Celebration Rock

Like a lot of music fans who came of age in the 90s, Steve learned about music from reading album reviews. But now that social media and streaming services has made music and music opinions so accessible, why are critics still relying on this slow, formulaic relic as an opinion delivery device? Steve discusses whether album reviews are still relevant with Nitsuh Abebe, a former music critic for Pitchfork and New York Magazine.

Another class of inductees is about to enter the Rock Hall, and some of the choices (Chicago? Steve Miller?) seem like the opposite of rock. How do we fix this oft-maligned institution? To figure this out, Steve talks with a Hall Voter and one of his favorite music writers, Amanda Petrusich, author of It Still Moves and Do Not Sell At Any Price. Steve and Amanda also talk about the current state of rock criticism, and the greatness of Bruce Springsteen's fifth album, The River.

With the first quarter of the year almost over, Steve decided to invite the makers of his two favorite LPs of early 2016 on the pod. First, he talks with Amber Webber of epic rockers Black Mountain, whose first album in six years, IV, comes out April 1. Then, at 29:25, Steve chats with Evan Stephens Hall of the New Jersey band Pinegrove, which merges DIY punk with country and folk on the recent album Cardinal.

As the co-creator and executive producer of Billions, Brian Koppelman is currently in charge of one of TV's most popular new dramas. But before he was a successful writer of films and TV shows, Brian was a music nerd who worked in the record business, shepherding the careers of a diverse group of artists including Tracy Chapman, Metallica, and D'Angelo. And he's still a passionate fan, as Steve learned when he talked to Brian about everything from the Tygers of Pan Tang to R.E.M. to Courtney Barnett.

Modern Baseball is a young band, but they've already had a career's worth of high and lows. Steve sits down with the the pop-punk quartet's songwriters, Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald, to discuss Modern Baseball's early days, Lukens' recent treatment for depression and substance abuse, and the making of its new record, Holy Ghost, due in May.

One of the biggest buzz bands of 2016 is The 1975, who will release their highly anticipated second album on Feb. 26. In advance of the LP's release, Steve talks with journalist Andrew Unterberger, who recently profiled the 1975 for Spin. Then (at 37:03) Steve chats with Bob Mehr, who just spent six years writing Trouble Boys, a definitive book about the Replacements.

Back In December, the rock world lost one of the most iconic frontmen of the '90s, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. Steve talks with two of his former bandmates, Dean and Robert DeLeo, about their fruitful but oft-contentious relationship with Weiland, as well as their search for a new singer. (And keep an eye out for an unexpected cameo by a Sex Pistol)

Steve made a list of his 10 favorite rock records of the decade so far, and he asked Ian Cohen (Pitchfork, Noisey) to do the same. Whose list will reign supreme? Which omissions will most rankle our listeners? How many great records can we ultimately dump into each others' brains? Let's look back and take stock of the '10s! And check out our playlist featuring music from the records discussed in the show: https://open.spotify.com/user/stevenhyden/playlist/1Lt5hBy6rVMTGHYM22U1NX

With Coldplay set to perform at the Super Bowl later this week, Steve talks with critic Larry Fitzmaurice about the band's career and why some people love despising them. Then (at 50:20) Steve sits down with Alicia Bognanno of the great Nashville band Bully to talk about her childhood in Minnesota, her love of 90's rock, and why Steve Albini is secretly a nice guy.

Chuck Klosterman is perhaps the best-known culture writer on the planet, but once upon a time he made his living as rock critic. Steve talks with Klosterman about his time at Spin, rock music today, and his new book due in June #StevenHyden #CelebrationRock #ChuckKlosterman #Spin #Rock

In the debut episode of Celebration Rock, Steven Hyden talks to Matt Berninger (The National, El Vy) about his new band, maintaining a successful band over 15 years, and the new National album. At 28:40, Steve sits down with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys about his new band The Arcs, and why he prefers making records to being on the road