RiYL

Let’s talk about yoga. Let’s talk about the practice behind the familiar, physical movement. That deeper, spiritual resonance heavily informed Rebecca Pidgeon’s latest record, Parts of Speech Pieces of Sound. In fact, the tracks that populate the album were each influenced by different chakras and their corresponding deities. It’s a concept album of sorts, one deeply tied to daily practice under the instruction of Prashant Iyengar. Though focused on her music career, Pidgeon is best known as an actress, best known for appearing in films like The Spanish Prisoner and State ad Main. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of our most requested guests returns to the show. It’s been nearly eight years since we’ve caught up with Will Cullen Hart. The Circulatory System/The Olivia Tremor Control front man has spent most of the pandemic focused on his painting. We discuss his artwork -- one of which falls onto his head, as the interview winds down. But our focus is his continued musical work, from some of the earliest Elephant 6 demos, to forthcoming Circulatory output. Ten years ago this July, The Olivia Tremor Control’s long-awaited reunion came to a close with the tragic death of Cullen Hart’s childhood friend and longtime collaborator, Bill Doss. While the event spelled the end of the group’s live performances, many of Doss’s contributions to a new record, The Same Place, had already been record. Hart discusses the likelihood of that music seeing the light of day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded in hotel rooms while on tour with the Avett Brothers, Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown finds the musician paying tribute to the titular singer-songwriter over the course of 10 tracks. After being temporarily sidelined by the pandemic, brothers Seth and Scott returned to the touring with full force. Though not even a global pandemic could keep them away for too long, with the band releasing its third Gleam EP in August 2020. Still, the past few years did offer a few moments of silent reflection in a job that seems to rarely offer moments to come up for air. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This year, Love and Rockets celebrates 40 years as – perhaps – the single greatest American comic of all time. Mario Hernandez, along with siblings Gilbert and Jaime, was a principle driving force in the book’s formative years. Mario would soon take a back seat and ultimately leave the book to his brothers, instead focusing on supporting his family with non-comics work. He’s continued to work in the form over the years, including a number of collaborations with Gilbert. Now retired, he’s begun to reconnect with what he loved about the medium in the first place, with plans to produce work that has been building up in his studio for years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We postpone the interview a few days, as there’s a hurricane bearing down on Florida. Tampa staved off the worst of it, but it’s another one of those things – counting yourself lucky that you made it through another one okay. In addition to managing the occasional natural disaster, Pohgoh’s existence has been a series of ups and down. The group spent the better part of two decades in a kind of quantum state – together, but also not really – until it properly reunited in 2016. This year’s du und ich is the group’s second LP in this latest go-round. It’s a deeply personal record, setting Susie Ulrey’s life with Multiple Sclerosis against an indie-pop backdrop.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the beautiful things about music is that it’s a seemingly bottomless resource. Whenever you begin to doubt it, something new and fresh quickly dispels the notion. Big Joanie’s sophomore LP, Back Home, is just such a record. It’s confirmation that the spirit of punk beats on in new groups, even as it charts new territories. Ahead of the album’s release, singer and guitarist Stephanie Phillips joined us to discuss the band’s journey, Sleater-Kinney, music journalism and the power of Solange.     Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s easy to feel hopeless in this world, but a 45-minute conversation with Mariah Parker makes you feel like you can do just about anything. A rapper, politician, activist and mother, the Athens, Georgia-based artist who performs as Linqua Franqa channels both sober pragmatism and hope for a better world. From being sworn in as City Commissioner with a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X to the release of this year’s urgent Bellringer LP, it’s hard to know how they find the hours in the day. But conversations like these make you glad there are people like Parker out there who still do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year, Immersion released Nanocluster Vol 1. The album finds the duo of Malka Spigel and Colin Newman quickly composing and recording music with names like Tarwater, Laetitia Sadier, Ulrich Schnauss and Scanner. Spigel and Newman – also a married couple living in the U.K. have their own impression back catalogs, as members of Minimal Compact and Wire, respectively. The former has been pioneering Israeli post-punk group that’s sporadically reformed over the course of 40 years. In this conversation, Spigel talks pandemic productivity, production and a potential reunion.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the sole consistent member, Will Sheff has built Okkervil River into one of the smartest and most beloved indie rock bands to walk the earth. This year sees the release of Nothing Special, his first solo record in his nearly quarter century long music career. The milestone, coupled with a seemingly endless pandemic, have afforded the musician plenty of opportunity to reflect on the world around him.In this conversation, we discuss empathy for those we disagree with, the drive to make music and the end of the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2004, Michael League has remained Snarky Puppy’s one constant. For every album and every show, the bass player has been there to help shape the amorphous jazz collective. Empire Central is a rare concept album of sorts – a musical homage to Dallas, the city near the University of North Texas, where the band began life. The area is now half a world away from Spain, where League now calls home. He phoned me from Catalonia to discuss the new record, which is also the final recorded appearance by the group’s mentor, Bernard Wright. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.