Impossible Way Of Life

40 Episodes
Subscribe

By: James Younger & Johnny Payne

Wednesday episodes free and exclusive Sunday episodes via our Patreon!

(TEASER) Episode 424 - From Power Pop to Harry Nilsson
#424
Last Sunday at 7:00 AM

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

In the wise words of Axl Rose...where do we go now? Our Kinks marathon isn't quite over but it's wrapping up and it feels natural to head in a Power Pop direction. The problem is some people are also calling for an IWOL journey through Harry Nilsson's wild, storied music life. What will the decision be?!


Episode 423 - An Hour With John Batt (aka @canada.gov.ca)
#423
Last Wednesday at 7:00 AM

This is quite possibly our most Canadian episode to date. We are joined by John Batt of @canada.gov.ca instagram fame. For those of you who don't live in Canada, John is basically Canadian royalty at this point. Topics include the NHL playoffs, Sloan, Wolf Parade, The Junos, Weird Al (not Canadian somehow) and Eastern Canada's love of Jam bands. 


(TEASER) Episode 422 - Is Music Dead? (Part 2)
05/04/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

We think music is probably still alive but we're trying to figure it out.


Episode 421 - The IWOL Kinks Playlist
#421
04/30/2025

As our Kinksy journey komes to an end we kompile a playlist of our favorite kinks kuts from all the klassic albums we kovered. 


(TEASER) Episode 420 - Still Kinksy After All These Years
04/27/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

We're hanging on to this Kinks marathon by a thread but we manage to eek out a discuss on Preservation Act 1. Other than that, Johnny got stoned and went to see Pink Floyd - At Pompeii at the IMAX and we're just generally switching into glide on a Saturday. 


Episode 419 - The Man Who Found The Master Tape Of The First Beatles Recording Session
#419
04/23/2025

On New Year’s Day in 1962, a four-man band from Liverpool arrived at Decca Records in London to record a demo tape. The band’s 15-song audition was apparently underwhelming: The Beatles were rejected from the label in favour of a group called Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. 

The audition tapes, too, were soon forgotten, aside from some incomplete bootlegs that circulated among die-hard fans and five songs released on the 1995 compilation album Anthology 1. So when Rob Frith, the owner of Neptoon Records in Vancouver, and the man we interview today, brought a tape labeled “Beatles ’60s demos” to...


(Teaser) Episode 418 - Cheat Code Songs
04/20/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife


Podcast dropping early—because tonight, we DJ. That’s right: we’re trading microphones for crossfaders and preaching the gospel of the eternal groove straight from the booth. On this episode, we discuss the songs we’ll be spinning tonight—tales of the cheat-code classics, those tracks so loaded with primal rhythm and memory they yank bodies to the floor before the chorus even hits. We’re talking nuclear-grade crowd detonators.

So tune in, then com...


Episode 417 - The Music That Time Forgot
#417
04/16/2025

Johnny's got a cold but with the help of James, his brother in arms, the boys continue their important work curating the perfect playlist of lost gems and resurrected classics. Artists mentioned include: Karen Dalton, Nick Drake, Bobby Charles, Big Star, Lee Hazelwood, Shuggie Otis, Judee Sill, Dwight Twilley, Marlena Shaw, Link Wray, Scott Walker. 


(TEASER) Episode 416 - Everybody's In Show-Biz
#416
04/13/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

"Everybody's In Show-Biz" feels like a more relevant statement now than it was back in 1972, when The Kinks released this record. Sometimes an album, a song, or a a lyric can ignite a bigger conversation for us and that's what this episode felt like. Happy Sunday folks.


Episode 415 - Kinks Speed Ranking
#415
04/10/2025

Aaaaand we're back. We speed rank Arthur and Something else as we didn't have time on their respective episodes. We also discuss great lost artists whose music re-emerged in the early 2000s via the explosion of vinyl reissues and record store curation.


(TEASER) Muswell Hillbillies ft. Jeffrey Innes (Yukon Blonde)
04/06/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

Happy Sunday, folks! We're back on The Kinks. One of our Kinksiest pals, Jeffrey Innes from Yukon Blonde, joins us—so put a brew on and listen in as we discuss perhaps the most underrated Kinks album.


