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5 of 106

Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta)
As a founding member and lead singer of Galaxie 500, it could be said Dean Wareham was present at the Big Bang of American indie/alternative/college rock in the 80’s. The band spawned both a large fanbase as well as a nascent movement that embraced the same sensibilities of atmospheric-yet-stripped down, heartfelt-but-self-aware, Velvet Underground-inspired music that shaped underground music for the next two-plus decades. He then moved on to found Luna, a slightly more musically accomplished successor to Galaxie 500 that carried those same sensibilities into the 21st century. Dean and Britta, the band he founded with wife and long-time collaborator Britta Phillips, released a Christmas-themed record with former Spaceman 3 frontman Sonic Boom entitled A Peace of Us in late 2024. Hear how songs by Beat Rhythm Fashion, The Feelies, and Francoise Hardy helped shape his sensibilities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Ian Lynch (Lankum) (Live at Big Ears Festival)
Born and bred in Dublin, Ireland, Ian Lynch is a founding member of traditional Irish cum modernist folk band Lankum. A passionate player and supporter–as well as a keen historian–of traditional Irish music, Lynch, along with his bandmates in Lankum, bring a passionate and renewed sense of spirit to the idiom with rousing performances in which they employ traditional instruments that serve to both honor and also expand its scope. Lynch is also the creator and host of the monthly Fire Draw Near podcast and radio show which investigates Irish traditional music and song in all of its myriad forms. We spoke to Lynch live at the 2025 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Victoria Shen (Live at Big Ears Festival)
Victoria Shen (also known by her performance alias Evicshen) is a San Francisco–based sound artist, experimental music performer, and instrument-maker whose work blends tactile audioworks with visceral live performance. Her practice engages deeply with the physicality and spatiality of sound, often through custom-built electronics, analog modular synthesizers, and hybrid sculpture-instruments. Shen is perhaps best known for pioneering “Needle Nails”—acrylic fingernails fitted with embedded turntable styluses enabling her to play multiple record grooves simultaneously. She’s also created a copper-speaker album sleeve for her debut LP Hair Birth, and hand-poured resin records with embedded found objects. Rooted in improvisation, her live sets are described as spirited, confrontational, and intensely physical, incorporating elements like whips, saw blades, and combs to shape visceral resonance with her audience. In this episode, here how songs by Faye Wong, Jimi Hendrix, and Lightning Bolt were formative for her.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Jenny Hval
A Norwegian musician, novelist, and interdisciplinary artist whose work defies easy categorization, Jenny Hval has built a reputation for music that blends experimental pop, spoken word, noise, and electronic textures—often paired with provocative lyrics exploring the politics of the body, gender identity, desire, and the intersection of art and intimacy. Her critically acclaimed solo albums, including Apocalypse, Girl (2015), Blood Bitch (2016), and Classic Objects (2022), are known for their fearless exploration of taboo and vulnerability, often framed through surreal, dreamlike narratives. In parallel with her music, Hval has authored several novels—including Paradise Rot and Girls Against God—which mirror her sonic work in their poetic, sensory, and transgressive style. A frequent collaborator across disciplines, Hval also creates live performances that incorporate theatrical elements, scent, sound installations, and spoken word. Her newest record, Iris Silver Mist, was released by 4AD on May 2, 2025. In this episode, she discusses how songs by Suzanne Vega, One Dove, and Paul Simon informed her development as an artist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has built a rich solo sideline as a soundtrack composer and collaborator with other artists. In this episode, he discusses how pieces by Abdel Halim Hafez, Kraftwerk and Mohamed Abdel Wahab influenced his recent album with Kuwaiti-Israeli musician Dudu Tassa..See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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