By Abigail Mickey
The podcast currently has 33 episodes available.
"Arooj Aftab's most recent album, Night Reign, is a fascinating merging of styles with the Pakistani-American singer's breathtaking voice floating over the top of it. Something about Aftab's work has really struck a chord with me and I was excited to share it with the rest of the crew – to see whether Abby and Matt were able to find the beauty in this haunting music." - Iain
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will return in two weeks to discuss Matt's pick: 'Drag It Down on You' by Ceres.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Post Malone, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Eminem, Lizzy McAlpine doco
Iain: Cassandra Jenkins, Alcest, Christian Löffler, Charli XCX
Abby: Sabrina Carpenter
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 28 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
"From the moment I heard My Lady of Mercy I knew 'The Last Dinner Party' was a band I wanted to introduce to this podcast. The over-the-top, grandiose, almost theatrical nature of the band, not just their music but also their overall aesthetic, was attractive from the first music video and the story behind the band and the rapid trajectory of their last two years makes the whole picture all the more impressive. When I'd finally heard the whole album there was no doubt in my mind I would pitch it, it was only a matter of when." - Abby
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will return in two weeks to discuss Iain's pick: 'Night Reign' by Arooj Aftab.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft, Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism, Fanning Dempsey National Park, Led Zeppelin - IV
Iain: Abba - Conociendome, Conociendote, Trhä
Abby: Sabrina Carpenter - Please, Please, Please and Espresso
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 27 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
Yes, we were supposed to talk about The Last Dinner Party's Prelude to Ecstasy this week, but we couldn't stop listening to Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
Don't worry, we'll be back to our regular episodes next time! For now, please enjoy this bonus episode that could have lasted another 54 minutes.
"Lizzy McAlpine’s sophomore album, ‘Five Seconds Flat’, was one of the first albums we reviewed here at The Album Files. It made an immediate impression on all of us and has been an album we’ve come back to again and again in the year and a bit since. So when she released her third album, ‘Older’, earlier this month, we knew we had to get together and talk about it." - Matt
We will be back next week with a regularly scheduled (what does that even mean with us) episode. Thank you for listening!
"Neutral Milk Hotel’s second and final album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998), is an indie rock cult classic, a weird and wonderful journey through the mind of a reclusive genius, and an album that’s as provocative as it is intriguing. Sonically it’s rough and unpolished; lyrically it’s largely impenetrable and often unsettling. Ultimately, this is a fascinating and important piece of art and one that’s deserving of all the attention it’s received in the past quarter century." - Matthew
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will be back in two weeks to discuss Abby's pick: Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party. Next week we will have a special episode about Lizzy McAlpine's Older
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Jacob Collier - Little Blue (Mahogany Sessions), Lizzy McAlpine - Older (Jimmy Fallon)
Iain: Sadness - Lana, Sylvaine - Dagsens Auga Sloknar Ut
Abby: Beyoncé - Blackbiird
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 26 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
"Before the Taylor Swift and Kanye West collabs, Bon Iver's debut album is an insular, inward-looking reflection on its frontman Justin Vernon, originally intended as a demo before going on to sell in its hundreds of thousands and birthing a new generation of singer-songwriter. It's a fascinating record not just because of what it says but what it doesn't - and the considerable mythology behind it." -Iain
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will be back in two weeks to discuss Matt's pick: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Jacob Collier - Bridge Over Troubled Water breakdown of how he made the song, Jacob Collier - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Iain: Alcest - L'Envol
Abby: nothing this week :)
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 25 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
For this episode, we asked our listeners for their suggestions of albums that are worth listening to. The three that we landed on were Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee (suggested by Escape Collective member jlb1705), Alt-J's An Awesome Wave (suggested by Brooke Lendvay), and Camp Cope's How to Socialise and Make Friends (suggested by Andy Gerrie).
We had a blast listening to all three and as always are super grateful you all listen to this podcast, it means the world to us.
We will be back in two weeks to discuss Iain's pick: For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Older - Lizzy McAlpine, Little Simz - SOS, Lil Dicky - HAHAHA
Iain: Ratatat - Wildcat, Wild Beasts - Wanderlust
Abby: Sofiane Pamart - Seoul, Beyoncé - Texas Hold 'Em
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 24 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
"Apart from that I love it, and in a lot of ways it was the first album that I fell in love with without influence from my family, it also feels weirdly “too close” in the current political climate. John Colapinto of Rolling Stone wrote about the album that it "gives voice to the disenfranchised suburban underclass of Americans who feel wholly unrepresented by the current leadership of oilmen and Ivy Leaguers, and who are too smart to accept the "reality" presented by news media who sell the government's line of fear and warmongering." And If that’s not the world we are living in now…It was an album that changed me as a person, a freshman in high school in a lot of ways discovering who I was for the first time, this album became my anthem for a time and was the soundtrack behind a new version of myself and my departure from youth." -Abby
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will be back in two weeks to discuss the latest round of listener picks: Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee (suggested by jlb1705), Alt-J's An Awesome Wave (suggested by Brooke Lendvay), and Camp Cope's How to Socialise and Make Friends (suggested by Andy Gerrie).
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Green Day - Bobby Sox, Green Day - Saviors (full album), Green Day in the NYC subway
Iain: Olhava, Violet Cold, Mono
Abby: René Rapp - SNL Snow Angel, Boygenius - Not Strong Enough, The Last Dinner Party - Caesar on the TV Screen
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 23 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
"Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat out of Hell’ holds a special place in my heart. It’s an album I grew up listening to and one that, decades later, still delights me every time I put it on. It’s an album that has everything from nine-minute self-contained mini rock operas, all the way across the spectrum to the most beautiful ballads you’re likely to hear. It’s a wild and bombastic ride and one that, almost 50 years since it was released, still has plenty to offer the listener." - Matt
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Album Files! We will be back in two weeks to discuss Abby's pick: American Idiot by Green Day.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, if you want to send us a voice memo to include in the show you can find our social media links below.
What we've been listening to lately...
Matt: Dirty Three (Tiny Desk), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen, Rick Wakeman - Criminal Record
Iain: Dua Lipa - Houdini, (also mentioned) Carnage (live)
Abby: Taylor Swift - New Year's Day, Taylor Swift - Invisible String
You can find a playlist of the music we discussed in episode 22 of The Album Files here. You can find us on social media @abimickey, @iaintreloar and @climbingcyclist.
For our final episode of the year, we revealed our Wrapped/Replay/Iain's concoction of music to each other. Matt broke down all the stats from our albums throughout the year, and we talked about some albums we are excited about in 2024.
Our next episode coming in January will feature Matt's pick of Bat Out of Hell, the debut album by Meat Loaf.
For a playlist of music we mentioned check out our Spotify here.
The podcast currently has 33 episodes available.