You, Me and An Album

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80. David Moss Discusses Richard and Linda Thompson, I Want to See The Bright Lights Tonight Aug 07, 2022

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This episode's guest is David Moss, who performs with his twin brother, Adam, as The Brother Brothers. David introduces Al to Richard and Linda Thompson's first album, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. David shares how he first became acquainted with the album and what is special about it, and he also talks about The Brother Brothers' new album, Cover to Cover, and the duo's upcoming plans.
You can follow the Brother Brothers on Twitter at @thebrobros and on Instagram at @thebrotherbrothers. As David mentioned, he and Adam also have a website, where you can get tour information, videos and more...http://www.thebrotherbrothersmusic.com/.

Al is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

Al launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter earlier this year. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts and much more. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com/

1:11 David joins the show

1:26 David explains why he chose I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

1:55 David remembers the exact moment that the album took on special meaning for him

4:30 David talks about the elements of the album that set it apart

Discussion of specific tracks:

6:13 Calvary Cross

14:57 The End of the Rainbow

18:52 The Little Beggar Girl

20:44 What makes this a seminal folk rock album?

24:49 David and Al appreciate Linda Thompson’s vocal versatility

26:03 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

31:46 The Great Valerio

35:41 David explains why the Brother Brothers made a covers album

37:57 David tells us about what’s coming up for the Brother Brothers

38:46 David recommends an additional album for us to listen to

The outro music is from the Brother Brothers' cover of Richard Thompson's "Waltzing's for Dreamers."

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79. Tim Friese-Greene Discusses My Bloody Valentine, Isn't Anything Jul 24, 2022

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Musician/songwriter/producer Tim Friese-Greene (solo, Short-Haired Domestic, Heligoland, Talk Talk) joins Al to talk about My Bloody Valentine's 1988 debut, Isn't Anything. Tim talks about why this is an important album and which tracks stand out for him. He also discusses his new album, Melodic Apoptosis, and upcoming projects.
Tim briefly alluded to the novel process used to write and record the last two Talk Talk albums. Al looked for some documentation of that process to share here in the notes, but was not able to find many sources, but this piece provides a start: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/13/talk-talk-mark-hollis.
Tim also mentioned that he kept and published a Twitter blog that documented his experience of creating Melodic Apoptosis. You can find it at https://twitter.com/fatpet3.

Be sure to check out Tim's website, https://www.timfriesegreene.co.uk/, and his Bandcamp page, https://calciumchloride.bandcamp.com/!
You can also follow Tim on Twitter at @curonianspit2.

1:42 Tim joins the show

2:29 Al’s normal routine for preparing for the show did not serve him well this time

4:06 Tim describes how he and his family listen to music at home

5:47 Tim explains why Isn’t Anything is an important album for him

10:18 Was Talk Talk affected by 1980s music trends that Tim wasn’t fond of?

13:31 Tim explains why he chose Isn’t Anything instead of Loveless

19:06 Tim recounts the one time he met Kevin Shields

21:20 Tim gives an example of the messiness of Isn’t Anything

23:00 Tim appreciates the sound of Isn’t Anything

24:27 Tim is reluctant to call Isn’t Anything a rock album

29:02 Tim imagines what Isn’t Anything would sound like if recorded by an American rock band

31:55 Tim talks about how he typically listens to Isn’t Anything

33:29 Tim gives the songs on Isn’t Anything a passing grade on the “busker’s test”

36:01 Tim identifies a pair of standout tracks

44:02 Tim is curious about My Bloody Valentine’s process for recording acoustic tracks

46:01 Sometimes Tim reflexively analyzes music

47:35 Tim talks about how he connects with Isn’t Anything

50:56 Tim offers Al a suggestion on how he might get more out of the album

54:48 Tim discusses the circumstances around the recording of Melodic Apoptosis

1:01:07 Tim is happy with the way the Short-Haired Domestic album came out

1:01:47 Tim talks about his upcoming albums

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78. Orono Discusses The Unicorns, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? Jul 17, 2022

