Phoebe Bridgers really wants to get back on the road. During her recent guest spot on Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me, she put it this way: “I would eat an entire meal at Hudson News right now, no problem.”
I’d love for her and so many other musicians to be able to tour again. I miss live music. During these Covid times, podcasts have been helping me get my music fix. They’ve been so good. And there are so many. So I thought I’d try a spin-off of my This Week in Podcasts newsletter, curating the world of music-related pods.
Each week I’ll sort through what came out and point you to the promising stuff, like:
🎧 Haim’s moving breakdown of “Summer Girl” on Song Exploder. It goes deep into the making of the song and the relationship between Danielle Haim and producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who was diagnosed with cancer and became an inspiration for the song.
🎧 Pop Chat and The Ringer Music Show, among others, explain the song of the moment, “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo.
🎧 Sidedoor’s fascinating profile of blues singer Barbara Dane, who founded Paredon Records and became “a revolutionary music producer—literally.”
🎧 Sound & Vision’s short profile of a music duo in rural Oregon. The episode puts a spotlight on the struggles local musicians are having as their gigs disappear during Covid.
🎧 Indiecast looks at how live streamed concerts have provided a lifeline for some artists.
🎧 Switched on Pop offers an entry point to Korean Hip Hop.
🎧 Switched on Pop’s Charlie Harding also guests on Another Mother Runner, with an analysis of music as it relates to running. It goes to unexpected places.
And every week I’ll round things out with highlights from all kinds of music podcasts: song deep dives, album analysis, artist retrospectives, narratives, news, and guest appearances, among other topics.
I’m sure it’ll evolve organically -- and with your input. Let’s make this a two-way thing. Send me feedback, recommendations, whatever. And please let your music-loving friends know.
Thanks for reading.
New Podcasts
🎧 Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce host We Didn’t Start the Fire, which breaks down Billy Joel’s song line by line. Every episode examines a different topic from the song, starting with the opening words: Harry Truman.
🎧 First a book. Then the movie. Then they tried to make a musical out of “Carrie.” Now there’s a podcast about trying to make the musical: Out for Blood: The Story of Carrie the Musical.
🎧 Reverberate comes from The Guardian, with Chris Michael hosting and telling stories from around the world about the times “when music shook history.”
Song Deep Dives and Lists
“The Best Album Openers of All Time” Reminiscent
“All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem 50 Years of Music w/50 Year Old White Guys
“Gonna Make You Sweat” by C+C Music Factory 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s
“Impossible Germany” by Wilco 50 Years of Music w/50 Year Old White Guys
“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap Strong Songs
“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne Song vs. Song
“Misery Business” by Paramore Song vs. Song
“Paper Planes” by M.I.A. 50 Years of Music w/50 Year Old White Guys
“Picture in a Frame” by Tom Waits Song by Song
“Solomon’s Ring” by Mort Garson Sound Opinions
“Yellow Bone” by DaniLeigh The Joe Budden Podcast
Album Analysis and Dissection
“A Quick One” by The Who The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers
“At Last” by Etta James Heat Rocks
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Sticky Notes
“Black is King” by Beyoncé Dissect
“Brilliant Trees” by David Sylvian You, Me and An Album
“Copper Blue” by Sugar Discord and Rhyme
“Flaming Red” by Patty Griffin My Favorite Album with Jeremy Dylan
“Futures” by Jimmy Eat World Washed Up Emo
“Infinity” by Journey DISCovery with Eric Senich
“Out of the Blue” by ELO Rock Solid
“Tea For the Tillerman” by Yusuf / Cat Stevens Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums (Amazon)
“Thrillington” by Percy Thrillington Bizarre Albums
Percy Thrillington’s Paul McCartney’s pseudonym for the instrumental cover version of Wings’ 1971 album RAM.
Artist Retrospectives and Deep Dives
Chic Hit Parade
Marvin Gaye Death of a Rock Star
Whitney Houston About a Girl
Milli Vanilli Stand By Your Band
Elvis Presley vs. Jerry Lee Lewis Rivals
The Rolling Stones Disgraceland
Tupac Shakur Disgraceland
Frank Zappa Sound Opinions
Interviews and Guest Appearances
Jon Batiste Kyle Meredith With...
Nicki Bluhm Past, Present, Future, Live!
Troy Carter Rap Radar
Grian Chatten World Cafe Words and Music
John Densmore Questlove Supreme
Ani DiFranco People Have the Power
Mick Fleetwood Here’s the Thing
Barry Gibb The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Martin Gore Kyle Meredith With...
Alana Haim Talkhouse
Hozier The Hang with Gregory Porter
Kathleen Kelly Working
Zara Larsson Zach Sang: Just the Interviews
G. Love Eric Krasno Plus One
MC Lyte The Fat Joe Show
Victoria Monét And the Writer Is…
FKA Twigs Grounded with Louis Theroux
Melanie C Pop Shop Podcast
French Montana Hip Hop Raised Me
Ja Rule People’s Party with Talib Kweli
Jim Runge Roadcase
A conversation with the tour manager for The Black Keys.
Caroline Shaw Music to My Ears
A conversation with the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and violinist.
Sasha Spielberg Talkhouse
Jazmine Sullivan Object of Sound
Justin Timberlake Armchair Expert
Brian Wheat The Bob Lefsetz Podcast
Verdine White Broken Record
Rick Rubin interviews Earth, Wind & Fire’s bass player.
Jason Williamson Turned Out a Punk