Episode 413 - The Official IWOL CanCon Playlist
#413
04/02/2025

The title speaks for itself. From Gino Vannelli to Edward Bear, It's banger after banger up here in Canada. We don't mess around. 


(TEASER) Episode 412 - CanCon : An Introduction
#412
03/30/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

Grab a poutine and sixer of Kokanee. Today we begin to discuss the musical movement / genre / phenomenon / way of life that is CanCon.


Episode 411 - An Hour with Alaina Moore (of Tennis)
#411
03/27/2025

We welcome back IWOL 3 timer Alaina Moore to discuss everything from the state of the music business to her love of Laura Nyro. Nobody has lived the impossible way of life more than Alaina and her episodes are always a delight. 


(TEASER) Episode 410 - The Beatles In Mono
#410
03/23/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

We're still on this wild goose chase. Nothing looks or sounds the same anymore. Anything pre 1970 that is in stereo is going on a huge IWOL bonfire tonight. We're becoming audiophiles and it's quite disturbing.


Episode 409 - Lola (Feat. Billy Hamilton of Silverstein
#409
03/19/2025

Billy Hamilton, a man as famous for his record collection as his high kicks, joins us to discuss and rank "Lola vs Powerman and The Moneygoround", the rockin Kinks album that may have faded into obscurity had it not been saved by Wes Anderson ;)


(TEASER) Episode 408 - What Do The Beatles Sound Like?
#408
03/16/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife'

In the age of so many Beatles pressings, re-pressings, stereo mixes, mono mixes, stereo re-mixes, remasters, box sets, anthologies, master tapes, CDs, 180 gram vinyl, flac files, wav files etc etc...we have come to the conclusion that it's possible no one we know has ever actually heard the Beatles music the way The Beatles intended it to be heard. At least not recently. So here at IWOL we're determined to get to the bottom of it.


Episode 407 - In Coversation: Steven Hyden
#407
03/12/2025

We are joined by veteran music writer Steven Hyden for a lively chat about Rock n Roll. A lotta Kinks talk too...


(TEASER) Episode 406 - Something Else (Feat. Will Taylor of Flyte)
03/09/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

Pointing out places on a map, cycling from Hackney to Waterloo in the afternoon sun, writing a West End musical...the subject of songs by The Kinks or a day in the life of Will Taylor of Flyte? Listen to this episode and you be the judge.


Episode 405 - Electric Bob vs Pirate Bob (Feat. Jens and Adam of Nothing Is Revealed)
#405
03/05/2025

IWOL SPECIAL EDITION!

In our first ever collab with another podcast, we are joined by Dylanologists and all around nice guys Jens and Adam of the Nothing Is Revealed podcast. We needed some Dylan heads of this magnitude to finally finish the Bob Dylan ranking tournament we started years ago. So, without further ado, we give you the heavily anticipated heavyweight bout that is Electric Bob vs Pirate Bob!


(TEASER) Episode 404 - Village Green (Feat. Johanna Samuels)
#404
03/02/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

We attempt to discuss The Kinks most famous album with Johanna Samuels but we may have had a little too much fun along the way...and you know what happens when you start having too much fun. It's an impossible way of life folks, no question about it. 


Episode 403 - Arthur (Feat. Brian D'Addario of The Lemon Twigs)
#403
02/26/2025

In a classic IWOL Nolanesque time shift, we jump ahead to talk about The Kinks' "Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire)" with esteemed guest Brian D'Addario of The Lemon Twigs. 


(TEASER) Episode 402 - The Baroque Pop Explosion of 1967
#402
02/23/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

Taking a little Kinks break to discuss our new found fascination with Baroque Pop. Why did everyone have a go at it and where did they find all those harpsichords?


Episode 401 - Face To Face
02/19/2025

Our Kinksy February rolls on with their seminal 1966 album "Face To Face". This is where things really get going. We also ask the question that most are afraid to ask: Is Ray Davies better than Lennon and McCartney?