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Superorganism's lead vocalist and artist Orono joins Al and picks this week's album, which is Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? by The Unicorns. Orono explains why she chose this album and what makes it one of her favorites. She also delves into the process Superorganism used to record their new album, World Wide Pop, and the videos they released along with it, and she also talks about her friendship with "cool dad" Stephen Malkmus.
Superorganisim YouTube channel (featuring videos discussed on this episode): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDWISefDYGwbspN9w6kyLSw

Superorganisim's website (with tour dates!): https://www.wearesuperorganism.com/
Superorganism on Twitter and Instagram: @sprorgnsm

As Orono noted, you can follow her on Twitter (@oronooo) and Instagram (@
oronooooo). Just make sure you type the right number of "o"s depending on the platform.

1:12 Orono joins the show

2:05 Orono explains how Superorganism wound up appearing on Legion

4:29 Orono’s friend suggested that she choose Who Will Cut Our Hair

6:20 Al tells Orono what his impression of the album is

9:26 Orono loved The Unicorns right at her first listen

12:22 Orono talks about the similarities between The Unicorns and Superorganism

15:54 Orono doesn’t have a favorite track

Observations about specific tracks

17:18 I Don’t Wanna Die

20:10 Child Star

25:00 Emasculate the Masculine

27:05 Is this a pop album?

30:18 Inoculate the Innocuous

31:34 Jellybones

32:11 Tuff Luff/Sea Ghost

34:59 Tuff Ghost

36:59 Les Os

39:42 Let’s Get Known

41:36 Orono wishes The Unicorns had stayed together longer

43:28 Orono explains how she got to be friends with Stephen Malkmus

47:13 Orono outlines Superorganism’s process for writing songs for World Wide Pop

50:50 Is Orono an Arizona Diamondbacks fan?

52:27 Orono talks about how Superorganism’s videos get made

54:52 Orono discusses her other current projects

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77. Carla Olson Discusses The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Axis: Bold as Love Jul 10, 2022

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Guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer Carla Olson is this week's guest, and she introduces Al to The Jimi Hendrix Experience's second album, Axis: Bold as Love. Carla co-founded The Textones (with Kathy Valentine), collaborated with Mick Taylor, Bob Dylan, Gene Clark and countless others, and co-produced and performed on the new compilation album, Americana Railroad. Carla talks about her favorite things about Axis, as well as her own encounter with Hendrix, her work with Taylor, the story behind Americana Railroad and much more.
Al referred to an interview that Carla did with Harold Lapidis, where she discussed performing in Bob Dylan's video for "Sweetheart Like You," among many other topics. You can check out the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0QzQ_8Ejk&t=1838s

Also, you can see Carla's performance on the "Sweetheart Like You" video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpRKstHl7Y0

As Carla mentioned, you can stream/purchase Americana Railroad everywhere now. Here is one place to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nH73kV_CiBB9ooznmJi3W-BLiz6YdcOLg

There are lots of places to keep current with Carla's work!

@CarlaOlsonMusic on Twitter and Instagram

@CarlaBOlson on Instagram

@haveharmonywilltravel on Instagram

Textones Facebook page

1:24 Carla joins the show

2:08 Carla talks about the time she met Jimi Hendrix

14:27 Carla talks about playing guitar growing up

21:15 Carla recalls how she got introduced to Kathy Valentine

25:46 Carla pinpoints what it is about Jimi Hendrix that made him great

28:00 Carla discusses what was new for Hendrix on Axis

31:36 Carla tells us what Don Henley’s pet peeve with Hendrix was

32:38 Carla and Al talk about how Axis is meant to be listened to in its entirety

33:31 Carla says that the era in which Axis was recorded and toured was one of rapid growth for Hendrix as a musician

