It can be difficult to recall on occasion that Willie Nelson is more than just the proverbial Kevin Bacon of country music: true, he's recorded with everyone, true, he's become revered beyond his wildest dreams among a large swath of the American music loving public, and true, he once managed to wrangle his way out of trouble with the IRS, in part, by cutting some Doritos commercials. It's been a weird ride. But there was a time when he found himself at the crossroads to a great enough extent that he laid down in the street in hopes that he might not get up again. This was more than the act of a man who wrote Patsy Cline's breakout hit "Crazy." It was, at the time, an act of desperation. And how delightful it must have felt, then, years later, when he worked his industry position into an album delivered the way that he wanted it, on his terms. He delivered something Nashville brass had no concept might work: a stripped down, road weary tale of a man looking for answers is a world that kept them just out of reach. In the end, the audience had the final say. Let's unspool what all the fuss was about.

Somebody Likes It

Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger

This sometimes happens when life intervenes, and if we're being honest there's a lot of that that's been happening lately. Shane's been touring, Mark's been on the road for work (I suppose that's touring too, of sorts), and Ryan and Kevin have been juggling schedules. We figured the perfect antidote to the layoff was a brand new mixtape show, and no better excuse than a re-examination of 2019's best.Some of the tracks here are to be expected (Billie Eilish is clearly having a moment), and Clairo's more recent work follows her video with 45 million downloads, but we also mixed in some of the Front Bottoms (which gave us occasion to riff on old band names), Soccer Mommy makes an appearance with chops, and who knew The Raconteurs were at it again. Brendon Benson, I suppose.All in all mixtape shows are a breezy way to get back into things, take the pulse, talk a little current events. And remember why, even if we're lagging, great tracks remain timeless.

Singles of 2019 - Mixtape

It's a weird byproduct of doing this podcast that occasionally —and I realize that this idea is counterintuitive—finding a record square in the midst of all of our collective sweetspot may affect our banter when we lay down the show. It's rare when it happens, but it happens. We ran into an interesting set of circumstances with Barrie and their initial release Happy To Be Here, from the SXSW set Mark and I caught in a Mezcal bar (with a local weatherman) to the fact that through dumb luck they came through Austin literally the night before recording, and Mark and I cornered Barrie (the person this time, not the band) to ask her a few questions about their music and her songs. And of course she was delightful, and the record is often delightful, and the whole thing tends to play like a nostalgic trip to somewhere you already know that you fancy. Which may make for a little bit of a one note sounding commentary.  But don't listen for hand wringing (there really isn't much of that anyway), lend an ear for the tracks. Those are the ones you've never heard before...that always take you back. Purchase the album

Barrie - Happy To Be Here

Mixtape shows are funny (beyond whatever shenanigans actually happen during the taping itself): you tend to think about the songs you're going to add to the show via the unique prism of that song's application to a given theme. For our Labor Day Mixtape Show, we decided (cleverly? You decide-) that we'd bring to bear songs specifically about Work, Birth (or Babies) and/or British Parliament (though that Labour has a U in it). Who knows if it works, but it sure does make the searching and ensuing chatter greater than dull. Pull up your favorite chair, grab the beverage of your choosing, and hold on. Also, We've created a playlist for this mixtape so that you can enjoy all of the songs in their entirety. You can check that out on Spotify or on Apple Music. ##In This Episode:## R.E.M. - Finest Worksong Dolly Parton - 9 to 5 The Beatles - Birthday Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Isn't She Lovely They Might Be Giants - Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go To Work) Eddie Rabbitt - Driving My Life Away Loverboy - Working For The Weekend Spoon - The Agony of Laffitte Huey Lewis and the News - Working For A Living Sam Cooke - Chain Gang Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen 

Labor Day Mix Tape Vol. 2

At some point during the week before we laid down this episode, one of us circulated a Honda scooter ad starring Miles Davis from the 1980s. If you've ever seen it, it's more or less...terrifying, which is a helluva thing to accuse of a Honda scooter commercial from the 1980s. Miles could be well and truly ominous when he wanted to be, even when (sort of) pitching something. He was, after all, known in his later years for playing entire sets with his back to the paying audience. He wasn't here, specifically, for you. In 1959, sixty or so years (almost to the day) prior to this episode, Davis assembled a team of players in the stratosphere of their careers: John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on sax, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb and new band pianist Wynton Kelly, who sat in for a track. It was heady company, and by the time they hit the studio, Miles had considered the ideas and signatures behind Kind of Blue thoroughly. The result was a legendary "conversation" between instruments, a subtle juxtaposition of styles that has continued to chart ever since. It's a solid starter jazz record for the neophyte ear, packed with enough nuance to reward repeat listenings from staunch collectors. Kind of Blue is only six songs long. But the tracks run much deeper than that. In this show, we ponder a classic. Find it on Amazon A Few Minutes With [Blur - *Coffee & TV*](https://youtu.be/6oqXVx3sBOk) A Current Affair [Fontaines D.C. - *Boys In The Better Land*](https://youtu.be/TNXrKBt76zI)

