My Favorite Album With Jeremy Dylan

John Leventhal is a master of tastefulness, over decades as a producer, guitarist and songwriter with everyone from Shawn Colvin to Marc Cohn to William Bell and his wife Rosanne Cash. Today he welcomes me to his home studio in New York to talk about Ry Cooder’s 70s classic ‘Paradise and Lunch’. We delve into Ry’s genius as an arranger and reinterpreter of songs, his influence as a musician, how the album puts songs first over guitar flexing, how Ry has influenced John’s playing and production and what it was like for John and his wife Rosanne to collaborate with Ry on new arrangements of Johnny Cash songs.

Today Australia's queen of the dance floor bangers Kira Puru joins me for a long-awaited discussion of Amy Winehouse's classic neo-soul masterpiece 'Back to Black'. We dig into how this record sparked a soul revival and how the music that came in its wake measures up, how Winehouse's artistic sophistication was sometimes masked by her image, the definition of 'cool', what makes Winehouse's lyrics so effective and how producer Mark Ronson helped shaped the album, as well as reflecting on the untimely loss of Amy Winehouse and whether suffering is endemic to great art.

This week comedian and podcaster Tom Ballard joins me to chat about Midlake's concept album 'The Trials of Van Occupanther'. We talk about how the album manages to be timeless but not retro, the conceptual substance behind the lyrics, the 60s and 70s rock influences on the album and we dredge up Tom's 2013 list of the best songs of the past 20 years and hold him accountable for it. We discuss the changing dynamics of a band who has lost its lead singer, solo creative work vs collaboration and I challenge Tom to turn this album into a musical.

MFA Book Month concludes this week with journalist, author and Empire podcast geek queen Helen O'Hara joining me for a journey through the music of superhero cinema, from John Williams' magisterial score for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE through to Kendrick Lamar's BLACK PANTHER soundtrack and much in between. We discuss the evolution from theme driven symphonic scores to the intense blare of Hans Zimmer, the use of pop music in superhero films from Prince's BATMAN music to the toe-tapping GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, how Marvel found its footing with the scores of the MCU after a slightly muddled beginning and we plug Helen's new book THE ULTIMATE SUPERHERO MOVIE GUIDE. We also get into it about JOKER (no spoilers), what almost drove Helen off Twitter, I offer some lightly controversial takes and it all ends on a very silly note.

Book month continues as I chat to superstar film critic, double bassist and friend of the pod Dr. Mark Kermode about 'How Does It Feel', his memoir of his life and musical misadventures. We chat about Mark's 'how hard can it be?' approach to potentially intimidating musical challenges, the self belief that has sustained his music career and his lifelong desire to become a pop star. We talk about the nature of memory and the process of writing memoirs, details that had to be legally redacted, how skiffle music transformed his musical career, his short-lived stint as musical director for a prime time BBC chat show and that time he launched my career as a filmmaker.

MFA Book Month continues as Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt joins me to talk about his exhaustive book chronicling the stories behind every single song Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded. We delve into both the stories behind the songs and the stories behind the book, how Brian made sure it had something new both for die hard fans of the Boss and those who only knew the hits - from conflicting stories behind some tracks, the underappreciated gems in Bruce's catalogue, Springsteen's attempt to not sound like "Bruce Springsteen" anymore, how his depression bled into his songwriting, the battle between live and studio versions of some songs and, because I can't help myself, Taylor Swift.

It's the My Favorite Album book club for the next month, trading musicians in for authors of the most exciting books about music and musicians. We kick things off with Will Birch, founding member of The Kursaal Flyers turned journalist and biographer, on his new book 'Cruel to Be Kind', the definitive look at the legendary Nick Lowe's life and career. We talk about Nick's late career reinvention of his sound and image, the infamous Brinsley Schwartz press launch fiasco, Nick's relationship with Elvis Costello, how What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding ended up on the Bodyguard soundtrack, the process of writing the book and much more.

This week I chat to singer-songwriter and Men at Work frontman Colin Hay about Chris Whitley's 'Dirt Floor'. We talk about the allure of the back to basics record, the appeal of living in oft-derided LA, discovering art that deeply affects you far into your career, code-switching as a Scot growing up in Australia and finding comfort in isolation. We also talk about Colin's favourite venues to play, what it's been like to play with Ringo and his All Star Band and writing the title track on Ringo's latest album, plus a bonus story about the time Paul McCartney did his dishes.

This week I chat to the king of late night TV and rock n' roll legend Max Weinberg about 'Persistent Percussion' by Maxwell Davis and his All Stars (1960). Max explains how the pop exotica album taught him to take an all rounded approach to drumming, how it encouraged him to learn about the history of drumming in popular music, mono vs stereo and what it's like to hear others reinterpret his own drum parts. Max tells me about his friendship with Irv Cottler, meeting Frank Sinatra and the successful career of his son Jay.

