Stereo Embers: The Podcast

Stereo Embers The Podcast: Tom Hollister (Cardinal Black) by Alex Green Online

"Feel Good Now" Alright, let's get the spicy stuff out of the way; yes, the Loft split up onstage in front of 3,000 people while opening for the Colorfield at the Hammersmith Palais. That happened. But a lot happened before and a lot has happened after, so let me catch you up. Formed in 1980, The Loft were one of the first bands signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records. Their wistful pop had jangle and nerve and they tore out of the gates cramming their resume with notable achievements for McGee's lable like being the first Creation band to appear on television, the first top the indie singles chart, the first to be invited on to a major UK tour and the first to record a Janice Long BBC radio session. The Loft were poised to be a huge band, but the public split came before their first album was ever released and so fans could only be left to wonder what might have been had they been able to just get a record on the shelves. Compilations like Magpie Eyes and Once Around The Fair were released over the years,

Stereo Embers The Podcast: Imogen Clark by Alex Green Online

"Strawberries" Perhaps best known as one of the co-founding members of the late great Australian band The Go-Betweens, singer/songwriter Robert Forster has been putting out critically acclaimed solo albums since his 1990 debut Danger In The Past. Over the years he added to his solo discography titles like Calling From A Country Phone and I Had A New York Girlfriend, and now the Brisbane-born Forster is checking in with his ninth solo effort Strawberries. The follow-up to 2023's rousing and affecting The Candle And The Flame, Strawberries is startlingly beautiful and emotionally precise. Produced by Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John, the eight numbers on Strawberries range from the jangling album opener "Tell It Back To Me" to the stirring blues of "Good To Cry." Elsewhere, the seven minute "Breakfast On The Train" is not only a great song, it also doubles as a great short story; the title track is a brilliant and simple study of the gobbling of strawberries as a metaphor for domestic bliss and the album cl

"Sprinter" The Florida-born Cat Ridgeway is speeding into national prominence. Or, to be more specific, she's sprinting there. Ridgeway's new album Sprinter is an adrenalized blast of hook-filled rock and roll, howling blues and scruffy pop that's one of the most refreshing listens of the year. A commanding presence with charisma to burn, Ridgeway, along with her band the Tourists, are full of a howling punk-rock electricity that summons everyone from the White Stripes to the Foo Fighters. Now Ridgeway is a self-taught musician who plays harmonica, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, bass, piano and guitar and that's incredibly impressive, but having spoken to her, she has an autodidact streak that runs through her life. Hence the reference I made to coffee earlier, but I'll let Cat tell you all about that. Named Orlando's Best Singer-Songwriter for the last three years, Ridgeway has played with Houndmouth, Arcade Fire and Lucy Dacus and she's no stranger to playing music festivals around the country. She's a typho

"Hue Mirror" In Illness as Metaphor, Susan Sontag once wrote: “Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.” Well, my guest today on the program has recently been grappling with the use of the other passport Sontag is referring to and that grappling has yielded a song cycle that no matter what kingdom you find yourself dwelling in, will be moving, inspiring and transcendent." The Chicago born singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jess Robbins was diagnosed with AS, which is more specifically known as anklosing spondylitis, an aggressive autoimmune disease that can cause debilitating chronic pain as well as spinal inflammation and the fusing of the vertebrae. It's scary stuff, but part of Robbins' emotional healing was fi

"Dance With Me" The married Michigan duo of Annagail are hard to categorize because of their startling musical range. With The Smiths, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and The Foo Fighters, Annagail's running through their musical DNA, Jared and Jennifer aren't afraid of a folk song or a pop song or a blues song or a roots song. It's fair to say that they're not afraid of anything. More on that in a minute. Filled with aching harmonies, wistful ballads, tender country and infectious hooks, Annagail, who used to operate under the moniker Route Three, may be tough to pin down in terms of genre, so it's easier to simply say they're brilliant at what they do and they do all of it. Jared and Jennifer have a musical symbiosis that's undeniable and profound and a tenth of their personal challenges would be enough to keep someone on the sidelines forever, but not these two. They've not only survived a list of hardships--and I'll let the interview cover that material, but just so you get an idea of how long and serious th

