Life of the Record

For the 35th anniversary of Slint’s landmark second album, Spiderland, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Brian McMahan and Britt Walford first connected over a shared love of punk rock, growing up in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980s. They began forming bands when they were young teenagers, including Languid and Flaccid and Squirrel Bait. Another band, Maurice, was formed around this time and they began working with guitarist David Pajo. When Maurice ended, Walford and Pajo continued playing together and brought in bassist Ethan Buckler. After they performed at a unitarian church service where McMahan was in attendance, he joined the band soon after and they became Slint. They had befriended Steve Albini from playing shows with his band Big Black so they asked him to record their debut album. Tweez was self-released by their friend Jennifer Hartman in 1989. Buckler was unhappy with the sound of the record and decided to quit the band so Todd Brashear took over on bass. They recorded a single with Albini that caught the attention of Touch and Go Records, who signed them to a deal for their second album. After spending a summer working on new material, they recorded at a commercial studio in Chicago with producer Brian Paulson. Spiderland was eventually released in 1991.

In this episode, Brian McMahan, Britt Walford, David Pajo and Todd Brashear describe the underground music scene in Louisville that first drew them together. Walford discusses the hours they would spend in his parents’ basement, woodshedding songs and coming up with arrangements. As each song would start as an instrumental, he describes how the vocals would be an afterthought that the band usually wouldn’t hear until they were in the studio. McMahan describes his reluctance to be the singer of the band as he preferred to work in isolation on a 4-track and come up with mostly spoken word sections to fit the music. Pajo talks about his paired down approach to guitar and how he developed a clean sound that was a reaction against the heavily distorted guitars of the punk and hardcore scene at the time. Brashear talks about being an early fan of the band, jumping at the opportunity to be their new bass player even though bass wasn’t his primary instrument. The many hours they spent in the practice space working up the songs allowed them to track the record in a single weekend. Even though the band ended up breaking up before the album was released, Spiderland went on to become a touchstone of the underground music scene, reaching far beyond their Louisville community. From counting out odd time signatures, to a surprising emphasis on dynamics, to embracing vulnerability in punk, to the coming of age themes that made the record so relatable, to the liquid courage that was required for the cathartic “Good Morning Captain” vocals, to battling anxiety and depression during a difficult stage of life, to the enduring friendships they’ve been able to maintain over the years, to the power of the practice space, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.

For the 45th anniversary of The Soft Boys’ influential second album, Underwater Moonlight, we take a detailed look at how it was made. When Robyn Hitchcock first started a band in Cambridge, England under the name Dennis and the Experts, he recruited Morris Windsor, Andy Metcalfe and Alan Davies. They changed their name to The Soft Boys and released an EP called Give It to the Soft Boys in 1977. Kimberly Rew replaced Alan Davies on guitar as they began working with Radar Records, releasing a single in 1978. After Radar dropped them, they self-released their first album, A Can of Bees, in 1979. At this point, Matthew Seligman replaced Andy Metcalfe on bass as they began working on the material for their second full-length album. Underwater Moonlight was eventually released by the Armageddon label in 1980.

In this episode, Robyn Hitchcock describes how the band shifted musically from doing Captain Beefheart-inspired art rock into more Beatles-influenced pop rock. With Matthew Seligman rejoining the band and bringing a more melodic approach to his bass playing, Hitchcock began coming up with more traditional song structures. As punk was rearing its head in England in the late 70s, The Soft Boys proudly wore their 60s influences on their sleeve, incorporating three-part harmonies, jangly guitars and the occasional sitar. Hitchcock wrote with some of the political anger of punk, but also added J.G. Ballard-influenced grotesque imagery. From recording on a shoestring budget, to producer Pat Collier’s 60s approach of bouncing tracks, to the absence of a former girlfriend inspiring the majority of the songs, to the band ending early but going on to inspire legions of fans, including bands like R.E.M. and the Replacements, to a record chock full of power pop gems, we’ll hear the stories of how the album came together.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the debut Bat for Lashes album, Fur and Gold, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Natasha Khan had grown up in Hertfordshire, England and studied art at the University of Brighton. After graduating, she taught as a schoolteacher while writing songs and performing as Bat for Lashes. Her manager, Dick O’Dell, got her a publishing deal and connected her with producer David Kosten to work on some demos. The first Bat for Lashes single, “The Wizard” was released on her own label in early 2006. After signing with Echo, Natasha and David began working on a full-length album together at Jacobs studio in the Surrey countryside. They brought in other musicians, including Abi Fry and Caroline Weeks, who had been playing as a group with Natasha at this time. Fur and Gold was eventually released in 2006.