This week I talk to Australian singer/songwriter Jack River aka Holly Rankin about MGMT's debut album 'Oracular Spectacular' (2007). We talk about the ubiquitous and inescapable singles on this era defining record and their matching video clips that envision a utopian world, the album's political message and the impact psychedelic drugs have had on music. Holly tells us about her career arc, what it was like to meet MGMT's Andrew Van Wyngarden and how fans can find meaning in a song that goes beyond the original intent of the artist.

This week we finally get to a Weezer record as I chat to Australian singer-songwriter and master of a thousand instruments Dave Jenkins Jr aka Not A Boy's Name about the classic 1996 album 'Pinkerton'. We talk about the band's dramatic identity change from their previous album, the poor reviews 'Pinkerton' originally received and frontman Rivers Cuomo's complicated relationship with the album. Dave opens up about about his early disastrous recording experience that coincided with discovering the album, whether the legacy of great art can be tarnished by the quality of subsequent work and 'Pinkerton's' connection to the opera.

My Favorite Album returns from hiatus for a special Americana Fest edition of the show, featuring one of the most compelling young Americana artists talking about a formative record of the genre. The devastating Kristina Murray joins me to chat Lucinda Williams' 1988 self-titled album. We discuss how this record was overshadowed by Lucinda's classic album 'Car Wheels On A Gravel Road' and the birth of the Americana genre. Kristina tells us how Lucinda's music helped to craft her own sound, what it's like to cover songs from the album and she treats us to a special acoustic rendition of 'Crescent City'.

This week I chat to producer, bassist, songwriter, documentarian and president of iconic jazz label Blue Note Records, Don Was about Wayne Shorter's classic album 'Speak No Evil' (1966). We talk about how the album gave Don a sense of purpose, that a piece of music doesn't need lyrics to speak to someone, how great artists seem to appear from a creative ether and Don explains how engineer Rudy Van Gelder achieved the classic jazz sound that unifies all Blue Note albums and how Don aims to continue that legacy by pursuing the artists' vision. Plus Don tells me some fantastic anecdotes about his time working with Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Benmont Tench and more.

This week I chat to frontman of The Herd, co founder of Elefant Traks record label, manager and solo artist Urthboy (aka Tim Levinson) about A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘The Low End Theory’. We discuss how A Tribe Called Quest was political in a different way than other hip-hop artists of their era, how their sampling of jazz helped them cross generational lines and how your ability to appreciate contemporary music falters as you get older. Tim opens up about how the album educated him about issues not being discussed in school and why he has referenced and sampled elements of the album in his own music.

This week I talk to Queen of Australian radio Zan Rowe about Talking Heads ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’. We chat about David Byrne’s outsider appeal, the new wave funk sound that defined Talking Heads, the album’s dystopian predictions and capitalist lyrics, producer Brian Eno’s contribution to the album and delve into his Oblique Strategies cards. Zan tells us about the first time she met David Byrne, his wonderful sense of curiosity and we both commiserate over missing his last tour.

This week I chat to rapper, writer, comedian, actor, one half of A.B. Original and the man who should've been PM, Briggs, about Snoop Dogg's classic album 'Doggy Style' (1993). We talk about Snoop as a crucial but underrated figure in the evolution of hip-hop, how Briggs discovered the record as a kid in Shepparton, make a case for the album's importance, the timelessness of the production, delve into the making of the album and how Briggs' channeled Snoop to capture the energy of the recording studio on 'Reclaim Australia'.

This week I chat to Australian singer-songwriter Gretta Ray about Blake Mills' 2010 album 'Break Mirrors'. Mills may be better known as a producer (Alabama Shakes, Dawes) but today we explore his own music. We talk about how Mills wrote this album as a calling card for his session work, his poetic but unpretentious turns of phrase, his unique but completely tasteful guitar work, Mills' production on Laura Marling's latest album and the advantages of operating slightly under the radar.

My Favorite Album Goes to the Movies continues as we explore how the iconic MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE theme has evolved over fifty years of the TV and film franchise, with special guest MI experts Drew Taylor and Charles Hood, hosts of the Light the Fuse podcasts. We look at the origins of the theme and delve into the scores of the 60s and 80s TV series, and how each composer has approached the films from Danny Elfman to Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino to Joe Kraemer and Lorne Balfe, plus lesser known takes on the theme music by U2’s Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr, Limp Bizkit, Kanye West and Jon Brion, and where we want to see the franchise take the score in the upcoming two (final?) films…