"Remembering Mark Stewart of The Pop Group" Throwing curveballs at the moon is how The Pop Group's Mark Stewart describes the creative process and it might also very well be the perfect description of the Pop Group's career. Unconventional, ferociously innovative, and delightfully idiosyncratic, The Pop Group have never cared about what's happening in the mainstream and instead adhered to the rhythms and sounds that they wanted to make. In this whirlwind of an interview, the Bristol-born Stewart talks to Alex about UFO's, having tea with Sun Ra, The Sex Pistols, and how music bridged the racial divide in his town in the late 70s. He also talks about why he likes to hang out with oddballs, the avant-garde New York scene and a fight he once had with Allen Ginsberg. www.bombshellradio..com www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.alexgreenbooks.com Stereo Embers The Podcast IG + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

“New Girl Syndrome” The New Zealand-born Lisa Crawley has fearlessly created art and then just as fearlessly followed that art all over the world. From a small town in Japan to a cruise ship to Los Angeles, Crawley is not afraid of the hard miles and she’s bravely traversed the globe performing wherever she can. Armed with a luminescent voice and melodic muscle, Crawley’s work suggests a dreamy mix of Amy Winehouse and Bic Runga. Over the years she appeared in the Tony-Award winning musical Once, opened for Paul Weller, Simply Red and Suzanne Vega, she’s performed with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra and she’s had her work appear in everything from The Last Days Of Capitalism to Nancy Drew to Good Trouble. Her new EP New Girl Syndrome is an infectious and stirring song cycle that’s contemplative, probing and unreasonably catchy. Lisa’s a really funny person and her humor is deadpan and sly and it’s a fascinating counterpoint to her emotive and affecting songbook. www.lisacrawley.com www.stereoembersmagazin

"Face Of 68" The Connecticut-born Peter Holsapple isn't hiding his age--his new album Face Of 68 proudly blares it in its title and though the 68 is representative of his current chronology, like our old friend Billy Bragg, he knows that number is a temporary thing and another waits in front of it. So, to honor this moment in his life, Holsapple's third solo album is a celebration of a year in a man's life and it couldn't sound more life-affirming. The d.B.'s frontman, whose output with that beloved outfit include classics like Stand For Decibels and Like This remain timeless classics, is one of music's busiest characters. Here's a quick and partial glance at his rock and roll resume': In the late-'80s, he was a full-time fifth member of R.E.M., He was an auxillary member of Hootie and the Blowfish for nearly 30 years, he was in the indie pop supergroup the Continental Drifters with members of The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate and The Cowsills, and he's currently playing with The Paranoid Style, the reformed

Stereo Embers The Podcast: Mike Delevante (The Delevantes) by Alex Green Online

"GPYR" I'm admittedly a bit fixated on a 16 year old Josh Joplin getting in the van and driving away from his family, his friends and high school in order to blaze his own musical trail out there in the American wild, but I think I'm mostly fixated on that for both its ambition and its bravery. For starters, it's cool that Josh had the belief the world would find him--and it did. But to know that or believe that at 16 is remarkable--when I was 16 I was staying up late watching Letterman and making mix tapes for girls and had no ambition that would get me in a van by myself and head down the highway peddling my wares. But Josh Joplin did. And we talk about that a great deal because I'm in awe of him doing something most 16 year olds couldn't have done. All these years later, the DC born Joplin has almost fifteen albums under his belt, and each one further proves his uncanny genius. From his first album A Present For Hitler--which is maybe one of the best debut album titles ever--to his new one GPYR, Joplin ha

Developer" Formed in the mid-80s in Missoula, Montana by high school pals Tim Midyett, Joel R. Phelps and Andy Cohen and rounded out by Seattle-born drummer Michael Dahlquist, Silkworm remain one of the most singular indie rock bands of all time. They relocated from Montana to Seattle in 1990 and then the real fun began. Their 1994 album In The West was produced by Steve Albini, who actually went to the same high school in Montana, and this is the album where Silkworm really hit their stride. From Garden City Blues to Raised By Tigers, In The West was filled with dark, churning rhythms, brooding percussion and inventive lyrics. Phelps left the band after In The West, but Silkworm kept moving from strength to strength, putting out classic albums like Developer, Italian Platinum and It'll Be Cool. Their close to 15 album discography is near-perfect and repeated listens always yield new sonic surprises. The band ended in 2005 after the death of Dahlquist in a car accident, which also claimed the lives of severa

