The Next Track

A podcast about how people listen to music today.

About the show

Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.

The Next Track on social media

Episodes

  • Episode #211 - Changing Music Forever

    June 9th, 2021  |  37 mins 19 secs

    Apple has introduced lossless, high-resolution, and spatial audio on Apple Music, and claims that the latter will "change music forever." Will it?

  • Episode #210 - Emma Swift on Her Album of Dylan Covers Blonde on the Tracks

    May 26th, 2021  |  32 mins 36 secs

    Emma Swift has recorded a beautiful album of covers of Bob Dylan songs. We spoke with her about what Dylan's music, and what it takes to record an albums of his songs, and partly in lockdown.

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    Episode #209 - Sean Latham, Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, on Bob Dylan at 80

    May 12th, 2021  |  44 mins 28 secs

    Sean Latham, Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, talks about the Bob Dylan archive, the Bob Dylan Center, and about Bob Dylan at 80.

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    Episode #208 - Jeff Slate on Bob Dylan at 80

    April 28th, 2021  |  54 mins 30 secs

    Musician and journalist Jeff Slate has written about, and for, Bob Dylan, and has recently released an album with one disc of Dylan covers. We discuss Dylan at 80, and choose our top five Dylan albums.

  • Episode #207 - Yes. I mean, no, really, but Yes.

    April 14th, 2021  |  38 mins 49 secs

    Setting out to discuss the 1971 album by Yes, The Yes Album, Doug and Kirk end up discussing all of Yes's core output, released over a period of a few years, that the band - or what's left of it - still plays 50 years later. Sort of.

  • Episode #206 - Two Guys in a Pub Rambling about Audio Gear

    March 31st, 2021  |  31 mins 46 secs

    We offer a free-form episode, where we ramble about audio equipment, music, and more.

  • Episode #205 - Iconic Album Covers

    March 17th, 2021  |  32 mins 42 secs

    In our first multimedia podcast episode, we look at iconic album covers. Depending on your podcast player, you may be able to see the albums we discuss as the podcast progresses. If not, there's a link in the show notes to a page on Kirk's website with all the album covers.

  • Episode #204 - Oh, by the way, which one's pink?

    March 3rd, 2021  |  31 mins 32 secs

    In another album deep dive, we discuss Wish You Were Here, Kirk's favorite Pink Floyd album.

  • Episode #203 - Keith Miles on Bob Dylan in London

    February 17th, 2021  |  39 mins 50 secs

    Dylanologists Jackie Lees and Keith Miles have written a book about Bob Dylan in London, highlighting the importance of the city to Dylan's career and growth as an artist. Keith Miles joins us to discuss this book, and tell some tales of the troubadour in the city.

  • Episode #202 - Guitarist Gerard Cousins on His New Album of Music by Phillip Glass

    February 3rd, 2021  |  43 mins 57 secs

    There haven't been many transcriptions of Philip Glass's music for guitar, and Gerard Cousin's new album, Escape, shows just how ideal Glass's music is for this instrument. We talk with Gerard Cousins about the classical guitar, its repertoire, and the long process of transcription necessary to create this recording.

  • Episode #201 - Kurt Andersen on Why Music Hasn't Changed in Decades

    January 20th, 2021  |  37 mins 34 secs

    In his recent book Evil Geniuses, Kurt Andersen noted that people have dressed the same for decades, and that music has barely changed since the 1980s. We discuss this decades long stasis, and why it may have happened.

  • Episode #200 - This Was the Year that Wasn't

    January 6th, 2021  |  30 mins 59 secs

    Another year is gone, and what a year. Four the 200th episode of The Next Track, we take stock of what 2020 meant for us musically, talk about some of the wonderful musicians we were able to interview in lockdown, and mention a couple of musical discoveries we have made.

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    Episode #199 - Do You Know It's Christmas?

    December 23rd, 2020  |  29 mins 15 secs

    We again re-run our annual Christmas show, because it was so good that we couldn't imagine doing a better Christmas show. And because we really don't want to do a new Christmas show. And because we're really proud of the extensive show notes that took so long to collate. If you've already heard it and don't want to listen again, we'll understand.

  • Episode #198 - Casey Rae on William S. Burroughs and Rock and Roll

    December 9th, 2020  |  37 mins 29 secs

    William S. Burroughs was an author who had a huge influence on rock musicians. Casey Rae's new book charts this influence through the years, as Burroughs met with many of the great musicians of his time.

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    Episode #197 - I'm Not an Audiophile, But...

    November 25th, 2020  |  30 mins 48 secs

    A comment by a tech reviewer incited us to discuss who is qualified to pass judgment on the audio quality of devices. We discuss this with our favorite audiophile, Chris Connaker.

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    Episode #196 - Really Don't Mind if You Sit This One Out

    November 11th, 2020  |  32 mins 17 secs

    Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick is arguably the best progressive rock concept album of all time. Doug and Kirk have long been fans of this record, and discuss the genesis of the recording and the music, which still stands, nearly 50 years after its release, as one of the great albums of all time.