In 1999 filmmaker Baz Luhrmann released the song “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen,” a 7-minute-long graduation speech set to downtempo electronic music. It was a highly unlikely hit that made its way across continents and eventually into the ears of a young Avery Trufelman via the album NOW That’s What I Call Music Volume 2. For over 20 years, Trufelman h ... Show More
Jun 9
Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say
Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the en ... Show More
42m 8s
Jun 5
How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)
A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived. Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a concept record set in a future ruled by a mega-corporation that ... Show More
13m 2s
Jun 2
Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)
A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego a ... Show More
52m 19s
Aug 2022
“Hey Ya” by Outkast: Everything You Didn't Know
Alex and Jordan go deep on the idiosyncratic hip hop mainstay, often cited as one of the best songs of the 21st century. They get into the deceptively heartbreaking lyrics, the unexpected musical inspirations, the brain-crushingly complex music video, and the science of why it’s ... Show More
1h 5m
Jan 2018
'Whenever, Wherever' by Shakira (w/ Solomon Georgio)
This week, Solomon Georgio (@solomongeorgio – Comedy Central, his album ‘Homonegro Superior’) joins the show to talk about Seattle, the movie Saving Silverman, the glory of early 2000s music videos & cell phones, and eventually, Shakira’s 2001 classic “Whenever, Wherever,”– a son ... Show More
1h 7m