My Favorite Album With Jeremy Dylan

Today podcaster, writer, musician, director and Emmy-winning actor Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos, The Lovely Bones) joins me to talk about the classic 1985 album by the Smiths, Meat is Murder. We talk about how this album broadened the Smiths post-punk sound, incorporating elements of rockabilly and funk, the under-heralded rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, how Morrissey’s lyrics and persona compares to Tennessee Williams and Oscar Wilde, the difference between depressing music and music that explores negative subject matter, how impactful the band was despite their short time together, the small tweak from Johnny Marr that rescued How Soon Is Now?, how this record turned Michael vegetarian, how the Smiths album cover design inspired the front cover of Michael’s novel. Plus, Michael talks about getting into a fight at a Morrissey concert and whether he will play Lou Reed in the adaptation of his novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes.

My guests today are acclaimed Melbourne folk sister duo Charm of Finches. Mabel and Ivy talk about Sufjan Stevens’ seminal 2015 album ‘Carrie and Lowell’, how Sufjan processed the loss of his estranged mother through the songs, the intimacy of the record and how it contrasts with many of his other more elaborate albums, how to let yourself write from a vulnerable place, trusting a producer to shepherd those songs, whether writing about grief is actually cathartic, what it was like to see Sufjan live and their favorite songs on the record.

Today we take a detour into movie land with filmmaker Charles Hood and film journalist Drew Taylor (hosts of the Light the Fuse podcast) and count down our ten favorite films from 2021. It was an incredible movie year, and while we have a fair bit of crossover, we also have some bitter disagreements as we discuss and champion films ranging from shaggy dog coming of age stories to epic sci-fi sequels, noirish crime dramas to deranged comedies and beyond. What films do we discuss? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Today we go behind the scenes and pull back the curtain on the making of the show, as guest host Seja Vogel interviews host Jeremy Dylan and producer Georgia Mooney about how the sausage/podcast is made. From the inception of the show, how the guests are chosen, the research process, the use of music, favorite episodes, dream guests, how to deal with awkward interviews and more, we try to answer all the questions you might have about how we put this thing together.

In our third crossover podcast, I welcome back filmmaker Charles Hood and journalist Drew Taylor, hosts of the brilliant Mission Impossible podcast Light the Fuse. This time we (mainly) don’t talk about movies, but delve into their respective favorite albums, the 30 year old U2 classic ‘Achtung Baby’ and the world dominating final album from Daft Punk ‘Random Access Memories’. We talk about how Achtung Baby forged a new path for U2 after the apex mountain of The Joshua Tree album, the Berlin sessions that bought tension within the band to a boil, the meaning of the song ‘One’, Bono’s character  ‘The Fly’, the influence of producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and whether Tom Cruise and Bono are copying each other’s hairstyles. Then we talk about why Daft Punk broke up, the duo’s philosophy of creating new analogue samples as the foundation of the album, the involvement of Muppets songwriting legend Paul Williams, why they never toured the album, Daft Punk’s mystique and more. Plus we somehow get into discussi

Today I’m bringing you a fascinating conversation with the Michael Elliott, author of the new and definitive John Hiatt biography ‘Have A Little Faith’. We dive deep into ‘Bring the Family’, the 1987 classic that broke open Hiatt’s career after years of struggle. We talk about the album being an alternative to the dominant production of the late 80s, how it presaged Americana music, how Hiatt assembled Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner as his dream band for the sessions (and how Lowe almost didn’t make it), the adult subject matter of the lyrics, Bonnie Raitt’s cover of Thing Called Love, how James Cameron used Alone in the Dark in True Lies and how Hiatt proves that sobering up and getting your life together can produce a songwriter’s best work.

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 Dy

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.

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.

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 Re

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.

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.

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.          

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.

Today our returning champion Ben Lee joins me on the show to talk (a little bit) about his new single 'Born for this Bullshit' and (mainly) about cult heroes Smudge and their classic 1994 album 'Manilow'. We talk about confidence, the 90s, the sound of pre Pro Tools recordings, how Smudge intersected with The Lemonheads, Tom Morgan's slacker, superior, smart arse aesthetic and how his lyrics are the real definition of authenticity, similarities with country songwriting and more.

Today COLLAR's Spencer White joins me to talk about the Dandy Warhols' classic 'Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia'. We talk about how this record made him want to write music, the Warhols' idea of cool and embracing uncool influences, how the album set out to be the ultimate classic rock album, the contrast between the slower meat of the record and the peppy singles, how major labels treated rock bands in the 90s, Spencer's experience touring with the band and why Lizzo is the modern day Dandy Warhols. 

Today, Children Collide frontman Johnny Mackay (aka Fascinator) joins me to delve into a pair of albums that represent the two poles of Beck, 1996's 'Odelay' and 2002's 'Sea Change'. We talk about the importance of exploring multiple genres as an artist, how Johnny's bifurcated musical identity reflects Beck's, Beck's use of samples in rock music, his journey to embracing his folk roots, different kinds of breakup albums, finding great lyrics in scratch vocals, songs that start as jokes, how Johnny balances his work on Children Collide and Fascinator, Beck's Song Reader project and for some reason, David Byrne's incredible American Utopia show.