Episode 260: Alvvays

“Archie, Marry Me”

Alvvays is from Toronto. Their first album came out in 2014, and they’ve put out two other albums since then. In Canada, they’ve won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year, and all three of their albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.

Their first song was also one of their biggest hits. It’s called “Archie, Marry Me.” Rolling Stone and Stereogum named it one of the best songs of the last decade. So for this episode, I talked about it with Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley from the band. The two of them are pretty quiet about their relationship other than being bandmates, but they told me a lot about the song, which I would count nowadays as an indie rock classic.

You can buy or stream “Archie, Marry Me” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Chad VanGaalen – Producer
Jeff McMurrich – Engineer
Eric Hamelin – Drums
Brian Murphy – Bass
Tascam 388
Fender Duo Sonic
Fender Jazzmaster
Teenage Fanclub
RE20 mic

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Episode 259: Laufey

“From The Start”

Laufey is a singer and songwriter originally from Iceland. She studied piano and cello as a kid. When she was 15, she was a guest soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and that’s when she started writing songs. While she was still a student, she had a number one hit on Icelandic radio. Her first album debuted at number one on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist chart. Her second album, Bewitched, came out in September 2023. And for this episode, I talked to Laufey about the breakout hit from that new album: a song called “From The Start.”  

You can buy or stream “From The Start” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Bossa nova
Spencer Stewart – Producer
Pentatonic scale
Jazz standard
George Gershwin
Irving Berlin
Cole Porter

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Episode 258: Only Murders in the Building

Siddhartha Khosla – Main Title Theme

The “Skip Intro” button first got introduced to us through Netflix in 2017, and, I know, a lot of people use it – including me. But, if I can get into old-man, back-in-my-day mode for a second, I have so much fondness for the opening theme music for so many shows. It’s a chance to set the mood for everything that you’re about to see. One of the intros that I never skip is the animated opening title sequence for Only Murders in the Building, which is a Hulu show that debuted in August 2021, and now is in its third season. It was created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, and it stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. The three of them play neighbors who live in the same building in New York, and they’re all obsessed with the same true crime podcast. And then when someone in their building gets murdered, they decide to start their own true crime podcast, and try and solve the mystery of who the killer is.

For this episode, I talked to the show’s composer, Siddhartha Khosla, about the show’s theme music. Coming up, you’ll hear a voice memo that Siddhartha recorded before he’d even heard about the show, which then led to a demo that you’ll hear, and eventually, the final theme.

You can buy or stream the Only Murders in the Building main title theme here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Dan Fogelman
This is Us
Mellotron
Alan Demoss – assistant to Siddhartha Khosla
James McAlister – drummer
The National
Sufjan Stevens
Folklore and Evermore – Taylor Swift albums
Julie Monroe – editor

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