My Favorite Album With Jeremy Dylan

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 B

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 ch

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!

Normally on this show we venerate musicians, today we’re mocking them as we present a little compilation of music jokes guests have told me this year, never before heard until now. Listen to gags from Georgia Mooney, Fred Armisen, Stella Mozgawa, Edith Bowman, Seja Vogel, Dan Wilson and even your host.

Today, legendary Nashville singer-songwriter Kim Richey joins me to talk about Joni Mitchell’s classic 1974 double live album ‘Miles of Aisles’. We talk about how the record acts as a great entry point to Joni’s early career, the way Joni and LA Express reinterpret her early folk songs, the difference between Joni’s lyrical style and peers like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, Joni’s influence on Kim’s songwriting and what it was like for Kim to reinterpret her own back catalogue when she recorded a new album of the songs from her classic ‘Glimmer’ record, which came out earlier this year.

Today I’m sharing a conversation I had with the great gentleman of rock’n’roll Nick Lowe, in what was meant to be the first episode of a new podcast about live shows and touring. It turned out 2020 wasn’t the best year to launch a show like that, so instead I’m bringing this chat to you now. We talk about everything from how his mid-career reinvention as the only gracefully ageing man in rock has influenced the style and approach of his shows, how his singing style has changed over the years, rearranging his back catalogue with his backing band Los Straitjackets, the surprising songs his younger fans gravitate toward, how he constructs his set lists, how he keeps playing songs like ‘Cruel to Be Kind’ and ’What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace Love and Understanding’ fresh and fun for him and why he closes every show with a cover of his old pal Elvis Costello’s classic song ‘Alison’.

Today I’m joined by songwriting duo and hosts of the brilliant Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast, Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor, to talk about Paul Simon’s classic middle-aged divorcee record Still Crazy After All These Years. We talk about how the album reflects an ‘adult’ approach in subject matter and composition, how aspects of it reveal more as the listener ages, the balance between specificity in Simon’s lyrics but still leaving a place for the listener to find themselves in the song, whether drummer Steve Gadd deserves a writing credit on 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, whether the Simon and Garfunkel reunion song My Little Town fits in the flow of the record and Simon and Brian reflect on their experience interviewing Paul Simon for their podcast.

Today, Aussie hip-hop king L-Fresh the Lion joins me to discuss the fascinating and emotionally compelling J Cole concept album ‘4 Your Eyez Only’. We delve into how Cole use’s the album to tell the story of a late friend in the guise of a first person narrative, how he intermingles stories from his own life, why the album needs to be listened to in full, Cole’s rare status as a music star who takes his privacy seriously and avoids the tabloids, the crazy true story about J Cole’s home studio being raided by a SWAT team and much more.

Today the brilliant British broadcaster and podcaster Edith Bowman joins me to talk about Midlake’s 2006 cult classic The Trials of Van Occupanther, how it soundtracked her early relationship with her husband, its qualities of instant nostalgia and why she returns to it time and time again, including as a balm during lockdown. Plus, we talk about her experiences with live music during lockdown, who she’s most excited to see next year when touring resumes, the hidden tragedies of the absence of festivals, why she’s bad at saying no to things and her long friendship with friend of the show Drew Pearce.

Today reformed drummer and comedic genius Fred Armisen (Portlandia, SNL, Documentary Now) joins me to discuss the dreamy magic of El Perro Del Mar’s 2008 album From the Valley to the Stars. We talk about how the album became part of his routine at Saturday Night Live, why it inspired him to go out and buy a Hofner bass, how the songs fade in and fade out (and we speculate on the history of fade outs in popular music), his relationship with the artist herself, making a music video for her, why this album is the perfect travelling soundtrack and more. Plus, we make a plan to form the literal biggest band of all time, talk about meeting Paul McCartney, Fred’s issues with music criticism and much more.

Today I’m joined by singer-songwriter Tia Gostelow, on the eve of her new album release, to wax rhapsodic about the 2013 debut LP by friend of the show Melody Pool, ‘The Hurting Scene’. We unpack Melody’s wielding of emotional restraint to create tension, her unaffected skill as a vocalist, her literate lyrics, the emotional impact of songs like ‘Henry’, Tia’s history covering Melody’s songs and how she inspired her songwriting, why Tia makes me feel like an old man and I dig into the archives to revisit a classic conversation with Melody herself about the recording of the album.

