My guest mixer this week is Chris McAvoy

Chris has been mentioned quite a few times on this podcast, because over the years he has supplied me with dozens of mix tapes / CDs (some examples in the pic on the website).

We've known each other for the best part of 40 years, and have spent countless weekends in Manchester going to gigs, eating curries and drinking beer. Speaking of which, please bear in mind that this interview was recorded face to face following a long afternoon in the pub...

My guest mixer this week is David Hughes

David is one of those people I know from the Fall Online Forum, and is also a fellow supporter of the excellent Sombrero Fallout podcast.

Although he lives in Australia these days, he is - like me - a native of North East England. He's also addicted to travel, and estimates that he's spent more than 3 years of his life in India alone.

My guest mixer this week is Stephen G. Titley

Steve is, by his own description, a writer, standup, actor, singer and (dad) dancer. He is the man behind the Church Of The Fall, and was recently seen performing in a highly entertaining production of Hey Luciani! at the Prestwich Arts Festival.

My guest mixer this week is Chris Ruth aka 'bzfgt'

Chris is the man behind the remarkable website The Annotated Fall, as well as the Grateful Dead blog Every Dark Star. He was also one of the esteemed judges on the Fall Cup panel.

My guest mixer this week is Terry Christian TV and radio presenter, journalist, comedian and author - he was memorably described in 1994 as ‘the most hated man on television.’ Although, as he points out, this was, ironically, by none other than Piers Morgan. A friend of mine texted me in advance of the interview to say that Terry is 'one of life's good guys and very, very opinionated so it should be a great listen.' Hopefully, you'll find that all that is true!

My guest mixer this week is Kirsty Pringle

In celebration of her birthday, I invited my lovely wife Kirsty to select a set of songs that she loves and - just about - fit the criteria. (There was some bending of the rules that nobody other than her would have got away with!)

She has appeared on one of my podcasts before (episode #29 of the Fall in Fives Radio Show) and we got a lot of positive feedback for that. Hopefully, you'll all enjoy this one just as much...

My guest mixer this week is Thurston Moore

Thurston is, of course, a founder member of the premier noise-rock band of the late 20th / early 21st century, Sonic Youth. Post-SY, he has had a rich and varied career including a multitude of solo projects and collaborations as well as a well-worth-reading memoir, Sonic Life.

This is another longer than usual episode, but hey... it's Thurston Moore ferchrissakes...

My guest mixer this week is Doug Evans

Doug and I crossed paths via a shared love of the Sombrero Fallout podcast. He resides in North Carolina (the 'Tarheel State', apparently), but in a truly random coincidence it turns out that his great-great-grandfather hailed from the same small Welsh village as my wife!

It's great to have musicians, authors, journalists on the show; but it's also a joy to have guests on that are just passionate about the music they listen to...

My guest mixer this week is Billy Reeves

Billy is a songwriter, musician, producer and broadcaster who you most likely know from 'A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed', a song that he wrote and played on that was a 1998 top 30 hit for Theaudience (featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor on vocals).  In the 2000s, he turned to travel and sports broadcasting, and has also gone on to record three solo albums, all of which you can buy here).

This turned into a bit of a mammoth chat, but it was quite hard to edit it down to my usual length as Billy was so engaging and enthusiastic!

My guest mixer this week is Rob Barbato

Rob played bass in The Fall in 2006-07 as part of a lineup fondly remembered as 'The Dudes'. They were highly regarded as a live outfit, although they never recorded a studio album that did them justice - something that we discuss in the interview. We also talked about the fact that he was the only ever member of the group to be permitted by MES to have a beard!

Rob was kind enough to contribute to my Fall in Fives Radio Show a few years ago (his episode is here) and it was a real pleasure to reconnect with him. You can find his website here.