miles davis - kind of blue

I don't really know how to explain this other than the way that I'm about to, but the first time I heard In The Meantime, I had a pretty good idea that this track was pretty much the best that Spacehog had to offer. And I don't mean that it's because the song is a transcendent masterpiece, a triumph to eclipse all of their others. It sounded, for lack of a better term, like a band poured everything into making one radio ready song, and then realized that they needed to cut nine more before the record came out. There is a lot (I mean a LOT) of teeth gnashing in this episode - we worry about Liv Tyler (who up and married one of these guys), and we somehow find time to mention that there were other albums, which is frankly somewhat astonishing. But they had their fifteen minutes. Which is about a quarter of the time they get here. Find it on Amazon A Few Minutes With [The Kingsmen - *Louie, Louie*](https://youtu.be/CCY0bAPLZ1w) A Current Affair [Charly Bliss - *Chatroom*](https://youtu.be/dXrJwXRyitg)

spacehog - resident alien

So to be completely fair (and you'll notice this straightaway), there's an elephant in the room in this episode. We ran into a weird situation - Mark actually left his usual recording array at home accidentally, and we decided to soldier on rather than go home and get it. The result is a sort of weird "conference call" quality to the broadcast (a fact that we lampoon for probably too long here), but we're in lemonade out of lemons territory, and we were eager to have some fun talking about the band at hand, in this case, The Libertines, whose very sound seems to celebrate a certain level of sonic disaster on the regular. We're joined by our music writer friend Chad who steps in for Shane this go round, and Ryan makes him re-canvass his story the launch of the White Stripes UK hype machine, and how that started with a music missive from The D. There's lots of talk about what pub bands sound like and how many teeth Shane McGowan has these days, but mostly we shake up the snow globe that is The Libertines a bit and see what settles out. And we learn what Up The Bracket means. We're back to sounding like our selves (for better or worse) next week, but you can argue that we've been been more lo-fi than here, talking about trouble and wrecked hotel rooms. Press your ear to the keyhole and see what all the racket's about. Find it on Amazon A Few Minutes With [Slow Pulp - *High*](https://youtu.be/HVIIP9COGC8) A Current Affair [Pixies - *On Graveyard Hill*](https://youtu.be/E2o-65chdoc)

the libertines - up the bracket

It's hard to escape your own predispositions, and come to think of it, that's probably why we call them that. We each bring the tapestry of our unique experience into the ear we lend to a record, and it's as important as the record is itself in determining our ability to fall for it. Music can be a complicated bundle, but falling in love with an act is always collaborative. The listener, by the very act of listening, participates. And so we find ourselves at the doorstep of Whitney's debut release Light Upon The Lake, and Shane Is Not Having It. He struggles to abide the vocal register of Julien Ehrlich (which, admittedly to some, can scan a little Muppetastic), but half of us see the late afternoon sun shining through the Laurel Canyon tinged hills and the Wes Anderson backstory and bask. Ryan makes the point that in an age of digital singles this record is, most assuredly, an Album. They've got a new one in the can and the dates have been lined up and it's supposed to drop in August. But if you want to see where Whitney started the conversation, look no further than here. And let the light in. Find it on Amazon A Few Minutes With [The Oak Ridge Boys - *Elvira*](https://youtu.be/nGKatCAQed0) A Current Affair [Katie Toupin - *Magnetic Moves*](https://youtu.be/6hBFPzy4haw)

Whitney - Light Upon The Lake

Long before he found himself wandering around emitting, out loud, sounds associated with brain cell loss, Ozzy Osbourne leapt into a solo career that, one might competitively say, is more responsible for his legacy than his work in Black Sabbath. Oh sure, some things remain constant - he still doesn't linger in the recording studio - and he’s surrounded here by musicians that would prove iconic — including some, like Randy Rhoads, whose legacy cemented through prowess and tragedy alike. There are ugly legal battles that linger, but in the moment Diary of a Madman captures the touchstone of an artist’s trajectory. Just the kind of thing metalheads never forget. Find it on Amazon A Few Minutes With [Squeeze - *Cool For Cats*](https://youtu.be/uJ2cEc_TCH8) A Current Affair [Vampire Weekend - *This Life*](https://youtu.be/FwkrrU2WYKg)

Ozzy - Diary of a Madman

By now the Jenny Lewis story has been told far and wide: child actress becomes indie darling, and is anyone really surprised when she assembles an allstar team to pull together her latest record (helmed by Beck)? Probably not. But behind the polished veneer of her most recent release, a few of us wonder if she's been comfortable too long. Too many high fives and back slaps (is that still a thing?) and afternoons by the pool, with a rolodex (is that still a thing?) of anyone she can imagine as collaborator. When that formula lands, the results can be mesmerizing. And when it doesn't, you may just end up with something...pleasant. And maybe this album is both. We agree on this: there's only one way to find out. Buy Jenny Lewis On The Line A Few Minutes With [Tony!Toni!Toné! - If I Had No Loot](https://youtu.be/aeGFHHWA5hY) A Current Affair [Empath - Roses That Cry](https://youtu.be/PLWA9KKX6EQ)

