My Favorite Album with Jeremy Dylan

Today music journalist (People, Rolling Stone) and co-host of the Rivals podcast Jordan Runtagh joins me from New York City to finally tackle one of our white whales - The Beach Boys immortal classic ‘Pet Sounds’. Yes, somehow we are in year eight of the show without anyone doing the record. Never fear, we get into it in some detail today, from the background of the record and Brian Wilson’s shift to non-touring creative genius, the intra-family fights between Brian and Mike Love, the contrasts between Pet Sounds and the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, the starkness of the lyrics, the contributions of the Wrecking Crew and Jordan’s experiences interviewing Brian Wilson and how this album helped him connect with his father.

11 Feb 202154min

Today we’re bringing you a fascinating conversation with Batwoman’s Nicole Kang on country icon Patsy Cline’s ‘Sentimentally Yours’, the last album the legendary singer recorded before her tragically premature death at age 30. Nicole tells the story of how Cline’s music formed part of the tapestry of her childhood and became an essential shibboleth of her relationship with her taciturn immigrant father and spoke to his relationship with his adopted home country. Nicole tells the story of discovering the album anew as an adult in the midst of heartbreak and how it led her to open a new dialogue with her father about her childhood. We talk about identity, assimilation, direct emotion, the idea of Nicole playing Patsy on Broadway, the mystique around artists who died young and Nicole performs a poem from her one-woman show that speaks to the impact of Patsy Cline’s music on her.

4 Feb 202133min

Today New York bred Nashville based singer-songwriter Jillette Johnson joins me on the eve of her new album release, to discuss Patty Griffin’s game-changing genre-defying second album Flaming Red. Like Bob Dylan, Patty shocked a lot of people when she ‘went electric’ on this record, and we get into why this album was different to her folky debut, the reactions upon its release, why it’s impossible to put Patty in a genre box, how Jillette has been inspired to expand and evolve her sound on her new record and more. We dig into seminal songs like ‘One Big Love’, ‘Tony’ and more, the different lyrical modes Patty deploys across the record, and the contributions from producer Jay Joyce and the other stellar musicians who played on the record.

28 Jan 202140min

Today, legendary songwriter and Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson joins me to talk about the Joni Mitchell masterpiece that isn’t ‘Blue’ - 1976's ‘Hejira’. We talk about where the title came from, how a teenage infatuation led Dan to Joni, why Jaco Pastorius is like Hannibal Lector, the album’s lyrical themes of groundedness vs freedom, key songs like Amelia and Furry Sings the Blues and how Dan’s relationship with the album changed when he started writing his own songs.

21 Jan 202126min

We’re kicking off 2021 with the legendary producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois, talking about one of the greatest debut albums of all time, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 barnstormer ‘Are You Experienced?’ We delve into Daniel’s discovery of the record while he was a teenage record producer in Canada, how the album opened up his imagination, the idiosyncrasies and nuances of Hendrix’s guitar playing technique and how it’s influenced Lanois’ own approach to the instrument, Mitch Mitchell’s jazz influenced drumming and some of the studio innovations that made the album special. Daniel also talks about reimagining ‘May This Be Love’ with Emmylou Harris when they recorded it for her classic album ‘Wrecking Ball’. Plus I pick Daniel’s brain about the making of my favorite Willie Nelson album ‘Teatro’, which he produced and was the subject of a previous episode of this show.

14 Jan 202128min

Singer/songwriter/fiddle wizard Amanda Shires joins me over chicken-fried steak to talk/argue about the great Leonard Cohen and his 1971 masterpiece 'Songs of Love and Hate'. Is the album depressing? What is Leonard Cohen's best song? Is co-writing good or bad and should Amanda do it? Did she steal one of Cohen's coat hangers? Why did she write a song about wanting to hang out with Cohen? What about the cover of 'I'm Your Man' she did? It's a rambling, insightful, funny and sometimes contentious chat from one of today's most engaging performers. Listen to it and then check out her new album 'To The Sunset'. My Favorite Album is a podcast on the impact great music has on our lives. Each episode features a guest on their favorite album of all time - why they love it, their history with the album and how it's influenced them. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist, concert promoter and photographer. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins.

5 Jan 202140min

We’re on a break at the moment but I thought it would be interesting to revisit this episode from four years ago, our end of the year 2016 wrap up, featuring a bunch of different interviews touching on the big stories in music of the year, including the traumatic aftershock of the US election and the creeping dread of the incoming Trump administration, and the realisation that 2017 maybe was going to be getting worse not better. Thankfully I feel like we’re coming out of this particular hell year of 2020 with a more optimistic outlook on the next year, so I’m posting this today as a way of reflecting to some extent on the horrors of the last half decade and also a feeling that we might be turning at least one page onto a better future now... ------- 10 conversations about the highs and lows of music in 2016: Emmy winner Jeff Greenstein (Friends, Will & Grace) on when David Bowie guest starred on his first TV sitcom. How Melbourne indie soul band Cookin’ on 3 Burners had a smash hit on the French dance charts with a seven year old song. Americana singer/songwriter Melody Pool on finding her way back to her darkest emotional places to write her stellar album Deep Dark Savage Heart.  ARIA-nominee Lisa Mitchell on struggling with how to listen to music in the modern age. Nashville-based Aussie ex-pat Emma Swift on being artistically radicalised by the election of Donald Trump. Filmmaker Brian Koppelman (Billions, Rounders, Ocean’s 13) on what music to listen to to get through the Trump blues, and what to expect from music in the coming years. Crowded House guitarist/keyboardist Mark Hart on the inside story of their triumphant reunion shows at the Sydney Opera House forecourt.  You Am I guitarist Davey Lane on a year of playing with his living heroes and paying tribute to his dead ones.  Singer/songwriter Alex Lahey on writing some of the year’s best songs for her debut EP and what to expect from her imminent debut album.  Host Jeremy Dylan reveals his 10 favorite albums of 2016.

31 Dec 20201h 51min

Longtime friend of the show and host of the Empire Film Podcast, Chris Hewitt, returns to talk about the classic Hollywood thriller 'The Hunt for Red October', the first film adapted from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, starring Alec Baldwin as Ryan and the late great Sir Sean Connery as Russian (just go with it) Captain Ramius. We discuss if this is Connery’s best post-Bond role, why Baldwin might be the best Jack Ryan, Hollywood’s need to action up the nerd hero, the incredibly deep bench of supporting players in the cast, the subversive politics of the film, whether John McTiernan will ever direct another movie and we trade duelling questionable Connery impressions. Plus we brainstorm a modern day Broadway version of the film and pitch our dream cast - someone get me Lin-Manuel Miranda and/or Scott Rudin’s email!

23 Dec 202056min