Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Song Writers On The Run"

Perhaps best known as one of the co-founding members of the late great Australian band The Go-Betweens, singer/songwriter Robert Forster has been putting out critically acclaimed
solo albums since his 1990 debut Danger In The Past. His new novel Song Writers On The Run has just been released to rave reviews and he talks about the writing process in this chat. As for his music, over the years he added to his solo discography titles like Calling From A Country Phone and I Had A New York Girlfriend, and now the Brisbane-born Forster is checking in with his ninth solo effort Strawberries. The follow-up to 2023's rousing and affecting The Candle And The Flame, Strawberries is startlingly beautiful and emotionally precise. Produced by Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John, the eight numbers on Strawberries range from the jangling album opener "Tell It Back To Me" to the stirring blues of "Good To Cry." Elsewhere, the seven minute "Breakfast On The Train" is not only a great song, it also doubles as a great short story; the title track is a brilliant and simple study of the gobbling of strawberries as a metaphor for domestic bliss and the album closing "Diamonds" quite literally reaches new vocal heights for Mr. Forster. This is one of the best albums you'll hear--it's satisfyingly precise, unreasonably melodic and filled with observational wisdom, meditative self-analysis and quietly unforgettable character studies. This is a great chat--I love talking to Robert and I hope you dig listening.

www.robertforster.net (www.robertforster.net)

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"I Should Be Happy"

Singer/keyboardist Anne Richmond Boston showed up on the musical timeline in the late '70s when she joined the Atlanta indie rock outfit The Swimming Pool Q's. Before the goldrush of bands like R.E.M., Soul Asylum, O Positive, Big Dipper and Poi Dog Pondering signing to major labels, The Swimming Pool Q's kind of led the way, inking deals in the mid-'80s with A&M and Capitol Records. They put out five marvelous albums, including Blue Tomorrow and The Deep End, toured with Devo and The Police and garnered a reputation for being a spot-on live act, their brand of idiosyncratic pop filled with jittery rhythms, sterling sax fills, jangling guitars and sonorous vocals. Richmond Boston left the band in 1989 but roared right back with her 1990 debut solo album Big House Of Time. Filled with soaring originals like Dreaming and covers of numbers by Neil Young, John Hiatt and The Lovin' Spoonful, Big House Of Time made a huge splash at college radio. And then? Well, Richmond Boston designed album covers, worked in graphic arts, sang with The Drive By Truckers and Widespread Panic and rejoined the Q's. And that was that. But what about the rumored follow-up to Big House Of Time? Well, it was recorded and sitting on a shelf in a closet in Richmond Boston's house. Titled I Should Be Happy, her sophomore album was worth the wait. A riveting collection that's filled with meditative and melodic numbers, I Should Be Happy is contemplative and moving and finds Richmond Boston tackling the big questions with peerless harmonic grace. 

www.annerichmondboston.bandcamp.com
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"Louder Than You Think"

Like many Gen Xers, I knew Gary Young as the drummer of Pavement, but for anyone from Stockton, he was way more than that. Let me back up. A key figure in the Stockton underground, Young played in a bunch of bands like The Fall of Christianity and he was responsible for bringing Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys to play shows in Stockton. Though almost twenty years older than the guys in Pavement, Young was their original drummer and played on their first few EPs and the seminal Slanted and Enchanted record. Young was one of the great characters of rock and roll and to get a real idea as to how charismatic, magnetic and mercurial he was, the documentary Louder Than You Think traces his life in art and music with unvarnsihed honesty and shambolic joy. The soundtrack, which features The Authorities, Edward Dahl, Pavement, Hot Spit Dancers, and Gary Young's Hospital, among others, is a wonderful tour of the Stockton Underground. Yes, Young got fired from Pavement, but what's cool about his story is that he stayed connected to the band--and that's the secret with all these Stockton kids--they stuck together even when some of them fell apart. As for Kelly Foley,
the former singer of The Torn Lords had a career in Forensic Psychology and when he retired, he devoted himself soley to making art. Kelly knew Gary for decades and even had a project called Blue Boy Cometh which featured Young on drums just before his death. Foley is a lovely guy and he's kind of become the forensic archivist of the Stockton underground, making sure the paths of all the artists he knew--from Grant Lee Phillips to Crill--have their work preserved.

www.independentprojectrecords.com (http://www.independentprojectrecords.com)
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"My World Is The Sun"

It's true, Dominique Fils-Aime--by the way, my pronounciation of her gorgeous name verifies one thing: I'm from California--Dominique Fils Aime did indeed have a comfortable office and a job she loved and all was well, until she realized something was wrong. It wasn't her office, or her job, it was that something else was calling her. In other words, she found the thing she loved but she didn't love it enough, so she walked away. That's her story to tell so I'll leave that to her. What I can tell you is that the in less than ten years, the Canadian-born Fils Aime has established herself as one of the most accomplished artists on the planet. She's already won two Juno Awards, won the Felix award in her home province of Quebec and was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize twice. Not only that, but Fils-Aime has played the Blue Note New Yor and Los Angeles, as well as the Monterey Jazz Festival. Her new album My World Is The Sun is chapter two of her sophomore trilogy of albums and it's a stone cold stunner. Rife with crashing waves, nylon guitar, haunting hand drums and Fils-Aime's singular voice rising and falling through each composition with stirring soulful perfection, My World Is The Sun is riveting, arresting and melodic.

domiofficial.com
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"Sonic Amadea"

Over the course of five perfect albums with Catherine Wheel, including Ferment, Chrome and Adam and Eve, guitarist Brian Futter made his mark as one of the most dynamic players in modern music. Armed with blazing effects and cascading crescendos, Futter's distinguished playing gave the legendary British band their signature sound. After global tours, heavy airplay on MTV, rave reviews and a handful of top ten hits on the U.S. alternative charts, Catherine Wheel hit pause in 2000 and the band's members went their separate ways. Futter was in 50 Foot Monster with Catherine Wheel drummer Neil Sims and he also raised a family and lived his life. Which brings us to Good Day Father. A dream pairing of Futter with Tanya Donnelly of Belly/Throwing Muses and The Breeders, Good Day Father is a legitimate joy. The band's new EP is a sonorous blend of melodic muscle and dreamy rhythms--Donnelly sounds as beguiling as ever while Futter rolls through each number with thrilling intensity. This is just wonderful work.

www.gooddayfather.bandcamp.com
www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com)
www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com)
www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com)

IG + BLUESKY + THREADS: @emberspodcast
Email: [email protected]