Select Five

You asked, we answered -- so in honor of Valentine's Day we've got nothing but silly love songs for all your love problems! Inspired by the call-in radio shows of her youth in Barbados, Chef Sarah Kirnon serves up an eclectic stew of R&B and Brit new wave pop classics from the '70s and '80s as dedications to the listeners who submitted questions about their love lives. And since we got more th...

Put on your coziest pajamas and kick back with this episode featuring Wired Magazine Senior Editor Michael Calore, who shares five optimum snoozytime songs from his vast library of sleep music. From gentle jazz and folk tunes, to album-length single track compositions for deep relaxation, these songs are not only mellow enough to bring on easy sleep, but also enhance the sleep you get because they...

Oakland-based, Brooklyn-bred Fresh Daily (Mike Richardson) hunkers down with Pam at "Select Five Studios"—AKA, Bar Shiru—to talk about coming up as a young rapper in New York City, finding community in Oakland, and the complicated work of crafting clever rhyme schemes. Listen to Fresh get nerdy about the rap songs that informed his writing process, and the rap songs he makes! Photo courtesy of Rob...

Sarah Mujahid⁠—aka DJ Mujie⁠—has been gigging at clubs and day parties across the Bay for eight years, and is currently a resident DJ in the Afrobeats Oakland crew. Though she calls Oakland home, Mujie is an Ann Arbor, Michigan native who has a deep reverence for the music of her home state⁠—a wellspring of world-shaping sounds, from Motown to techno. Find out which influential artists from the Mi...

In the late 70s and early 80s, San Francisco was home to a thriving punk and new wave scene and a scrappy independent label that launched the careers of bands like Romeo Void, Translator, and the Red Rockers. Music journalist Bill Kopp captures this moment in time in a new book called Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave published by HoZac Books. Listen to Bill chat with Pam...

Shaina Evoniuk is a classically trained violinist who leads the string section for the Bay Area-based musical collective Jazz Mafia. She has also has lent her talents to some of the biggest pop stars in the world. Hear Shaina share with Pam what it's really like being a recording artist, and how the violin adds texture and emotion to all styles of music, as demonstrated in five different tunes she...

We're trying new things, folks! In the first of our "Five Questions With" mini-episodes, we're honored to feature Philly-based/Pacific Northwest-bred musician Karl Blau . Karl is a prolific DIY artist with over 40 albums under his belt. His adventurous pop tunes have often defied genre, but he's been traveling down country roads since his breakout 2016 album Introducing Karl Blau, and his brand ne...

Getting a new bar & restaurant off the ground is hard enough. But during the height of the pandemic it became a crazy roller coaster ride for Matt Meyer and Daniel Paez, the co-owners of Low Bar in uptown Oakland. Now that their business is one year old and thriving, Matt & Daniel reflect on the wild journey that got them here and five songs that capture the vibe of this popular Chicano ba...

Another crappy pandemic year comes to a close, but at least we had good music to get us through it. And for the first time since early 2020, the Select Five team got their vaxxed and boosted selves together IRL to record this very special year-ender episode at their old stomping grounds, Bar Shiru! Whether it's old comforts or new discoveries, we'll dive into the five albums Brian, Kate, and Pam l...

Back in the mid-'80s, Vietnamese American teens bonded over a shared love of sports cars, spiked hair, and a style of electronic dance music they called New Wave (now known as Euro and Italo disco). Vietnamese New Wave is now the subject of a forthcoming documentary by filmmaker Elizabeth Ai, who discusses the fascinating history of this subculture through five songs she grew up with. Elizabeth's...

Hey bands, don't be afraid - take a Beatles song, and make it better ... is that even possible? Ponder that question in this episode with Bay Area filmmaker and crate digger extraordinaire, Jim Granato! Listen to DJ Jim G chat with Pam about five genre-spanning Beatles cover songs he loves, and what makes them unique. Jim's selections: 1. Eleanor Rigby - Zoot (1971) 2. I Want To Hold Your Hand - A...

