Songs of Our Lives

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Wendy Eisenberg! Their new album, “Viewfinder,” just might finally answer the important question of, “Can I love a Wendy Eisenberg album more than I love ‘Auto’?” Beyond that, we get into the almost-literal timelessness of “Greensleaves,” the all-time great Beach Boys’ tune, love for Willie Nelson, GG Allin shocking us in unexpected ways, Cindy Lee, Elliot Smith, Beefheart, and more!

Listen to all of Wendy’s picks HERE

Wendy Eisenberg “Viewfinder”

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Songs of Our Lives is a podcast series hosted by B...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Dialect! I can’t stop listening to and thinking about his new album, The Atlas of Green. As I get deeper into it, new layers of its narrative are revealed, and sonically it’s just a delicate, beautiful excursion. So we talk about all of that plus making sample libraries before going long on Bonnie Raitt’s heartbreak, where “Pyramid Song” sits in the pantheon, Mr. Bungle hot takes, the genius of Prefab Sprout, Clarissa Connelly, Jenny Hval, and so much more!

Listen to all of Dialect’s picks HERE<...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s more eaze! It took us a year, but we finally made this episode happen and the wait was well worth it. We could have chatted for hours about both of her new records - ---__--____ ‘s “Night of Fire” and the solo splendor of “lacuna & parlor,” but there was so much more to talk about. We go long on a song about a dog that is absolutely crushing, the distressing genius of The Red Krayola, Robert Ashley’s all-timer of all-timers, Astrid Sonne, Parsley Sound, Sufjan, and so much more!

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Lia Kohl! How can you not love an album that finds beauty in refrigerator hums and ringtones? That’s what Lia Kohl’s new album, “Normal Sounds,” does (among many other things!). We talk about that a bit before getting into how much we love Sade, Mendelssohn bops, learning to appreciate metal through Meshuggah, being careful with your words, T-Pain’s birthday love, the everything of Nina Simone, and plenty more!

Listen to all of Lia’s picks HERE

Lia Kohl “Normal Sounds”

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On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s David Grubbs! I often ask myself, is there anything David can’t do? I’m pretty sure the answer is no. We talked a fair bit about his new record with Loren Connors, “Evening Air,” before going down all sorts of rabbit holes about Mayo Thompson and The Red Krayola, the expansive magic of The Modern Lovers, Van Dyke Parks walking the line of something bananas and genius, Myriam Gendron breaking us to bits, Isaac Hayes, Bob Dylan, and so much more!

Listen to all of David’s picks HERE...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Nick Zanca! His new album, “Hindsight,” feels like Nick in record form in a lot of ways. It’s clearly a record he’s wanted to make all of his life. We dig into that and what it’s like to see that realized before diving into how many Americans have a Disney-song memory, Milton Nascimiento’s magnificence, Pat Matheny Group’s killer ECM run, moving past James Blake, the sweet joy of Labi Siffre, John Martyn making sexy as hell music, King Crimson, and more! PLUS, one of Nick’s answers t...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Anna Butterss! When it comes to bass players, Anna Butterss is in rarified air. But there is so much more to their sonic practice (just listen to 2022’s incredible “Activities”!), and we get to hear yet another side of their playing on Small Medium Large’s debut, “SML.” We talk all about that, playing with Jeff Parker and Jason Isbell, and then dive into the greatness of Meshell Ndegeocello, Courtney Barnett being one of THE ones, underappreciated Herbie Hancock gems, discovering “Hey Ya” way late, admiration for Juana Molina blazing her own pa...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Seth Parker Woods! When it comes to cellists and modern and experimental composition, Seth’s at the top of the call list. His latest offering as part of Wild Up in the Julius Eastman Anthology Series is “The Holy Presence,” and the front of this episode is just an absolute masterclass from Seth about the history and beauty of this piece and what makes Eastman such an important figure. From there we talk about the perfection of The Temptations, Rachael Yamagata brightening the world, being in the room for Tracy Ch...

For this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Tashi Wada! This episode unfolds a little bit differently than usual, but the general spirit of it is right in the sweet spot. Tashi’s new album, “What Is Not Strange?” is such a beautiful, vulnerable expression that reveals itself through deep, focused listening. After talking a bit about that, we move into memories of his father’s music, the emotional weight of Philip Glass, La Monte Young’s sonic middle finger, having fun with Hosono, Pandit Pran Nath, and so much more.

Listen to all of Tashi’s pick...

On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Joe Rainey! His new project, Bizhiki, with Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings and Sean Carey, have made one of 2024’s best albums, “Unbound.” The combination of traditional and ceremonial rhythms and singing melded with contemporary production and instrumentation results in a moving, powerful album unlike anything else. We talked a lot about Rainey’s history with pow wows and pow wow singing while growing up on the south side of Minneapolis before digging into songs that have stuck with him. We get into the all-time greatness of Buddy Red Bow, formative connection...