Rhythms Magazine

Episode 10 opens in the long-running genre they’ve accidentally perfected — two grown men versus consumer electronics — as Michael explains how he revived his ageing Samsung “smart TV” (now “a bit of a nuff-nuff”) with a cheap HDMI streaming box bought from an Australian online retailer that “rhymes with Hogan”.  The thrill here isn’t just 4K; it’s the moral victory of upgrading the brain while keeping the body.  The upgraded TV then becomes a portal to two YouTube documentaries that send the pair (and us) into a warmly nostalgic British lane. One is an ARTE doc on Madness — “Princes of Ska” — which prompts Michael to re-fall in love with a band he rates as not just a ska novelty act, but an elite singles machine whose later pop craftsmanship deserves more credit than the pigeonhole allows. The other find is the real rabbit hole: John Peel’s Record Box — an hour built around the late BBC DJ’s stash of 142 singles kept separate from his famously vast collection (more than 100,000 records). The documentary hauls the box around to fellow travellers and famous fans — Jack White, Elton John, others — letting them rummage, remember and speculate on why those particular records were kept close.  Peel, it turns out, could contain multitudes: Sheena Easton’s “9 to 5”, some Status Quo, a heavy White Stripes presence… and a special extra shrine for The Fall, who were apparently too important even for the box.  Then Brian takes the wheel for the episode’s marquee music moment: Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde turns 60, marked with a concert at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom, presented by the Bob Dylan Center (sitting right next to the Woody Guthrie Center, because Tulsa is quietly running a curriculum).  Brian’s spoken with the Center’s director, Steve Jenkins, who teases an event titled Sooner or Later with a lineup that reads like an alternate-universe festival poster:  Naturally, they can’t leave the album itself alone. They circle around what makes Blonde on Blonde such a gravitational object: the New York-to-Nashville recording shift, Al Kooper and Robbie Robertson in tow, and the snap-in brilliance of Nashville players like Charlie McCoy and Joe South.  Michael calls it the culmination of Dylan’s ridiculous 18-month streak from Bringing It All Back Home through Highway 61 Revisited to Blonde on Blonde — productivity that makes modern “content schedules” look like a wellness day.  Song picks follow: Michael is unwavering on “Visions of Johanna”; Brian leans toward “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”, while also marvelling that Dylan had “Positively 4th Street” sitting on the bench, unused, like a spare masterpiece. There are lighter detours too: a surprisingly vivid discussion of a film built around stand-up comedy as therapy (Will Arnett, Laura Dern, John Bishop’s life story, Bradley Cooper popping up in a minor role because he can), and then Brian’s recommendation of Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets — a title that briefly defeats Michael because he searches the wrong spelling and finds financial advice instead.  Once located, it lands hard: whimsy, sadness, small acts, and a specific episode-four moment that gets Brian teary without him wanting to spoil why. Michael flags the return of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, apparently digging deep into the back catalogue (with a Guardian five-star review from Toowoomba), plus the pair’s Grateful Dead-adjacent moves and upcoming US tribute tour. They also talk up Robert Finley, the 71-year-old, legally blind Louisiana singer with the late-blooming career arc (carpenter most of his life, first records in his 60s, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys), heading to Australia in May for intimate shows.  Finley’s story lands like a parable for anyone who’s ever thought they missed their chance. (Michael, who’s finishing his own record — under the gloriously self-aware pseudonym Imposter Syndrome, album titled Oversharing with Strangers — certainly hears it that way.) Episode 10, then, is classic On The Record: a podcast held together by cable management, cultural memory, and the belief that the best stories are found when you stop pretending you have a plan. Important Links: Madness - Princes Of Ska (2025 Documentary) John Peels Record Box {Full show} The Fall Bremen Nacht (Vinyl Version) BOB DYLAN CENTER PRESENTS “SOONER OR LATER,” ALL-STAR CONCERT CELEBRATING SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF DYLAN’S CLASSIC ALBUM “BLONDE ON BLONDE”  Emma Swift - "Visions of Johanna" (Live at Layman Drug Company) Bob Dylan - Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Official Audio) IS THIS THING ON? | Teaser Trailer | Searchlight Pictures Small Prophets | Official Trailer - BBC Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Brokedown Palace (Grateful Dead) Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY Robert Finley - Helping Hand (Later... with Jools Holland) Robert Finley First Australian Tour Details and Tix   

