Nakedly Examined Music Podcast

Ken returns from episode #39 , this time not to talk about his own music, but more generally about our relationship to music.  Do you just embrace the pure sound, or do you care about who made that sound? One way of seeing where you fall on this issue is whether you care more for singles or to whole albums or careers by artists.  This is a cross-production with my Pretty Much Pop podcast...

Radney Foster Radney started as a Nashville songwriter and performed in the late 80s as the front half of Foster & Lloyd. He went solo in ’91 and has released about a dozen albums since then that increasingly break away from country music standards into something more personal.  We discuss two recordings from his latest album, For You to See the Stars (2017), before which he literal...

Marty and Olivia Willson-Piper In The Church, he was half of a world-famous twin guitar machine for 30 years starting in 1980 but has also released seven solo albums and been in several other bands, most notably releasing four albums with his old friend Dare Mason as Noctorum. We discuss two 2019 Noctorum tracks, “The Moon Drips” from Afterlife and “Dancing with Death” from...

Joe has played alongside B.B. King, Ron Wood, and even back to Hendrix, Hooker, and Monk. As a solo artist he’s put out around two dozen albums since 1986. He’s a blues man but mixes in gospel, soul, rock, and many other styles. We discuss the title track of Hellfire (2012), “Keep the Faith” from Hornet’s Nest (2013) feat. the Jordanaires, the title track from The Gif...

Guy has been a highly sought-after British producer/keyboardist since the early ’90s and is just now releasing his debut album, STET . We discuss “Mono No Aware” and “Dorian” from that album and “Unravel” from Björk’s Homogenic (1997). End song: “Let’s Go” by Frou Frou from Details (2002). Intro: “Crazy,” co-written with...

Mike is one of our finest bass players, starting with California punk legends MINUTEMEN in the early ’80s and breaking into the majors with fireHOSE going into the 90s. He was so beloved by the alternative community that his first solo album in ’94 was a star-studded affair; Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl joined his band for the supporting tour. After that, he released three concept album...

Barry started in ’77 playing keys with XTC and after two albums started his own band Shriekback in ’81, with whom he’s had 14 releases plus some solo albums. He’s known for inventive soundscapes placed over solid grooves (usually thanks to drummer Martyn Barker) and philosophical lyrics delivered in a low chant. We discuss three Shriekback tunes: “Such, Such Are the J...

John founded the Brooklyn space-rock cooperative Oneida in the mid 90s and has put out 13 albums with them plus four as his solo project Man Forever and several others as collaborations or as Kid Millions, often as long-form, drum-centric instrumentals. He’s also played with Spiritualized, Ex Models, Laurie Anderson, and many other groups. We discuss two tracks by Man Forever from Play What...

Wayne started in the late 70s, was on the first Dead or Alive Album, made his name as guitarist for The Sisters of Mercy’s first full album, then led The Mission UK from 1986 through 11 albums and multiple break-ups to the present. He’s also released two solo albums and some collaborations. We discuss “Wither on the Vine” from his solo effort Songs of Candlelight & Razo...

Dave was the original guitarist for Yo La Tengo in the mid ’80s and left to lead The Schramms for six albums plus two solo albums while being an in-demand guitarist supporting artists like Freedy Johnston, Richard Buckner, Kate Jacobs and Chris Stamey. We discuss three Schramms songs, “Faith is a Dusty Word” from Omnidirectional (2019), “I’ll Believe” from 100 Q...

The Residents were formed in 1969 and have released around 50 albums of theatrical, experimental music with humor and humanity. They’re great to freak people out with. The band is anonymous; Homer is the head of their management arm, The Cryptic Corporation. We discuss “Good Vibes” from Intruders (2019), with music by Eric Feldman who replaced long-time Residents composer Hardy F...

John has released 17 albums and 5 EPs of guitar-based post-punk as the Black Watch since 1988. He’s also an English professor who’s published 5 books. We discuss “Eustacia’s Dream” from Magic Johnson (2019), “Emily, Are You Sleeping?” from Led Zeppelin Five (2011), “Inner City Garden” from The Hypnotizing Sea (2005), and premiere the song &#822...

Alison was studying classical music when she joined Jason Narducy in 1993 in a duet that grew into two Verbow albums. She’s since recorded four solo cello albums and been a guest musician on over 100 albums, playing with Bob Mould, Superchunk, Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, etc. We discuss “Become Zero” and “Vanished Star” from Become Zero (2016), then “Beautiful...

