Playing By Ear
Every episode of this podcast breaks an album down, track by track, to cover why it's not only worth playing, but replaying.
Displaying 5 items of Playing By Ear with the tag "singer".
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My Aim Is True (Elvis Costello)
September 8th, 2026 | 1 hr 51 mins
1970s, 70s, classic rock, garage rock, musician, rock, rock and roll, rock music, singer, songwriter, songwriting, vocalist
Elvis Costello's debut album "My Aim Is True" is aptly titled. Full of short, laser focused tunes, played by Costello with the raw energy of youth and pure rock and roll dreams, the album is melodic, cheeky, and a fantastic example of artist pouring out their true vision with no supervision.
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Boston
August 25th, 2026 | 1 hr 28 mins
1970s, 70s, classic rock, more than a feeling, musician, rock, rock and roll, rock music, singer, songwriter, songwriting, vocalist
One of the greatest classic rock records of all time, Boston's self-titled debut exploded with ambitious prog rock, reliable blues, and some of the most soaring vocals of the 1970s from lead singer Brad Delp. With over 20,000,000 copies sold worldwide, anyone with more than a feeling about this smoking album's place in history can have some peace of mind about this rock and roll band.
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I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) (Teddy Swims)
March 3rd, 2026 | 1 hr 29 mins
music, r&b, sam cooke, singer, songwriter, songwriting, soul
Did we lose control over Teddy Swims' debut album, or did we show it the door? The true answer is that it is problematic, an album with some high highs, but the second, slower half loses some steam along the way, something partially corrected by the addition of four new electric tracks in the Part 1.5 re-release of the album. What is undeniable, however, are Swims' pitch-perfect powerful vocals which, when paired with the rght song, call to mind classi R&B greats like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and more.
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Goths (The Mountain Goats)
February 17th, 2026 | 2 hrs 27 mins
goth, indie, indie rock, john darnielle, music, singer, songwriter, songwriting
Moody, beautiful, deep, dark, all words that describe goth music. And yet, while The Mountain Goats' "Goths" explores all the themes of goth music, the bands that played it, and the subculture that embraced it in the 1980s, the album occupies a woodwind-heavy guitarless soundscape wholly unlike its black-draped synth-heavy subject matter. We're joined by guest Rick Firestone of the Pixel Project Radio podcast to explore this album's sundrenched wistful look back at a gloomy subject.
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Drive (Bic Runga)
January 20th, 2026 | 1 hr 45 mins
1990s, 90s, American Pie, musician, new zealand, rock, rock music, singer, songwriter, songwriting, sway, vocalist
Bic Runga's debut album features beautiful, haunting vocals and equal parts soft singer/songwriter, and late 90s female-powered grunge. Does "Drive" drive, or does it just drive us crazy? We delve into this layered and complex work to peel back what makes it worth paying attention to.