Episode 9 is the one where Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie briefly mistake themselves for an IT helpdesk, a sports panel, and a moral philosophy seminar—before landing, somewhat dazed, back in music. It opens with Wise declaring he “can’t stand” the sound of his own voice (a bold confession for a career built on talking), while Mackenzie offers the sort of praise that feels both affectionate and faintly menacing: “the voice of a generation.”  Before the audio collapses entirely, the conversation sprints through Wise’s great sporting exertion: the exhausting labour of watching sport.  There’s genuine distress at skier Lindsey Vonn crashing out in 13 seconds, complete with a description of pain you could feel through the screen.  From there, the mood whiplashes into the Super Bowl halftime show—Wise calls Bad Bunny’s performance the best he’s ever seen, even while admitting he couldn’t understand a word of it. Mackenzie, meanwhile, is stuck on the visuals of sugar cane cutting and its historical echoes closer to home.  Their consensus: if Donald Trump calls it the worst halftime show ever, that’s basically a five-star review. Then comes one of Wise’s purest modern urges: gadget-lust triggered by sport. Spotting tennis champion Elena Rybakina wearing a watch post-match, he consults “our friend AI” and discovers it’s a Vanguard Orb worth a mere $200,000.  At which point the show finally pivots to the Grammys—specifically the stuff that doesn’t make the glossy broadcast.  Wise notes that Fela Kuti received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award, nearly 30 years after his death at 58, making him the first African musician to be honoured that way.  They sketch Kuti as both musical revolutionary and political force, the Afrobeat originator whose trance-like repetition and complex grooves seeped into Remain in Light and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. The point: the Grammys have 85 categories, and the good parts are buried where only the determined will look. The episode’s left turn into pop comes via Mackenzie’s discovery of Charli XCX through the comedy-chat juggernaut Smartless. Wise’s response—“Who’s he?”—is treated as both generational commentary and perfectly on-brand.  The subtext is clear: don’t confuse “not my cup of tea” with “not worth paying attention to”. Politics drifts in, as it tends to now, through the question of who’s writing protest songs. Wise notes Nils Lofgren’s “No Kings, No Hate, No Fear”, nods to Lucinda Williams and Mavis Staples, and longs—audibly—for Bob Dylan to re-enter the ring with something era-defining.  Mackenzie is unconvinced, offering the counterpoint that Dylan’s signature move in moments like this is often silence. Screen culture gets its usual run: Mackenzie’s recommendation of the British robbery thriller Steel mostly lands—until Wise objects to the final 15 minutes for explaining too much, revealing his mother’s literary habit of reading the last chapter first.  The music talk returns in force with Buddy Guy. Wise has interviewed him (Buddy turns 90 this year and is flagged as possibly touring Australia for the last time), and the hosts linger on the question Wise once had about Buddy’s live habit of paying tribute to other blues greats.  Finally, Al Green turns up as both salvation and complication. Wise recommends Green’s EP To Love Somebody (Bee Gees cover included, plus “Perfect Day” featuring RAYE and a take on R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts”), while Mackenzie raises the perennial problem: applauding the artistry while not airbrushing the artist.  Episode 9’s through-line, then, isn’t sport or even the Grammys. It’s the way culture arrives in the room: messy, overlapping, sometimes off-mic, and always demanding you listen harder than the algorithm wants you to. Essential Links Lindsey Vonn's heroic return ends in heartbreak | Wide World of Sports Bad Bunny's Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show Vanguart Orb Flying Tourbillon Review: The Futuristic Titanium Timepiece of 2025 FELA Anikulapo Kuti - All songs The Rolling Stones and Steve Riley - Zydeco Sont Pas Salés [Official Audio] Smartless on YouTube Charli xcx - I might say something stupid (official lyric video) Charli xcx - House (Lyrics) ft. John Cale Nils Lofgren - No Kings No Hate No Fear STEAL - Official Trailer | Prime Video A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE | Official Trailer | Netflix Sinners (2025) - Post Credit Scene (1/2) Sinners Soundtrack This Little Light of Mine Buddy Guy Aint Done With The Blues  Buddy Guy Where You At Where U At Al Green - Everybody Hurts (Official Lyric Video)

