Love That Album Episode 44 - Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier - Stories of Ghosts

I’m doing things a little bit differently for episode 44 of Love That Album.

Rather than co hosting with a fellow fan of a particular album, I’ve gone straight to the source and am chatting with the musicians concerned. February this year saw the latest release from Australian singer songwriters Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier. They’ve been making wonderful albums for years, but with "Stories of Ghosts", they’ve just upped the ante.

 “Stories of Ghosts” is heaven for fans of brilliant songwriters – an ironic description considering the subject matter for the album is an exploration of their Jewish heritage from an atheist’s perspective. Make no mistake, however – this album is not about following a Richard Dawkins agenda, nor is it bitter like Andy Partridge’s “Dear God.” These songs cover topics like hope, disappointment, and anger – themes that anyone can relate to – believer and non-believer alike. Deborah and Willy were fascinating interview subjects, and I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation. Song samples are included.

NOTE: There were audio issues in the recording of this interview, but is still listenable overall. A good headphone listen.

Eric Reanimator’s “Album I Love” segment features him talking about a metal band (I told you this was a different type of episode), The Galactic Cowboys and their album “Machine Fish”. Their album delves into questions of troubled faith, making it a perfect accompaniment to the Conway / Zygier album.

…and for those of you who are concerned about how long these LTA shows run, this one is only a tad over an hour. Perfect for your work commute.

You can download the podcast at iTunes by searching for “love that album”. You can stream or download it at http://lovethatalbum.blogspot.com

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum.

Love That Album podcast Episode 43 - The Who - Who's Next

Episode 43 of LTA is mammoth, huge…not (just) in length, but in content. I am joined by Ben Eisen of the All Time Top Ten podcast to discuss The Who’s “Who’s Next” album.

The Who had just come off the success of Tommy, and Pete Townshend was keen to tell another story called Lifehouse. Not for him to write an ordinary kitchen sink drama – no way. Mr Townshend had big ideas about a future run by a totalitarian regime (shades of 1984) where people where linked experience suits all connected together to share common activities (predictor of the internet?). One lone man wants to bring about the long forgotten practice of rock and roll (a precursor to Footloose???) to the world by organising a concert where everyone will sing and dance themselves into such a state where they will find the lost note of purity and disappear in a flash of light…….Are you following the story so far? No? Doesn’t matter.

When the project collapsed under the weight of its own heaviosity, “all” that was left was the album “Who’s Next”. Disappoiting for Townshend, but a true gift for the rock loving fraternity. This album contains the cream of song writing and musicianship. Ben and I had a blast discussing these songs, both in the context of the original Lifehouse story and as separate entities in their own right. Whether you’re into spirtituality, Sci-Fi or Keith Moon murdering his drum kit, we’ve got it covered.  Also, what do Abbot & Costello and Tom Lehrer have to do with this album? Listen to the show and find out. NOTE: If you’re a Led Zeppelin fan, DO NOT send death threats after listening to this. Ben and I both love Zep, but……

Eric Reanimator returns for an excellent segment to discuss the Nuggets 2 box set. I’ve been a long time fan of Nuggets 1, so I was really keen to hear his words of wisdom about the follow up.

You can download the podcast at iTunes by searching for “love that album”. You can stream or download it at “lovethatalbum.blogspot.com”.

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a war – The Who vs Led Zep. Who wins? Or should that be Who wins!

Love That Album Episode 42 - Richard Thompson - Electric

Hard to believe it’s taken 42 episodes of Love That Album to get to discuss a Richard Thompson album (considering my obsession with his music). Still, the great songwriter and guitarist’s guitarist has released a new LP and that seemed a good a reason as any to chat about it on the podcast.

My guests for this discussion are John Ross (convenor of the excellent Feed My Ears FB page), returning for his second appearance on the show, and LTA newcomer Dave McLemore. Dave, like me, was a long time admirer of RT, and John had his music forced down his throat by me. So does the new album stand up to the standard set by previous recordings? Has John become a fan or did all the hype I created set RT for a fall in John’s mind? The album covers breakups (both tragic and humourous), randy senior citizens, political campaigners and guys just trying to survive on a meagre wage….usual singer/songwriter fodder.  Comparisons are also made to Australian songwriting hero, Paul Kelly. John, Dave and I have a blast chatting about this record.

Eric Reanimator is back talking about an EP from 90s band Animal Bag (whom he discussed in the recent Shooting The Shit episode). It’s good stuff.

You can download the podcast at iTunes by searching for “love that album”. You can stream or download it at “lovethatalbum.blogspot.com”.

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a discussion on your favourite guitar hero / song writing guru.

Love That Album Episode 41 - Son of Shooting The Shit

Welcome to episode 41 of Love That Album aka “Son of Shooting The Shit”. Yep, in addition to the regular crew of Tim Merrill, Eric Peterson, and John Stirrat, we welcome special guest shit-shooter Thomas Deja to the world-wide round table.

Ever wonder where the old LTA segment of “What have You Been Listening to Lately” went? No??? Oh…(said he with a slightly wounded ego)… I’ll tell you anyway. It found a home at Shooting the Shit headquarters. In fact we spent so much time talking about our recent listening pleasures (with a myriad of diversions, it must be added) that this took up the whole show. It was a fascinating conversation, and thanks to the impeccable taste of my cohorts, I now have some new music to chase up.

