XS Long Player: Classic Indie Albums

Circa Waves may have a brand new album out... but this podcast is going retro. 'Death and Love Pt1' is out now but for this episode of the XS Long Player we are going back to 2015 and the release of the debut 'Young Chasers'. We'll hear about the best and weirdest day of the bands life when they got their first radio play, how Kieran went from bedroom rock star to the owner of a Top10 album and al...

Stains 2004 and Rich, Steve, Kai and Ross (Aka Hard-Fi) are holed up in a nicotine stained, disused cab office making their debut album. An album that went on to sell over a million copies world-wide and receive a nomination for a Mercury Music Prize. This episode of the XS Long Player tells the story of that albums creation, the journey the band took to get there and the influence of producer Wol...

"Era-Defining" is one word (well, two words) to describe the album featuring on today's XS Long Player Podcast as Jim goes back to 1992 to talk about Stereo MC's iconic thrid album 'Connected'. Rob Birch talks about how their work changed with the onset of the 'Sample Wars', being Mercury Music Prize nominated alongside Suede and New Order and what happened after this album was released, why did i...

We are back in debut album territory with The Enemy's 'We'll Live And DIe In These Towns' on this episode of the XS Long Player as Jim Salveson is joined by the Coventry band's frontman Tom Clarke. We get all the stories behind the making of this 2007 classic including how a midnight drive to Scotland focused the bands mind, how Tom saw it as a clear choice between being an rock star and selling t...

It's been a while but it's time to get back on the classic album train and delve into the debut album from Aussie band 'Je't as Nic Cester joins Jim Salveson on the XS Long Player! On this episode you'll hear about the early days (and early names) of the band, being thrust into the chaos of LA to record the debut and encountering "the worst Kiss tribute band ever". Listen back to the brilliant 'Ge...

On this episode of the XS Long Player we welcome the gravel voiced Ben Ottewell onto the podcast to talk about Gomez's 1998 debut 'Bring It On'. This conversation with Ben about the making of the album is a great reminder what a brilliant collection of songs the album is, how original and different it felt at the time of release and how meteoric the rise of the band was in the late 90s - not least...

In 1989 The Wonder Stuff released their seminal second album 'Hup' and that album is the topic of this episode of the XS Long Player. Miles Hunt joins Jim Salveson to share the stories, insight and inspiration behind this classic album including how the bands US tour inspired its sound, how long-term member Martin Bell was only supposed to deliver a solo on this album but ended up joining the band...

We’ve been waiting to do this one for a while! On this episode of the XS Long Player we go back to 1993 and talk to seminal Manchester band James about their classic album ‘Laid’. Taking a rare (for the band) moment to look at the back catalogue is Saul Davies (violin, guitar in the album) who talks to Jim Salveson about working with Brian Eno, why the album was so different to the one that procee...

It's another 90s classic on the turntable for this weeks XS Long Player as Jim chats to Saffron Sprackling about the debut, self-titled album from her band Repiblica. Despite looking back into the archives for this podcast and talking about some 90s classics like "Ready To Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (and how Saffron received a personal phone call from Wes Craven asking for permission to use it i...

This episode of the XS Long Player focus' on a cornerstone of the British Alternative Dance Movement... Jesus Jones' 'Doubt'. Mike Edwards joins Jim to talk about the boundary pushing album released on 21st January 1991. Mike talks about the bands concerns about trying to make a hit record, the geo-political inspiration behind some of the songs and why one of the biggest songs on the album, in his...

On this episode of the XS Long Plater we go into "Wee Bam Mode" with the 2021 debut album from The Snuts! Bassist Callum Wilson is taking Jim through the story of the album which on its release made the boys the first Scottish band since Then View to bag a debut No1 album! Callum talks about working with legendary producer Inflo in LA, how Covid may have actually HELPED the band (despite delaying...

Having just released their FOURTH studio album 'People Like Me & You' in this episode of the XS Long Player we go right back to the beginning with The Sherlocks to take a look at their 2017 debut album. 'Live For The Moment' was recording in the iconic Rockfield studios at a time when there was a real hype around the band having had jsut become the first unsigned band to sell out the iconic Leadmi...

