Everything's coming up roses (and plumtrees)
It's probably just a coincidence, but right in the middle of spring, I recorded three consecutive episodes featuring albums that have a connection to plants. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I talked to Jesca Hoop about Joni Mitchell's For the Roses. After that, I spoke with Grace Bennett and Jade Alcantara, who comprise the duo Sub*T, about Plumtree's Predicts the Future, and then Robert Deeble did an episode where he introduced me to Florist's self-titled album.
All three episodes are out now, getting in under the wire before the first day of summer. For those of you who listen to You, Me and An Album regularly, you know that I frequently follow my impulse to make connections between the work of the artist I'm interviewing and the album that they've chosen. It wasn't hard to do on any of these three episodes. Jesca hosted the BBC Radio 4 podcast series Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story, and she's part of The Songs of Joni Mitchell tribute group (along with another one-time YMAAA guest, Lail Arad). In discussing Plumtree, Grace and Jade talked about how they were influenced by the Canadian band's sense of camaraderie, infectious hooks and vocal interplay. Robert was actually quick to point out the many similarities between Florist's unhurried, atmospheric music and his own. One set of parallels—between his song "The River" and Florist's "Rivers Bed"—were downright eerie.
In the midst of publishing these episodes, I also decided to release one of the Patreon Bonus Tracks episodes on the main YMAAA feed. I've put out my discussion with Joe Adragna (The Junior League) and Mary Beth Melchior about The Monkees' 1968 film and soundrack Head. It's the first time I published an entire Bonus Tracks episode on the main feed, and this one is so good, I didn't want you to miss it. Joe and Mary Beth are both Monkees superfans, and there is no one better than them to walk us through this fascinating and pivotal moment in the Monkees discography.
If you're all caught up on the YMAAA episodes, worry not...there are some great ones coming up! You may recall that when I talked to James Petralli of White Denim about Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind, I noted that there would be an upcoming episode where I would revisit that album with someone who was deeply involved in its making. That episode—with Robert Margouleff—is up next. Not only does Robert talk about working with Wonder as his associate producer on the four-album run spanning Music of My Mind to Fulfillingness' First Finale, but he also goes in-depth on his work with David Sanborn for the 1982 album As We Speak.
After that, Peter Case makes a return to YMAAA, this time to chat with me about Fred Neil's Sessions album. (Peter first appeared on the show in May 2023 to talk about Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album.) Then you'll get to hear Kira Roessler (Black Flag, dos) discuss Bright Eyes' 2005 album Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Will I have an easier time with this album than I did with Fevers and Mirrors, back when Sarah Gargano introduced me to it? Tune in later this month and find out!