by Tiger Biskup

Key Change: Emma Straub

‘69 Love Songs’ by The Magnetic Fields

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My guest today is the bestselling author Emma Straub. Her books include This Time Tomorrow, Modern Lovers, The Vacationers, and more. And with her husband, Michael Fusco, she co-owns the beautiful Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic.

I’m so thrilled to have her on because, not only is she a wonderful writer, but Key Change is a series about music fandom and identity. And Emma’s newest novel American Fantasy is also about music fandom and identity. That story is set on a cruise ship centered around a nineties boy band and their fans.

But today, Emma’s going to tell me her story about her own relationship with the music of the Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt from the Magnetic Fields was just named one of the greatest living American songwriters by the New York Times, and Emma’s introduction to their music was their 1999 triple album, 69 Love Songs.

You can buy or stream 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields here.

footnotes:
Claudia Gonson
LD Beghtol
Future Bible Heroes, The Gothic Archies
“Epitaph For My Heart,” “Long-Forgotten Fairytale,” “Grand Canyon,” “The Book of Love,” “It’s Only Time,” and “Walking My Gargoyle”
Emma Straub’s Magnetic Fields tour blog

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by Tiger Biskup

Episode 313: The xx

“Crystalised”

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The xx formed in 2005, when they were still in high school. They signed to the UK label Young, and put out their first album in 2009. It won the prestigious Mercury Prize, and was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and more. Since then, the Guardian has named it one of the best albums of the 21st century. This year, the three band members, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie xx played together as The xx for the first time in 8 years. I spoke to them in between the weekends at Coachella, where they were opening their sets with the song “Crystalised.” It’s the first song they ever released, back in April 2009, when the lineup also included Baria Qureshi on guitar. I spoke to Romy, Jamie and Oliver, here at my studio, about how they first found each other, and how they made “Crystalised.”

You can buy or stream “Crystalised” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes:
Rodaidh McDonald – engineer
Portishead, Mazzy Star, and The Cure
Akai MPC
Hammerhead Rhythm Station

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by Tiger Biskup

Episode 312: Hurray for the Riff Raff

“Alibi”

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Alynda Segarra is a singer songwriter from the Bronx. They formed Hurray for the Riff Raff in 2007, and since then, they’ve released 8 albums. Their most recent is The Past Is Still Alive, which came out in 2024. It was named one of the best albums of the year in the New York Times, the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and The Atlantic, and Pitchfork called it one of the best albums of the decade so far. For this episode, I spoke to Alynda about the first track on the album, “Alibi.”

You can buy or stream “Alibi” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Brad Cook – producer
Yan Westerlund – drums
Phil Cook – guitar
Life on Earth – Hurray for the Riff Raff’s 7th album
Dolly Parton

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