Stereo Embers: The Podcast

“Forwards” For more than 40 years the Welsh band the Alarm have been one of the most consistent acts on the planet, playing songs with conviction, heart and belief. With almost 20 studio albums under their belts, along with a discography that includes live albums, box sets and EPs, The Alarm are one of those bands where you pretty much want everything they put out. From albums like Declaration to Strength to their brand new one Forwards, The Alarm are a completist’s band. Speaking of Forwards, it’s a remarkable record—singer/songwriter Mike Peters has never sounded better, his voice alive with muscle and belief. The Welsh band have had a remarkable career that’s filled with endless highlights-- they toured with U2 and Bob Dylan, played at Queen’s Live at Wembley concert in 1986, been on IRS’s the Cutting Edge and American Bandstand, had hit singles all over the world even cracking the Billboard Top 50 here in the States, and wrote a song that became the official Welsh anthem for Euro 2020. This is a band tha

“Time On Earth” In the early ‘80s, the British born singer-songwriter Pete Astor was the frontman for the band The Loft and when that outfit split up, he formed the Weather Prophets who put out a trio of albums including the fabulous Diesel River and the miraculous Judges Juries and Horsemen. Astor kept the dream alive after the Prophets split up, emerging with fabulous projects like The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound. Currently, Astor is a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster, and in 2014, his book on Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation, was published as part of Bloomsbury’s ongoing 33⅓ series on seminal rock and roll albums. Over the years Astor hasn’t stopped putting out solo albums which are practically peerless. From Submarine to One For The Ghost to his outstanding new one Time On Earth, Pete Astor remains one of the most compelling figures in modern music. He’s quietly released a discography that’s redolent with thought, lyrical dexterity, observational smarts and hoo

"Bluegrass Vacation” With close to 20 albums under his belt, including Country Love Songs, Let’s Kill Saturday Night, and his fabulous new one Bluegrass Vacation, Robbie Fulks has had quite a career. Over the last thirty years the Pennsylvania born singer-songwriter has collaborated with everyone from Steve Albini to Dallas Wayne to NRBQ’s Al Anderson, worked as a country music songwriter for the Music Row publisher API and scored two Grammy nominations in 2016 for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song. There’s a lot that’s cool about Robbie Fulks—his flatpicking guitar style, his poetic turns of phrase,his unique sense of humor and his penchant to cover songs you’d never think he’d cover—he’s knocked out versions of tracks by everyone from The Bangles to Shania Twain, so you pretty much never know what’s going to happen. But what’s really cool about Robbie Fulks is that he’s an engine of creative power and that engine hasn’t dimmed once in his 30 year career. His new album Bluegrass Vacation is a r

“Born In A Trunk” She may have been born in the Bay Area, but Amy Irving might as well have been born in a theatre. Her father was the film and stage director Julius Irving and her mother was the actress Priscilla Pointer. And what happens when you have theatre parents? Well, you’re in the theatre. A lot. And then you’re on the stage. A lot. And then it’s in your blood and there’s no turning back. Amy Irving got her start on the stage at 9 months old and from there she never stopped. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, landed in L.A. and almost immediately started landing role after role in movies and television. What movies and what television, you might be asking? Well, in the movies category she was in Carrie, Delancey Street, The Competition, Honeysuckle Rose and Yentil. She was also the singing voice of Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? As for television, she was on Police Woman, Happy Days and Once An Eagle with Sam Elliott and Glenn Ford. And not only was she working

“Bergen Street” The Brooklyn-born Chapin Sisters’s new single—which is their first new material since 2017’s Ferry Boat—is called "Bergen Street" and it’s about moving. And because it’s about moving from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley, The Chapin sisters have had to have a lot of conversations about that move and what it means. Leaving Brooklyn really is kind of a big deal for sisters Abigail and Lily because they have pretty deep familial roots there.The Chapins are a Brooklyn family and their father Tom and his five brothers put their stamp on the city with their sixties folk band The Chapin Brothers. Two of those brothers you might recognize immediately--Tom Chapin is a well-known folk legend, whose albums for kids are absolute staples and their late uncle Harry, whose "Cats In The Cradle" is a staple on AM radio, was a beloved singer/songwriter as well. Reaching back further, their grandfather Jim Chapin was a well-known and respected jazz drummer. So music and Brooklyn run deep and moving away was a big

