You, Me and An Album

Send us Fan Mail Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket pays Al a visit to talk about Dirty Projectors’ ninth and most recent album, Lamp Lit Prose . Glen explains why he loves this album, what lessons he takes from it for his own work and what’s in store for him in the studio and on the road. He also talks about other artists he admires, other albums he thought about discussing here and a past...

Send us Fan Mail There have been few episodes to date where Al has never heard of the artist or the album being discussed, but fantasy baseball analyst and pet supply store proprietor Sam Wirsching chose an album that fits that category. Sam selected Tonio K.s Life in the Foodchain for this episode, and it’s an album that played an important and memorable role in his childhood. In addition to anal...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Lord and Tom Roche — co-hosts of Tabletop Genesis — take a busman’s holiday from their own podcast to have a Genesis-adjacent conversation on this podcast. Mike, Tom and Al discuss Phil Collins’ seventh solo album, Testify — an album that Al had never explored despite being an ardent Genesis and Phil Collins fan. Mike explains why he recommended this album to Al, despite its...

Send us Fan Mail NOTES: This episode includes some discussion of graphic and disturbing lyrics during the section on the track, “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.,” beginning at the 9:47 mark. Also, there were some issues with audio quality on this episode. I apologize for the quality in some spots and hope you can bear with them (I think you’ll find it’s worth it!). Behavioral health therapist Sean Inderbitze...

Send us Fan Mail Radio/TV/podcast host and talent booker Mara Davis introduces Al to the The Chicks’ (formerly The Dixie Chicks) Taking the Long Way , released in 2006. Several of the tracks address the backlash to lead singer Natalie Maines' comments about President George W. Bush made three years earlier, and Mara talked about how The Chicks’ response to the incident helped to make her a fa...

Send us Fan Mail ESPN and Baltimore Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown makes his return to You, Me and An Album , after first appearing on episode 15 (with Lindsey Adler) to discuss Oasis’ Definitely Maybe , This time, Kevin chose Kacey Musgraves’ 2018 album, Golden Hour . Kevin talked about how he got into this album, which tracks are his favorites and what makes this album one that he still goes ba...

Send us Fan Mail Music writer — and author of the 33 1/3 book on Duran Duran’s Rio — Annie Zaleski joins Al for a discussion of Arcadia’s So Red the Rose . In addition to diving into the album itself, Annie makes the inevitable comparisons with Duran Duran, from which Arcadia temporarily split off, and provides insight as to how the experience of making So Red the Rose may have impacted future Dur...

Send us Fan Mail I have had many exchanges with Jamie Campbell about music, and I have always found his observations interesting and informative, so I wanted to get him to share them on the show. He obliged for this week’s episode, in which we discussed one of his favorite albums — I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One by Yo La Tengo. In addition to discussing this album, Jamie talked about the role...

Send us Fan Mail Meredith Tarr of MPress Records (A&R, Label Promotions) joins Al for a discussion of Rachael Sage’s 2020 album, Character , but this episode is about a lot more than just digging into a beloved album. Meredith talks about the role she played in sequencing Character and, more generally about her professional relationship with Rachael, who is the president and founder of MPress...

Send us Fan Mail Fantasy sports writer and editor Nando Di Fino (currently The Athletic, previously CBS Sports, ESPN and others) joins Al for what is possibly their first-ever discussion about music, even though they’ve been friends and colleagues for more than decade. Nando chose the soundtrack from the movie, Judgment Night, as the topic for their conversation. Along the way, Nando discusses his...

Send us Fan Mail Stand-up comedian and writer Josh Gondelman drops by to get Al caught up on Method Man and Redman’s 1999 album, Blackout!. In addition to discussing what he loves about this album, Josh talks about being a co-creator of a viral Twitter account, how his musical tastes got shaped growing up in the Boston suburbs and what he has in store for us in the coming months. You can follow Jo...

Send us Fan Mail Journalist, author and musician Celeste Headlee pays You, Me and An Album a visit to introduce me to the 1988 original cast recording of The Gospel At Colonus . In addition to discussing an album that she has listened to hundreds of times over more than three decades, Celeste talks about the experience of seeing the show live as well as her career in journalism, the musical influe...