"House Of Steam" Putting it simply the L.A.-born Nels Cline's resume' is so deep, to quote Mark Eitzel, it "would make the ocean proud." The guitarist and composer is one of the most respected names in the business and though he's perhaps best known these days for being the guitarist of Wilco, let's not single story Mr. Cline, because his body of work is varied and extensive. Aside from his early jazz work with his twin brother Alex, he's played with everyone from the Geraldine Fibbers to Mike Watt to Thurston Moore. But that doesn't even scratch the surface. Cline has played on close to 200 albums in jazz, pop, rock, country, and experimental music. Let me give you a few of those 200 to play with: Yoko Ono, Henry Kaiser, Firehose, Wayne Kramer, Rickie Lee Jones, John Zorn, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Neil Finn, Lee Ranaldo and Chris Stamey. And belive me when I tell you that's a heavily expurgated list. Over the years Cline has been in bands with his pal Mike Watt Floored By Four, band with his wife Yuka Honda of

"Anything At All" Since the late '90s, the Pennsylvania-born musician Denison Witmer has been quietly producing one of the most stirring and affecting bodies of work in modern music. That body of work is also one of the most consistent. With close to fifteen albums under his belt, including Of Joy And Sorrow, Philadelphia Songs and The Ones Who Wait, Witmer's music brings to mind the work of everyone from Paul Simon to John Martyn to Elliott Smith. The Lancaster native has collaborated with everyone from The Innocence Mission to Rosie Thomas, he's toured the U.S. and Europe, did a side project called The River Bends with members of One Star Hotel, and he's been recording for Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty label since 2011. Produced by Stevens, his new album Anything At All is his first since 2020's American Foursquare and it's a gentle stunner. From the rousing opener "Focus Ring" to the contemplative "Slow Motion Snow" Anything At All is filled with tremendous sensitivity and poetic elegance. It's a medita

“Forwards” For more than 40 years the Welsh band the Alarm have been one of the most consistent acts on the planet, playing songs with conviction, heart and belief. With almost 20 studio albums under their belts, along with a discography that includes live albums, box sets and EPs, The Alarm are one of those bands where you pretty much want everything they put out. From albums like Declaration to Strength to their brand new one Forwards, The Alarm are a completist’s band. Speaking of Forwards, it’s a remarkable record—singer/songwriter Mike Peters has never sounded better, his voice alive with muscle and belief. The Welsh band have had a remarkable career that’s filled with endless highlights-- they toured with U2 and Bob Dylan, played at Queen’s Live at Wembley concert in 1986, been on IRS’s the Cutting Edge and American Bandstand, had hit singles all over the world even cracking the Billboard Top 50 here in the States, and wrote a song that became the official Welsh anthem for Euro 2020. This is a band tha

Stereo Embers The Podcast: Zoe Ko by Alex Green Online

"23" If I hadn't received an email from Oregon way back in 2010, this episode would never have happened. Out of nowhere, 15 years ago, I got a letter from Dave Cantrell who wrote a very kind email about my 33 1/3 book on The Stone Roses. The lovely things he said were...lovely and deeply appreciated, but what really stood out to me where a couple of things. First of all, Dave and I both grew up in Concord, CA a town here in the East Bay of California. And that's its own specific thing--but the other thing that really stood out was his writing. Error-free, meticulous, generous and grounded, I immediately wrote back and recruited him to write for Stereo Embers. You would have, too. It would be like walking past a park and seeing a guy throw a 105 mile an hour fastball. You want him on your team. And I'm happy to report that he still is.Cut to 15 years later, and not only is Dave a close friend, he's the Senior Editor of Stereo Embers Magazine and his new book 23 is out now. Putting it in music terms, 23 is a p

"What I Deserve" Over the course of almost fifteen albums, Kelly Willis has made a pretty good case that she's one of the greats. The Oklahoma-born singer/songwriter is not only a beautiful and affecting singer, her phrasing is filled with purring vowels, consonants fearlessly taking sharp corners and delicious diction which powers each number with authority, vulnerability and grace. Willis' career has a pretty good stockpile of highlights and here's a few for you: She's collaborated with Allison Kraus, Vince Gill, Jay Faraar of Son Volt and Chuck Prophet, a few of her songs were in Thelma and Louise, she was in the movie Bob Roberts, she's played all over the world, including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass here in San Francisco, put out a holiday album with her ex-husband Bruce Robison and is now celebrating the 25th anniversary of her 1999 album What I Deserve. And what to say about that album? Well, it's an absolute classic and the new edition is a must-have. Kelly is really sweet and very honest and this was

Stereo Embers The Podcast 0425: Willy Vlautin (Richmond Fontaine, The Delines) by Alex Green Online