Episodes

Ora Cogan on the politics of 'Hard Hearted Woman,' the hollowing-out of folk tradition, and why her forties have been the best time of her life to be playing music.

From the Black Ark tapes buried in Lee Perry's yard to unreleased Dennis Brown sessions, Billy Polo on the forensic pleasures and urgent stakes of reggae's analog archive.

The Dutch composer joins Lawrence Peryer to discuss 'Asymmetrical Dot,' the album shaped by his mother's death, a grandson's birth, and four decades of learning which clichés to reject.

George Grella joins the podcast to discuss his book Minimalist Music and argue that the genre has nothing to do with sparse materials and everything to do with time.

On ‘The Observer Effect’, Canadian composer Meredith Bates builds long-form sound worlds from violin, electronics, and the recordings of the natural world—and finds that art, love, and politics are harder to separate than they appear.

Toronto drummer Nick Fraser discusses 'Areas,' his long creative partnership with Kris Davis and Tony Malaby, and what committing to acoustic music costs when electronics define the contemporary sound.

Composer, bandleader, birder, and unapologetic alarm-sounder, Maria Schneider brings 'American Crow' to The Tonearm for a conversation about listening as both artistic practice and civic obligation.

Armed with a saxophone, an Organelle, and an aluminum can, Caroline Davis spent a month in Wyoming making her debut solo record—and thinking about freedom in all its forms.

The Grammy-nominated composer and chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band discusses her new album Frames, the death of her mentor Jim McNeely, and why love is the only honest reason to make music.

Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid joins the podcast to discuss dance! skip! hop!, the fourth Tomeka Reid Quartet album, and why photographs of her grandmother's Wyoming life keep finding their way onto her record covers.

The Grammy-nominated saxophonist and Kneebody co-founder joins us for episode 300 to discuss his new album BaRcoDe, a project built around four of the most inventive mallet players working today.

Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore join The Tonearm to discuss 'Tragic Magic,' their debut collaboration recorded in nine days at the Philharmonie de Paris using instruments pulled directly from the museum's historic collection.

Claire Devlin and Eli Davidovici of Bellbird talk about the bird whose recorded cry became the foundation of 'The Call', the chordless sound that defines the quartet, and the political commitments embedded in the music.

The Philadelphia-based pedal steel player discusses ‘Language at an Angle’, his debut under his own name, and what Susan Alcorn taught him about tradition, freedom, and the instrument she loved.

From a Detroit high school full of concert grand harps to the experimental clubs of the East Village, Parkins traces the unlikely path that made her one of the most restless instrumentalists in contemporary music.

Five Grammys and a working museum of tape machines later, Osiris Studio's Michael Graves reflects on the ethics of restoration, the problem of artist intent, and why the work never stops surprising him.

The Michigan-based composer and multi-instrumentalist discusses Solo Three, his trilogy-closing collection of solo reinterpretations of works by Steve Reich, Glenn Branca, Charlemagne Palestine, and Laurie Spiegel.

With ‘Words Underlined’ out now on Lit Soc Records, saxophonist Patrick Smith talks about the trio format's peculiar difficulty, what he learned from Mark Shim in New York, and why Toronto lets him play everything.

From teenage punk guitarist to internationally exhibited sound artist, Vitiello reflects on his World Trade Center residency, the influence of Nam June Paik and Fred Frith, and treating every element—from architecture to collaborators—with equal respect.

The Australian composer and Room40 founder discusses his new collaborative album 'Trinity' with Stephen Vitiello, his theory of relational listening, and why he spent eight years interrogating the meaning of live performance before returning to the stage.

The JUNO-nominated Vancouver pianist and composer discusses his new trio album Rose-Anna, a record rooted in family, grief, and the quiet power of music passed down through generations.

From Boris Johnson's pandemic parties to climate change denial, the author of 'The Hypocrisy Trap' traces how exposed inconsistency poisons trust and how societies can balance calling out harmful behavior with tolerating human imperfection.

NAMM's president and CEO joins us to discuss the shift from traditional retail to influencer-driven content creation in the music industry and why preparing students to thrive in the future matters more than teaching techniques.

From Mexican marimba traditions to astronomy-guided composition, the vibraphonist explains how her album 'Of The Near And Far' maps constellations onto the circle of fifths to generate raw material for genre-defying new work.