Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"The Clocks Are Out Of Time" The East London outfit The Jack Rubies may have gotten their start in 1987 and quickly fired off two brilliant albums--1988's Fascinatin' Vacation and 1990's See The Money In My Smile--but that was it; they literally dropped off the musical map. And it was a weird disappearance because they were poised for big things--they had critical acclaim, they'd toured with The Triffids, They Might Be Giants, Modern English and the Blow Monkeys and were fan favorites on MTV's 120 Minutes. So what happened? Where did they go? Well, the short answer to the first question is, they went on hiatus. And the short answer to the second question is New York, North Carolina and England. That clears nothing up, right? Let me help a bit: The musical landscape was changing, things got weird with their record company, they were young men acutely aware of getting older and it just didn't seem to make sense to go on. I'm oversimplifying, but that's kind of the gist of it. The band's singer Ian Wright will fill in the gaps. Bummed as fans like me were that they were gone, the good news is they're back. Firing with the same melodic accuracy and pop smarts that endeared them to fans in the first place, the Jack Rubies' third album Clocks Are Out Of TIme is a startling and welcome return to form. Filled with unforgettable hooks and lyrical smarts the Jack Rubies are not only back, they're back with their original lineup. And this isn't just unfinished business--there's more music on the way. www.bigstirrecords.com www.thejackrubies.bandcamp.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com www.bombshellradio.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Good Thing" Her new album might be called The #1 Zookeeper (Of The San Diego Zoo) but Abby Hamilton does not hail from San Diego. The singer/songwriter was born and raised a little over two thousand miles away in Wilmore, Kentucky. Hamilton's family was a musical one--so much so, in fact, that she has aunts who sang in a Southern Gospel group called The Hamilton Family. But lineage aside, what Abby started to realize when she was in college is that artists like Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt and Jason Isbell have been having musical conversations with each other through their art and she wanted in on that dialogue of collective consciousness. Well, she's in. Her album is a startling and thoughtful blend of rootsy swagger, blissful Americana and lyrical smarts. It's one of the most riveting and fully-formed debuts in recent memory. www.abbyhamiltonmusic.com (http://www.abbyhamiltonmusic.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

"Revolución to Roxy" Yes, the London-born guitarist and producer Phil Manzanera is part of one of the greatest bands of all time, but that really isn't the story. It's just part of it. Like, 10% of it. Which is crazy when you think of the cultural impact of Roxy Music, but the fact is, Manzanera has lived an interesting life that goes far beyond his tenure in an influential rock and roll band. His book Revolucion to Roxy explains everything and after you hit the first chapter you'll see his origin story isn't a simple one. He covers being multi-racial, traveling around the world as a kid and witnessing actual revolutions in Cuba and Venezuala, being sent to a posh boarding school, and the sudden death of his father. And all that happened before he was fifteen. An old story is a guy picks up a guitar and his life changes and that's for sure a big part of the story here, but the long-time history buff only started to understand why he was drawn to music in the first place years later. It turns out that Manzanera is a direct descendent of an Italian opera singer. And a Jewish pirate. I'm not joking. But the more he digs, the more answers start to show up that form an historical polaroid that's still coming into focus. Revolucion To Roxy is a brilliant read, filled with narrative velocity and authorial poise, but it's also the story of a guy who's figuring out who he is in real time. And the reverse engineering is as surprising to him as it is to us. For example, his dad worked for the British Overseas Airway Corporation. Or did he? Being drawn to music was free will. Or was it? You get the idea. Revolucion To Roxy is a marvelous blast of biography and self-examination and it really explores the idea that history is shooting through our DNA and even if you ignore it, it's going to tap you on the shoulder and point you wherever it wants. www.manzanera.com wwwwww.roxymusic.co.uk www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com Twitter: @emberseditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"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