Episode 8 of On The Record opens with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie doing what many seasoned music listeners now do instinctively when the Grammys roll around: stare at the screen and wonder which planet they’ve accidentally landed on. Brian reminds us that the Grammys permanently lost their way the moment they abolished the polka category.  This wasn’t a niche concern, either. For years, Brian faithfully rang Jimmy Sturr, the undisputed Muhammad Ali of polka, who won his Grammy almost every time. A system so reliable has no place in modern music awards culture, clearly. The tone shifts sharply—and respectfully—with news of the death of Sly Dunbar, one half of the mighty Sly & Robbie. What follows is a proper reckoning with just how vast Dunbar’s influence was: reggae, dub, dancehall, pop, rock, Dylan (Infidels), Grace Jones (Nightclubbing, Warm Leatherette, Living My Life), even a dub version of the Rolling Stones’ “Undercover of the Night.” Sly and Robbie weren’t just players, they were architects. See the list of some of their important work below, along with links to every other turning point in the conversation. From there, Episode 8 pivots to the curious durability of certain artists who simply refuse to age in the expected way. David Byrne is a rare example of someone who keeps recalibrating his work, with his latest tour behind Who Is The Sky garnering rave reviews in every state. That thought feeds neatly into a wider cultural question: why the Australian Open continues to thrive while music festivals across the country are quietly collapsing? The answer, the hosts suggest, has less to do with sport versus music and more to do with clarity of purpose. Tennis delivers a fixed narrative, star power, and infrastructure, while festivals increasingly ask audiences to tolerate inconvenience, rising costs and vague promises of “vibes.” It’s a sobering comparison given the state of live music in Australia right now. The episode closes with genuine surprise at the quality of Van Morrison’s latest release, an album that sidesteps the curmudgeonly baggage of recent years and reconnects with the musical instinct that made him essential in the first place. It’s not framed as a comeback so much as a reminder: when Morrison stops arguing with the world and channels his Celtic soul, something powerful still happens. Important Links Grammys 2026 list of nominees and winners  Jimmy Sturr website  Jimmy Sturr youtube channel  BAD BUNNY Wins BEST MÚSICA URBANA ALBUM | 2026 GRAMMYs  Bad Bunny Tiny Desk Concert  BAD BUNNY - NUEVAYoL (Video Oficial) | DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS  The Goodies Pirate Radio (A Walk In the Black Forest)   Chat GPT’s Top 20 Albums Featuring / Produced by Sly & Robbie Black Uhuru – Red (1981) Black Uhuru – Chill Out (1982) Grace Jones – Nightclubbing (1981) Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette (1980) Grace Jones – Living My Life (1982) Sly & Robbie – Language Barrier (1985) Black Uhuru – Sinsemilla (1980) Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse (1982) Peter Tosh – Bush Doctor (1978) Sly & Robbie – Rhythm Killers (1987) Culture – International Herb (1979) Ini Kamoze – Ini Kamoze (1984) Serge Gainsbourg – Aux armes et cætera (1979) The Gladiators – Proverbial Reggae (1978) Bunny Wailer – Rock ’n’ Groove (1981) Sly & Robbie – Dub Experience (1979) Black Uhuru – Anthem (1984) Bob Dylan – Infidels (1983) Jimmy Cliff – The Power and the Glory (1983) Sly & Robbie – Reggae Greats (1984)   Uncut: interview with Sly Dunbar on music  Undercover (Of The Night) (Dub) with Sly on percussion Black Uhuru Sistren  Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper  David Byrne Tiny Desk Concert David's Reasons To Be Cheerful newsletter  FRANKENSTEIN Trailer (2025) Guillermo del Toro  Michael's fave food movie Chef is on Iview  STEAL - Official Trailer | Prime Video  Van Morrison Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge (full album)  Gillian Welch talks to Brian about Her Forthcoming Tour of Australia with Dave Rawlings  Lucinda Williams On her new album World's Gone Wrong 

Lucinda Williams talks to Rhythms Editor Brian Wise about her new album World's Gone Wrong, a scathing commentary on current political events in the USA. 

