How To Record Your Own Music (And Not Lose Your Mind)

I may be premiering my first music in a year and a half via a Talkhouse essay, but this time, I don’t feel like talking about the songs. Well, I’m going to talk about some of the music you hear, but the lyrics feel too abstract, tender and personal to deconstruct right now. For this double […]

Guided by Voices’ Alien Lanes is a Cry of Determination

Guided by Voices are best-known as lo-fi’s beery savants, a hydrant of quirky songs and albums and breakneck live shows. But their best album, 1995’s Alien Lanes – which turns 25 this month — runs much deeper than a bottle of Miller Lite. To me, it’s about noting the seemingly insurmountable barrier around your life, […]

Hear First: Other Houses’ Funny Papers

I had just boarded a flight from Newark to Phoenix—and I was having a nervous breakdown. As we reached cruising altitude, I pulled out my notebook to write a final letter to my father, who had passed away less than 12 hours before. Instead, I wrote a song.I’d heard grief albums before. Neil Young famously […]