(TEASER) Episode 400
#400
02/16/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

It's fucking episode 400. If you've been with us this long you know what to expect. Peace and Love, Johnny and James. 


Episode 399 - The Kink Kontroversy
#399
02/12/2025

We're one episode away from 400 and no better way to ring the bells on 399 than with more Kinks. We love The Kinks and we're gonna keep talkin bout em and rankin em until the milk cow gets the first plane home. 


(TEASER) Episode 398 - Kinda Kinks
02/09/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

We kontinue our krusade through The Kinks katalogue with a kritique of their klassic 1965 album Kinda Kinks.


Episode 397 - KINKS
#397
02/05/2025

Our Kinks month officially kicks off with a rank and review of their debut LP "KINKS".


(TEASER) Episode 396 - The Kinks for IWOL
#396
02/02/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

In attempt to avoid the trappings of "cool stories in rock" and remain a podcast that discusses music on a purely musical level, we have decided to do a month of pods on The Kinks. Why The Kinks you ask? Well, they are a band that don't actually have too many "cool stories in rock", they just make good music and that's about it. 


Episode 395 - A.I. Award Season
#395
01/30/2025

Ringo is #1, The Beatles are up for record of the year with an A.I Beatles song, Chalamet is desperate for an Oscar because he learned to sing like Bob Dylan (with a little help from A.I), and Adrian Brody's Hungarian accent is A.I assisted. It's award season and things are more demented than ever.


(TEASER) Episode 394 - The Ageing Rock & Roll Cabal
#394
01/26/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

James comes to us live via satellite from the UK and he's brought a hot new take along with him. We are also starting a Beatles cover band so we needed to work out the set list. 


Episode 393 - RIP Garth Hudson (Feat. Alex Bleeker and Martin Courtney of Real Estate)
#393
01/22/2025

James is on holiday in the UK so Johnny called up his old friends Alex and Martin of Real Estate to tell a few old stories and pay tribute to the great Garth Hudson. 


(TEASER) Episode 392 - IWOL Theme Song Search
#392
01/19/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

We go on the hunt for a new IWOL theme song using the power of artificial intelligence. This episode felt like a classic. We had a lot of fun.


Episode 391 Video - A Conversation With David Hepworth
#391
01/15/2025

We are joined by journalist, novelist, TV presenter and founder of Mojo and Q Magazine David Hepworth for an hour of riveting conversation. David is as funny as he is brilliant and this episode was a real thrill for us.


(TEASER) Episode 390 - Candy Mountain
#389
01/12/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

We watched the Robert Frank/Rudy Wurlitzer movie "Candy Mountain" and tried to figure out how all the musicians in the movie fit together in their own little world. Very much an IWOL feel to this film, maybe we're a movie podcast now.


Episode 389 - "Yacht Rock - A Dockumentary" Official Review
#389
01/08/2025

This is our official review of the new Yacht Rock doc everyone is talking about. Two word review for this one...


(TEASER) Episode 388 - Reflections on Newport
#388
01/05/2025

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

It's a new year but we're still feeling Dylanny as hell around here. James finished the book that "A Complete Unknown" is based on over the holidays so we're basically a literary podcast now.


Episode 387 - "A Complete Unknown" Official Review
#387
01/01/2025

Happy New Year everyone. Johnny put on his wayfarers and boots of Spanish leather and hit the theatre solo to watch "A Complete Unknown". Now we can officially review it, IWOL style. 


(TEASER) Episode 386 - "A Complete Unknown" - The IWOL Review (Part 1)
#386
12/29/2024

SUBSCRIBE TO IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE ON PATREON TO ACCESS FULL EPISODE

https://www.patreon.com/animpossiblewayoflife

James and Bleeker ate some Malaysian food and checked out the new Dylan flick in Vancouver. 


Episode 385 - Do They Know It's Christmas?
#385
12/25/2024

Merry Christmas everyone. On this episode we discuss the new Band Aid documentary and other things with a Christmassy feel.Â