Gillian Welch spoke to Rhythms Editor Brian Wise about her forthcoming Australian tour with her musical and life partner David Rawlings. David was set to join us but was held up in the studio mastering the vinyl version of the Time (The Revelator) album. Music included: Neil Young’s Albuquerque from the album Live & Obscure Vol. 1, Mavis Staples' version of Gillian’s ‘Hard Times', Emmylou Harris with Gillian’s 'Orphan Girl' from Emmylou's 1995 album Wrecking Ball produced by Daniel Lanois and 'Revelator' from Gillian’s Time (The Revelator) album and 'North Country' from Woodland. Details of the latest tour which begins on February 13 in Brisbane can be found at lovepolice.com.au/tours  

On the latest episode of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie ease into their weekly cultural ramble with the sombre news of Bob Weir’s death—remembering an artist whose band (The Grateful Dead) they half‑followed but wholly respected. Weir, who died on January 10 at 78 (the same date as David Bowie’s passing—coincidence or cosmic scheduling?), becomes the launchpad for a surprisingly affectionate exploration of Deadhead culture. Michael recalls the excellent Long Strange Trip documentary—long enough, Brian notes, to break a Melbourne Film Festival projector—and the pair marvel at the Grateful Dead’s unique talent for turning concerts into economic ecosystems.  From there, the conversation pivots to David Bowie's The Final Act documentary (streaming on ABC), Crowded House opening the Australian Open (a first for tennis, apparently), and the AFL's ongoing failure to book local acts for the Grand Final. Why Snoop Dogg over Emma Donovan? Why not Troy Cassar-Daley? The hosts are baffled. Then there's Bluesfest's controversial booking of heavy metal act Parkway Drive, which has purists clutching their harmonicas. Festival director Peter Noble defends the choice, arguing you can't limit festivals by genre.  The episode meanders through Lucinda Williams' new album, Russell Crowe's Oscar-worthy turn in Nuremberg, and the existential challenges of songwriting. On The Record with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie is available on all major podcast platforms. Rhythms Magazine subscribers can access exclusive bonus content, including Loretta Miller's debut CD. Episode Links Grateful Dead Doco Long Strange Trip – Official Trailer | Prime Video  David Bowie/Mick Jagger Dancing In the Street  Bowie: The Final Act on Iview (2025)  David Bowie - Changes (Live performance Glastonbury 1971)  Split Enz reuniting for first time in 17 years | 7.30 Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong  NUREMBERG | Official Trailer #1 (2025)  The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII  Jeff Tweedy: How to Write One Song  Loretta Miller on Bandcamp  Subscribe to Rhythms to get Loretta's album on cd 

If On The Record were a boxing match, Episode 5 would open with the bell ringing and Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie already mid-ring.. The topic? The Golden Globes. The real issue? Whether a film can be called a “musical or comedy” when it is clearly neither, and whether Paul Thomas Anderson should be declared a genius by popular vote or sent to the cinematic sin bin.  Two overly seasoned cultural obsessives staring at the same screen and seeing entirely different movies. From there, the episode sprawls—happily and unapologetically—into a wide-ranging conversation about awards hype, viewing expectations, and the strange disconnect between critical acclaim and lived experience. One host praises audacity and subversion, the other demands coherence and restraint. Nobody backs down. Nobody changes their mind. Which, frankly, is exactly how these debates should be conducted. Luckily, special guest Liz Stringer moves the conversation into other areas that are slightly more important - touring her latest album and raising money to address housing insecurity along with the uncomfortable truth that this is no longer a fringe issue confined to capital cities or stereotypes.  The show rolls on, touching on music-making, self-management, creative independence, reality TV guilt, Russian books that are abandoned for the sake of mental health, and the eternal question of why we all say we won’t watch that show again… and then absolutely do. By the end of Episode 5, On The Record has done what it does best: entertained, provoked, and digressed wildly. It’s messy, funny, opinionated, and oddly comforting—like a long conversation you didn’t plan to have, but are very glad you did. Episode Links Liz Stringer website  Liz's album The Second High One Battle After Another - Official Trailer  If I Had Legs I'd Kick You | Official Trailer HD | A24  Sam Fender - Remember My Name  Audrey Powne - From The Fire (ALBUM)  The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein Milk Fed by Melissa Broder  The Pitt  Succession  THE HISTORY OF SOUND | Official Trailer  SENTIMENTAL VALUE - Official Trailer  The Faces Ooh La La (2004 Remaster)   