In this episode, Natasha Khan and David Kosten have an in-depth conversation where they revisit their initial collaboration that continued long after this record. David shares how he was first asked to co-write with Natasha until he realized she had no interest in co-writing and already had a fully formed vision for this album. Natasha describes wanting to create the world of the album and use unconventional recording techniques, such as recording in a forest and under blankets, to try to achieve the sound she had imagined. Even though Natasha had a fondness for lo-fi MIDI sounds, she worked with David to craft a unique hybrid of well-recorded acoustic instruments with lower quality digital components. The result was the Mercury Prize-nominated Fur and Gold, which launched Natasha’s music into the world. From a cinematic approach of method acting and practical effects, to a shared love of girl groups, to David finding a CD-R meant for another producer, to a memorable tour with Devendra Banhart, to taking inspiration from contemporaries Cat Power, Joanna Newsom and Gwen Stefani, to being averse to anything trip-hop, to having high standards and holding the vision, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.

For the 20th anniversary of the fourth My Morning Jacket album, we take a detailed look at how it was made. The band originally formed in 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky by Jim James, Johnny Quaid, Tom Blankenship and J. Glenn. After signing with Darla Records, they released their debut album, The Tennessee Fire in 1999. Danny Cash joined on keyboards before the release of their second album, At Dawn, in 2001. Patrick Hallahan took over on drums as they signed to ATO Records. Their third album, It Still Moves, was released in 2003. At this point, Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash decided to leave the band so they held auditions and recruited Bo Koster and Carl Broemel. For their fourth album, they hired producer John Leckie and began recording outside of their home studio for the first time. Z was eventually released in 2005.

In this episode, Jim James describes this pivotal moment for the band when they were challenging themselves by recording outside of Louisville with a seasoned producer. By working with John Leckie, they were able to rely on his expertise in the studio and push themselves in a new direction sonically. He discusses how their early characterization as a southern rock band made him want to evolve musically and try new approaches by incorporating synthesizers and drum machines. He also shares how he was experiencing depression at the time and struggling after the suicides of two of his close friends, Tim Cushing and Aaron Todovich. With the pressure of trying to make a great record mounting, he describes how his depression was clouding his judgement as he felt like this might be the last record the band would ever make. Luckily the band was able to continue and Z proved to be a turning point as new members Bo Koster and Carl Broehmel have remained two decades later. From borrowing a Juno synth and demoing with a cheap Walmart keyboard, to getting into Prince and Fela Kuti for the first time, to mixing at the legendary Sunset Sound, to calling on friends Andrew Bird and M. Ward to play on the record, to writing abstractly about the state of the world, to using music as an outlet for anger, to the enduring quality of these songs that continue to make the MMJ setlists, we’ll hear the stories of how the album came together.

In celebration of the Pogues’ 'Fairytale of New York' EP, we take a detailed look at how their classic Christmas single came together. The Pogues originally formed in London in 1982 by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. MacGowan had gotten his start playing in the punk band, the Nipple Erectors, and when that band broke up, he began playing in an Irish traditional music style. Gradually, he brought in James Fearnley, Cait O’Riordan and John Hasler to become a sextet. Andrew Ranken replaced John Hasler as they signed with Stiff Records. Their debut album, Red Roses for Me, was released in 1984. For their second album, they added Philip Chevron on guitar and hired Elvis Costello as their producer. Rum Sodomy & the Lash was released in 1985, and they continued working with Costello for the Poguetry in Motion EP, released in 1986. At this point, Cait O’Riordan left the band and they updated the lineup to include Darryl Hunt and Terry Woods. They signed to Island Records and hired Steve Lillywhite to produce their third album. If I Should Fall from Grace with God was eventually released in 1988 and included the Christmas single, “Fairytale of New York.” 

In this episode, Steve Lillywhite describes working with the Pogues at this pivotal time in their career when they were expanding the lineup and becoming more ambitious with their song structures and arrangements. Despite not having experience recording a traditional folk band, Lillywhite proved to be the right producer for the Pogues at this moment. His input and confidence in the studio led to them splicing two sections of “Fairytale of New York” together and also enlisting his wife Kirsty MacColl to sing the female part in the song. Jem Finer talks about his initial writing process for the song and how he wrote two potential Christmas ideas that his wife Marcia dismissed as being far too sentimental. Her input led to him rethinking the song and writing about a down on their luck couple, inspired by people who lived in their neighborhood in London. Finer describes how Shane MacGowan then took the song and moved the setting to New York City and added some key lines that were taken from real conversations. James Fearnley describes the thrill of recording the opening section with just piano and voice and how he practiced repeatedly to be able to get that part right. He talks about how the song deserved an ambitious string arrangement and so he worked out some ideas on a synthesizer before bringing in Fiachra Trench to help with the orchestration. By taking inspiration from film scores like Ennio Morricone’s Once Upon a Time in America and Leonard Bernstein’s On the Waterfront, Fearnley talks about wanting to bring a cinematic sound to match the classic American story that was being told. From the song’s long gestation period of a few years, to Steve Lillywhite bringing the tapes home and casually asking Kirsty MacColl to sing on it, to the inspiration behind the classic “I could’ve been someone”  line, to the initial disappointment of getting to number 2 in the charts, to the perfect sparring duet partners in Shane and Kirsty, to the anti-Christmas Christmas song that has become timeless, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.