We also play a tune from The Art of War, a band out of Geraldton, Western Australia, fronted by “Bad” James McDonald (known well to the Silva and Gold community). Dig it.

Oh, and have you ever wondered where my old technique of laying music underneath the discussion that didn’t actually correspond to what we were talking about went? Not that either, huh? Well, I’d better just shut up now.

My thanks go to the guys for their time and efforts into this episode.

You can download the podcast at iTunes by searching for “love that album”. You can stream or download it at “lovethatalbum.blogspot.com”

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a discussion on…anything musical.

You can hear more of The Art of War from http://www.reverbnation.com/theartofwar

Love That Album Episode 40 - Richard Clapton - The Great Escape

It was 1982 - the Australian popular music landscape had a number of iconic albums released: Men at Work's "Business As Usual", Midnight Oil's "10, 9, 8...", Goanna's "Spirit of Place", Cold Chisel's "Circus Animals" and Richard Clapton's "The Great Escape". Richard was already revered as one of Australia's greatest songwriters recording music that was identifiably Australian combining a bit of surf music, hippie ideals and lyrics that would not have been out of place on early Bruce Springsteen records.In 1982, he wanted to try something a little different.

Looking at what his peers were doing, he developed a tougher sound for The Great Escape utilising the skills of  the great Mark Opitz (Cold Chisel, Angels) as producer. For episode 40 of Love That Album, Michael Pursche of Sitting In a Bar In Adelaide podcast and I discuss this album, some of what went on before that, and a discussion Richard made on a certain teen TV pop music show with its "professional" host. The album starts off frantic and ends off with Richard at peace with his environment. In between, there's a song that is (in my opinion) one of the greatest, if not THE greatest pop song written in this country. The musicians on board include a who's who of the day, including members of INXS who Richard had previously produced.
Eric Reanimator returns to discuss the music of cowpunk outfit, The Divine Horsemen in his segment An Album I Love. Download the show either from http://lovethatalbum.blogspot.com or search for "love that album" in the iTunes store.

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a discussion on the best TV appearances by a rock act.


Michael's podcast can be found at http://adelaiderockshow.mevio.com

Love That Album Episode 39 - Aimee Mann - Bachelor No. 2

For episode 39 of Love That Album, I’m joined by Thomas Deja of the Better In The Dark podcast to discuss Aimee Mann’s album from 2000 Bachelor No. 2 or The Last Remains of the Dodo.

This was Aimee’s third album, released after buying back the recordings from her unsupportive record company declaring it to have no commercial appeal (which shows part of the reason why real music lovers hold record companies in contempt). She sold it very successfully from her website until getting a wider reaching distribution deal. Aimee shares excellent company with the likes of Jon Brion (ex-Jellyfish, The Grays), Buddy Judge and husband Michael Penn to produce a suite of songs that are all at once sweet and bitter. These songs would be like eating a nice piece of apple cake, only to find out the fruit has gone rancid. The sweet melodies and harmonies are wrapped around lyrics that are bitter, accusatory, self deprecating, and resigned. What I love about some of these songs is that Aimee sings from the perspective of someone whose view of events is not necessarily reliable. This really makes for more interesting listening than some songwriters who always take the self-righteous line. I really enjoyed hearing Thomas’ take on these fine songs. We also briefly discuss some of these songs’ linkage to the terrific P.T. Anderson film, Magnolia.

Eric Reanimator returns to discuss the brilliant album by Neko Case, “Fox Confessor Brings The Flood” in his Album I Love segment

Download the show either from http://lovethatalbum.blogspot.com or search for "love that album" in the iTunes store.

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a discussion on anything musically related.

Love That Album Episode 38 - That'll Be The Dust

Love That Album episode 38 is doing something a little different to the usual – we’re not discussing an album. Wha????????????????????????

"Silva and Gold" podcast’s Doctor Zom and I spend the show discussing two great British movies from the early seventies – 1973’s “That’ll Be The Day” and 1974’s “Stardust”. Both films feature a lot of rock and roll, and are centred on the power it has over its audience, but unlike previous filmic excursions on LTA, we’re not discussing the soundtrack. David Essex stars in both films as Jim Maclaine and his rise from fairground attendant to rock star. Jim is a narcissist, and does not let friendships, family duty or basic human decency get in his way from getting what he wants out of life. The first film covers the period from the late 50s where he drops out of school to work at a seaside carnival, and the second covers his rise and fall with his band The Stray Cats. I think it’s a retelling of Faust in a way.

Besides David Essex, the films feature Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Adam Faith, and Larry Hagman in what was surely a precursor to J.R. Ewing. Zom and I have a lot of enjoyment discussing these great, gritty films and hopefully, our chat will inspire you to discover or revisit them. As from previous visits to the podcast, I love having Zom’s insight and contribution.

Eric Reanimator returns to discuss an anthology of songs by The Troggs. Wild Thang......

Download the episode either from http://lovethatalbum.blogspot.com or search for "love that album" in the itunes store.

The podcast can also be listened to via Stitcher Radio. Download the app from stitcher.com, and listen to any episode streaming over your Android or Apple device after searching for “love that album”.

Send me any feedback at rrrkitchen@yahoo.com.au (written or mp3 voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum and start a discussion on your favourite rock related movie.