Category: Episode

by hrishikesh

Episode 21: Julia Holter

“Horns Surrounding Me”

SongExploder21

DOWNLOAD: iTUNES · MP3

Julia Holter studied composition, and in the song “Horns Surrounding Me,” she arranges not only acoustic and electronic instruments, but also layers of ambient field recordings and background noise. The song was released in 2013 on her acclaimed album Loud City Song. In this episode, Julia deconstructs the recording, and talks about what she did to evoke a feeling of fear in both the music and the way she sang, changing her voice on different parts of the song to create character and texture.

Buy “Horns Surrounding Me” on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
The song playing when Brian Ferry sings is Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug.”

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by hrishikesh

Episode 20: Valley Lodge

“Go” (Theme to “Last Week Tonight”)

SongExploder20

DOWNLOAD: iTUNES · MP3

Dave Hill is a comedian and host of his own podcast, which is on the Maximum Fun network. He’s also the frontman of the band Valley Lodge. In this episode, Dave will deconstruct the Valley Lodge song Go, which you might recognize as the opening credits of the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. This is a special episode produced for MaxFunWeek, seven days of celebrating the community of listeners and shows that make up the Maximum Fun podcast network.

Buy “Go” on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes

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by hrishikesh

Episode 19: RAC

“Let Go (feat. Kele & MNDR)”

SongExploder19

DOWNLOAD: iTUNES · MP3

André Allen Anjos is better known as RAC, a musician who first found success by remixing other people’s songs. His remixes for artists like Lana Del Rey have gotten millions of plays online. In 2013, RAC released Strangers, his first album of original material, and in this episode, he breaks down the song Let Go from that record. It features guest vocals from Kele, best known as the frontman of the band Bloc Party, and singer MNDR, who also talks about her experience working on the track.

Buy “Let Go” on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
The Bloc Party song at the beginning is “Helicopter.” You can hear André’s full remix of the song here. The voice from Portal is the character GLaDOS from the games Portal and Portal 2. Listen to Michael Giacchino’s opening theme to Lost.

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