“Doctor Moan” Ever since he landed in San Francisco at 19, the Buffalo-born Peter Case pretty much hasn’t stopped making music. He hit the Bay as a busker and from there joined pals Jack Lee and Paul Collins to form the punk band the Nerves. After the Nerves called it a day, Case formed The Plimsouls, who put out a handful of albums that were instant classics. When the Plimsouls broke up, Case stripped things back and put out his first solo album. The self-titled record was a critical favorite, and it kick-started a solo career that has found the singer/songwriter releasing close to 20 albums, including The Man With The Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo Traditionalist Guitar, Sings Like Hell and his new one Doctor Moan. The Grammy-nominated Case is a true troubadour whose life has been devoted to song. He’s put out several books, including As Far As You Can Get Without A Passport, had his songs covered by everyone from Blondie to Joe Ely to John Prine, opened for the Ramones and John Lee Hooker, collaborated w

"Foreground Music" With a handful of winning solo albums under his belt including Stardust Birthday Party, Heavy Meta and his fabulous new one Foreground Music, Ron Gallo is, for my money, one of the most exciting guys around. The New Jersey-born singer/songwriter who got his start fronting bands like Toy Soldiers, is a self-possessed engine of a talent who fills every track with nerve, velocity and heart. He’s played Coachella, Bonnaroo, and SXSW and toured with everyone from Spoon to Wilco. What does his music sound like? Good question. It’s a fiery blend of garage rock, post-punk swerve and pure warehouse stomp. It’s percussive, it’s groovy and it’s got a killer one-two knockout combination. It’s smart, it’s soulful and it’s wild—it’s a feral blast of shaking indie rock that’s immediate, real and infectious. www.rongallomusic.com AND: Ron Gallo's SOCIAL METEOR book pre-order: https://rongallo.bandcamp.com/merch/social-meteor Ron Gallo's "Before the Building Goes Up" Concert Film Trailer https://www.y

“Dark Island” Inspired by poetry, traditional celtic music, indie rock and the terrain of their beloved home of Cape Breton, the members of Villages have the island in their bones. And that makes sense—because they come from five generations of Cape Bretonians. So it’s safe to say it’s in their bones, their hearts, their minds and their souls. And it shows. The band’s new long player Dark Island is a moving meditation on ancestry, roots and Cape Breton itself, the latter being the spiritual connective tissue that links the album’s eleven tracks. From songs like the buoyant Love Will Live On to the moving Celtic groove of Play The Fiddle All Night, which you just heard, Dark Island is filled with pure sonic joy. Produced Juno-award winning composer and producer Joshua Van Tassel, who has worked with the Great Lake Swimmers and Fortunate Ones, this album is nothing short of revelatory. Inspired by the dramatic terrain of Cape Breton and the nature that inhabits it, Dark Island creates a moving landscape of so

“The Hypnogogue” With close to 30 albums to their credit, including classics like Heyday, Starfish, The Blurred Crusade and their fabulous new one The Hypnogogue, The Church are one of the most enduring bands of all time. Led by the British-born but Australian raised Steve Kilbey, the Sydney-based outfit continue to put out music that’s mesmeric, melodic and meditative.Inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010 and with gold records and hit singles under their musical belts, the Church are not ones to rest on their laurels. In fact, what makes this band so alluring is that they continue to challenge themselves and their listeners. Their new album is a perfect example of this—it’s a dense and textured collection of dreamlike jams, textured instrumentation, graceful hooks and churning elegance. It’s the kind of album that rewards you with each repeated listen. As for Mr. Kilbey, he remains one of the most prolific artists in rock and roll, delivering not only high quality work with his band, but also adding

“Down Rounder” Cat Clyde is crushing it. The Canadian singer/songwriter’s just-released new album Down Rounder hit the #1 spot in the most added Americana Radio Album charts and her single "Mystic Light” was the #2 most added single on the same chart. Produced by Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Paul McCartney), Clyde’s third album is a wondrous and poetic collection of indie folk and breezy roots music. Filled with spare acoustic numbers, jangling pop, and heartfelt ballads, the album has flourishes of piano, surf guitar, chiming bells, and unreasonably beautiful vocals that tug and yearn and long and ache. Using the natural world as a philosophical guide, Clyde’s third album is a moving mediation about home and love and our ever shifting philosophical and spiritual selves It’s an album about rediscovery, persona, self-expression, and realizing that feeling lost is the only way to be found. www.catyclydemusic.com www.bombshellradio.com www.alexgreenonline.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com wwww.embersarts.com St

