My Favorite Album with Jeremy Dylan

After the tragic loss of Jack Colwell this past week, I wanted to share this conversation with Jack celebrating his hero Tori Amos. I have such great memories of recording this chat with Jack, I feel like it captured him at his most ebuliant, articulate and insightful. He was one of a kind and will be deeply missed by a lot of people.

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Sydney singer-songwriter Jack Colwell makes the case for Tori Amos as a transformative figure in pop - a woman who seized her major-label power to create sophisticated adult pop music, bridging the divide between classical and pop, creating a unique sound and exploring her complicated relationship with her religious upbringing and femininity.

My guest is a musician, songwriter and artist who has never stopped evolving and exploring, from LA to New Orleans to Nashville. Her new EP Fumbling Towards Glory is out now, five years in the making and as she says, is her way of honouring the mess - her mess - of growing up, coming face to face either her own ambition, desire, doubt and experiencing the turmoil and beauty that accompanies is.

Today, Polish Club frontman Novak joins host Jeremy Dylan to discuss the Arctic Monkey’s divisive cult classic album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino’, the sci-fi concept album that followed up the rock’n’roll behemoth of AM.

Jeremy and Novak reminisce about their days as office-mates, Novak coming out as a singer at karaoke, ageing in rock’n’roll, why so many artists both love and envy this album, the artistic bravery of following their biggest commercial hit with a ‘jazzy concept album about eating pizza on the moon’, the alternate reality where this was an Alex Turner solo album, how swerving musically helps sustain a long career and more.

Listen to the new Polish Club album 'Heavy Weight Heart', out now!

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Queenie joins host Jeremy Dylan to talk about Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach's 2017 solo album 'Waiting on a Song'.

Queenie talks about how her journey as a fan of the Black Keys and Dan Auerbach coincided with moving to Melbourne from Tasmania, the thrill of following someone’s career as a fan from the start, why calling it a solo record is almost a misnomer, the legendary collaborators on the album, why the album is a love letter to Nashville, how Auerbach cashed in his rock star chips to make this record, the influence of the Traveling Wilbury’s, the visual elements of Dan’s music and more.

Queen also talks about the process of making her new album with producer Josh Barber, and taking inspiration from Auerbach’s production style to layer in unusual sounds and textures.

Comedian, author, actor, musician and more Michelle Braisier joins Jeremy Dylan to talk about Once, the album of music by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová from the classic film of the same name.

Michelle discusses the intimacy and sincerity that powers the film, the beautiful sadness of the music, her annual rewatches of the film in memory of her brother, whether the film is a musical or not, people who hate musicals but like superhero movies, songs that she can’t sing without crying, the blurred lines between Hansard and Irglove and their characters, getting RSI auditioning for the stage musical adaption of Once and much more.

Michelle also talks about the trick to writing comedy songs that are actually funny, and shares the story of a beautiful moment in Edinburgh during one of her performances just after the passing of her brother when the comedy community rallied around her.

Today comedian/writer/musician/podcaster Chloe Maddren joins me to shine a light on the less heralded Amy Winehouse album, 2003’s Frank.

We talk about the cat she named after the album, fighting against Winehouse’s influence on her voice and lifestyle, the difference between the popular conception of Winehouse and who she was on this album, the differences between Frank and Back to Black, identifying with music beyond your age, the jazz influence on the record, being older than Amy Winehouse when she passed away, the validity of teenage pain, the pun of the album title, lyrics that haven’t aged well and much more.

We also talk about why she didn’t choose a Taylor Swift album, her pop star aspirations, how her comedy career balances with her earnest songwriting, bombing in Bondi and “the girl fedora”.

Chloe's standup special 'Hot Girl Stuff (Disordered Eating & Crippling Self-Hate) is available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=fMzLtyC6VMo&t=65s

https://www.patreon.com/TheFriendRequest/posts 

Today, self-proclaimed dad-rocker Andy Golledge joins Jeremy Dylan to talk about Bob Dylan’s iconic ‘Blood on the Tracks’.

They talk about how Dylan’s new love of painting may have informed the songwriting, speculate about Dylan’s exercise regime, how Blood on the Tracks has replaced Blonde on Blonde as the consensus best Bob Dylan album, the different portrayals of love on the record, the more grounded lyrics compared to Dylan’s 60s music, how Dylan’s carefully maintained mystique protects his personal life, why Dylan rerecorded the album after the initial batch of sessions, how Andy fell in love with the record while driving across America, the prolificacy of Hank Williams Jr, listening to albums on cassette, how the structure of Tangled Up in Blue has influenced Andy’s songwriting and the upcoming James Mangold directed Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothee Chalamet.

Today, Indiecast co-host, Uproxx cultural critic and author Steven Hyden returns to the show to discuss his book about one of the most iconic albums of all time, "There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and the End of the Heartland.

Steve talks about the album's uneasy relationship with Bruce's die-hard fans, Bruce's internal tug of war with the level of fame this album brought, misread meanings of Bruce's songs and how his music has become more didactic over time, the universality and timelessness of Nebraska and Born in the USA vs the more explicit protest music of the time, Springsteen the storyteller, the "Bruce voice", the emotional comedown whiplash of exiting an E Street Band show, the death of the unifying American myth, 'heartland rock' as a genre, Bruce's hopefulness vs the fatalism of Fogerty and Mellencamp, why the Replacements were the antithesis of Springsteen, the lessons Bruce drew from Bob Dylan and our hopes for the Born in the USA 40th Anniversary.

Today the spellbinding Emily Wurramurra joins me to discuss Cleo Sol's dynamic 2023 album 'Gold'. We talk about how she discovered and fell in love with Cleo's music, how Cleo builds community and connection through her music, the genuine hope and optimism in this album vs the toxic positivity of soical media, relating to the album's religious themes as a non-religious person, how Emily surrounds her daughter with music that will inspire her, the music she starts the day with, standing up for the power of art, "fucking shit up in a loving way" and more.

Today, I'm joined by the Reverend Shawn Amos to turn a spotlight on a classic blues record that has reverberated down almost six decades since its recording - Junior Wells 'Hoodoo Man Blues'. We talk about the contrast between Junior Wells unprecedented creative feedom and the restraints on blues artists at Chess Records, the interplay with Buddy Guy's guitar playing and Buddy's friendship with Junior, how the album defies blues stereotypes, Junior's harmonica playing, Wells' influence on Shawn as a live performer, the trap of fake authenticity, inventing yourself as an artist, what Beyonce and Bob Dylan have in common, how the album fits into the context of the mid-60s, hiccup licks, how Shawn approaches performing 'Hoodoo Man Blues', why blues music shouldn't be a museum piece and more.