Episode 5 of On The Record, and the conversation has hit its sweet spot: loose, curious, opinionated—and occasionally interrupted by reality. There’s a healthy scepticism about hype, a refusal to confuse longevity with importance, and a shared belief that some things still genuinely matter—even if the algorithm disagrees. Brian Wise brings context and deep musical memory; Michael Mackenzie brings reflection, curiosity, and the occasional philosophical swerve. Together, they interrogate nostalgia without fully surrendering to it, defend enthusiasm when it’s earned, and question why so much modern culture feels like it’s passing time rather than saying something. There are laughs, strong opinions, thoughtful pauses, and moments where the conversation snaps into focus just long enough to land a point before wandering off again. It’s not a panel show, not a lecture, and definitely not a hot take factory. Episode 5 doesn’t shout. It knows what it’s doing. Sort of. Important links Norma Tanega - Walkin' My Cat Named Dog  Stray Cats - Runaway Boys  Ram Jam - Black Betty  The Rolling Stones - Not Fade Away (Mono)  The Uncool - the new memoir from award-winning filmmaker and journalist Cameron Crowe  Grover Lewis article - Hitting The Note With The Allman Brothers Band (first published in 'Rolling Stone', November 25, 1971, Issue No. 96)  Kid Creole & The Coconuts website  Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Stool Pigeon   Du Fermier Restaurant website Florry - First It Was A Movie, The It Was A Book  Florry website  David Bowie - Lazarus  David Bowie website

Brian Wise talks to Paul Kelly in depth about Paul's latest album Seventy. 

Episode 4 of On The Record opens exactly as listeners now expect: however, the technology relents and the Christmas episode is officially underway. What follows is a warm, rambling, oddly moving conversation about Christmas music, memory, faith, food and survival, with plenty of laughs along the way. Michael Mackenzie declares Christmas music a minefield of bad taste, arguing passionately for carols, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Otis Redding and Silent Night—while firmly rejecting novelty songs, forced cheer and anything involving Santa “rocking.” Brian revisits his Catholic childhood as an altar boy, including midnight mass duties, Latin confusion, and the moral courage it took to tell an aunt that Sadie the Cleaning Lady was, frankly, not a great gift for a teenage boy. There are transistor radios from Liverpool, early playlists, and the dawning realisation that taste can arrive early—and stay stubbornly intact. Michael counters with one of the great Christmas stories: a white Christmas spent working illegally in the Swiss Alps, dodging passport checks, sledding home from work, eating communal meals by candlelight, and throwing snowballs under fir trees. It’s nostalgic, cinematic, and only mildly incriminating. Things take a darker, funnier turn with memories of Christmas stress, maternal meltdowns, and the single most divisive festive dish ever discussed on the podcast: mango pie with gelatin—described as having the texture of a stuntman landing on cardboard boxes. The episode winds down with gift ideas, band-of-the-year talk, the weaponisation of Santa for child behaviour management, and a surprisingly tender close as the year ends and real life intrudes. It’s funny. It’s nostalgic. It’s messy. And it’s the most On The Record Christmas you could hope for. Important Links: Elvis Christmas Album  Alligator Records - A Genuine Houserockin' Christmas (2003 Full Album)  Los Lobos Llegó Navidad  Otis Redding - White Christmas  Sister Rosetta Tharpe Silent Night