Jenny Lewis - On The Line

Adam and the Ants, perhaps the birthplace of the of the Sexy Revolutionary War Guy costume, is our focus as we welcome back our full complement of goofballs back into the fray. There's lots to discuss - Malcolm McLaren, dream journals, Jerry Reed comes up for some reason, and a girl who is reviewing all of the LPs in her husband's "Stupid Record Collection." All in all, it's not hard to see why this act became a thing in the nascent days of MTV, and why, after all these years, it still sounds fun. And you can wager that revolutionaries dressed like Adam Ant might not have won most wars, but  then again, you probably need to ask yourself, who wants to fight with all this dancing going on? Pick up Adam Ant's Friend or Foe A Few Minutes With [Richie Havens - Follow](https://youtu.be/IEazNNJEcm0) A Current Affair [Sasimi - Not The Time](https://youtu.be/T61l0Qlo-1E)

Adam Ant - Friend or Foe

Pinning down the Roots' legacy isn't quite as simple as acknowledging their current role slow jamming the news on The Tonight Show: in fact, before they were invited into our daily national households, The Roots had to first shake folks up. Things Fall Apart became the ascendant touchstone for a band that always had chops but never felt dangerous - from the fiery Jim Crow imagery stamped on the cover to the grab you by the throat lyrical turns held within, Questlove, Black Thought and company laid down somewhere in the neighborhood of 145 tracks to whittle down to a final take-no-prisoners fourteen songs, and once the interludes and transitions were sifted in, the record felt like a full on protest - of history, of their careers. How does it hold up twenty years down the road? Lend an ear and let's see.

the roots - things fall apart

Generally speaking, most super groups aren’t that Super. They tend to trend toward a collective of famous parts that almost never eclipse the sum of the whole. As a result, most of these efforts come off looking like what they are, vanity projects that draft off of the disparate fog of fame. Not so with boygenius, the clever by way of earnest moniker that is Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker as one. Recorded in four days, this EP showcases artists who may mine familiar territory (loss, longing, challenges in confidence) but carve out unique and complimentary roles to weave their arresting and forlorn tales. The chief complaint about this release was that it was too short. Let's see if that's true - boygenius - boygenius A Few Minutes With [Slaughter - *Up All Night*][2] A Current Affair [The Beths - *Future Me Hates Me*][3]

boygenius - boygenius

After a time there is a conventional wisdom that Bands become Brands, and all too often (we'd wager most of the time), if you think critically about what a band is called, it's typically a total disconnect against the name (no one really expects, for example, Arcade Fire to canvass precisely that). Which brings us to Superorganism, an originally far flung collection of musicians who bonded in person but also, primarily, over email and Skype and who now largely share the same residence in London, except for that one who lives in Australia. Of course. That moniker syncs, but what does it mean? Their pop pastiche caught the indie world's attention and held it—and that clever grab bag approach makes intriguing bedfellows of a litany of effects and musical genres. It's a little slacky but often undeniably fun, seasoned with a variety that begs surprises. Like opening a present. Let's unwrap. Superorganism - Superorganism Video for Something For Your M.I.N.D. Video for Everybody Wants To Be Famous Video for Reflections On A Screen A Few Minutes With [Ben Kweller - Heart Attack Kid][5] A Current Affair [Generationals - It May Get Bad When You're Lonely And Cold][6]

Superorganism - Superorganism

All three members of Flasher grew up in the Washington, DC area, a metro recently referenced in one review as both 'beautiful' and a 'clattering hellscape' pretty much in the same paragraph. It's safe to say that it's a complicated place to come of age, and as of recently, they still hadn't actually quit their day jobs, all three of them continuing to wait tables in addition to being label mates with the likes of Arctic Monkeys. There's a chance Constant Image, their fist full length, could change all of that. And it should be said that the thrill of records like this, occasionally, is that even the band isn't totally sure of what they're supposed to be: that they'll stick the landing is far from assured. Still, that's the thing about the intersection of youth and ambition - occasionally, the chances you take are incendiary. Flasher - Constant Image Video for Material A Few Minutes With [sElf - So Low][3] A Current Affair [Rhett Miller - Total Disaster][4]

Flasher - Constant Image

Hello my little chickadees, and welcome to “Somebody Likes It.” Each week, we gather to talk about an album that, while very important to a lot of people, none of us really know that well. This doesn’t mean that said record is a cult classic, nay dear reader, as our intent is quite contrary to that line of thinking.

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Somebody Likes It

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