34:53 Carla and Al discuss Noel Redding and his pop sensibility

38:14 Carla and Al talk about Hendrix as a vocalist and lyricist

42:07 Listening to Axis has helped Al to better appreciate Hendrix’s impact

49:07 Al wonders why tracks from Axis didn’t get more radio airplay

55:33 Carla recounts the crisis that could have prevented Axis from getting released

59:13 Carla explains how she started working with Mick Taylor

1:05:15 The Americana Railroad compilation album was decades in the making

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76. Livestream #1: Our Musical Obsessions Jul 03, 2022

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This episode is an audio-only version of the livestream event that occurred on Monday, June 20. The participants discussed musical artists they have listened to the most in their lives, the benefits of digging deeply into their favorite artists' work and whether they feel FOMO when focusing their listening attention narrowly. The participants and host also picked albums that they wanted the other participants to hear.
The participants were:
Ellen Adair (actor, baseball analyst, podcast host)
Rebecca Clay Cole (keyboardist, Pavement)
Eric Gilde (actor, writer, podcast host)
Mariana Timony (senior editor, Bandcamp Daily)
Host:
Al Melchior
2:18 Introductions
3:55 The artists we have listened to the most
15:55 What are we looking for when we get immersed in certain artists' music?
32:33 Do we get musical FOMO?
43:42 Albums we want to share with others
If you want to actually see (as well as hear) this conversation, head on over to the You, Me and An Album channel on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVv9NLptU7Q

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75. Matt Norlander Discusses Pearl Jam, Yield Jun 26, 2022

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Matt Norlander, basketball writer and analyst for CBS Sports and host of the Records & Riffs podcast, is this episode's guest, and he introduces Al to Pearl Jam's fifth album, Yield. Matt talks about his fandom for Pearl Jam in general and his love for this particular album, commenting in detail on nearly every track. He also delves into his viral moment involving a Guster sticker and what's coming up for him, both at CBS Sports and on Records & Riffs.
This was not a great episode for Al in terms of correctly citing song titles. He referred to "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" from Vs., as "Elderly Lady," and "Red Dot" from Yield as "Red Bar."
Be sure to follow Matt on Twitter and Instagram at @mattnorlander, and to check out his website, mattnorlander.com. Also find the archive of episodes for Records and Riffs at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/records-riffs/id1038311526?mt=2.

Al launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter earlier this year. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts and much more. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com/
Finally, You, Me and An Album now has a YouTube channel! If you missed the recent livestream episode with Rebecca Clay Cole, Mariana Timony, Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde, you can replay it there...https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbABgYqn4lMrG4NE3dqniIw.

1:24 Matt joins the show

2:22 Matt talks about interviewing Steve Lillywhite for his music podcast

5:46 Matt explains why he picked Yield

8:37 1998 was a great music year for Matt

10:39 Why is Yield Matt’s favorite Pearl Jam album?

19:00 Al references albums that were the first ones he loved from certain bands

19:32 Al appreciates the elements that make Yield different from previous Pearl Jam albums

22:31 Matt thinks the band’s collaborative approach on Yield produced great results

25:38 Matt singles out his favorite songwriter in Pearl Jam

Discussion of specific tracks

27:52 No Way/Faithful

31:50 Wishlist and an appreciation of Jack Irons

34:22 Given to Fly

36:28 Brain of J./Do the Evolution

38:33 Red Dot/Push Me, Pull Me

42:15 Matt surmises which other albums Yield’s tracks could have been placed on

43:45 MFC

45:57 Low Light

47:42 Matt admires Brendan O’Brien’s production on Yield

48:44 Matt’s closing thoughts on the album

52:04 Matt talks about his current work at CBS Sports and with Records & Riffs

56:29 Matt talks about the viral moment he had with his Guster laptop sticker

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74. You, Me and An Album Comes to YouTube! Jun 19, 2022

