Following the relative success of their sophomore effort Bows + Arrows, New York City’s The Walkmen decide to finish out 2004 with the release of a holiday themed 7”. In Episode 37, The Walkmen’s Walter Martin makes his triumphant return to In Loving Recollection to tell the story of the band’s Christmas Party single.
For more info on The Walkmen, visit thewalkmen.com
In Episode 34 of In Loving Recollection, Chicago native Liam Kazar tells the story of his 2021 debut record Due North. Recorded at various locations with help from an encouraging group of collaborators, the Kansas City based musician discusses the experiences that led to the album’s creation, touching on the specific influences that inspired the record’s overall sound and the vital piece of songwriting advice he received from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
For more info on Kazar, visit liam.kazar.bandcamp.com or woodsist.com
While researching the life of English mathematician John Venn, Nashville based singer-songwriter Lou Turner became inspired after discovering parallels between her life and his. In Episode 33, Turner tells the story of her 2020 album Songs For John Venn. Recounting the events that led up to the record’s creation, the native Texan touches on how her work at a library influenced much of the album’s lyrical direction as well as her experience recording with her Styrofoam Winos bandmates.
For more info on Lou Turner, visit louturner.com or spinstersounds.com
After meeting at American University in the late 90s, Roman Kuebler and Dan Black would collaborate on a recording project that would eventually morph into the Baltimore, Maryland based quintet The Oranges Band. In Episode 32, Kuebler and Black tell the story of their band’s 2003 debut full length All Around, touching on their signing with noted independent punk label Lookout Records and their experience of making the album at Key Club Recording Company in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
For more info on The Oranges Band, visit theorangesband.bandcamp.com
In the summer of 1994, David Berman along with bandmates Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, and Steve West entered Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee. The end result would be Starlite Walker. In Episode 28, Silver Jews founding member Bob Nastanovich tells the story of the band’s debut full length recounting Berman’s excursion into the woods of Oxford, Mississippi to write the album’s lyrics as well as the impetus for and the experience of working in a professional recording studio.
For more info on Silver Jews, visit dragcity.com
When her plans to tour in January of 2019 get delayed, Michigan born songwriter Rosali Middleman decides to travel to South Carolina to spend some time alone and focus on new material. In Episode 26, Middleman tells the story of how her 2021 record No Medium came to be. Recorded in a Nebraska basement with David Nance Group as her backing band, the sometimes Philadelphian touches on the events that inspired the album’s lyrics and her experience of releasing music during a pandemic.
For more info on Rosali, visit rosalimusic.com or spinstersounds.com
Following the release of his band’s 2005 record We’re Already There, Quentin Stoltzfus would lose the right to perform and record under the name Mazarin. Eight years later, he would finally release new music under the name Light Heat. In Episode 24, Stoltzfus tells the story of Light Heat’s long journey to completion, touching on the events that inspired the record’s themes of loss and hope as well as the experience of bringing the songs to fruition with the help of his friends in The Walkmen.
For more info on Light Heat, visit lightheat.bandcamp.com
In the early 2000s, indie rock stalwarts Superchunk had entered a period of reduced activity. With his long-standing project Portastatic becoming his main musical outlet, Superchunk frontman and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan travels to San Francisco with his Superchunk bandmate Jim Wilbur and brother Matt McCaughan to make a record. In Episode 23, McCaughan delves into the making of 2005’s Bright Ideas touching on how fatherhood and the era’s political climate would inspire the album’s themes.
For more info on Portastatic, visit portastatic.bandcamp.com and mergerecords.com
When childhood friends Ben Crum, Dan Donahue, and Jamey Huggins all eventually move to Athens, Georgia in the 1990s, they begin making music under the name Great Lakes. Episode 21 of In Loving Recollection explores the making of their 2000 self-titled debut. Self-recorded at home with the assistance and support of a strong musical community, the album’s core trio discusses the trial by error process of the record’s production as well as the inspirations behind its sights and sounds.
For more info on Great Lakes, visit greatlakesbencrum.bandcamp.com
In the nascent days of New York City’s early 2000s rock scene, brothers Max and Julian Tepper along with drummer Derek Vockins created short and efficient bursts of melodically jagged pop under the name The Natural History. For Episode 16 of In Loving Recollection, the band tells the story of their 2003 debut record Beat Beat Heartbeat delving into their experience working with producer Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Beachwood Sparks) and the stresses of writing a record in a short window of time.
