We’re kicking off 2021 with the legendary producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois, talking about one of the greatest debut albums of all time, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 barnstormer ‘Are You Experienced?’ We delve into Daniel’s discovery of the record while he was a teenage record producer in Canada, how the album opened up his imagination, the idiosyncrasies and nuances of Hendrix’s guitar playing technique and how it’s influenced Lanois’ own approach to the instrument, Mitch Mitchell’s jazz influenced drumming and some of the studio innovations that made the album special. Daniel also talks about reimagining ‘May This Be Love’ with Emmylou Harris when they recorded it for her classic album ‘Wrecking Ball’. Plus I pick Daniel’s brain about the making of my favorite Willie Nelson album ‘Teatro’, which he produced and was the subject of a previous episode of this show.

Singer/songwriter/fiddle wizard Amanda Shires joins me over chicken-fried steak to talk/argue about the great Leonard Cohen and his 1971 masterpiece 'Songs of Love and Hate'. Is the album depressing? What is Leonard Cohen's best song? Is co-writing good or bad and should Amanda do it? Did she steal one of Cohen's coat hangers? Why did she write a song about wanting to hang out with Cohen? What about the cover of 'I'm Your Man' she did? It's a rambling, insightful, funny and sometimes contentious chat from one of today's most engaging performers. Listen to it and then check out her new album 'To The Sunset'. My Favorite Album is a podcast on the impact great music has on our lives. Each episode features a guest on their favorite album of all time - why they love it, their history with the album and how it's influenced them. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist, concert promoter and photographer. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins.

We’re on a break at the moment but I thought it would be interesting to revisit this episode from four years ago, our end of the year 2016 wrap up, featuring a bunch of different interviews touching on the big stories in music of the year, including the traumatic aftershock of the US election and the creeping dread of the incoming Trump administration, and the realisation that 2017 maybe was going to be getting worse not better. Thankfully I feel like we’re coming out of this particular hell year of 2020 with a more optimistic outlook on the next year, so I’m posting this today as a way of reflecting to some extent on the horrors of the last half decade and also a feeling that we might be turning at least one page onto a better future now... ------- 10 conversations about the highs and lows of music in 2016: Emmy winner Jeff Greenstein (Friends, Will & Grace) on when David Bowie guest starred on his first TV sitcom. How Melbourne indie soul band Cookin’ on 3 Burners had a smash hit on the French dance charts with a seven year old song. Americana singer/songwriter Melody Pool on finding her way back to her darkest emotional places to write her stellar album Deep Dark Savage Heart.  ARIA-nominee Lisa Mitchell on struggling with how to listen to music in the modern age. Nashville-based Aussie ex-pat Emma Swift on being artistically radicalised by the election of Donald Trump. Filmmaker Brian Koppelman (Billions, Rounders, Ocean’s 13) on what music to listen to to get through the Trump blues, and what to expect from music in the coming years. Crowded House guitarist/keyboardist Mark Hart on the inside story of their triumphant reunion shows at the Sydney Opera House forecourt.  You Am I guitarist Davey Lane on a year of playing with his living heroes and paying tribute to his dead ones.  Singer/songwriter Alex Lahey on writing some of the year’s best songs for her debut EP and what to expect from her imminent debut album.  Host Jeremy Dylan reveals his 10 favorite albums of 2016. 

Longtime friend of the show and host of the Empire Film Podcast, Chris Hewitt, returns to talk about the classic Hollywood thriller 'The Hunt for Red October', the first film adapted from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, starring Alec Baldwin as Ryan and the late great Sir Sean Connery as Russian (just go with it) Captain Ramius. We discuss if this is Connery’s best post-Bond role, why Baldwin might be the best Jack Ryan, Hollywood’s need to action up the nerd hero, the incredibly deep bench of supporting players in the cast, the subversive politics of the film, whether John McTiernan will ever direct another movie and we trade duelling questionable Connery impressions. Plus we brainstorm a modern day Broadway version of the film and pitch our dream cast - someone get me Lin-Manuel Miranda and/or Scott Rudin’s email!

Normally on this show we venerate musicians, today we’re mocking them as we present a little compilation of music jokes guests have told me this year, never before heard until now. Listen to gags from Georgia Mooney, Fred Armisen, Stella Mozgawa, Edith Bowman, Seja Vogel, Dan Wilson and even your host.

Today, legendary Nashville singer-songwriter Kim Richey joins me to talk about Joni Mitchell’s classic 1974 double live album ‘Miles of Aisles’. We talk about how the record acts as a great entry point to Joni’s early career, the way Joni and LA Express reinterpret her early folk songs, the difference between Joni’s lyrical style and peers like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, Joni’s influence on Kim’s songwriting and what it was like for Kim to reinterpret her own back catalogue when she recorded a new album of the songs from her classic ‘Glimmer’ record, which came out earlier this year.

Today I’m sharing a conversation I had with the great gentleman of rock’n’roll Nick Lowe, in what was meant to be the first episode of a new podcast about live shows and touring. It turned out 2020 wasn’t the best year to launch a show like that, so instead I’m bringing this chat to you now. We talk about everything from how his mid-career reinvention as the only gracefully ageing man in rock has influenced the style and approach of his shows, how his singing style has changed over the years, rearranging his back catalogue with his backing band Los Straitjackets, the surprising songs his younger fans gravitate toward, how he constructs his set lists, how he keeps playing songs like ‘Cruel to Be Kind’ and ’What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace Love and Understanding’ fresh and fun for him and why he closes every show with a cover of his old pal Elvis Costello’s classic song ‘Alison’.

Today I’m joined by songwriting duo and hosts of the brilliant Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast, Simon Barber and Brian O’Connor, to talk about Paul Simon’s classic middle-aged divorcee record Still Crazy After All These Years. We talk about how the album reflects an ‘adult’ approach in subject matter and composition, how aspects of it reveal more as the listener ages, the balance between specificity in Simon’s lyrics but still leaving a place for the listener to find themselves in the song, whether drummer Steve Gadd deserves a writing credit on 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, whether the Simon and Garfunkel reunion song My Little Town fits in the flow of the record and Simon and Brian reflect on their experience interviewing Paul Simon for their podcast.

Today, Aussie hip-hop king L-Fresh the Lion joins me to discuss the fascinating and emotionally compelling J Cole concept album ‘4 Your Eyez Only’. We delve into how Cole use’s the album to tell the story of a late friend in the guise of a first person narrative, how he intermingles stories from his own life, why the album needs to be listened to in full, Cole’s rare status as a music star who takes his privacy seriously and avoids the tabloids, the crazy true story about J Cole’s home studio being raided by a SWAT team and much more.