“Grandfather Courage” Fantastic Negrito may have been born in Massachusetts, but he’s a Bay Area guy through and through. The 8th of 15 kids, he moved to Oakland as a twelve year old and immediately immersed himself in the sounds of the 510 and the 415. He was no stranger to punk rock clubs like Berkeley’s Gillman or the underground hip hop clubs of Oakland. He liked it all—metal, indie rock, soul, punk and jazz and the legend goes that he learned to play by sneaking into the music classrooms at Cal, even though he wasn’t a student. Using his birth name of Xavier, in 1993 he signed a deal with Prince’s former Manager’s Lexington House Records who had a distribution deal with Interscope. Three years later he put out his debut album, simply titled Xavier. A horrifying car crash in 1999 nearly killed him but after waking up from a three week coma, he started to see his career in a totally different way. That new angle wouldn’t take hold until 2014, seven years after a self-imposed exile of not making music anym

“When The Storm Has Passed” With ten albums or so under their indie folk belts, The Great Lake Swimmers have consistently been one of the most arresting affecting and spellbinding bands around. The Canadian outfit introduced themselves to the world with their self-titled 2003 effort and since then have put out classics like New Wild Everywhere, The Waves, The Wake and the Juno-nominated Lost Channels, which was also shortlisted for the Polaris Prize. Sonically, the band bring to mind everyone from R.E.M to Teenage Fanclub to Miracle Legion. And throughout their songbook, singer Tony Dekker’s poetic lyrics form a literate blend of ecology, environmentalism and good old fashioned romanticism. He’s a potent triple threat. The band have also put out four live albums, four EPs and a covers album that features takes on numbers by The Rolling Stones, Tom Waits and NeIl Young and John Cale. Oh, and Dekker also has a marvelous solo album called Prayer of The Woods. The point here is that there’s a healthy crop of Gre

“No Warning Shot Fired” Fang got their start in the early '80s in the East Bay. The Berkeley hardcore band’s early start was a little less hardcore and more experimental but that lineup, which featured future Glass Eye bassist Brian Beattie, only lasted under two years. The new lineup, with newly minted singer Sam McBride on vocals, became the punk rock powerhouse that blasted their way across the Bay Area with shows that were feral, wild and filled with rabid intensity and hardcore muscle. But feral as they were, Fang’s fans felt a part of a discernible community. As a friend of mine who never missed a Fang show once said to me: "Being at Fang concert was like being at a fistfight where everyone’s winning.” The band’s first two efforts—Landshark and Where The Wild Things Are—remain undisputed punk rock classics and although that lineup dissolved in ’85, McBride soldiered on with new personnel and as a result, Fangs’ legacy became firmly cemented in punk rock lore, with their songs being covered over the yea

“I’m Not Sure At All” Bringing to mind a low-fi Kate Bush mixed with Cat Power and Beth Orton, the Kent-born Marlody is a revelation. Her debut album I’m Not Sure At All is a rich and lustrous affair, filled with confident songwriting about feeling unconfident. And that’s the beautiful thing about Marlody—her music is a delicious cauldron of contrasts that’s redolent with vulnerability and strength. The songs on I’m Not Sure At All ache with longing and uncertainty, yet then ring out with bursts of sure-footed courage, poise and tenacity. A trained classical pianist with an orchestral future set out before her, Marlody tossed traditionalism aside and immersed herself in indie noise rock like Shellac and Slint and found a through-line that linked the classical with the cacophonous. I’m Not Sure At All is one of 2023's great finds and Marlody’s music is a riveting and spellbinding listen. Bandcamp: https://skepwax.bandcamp.com www.marlody.bandcamp.com MARLODY: Instagram/Twitter: @_marlody_ SKEP WAX: Insta

"Tender Years" The Brisbane-born Robert Forster is perhaps best known as a founding member of the legendary band The Go-Betweens. How legendary are they? Well, let’s just say this: There’s a bridge in Brisbane called The Go-Between Bridge. I was going to say they were one of the most critically-acclaimed bands of the last 40 years, but that falls short of the mark— they’re one of the most critically acclaimed bands ever. Their nearly ten-album discography is a rare one in that every entry is a classic. The band ceased to be after the death of Grant McLennan, but Forster has pressed on with a winning solo career that got started back in 1990 and has yielded a classics like Danger In The Past, I Had A New York Girlfriend and his new one The Candle And The Flame. The Candle And The Flame is astonishing work. Recorded after the news that his wife and musical partner Karen was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, Forster’s normally meticulous process was put aside and he and his family—his son Lewis and his daughter Lo

