Nakedly Examined Music Podcast

Brian started as a teen music enthusiast and journalist as early as 1970, learning about and often meeting everyone in the biz, and has thus stumbled into finding vehicles for his songs first with OK Savant (ca. 1990) and then through three and half solo albums starting in 2008. He’s also been an active producer and collaborator for artists like Ollabelle, Lucinda Williams & Taj Mahal, and sev...

Mark got signed as a teen in 1966, left to play theatrical prog jazz in Indiana during college, had a spell in a “no wave” band in New York, and finally settled down in the ’80s as an in demand producer and collaborator in New Orleans, working with groups like R.E.M., Flat Duo Jets, and John Scofield. He’s only finished two solo albums but has a ton of archive recordings be...

Peter started The Apartments in Australia in the late ’70s and has been its only consistent member. After releasing his first full album in 1985 and being featured on a John Hughes soundtrack, he released four lush, moody albums in the ’90s but then retired when family tragedy struck until the late ’00s; he’s had four releases since 2011. We discuss “What’s Beau...

Jazz multi-instrumentalist Edward Larry Gordon Jr. became Laraaji around the same time he started releasing meditative zither music in the late 70s and was then discovered by Brian Eno, who produced our intro, “The Dance No. 1” from   Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980). Laraaji has since had around 40 releases of largely improvised music. We discuss “Hold on to the Vision&#82...

Jon started playing trumpet with composers like Terry Riley and La Monte Young in the late 60s, has since guested with Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Ani DiFranco, Ry Cooder, et al, and has released 18 solo albums since 1977. We discuss “Unknown Wish” from Seeing Through Sound: Pentimento Volume 2 (2020), “Manga Scene” from Listening to Pictures: Pentimento Volume 1 (2018),...

On the publication of his memoir, Remain in Love , Chris and your host Mark Linsenmayer discuss “Psycho Killer” and “Warning Signs” by Talking Heads from Talking Heads ’77 and More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), plus “Bamboo Town” and “Who Feelin’ It?” by Tom Tom Club from Close to the Bone (1983) and The Good the Bad and the Funk...

Ward has issued about ten releases of lyric-driven, stylish pop since 2003. We discuss the title track from Leonard at the Audit (2020), “Titans” from Diminish (2018), and the title track from Pulling Out (2008). Intro: “Sabbath” from Ward White Is the Matador (2014). End: “Bubble and Squeak,” also from the new album. For info see wardwhite.net . Here’s th...

Mark led Grand Funk Railroad through 13 hit albums in the 70s and early 80s and has had around eight solo releases. We discuss “Nadean” from For the People (2006), “Not Yet” from Some Kind of Wonderful (1991), and the title track of Born to Die (1976) by Grand Funk Railroad. We then listen to his 2015 single (co-written with Paul Topete) “ Take You Out .” Intro:...

A special, more topic-oriented yet more self-indulgent exercise, where your host dissects the collaborative chemistry with guitarist Matt Ackerman as the two front men of the band New People (2006-2013). We discuss “Down So Low” from The Easy Thing (2008), “Manager” from Impossible Things (2011), and “Local” from Might Get It Right (2013). End songs: “At t...

Roger rose to fame as keyboardist/songwriter for Jellyfish in the early ’90s, then formed Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, TV Eyes, backed Beck, and finally released two albums under his own name starting in 2006. He’s recently released a solo EP and one with The Likerish Quartet that reunites him with some other members of Jellyfish. We discuss “Lighthouse Spaceship” by T...

KatieJane gained fame fronting British grunge band Daisy Chainsaw, left after their first full album but resumed the project under the name Queenadreena for four albums in the ’00s, then partnered with Chris Whittingham in 2007 to live on a boat and play as the stripped-down Ruby Throat for four albums. That band has now become loud again and been re-christened Liar, Flower. We discuss &#822...

Jim was the main songwriter for Survivor, writing all their hits including “Eye of the Tiger” in 1983, but that was the second lightning strike, the first of which was his 1970 hit “Vehicle” with the Ides of March, a band he started in high school in 1964 and is still in today. He’s co-written hits with Brian Wilson, 38 Special, Sammy Hagar, Cheap Trick, etc. and has...

