Today, Carla Geneve zooms in from WA to celebrate the almost-20th anniversary of The Drones classic 'Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By'. Carla talks about being introduced to the record by her Dad at age 11, the violence of the music and subject matter, the epic nature of the nine songs, leaving space for meaning and atmosphere, using slower tempos to create intensity, the unadorned nature of the record, the brutal literature of Gareth Liddiard's lyrics, the importance of chronicling the stories of who Gareth is writing about, what movie would best sync up with the album, the influence of this record on guitar players, and much more, including why P!nk is the Tom Cruise of pop music.
Today singer-songwriter and Frontier Ruckus frontman Matthew Milia joins me to celebrate Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 masterpiece RAM. We talk about the freedoms and pressures on Paul as an artist in the wake of the Beatles breakup, his philosophy of 'don't fix the mistake, explore the accident', the darkness in some of the lyrics, the derangement of Monkberry Moon Delight, reclaiming the mantle of the avant garde from John Lennon, Linda's contributions as a producer and vocalist, the influence of the production on modern indie music and more.
TW: Suicide Today, celebrated author Ken Womack joins me to unpack his extraordinary new definitive biography of Beatles road manager Mal Evans, 'Living the Beatles Legend'. Ken talks about the incredible access given to him by the Evans family, including Mal's unpublished memoirs and diaries, the digital warehouse he built to sort through the incredible archival material, how much of the Beatles story is Mal's story, how the Beatles invented the pop superstar industry as they went along, how Mal managed to take on roles that would now be filled by dozens of individuals, how the Beatles laid the template for every rock'n'roll narrative that has followed, the friction between Mal and Brian Epstein, how Mal compartmentalised his life, how Mal championed and produced Badfinger in the face of Allen Klein's opposition, Mal's friendship with Paul McCartney, the upcoming quartet of Sam Mendes directed Beatles movies, the myth of the solitary genius, how important every member of the Beatles inner circle was to their success, and the conterfactuals in Beatles history, including how Mal's story might have unfolded over the past decades if it hadn't been so tragically cut short.
Today we bring you a (if you can believe it) new perspective on the Beatles story, as Dierdre Kelly joins me to discuss her fascinating book 'Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World', in which she unpacks the journey of the Fab Four's style across their careers, how they influenced and were influenced by fashion and the culture at large. From the edgy elegance of their early years, the contradictions between their working class drawl and sharp presentation, the rapid pace of change in both their look and sound, how they helped popularise corduroy, the rise of menswear as a form of cultural expression and the case for Ringo Starr as the most stylish Beatle.
Today I'm joined by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of The Lumineers, Jeremiah Fraites, to wax rhapsodic on Radiohead's iconic 1997 album 'OK Computer'. We talk about Jeremiah's journey from hating to loving Radiohead as a teenager, the album's diverse but coherent sound, the album's sonic easter eggs, the balance of performed and constructed elements, the early live incarnations of the OK Computer songs, road testing songs in the pre-iPhone era, the power of boredom as creative fuel and more. We also breakdown Jeremiah's beautiful interpretation of 'No Surprises', featured on his new album 'Piano Piano 2', and the process of arranging the song and recording with Gregory Alan Isakov.
Today I'm joined by Ed Nash, bassist of UK indie heroes Bombay Bicycle Club, down the line from North London to chat about Kurt Vile's modern classic 2011 album, 'Smoke Ring for My Halo'. Ed talks about discovering the album on tour in Australia, how it became the soundtrack of BBC's breakthrough period, listening to it on repeat on tour, the sonic space and soundscape of the album, Vile's sophisticated and distinctive guitar style, how Vile disguises the sophistication of his music with his 'slacker rock' image, and how the album influenced Ed's approach to guitar, arrangements and lyrics in the years since.
We kick off our tenth anniversary year with ARIA-winner Mia Dyson, who joins me to talk about the soundtrack of the iconic Talking Heads concert film 'Stop Making Sense'. We talk about wearing out VHS tapes in the pre-streaming era, the contrast between the band's musical eccentricity and austere aesthetic, why the film is the perfect entry point for new Talking Heads fans, how the show builds from David Byrne solo acoustic to the full expanded band extravaganza, Byrne's obsession with deconstruction, how the analogue staging and filmmaking techniques have kept the film timeless 40 years later, the overriding joyousness of the performances despite the contentious interband dynamics, the unconventional choreography in the show, the earnest emotional core behind all the weirdness and Mia's NYC David Byrne sighting. Mia talks about how this music gave her permission to be herself in her own music, different concepts of authenticity and how Talking Heads influenced her 2018 album 'If I Said Only So Far, I Take It Back', and her approach to vocal performance and revisiting abandoned material for her new album 'Tender Heart'.
It's that time of the year again.... we are signing off for 2023 with a blockbuster episode celebrating the best movies to hit cinema screens in the past 12 months. Joining me as usual are filmmaker Charles Hood and film journalist Drew Taylor, hosts of the legendary Light the Fuse podcast.
Strap in a for an epic celebration / discussion / fight about a bunch of movies you should go seek out if you haven't already seen!
Today we present a fun and rollicking chat with Gareth Liddiard, frontman of Tropical Fuck Storm and the Drones and master anecdotalist. Gareth joins me to bring some sunshine to a brilliant and under-appreciated record by Spencer P Jones, the legendary guitarist and singer/songwriter originally from NZ who made Australia his home for most of his career. The twist is that Gareth played lead guitar on this record, Spencer P Jones and the Nothing Butts and has the inside story on the album's creation, how the songs came into being and the one of a kind mind of Spencer P Jones. From standing in the crowd in Perth while his sister throws a beer bottle that narrowly misses Spencer to meeting him at an early Drones gig in Melbourne to become friends, frequent tour mates and collaborators in the studio, Gareth opens up about his relationship with Spencer and shares some hilarious stories about one rock'n'roll's true eccentrics, involving earthquakes, scorpions, blood spattered amps, Nelson Mandela and Joe Satriani.
Your feedback is valuable to us. Should you encounter any bugs, glitches, lack of functionality or other problems, please email us on [email protected] or join Moon.FM Telegram Group where you can talk directly to the dev team who are happy to answer any queries.