Music is a powerful emotive force in romantic comedy films, and the right song placed in the right scene can leave us not only with lifelong memories, they can also affect our life decisions. In this episode we go to the movies with Bar Shiru co-owner and rom-com fanatic Shirin Raza, who picks five songs from some of her favorite soundtracks and draws parallels to her own romantic and professional...

Pandemic or not, Antibalas bandleader and saxophonist Martín Perna always stays busy. But what tunes does this Grammy-nominated musician groove to when he's not laying down grooves of his own? In this episode we find out, as Martín raps with Pam about five soul-soothing tracks from five of his favorite jazz sax players and bandleaders of the early 70s. (Photo courtesy of Martín Perna) Martín's sel...

It's Pride Month, folks! A time to reflect on how far we've come and the work still to do in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. With that in mind, this episode introduces us to new organization called Oakland Black Pride and its fearless leader, Olaywa Austin. Olaywa is an Oakland native and a community-minded entrepreneur whose mission is serve and support the needs of Black, LGBTQ+ communities. In...

Just as sure as the full moon rises, the musical journey continues for The Long Road Society -- an independent label, studio, and artist collective formed in Oakland with the goal of bringing people together around music rooted in tradition and bound by a "cosmic, universal soul." In this episode, co-founder Lisa Pezzino tells us in five genre-spanning songs how a community of like-minded songwrit...

The yearlong pandemic shutdowns have taken a toll on us all, but after a prolonged hiatus Select Five is finally back! Unfortunately, live music is not (yet). How much longer do we have to wait before our favorite musicians can tour safely again? And what's a concert fanatic to do while stages remain dark? Join host Pam Torno and Bar Shiru co-owner Daniel Gahr as they wax nostalgic about five of t...

Greetings and salutations from the Select Five team! Thanks to everyone who listened and supported us through the very first season of the podcast. Plans are currently underway for Season 2 and we’re looking forward to recording again at Bar Shiru, our favorite neighborhood hi-fi vinyl bar. In the meantime, we wanna get input from YOU, our listeners. What guests should Pam talk to next? What do yo...

Hyde Street Studios - the legendary San Francisco recording space where so many iconic albums were created - is struggling to stay alive in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Our fifth and final episode of Season 1 with guest selector Otis McDonald gives you all the reasons why it’s important to keep this crucial landmark in music history alive. Otis, aka Joe Bagale, is a multi-talented music m...

From Chilean folk to Latin Hip-Hop to G-Funk, the "The North Pole" web series is chock full of amazing sounds from around the Bay. Locally sourced music is a big part of what makes this sharp political comedy about Oakland so ... Oakland. So we invited director Yvan Iturriaga for a deep conversation about five cuts from the series soundtrack (shout out to music supervisor Dion Decibels!) and why t...

What makes Miss Ollie's fried chicken so remarkable? Why is the callaloo so comforting? The secret ingredient may be music. Back in the day before COVID-19, Pam had a lovely in-person chat with Miss Ollie's chef and owner Sarah Kirnon about five songs she keeps in heavy rotation when she's cooking her Caribbean comfort food, and how her musical menu enhances the restaurant's ambience. We look forw...

Choosing your Top 5 favorite songs of all time is serious business, but Umber Magazine founder Mike Nicholls came here ready to make that declaration. In episode 2 of Select Five, Mike goes deep on his five beloved selections—from Marvin Gaye to Wham!—and talks about what inspired him to create Umber, a print-only publication made in Oakland dedicated to the perspectives of Black and Brown people....

Oakland native David Allen is an architectural engineer on a mission to bring a world class jazz history museum to the Town. David is the creative visionary of the proposed Museum of Jazz & Art, and recently his dream project received unanimous support from the Oakland City Council to be developed on a historic site near Lake Merritt. Hear David talk about his ambitions for the museum, his synesth...

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