My Favorite Album With Jeremy Dylan

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.

Today, one of Australia’s most dexterous singer-songwriters, Gretta Ray, returns to the show so that we can finally do an episode on Taylor Swift, as we dive into the queen of pop’s 2008 sophomore album ‘Fearless’. We talk about Taylor’s recent rerecording of the album, the different contexts the album assumes as Taylor and Gretta age past the experiences of teenage life in the songs, how songwriting changes once people have expectations of you, Taylor as a big sister for her fans, the difference between sad songs and dark songs, how Taylor gave Gretta permission to be vulnerable and how her songs give her audience permission to process and heal. Plus, we talk about Gretta’s imminent debut album ‘Begin to Look Around’, the songwriting process, touring with Gang of Youths and more.

Today Girlpuppy’s Becca Harvey joins me to talk about Best Coast’s hugely influential debut album ‘Crazy for You’. We talk about discovering the album amidst a sea of yacht rock and top 40 country music, being the same age Bethany Cosentino was when this record came out, how music exists as a time capsule, how this album defined California for a new generation, how the ‘quiet ones’ in music duos like Bobb Bruno can be underrated and more. Plus, we take a left turn into a Taylor Swift cul-de-sac and tease a rematch on the album ‘Red’, and get inside Becca’s hopes and anxieties as she prepares to release her EP and go on her first ever concert tour.

Today I’m joined by Elroy Finn, singer-songwriter and Crowded House drummer, on the eve of his self-titled LP ’Elroy’’s release, to talk about the iconic cult r&b album ‘Inspiration Information’ by Shuggie Otis. We talk about how the album is suitable for all moods and occasions, how the song Strawberry Letter 23 and its appearance in movies helped people discover Shuggie, how young Shuggie was when he made this record, the power and pitfalls of making a record by yourself, the classic drum machines Shuggie uses on the album, the advantages of keeping lyrics vague, and how music can infiltrate your hangs.

As Australia heads back into lockdown, friends of the show Seja Vogel and Davey Lane join me and our respective bottles of whiskey for a truly epic deep dive into Paul McCartney’s ‘rockdown’ LP McCartney III. Starting with an overview of Sir Paul’s 21st century output so far, we dig into the record track by track and discuss, dissect, argue, sing and do some truly diabolical impressions along the way as we work our way through the latest work by the greatest pop artist of all time. This is a vast and by the end, totally unhinged, conversation between three confirmed Beatles tragics about not just this album, but what Paul McCartney’s legacy means and what it’s like to operate as an artist with literally no peers long after your heyday. Topics discussed include: - Pandemic pop songs - The differences in approach from McCartney to McCartney II and McCartney III - McCartney’s drumming style and how ‘non-drummers’ play drums - McCartney’s lyric writing process and if that has changed since the 60s - Jeff Lynne’s

Pond guitarist and singer-songwriter Shiny Joe Ryan joins me from Fremantle, on the eve of his new solo album ‘Shiny’s Democracy’, to talk about a favorite album at once logical and surprising - Pink Floyd’s 1971 LP ‘Meddle’. We talk about how the album serves as a transitionary album between the Syd Barrett and Roger Waters dominated eras of the band, Floyd’s flirtation with folk-rock, making 70s rock music before the sound of the decade had been defined, the underrated genius of keyboardist Richard Wright, Roger Waters and David Gilmour’s battles over the legacy of the band, Joe’s encounters with the infamous flying pig and how the record has influenced Joe’s own music.

Today, the woman who wrote the book on Duran Duran’s Rio (out now as part of the 33 1/3 series), Annie Zaleski, joins me to unpack the making of the classic album, how the band’s reputation as great musicians has grown the further time moves on from their initial success, how preparation and cooperation helped them make intricate records despite limited studio time, how the sound of the album sits on the precipice before things went ‘full 80s’, the unexpected influences on the band’s sound, their musical and career ambition, John Taylor’s genius as a bass player and why they probably won’t be jumping on the biopic train anytime soon.

Today we’re back in lockdown on both ends of the chat as emerging Aussie queen of pop Charley joins me over Zoom to unpack the genius of one of the last decade’s most significant pop songwriters, Julia Michaels, and her debut ‘mini-album’, 2017's Nervous System. We talk about how this record helped Charley figure out who she wanted to be as an artist, identifying with the anxiety issues and relationship dramas Michaels writes about and the transparency of the lyrics, how Michaels’ song ‘Issues’ propelled her from songwriter to pop star, the signature lyrical and rhythmic hooks of a Julia Michaels song, use of contained metaphors and when double entendres become single entendres in song lyrics. Plus we talk about Charley’s infectious debut single ‘Hard for Me’, why she wrote it in Nashville, how COVID changed her release plan and teases her forthcoming song ‘Arizona’.