Episode 3 of On The Record once again proves that no matter how long you’ve worked in media, technology will always sense weakness.  Once operational, the episode quickly becomes a rallying cry for the quietly furious demographic known as Grumpy Older Men Who Have Had It With Banks. Michael officially embraces his new identity after discovering his bank changed everything without warning, while Brian counters with tales of frozen debit cards, vanished tellers, and the most devastating bank exit in history... From there, the conversation widens—considerably. There’s a surprisingly heartfelt discussion about the best technology of 2025, which turns out not to be AI, crypto or anything with a subscription fee, but a lightweight laptop, a digital library card, and apps that simply work. Radical. Travel takes centre stage next, with Michael recounting a punishing but transcendent hike through Albania’s Accursed Mountains, involving donkeys, snow-capped peaks, dodgy knees and a journey that somehow includes minibuses, boats and a black Mercedes. Brian counters with a pitch for Tulsa, Oklahoma—a city with no tourists, no traffic, a Bob Dylan Centre, a Woody Guthrie Centre, and an offer to pay you $10,000 to move there (family approval not guaranteed). Music eventually breaks through—this is a Rhythms podcast after all—with Christmas gift recommendations ranging from Mavis Staples and Paul Kelly to Dylan box sets, Patti Smith anniversaries, Springsteen gloom, and vinyl for hipsters aged anywhere between 30 and 60. There are also book tips, documentary detours, and a shared belief that Brad Pitt shirtless does not automatically equal a good movie. By the end, Episode 3 has covered banks, libraries, hiking, Dylan, Tulsa, laptops, Formula One, Christmas shopping and the philosophy of buying technology like a V8 Mustang—all without ever fully sticking to a plan. Which, frankly, is exactly the plan. Essential Links Brian's fave tech of 2025   Michael's fave tech of 2025 Michael's Journey through Albania's Accursed Mountains  Tulsa's Bob Dylan Center  PBS Documentary on the Tulsa Race Massacre  Live, work, and grow in Tulsa (incentive program) The Watchmen TV series that is built around the real life Tulsa massacre  Louis Theroux talks with David Byrne on Apple Podcasts  Adam Buxton talks with David Byrne on Apple Podcasts  Formula 1: Drive to Survive - Season 7 | Official Trailer | Victorian Record Stores to shop at or online for Christmas  Captain Stomp  Greville Records  Rocksteady Records  Rathdowne Records  Brian's Musical Christmas Recommendations Mavis Staples Sad And Beautiful World  Van Morrison 70  Loretta Miller Loretta  Geese Getting Killed  Recommended Box Sets Bob Dylan Through The Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 Patti Smith 50th anniversary of Horses Rolling Stones Black and Blue Remixed Bruce Springsteen Nebraska Re-released on vinyl Chris Wilson King For A Day Recommended Books Patti Smith: Bread of Angels Cameron Crowe: Uncool Peter Wolfe: Waiting On The Moon Tom Piazza: John Prine - Living In the Present Mike Campbell: Heartbreaker

Episode two of On The Record begins exactly where great podcasts are born: with the crushing realisation that nothing has been recorded. After a brief collective sigh (and a generous decision to “power through”), Michael Mackenzie, Brian Wise and guest Nick Corr regroup and press on—braver, wiser, and still dangerously unsupervised. What follows is a gloriously eclectic ramble through: A shamelessly persuasive plug for Rhythms Magazine, which somehow doubles as relationship advice A sold-out theatre talk about fungi, proving that mushrooms now draw bigger crowds than indie bands A deep dive into Pluribus, the Apple TV series that turns hive minds into a philosophical Rorschach test (Michael finds it calming; Brian finds it terrifying) The long-awaited final album from Chris Bailey of The Saints, hailed as a dignified, and moving farewell Lucinda Williams, political defiance, and why some albums are necessary whether America’s ready or not A prolonged, reverent detour into Tom Waits, including birthdays, movies, glitter-filled pockets, and the universal agreement that everyone would still fly overseas to see him Talking Heads nostalgia, Bluesfest ticket shock, and the unsettling concept of “cover bands with original members” The episode wraps with movies (Dead of Winter, Train Dreams), tears shed in unexpected places, and the firm belief that art about love, loss, and grief is best discussed at length—preferably after checking the record button. On The Record is a podcast where culture is taken seriously, and tangents are treated as the main event. Useful Links Rhythms Subscription For Your Loved One At Christmas  Order Your Rhythms T Shirt For Christmas   Merlin Sheldrake Interview  The Saints Long March Through The Jazz Age  Lucinda Williams new album World's Gone Wrong  Lucinda's Honky Tonk in NYC  Documentary: Finding Lucinda   Jay Buchanan - Caroline (Official Music Video) Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Official Trailer | Netflix  Tom Waits - "Come On Up To The House"  Tom Waits Glitter and Doom Live  Tom Waits - The Acting Years  Snocaps band site  The Lemonheads New Album Remain In Light feat. Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew | Full Set | Hollywood Arts Park | 3-2-2024  Caught Stealing Trailer  Dead of Winter Trailer  Train Dreams Trailer 

