Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"I Just Want To Go Home" I've been obsessed with the Trashcan Sinatras since 1990 and for good reason--the Scottish outfit's winning discography featuring albums like Cake, I've Seen Everything, Weightlifting and In The Music is a perfect body of work. From the punchy pop of "Obscurity Knocks" to the sweeping rush of "All The Dark Horses," the Trashcan Sinatras' sound is shimmering and pastoral. They've toured rather extensively over the years and have an international fanbase that cherishes every note. The recent reissue of Cake found their debut album hitting #2 on the charts and a new album is around the corner. In the meantime, guitarist John Douglas has just put out his debut solo album and it's a stunner. A riveting 11-song collection featuring original material, a few Trashcan numbers and a Prefab Sprout cover of We Let The Stars Go, it's a stirring song-cycle that's nostalgic, achingly beautiful and emotionally precise. Douglas' delivery is gentle and thoughtful and his phrasing is redolent with subtle flourishes that end up being unforgettable and deeply moving. www.johndouglas.bandcamp.com www.trashcansinatras.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Primrose Was In Season" The Florida-born Mackenzie Shivers is a singer/songwriter of tremendous sensitivity and strength. Her new album Primrose Was In Season--and her fourth overall-- is a layered blend of moving compositions that summon joy and loss with dexterity and finesse. Produced by Kevin Salem, the album, which is the follow-up to 2021's Rejection Letter, brings to mind the stirring textures of Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball and Joe Henry's Trampoline. Now living in the Hudson Valley, the song-cycle on Primrose Was In Season braids together themes of healing, struggle, resilience and resolve and in the end, provides one of the most stirring listens of 2024. Shivers' career has found her acting off Broadway and touring Japan as a musician--and as an artist she's brave and bold and unreasonably wonderful. www.mackenzieshivers.com www.bombshellradio.com wwwstereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Highlander" Born in Short Gap, West Virginia, the Grammy-nominated Missy Raines is one of the most legendary bluegrass musicians on the planet. A ten-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year and the first woman to win the award--a feat nobody has even come close to--Raines is a virtuoso musician who plays with unmatched dexterity and heart. She's not just a bass player--she's a singer, songwriter, teacher, sideman, and bandleader as well. Raines started her career at a very young age but what's really interesting is that she started her solo career in 1998 nearly twenty years after touring non-stop and making records with Cloud Valley, Mac Wiseman, and Bill Evans. Raines' new album Highlander is a stirring song-cycle dedicated to her native soil--is it a concept album about West Virginia? Well, kind of, but more accurately, it's a tip of the hat to the textured nuances of rural Appalachia. Produced by the marvelous Alison Brown, Highlander is a musical tribute to the geography of West Virginia and the emotional geography of the concept of home. Long story short: it's stunning work. www.missyraines.com (http://www.missyraines.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazone.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazone.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Let Go" Formed by braintrust Sascha Konietzko in Germany and Paris in 1984, KMFDM got their start as a performance art project but it didn't take long for their propulsive industrial rhythms to establish them as one of the most dynamic bands around. Over the course of their career they've toured the world, sold millions of records and unleashed an uninterrupted string of classic albums like 1986's What Do You Know, Deutschland?, 1990's Naive, 2002's Attak and their brilliant new one Let Go. KMFDM's albums are always a blast of unbridled energy and Let Go is no exception--it's a dynamic blend of crunchy electronica, cascading metal riffs and lashing industrial beats and all combining to make one of the most ferociously danceable albums of 2024. As far as branding consistency goes, it gets no better than KMFDM, whose unmistakable and inimitable sleeves have been done by artist Aidan Brute Hughes, whose work captures the ferocious energy and belief system of the band. And what of that belief system? Well, let's just say it's a continued railing against oppression, censorship, war and violence. Not too shabby, right? Now, KMFDM are really a musical collective so they've had a revolving door of members; the Long Island-born singer Lucia Cifarelli joined the band in 2002 and close to 25 years later, she's still there. Married to Konietzko, the two have forged an