Rhythms Magazine

On The Record’s Episode 23 leans in to great songs, better stories, and the strange afterlife of pop careers. Michael Mackenzie’s big night out is Split Enz at Rod Laver Arena, a reunion-sized crowd of “people in roughly our same demographic” packed into a venue that, he notes, holds 14,860.  The gig itself? A triumph. Plus UK crime reviews and the long overdue recognition of The Zombies. Show Not...

On his final night in New Orleans, Brian Wise files a slightly frayed dispatch that captures Jazz Fest’s defining tension: a festival big enough to feel infinite, and a schedule brutal enough to make you choose your regrets in advance. Episode 22 becomes a story about how festivals actually unfold—less like neat recaps and more like a sequence of weather calls, crowd-panics, and last-minute pivots...

By Episode 21, On The Record has moved beyond anticipation and into immersion. Brian Wise is no longer circling Jazz Fest—he’s in it, navigating its scale, its heat, and its constant, often punishing, decisions. Broadcasting from the French Quarter, Wise paints New Orleans as it always is: chaotic, convivial and faintly surreal. One moment it’s a communal gumbo dinner with locals and visiting frie...

Episode 20 of On The Record finds Brian Wise reporting in from the field—first Austin, then New Orleans—with the kind of on-the-ground detail that reminds you why festivals still matter, even as many struggle to survive. There’s even time for a detour through Austin’s bookstores in search of Dylan literature—because some habits travel well. Show Notes Railroad Earth - Been Down This Road   The Las...

Episode 19 of On The Record kicks off with one foot in the present and the other firmly planted on the long tail of rock history—touching on new Rolling Stones material before sliding into an excerpt from Brian Wise’s recent interview with Mike Mattison of Tedeschi Trucks Band. It’s a neat juxtaposition.  From there, the episode turns toward what’s ahead, with Wise preparing to head to Austin and...

There are episodes of On The Record that wander; Episode 18 plants its flag firmly in one year—1966—and dares you to argue it wasn’t the moment pop music grew up. Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie mark the 60th anniversary of Revolver not as a nostalgic exercise, but as a forensic examination of how four-track limitations, studio ingenuity and sheer artistic restlessness combined to reshape recorde...

If you want to know the exact moment legacy radio started to feel its age, it might have been when a major Australian station began giving away lacy doilies. In the latest episode of On The Record, Michael Mackenzie and Brian Wise—veterans with a combined 70 years behind the mic—stage a fascinating "in-house" intervention for the medium they love (and occasionally despair over). Joined by global "...

The long goodbye to Bluesfest continues in Episode 16 of On The Record, but this time the tone shifts from shock to something closer to forensic analysis. If last week was a reaction, this is reconstruction. If Bluesfest is a case study in organisational failure, Scarpetta is its televisual equivalent. The long-gestating adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s crime novels earns a near-unanimous drubbin...

Episode 15 of On The Record is the sound of a long-running Australian institution going quiet — followed by the louder, messier noise of what happens when a festival doesn’t just “take a break”, but goes into liquidation. Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie devote the bulk of the episode to the sudden demise of Bluesfest after 36 years, and they do it with a guest who knows the event from the inside:...

The latest episode of On The Record opens where any self-respecting Australian roots podcast should: the Port Fairy Folk Festival. It then takes a characteristic detour into aging payment technology, Formula One, Mick Turner guitar lines and the comedic chops of Steve Poltz. Show Notes Port Fairy Folk Festival   Queenie & Hank - Anyhow I Love You Video  ANNIE & THE CALDWELLS – Wrong feat....

If you ever needed proof that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is less a museum and more a cultural argument with a gift shop, Episode 13 of On The Record opens by doing what the institution does best: stretching the phrase “rock and roll” until it politely accommodates everyone from Wu‑Tang Clan to Shakira, with a quick stop at INXS (or, as Michael once heard on the BBC, the new Australian sensatio...

In this episode, roots music returns via the altar: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings live at Melbourne’s Forum, with guest Andy White joining the chat.  They describe the duo as deities in Australia, playing with disarming minimalism (mics on guitars, SM58s, no fancy DI wizardry), and drawing an audience so quiet it feels like church. Brian’s only complaint is the kind you’re only allowed after...