In a gloriously shambolic podcast debut of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie briefly wrestle with technology; however, once the cockpit stops flashing warnings, they settle into a free-wheeling conversation about music, ageing audiences, dodgy voting scandals, Patti Smith, Beatles archaeology, sci-fi mind melds, and why matinee gigs are the greatest invention since the flat white. Wise and Mackenzie first teamed up when they co-presented Dig On The Radio, a summer season of music and performances on ABC Local Radio between 2003 and 2006. Since then, the pair have kept in touch both on and off the air, and decided there might be literally dozens of people eager to hear their meanderings in this new addition to the Rhythms stable. In this debut episode Michael and Brian meander through: The annual Rhythms Readers Poll, which, shockingly, people have actually tried to rig. (Move over Florida.) Why older gig-goers prefer concerts that end before the evening news, and the uncertain future for finding new music audiences via radio. Mavis Staples’ new album, Sad and Beautiful World, which both agree is so good it may actually restore faith in humanity. A detour into Tom Jones, who’s made excellent records while the world wasn’t looking. Todd Snider, the mayor of East Nashville and patron saint of long, funny songs. Paul Kelly’s new album and gig, celebrated for making audiences actually listen because they didn’t know the lyrics yet. The Beatles Anthology reboot, where Apple Records proves once again that there is no bottom to the barrel if you have AI and Giles Martin. Final season of Stranger Things:  getting so dark it may require night-vision goggles Pluribus, the new Vince Gilligan sci-fi series about humanity becoming one hive mind—an idea Brian finds horrifying and Michael could really get behind. Cowboy Junkies live, who apparently sound so good Brian is still vibrating. The Springsteen biopic Deliver Us From Nowhere, prompting the important philosophical debate: Is it bi-OH-pic or BYE-opic? Patti Smith, whose writing has Michael crying and whose life stories have Brian reading again. Subscribe to here Substack here. A CNN Live Aid documentary, featuring Bob Geldof, Margaret Thatcher, and the invention of global-scale concert viewing way before GoFundMe. Watch on 9Now.

Acclaimed singer songwriter Gregory Porter, who will be touring Australia in October, spoke to Rhythms editor Brian Wise. Porter talks about his recording career and his influences, including Nat King Cole and Donny Hathaway.

This week’s guest is Texas singer songwriting legend James McMurtry, son of the author Larry McMurtry, who has just released his 11th studio album, The Black Dog & The Wandering Boy (via New West Records). Produced by Don Dixon, whom McMurtry worked with on his third album in 1995, the latest album is McMurtry’s first in four years. Rhythms editor Brian Wise met up with McMurtry on Zoom. This podcast has been produced by Jasmine Griffiths. You can find out more about Rhythms and the special subscription offer as well as catch up on the latest music news at rhythms.com.au

Pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph talks about his brand new album Preacher Kids, released as a solo album with a new band and a forthcoming tour. (Produced by Jasmine Griffiths).

Taj Mahal and Keb Mo join Rhythms Editor Brian Wise to talk about their new album together Room On The Porch. 

Allison Russell, multi-award winning singer, songwriter, poet, activist, and multi-instrumentalist will be in Australia this month for concerts in Melbourne (April 15) and Sydney (April 17) as well as appearances at Bluesfest (April 19-20). Rhythms editor Brian Wise spoke to Allison about her recent work, which included an appearance in the Broadway musical Hadestown.

Sly Lives! is a 2025 documentary about the life of Sly Stone and the band Sly and the Family Stone.  The film is also known as The Burden of Black Genius.  It was directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and premiered at Sundance in January 2025. It's the second documentary directed by Questlove, following his Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul. It was released on Hulu and Disney+ on February 13, 2025 and Michael Mackenzie and Brian Wise discuss the enormous influence this troubled genius has had on funk, soul, psychedelia since his multi-gendered, multi-racial band became superstars in the late 1960s.

Texas-born and bred singer Leon Bridges has just began his Australian tour in Bowral on Sunday January 19 and he has appearances in Sydney (January 21) and at at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on Thursday January 23. Brian Wise spoke to Leon about his career and his latest album, simply titled Leon. The interview also contains music from the latest album. Concert details and tickets at: leonbridges.com