Nakedly Examined Music Podcast

Lande started in the 2010’s in the British punk-pop group Muncie Girls, with six releases (mostly EPs), and began her solo career in 2019. We discuss “Coming Home” (and listen at the end to the title track) from her fourth solo album Lucky Now (2026), “80 Days of Rain” from Going to Hell (2011), and “Learn In School” by Muncie Girls from From Caplan to Belsize (2016). Intro: “Gay Space Cadets” from House Without a View (2022). Watch videos to “Gay Space Cadets” and “Lucky Now.” Another single from the new album with a video now is “Favourite Pair of Shoes.” Watch Lande play “80 Days of Rain” live. Watch a full, recent live set with Watch Muncie Girls play “Learn in School” live. Hear their take on the Ramones’ “Pet Sematary.” Watch a Muncie-era solo acoustic performance. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsors: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem. Download the Gametime app and use code NEM for $20 off your first purchase of concert tickets.

John has released at least fifteen albums, more than half of these under the name King Missile, but even this name covers three different bands, since John until recently didn’t play any instruments, so his music is always collaborative with one or more music writers. Apart from his various musical projects, he’s published around 50 books of poetry and publishes poems every day on his Facebook page. We discuss “Her Cock is True” from the yet-to-be-released King Missile album Quest for Fire (with music by Stephen Tunney, aka Dogbowl), “Eating People” by King Missile III from The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (2003, music by Bradford Reed), and “Sensitive Artist” by King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) from Fluting on the Hump (1987). End song: “Garden” by You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy from Garden Variety Fuckers (2020, music by Azalia Snail and Dan West). Intro: “Detachable Penis” from Happy Hour (1992). We also get to hear how he writes his daily poems; the poems from the day we recorded that John brings up are here. Watch the big-time video For “Detachable Penis.” Other notable classic KM songs include “Jesus Was Way Cool,” “Wuss,” and the poem (which you can watch him recite) “Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die.” Here’s the re-make by King Missile III, “Jesus Was Way Cool (Millennium Edition).“ Some of John’s other recent musical projects include Silk Cut (with King Missile’s Rebecca Korbet), Unusual Squirrel. His “solo” album Real Men (1991) was a collaboration with Kramer. Watch John do a full poetry show. Watch him performing in 1995 with Kramer and just a bit from 2016 with Dogbowl and even more recently with Dogbown and Rebecca Korbet. Watch him live with Unusual Squirrel. Watch a King Missile gig from 1994. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Get three months free of online payroll and benefits software for small businesses at gusto.com/nem.

Folky singer/songwriter and psychotherapist Robert started in the ’80s but considers 1994 his professional debut and has now released his seventh album since then, The Space Between Us. We discuss “Attic of Desire” (and the intro is “The Forest From the Tree”) from that album, plus “Uncertain” from Beloved (2017), the title track from Earthside Down (1998), and we conclude by listening to “Rock A Bye” feat. Victoria Williams from Days Like These (1994). More at robertdeeble.com. Watch Robert’s video for “The Forest From the Tree.” The previous version of “Attic of Desire” was called “A Formal Apology” from Thirteen Stories (2003). Watch Robert and his band play “Earthside Down” live in 2002. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Download the Gametime app and use code NEM for $20 off your first purchase of concert tickets.

Ontario guitarist Darren has released six albums of concise instrumentals since 2019, often using metal guitar tones and tropes, but with a great range of tones and often catchy melodies. We discuss “The Day Beneath Yesterday” (and listen at the end to “Dangerous Curves”) from Perpetual Night (2025), “Broken Glass and Disappointment” from Thoughts and Scares (2022), and “The Earth is B Flat” from Lifting the Curse (2019). Intro: The title track from Wonders of the Invisible World (2020). More at darrenboyd.com. Watch the video for the title track for the new album, showing his full band. Experience all of the song “Wonders of the Invisible World” with this video. He’s made videos for many of his songs; here’s the channel. Watch Darren talk about guitar shredding. Hear that 2018 “horror band” EP with a singer and lyrics that Darren wrote about murder and suicide. Also, The G-String Murders EP. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.