Victor started as a singer/songwriter, drummed with the Femmes for five albums in the ’80s, and has since recorded six solo releases and five more with NINETEEN THIRTEEN, plus other collaborations, jazz jamming, and work in the theater. We discuss “Invisible Shadows” from Tranceaphone (2020), “Carry Me” from Victor DeLorenzo (2013) feat. Malachi DeLorenzo, “Arco...

Alev started in Germany with her metal band “Alev” in the early ’00s and has released three atmospheric, idea-filled solo albums since 2009 plus several soundtracks and collaborations. We discuss “The Chair” (and at the end listen to “Cigarettes & Blow”) from 3 (2019), plus the title track from Two-Headed Girl (2016), “Flowers of Love” from...

Rick played bass on 15 albums with Steeleye Span between 1971 and 2016 and had released five solo albums since 1996 (plus another with his then-wife Maddy Prior). We discuss “Race Against Time” from  Perfect Blue  (2018) and two Steeleye tunes: “Cromwell’s Skull” from  Dodgy Bastards  (2016) and “Samain” from  They Called Her Babyl...

Jack fronted Wang Chung for five albums in the ’80s, left the limelight to produce, and got a jazz combo going by 2000 which he’s released five albums with, reformed Wang Chung, and only now is having a debut solo release, the double album  Primitif . We discuss “Whitstable Beach” from that album, “Class War and Sex War” by Jack Hues and the Quartet from  A Thes...

K.C. has created seven releases of confessional folk (sometimes gospel, sometimes country) since 2000. We discuss “No More Living Small” and listen to “You Couldn’t Stay” from her 2020 self-titled album , then talk about “Broken Things” from Orchid (2010) and “Find My Way Home” from Teeth-Marks on My Tongue (2004). Intro: “Emily” from Tim...

Steve started fronting Cockney Rebel in the early ’70s and has released a dozen albums of of narrative-driven, tuneful songs. We discuss “Compared with You (Your Eyes Don’t Seem to Age)” and listen to “Only You,” his two originals from his new solo album  Uncovered  (2020) then look back to “Faith & Virtue” from  Stranger Comes to Town &...

Chris emerged in the early 90s fronting the melodic Gunbunnies and then again as a member of the noisy Skeleton Key, but he’s best known for being half of the production team Elegant Too, producing music for Inside Amy Schumer , Bob’s Burgers , Malcolm in the Middle , etc. Since 2014 he’s returned to form with a pair of solo albums. We discuss two songs from 2012’s New Stor...

Matt led the razor-sharp Trip Shakespeare in the ’80s, releasing his first album with them in ’86, got signed to a major label by the early ’90s, but then stepped back while his brother and co-Tripper Dan Wilson went on to hits with Semisonic, Adele, etc. But by ’98 Matt was back to the front with a solo album, spent many years with co-Tripper John Munson (first as The Flop...

Chris has been guitarist for the Dallas/New York-based fusion group Snarky Puppy since its inception in 2004 and his simultaneously headed rock bands (Oso Closo then Foe Destroyer) and most recently explored acoustic guitar duets. We discuss “M-Theory” from his main band at this point, FORQ , from their album Four (2019), co-written with keyboardist Henry Hey. The intro music is &#8220...

Alexander Hacke has been the bassist of the German experimental group Einstürzende Neubauten since 1980, and his American-born wife D anielle de Picciotto has been a singer and film-maker in Germany since the late 80s. They started collaborating around 2010 and have released seven albums together.  We discuss “The Banishing” and “Third From the Sun” from The Current (2...

Julie became a member of the extended King Crimson family in 2006 by joining the Adrian Belew Power Trio. She released two solo albums starting in 2010 then started working with another bassist, Marco Machera, releasing four albums with him, the last three as Echotest. Why two basses? Because Julie often uses technology to change the pitch, timbre, and other elements of her bass to allow her to co...

Michaela has released four albums of carefully styled, lyrically rich country since 2011.  From her latest, Desert Dove (2019), we discuss the title track, plus you’ll hear “By Our Design” as the intro and “Somebody New” as the closer. We also discuss “Worrying Mind” from Bright Lights and the Fame (2016) and “Is This What Mama Meant” from Ease...

The Monochrome Set has under the leadership of Bid released 15 albums of eccentric British pop since 1980, and he’s had another nine as Scartlet’s Well. His songs often employ a ’60s dance vibe, literary lyrics, and a try-anything approach to arrangements. We discuss “Eux Tous” from Fabula Mendax (2019), “Walking with the Beast” from Dante’s Casino (1990),...