Life of the Record

In celebration of the landmark Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Crosby, Stills & Nash formed in 1968 in Los Angeles, California by Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash. Each of them had been members of successful rock bands, including Crosby in the Byrds, Stills in Buffalo Springfield and Nash in the Hollies. After an impromptu sing-a-long at a social gathering, they realized they had a unique harmony blend and decided to form a new group. They signed a deal with Atlantic Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1969. The album became a huge hit so they began planning for their live shows and realized they would benefit from bringing in an additional band member. Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records suggested Neil Young, since Young and Stills had been former bandmates in Buffalo Springfield. They started playing live as a four-piece before turning their attention to recording their second album. Déjà Vu was eventually released in 1970.

In this episode, Graham Nash describes the night at Joni Mitchell’s house when he encountered Stills and Crosby and stumbled on the harmony blend that became their trademark sound. As Nash was still a member of the Hollies at the time, he talks about his decision to leave the group and move to Los Angeles to see where this new band would take him. Nash recounts the details surrounding the album, including finding his own songwriting voice and the consequential decision to bring in Neil Young as a fourth member. He describes how his breakup with Joni Mitchell, Stills’ breakup with Judy Collins and Crosby mourning the recent death of his girlfriend Christine Hinton gave Déjà Vu a darker tone than their first record. David Browne, music journalist and author of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup, discusses how their personal lives and the political turmoil in the late 1960s contributed to Déjà Vu being such an impactful record for so many people. He describes how Neil Young was not yet a household name but was finding his artistic voice and entering a wildly prolific period. Browne also talks about how Stills was the primary musician and de facto leader of the group but the power balance shifted as Young shook up their dynamic. Even though each of them had found success with their previous groups in the 1960s, Déjà Vu went on to help define them as solo artists and as the preeminent supergroup of the 1970s. From asking Jerry Garcia to play pedal steel on “Teach Your Children,” to CSNY teaching the Grateful Dead how to improve their harmonies, to the powerful rhythm section of Dallas Taylor and Greg Reeves, to performing at Woodstock and Young refusing to be filmed, to the disparate songwriting styles of each member, to a band at the peak of their powers, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.

For the 20th anniversary of the second Hot Chip album, The Warning, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor initially connected as young teenagers in secondary school in southwest London in the early 90s. They bonded over being music obsessives, listening to a wide variety of genres, reading the music press, going to gigs together and eventually recording the songs they were writing. While they attended different universities, they continued to collaborate and officially formed Hot Chip in 2000. One of their early releases caught the attention of Moshi Moshi Records, who signed them to a deal. Their debut album, Coming on Strong, was released in 2004. Around this time, they developed a full band sound, adding other members, including Owen Clarke, Al Doyle, and Felix Martin. For their second album, they signed a deal with EMI Records. The Warning was eventually released in 2006.

In this episode, Joe Goddard describes how Hot Chip’s sound evolved over time as they began to embrace house music and develop a harder hitting style that was influenced by disco, hip hop and grime. As they were working on the album, they connected with James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy of The DFA for a remix and found fellow like-minded musicians in the dance-punk revival that was emerging during this period. Goddard discusses how the limitations of home recording with Cubase software and vintage synthesizers like the Casio MT-70 helped inform their sound. Alexis Taylor discusses his love of singer/songwriter music, American indie rock, and 80s pop, which contrasted with but complimented the tracks that Goddard was putting together. As a duo, they developed their signature style where they would trade off singing and often sing together in unison using falsetto over a low register. Taylor also describes writing autobiographically and how a breakup around this time informed some of the reflective lyrics he was writing. From signing to a major label, to developing song ideas quickly, to expanding as a duo into a full band, to the stress of malfunctioning equipment in their live show, to taking inspiration from key artists like New Order, Prince, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin and ESG, to a Royal Trux album credit turning into a key line in “Over and Over”, to the enduring relatability of "Boy from School,” we’ll hear the stories around how the record came together.

For the 35th anniversary of Slint’s landmark second album, Spiderland, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Brian McMahan and Britt Walford first connected over a shared love of punk rock, growing up in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980s. They began forming bands when they were young teenagers, including Languid and Flaccid and Squirrel Bait. Another band, Maurice, was formed around this time and they began working with guitarist David Pajo. When Maurice ended, Walford and Pajo continued playing together and brought in bassist Ethan Buckler. After they performed at a unitarian church service where McMahan was in attendance, he joined the band soon after and they became Slint. They had befriended Steve Albini from playing shows with his band Big Black so they asked him to record their debut album. Tweez was self-released by their friend Jennifer Hartman in 1989. Buckler was unhappy with the sound of the record and decided to quit the band so Todd Brashear took over on bass. They recorded a single with Albini that caught the attention of Touch and Go Records, who signed them to a deal for their second album. After spending a summer working on new material, they recorded at a commercial studio in Chicago with producer Brian Paulson. Spiderland was eventually released in 1991.