In a special holiday episode, we get to meet the talented and very British musician and podcaster Roger Heathers, who is my new audio editor for this show and most of my others starting in Jan. 2025 or so. At the beginning and the end of the show, you get to hear two tracks from his soon to be released Upward Spiral: “Guard Dogs” and “Hopefully.” They both feature a warm, holiday-like glow. You can listen to him at rogerheathers.bandcamp.com, or check out The Weekly Song Podcast, where he and his buddy Declan each write and present a song to each other and talk about how they wrote them along with various music-related topics. Together, Roger and I hash through how we make the show and share some highlights and challenges re. recent guests. As mentioned at the end, my Substack (which I plan to do another post for soon) is marklinsenmayer.substack.com. If you’re interested in my spring philosophy class, check out partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Hope you enjoy it! Happy holidays! Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic. Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.

Corey has released many of zydeco music since 2004 (I count eight, but his bio says 16), and mixes his dedication to tradition (even recording a recent album in Louisiana Creole) with his love of many types of music. We discuss “J’ai Parti dans la Campagne” (and listen at the end to “Outro”) from his new release, Live in Alaska; “That Girl Wanna Dance” from the Grammy nominated Nothin’ But the Best (2012); and “Way Back Home,” a Jazz Crusaders (Wilton Felder) cover recorded for 3 Years 2 Late (2003). Intro: “Boudin Man (Remix)” from Destiny (2013) (written by Joseph Rossiyn). More at coreyledet.com. Hear all of “Boudin Man.” Watch a live version from back in 2004. Hear the original Accordion Man (2018) version of “J’ai Parti dans la Campagne.” Watch a full, recent live show. Watch a full solo from-home set from the pandemic. Watch Corey playing with my previous guest Louis Michot (hear Louis’ NEM interview). Watch him on the evening news about being inducted into the Louisiana music hall of fame. I couldn’t find one of his recent live cover tunes of pop songs on YouTube, but this 2009 clip includes part of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” and features a guy praising him. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsor: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.

Marshall began creating his catchy, harmonically thick rock tunes in the early ’80s with six major label albums, but went indie in the ’90s to record four more as well as several EPs and live collections. We discuss “Stranger and Stranger,” newly reworked for From the Hellhole (2025) but originally released on the Stranger and Stranger EP (2012), “Right On Time” from Jaggedland (2009), “Fantastic Planet of Love” from Life’s Too Short (1991), and we conclude by listening to Our Town” from Field Day (1983). Intro: “Someday, Someway” from Marshall Crenshaw (1982). More at marshallcrenshaw.com. Hear all of “Someday, Someway,” and watch it live in 1982. One of his notable videos from back in the day was “Whenever You’re On My Mind.” See “Our Town” performed live, a live in-studio performance of “Stranger and Stranger,” and live “Fantastic Planet of Love.” Watch him singing Buddy Holly tunes live with the actual Crickets (Buddy Holly’s backing band), and here he is in La Bamba. Hear that Dianne Warren tune he sang that we mention; reportedly she got mad at him for changing some lyrics. (Clearly he liked it enough at the time to perform it on Letterman.) Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsors: Go to surfshark.com/nakedly or use code nakedly at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN. Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance; connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at rula.com/nem.

Mark is joined by returning NEM guest Don Rauf (singer/songwriter from Life In a Blender), singer/songwriter/cartoonist David Heatley (featured on Mark’s other show Pretty Much Pop), and writer/musician Dave “Diggy” Dawson aka Dave Philpott (featured talking about his letters-to-popstars books on Pretty Much Pop). Our topic is humor in music. Is funny music necessarily less sincerely emotional, and so a failure at what music is supposed to do? People are used to hearing songs from the singer’s perspective and might not realize that you’re playing a satirical character. How seriously do rock stars take their various ridiculous personas? An extreme persona can enable you to express something more interesting than a straight emotional recitation. Homages to various nostalgic styles (e.g. disco, metal, ’80s syntho) can in effect be musical jokes of a sort, but don’t have to imply that you’re laughing at that style (pretending to display an aesthetic is identical to actually displaying that aesthetic, your ambivalent intentions notwithstanding). You can choose to watch this whole discussion unedited on YouTube, though you will in that case miss out on the music. Hear all of Life in a Blender’s “My Heart Your Sweat Does Feed” (2024) that leads off the audio. To conclude, we hear all of David Heatley’s “Blowing Off the World” (2023). Some of the artists we refer to during the discussion include Frank Zappa, They Might Be Giants, Weird Al, Spinal Tap, Ian Dury, King Missile, The B-52s, Camper van Beethoven, The Dead Milkmen, GWAR, The Waitresses, Mac Sabbath, and The Anti-Nowhere League. Here’s Peter Stampfel singing “Haunted Heart.” Here’s Mo Tucker singing in the Velvet Underground (see also Ringo). Listen to Iron Maiden’s “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter.” Listen to Jonathan Richman’s life “Ice Cream Man.” Listen to Jonathan Coulton’s “Baby Got Back.” Hear Richard Cheese sing “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The History of Punk on the Lower East Side. Genesis’ “Harold the Barrel.” The Fall’s “Oswald Defense Lawyer.” Before Mark’s most famous, not-funny song “Things We Should Do” (2015) featured Lucy Lawless, there was an original-silly-lyric-version (though this mix was done afterwards, adding some weird effects and emphasizing parts of the backing that had been deleted or turned lower in the released version). Some other Mark novelty-ish songs include “Falsifiable,” “The Nipple Song,” “The Zoo Song,” “The Size of Luv,” “I Believe,” and “Minnesota Freak.” Hear Mark’s NEM interview with DEVO’s Gerald V. Casale. Follow @Heatley, @DonRauf, @derek_and_dave_philpott, and @MarkLinsenmayer. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsor: Go to surfshark.com/nakedly or use code nakedly at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN.

Singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Jonathan (currently based in Minneapolis) has been putting out indie rock solo albums since 1992, but has also ventured into traditional Finnish folk music and has multiple releases of tunes that I won’t call Christian rock, but more rock that grapples with being someone who goes to church. We discuss “Diner by the Train” (and listen at the end to “Evidence”) from Waves (2025), “Home Unknown” from Look Up (2015), “Tape” from Recital (1997), and “Failing Rockstar Attempt” from Sound Theology (2000). Intro: “When I Get Bored” from 11 Years and 28 Days in the Yellow Room (1992) More at junathanrundman.com. Hear all of the 2016 Walter Salas-Humara version of “Diner by the Train” (who co-wrote the song with Jonathan; Jonathan plays on this version. Watch Walter’s trio (including Jonathan) play this live. See young Jonathan in his video for “When I Get Bored.” Watch Jonathan’s current live band playing his recent single. “Let’s Put On an Opera.” Watch him playing live Finnish folk music with Kaivama. Watch Kaivama playing “Home Unknown” live. Here he is playing harmonium. Watch a lyric video for Jonathan’s most popular song as we mention in the interview: “Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness.” Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsors: Visit square.com/go/nem to learn about how Square helps local businesses. Go to surfshark.com/nakedly or use code nakedly at checkout to get 4 extra months of SurfsharkVPN.

Adrian has applied his distinctive, spacey dub mixing techniques to numerous recordings since 1978, often released under his On-U Sound label, and has effectively served as a key band member in groups like Creation Rebel, African Head Charge, Tackhead, and New Age Steppers. He has produced and/or remixed many artists including Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sinéad O’Connor, and Spoon and has released nine albums under his own name since 2003. We discuss “Body Roll” from The Collapse of Everything (2025), “Starship Bahia” from Survival & Resistance (2012), and “Sharp as a Needle” by Barmy Army from The English Disease (1989). End song: “Make Up Your Mind” by Coldcut (Ninja Tunes), On-U Sound, Ce’Cile, Toddla T, Adrian Sherwood from Outside the Echo Chamber (2017). Intro: “Movement in Space” by Creation Rebel from Starship Africa (1980), remixed for Adrian’s Five Decades of Destruction – 80’s (2024). More at adriansherwood.com. Hear all of “Movement in Space.” Watch an animated video for “Dub Inspector” from the new album. Listen to “Swiftly (The Right One),” a track from the Creation Rebel 2023 reunion album. Watch Adrian live with that band in 2017. Watch him performing live solo in 2025; on his new tour, he plays with a band. Watch a full live DJ set from 2012. Here’s one of his tunes with Lee Scratch Perry. Here’s a tune he did with Sinéad O’Connor and others. Hear one of his remixes for Spoon. Watch Adrian muck around with his equipment. Check out my interview with Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah from African Head Charge; Adrian is a co-writer and producer for all songs by that project. Hear more Nakedly Examined Music. Support us on Patreon. Sponsor: Visit square.com/go/nem to learn about how Square helps local businesses.