Ep. 59 - Joe Boyd on And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, Salamat Ali and Nick Drake

Explicit content warning

12/24/24 • 63 min

Joe Boyd’s revered productions of artists ranging from Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band and Nick Drake had been widely-circulated and universally-acclaimed. He had worked with Stanley Kubrick at Warner Bros to assemble the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange. He founded the UFO Club which featured avant-garde artists like Soft Machine — which became his house band — and Yoko Ono. Productions of R.E.M., Billy Bragg, 10,000 Maniacs, Fairport Convention and Richard and Linda Thompson followed. He directed Jimi Hendrix, the eponymous documentary. But if you were paying attention, you would have made note of the through-line running through Joe’s prolific output — World Music. His productions of artists such as Dagmar Krause, Nazakat & Salamat Ali, the Trio Bulgarka, ¡Cubanismo!, Virginia Rodrigues, Damir Imamović and several others demonstrated his versatility to trancend not only genre, but also language and culture. Joe’s vibrant musical output eclipsed what we thought was possible in the art and science of music. His latest book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, examines the origins, impact and cultural undertones which define world music through his lens. In our conversation, we discussed the roots of his latest masterpiece; political-songwriting through shifting of culture; categorization as a benefit toward creativity; and musical and storytelling experiences with Brian Eno, David Bryne, Bob Dylan, Mike Heron and others.

Opening Credits: 1st Contact - Just Quickly I CC BY-SA; Ahmadreza Safarian - Forgotten Corpses I CC BY-NC-SA. Closing Credits: Till Paradiso - Here the Stars for You (TP 063) - CC BY-NC-SA.

Opening Credits: 1st Contact - Just Quickly I CC BY-SA; Ahmadreza Safarian - Forgotten Corpses I CC BY-NC-SA. Closing Credits: Till Paradiso - Here the Stars for You (TP 063) - CC BY-NC-SA.

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Ep. 58 - Arizona O'Neill on CBC's Creator Network, Organ Donation and Patrick Watson

Arizona O’Neill’s art delves into topics derived from her Montreal upbringing and French-Quebec culture, and include the ramifications of gentrification, the vibrancy of music, and the origins of revolt. She has contributed several pieces to The CBC Creator Network, which include Hockey Riots, Period Pieces, and History of Jazz. Her novel, Est-ce qu’un artiste peut être heureux? (or “Can an Artist be Happy?”) was published in November 2022. And her impressive catalogue of illustrations, for publications like National Geographic Canada, includes the 2024 edition of "L'enfant dans le miroir" by Nelly Arcan which features a feminist perspective on the late-author’s legacy. Her latest book will be published by Drawn & Quarterly, and is inspired by her own experience donating her late-father’s organs, and surveys themes which include grief and addiction. In our conversation, we discussed her experience growing up in Montreal; her take on the legacy of the Montreal Canadiens; her collaborations with Patrick Watson, as a music video director; and the challenging territory she explored in authoring her latest work.

Opening Credits: HoliznaPATREON - Relic 1 ( LoFi , Dark ) I CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; Anitek - NeedleLess To Say I CC BY-NC-SA. Closing Credits: Christophe Frémiot - l-ind-pendante I CC BY-NC-SA.

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Ep. 60 - Onur Tukel on Poundcake, Richard's Wedding and Anne Heche

As an actor and filmmaker, Onur Tukel challenges the audience to delve into the frightening parts of who they are by, at times, leading them to live vicariously through his protagonists’ colorful experiences. From exploring the joy of mortality in Drawing Blood, to the perils of masculinity in 2001’s Ding-a-ling-Less, to a platonic theme of friendship amidst a romantic undertone in Richard’s Wedding, the loss of one’s identity among the backdrop of a physical manifestation of revenge in Catfight, and apathy transforming into adventure after an encounter with a vampire in Summer of Blood, which also features friend and contemporary Alex Karpovsky, Onur’s films are like shining a mirror towards the more intimate and carnal senses. We learn about the power of perspective and its impact on perception in The Misogynists, which features Dylan Baker; psychotic longing for the one that got away in That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes, which is shot near-exclusively in French; and the connectedness of spirituality during the Pandemic in Scenes from an Empty Church, which stars Kevin Corrigan. His latest projects include the novel Run Werewolf Run, which he authored and illustrated, and will be released in 2025 by Pitchstone Publishing (ironically based in Durham, NC); and a puppet film he directed about a marionette performer which wrapped in 2024. In our conversation, we discussed his collaborations with several actors, including Anne Heche, Sandra Oh, Ariel Kavoussi and Josephine Decker; growing up in North Carolina; the unveiling of psychotherapy’s purpose in a cinematic endeavor; and the filmmakers who affected and inspired the origins of cinema in his eyes.

Opening Credits: Anitek - Strange Sensations I CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US; Jangwa - Slow Me Down I CC BY 4.0. Closing Credits: Beat Mekanik - Old Souls I CC BY 4.0.