Vinyl Emergency

Jim Hanke and a wide range of guests discuss vinyl records and the lives of those who create, collect and commemorate them.


James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 64: Rosanne Cash

2017 marks a big vinyl year for veteran singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash: Written primarily about the lives and deaths of her mother, father and step-mother (Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash, respectively), her 2006 record Black Cadillac was just pressed for the first time by Capitol as part of their 75th anniversary, and a 30th anniversary reissue of King's Record Shop -- the first LP to ever give a female country singer four number one Billboard singles from one album -- was also recently released by Sony Legacy/Columbia.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 63: Producer John Congleton (The Paper Chase, The Nighty Nite)

Texas native John Congleton's production, engineering and mixing résumé is as diverse as they come, spanning projects with everyone from Blondie to The Roots & Erykah Badu to Angel Olsen to Talking Heads' David Byrne to gospel legend Kirk Franklin. A Grammy-winner for his work on St. Vincent's 2014 self-titled album, Congleton also fronted The Paper Chase for over a decade, crafting some of the most feverishly manic and intriguing music known within indie-rock -- thanks to, in his words today, being "willing to destroy the integrity of a completely reasonable song for the effect of an audio hallucination."

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 62: The Secret Sisters

Lydia and Laura sit down to discuss touring United Record Pressing and watching their first vinyl release being pressed, why vinyl continues to be the measurement by which the Sisters gauge how well their own albums sound, how You Don't Own Me Anymore's exemplary cover art is a familial response to their recent struggles, and some stellar stories involving Levon Helm, Fiona Apple, Elton John and human-sized catfish. Visit SecretSistersBand.com for tour dates, social media and more.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 61: Speech of Arrested Development

Grammy-winning Atlanta hip-hop collective Arrested Development exploded in the early 90's with hits like "Tennessee," "People Everyday" and "Mr. Wendal," as the band's debut LP -- 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of... -- would quickly be certified 4x platinum. 25 years since that first record, and with a limited orange vinyl repress newly released by Universal Music, Arrested Development frontman Speech joins us to talk about the influence and legalities of sampling, his first exposure to vinyl through the promos his father received as a nightclub owner, the fascinating LP artwork of Funkadelic, the Ohio Players and Earth, Wind & Fire, being the first rap artist in his native Milwaukee to be on vinyl, and how crate digging in the 80's fueled not just hip-hop, but the music industry as a whole, while turning producers and DJ's into audio historians.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 60: Mastering engineer Ed Brooks

Ed fondly recalls some early vinyl memories of Buck Owens and Alice Cooper, his obsession with speakers as a teenager and why he shifted from engineering and producing into mastering in the late 90's. He also recommends a few Seattle-area record stores, chimes in on the vinyl vs. digital debate, and shares what it was like to be present for the creation of one of R.E.M.'s biggest hits, "Man on the Moon."

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 59: Collector's Club with Andy Menchal (Dramatic Lovers / Decibully / Temper Temper)

Andy Menchal is just one of the many versatile MKE musicians who has played in an array of acts over the years, from The Goodboy Suit's brand of intense indie-rock to the sweat-inducing dance-punk of Temper Temper to Polyvinyl alt-country troubadours Decibully to current five-piece Dramatic Lovers (featuring members of The Promise Ring, Maritime and Decibully). They recently released their debut 7" of Brit-pop-influenced shoegaze -- which wouldn't be out of place if released by 4AD or Creation Records -- and as a massive vinyl enthusiast, Andy talks today about his record collection, the Milwaukee music scene, how food and craft beer culture intersects with the world of vinyl, the record label he started with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, and more!

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 58: Dave Porter (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul)

As an award-winning composer, Dave Porter communicates mystery, tension, levity and everything in between with riveting instrumental music for film and television. Whether through Breaking Bad's hauntingly iconic theme or a percussion-heavy backdrop that emphasizes panic on Better Call Saul, Walter White himself Bryan Cranston has called Dave's work "evocative, meaningful and an essential part of the storytelling" we see every week. With highly-respected boutique record label Music On Vinyl releasing Dave's score to Better Call Saul's first two seasons June 9th -- and a terrific third season wrapping up June 19th on AMC -- Dave joins us to discuss why he wrongly assumed the score for Breaking Bad would never sell on vinyl, where he was the first time he heard Prince, his process behind the scenes, how his time in both Washington DC and New York City shaped his artistic growth and much more

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 57: Tim Minneci of Dig Me Out Podcast & Music Reissues We Need

Since launching in 2011, Dig Me Out has been essential podcast listening for music fans, as Tim Minneci and his co-host Jason Dziak dive head-first into classic albums, one-hit wonders, specific music scenes and more -- all within the alt-rock/indie universe -- often accompanied with an intriguing artist interview or a roundtable of journalists, musicians or fellow podcast hosts chiming in. Today, Tim drops in to discuss the current (and future) state of vinyl reissues, his work as a college radio DJ and program director, record stores near his native Buffalo NY suburbs, how fans of Dig Me Out are constantly introducing him to music he missed the first time around, and his captivating new blog

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 56: Mark Piro of Analog Spark and RecordNerdz Podcast

As a longtime employee of Razor and Tie -- known for their compilation and reissue work in the 90's -- Mark Piro is living the dream that any record collector would want: Founding your own imprint and putting out high-quality represses of classic albums that haven't seen the light of day on vinyl in ages. Inspired by the work of Mobile Fidelity, Analogue Productions and ORG, Mark heads Analog Spark, dedicated to using only the best original sound sources, vinyl plants, jackets and sleeves while repressing favorites of yesteryear (Dave Brubek, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald) as well as much-needed alternative-rock reissues for Blind Melon, The Cranberries and Ben Folds, where original copies still go for several hundred dollars.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Episode 55: Andrew Winistorfer (Senior Editor of Vinyl Me, Please)

Not only has record subscription service Vinyl Me, Please been supplying record lovers with exclusive album presses each month -- whether they be well-known classics, brand new releases or long-buried gems -- since early 2013, but they've also amped up their written content substantially since hiring on Oshkosh, WI native Andrew Winistorfer as their Senior Editor. The written portion of the site has become so popular in fact, that VMP recently had their first book published -- 100 Albums You Need In Your Collection -- a 250+ page, hardcover must-have for any record addict, available now at your preferred independent book retailer

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