On another format-busting episode of MFA, hosts of Light the Fuse podcast Drew Taylor and Charles Hood return to the show to bash out the eternal rivalry in spy movie world - James Bond vs Mission Impossible. Using the enduring James Bond movie formula - from gun barrels to gadgets, leading ladies to leering bad guys, we compare and contrast the two franchises and see where they differ, and more interestingly, how they’ve grown more and more similar through this current century. Plus we speculate about the casting of the next Bond, and instigate an entire new spy movie franchise which could eclipse 007 and Ethan Hunt.

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and one of the best drummers of her generation Stella Mozgawa joins me for a look at the legendary Brian Eno’s final 70s pop masterpiece (before his turn into ambient music) Before and After Science. We delve into the most interesting man in rock’s creative process, how he used the studio as his instrument and enlisted collaborators from Robert Fripp to Phil Collins (and we defend Phil’s legacy), why it’s a good thing that Eno has kept his archival vaults locked, how Warpaint have used Eno’s Oblique Strategies cards in the studio, and why you should always turn down dinner invitations from an EGOT.

Longtime friend of the show and one of my favorite people in the world to talk music with, writer/director/showrunner Brian Koppelman (Billions, Rounders, Ocean’s 13) joins me to talk about Lou Reed’s mid-career classic ‘New York’ album. We talk about how Lou got sober and political simultaneously, the powerful simplicity of the music and the carefully crafter lyrics that Reed agonised over, Brian’s memories of living in NYC when this album was released, how the city looms large over both Lou and Brian’s writing, how Brian has deployed Lou’s songs in his TV series ‘Billions’, Lou’s enduring influence and much more.

Today a friend of the show becomes a subject of it, as emerging singer-songwriter Essie Holt joins me to rave on Megan Washington’s 2010 debut album ‘I Believe You Liar’. We talk about the benefits of discovering artists at live shows, Meg’s iconic ARIAs performance of ‘Sunday Best’, the will in song form ‘Underground’ and whether it holds legal legitimacy, songwriting as therapy, being the victim in your songs, how releasing music has changed over the last ten years and more.

Today, author and broadcaster Stuart Coupe joins me to discuss his new Paul Kelly biography and some of the lesser known tales from Paul’s life and career. We talk about Paul’s early years, why he struggled to be part of a band, the albums that Paul doesn’t want you to hear and why he’s made them unavailable, why Paul is Australia’s answer to Elvis Costello, what it’s like to write a book about someone you used to manage, how Paul went from being sceptical of the book to an enthusiastic contributor and why Paul didn’t mind losing his luxurious hair.

Beatles nerds rejoice again, as synth queen Seja Vogel joins me to delve into the album that brought Paul McCartney back to the toppermost of the poppermost in 1973, 'Band on the Run'. We talk about Paul’s uneven solo trajectory after the Beatles breakup, the volatile story of how the album was made in Lagos (band members quitting, stolen demo tapes, Fela Kuti, etc), Paul’s drumming, the use of synths on the record, covering Let Me Roll It, how McCartney has become the ambassador to Beatledom, our experiences seeing Paul live, our love for Nineteen Hundred and Eight-Five and Mrs Vanderbilt and the song we think should’ve been left off the album.

Legendary Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies, Breaker Morant) joins me to discuss five songs that have influenced and inspired him from throughout his life and career, plus we talk about the process of shaping the music for his classic film Tender Mercies, the challenges of licensing songs for movies, how he approaches working with screenplays and writers as a director and the projects he’s working on now. Bruce’s six songs are: Dick Powell - Lulu’s Back in Town Elizabeth Welch - Yesterday Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man Tim Carroll - What’ll We Do Til Then? Lizz Wright - Leave Me Standing Alone Willie Nelson - What Was It You Wanted? Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing

Today, Tony-nominated musician and actor Sarah Stiles (Tootsie, Billions, Avenue Q) joins me on the release day of her new EP ‘You Can Ukulele With Me’ to celebrate the wonderful world of Cyndi Lauper. We delve into loving the album as a kid, her intense emotional reaction to seeing Cyndi sing ‘Time After Time’ in person, the real feminist themes of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, Cyndi’s incredible music videos, her vocal influence on Sarah, how Sarah’s album eschews the traps of most actors-turned-musicians and whether some music legends have unknowingly already played their last gig.