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On this episode, Al unveils the new You, Me and An Album YouTube channel. He announces the first offerings on the channel -- namely, a new playlist and a livestream event. In discussing the livestream, Al revisits excerpts from some previous episodes that featured the livestream guests: Eric Gilde, Rebecca Clay Cole, Ellen Adair and Mariana Timony.
YMAAA Livestream/Q&A
Monday, June 20 at 2pm ET/11am PT
https://youtu.be/SVv9NLptU7Q
Special guests:

REBECCA CLAY COLE (Pavement, Wild Flag, The Minders), MARIANA TIMONY (Bandcamp Daily), ELLEN ADAIR (The Sinner, Homeland, MLB Network), ERIC GILDE (Cryptid, Narrator Syndrome)

Topic: our experiences of being deeply immersed in our favorite music

Playlist: Cuts from 30 Rockin' Albums (but not all rock)
One track from each of the last 30 albums featured on YMAAA
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDQFLu8I78OMLEgFNsaL0vDsRSni7eKij

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73. Jeff Erickson Discusses Uncle Tupelo, No Depression Jun 12, 2022

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LIVESTEAM INFO!!

As Al mentioned towards the end of this episode, he will be bringing You, Me and An Album to YouTube! Be sure to set your reminder for viewing the first YMAAA livestream on Monday, June 20 at 2pm ET/11am PT by going directly to the livestream page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVv9NLptU7Q

Al’s guests will be:

Rebecca Clay Cole (Pavement, Wild Flag, The Minders)

Mariana Timony (Bandcamp Daily, The Weird Girls Post)

Ellen Adair (Homeland, The Sinner, Take Me In To the Ballgame podcast)

Eric Gilde (Cryptid, Narrator Syndrome, Take Me In To the Ballgame podcast)

There will be Q&A…submit your questions in the live chat or DM them to Al ahead of time at @youmealbum on Twitter or Instagram!

_________________________

Uncle Tupelo…yet another band that Al had heard about and read about, but never actually listened to. Jeff Erickson of RotoWire remedies that on this episode, as he introduces Al to the band via their 1990 debut album, No Depression. Jeff and Al talk about several of the album’s tracks, the importance of Uncle Tupelo to the alt-country subgenre, Jeff’s experiences with listening to Wilco and Son Volt, and the nature of being a fan of a band that becomes more popular over time.

As he promised, Jeff provided a link to a video of Uncle Tupelo playing live in 1994. Watch and enjoy…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWiUkQMs5zM

Let Jeff know how much you love Uncle Tupelo on Facebook and at @Jeff_Erickson on Twitter.

Al has recently launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts and much more. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com/

1:02 Jeff joins the show

2:23 Jeff explains how he discovered No Depression

4:42 Al discusses his experience of seeing Wilco live

6:31 Jeff identifies the reasons why he chose this album

8:12 Jeff connected with No Depression’s earnest tone

9:42 Al appreciates Uncle Tupelo, even if they didn’t totally click for him

13:15 Jeff talks about Uncle Tupelo’s early years, and Al recalls hearing about the band in that era

16:05 Al and Jeff find parallels between Uncle Tupelo and R.E.M.

17:51 Al has a hard time imagining Uncle Tupelo as a punk band

19:08 Al and Jeff compare Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy

22:12 Jeff names some of his favorite songs from the album

24:12 Uncle Tupelo doesn’t take credit for creating alt-country, even though others do

25:54 Al talks about a couple of his favorite tracks

28:12 Jeff and Al discuss their struggles with enjoying their favorite bands after they became popular

33:39 No Depression hits Jeff the same way now as it did when he first heard it

34:59 Jeff and Al pick out some of their favorite lyrics from No Depression

42:09 Jeff compares and contrasts Uncle Tupelo with Wilco and Son Volt

48:46 Al asks Jeff where to continue his Farrar/Tweedy exploration

52:00 Jeff talks about his work with RotoWire

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72. Henning Ohlenbusch Discusses Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha! Jun 05, 2022

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Not only does Massachusetts-based musician, songwriter and producer Henning Ohlenbusch introduce Al to an album he didn’t know on this week’s episode, but with Ha!-Ha!-Ha!, he opens Al up to a whole era of Ultravox! that he didn’t even know existed. Henning talks about why this album is special to him, shares his observations on each of the album’s eight tracks and discusses the making of his new solo album, The Dream is to Dream.

