Songs of Our Lives

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Myriam Gendron on the show. Suffice to say, Myriam is one of my favorite musicians and songwriters on the planet, and her newest album, Mayday , only cements that further. Beyond all the great music we talked about, Myriam brought up an interesting point around thinking about songs vs. performances that I am still pondering weeks later. But, with th...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Jharis Yokley on the show. Jharis’s debut album, "Sometimes, Late At Night,” has been in constant rotation for a while. I knew he was an incredible drummer, but had no idea just how good a songwriter he is, too. After talking a bit about the record, we go long with how Disney songs ingrain in our memories, the hardest anime theme around, Bee Gees ma...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Lea Bertucci on the show. We jump right in - no time for a proper intro! From Lea’s selection criteria for this show, her love of Mexico City, The Tonebook Volume 2, we chat about where you go when it all starts with Sade, Dee Lite’s joyfulness, Garbage being garbage, a scandalous take on Neil Young, the power of Jolene, Julee Cruise oozing romance,...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Six Organs of Admittance aka Ben Chasny on the show. We talked a bit about his new album, “Time is Glass,” the recording process behind it, then we dive headfirst into the fire. We talked about how aliens would love The Carpenters, early music memories from TV, Loren Connors romantic side, the Melvins’ all-time greatness, controversial Bob Dylan tak...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Emil Amos on the show! We went way off script and got into all sorts of rabbit holes because Emil is such a good storyteller, but this was such a good time. After a lengthy discussion about tape music and trading in the 90s, Emil gets into the storyzone talking about whether Guns N Roses still has redeeming qualities, the genius and repulsion of Sun...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite JLIN on the show. Her new album, “Akoma,” is something else! After overcoming some technical difficulties and talking about working with the Arkansas Pine Bluff marching band, we get into it about Luther Vandross’s velvet voice, the places Earth, Wind, and Fire take you to, Nile Rodgers being so far ahead of the game, Eartha Kitt’s influence on her...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite claire rousay on the show! When I was developing this show last year, claire was one of the people I knew I wanted to have as a guest. With her excellent new album, “sentiment,” out on April 19 via Thrill Jockey, it was the perfect opportunity to bring her on the show. We talk about her connection with more eaze, what DJ Khaled’s life must be like,...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Rosali on the show. Her new album, “Bite Down,” is out on March 22 via Merge and it’s absolutely wonderful. We talked a bit about that and its iconic cover before digging into the all-time greatness of Funkadelic, Ween’s sweeter side, Bob Seger raging, all the love for Nico, getting down with Mariah Carey, the power of a song’s opening line, Incredi...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Matana Roberts on the show. This one was so much fun. Matana was at the airport waiting to fly out to Montreal, and something about the background airport noise adds to the vibrant mood. We dig into a lot of things like when we might see Matana at Burning Man, coming full circle with Albert Ayler, getting in trouble lip syncing Madonna, Joni Mitchel...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite MIZU on the show. Her new album, “Forest Scenes,” is such an immersive and emotional listening experience. After talking a bit about that, MIZU gives me a crash course in classical music as well as chatting about the fun of soccer mom music, John Cage’s divisiveness, the wonder of Schumann, when Bach loses some of its luster, how incredible Rachika...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Ka Baird on the show. Their latest album, “Bearings: Soundtracks for the Bardos,” is something else. For all of the great music Ka’s made over the last 2+ decades, this one really stands out. After that, we try to figure out what it was about 1971 that went so damn hard! And we get into how the Muppets are a national treasure, the staying power of t...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite cartoonist Beth Hetland on the show. Her new graphic novel, “Tender,” is coming out in March, and I got to learn a bit about her writing process before we dive into the tunes. From there, we talk about some recent all-time bangers, the way Harry Belafonte will make you happy, Prince’s greatness, a surprise from Doja Cat, weird ass Christmas songs, a...