Best Album In the World Podcast

A teaser for a podcast?  Sure, why not.

Well, we certainly considered renaming this the "Best Album In What The Hell Is Going On In the World?!", because the thought of trying to put together a podcast after what's occurred over the past few days...  it was a bit bewildering.  But we did it, and it was good.  This is our first roundtable (and hopefully not our last), as Senior Associate Producer Adam Litz and I got together with our friend, and seasoned audiophile, Jeff Kaisershot.   We're talking about Nirvana, include a little history of MTV's unplugged series, previous guest John Haynes gets called out, and we even take time to ponder if we've left ourselves vulnerable to legal action from Eric Clapton.  It's MTV Unplugged in New York!

Hey, do you want to learn "The Karate"?  Then you got to go to one of the best, and that's Andy Wilson.  Do you also want to meet one of the biggest Faith No More fans around?  Then while you're learning "The Karate", ask Andy about Faith No More, too.  He's one of the best martial arts instructors around, hands down.  And he's also my best pal, and a big supporter of the show.  We're talking Kiss Club, growing up in Stearns County, we have some laughs, eat some cheese burgers, there's a special appearance from an AI named Alexa, and we talk about how if nothing else, our favorite music can just get us through our days.

Patron of the arts, marketing maven, and unofficial member of the family.  Christopher Taykalo is on the podcast this week. He was the first kid in his hometown to ever discover the Beatles.  Well, okay, probably not, but he knew he liked them before the other kids knew who they were and why they were cool.  Finding U2 in the 80's, driving with the top down to "Where the Streets Have No Name", experiencing faith through a celebration of Christmas, and breaking barriers with the TC Gay Men's Chorus.  We cover a lot of ground, and there was even more we covered after we stopped recording.  I shared with Chris the angst I experience when I have new guest over to record a podcast, and why, and he was awesome in relating it to his own experiences and reminding me what I shouldn't get stuck in my own head about stuff like that.  As a family member should.

I've really, really wanted to class up the show and bring it an international flavor.  And everybody knows, when you want to do that, you got to go get yourself a Britlishman!  He's the host of a phenomenally successful podcast, a champion martial artist, a great coach, master plasterer, and he's pretty damn unconventionally handsome. This week's guest is Mick Tully!  It's the first time I've seen Mick in years, and we used the time to cover a lot of ground.  Growing up in the UK, the widespread panic that was the Sex Pistols, decades of Brit Pop & culture, Paul Weller, and, yes, the grammatically confounding "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?".

So a couple of episodes ago I had on a clown from Iowa, and this week I have on a guy from Iowa, whose parents were clowns.  What in the world is going on in Iowa??? I never thought I'd know two people with such a shared background.  You know what else I never thought I'd experience in my lifetime?  Having an engaging, thoughtful conversation about the works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.  This week's guest on the show on is Christian Unser, and we're deconstructing the themes of Yankovic's music, his fans, and "Even Worse."

A big reason for the success of this podcast has been the generosity and knowledge of friends.  And one of those friends is a close one, Chris Koshiol.  Chris and I met back in college, when he stopped by my room one night freshman year and mooched some pizza.  From there we eventually formed a band, played some songs, had a blast, and he's been one of my best pals ever since.  Of course he was going to be on the podcast.  And we're talking foreign trade, because this week's selection is an import from Australia. Karnivool's Sound Awake.

Greg Parks is an actor, improvisor, coach, science educator, and clown.  Not as in a "goofball" (although he's perfectly capable), but a real honest-to-goodness circus clown, whose talents have taken him around the world.  (He's performed for both Barnum AND Bailey!)  So I truly appreciated this international man of artistry taking the time to join me for what turned out to be a really special conversation about Ted Hawkins "The Next Hundred Years."

We're back!  It's season 2 of the podcast.  And we're kicking it all off with artist, improvisor, actor, rock star, and all around good guy, Bryce Kalal. Bryce brings us one of the biggest bands of the 2000's, a bit of southern California punk rock & chaos that is known as Blink 182.

It's the end of Season 1 of the podcast!  And our guest is someone who's had some influence on the podcast, Alex Collyard.  Or as we've dubbed him for this episode, Kid Alex, because this week we're listening to Radiohead's "Kid A." (See what we did there?)  Much like Radiohead, Alex is restless.  He seeks new inspirations, new sparks for his creativity and comedy, as they do for their music.  And Kid A was a new direction for Radiohead, for sure.  "The weirdest album ever to sell a million copies." Can't just listen to this album in the background folks.  Set aside a little time for it, because it might take some extra time to appreciate.