One of this year’s most pleasant surprises has been the first album of original material since 2005 from The Rolling Stones - Mick, Keith, Ronnie, Steve and on this album, Charlie and even Bill. Producer/songwriter/musician and friend of the show Michael Carpenter has spent a long time dissecting the Stones recorded catalogue and joins me today to go track by track through Hackney Diamonds and unpack this fascinating album - the impact of Steve Jordan on the band, whether it’s fair to compare a new Stones album to their 70s hey day, how they balance contemporary and traditional production, Jagger’s ageless vocals, mature lyrical perspectives and the guest appearances by Elton John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.

415. Michael Carpenter on The Rolling Stones 'Hackney Diamonds' (2023)

Musicians, writers, actors and more talk about the music they love and how it's influenced and inspired them. Guests include Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Isbell, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Bob Odenkirk, Benmont Tench, Neil Finn and more.

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Today, Carla Geneve zooms in from WA to celebrate the almost-20th anniversary of The Drones classic  'Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By'. Carla talks about being introduced to the record by her Dad at age 11, the violence of the music and subject matter, the epic nature of the nine songs, leaving space for meaning and atmosphere, using slower tempos to create intensity, the unadorned nature of the record, the brutal literature of Gareth Liddiard's lyrics, the importance of chronicling the stories of who Gareth is writing about, what movie would best sync up with the album, the influence of this record on guitar players, and much more, including why P!nk is the Tom Cruise of pop music. 

427. Carla Geneve on The Drones 'Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By' (2005)

Today singer-songwriter and Frontier Ruckus frontman Matthew Milia joins me to celebrate Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 masterpiece RAM. We talk about the freedoms and pressures on Paul as an artist in the wake of the Beatles breakup, his philosophy of 'don't fix the mistake, explore the accident', the darkness in some of the lyrics, the derangement of Monkberry Moon Delight, reclaiming the mantle of the avant garde from John Lennon, Linda's contributions as a producer and vocalist, the influence of the production on modern indie music and more.

426. Matthew Milia (Frontier Ruckus) on Paul and Linda McCartney 'RAM' (1971)

TW: Suicide Today, celebrated author Ken Womack joins me to unpack his extraordinary new definitive biography of Beatles road manager Mal Evans, 'Living the Beatles Legend'. Ken talks about the incredible access given to him by the Evans family, including Mal's unpublished memoirs and diaries, the digital warehouse he built to sort through the incredible archival material, how much of the Beatles story is Mal's story, how the Beatles invented the pop superstar industry as they went along, how Mal managed to take on roles that would now be filled by dozens of individuals, how the Beatles laid the template for every rock'n'roll narrative that has followed, the friction between Mal and Brian Epstein, how Mal compartmentalised his life, how Mal championed and produced Badfinger in the face of Allen Klein's opposition, Mal's friendship with Paul McCartney, the upcoming quartet of Sam Mendes directed Beatles movies, the myth of the solitary genius, how important every member of the Beatles inner circle was to their success, and the conterfactuals in Beatles history, including how Mal's story might have unfolded over the past decades if it hadn't been so tragically cut short.

425. Ken Womack on his book about Beatles road manager Mal Evans, 'Living the Beatles Legend' (2023)

Today we bring you a (if you can believe it) new perspective on the Beatles story, as Dierdre Kelly joins me to discuss her fascinating book 'Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World', in which she unpacks the journey of the Fab Four's style across their careers, how they influenced and were influenced by fashion and the culture at large. From the edgy elegance of their early years, the contradictions between their working class drawl and sharp presentation, the rapid pace of change in both their look and sound, how they helped popularise corduroy, the rise of menswear as a form of cultural expression and the case for Ringo Starr as the most stylish Beatle.

424. Deirdre Kelly on her book 'Fashioning the Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World' (2023)

Today I'm joined by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of The Lumineers, Jeremiah Fraites, to wax rhapsodic on Radiohead's iconic 1997 album 'OK Computer'. We talk about Jeremiah's journey from hating to loving Radiohead as a teenager, the album's diverse but coherent sound, the album's sonic easter eggs, the balance of performed and constructed elements, the early live incarnations of the OK Computer songs, road testing songs in the pre-iPhone era, the power of boredom as creative fuel and more. We also breakdown Jeremiah's beautiful interpretation of 'No Surprises', featured on his new album 'Piano Piano 2', and the process of arranging the song and recording with Gregory Alan Isakov.

415. Michael Carpenter on The Rolling Stones 'Hackney Diamonds' (2023)

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