Henning’s label, Rubwrongways Records, publishes a playlist called 25 Songs for This Week every Monday. Check it out here! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fyuMn8ZZh8N3FoJnaP7jo

You can find Henning’s work on the Rubwrongways website (rubwrongways.com), as well as on his Bandcamp page (https://henningohlenbusch.bandcamp.com/).

Be sure to give Henning a follow! @ItsMeHenning on Twitter and @henningo on Instagram

You can also find all things Henning on his website, henningo.com.

LIVESTEAM INFO!!

Also, as mentioned at the outset of this episode, Al will be bringing You, Me and An Album to YouTube! Be sure to set your reminder for viewing the first YMAAA livestream on Monday, June 20 at 2pm ET/11am PT by going directly to the livestream page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVv9NLptU7Q
And don’t forget to send your questions for Rebecca Clay Cole, Mariana Timony, Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde by Twitter DM to @youmealbum or in the YouTube chat during the live show.

0:00 A special announcement

2:16 Henning joins the show

3:15 Henning talks about what he likes about the Northampton music scene

4:36 Al’s first experience of listening to Ha!-Ha!-Ha! was a bit of a shock

6:23 Henning has a strong preference for one version of Ultravox over the other

10:05 Henning names some other bands he could have chosen for this episode

11:28 Al had to reset his expectations for the album

Discussion of specific tracks:

12:20 Distant Smile

18:35 ROckWrok

19:07 The Frozen Ones

22:58 Fear in the Western World

25:56 Comparing Side 1 vs. Side 2

27:50 The Man Who Dies Every Day

32:24 Artificial Life

36:56 While I’m Still Alive

41:50 Hiroshima Mon Amour

47:56 Henning is impressed by the loudness of this album

49:50 Henning has had a hard time getting others to explore Ha!-Ha!-Ha!

51:14 Henning has an interesting idea about how the album-listening habit gets formed

53:20 Henning talks about his approach to recording his new album

1:01:44 Henning discusses what’s next for him

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71. Anita Lee Elliott Discusses Ace Frehley, self-titled May 29, 2022

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Days before the release of Slang’s debut album, Cockroach in a Ghost Town, guitarist Anita Lee Elliott dropped by to talk about Ace Frehley’s self-titled solo album. Anita discussed how she first learned about this album, why she loves it and how she imagines it was received by Ace’s Kiss bandmates. She also talked about how she joined Slang and what some of her favorite tracks are from the band’s new album.

Slang's Cockroach in a Ghost Town is out! Stream/buy it here: https://theeslang.bandcamp.com/releases

Al highly recommends the video for Viva Voce's "Alive with Pleasure," as he and Anita discussed on this episode. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_X7m7xFVJw

As discussed on the show, Anita Lee and The Handsome Three have a Facebook page. Check it out...https://www.facebook.com/anitaleeandhandsome3/

You can follow Slang on Twitter at @realslang and on Instagram at @theeslang.

1:07 Anita joins the show

1:44 Anita explains how she wound up getting Ace Frehley’s debut album

4:38 Anita discusses the extent of her Kiss fandom

6:47 This album fit right in with other popular rock music of its time

9:48 Anita is a music-first, lyrics-second type of music listener

11:48 Anita’s parents helped her forge a strong connection with albums

15:20 Growing up near Muscle Shoals influenced Anita’s love of electric guitar

Discussion of specific tracks

17:35 Speedin’ Back to My Baby

20:10 I’m in Need of Love/Ozone