In this episode, Brian McMahan, Britt Walford, David Pajo and Todd Brashear describe the underground music scene in Louisville that first drew them together. Walford discusses the hours they would spend in his parents’ basement, woodshedding songs and coming up with arrangements. As each song would start as an instrumental, he describes how the vocals would be an afterthought that the band usually wouldn’t hear until they were in the studio. McMahan describes his reluctance to be the singer of the band as he preferred to work in isolation on a 4-track and come up with mostly spoken word sections to fit the music. Pajo talks about his paired down approach to guitar and how he developed a clean sound that was a reaction against the heavily distorted guitars of the punk and hardcore scene at the time. Brashear talks about being an early fan of the band, jumping at the opportunity to be their new bass player even though bass wasn’t his primary instrument. The many hours they spent in the practice space working up the songs allowed them to track the record in a single weekend. Even though the band ended up breaking up before the album was released, Spiderland went on to become a touchstone of the underground music scene, reaching far beyond their Louisville community. From counting out odd time signatures, to a surprising emphasis on dynamics, to embracing vulnerability in punk, to the coming of age themes that made the record so relatable, to the liquid courage that was required for the cathartic “Good Morning Captain” vocals, to battling anxiety and depression during a difficult stage of life, to the enduring friendships they’ve been able to maintain over the years, to the power of the practice space, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.

For the 45th anniversary of The Soft Boys’ influential second album, Underwater Moonlight, we take a detailed look at how it was made. When Robyn Hitchcock first started a band in Cambridge, England under the name Dennis and the Experts, he recruited Morris Windsor, Andy Metcalfe and Alan Davies. They changed their name to The Soft Boys and released an EP called Give It to the Soft Boys in 1977. Kimberly Rew replaced Alan Davies on guitar as they began working with Radar Records, releasing a single in 1978. After Radar dropped them, they self-released their first album, A Can of Bees, in 1979. At this point, Matthew Seligman replaced Andy Metcalfe on bass as they began working on the material for their second full-length album. Underwater Moonlight was eventually released by the Armageddon label in 1980.

In this episode, Robyn Hitchcock describes how the band shifted musically from doing Captain Beefheart-inspired art rock into more Beatles-influenced pop rock. With Matthew Seligman rejoining the band and bringing a more melodic approach to his bass playing, Hitchcock began coming up with more traditional song structures. As punk was rearing its head in England in the late 70s, The Soft Boys proudly wore their 60s influences on their sleeve, incorporating three-part harmonies, jangly guitars and the occasional sitar. Hitchcock wrote with some of the political anger of punk, but also added J.G. Ballard-influenced grotesque imagery. From recording on a shoestring budget, to producer Pat Collier’s 60s approach of bouncing tracks, to the absence of a former girlfriend inspiring the majority of the songs, to the band ending early but going on to inspire legions of fans, including bands like R.E.M. and the Replacements, to a record chock full of power pop gems, we’ll hear the stories of how the album came together.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the debut Bat for Lashes album, Fur and Gold, we take a detailed look at how it was made. Natasha Khan had grown up in Hertfordshire, England and studied art at the University of Brighton. After graduating, she taught as a schoolteacher while writing songs and performing as Bat for Lashes. Her manager, Dick O’Dell, got her a publishing deal and connected her with producer David Kosten to work on some demos. The first Bat for Lashes single, “The Wizard” was released on her own label in early 2006. After signing with Echo, Natasha and David began working on a full-length album together at Jacobs studio in the Surrey countryside. They brought in other musicians, including Abi Fry and Caroline Weeks, who had been playing as a group with Natasha at this time. Fur and Gold was eventually released in 2006.

In this episode, Natasha Khan and David Kosten have an in-depth conversation where they revisit their initial collaboration that continued long after this record. David shares how he was first asked to co-write with Natasha until he realized she had no interest in co-writing and already had a fully formed vision for this album. Natasha describes wanting to create the world of the album and use unconventional recording techniques, such as recording in a forest and under blankets, to try to achieve the sound she had imagined. Even though Natasha had a fondness for lo-fi MIDI sounds, she worked with David to craft a unique hybrid of well-recorded acoustic instruments with lower quality digital components. The result was the Mercury Prize-nominated Fur and Gold, which launched Natasha’s music into the world. From a cinematic approach of method acting and practical effects, to a shared love of girl groups, to David finding a CD-R meant for another producer, to a memorable tour with Devendra Banhart, to taking inspiration from contemporaries Cat Power, Joanna Newsom and Gwen Stefani, to being averse to anything trip-hop, to having high standards and holding the vision, we’ll hear the stories around how the album came together.