Send us Fan Mail After discussing Green Day’s American Idiot on a previous episode (Ep. 48), Al became fixated on a couple of questions. Did Green Day send Jesus of Suburbia on a Hero’s Journey? And were they telling essentially the same story that Titus Andronicus told in The Monitor (Ep. 34) and that Genesis told in The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway? Here to help Al grapple with these questions is...

Send us Fan Mail Ever since hearing the title track of Slow Turning back around 1990, I’ve been curious about John Hiatt and his career, but never did much actual exploring. I am fortunate to have Michael Elliott, author of Have a Little Faith: The Story of John Hiatt, join me for this episode to walk me through one of Hiatt’s most important and critically-acclaimed albums, Bring the Family. Micha...

Send us Fan Mail You, Me and a Song makes its return to the podcast, as political scientist/teacher/contact tracing manager Mary Beth Melchior (and, yes, also my wife of 32 years) breaks down her favorite song from one of her favorite movies. We discuss "We Know the Way" from Moana, as performed by Opetaia Foa’i and Lin-Manuel Miranda. She talks about her reasons for loving this song and...

Send us Fan Mail Are The Monkees a real band? Does any one of their vocalists stand out above the others? These are just a couple of the questions that Joe Adragna of The Junior League and Sadabouts addresses on this episode of You, Me and An Album, which is centered on The Monkees’ 1967 album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Joe also talks about working with Jay Ferguson, Scott McCau...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s guest, Ray Castronovo — frontman and guitarist for Streetwise and the founder of DayQuest Records — joins me to dig into Green Day’s 2004 rock opera, American Idiot. We talk about what appeals to Ray about Green Day and this album in particular, as well as his recent return to a music career and the musical roots he developed growing up in Brooklyn. I had mentioned tha...

Send us Fan Mail  Scott Pianowski of Yahoo Sports joins me on this episode to discuss the Pretenders’ 1979 debut album. In addition to breaking down this classic album in depth, Scott talks about how he got started playing fantasy sports, how he embraces variety in both sports and music and how sees the Pretenders’ musical legacy beyond their first album. Random notes: I’d commented that the band...

Send us Fan Mail What better time than the World Series to sit down and have a chat with Steve Wynn of The Baseball Project and The Dream Syndicate? Steve chose Cosmo’s Factory as his album to discuss on this episode. In addition to breaking down the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic, he talked about wanting to be a sportswriter growing up (and how he is essentially living out that dream), his...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Deusner, author of Where the Devil Don't Stay: Traveling the South with the Drive-By Truckers , drops by the show to talk about — who else? — the Drive-By Truckers and their acclaimed 2003 album, Decoration Day. In addition to breaking down each of the album’s 15 tracks, Stephen reflects on how he became a music journalist, how being a music journalist shapes his musi...

Send us Fan Mail Betsy Wright of Bat Fangs and Ex Hex takes You, Me and An Album to another dimension on this episode, marking the first time a guest has brought a soundtrack album to the show. Betsy and I dig into Bob Dylan’s 1973 soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and along the way, we discuss Betsy’s progression from folk guitar and jazz piano to the D.C. and Charlottesville rock sce...

Send us Fan Mail Sweet Megg and Ricky Alexander take this episode further back than this podcast has gone before, as they introduce me to the Billie Holiday and Lester Young compilation, A Musical Romance. Most of the songs on this compilation were recorded in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, and Megg and Ricky talked about how they came to love jazz and swing decades after its heyday, as well as the...

Send us Fan Mail Novelist, video game writer and musician Antony Johnston (The Coldest City, Resident Evil Village) not only introduced me to a band and album I’d never heard of, but also educated me on the subgenre of doom metal. Antony chose Paradise Lost’s Draconian Times as this week’s featured album. He also discussed his soon-to-be-published book and upcoming album, the similarities between...

Send us Fan Mail It's rare that I get to talk about a band I know as well as U2 on this podcast, but I got a real education on the band and on their Pop album from Jordan Stepp of Athens Music Junkie. In addition to walking me through the dozen tracks of Pop, Jordan talked about working for an academic press, writing as a freelance music journalist and the important place that Pop holds in U2...

Send us Fan Mail A classic artist from the ‘80s (and beyond) joins Al to discuss a classic album from the 70s. Mike Skill of The Romantics provides insight into what makes The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. such an important album in their catalog. In a wide-ranging conversation, Mike also explores his Detroit rock ’n roll roots, the great music that has come out of his adopted home of the Paci...