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite The Body’s Lee Buford on the show. First, we get the other perspective on Dis Fig & The Body’s “Orchards of a Futile Heaven.” This record just absolutely rips. Then, things go off with the Jason Molina’s crushing music, Neutral Milk Hotel’s being too ubiquitous, music that’s so vapid it rocks, Peter Gabriel’s wild romantic lines, the brutality a...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Felicia Chen aka Dis Fig on the show. There are collaborations that just make sense, and one listen to Dis Fig & The Body’s “Orchards of a Futile Heaven” screams that these two projects are meant to collide. After talking about how that happened, we blast off talking about how early is too early for a memory of Naughty by Nature, the desolation...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Helado Negro on the show. After talking a little about his process and the story of Lupe Lopez, he takes us on quite the journey (including me reacting to one of his off-the-cuff picks live - ha!). We get into the all-time greatness of Teddy Pendergrass, Piero’s timeless moments, Bonnie Raitt’s calypso side, the utter seduction of Maria Marquez’s “L...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Jeremiah Chiu on the show. He’s been on quite a run of incredible records the last couple years, and on February 2nd, it continues with “The Closest Thing to Silence,” a collaboration between himself, Marta Sofia Honer, and the great Ariel Kalma. After talking about how that came together, we keep channel Ariel’s spirit and keep things in the posi-z...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Sarah Hennies on the show. We talk a bit about a couple of the many projects Sarah’s working on right now - performances of Michael Ranta pieces and her duo with Tristan Kasten-Krause. I’m not sure there are many people with more happening! Once we get into the songs, the laughs start early and never stop as we talk about the Duke of Dukedom himself...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Ilyas Ahmed on the show. After reminiscing a bit about the 2007 Digitalis music fest, Bottled Smoke, we talked about both incredible albums Ilyas released in 2023 - his solo joint, “A Dream of Another,” and Grails’ “Anches En Maat.” We had a blast getting into the underrated shredding of Steve Stevens, Velvet Underground’s ability for tender destruc...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Burial Beer Company and Visuals Wine’s Tim Gormley on the show. We get deep into the origins of Burial and the ways music inspired them then and continues to as the brand grows into new spaces (they’ve just opened a music venue in Asheville called Eulogy). It was an interesting conversation about the ways music shapes so many of the things we do. Ev...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Andrew Weathers on the show. Few people have been involved in more of my favorite albums over the last 10+ years, so I was thrilled to chat with him. Andrew’s a real one. We talk about a lot of pop punk, what made Roy Orbison finally click, the sweeter side of Bill Callahan, how improbable and seriously fun The Highwaymen are, American Analog Set’s...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Aquarelle aka Ryan Potts on the show. After we talk a bit about his massively underappreciated 2023 album, Verdant Machine , we get into the goods and realize we might just be the same person. We ramble about how much the Ghostbuster theme bangs, the art of being loud, what it is about Trent Reznor that doesn’t quite work for us, how there’s nobody...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s a Cult Love Christmas Special w/ Natty and Lauran! Cult Love Sound is a Tulsa staple. They’re a collective that runs a label, puts on shows and other events, promotes all things weird and interesting in town, and so much more. I headed on over to the Cult House so we can talk about why they decided to make a traditional Christmas album, Snoop Dogg AI, d...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite Andrew Pekler on the show. Andrew’s new album as SG, For Lovers Only / Rain Suite is an absolute gem - an album I keep returning to this year. After chatting about the record for a bit, we get into the all-encompassing everything of Bo Diddley, the new Beatlemania, a magic combination of a relentless rhythm + sweet melody, discovering electronic mus...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite film composer Zach Robinson on the show. Foxy Digitalis fans may remember Zach from the recent oral history of D/A/D’s “Love Will Make You Stay.” After getting into his recent and upcoming work ( Obliterated on Netflix and season six of Cobra Kai ), we go into some surprising zones. Zach’s got some great picks that lead us to a surprising side of Ke...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, I invite chef and writer Natasha Pickowicz on the show. Natasha is a three-time James Beard Award finalist who published her first cookbook, More Than Cake , earlier this year. We have known each other for over a decade now as she did some incredible interviews for Foxy Digitalis in its last iteration. She has opened up the world of baking to me in the same...