“The Last Mile” The Scottish-born Chris Connelly got his start with the electronic outfit Finitribe. Championed by John Peel, the inventive band did a long and harrowing UK in '88 and so arduous that tour was, it led to the shedding of three members, including Connelly, who left for the U.S. and landed in Chicago, where he fell in with the Revolting Cocks and Ministry. Connelly had hung out with the latter’s Al Jourgensen in London so he knew him a bit, but once Connelly hit the states, he really immersed himself in the Wax Trax-powered industrial scene. Over the course of his career, Connelly has been affiliated with Pigface, Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Die Warzau, Acid Horse, KMFDM, The Joy Thieves, PTP and The Damage Manual. And my friends, that’s a partial list. His almost thirty album-long solo discography is a knockout, containing classic albums like Whiplash Boychild Shipwreck and Graveyard Sex. His newest effort Eulogy To Christa is a moving, stirring and deeply satisfying homage to Nico. Comprise

“Direction Of The Heart” Whether you’re good at math or not, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Simple Minds have sold 60 million records. After all, the Scottish band have been around since 1977 and since then, have put out an uninterrupted string of classics like Empires and Dance, New Gold Dream, Sparkle in the Rain, Once Upon A Time, Street Fighting Years and their most recent effort Direction of the Heart. With 20 albums under their musical belts, plus number one songs like "Don’t You Forget About Me" and "Belfast Child,” plus taking home the Ivor Novello Prize, the Q Inspiration Award, a few MTV music video awards, Brit Awards and an American Music Award, it’s safe to say that Simple Minds' CV is far too long to be enumerated in full on this podcast. Just trust us on this: Simple Minds are a proper band. And singer Jim Kerr is a proper frontman—a great singer, a man with tremendous presence and a believer in the democracy of a rock and roll band. Their new album Direction Of The Hear

“I Hate Memory” Born in Budapest, Eszter Balint relocated to the United States and as a ten year old and found herself in New York living with the avant-garde Squat Theatre troupe, which was founded by her dad. Being surrounded by artists was no new thing for the violin-playing actress, who came from generations of artists. Her father was also a poet, her grandfather was a renowned visual artist and her great grandfather was one of the premier intellectuals and art critics at the turn of the century in Hungary. Balint acted in the troupe and living amongst writers, painters, actors and visual artists had an instant effect on her sensibility and her career path. In other words, it wasn’t likely she was going to be a realtor. By 15 she played violin on a song produced by Basquiat and not long after, she started appearing in movies like Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise, Woody Allen’s Shadows and Fog, Trees Lounge and The Linguini Incident. She also had a several episode arc on Louie CKs sitcom “Louie." Sh

“Desert Flowers” The New Mexico-born Heather Trost is one half of the American Balkan Folk Band A Hawk And A Hacksaw, the other half being her husband, the accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who, by the way, also hails from New Mexico. Over the course of their career, A Hawk and a Hacksaw have put out seven marvelous albums, including Darkness At Noon, The Way The Wind Blows and their most recent effort, 2018’s Forest Bathing. I know 2018 isn’t that recent, but Trost and Barnes have been busy. Trost has put out four solo albums, including her brand new one, Desert Flowers and she’s played with everyone from Beirut to Swans to Thor and Friends. Desert Flowers is a stone cold stunner—filled with lilting strings, dreamy melodies and sonorous hooks, the nine-track album is stirring work. A hypnotic blend of deliciously dusty hymns and introspective indie rock with elements of metaphysics, cosmology and even a little desert surf, this is a powerful and internally evocative album. It’s a quiet and poetic revelation. This

“Analog Holiday” Arielle is one of those rare talents that comes along where you look at what she’s capable of and it kind of knocks you out. A guitar virtuoso who also is blessed with a four-octave voice, Arielle has played on stage with everyone from Queen in the "We Will Rock You” musical to Cee Lo Green at Coachella. She’s opened for Guns 'n Roses, Larkin Poe and Heart, collaborated with Eric Johnson and Kings and Daughters' Talia Dean and appeared regularly on the TV show “Nashville." She studied at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London, put out EPS and albums, including her latest—Analog Girl In A Digital World—and, along with Queen’s Brian May, she designed a guitar, the retro future BMG Arielle. May said of the instrument: "It’s a new dimension. To understand why this guitar was irresistible to me, you have to hold her in your hands. She’s light, smooth, agile and she sings like a bird.” An activist, an artist an engineer and a master technician, Arielle’s gifts are profound and p