RiYL

What's the significance of an 18 album milestone? For one thing, says, Laurie Berkner, her songs can vote and be drafted. In some places they can drink. Mostly, however, it's a legacy of enduring music that are now be passed down from children now old enough to have children of their own. The Queen of Kids Music's latest EP, I Got Invited, is available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A legend among legends, The Frogs emerged as one of the most singular acts of the 80s/90s alternative music scene. Brothers Jimmy and Dennis Flemion were propelled by a love of pure pop rock, ultimately making a name through absurdly hilarious “Made Up Songs” that comprise a large piece of the band’s considerable discography. In the wake of Dennis’s unexpected death in 2012, Jimmy has carried on, tour, releasing music, and amassing a catalog of some 800 songs. Some of the best will be made available through My Daughter The Broad’s first vinyl release in decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's 40 or so years between mates? Released in June, Boxing the Compass marked Haircut 100's first album since 1984 -- longer than that, if you exclude the band's sophomore effort, which arrived after frontman Nick Heyward's departure (as many are wont to do). The new album album is focused, reinvigorated, and a lot more fun than it has any right to be, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cartoonist, songwriter, children's book author, twin-haver. There's little Leah Hayes can't do. The latter serves as real-life inspiration for her latest Fantagraphics book, Identical. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 14 years, Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto are home. For now, at least. The couple's 10th album as hackedepicciotto arrives with the title Lichtung, the German word for a clearing in a forest. It's a celebration of a well-deserved rest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One thing you should know about Cedar Van Tassel is that he'll happily bend your ear about surprising depth and diversity of prairie grass species. Another thing you should know is that the artist lives on a farm, but isn't a farmer really -- at least not by trade -- instead earning a living amid the world of ecological restoration projects. A third -- and arguably most important -- thing is that his new book, Appleguy and Beefwood, is out now on Drawn & Quarterly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Action Swingers, Lydia Lunch, Mick Collins -- Bob Bert has kept the beat for some of the best. This year, the drummer's own name finally graces the front of the album, with Beach Bongo Bloodbath. Mixing original with wildly original covers, the record puts the percussion's unique voice on full display. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If anything thing, Sorry Kid's existence is a testament good bookkeeping. Gaps Johanna Samuels discovered when making her latest record had been with her for years -- decades in some cases. A mix of wisdom and hopefulness, the album offers a wide ranging guide to a singer-songwriter discovering the heights of her powers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forty years after bursting onto the So Cal punk scene, Kira Roessler officially released a self-titled debut. Its followup, Enigma, is due out next month. Plenty happened in the intervening decades, of course. She'd spend the next few years dual majoring in applied engineering at UCLA and bass with Black Flag. While legendary, her stint in the latter was fairly short-lived, though the middle of the decade saw her joining forces with betrothed fellow bassist, Mike Watt for Dos. More recently, Roessler has made yet another name for herself as an award winning sound designer for television and film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The whole singer-songwriter bit mostly got put on the back burner for the successful Broadway career. It's an all too familiar story. Win a Tony, star in a couple of wildly successful musicals, maybe some Hollywood films, and next thing you know that bit of your life is derailed. The last few years have found Gallagher back on that track, however, including the newly released EP, Almost OK, which finds the musician joyfully reconnecting with a creative spark. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trained in opera and world traveled with an NYU master's in international relations and music diplomacy, Alicia Waller truly finds her voice on Louder, Then. As a lifelong student of jazz raised on the socially conscious soul of Marvin Gaye, Waller refers to her on-going dialog as, "the sound of a Black woman in conversation with the world." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fifteen years later, the melodic noise punks have returned. Now with twice as many drummers. Set of All Sets marks an unexpected comeback, as the one-time Brooklyn-based band's parts are now spread across the continental U.S. Though band members are never too far in the age of group chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the end, he didn't leave for too long. Don Barnes set out on a solo career in '87, recorded a record in '89, and was back in 38 Special by '92. A series of unfortunate events held that solo record, Ride the Storm, in limbo for decades until it saw a proper release in 2017. 38 Special remained a powerhouse of southern rock all those years, before returning to the studio for 2025's Milestone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A deeply personal record like In the Last Hour of Light could only have come out under his own name. A musical career that began under the moniker, The One AM Radio, morphed into an award winning podcast career through Song Exploder and has since added musical scores for film and television. Hrishikesh Hirway stays fresh by always stretching, moving, and trying something new. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than anything, Greg Norton is a survivor. Following a major health scare in 2022, the legendary bassist released Dying to Smile, the debut from his new band, Ultrabomb. While the lineup has undergone a major shift, Norton has wasted no time with its follow up, The Bridges That We Burn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"It's such a gift to be queer," Nicole Georges says, putting a bow on our hour-long chat."It's such a gift to be punk. It's such a gift to be queer and to be in these alternative spaces, and to have so many friends who are also in this community, and also have shared backgrounds, shared therapeutic practices, where we can all connect to each other in a really deep way."The Calling Dr. Laura/Invincible Summer has spent a long time learning to love herself. Now she's sharing those tools in the form of Emotional Support Animals, a combination comic/workbook, designed to deliver a bit of compassion when it's needed most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life's good when it's just a couple of guys singing about butts (everyone's got 'em). "The Dreamin' Kind" Langhorne Slim healthy, happier, and more rocking than ever before. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's two decades between releases? Yttling Jazz returned this year, with a new lineup and album, Illegal Hit. Björn Yttling wears his jazz influences on his sleeve, paying tribute to the greats of the form, and enjoying every moment of the process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No New York picks up where Peter and the Wolves, with young Cleveland transplant Adele Bertei landing in New York amid a burgeoning new scene. No wave -- a an avant-garde musical and visual art moment -- was harder to classify than its contemporaries, punk and new wave. Bertei participated in all aspects of the movement, as a member of the Contortions and the Bloods, starring in Lizzie Borden's Born In Flames, and even serving as Brian Eno's assistant as the legendary musician produced one of the genre's defining documents. The new book is a celebration of a movement, and more so, the women who made it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born during the pandemic, deary proudly wear their influences on their sleeve. Most immediate is a love of the Cocteau Twins, which first connected guitarist Ben Easton and singer Dottie Cockram. The latter's vocals soar ethereally on "Seabird," happily evoking the legendary Liz Fraser. The track marks the first single from deary's forthcoming debut LP, Birding, which finds the trio embracing life's challenges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slow Stories took its time. Author Bette A(driaanse) revisited the work decades after initially committing it to print, this time with a new motivating force.An ambient soundtrack marks the second collaboration between Adriaanse and music pioneer, Brian Eno, following closely on the heels of last year’s delightful What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory. Adriaanse can now add narrator to an expanding list of jobs that already includes novelist, artist, and teacher.She also cofounded the non-profit artist network, TRQSE, through which she and Eno first crossed paths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Upon reflection, Beatrice Deer suggests that Inuit Legend may ultimately be her least personal record to date. That's not to say the musician doesn't connect deeply with the work, only that she's opted to draw on the stories of others -- both historical and folkloric. Deer has long approached her own life with a thorough candidness, as she discusses family, sobriety, and the struggles of the Inuit people. The latter form the focus of her latest work, as she finds echoes in her own family's story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rise & The Fall marked The Rural Alberta Advantage's return to a trio. Multi-instrumentalist Amy Cole's return was a homecoming, serving to reinvigorate longtime members, Nils Edenloff and Paul Banwatt. The Toronto band is readying a followup -- its sixth LP, overall -- preceded by a handful of singles. The most recent, “The Hunt In Edson," contemplates life through the near death experience of a mouse that took refuge in Edenloff's home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic wasn't a creatively fruitful time for Mirah. Life as a new parent no doubt played a major role in any such blockage, coupled, with a loss of the rituals attached to tour dates and album releases. Seven years would ultimately pass between records. When the time came to step outside her life for a moment, however, the deluge of Dedication came pouring out. The musician's seventh album is a celebration of the life that happened in between. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Had he served all 15 years of his sentence, Jason Mills would have re-entered the world last year -- almost exactly half his life to that point. The gravity of that fact hasn't escaped him. As idk, the rapper has seemingly squeezed a few lifetimes in that space, including five albums, seven mixtapes, a lecturing gig at Harvard, and, recently, a Tiny Mix Tapes set. His latest single, "LiFE 4 A LiFE" finds him reflecting on lessons learned along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Goldbergs' 2021 move was meant to be temporary, a relocation from Los Angeles to his wife's hometown while the new network television gig did its thing. And then something happened -- The Equalizer stayed on the air for five seasons. There are, of course, far worse fates than a successful TV show, and there are far worse places to see them out than New York's Hudson Valley -- especially when one has a young family to raise. The new home also saw Adam Goldberg revisit his passion for songwriting, channeling the complexities of relocation into tight pop harmonies on When the Ships of My Dreams Return. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few moments into My World is the Sun, there's little doubt Dominique Fils-Aimé is doing what she was put on this earth to do. As an ode to vulnerability, the record shines as it strips away instrumentation, focusing the attention on her voice, where it should be. Her work is a celebration of music's connective tissue and the hopefulness it can bring us together when we need it most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surprise, it's all four members of The Happy Fits, beaming in from their Philadelphia practice space. After a rough couple of years -- losing a member, gaining two, moving, breakups, interventions, sobriety -- the band is in remarkable good spirits. Preparing to embark on a tour ahead of their latest at, Lovesick, the group is re-energized and focused on the road ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few albums warrant their own YouTube explainer direct from the band. It's not exactly necessary for Deck -- particularly in the wake of compilations produced from the project's 54 songs -- but it's part of the fun. The entire four-album set is a testament to Hallelujah the Hill's ability to keep things fresh 20 years on from their debut. The Boston band is producing some of the best work of its career and enjoying every minute of it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It takes light 4.2 years from Proxima Centauri, the nearest non-sun star, to reach Earth. It took the songs of 2025’s Stargazer EP nearly five times that to see the light of day.That’s nothing in cosmic terms, of course. But as musicians go, the 20+ years that have elapsed since the songs were written in preparation for KT Tunstall’s debut, Eye to the Telescope, amounts to several lifetimes. The Edinburgh-born singer-songwriter has showcased remarkable staying power, navigating the landmines of life, health, and the music business. At 50, Tunstall resides in the American Southwest and radiates the contentment and wit of a life lived to its fullest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It takes a unique talent to find one's work thumbtacked above desks at libraries across the world. But Tom Gauld wasn't content to simply rest on the literary laurels that come with his frequently shared Guardian strips. The Scottish cartoonist has carved out yet another uniquely wide niche for himself in the pages of New Scientist. Gauld's latest collection, Physics for Cats, showcases why is work is just as comfortably at home among the laboratory set as the literati. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How often do we truly afford ourselves a fresh start? Sean Mason went all after his first record.The Southern Suite put the pianist on the map, there was a disconnect. Mason left New York, stopped drinking, and cut off most communication with the outside world.A Breath of Fresh Air is, as the name suggests, a portrait of where the celebrated Grammy nominee lives now.It’s clear in speaking with him, however, that the journey of self-discovery will prove a lifelong pursuit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At 17, Michael Hampton blasted off from Earth in the Mothership. More than half a century later, the Funkadelic guitarist has never looked back.He does, however, make the occasional pitstop home for interviews, chatting poolside in between shows during a Southern California stint.Hampton’s latest EP, Into the Public Domain, does what it says on the box. The blistering guitar instrumentals now belong to the world.They can be accessed by way of physical trading cards acquired at one of the guitarist’s live shows. Even royalty-free musicians need a way to feed their anime habits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happiness wasn’t too far from home. After stints in larger cities, following more traditional music routes, Morgxn settled just outside of Nashville – it doesn’t hurt, of course, when home is Music City USA. When not on tour or in the in the studio, you can generally find him at Fruity Farm, a plot of land he and his husband share.The joy is contagious, and something the songwriter is happy to spread, along with whatever produce made it through the growing season. It’s a message of inclusion, regardless of gender, orientation, or any of the other myriad categories society uses to divide us. Above all, it’s about defiantly being yourself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few months after celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut, Ledbetter Heights, Kenny Wayne Shepherd returns to the show to reflect on three decades in music. Upon release, much of the album's coverage focused on the fact that the guitarist was still in his teens. Writing or co-writing every track on the album, Shepherd was quick to silence critics looking to write him off as a novelty. All these years later, the musician still has a deep connection to those tracks, having recently re-recorded the album in full, ahead of a 2026 tour in its honor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A brute force approach helped Drew Stroik land a record deal. The unknown musician sent demo after demo to his favorite musicians, until one -- Andy Chase – responded positively. Chase pulled in frequent collaborator (and current Ivy bandmate) Bruce Driscoll to produce an album full of Stroik’s off-kilter bedroom pop. 65th and York finally saw the light of day last month – 15 years after its initial recording and three years after the musician’s life was tragically cut short. Driscoll and Chase join us to discuss the album’s creation, the intervening decade and a half, and why you can finally hear the songs for yourself.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They didn’t go into the forest to create a record. One evening of music and words surrounded by nature was plenty enough reason to gather.Still, Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople emerged, as the first official document of the two long-time friends collaborating.More than 30 years into his career, Williams doesn’t have anything in particular to prove. The mid-90s saw him quickly rise the ranks of New York’s slam poetry community, and he’s since proved himself as a musician, book author, science fiction writer, actor, and more.But in a world forever teetering on the  edge, there’s still plenty left to be said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 2022's I Don’t Know My Words, Anand Wilder embraced DIY in a different way, performing each song entirely by himself. Three years after Yeasayer's non-amicable split, the musician clearly had something to prove. Three years later, however, collaboration is back on the table with Psychic Lessons, a celebration of music making, genre, and just about anything else that popped into Wilder's head. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nothing throughout the Descendents' long history can be taken for granted, started with I Don't Want to Grow Up. The band's second record, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this May, arrived after a two-year hiatus, which found singer Milo Aukerman at college (as the debut album helpfully noted) and drummer Bill Stevenson joining Black Flag. Certainly no one could anticipate, in spite of a few recent health scares, that the pioneering punk would be around to celebrate the album's reissue. Aukerman and Stevenson join us to to discuss the group's legacy and what keeps them running after all these years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bursting with the vitality of NYC's outer-boroughs, Laveda returned in September with Love, Darla. The Brooklyn by way of Albany harkens back to the heyday of noisy indie, while forging its own playful path. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A radical departure in a music career defined by them, Jamie Lidell's first full length in nearly a decade finds the artist exploring a new instrument, genre, tones, and collaborators. Born of the pandemic, Places of Unknowing is a work of ambient neoclassical piano music with no clear common sonic connections to the electronic-turned-soul musician's earlier work, beyond pervasive and deep emotional resonance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debi Derryberry's fifth album, Go to Sleep, combines longstanding loves of music making and animation into a single YouTube project, pulling together nine tracks aimed at lulling kids to bed. The work is a labor of love for a voice actress with somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 IMDB credits to her name. Along with playing the title character in the long running Jimmy Neutron franchise, the actress has voiced iconic roles ranging from the Toy Story aliens to the animated Wednesday Addams. We also dig into some fascinating early work with Jim Varney and a roller skating seal on the Chris Elliott masterpiece, Get a Life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Note: The interview was cut short and kind of sputters out at the end for weather related reasons I won’t go into here. We’ll have to get the band back on for a followup.Periscope at Midnight finds doubleVee plumbing familiar depths, as Barbara and Allan Vest revisit the latter’s previous band, The Starlight Mints, to put a spin on a pair of old tracks. Notes of the earlier baroque indie-pop act can be heard throughout, but the duo has forged its own oblique path to the genre after more than a decade of playing music together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier songs were political, but never as overtly so. There isn’t much value left to wring from subtlety these days.Battlewear is, fittingly, angry. It’s the product of navigating an unpredictable – and increasingly bleak – landscape. An hour before we hop on the call, a right wing reactionary is murdered in broad daylight.Kadhja Bonet believes in the power of art and community. And while they’ve never been particularly fond of performing live, busking holds a certain appeal, in its immediate and unfiltered connection between artist and audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahead of their upcoming Image series, Death to Pachuco, artist Rachel Merrill and author Henry Barajas discuss the process of bringing the historical fiction to life. Set against the backdrop of the Sleepy Lagoon Case and Zoot Suit Riots, the book explores themes of racial tension through a lens of hard boiled detective fiction. The pair also talk about picking up the mantle for long running newspaper strip, Gil Thorp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SunYears felt like starting over, in a very real sense. Peter Bjorn and John were on the backburner, and Peter Morén earlier solo work was decidedly more self-selecting, with Swedish lyrics touching on more experimental soundscapes. There was also a global pandemic to contend with. The Song Forlorn finds Moren happily reembracing his love of pop rock songwriting, with help from stalwarts like Ron Sexsmith, Jess Williamson and Eric D. Johnson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Celebrating its 40th birthday exactly one month ago, Rum Sodomy & the Lash requires no introduction. As epilogues go, however, one could do far worse than the alternately raucous and sublime tour pieced together by surviving members, Spider Stacy, Jem Finer, and James Fearnley. Stacy joins us to discuss the anniversary, the recent loss of frontman, Shane MacGowan, and his own fascinating musical history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He may have had something to prove early on, leaving the relative comfort of a rocket ship success like Nine Inch Nails, but it didn’t take Richard Patrick long. Filter’s first album went platinum on the strength of its first single, and the band was off to the proverbial races. Its follow up was slow to surface, courtesy of inner turmoil, but it eventually emerged five years later, with an even bigger hit, putting some of Patrick’s own personal demons on display. Thirty years after Filter’s debut, Patrick has mellowed considerably – partially out of necessity for a family man with a bad back. The result is some of his most thoughtful work to date. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thirty-three years, 10+ members, and a dozen albums later, Comet Gain hasn’t lost its step. Released in June, Letters to Ordinary Outsiders maintains the magic, once again. The group’s work is perpetually tied to the pop sensibilities of David Christian (née Feck), who joins us on a questionable WiFi connection from rural France. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenni Rose announced herself in style, with a Rolling Stone interview, back in April. The article dropped a few months The Vandoliers’ fifth album, Life Behind Bars.With a record full of deeply personal songs dealing with – among other topics – her transition – she chose the celebrated music magazine to help tell her story.It’s a courageous move in an age when simply being yourself can be a defiant act, let alone the singer in a Dallas-based alt-country band.It helps, of course, when long-time band members like trumpeter Cory Graves have your back along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.