack the spark of his lifelong journey on E Street, the classic live bootleg ‘Live in the Promised Land’, recorded in San Fransisco on the 1978 tour behind ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’. We talk about how Thom discovered the record as a teenager, the joys and charms of the bootleg experience and how it made Thom feel like part of a secret subculture, how the design and flaws of the quality and packaging influenced his later documentary work with Bruce, the power and legend of the classic E Street Band, Bruce’s on stage monologues, the story of how Thom established his working relationship with Bruce and Jon Landau on the Live in New York City concert film and whether there are any plans to document the final E Street Band tour.
6 Joulu 202141min
376. Inside David Byrne’s American Utopia: A Behind the Scenes Special
From the early days of Talking Heads, David Byrne has been developing unique and fascinating new ways to present his music to the world. There’s no finer example of this than the jaw-dropping American Utopia show, which the NME called “The Best Live Show Of All Time”. Today we are delving inside the process of creating and performing the show from its early touring incarnation through to the wildly successful Broadway run that has just triumphantly resumed at the St James Theatre. I talk to key members of the band and cast about the show's merging of rock concert with modern dance piece and Broadway show, the innovative staging and unique challenges of reconfiguring classic songs for the show, the costumes, memories from the road, celebrity encounters, working with Spike Lee on the film version, how they went from collaborators to family and the challenges and joys of finally bringing the show back a year later than planned. Thank you to cast members Angie Swan, Bobby Wooten, Chris Giarmo, Mauro Refosco and Stéphane San Juan for sharing their insights and stories, to Aussie queen of rock radio Zan Rowe for joining me to break down what makes the show special and publicist Michelle Farabaugh for making the whole thing possible.
29 Marras 20211h 23min
375. Teenage Dads on King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard 'Nonagon Infinity' (2016)
Today, all four members of indie-rock upstarts Teenage Dads join me for a fun five-way chat about Australia’s most prolific band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and their 2016 breakthrough album ‘Nonagon Infinity’. We talk the looping structure of the record, the different ways it has influenced each of them, how streaming this album changes the experience vs listening on vinyl, whether the album deserved the ARIA for Best Heavy Metal Album, why KGATLW are the ‘tightest loosest band’ and more.
10 Marras 202126min
374. Leonard Cohen: God, Sex and Politics with Professor Marcia Pally
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s passing, I’m joined by NYU Professor Marcia Pally to unpack the themes of her new book From This Broken Hill I Sing to You: God, Sex and Politics. We talk about how Cohen saw the world as being made up of inescapable relationships, to God and one another, the playfulness and profundity of Everybody Knows and how it interweaves the personal, political and spiritual, how non-believers can connect with Cohen works, how he questions instead of preaching, why do humans have a capacity for betrayal, how Cohen struggled with his commitment to God towards the end and how this is reflected in his final album You Want It Darker.
3 Marras 202132min
373. Des Rocs on Elvis Presley 'Prince From Another Planet' (1972)
Today, rock'n'roller Des Rocs joins me for our first ever episode on the King himself, Elvis Presley, as we get into it on the 1972 live album 'Prince from Another Planet'. We talk about how the album captures Elvis between his two iconic eras, how he existed apart from both the rock era he inspired and the pop that came before him, the frenetic rearrangements of his classic songs, his choice to include contemporary covers in the set, his uneasy history with New York prior to these shows, Elvis's future if he hadn't died when he did, the influence on Des's music and performance style and his other favorite live albums.
28 Loka 202124min
372. Joe Pug on Weezer 'Pinkerton' (1996)
Today acclaimed singer-songwriter and fellow podcaster (The Working Songwriter) Joe Pug joins me for an unexpected choice of favorite album - Weezer's classic 1996 LP 'Pinkerton'. We talk about the seeming dissonance between Pinkerton and Joe's own music, discovering the album as a 12 year old and why you are more open to change in music at that age, how the CD age dictated listening habits, how the lyrics have aged, why he would be wary of collaborating with Rivers Cuomo, why supergroups are overrated, Rivers' strange relationship with this record and why young people can make sophisticated music.
20 Loka 202131min