Dan fronted Arizona cow-punk band Green on Red from 1979 to 1992, releasing seven albums and three EPs, and has since released four solo albums and some collaborations, growing increasingly literary, with two of his recent albums accompanied by novels. We discuss two tracks from The Unfortunate Demise Of Marlowe Billings (2018): “A Killer Now” and “Sky Harbor,” plus “...

Elizabeth got her start in the psych-punk band Meowtain in Olympia, WA, emerged as Globelamp in 2011 with an EP, was briefly a touring member of Foxygen, and has put out three albums since 2014. We discuss “Everything’s a Spiral” and listen to “Black Tar” from Romantic Cancer (2018), “Controversial/Confrontational” from The Orange Glow (2015), and “W...

Phil founded New Zealand’s Split Enz with Tim Finn in 1972, recorded a seminal punk single with Suburban Reptiles, had an Australian #1 hit with The Swingers, then moved to solo and soundtrack work until 2006, since which he’s recorded five thickly textured solo albums including extensive one-man-band work. We discuss the title track from Flightless Bird (2019), “Kite Flying Day&...

Danny drummed with Chicago from its founding in 1967 through 1990 and wrote several songs for the band during the mid-late ’70s, often with David “Hawk” Wolinski. We discuss “Little One” (and our intro music, “Take Me Back to Chicago”) from Chicago XI (1977), “Street Player” from Chicago 13 (1979), and “Devil’s Sweet” from Chi...

Andrew has put out nine albums and a few EPs of piano-and-vocal-based pop since he was in high school in the late ’90s, first with the more guitar-heavy Something Corporate, then starting in 2004 as Jack’s Mannequin, and then since 2013 as Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, with whom he’s had his biggest hits. We discuss “Blue Vacation” from Upside Down Flowers (2018),...

Stevie has been recording pop tunes and/or wild experiments nearly continually since the late ’60s, with hundreds of albums, many of them compilations of home recordings. We discuss “Pop Music” and “Take Back” from Afterlife (2019) and “The House Is Not in Order” by R. Stevie Moore and Alan Jenkins and the Kettering Vampires from The Embodiment of Progress...

Ian has released ten studio albums and three EPs since 1993, starting as an Austin guitar hero and evolving into an eclectic, subtle Seattle songwriter who teaches songwriting courses. We discuss “1000 Blackbirds” from Toronto (2018), the title track from Strange Days (2017), and “Abilene” from Luminaria (2004). End song: “Sad Affair” from El Sonido Nuevo (2011)...

Peter started in the hardcore punk band, Sand in the Face (you’ll hear their brief “Teenage Life,” written by Paul Schraft and recorded in 1983 for a compilation), and then used the blues to add depth for his band the Chrome Cranks, which formed in 1988, released four studio albums and a live album in the mid-1990s, then reunited for another in 2012. The band also featured guitar...

Steve started producing tracks for dance clubs in 2007, producing over 40 tracks before changing up his style in 2013 to slow things down, carve out more space for spontaneous performance, and develop what he calls “audio alchemy” over a few EPs, many collaborations, and two recent albums. We discuss “Equinosis” from the Mercurial EP (2018), “Superluminal Sound”...

Portland-based singer-songwriter Rachel has released 10 albums of off-kilter, usually piano-based, lyric-heavy indie rock since the mid ’00s. We discuss “Maker” and “God” (plus the intro “Gyre”) from Run Tiny Human (2018), “Taxidermy” from World So Sweet (2011), and “Ormolu” from Ormolu (2006), and also listen to “We’ll...

Sam has released sixteen albums of catchy, textured pop music since 1983 (the first few as “Leslie Phillips”). We discuss “I Want to Be You” and “Tears in the Ground” from World on Sticks (2018), “How to Dream” from Fan Dance (2001), and conclude by listening to “When I’m Alone” from Push Any Button (2013). Intro: “Baby I Can’t Plea...

After starting in the ’80s with the Trolls and the Bastards of Execution, Dusty has released six albums as a solo artist since 1997. We discuss a new song, “Pardon My Love,” planned for the forthcoming album Can Anyone Hear Me? , then “Man in the Mirror” from Gliding Towards Oblivion (2018) and “High Flyin’ Bird” (written by Billy Edd Wheeler) by GIA...