FanFare

R.E.M. was formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, bassist Mike Mills, guitarist Peter Buck, and drummer Bill Berry. In 1992, the band released their eighth album, Automatic for the People. In honor of the 25th anniversary of its release, in this episode, Michael Stipe and Mike Mills take apart the song, "Try Not to Breathe." [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd on Feb 1, 2018 - 3 comments

Reply All hands the airwaves over to Hrishikesh Hirway of the Song Exploder podcast and we are treated to a double feature: First the origin's of the Reply All theme by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder, and then Phil Elverum of the Microphones on his song "I Want Wind to Blow"
posted by selenized on Sep 18, 2015 - 11 comments

In 2005, Nickelodeon premiered an animated series called Avatar: The Last Airbender, about a young boy and his friends who have to keep peace and balance in the world. It combined fantasy and martial arts, and ran for four seasons, won an Emmy and a Peabody, and in 2012, spawned a sequel called The Legend of Korra. This time, the story was about a girl, Korra, a teenager, and just as the characters were older and the world they inhabited was older, the themes of the show matured as well. In December 2014, after 4 seasons of its own, the series and franchise aired its finale. It made headlines for the final shot of the very last scene, where Korra and her female companion Asami come together as a couple, romantically. Composer Jeremy Zuckerman used a mix of Chinese and western instruments for the series. In this episode, he deconstructs the music he wrote, reflects on the significance of that scene, and also what it felt like to close the curtain on a franchise he'd been working on over the course of twelve years of his life. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Mar 2, 2015 - 2 comments

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart while reentering the earth's atmosphere. John Roderick, singer and songwriter of The Long Winters, wrote "The Commander Thinks Aloud" about that fateful moment. This episode was made from an interview I did with John Roderick in front of a live audience in Seattle, where we discussed how and why he made this song. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Feb 5, 2015 - 5 comments

In November 2014, Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan released his 11th album, called 36 Seasons. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Jan 12, 2015 - 1 comment