Sacramento comedian Robert Berry shows us the unexpected 3 act narrative he sees through songs by the Talking Heads.

This is the pilot segment for "The Guest List" on Hey, Listen! where guests are invited to pick three songs on a theme and walk us through why they love them.

Robert Berry's Talking Head

Cool Your Heart (feat. Dawn Richard) [Raleigh Moncrief Remix]

From the self-titled debut by Lean Year.  Available October 20, 2017 on Western Vinyl

Pre-Order the album:
Bandcamp https://leanyear.bandcamp.com/album/lean-year
iTunes http://hyperurl.co/q612za
WV http://westernvinyl.com/shop/wv152

Lean Year is the debut, self-titled record by Richmond, Virginia based singer Emilie Rex and filmmaker/musician Rick Alverson. What for Rex was a departure from the structured life of academia toward the uncertain contours of a creative field, for Alverson was a return to form. Having released 5 albums with his previous band Spokane, Alverson took a 10-year hiatus from music to write and direct feature films. These departures and approaches bring a transience and listlessness to the album, like a walk interrupted by both curiosity and caution. 

Equally informed by the minimalist folk music of Elizabeth Cotton, Karen Dalton, and Fred Neil; the tenuous, ambient, and orchestral works of Harold Budd, Brian Eno, and John Cale; the quietly pointed but tender songs of Nina Simone and Bessie Smith; and the baroque pop subversions of Love and The Left Banke—the inspirations for Lean Year are as varied as Rex and Alverson’s biographies. Their childhoods—framed respectively by New-Age ideology and antiquated Catholic Catechism; anarchist Montessori and cold, cloistered ice arenas; the chaotic, upheaval of divorce and the strange, obligatory qualities of life-long marriage—provide footing on uneven ground for the record’s dream-like, oblique observations. In the wake of these dynamic histories, the two leaned on music as a kind of secular spirituality. 

Rex and Alverson co-wrote the album over the course of a year at their home in Richmond, VA and recorded it in three sessions at the home studio of Chicago musician/engineer Erik Hall (In Tall Buildings, NOMO), who also performs on the record. Alverson and Hall co-produced the album’s ten tracks, drawing on both Hall's and Elliot Bergman’s (NOMO) arsenal of instruments. For Hall and Rex, this project was a reunion of sorts, the two having met as undergraduates in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan over a decade before. Hall’s extensive vocabulary—ranging from jazz and pop to rock and afrobeat—informs his contributions to the record.

Alverson’s films [Entertainment (2015) and the cult-drama The Comedy (2012)] have premiered at Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam and the Film Society of Lincoln Center among others venues and festivals worldwide. Rex left academia and her position as Indiana University's Assistant Director of Sustainability in 2014 to focus on music and pursue resilience writing and analysis as a consultant. This is her first record.

Lean Year - "Come and See"

I have been a fan of Tegan and Sara since first hearing 'Walking With A Ghost'. My interest was greater piqued with their album Heartthrob. I sent a message that I loved it to find out they were fans of mine. This led to a remix and a collaboration on a Tears For Fears cover in 2013. The connection was made, and we discussed future collaborations. When working on new songs I had them in mind. I had a loop for 'Bad Ones' and thought they'd be great on it. Tegan and Sara eagerly accepted the challenge to write more, so I sent it over. Practically overnight, they returned with the verse and the chorus, written from scratch over my loop. I spent the next month working on it, turning a demo into a full-fledged song. Working with Tegan and Sara reminds me the best songs are born from an open and free process. Often times, we need to get out of our own way to let the magic happen, and this song is a bold reminder of that.

Bad Ones (ft. Tegan and Sarah)

Bad Ones (feat. Tegan and Sara)

Track 4 from Coach Phillips LP - 'Never Is Enough' [Out June 5th 2019] 

Recorded in June/July 2018 at Sage Arts in Arlington, WA. 

Engineered and mixed by Jordan Cunningham. 
Mastered by Rachel Field @ Resonant Mastering in Seattle.

Jess Kim - Vocals
Wade Phillips - Vocals/Guitar
Chet Baughman - Drums
Tom Moskal - Bass

Conversation With Pietro

melodies, lyrics, and vocal mix by Camilla Covington
backing track: "Eternally 12" by Melanie Faye ft. Mac Demarco

https://genius.com/Crying-camilla-gemini-lyrics

GEMINI

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Feat. MF Doom - Ninjarous

Okey Dokey's "Delicious" remixed by Generationals

Lyrics:

If you wanna slip away –  let me know
If you think it would be right – let me know

https://okeydokeyband.bandcamp.com
https://generationals.bandcamp.com/

Delicious (Generationals remix)

Audio Producer, Podcast & Radio Host. 
Media Man
Transit Taker
Cat Fancier

Robert Berry's Talking Head

Nick Brunner

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