It's back to 2008 on todays XS Long Player for a look back at the Mercury Music Prize nominated eponymous debut album fro Glaswegian band Glasvegas. Frontman and Songwriter James Allan is talking Jim Salveson through the making, inspiration behind and release of this stunning album discussing making music that "feels right", making brave musical choices and why Oasis caused him to abandon is caree...

Ahead of the 10th Anniversary Vinyl Re-Issue of Everything Everything's "Man Alive" we celebrate the bands stunning debut album with a special XS Long Player. Jim Salveson had a good old chinwag with Jeremy and Jonathan from the band about an album that broke the mould when it was released back in 2010. They talk Beyonce-esq influences, pre-release expectations and how the album feels now over a d...

"I've had the same jeans on for four days now!" This episode of the XS Long Player does, of course cover THAT classic song from The View along with all the others that feature on the bands debut, number one album "Hats Off To The Buskers". Jim is joined by the Dundee bands frontman Kyle Falconer as they discuss the making of, inspiration behind and stories from the 2007, Mercury Prize nominated, c...

A classic BritPop album is the subject of this Episode of the XS Long Player as Jim Salveson discusses Echobelly's classic second album "On" with Sonya Maden and Glenn Johansson from the band. We look back at the making of this 1995 album, the follow up to "Everybody's Got One" and discuss the albums influences, song writing process, memories from its production and how Sonya once refused to let M...

The classic indie/rock (or whatever genre you want to pin on it) album under the microscope for this XS Long Player is The Farm's 1991 debut album 'Spartacus'. Frontman Peter Hooton sits down with Jim to discuss the making of this classic record with some fascinating insight around Peter's journey into songwriting, the buzz around the band in the early 90s and that infamous feud with Oasis. If thi...

We rewind the clock to 2020 today... just before the Pandemic and to the release of The Lottery Winners debut album. This modern day classic was the culmination of a decade of writing, gigging and damn hard work for the band and resulted in a record full of energy, passion and influences. In this chat with Thom, Katie, Joe and Rob from the band we talk about how that release felt after 10 years of...

The classic indie album in the spotlight for this episode of the XS Long Player is Northside 'Chicken Rhythms' - an album straight out of the Madchester era when the likes to the Stone Roses and the Happy Monday's were running riot. Frontman Warren Dermody (aka Dermo) talk Jim Salveson through the making of the album, the good times, the bad times, working with Tony Wilson at Factory Records and w...

The youngest album to feature to date on the XS Long Player features on this episode as we head up to Wigan to take a look at the number 1, debut album from The Lathums. Being barely a year old means that the making of this classic LP is still fresh in the mind of Lathums' front man Alex Moore who spoke to Jim about his memories from the session, the early days of the band and how music was almost...

The classic indie album being discussed on this episode of the XS Long Player is the 2004 eponymous debut from Franz Ferdinand. Who better to talk about the 2004 Grammy-winning, Mercury nominated LP than the band's frontman Alex Kapranos? Alex shares his stories of the early days in the band, how they developed their unique sound and what the hidden message in Top 20 track "Michael" is all about....

It may make us all feel very old but there is no denying it... 'Be Here Now' is 25 years old! Oasis 3rd album was released on 21st August 1997, just 36 months after their debut album announced the brothers Gallagher to the world. On this podcast Jim Salveson peers back through the mists of time and talks to some of the people who were in the room whilst the album was being recorded; Long time Oasi...

We head back to 1996 and the heart of the Brit Pop era on this episode of the XS Long Player to discuss classic Kula Shaker album 'K'... an LP that became the fastest selling debut album since Oasis! For this show Jim is joined by Crispian and Alonza from the band who discuss winning (jointly with Placebo) the legendary In The City award, working with Stone Roses producer John Leckie and the whirl...

Amazingly, Doves second album, The Last Broadcast is 20 years old in 2022 and to mark the occasion Andy Williams from the iconic Manchester band sat down with Jim Salveson to talk through the making of their biggest album. The album charted at No1 in the album charts and also spawned the bands highest charting single to date, There Goes The Fear (it was only beaten to the No1 spot on NSYNC and Oas...

We're going back 25 years for this XS Long Player to celebrate the anniversary of a MASSIVE album from 1996... "Ugly Beautiful" from Babybird. For this episode, Jim Salveson talks to frontman Stephen Jones about his memories of making the album, going from signing on to superstardom in a few months because of the phenomenal success of the album and his relationship with what he calls "Marmite song...