Episode 10 opens in the long-running genre they’ve accidentally perfected — two grown men versus consumer electronics — as Michael explains how he revived his ageing Samsung “smart TV” (now “a bit of a nuff-nuff”) with a cheap HDMI streaming box bought from an Australian online retailer that “rhymes with Hogan”.  The thrill here isn’t just 4K; it’s the moral victory of upgrading the brain while ke...

Episode 9 is the one where Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie briefly mistake themselves for an IT helpdesk, a sports panel, and a moral philosophy seminar—before landing, somewhat dazed, back in music. It opens with Wise declaring he “can’t stand” the sound of his own voice (a bold confession for a career built on talking), while Mackenzie offers the sort of praise that feels both affectionate and...

Episode 8 of On The Record opens with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie doing what many seasoned music listeners now do instinctively when the Grammys roll around: stare at the screen and wonder which planet they’ve accidentally landed on. Brian reminds us that the Grammys permanently lost their way the moment they abolished the polka category.  This wasn’t a niche concern, either. For years, Brian...

Lucinda Williams talks to Rhythms Editor Brian Wise about her new album World's Gone Wrong, a scathing commentary on current political events in the USA. 

Gillian Welch spoke to Rhythms Editor Brian Wise about her forthcoming Australian tour with her musical and life partner David Rawlings. David was set to join us but was held up in the studio mastering the vinyl version of the Time (The Revelator) album. Music included: Neil Young’s Albuquerque from the album Live & Obscure Vol. 1, Mavis Staples' version of Gillian’s ‘Hard Times', Emmylou Harr...

On the latest episode of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie ease into their weekly cultural ramble with the sombre news of Bob Weir’s death—remembering an artist whose band (The Grateful Dead) they half‑followed but wholly respected. Weir, who died on January 10 at 78 (the same date as David Bowie’s passing—coincidence or cosmic scheduling?), becomes the launchpad for a surprisingly a...

If On The Record were a boxing match, Episode 5 would open with the bell ringing and Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie already mid-ring.. The topic? The Golden Globes. The real issue? Whether a film can be called a “musical or comedy” when it is clearly neither, and whether Paul Thomas Anderson should be declared a genius by popular vote or sent to the cinematic sin bin.  Two overly seasoned cultur...

Episode 5 of On The Record, and the conversation has hit its sweet spot: loose, curious, opinionated—and occasionally interrupted by reality. There’s a healthy scepticism about hype, a refusal to confuse longevity with importance, and a shared belief that some things still genuinely matter—even if the algorithm disagrees. Brian Wise brings context and deep musical memory; Michael Mackenzie brings...

Brian Wise talks to Paul Kelly in depth about Paul's latest album Seventy. 

Episode 4 of On The Record opens exactly as listeners now expect: however, the technology relents and the Christmas episode is officially underway. What follows is a warm, rambling, oddly moving conversation about Christmas music, memory, faith, food and survival, with plenty of laughs along the way. Michael Mackenzie declares Christmas music a minefield of bad taste, arguing passionately for caro...

Episode 3 of On The Record once again proves that no matter how long you’ve worked in media, technology will always sense weakness.  Once operational, the episode quickly becomes a rallying cry for the quietly furious demographic known as Grumpy Older Men Who Have Had It With Banks. Michael officially embraces his new identity after discovering his bank changed everything without warning, while Br...

Episode two of On The Record begins exactly where great podcasts are born: with the crushing realisation that nothing has been recorded. After a brief collective sigh (and a generous decision to “power through”), Michael Mackenzie, Brian Wise and guest Nick Corr regroup and press on—braver, wiser, and still dangerously unsupervised. What follows is a gloriously eclectic ramble through: A shameless...

In a gloriously shambolic podcast debut of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie briefly wrestle with technology; however, once the cockpit stops flashing warnings, they settle into a free-wheeling conversation about music, ageing audiences, dodgy voting scandals, Patti Smith, Beatles archaeology, sci-fi mind melds, and why matinee gigs are the greatest invention since the flat white. Wi...