You, Me and An Album
On each episode, a guest introduces the host, Al Melchior, to an album they love but that he doesn't know. Al and his guests discuss their process of music discovery, lyrics analysis, songwriting, musical arrangements, music production and much more.
You, Me and An Album
Johanna Samuels Discusses Sparklehorse, It's a Wonderful Life
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Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Johanna Samuels joins Al to introduce him to Sparklehorse’s 2001 album It’s a Wonderful Life. Johanna shares the unique circumstance under which she first learned about Sparklehorse, and she explains what makes It’s a Wonderful Life a magical album for her. She and Al also explore two of the music videos that accompanied the release of the album. Johanna talks about her soon-to-be-released fourth album Sorry, Kid (out August 14 on Odd Man Out Records) and the music videos she made for the album’s singles.
#johannasamuels #sorrykid #sparklehorse #marklinkous #itsawonderfullife #albumdiscussions
There are lots of places to keep up with Johanna and hear her music…
https://www.johannasamuels.com/
https://johannasamuels.bandcamp.com/
https://johannasamuels.substack.com/
@johannasamuels on Instagram and YouTube
@johannasamuelsmusic on Facebook
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1:29 Johanna’s introduction
2:49 Johanna revisits the unusual circumstance that led to her discovery of It’s a Wonderful Life
6:13 Johanna made a connection between Sparklehorse and Elliott Smith
8:50 Johanna recalls the artists who were on her iPod when she first heard Sparklehorse
10:25 Johanna talks about the experience of listening to It’s a Wonderful Life in its entirety
12:55 Johanna interprets the overarching theme of It’s a Wonderful Life
16:50 Johanna and Al make note of Mark Linkous’ frequent references to animals and nature in general
19:35 Johanna and Al talk about the indirectness of Linkous’ lyrics
21:19 “Gold Day” was Johanna’s entry point into the rest of the album
22:21 Johanna digs into some specific lyrics from the album
26:25 Johanna talks about some of the collaborators who appear on It’s a Wonderful Life
28:17 Johanna has bonded with people over Sparklehorse
32:21 Johanna thinks the stranger songs on the album play an important role
37:09 Johanna and Al discuss the video for “King of Nails”
42:36 Johanna and Al discuss the video for “Little Fat Baby”
49:09 Johanna’s final thought on It’s a Wonderful Life
50:10 Johanna and Al talk about the videos she made for Sorry, Kid
55:15 Johanna talks about the history of writing and recording “White Limousine”
57:45 Johanna explains how she recruited collaborators for Sorry, Kid
1:01:19 Johanna discusses her upcoming plans
Outro music is from “Full Story” by Johanna Samuels.