Life of the Record cover art

Life of the Record

Life of the Record

By: Life of the Record / Talkhouse
Listen for free

About this listen

 Classic albums, told by the people who made them.Life of the Record / Talkhouse Music
Episodes
  • The Making of A RIVER AIN'T TOO MUCH TO LOVE by Smog - featuring Bill Callahan

    The Making of A RIVER AIN'T TOO MUCH TO LOVE by Smog - featuring Bill Callahan
    Aug 5 2025
    For the 20th anniversary of the Smog album, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Bill Callahan began recording music under the name Smog in 1988 and releasing music on his own label, Disaster. After signing with Drag City early on, he released a series of albums in the 1990s and continued into the early 2000s. At this point, he was living in Chicago and wanted a change of scenery. After moving to Austin, Texas, he began writing songs for his 11th album. He decided to abandon the Smog name and start using his real name, but Drag City asked him to wait until the next record before making that change. After a two week tour with Jim White on drums and Connie Lovatt on bass, the three of them immediately went into Willie Nelson’s studio, Pedernales, to begin recording the album. A River Ain’t Too Much to Love was eventually released in 2005. In this episode, Bill Callahan reflects on this period of his life when he was in his late thirties and felt like he wanted to settle down. By moving to Austin and buying a house with a yard, he found himself spending a lot more time in nature, which greatly impacted the songs he was writing. Despite having writer’s block initially, his songwriting opened up when he bought a nylon string guitar and taught himself fingerpicking for the first time. This new approach to guitar playing really shaped the song arrangements and how his vocal would come across. Callahan describes how this transitional time in his life inspired him to give up the Smog name and start using his own name to reflect his newfound approach to making music. From the leap of moving somewhere without knowing anyone, to recording as a power trio, to the importance of a good title or central image, to taking inspiration from Mickey Newbury and Johnny Cash, to key overdubs by Joanna Newsom and Thor Harris, to a recording malfunction that lead to barely audible bass, to the lacking nature of waltz time, to a clear sound like a river, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 34 mins
  • The Making of CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH (Self-Titled) - featuring Alec Ounsworth

    The Making of CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH (Self-Titled) - featuring Alec Ounsworth
    Jun 30 2025
    For the 20th anniversary of the debut Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Alec Ounsworth began recording demos of the songs he was writing, he connected with musicians he met while attending Connecticut College. The band was officially formed in 2004 and included Ounsworth, Lee Sargent, Tyler Sargent, Sean Greenhalgh and Robbie Guertin. As the rest of the band relocated to New York, Ounsworth remained in his hometown of Philadelphia and commuted for rehearsals and shows. They started recording an EP that they were intending to shop around to labels. While continuing to work on new songs, the EP evolved into a full-length album that they recorded in spurts when they could get studio time. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Self-Titled) was eventually self-released in 2005. In this episode, Ounsworth describes his songwriting process for the album and how his demos grew into the full band arrangements. He lays out his vision for the album and how he was hyper focused on adding overdubs, interludes and song segues to create a more impactful listening experience. By releasing and distributing the album themselves, he describes the value he put on being independent at that time. In addition, he talks about the discomfort he felt when the band started gaining a lot of attention, partially due to a Pitchfork review of the album. From being labeled “blog rock,” to developing his unconventional vocal style, to writing about romantic relationships and the prospect of success, to taking inspiration from artists like Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Wire, The Magnetic Fields and David Bowie, to the value of doing it yourself and remaining independent, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 36 mins
  • The Making of CRAZY RHYTHMS by The Feelies - featuring Glenn Mercer and Bill Million

    The Making of CRAZY RHYTHMS by The Feelies - featuring Glenn Mercer and Bill Million
    May 27 2025
    For the 45th anniversary of The Feelies’ classic debut album, Crazy Rhythms, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After the band formed as The Outkids in Haledon, New Jersey in 1976, Glenn Mercer, Bill Million and Dave Weckerman started playing with brothers Keith Clayton and Vinnie DeNunzio. They changed their name to The Feelies as they started playing gigs around New York City. At an audition night at CBGBs, they connected with sound engineer Mark Abel, who introduced them to manager Terry Ork. They began to get booked regularly and receive some press just as DeNunzio decided to leave the band. After placing an ad for a new drummer, they brought in Anton Fier, who had just relocated to New York from Clevenland. Weckerman also left around this time so the band lineup was solidified as a four piece. Rough Trade offered to release their debut single, which came out in 1979. For their debut album, they wanted to find a label that would allow them to produce. After signing with Stiff Records, they began recording at Vanguard Studios with Mark Abel co-producing. Crazy Rhythms was eventually released in 1980. In this episode, Glenn Mercer and Bill Million recall connecting as teenagers in suburban New Jersey over a shared love of the Stooges. Mercer describes arranging their songs around the drums and percussion parts, while bringing a nervous energy and quirkiness to his vocals and lyrics. Million talks about how their early experiences with recording helped them realize the necessity of producing themselves and how they waited for the right record deal that would give them a proper recording budget. They describe their joy of discovery in the studio and their process for coming up with spontaneous parts as they were eager to treat the studio as an instrument. From finding the right clean guitar sound to standing out in the New York punk scene to embracing the suburbs to the 1950s-inspired look of the band to taking inspiration from contemporaries like Jonathan Richman, Brian Eno, Mo Tucker, and Steve Reich to percussion played with random objects to making music on their own terms for nearly 50 years, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 32 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.