A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Jan 17, 2018 at 10:03am PST

Julien Baker is from Memphis, Tennessee. She released her second album, Turn Out The Lights, in October 2017, on Matador Records. The New York Times called her music “devastating”, Pitchfork gave the album Best New Music, and Stereogum included her album at #13 in their Top 50 albums of the year. In this episode, Julien tells the story of her song “Appointments,” and how writing it helped her work through her thoughts around addiction, depression, and relationships. Julien also takes apart the track “Over,” which was written as part of Appointments, but then split off as a separate track.

You can get “Appointments” on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Jan 3, 2018 at 10:02am PST

Drummer Ahmir Thompson, also known as Questlove, and rapper Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, started The Roots when they were in high school in Philadelphia in 1987. Over the last thirty years, the band has released 17 albums. They’ve received a bunch Grammy nominations including three wins. They’re also the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In this episode, Questlove tells the story of how they made the song “It Ain’t Fair.” It was created for the film Detroit, directed by oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, who also made the films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Detroit is about the 1967 Detroit riots, centered around the events at the Algiers Motel, where police killed three young black men and beat and tortured nine others. The Roots recruited the singer Bilal to contribute vocals to the song, and they worked with The Dap-Kings, the backing band for the late soul singer Sharon Jones, to create a sound that evoked the music of 1967.

A post shared by Hrishikesh Hirway (@hrishihirway) on Jan 4, 2018 at 12:14pm PST

You can get “It Ain’t Fair” on iTunes. Watch the trailer for Detroit below.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Curtis Mayfield – The Other Side of Town
John Williams – Raiders March (Indiana Jones Theme)

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on Dec 20, 2017 at 10:03am PST

R.E.M. was formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, bassist Mike Mills, guitarist Peter Buck, and drummer Bill Berry. They’ve won three Grammys, and have sold over 85 million records. In 1992, the band released their eighth album, Automatic for the People. In honor of the 25th anniversary of its release, in this episode, Michael Stipe and Mike Mills take apart the song, “Try Not to Breathe.”

You can get “Try Not to Breathe” on iTunes and the 25th Anniversary Edition of Automatic for the People here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Dulcimer
Producer Scott Litt
“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles
“Tears in Rain” monologue from Blade Runner