enduring creative and romantic partnership. A singer of tremendous power and range, Cifarelli was the former singer of Drill, whose lone album for A&M in the '90s was one I listened to a lot. She's one of those performers who was put on this planet with instant artistic force--she sings with muscle and finesse and like a great baseball pitcher, the best way to describe her is as someone who's got the stuff. www.kmfdm.net www.luciacifarelli.com www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com X: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Starting Over" With close to thirty albums under his belt, the Iowa-born Dan Bern is one of the great iron men of rock and roll. I guess he's kind of the Cal Ripken of modern music--why? Because he keeps showing up with high quality work. From albums like Fifty Eggs to to the newly re-mastered New American Language, Bern is one of the very best we have. His music is observational, clever and poignant, and it always comes with a melodic center that makes each number he writes more impossible resist than the last. He's collaborated with Emmylou Harris, opened for The Who, written songs for the movie Walk Hard, authored two books, recorded children's albums, created and hosted two podcasts, and painted countless portraits of sports figures. If you're getting the idea that Dan Bern is busy creating things you're right. Part traditionalist, part punk, Bern has proven over and over that he's one of the best and most durable songwriters on the planet. His 2001 album New American Language has been re-mastered and issued on vinyl for the first time and his new album is on the way. Glad to grab Dan for this chat in between his busy schedule.... www.danbern.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"I See You" Led by the Bay Area born Destani Wolf, Destani's Piece is a sonic healing project whose compositions are lush and layered affairs, boasting rich textures that conjure vast heavenly landscapes. Filled with dreamy musical nuances--like rolling angelic harps, harmonic pianos and Wolf's otherworldly vocals, the music of Destani's Piece is reflective and meditative and each composition serves as a balm for a world, that, let's face it, can be a bit raw. The Grammy-nominated Wolf has emerged as a brilliant sonic architect and this music is restorative, comforting and healing. As for Wolf, she's been in the game since she was 15 and found herself playing live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Since then, she's been packing her resume' with achievement after achievement. Her voice has been heard on over forty albums, and she's worked with everyone from John Cale to Bobby McFerrin to The Pharcyde. You've heard her on video games like Call of Duty, soundtracks like Disney's The Descendents, Kevin Hart's Laugh At My Pain and Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. She's traveled the globe singing for Cirque du Soleil, is a current member of Bobby McFerrin's MOTION and she collaborates and tours with the Bandaloop Aerial Dance Company. Keep in mind, this is just a partial list. But you get the idea. She's incredible. https://www.instagram.com/destanispiece www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Shane O'Mara Wore Mascara" Okay, so let's not be ridiculous--it's impossible to tell you a little bit about Lindy Morrison because there's so much to tell. But for the sake of time I'll condense what I can about this remarkable woman--just keep in mind this is a partial and very expurgated description of her accomplishments. My suggestion is that you read My Rock And Roll Friend, by Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn, who writes about her friendship with Morrison while offering a contextual explanation about why she's such an important musician, drummer and artist. The Sydney-born Morrison played in the all-female Aussie punk band Zero before joining the Go-Betweens in 1980. She was with the Go-Betweens until 1989, playing on such classic albums as Tallulah, Spring Hill Fair and 16 Lovers Lane. In addition to being a drummer, Morrison is an activist, a social worker and a humanitarian. She's worked on behalf of Aboriginal rights, women's rights and the rights of musicians with mild intellectual disabilities. Her extensive writing about gender issues in the music industry is peerless. She was awarded The Order of Australia Medal for services as a performer and advocate, and back in 2007 she was appointed as an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Music Council of Australia for her services assisting community music initiatives and guidance around performer's rights. She's a rockstar, yes, but she's also a rockstar as a person. Over the course of her career she's collaborated with everyone from Nikki Sudden to Nick Cave, and currently she's playing with Alex the Astronaut and the SnarskiCircusLindyBand with Rob Snarski of the Blackeyed Susans. Morrison is a subtle and smart drummer, whose sneaky percussive fills roll with rhythmic grace and steady muscle. And she's a blast to talk to--you're going to love her. www.robsnarski.bandcamp.com www.go-betweens.net www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Kindergarten Heart" Well, the Canadian singer/songwriter Shaina Hayes finished university and did what most graduates do--she started a farm. Ambitious? Of course it was--but Hayes, who was actually raised on a farm, was more than up for the challenge and spent her twenties tilling the land for her vegetable farm which was also a local CSA. The art of farming gave way to another art form--music. Hayes put out her debut album To Coax A Waltz in 2022 and two years later comes the follow-up Kindergarten Heart. A stirring blend of aching melancholia and gentle indie folk, Kindergarten Heart is powered by percussive rhythms and poetic flourishes that weave through each composition with hopeful elegance. It's truly beautiful work. And this is a lovely, lovely chat. www.shainahayes.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.bombshellradio.com X: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Natural Magick" Formed in the mid '90s in London, Kula Shaker emerged as one of the most dynamic and engaging musical acts around. Mixing psychedelia with traditional Indian music and pop, Kula Shaker tore it up right out of the gate, with their debut album K hitting #1 and making them immediate superstars. Over the course of their career they played Glastonbury, T in the Park, the V Festival, and they supported Oasis at their legendary Knebworth shows. Singer Crispian Mills is the grandson of the Academy Award Winning actor Sir John Mills and the son of director Roy Boulting and actress Hayley Mills, who you might remember from the 1961 film The Parent Trap. Mills got into ancient Sanskrit texts as a young man and carried their wisdom into his adulthood. He also got into psych music as well as The Doors. He's played with X-Ray Spex and appeared on the Prodigy's The Fat Of The Land album and when Kula Shaker were on hiatus, he played in a band called The Jeevas. Also, he's a writer and director; he wrote and helmed the Simon Pegg film A Fantastic Fear Of Everything and has other projects in the works. With Kula Shaker he's put out six marvelous albums, including K, Pilgrim's Progress, 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Hugs and their brand new one, Natural Magick. A riveting return to form, Natural Magick finds the original Kula Shaker lineup reunited and the results are stunning--this album is an energetic blast of psych pop redolent with rich hooks, textured instrumentation and melodies galore. It's fabulous work. www.news.kulashaker.co.uk www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @embersditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

"I Will Never Let You Down" Marcellus Hall has been doing so much, his resume it'll make you look at your resume and think What have I been doing? Let's back up: The Minnesota-born Marcellus Hall went to the Rhode Island school of design then moved to New York after graduating to form the band Railroad Jerk. Railroad Jerk put out four perfect albums for Matador, thought they recorded a fifth called Masterpiecemeal, that didn't come out but is available now on Bandcamp. After the band broke up, Hall formed White Hassle with Railroad Jerk's Dave Varenka, who were awesome and they put out a handful of brilliant albums like National Chain and Death of Song. After White Hassle called it a day in 2006, Hall put out phenomenal solo albums like The First Line, Afterglow and now his new one I Will Never Let You Down. But what about those ten years? You're probably still wondering. He's been illustrating. As an illustrator, Hall's work has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Fortune and he's done several New Yorker covers. He did the weekly comic strip Bill Dogbreath that appeared in The Onion and Baltimore City paper, among others, and he illustrated books--lots of them, like Sherry North's Because You Are My Baby, Lee Bennet Hopkins' City I Love and Karma Wilson's The Cow Loves cookies. Keep in mind, this is a partial list. Another partial list: books that Hall wrote and illustrated, like Kaleidoscope City, Everyone Sleeps, Virtual Reality, and Multiplicity. As for his new album, it's a stunner. A breezy blend melodic muscle and musical finesse, this is an instant classic. Hall plays with a kind of freewheeling precision, and his songs are the kinds of songs you will carry with you for the rest of your life. Trust me. Have I ever let you down? Okay, maybe once or twice, but Marcellus Hall will never let you down. www.marcellushall.bandcamp.com www.marcellushall.com (http://www.marcellushall.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com