EarWax: An Amoeba Podcast

Get prepped to jump, jive, and wail from start to finish, the EarWax crew is covering The Wildest, Louis Prima!

With Keely Smith, Sam Butera, and the Witnesses alongside him, Louis Prima set Las Vegas on fire, five sets a night between 12 AM - 6 AM. The template that Vegas lounge acts would follow, Prima and his crew were going to give you a pro's show every time they hit the stage.

This album is the closest ...

How many power chords do you have? Because this week we've got plenty to spare!

Thin Lizzy had been more or less given one final shot to break big. Despite big creative differences, perhaps a little too much "hydration," and maybe not enough discipline early on, the crew behind Jailbreak all recognized the stakes.

Packed with rock radio staples and incredible deep cuts, Jailbreak secured Thin Lizzy&...

Hunker down, because we've got a record full of absolute bangers this week.

Part electronic, part disco, part hard rock and all teeth, this duo found their footing with a series of remixes, before heading into the basement of an old club and chapel to record what would be their first studio album.

Justice's debut album † (Cross) brings the heat. With over 400 albums sampled (and micro-sampled), the influ...

Come on now, you know we got geared up for this one. One of the heaviest hitters in the world music conversation, Buena Vista Social Club's self-titled debut is this week's focus on EarWax!

Let's head to Cuba (by way of Mexico, if you're Ry Cooder), find some legendary Cuban musicians, get them in the studio and see what magic unfolds. After their initial idea broke down, this is how Nick Gold and Ry Co...

We love our shiny, glossy pop albums here on EarWax, and this week we've got one that is among the shiniest and poppiest - Carly Rae Jepsen's "E•MO•TION."

After rocketing to the top of the charts with the monster single "Call Me Maybe," Carly Rae Jepsen needed to take some time to figure out where she fit in the pop landscape, and more importantly, how to fit in a way that was comfortable for ...

We are heading into familiar territory this week as EarWax revisits the Newport Jazz Festival!

Cody and Hilary pick up four years after we last left Newport to tell the tale behind Muddy Waters' incredible live album "At Newport 1960." This record is an absolutely scorching set of blues set against a weekend that was marred by capacity limits, Bermuda shorts-wearing hoodlums, riots, and a Mingus-led rival fe...

Looking for a breezy jam to cruise into the summer season? Nah, we're hitting you with beats, bars, and Vince Staples' debut album.

Cody and Hilary talk about our responsibilities as fans, how to respectfully engage with weighty material, and how in the pocket Vince Staples is throughout this whole record.

Weaving together a tapestry of matter-of-fact stories with a seamless display of flows, Summertime ...

Are you having a wonderful day? Full of joy perhaps? Just really, fully, live/laugh/loving life? Welp, good luck!

Hilary and Cody careen through Nine Inch Nails' magnum opus, "The Downward Spiral." Trent Reznor was fully in his bag on this one, and it pushed him into places that would take a good long while to rebound from.

What does it say about us that a record of such pain and darkness not only f...

Worlds and genres collide as the EarWax crew welcome our first guest onto the show!

Post-hardcore meets indie rock as Jeremy Bolm (Touché Amoré, The First Ever Podcast) joins Cody and Hilary to dive into Rilo Kiley's indie masterpiece "The Exection of All Things."

This album is where LA meets Omaha, where success meets sustainability, and where Rilo Kiley cemented themselves as the indie legends tha...

Tease your beehive hairdo waaaaaaay up, and put on your most gorgeous flowing dress, the GOAT girl group makes their EarWax debut!

Our first 60s record is Motown perfection, although the Supremes' rise to the top was anything but perfect. Ultimately, they became standard bearers for both the label and the genre, and the hits from this record are absolute staples of the revolutionary culture of the 1960s.

Mary...

Let's dismantle systemic oppression with post-riot grrrl!

Hilary and Cody dance and groove to the infectious, crackling first album by Le Tigre. Fronted by the legendary Kathleen Hanna, Le Tigre is a response to the implosion of a movement she championed.

Le Tigre talks about all of the stuff you're gonna hear in the riot grrrl scene, but it candy-coats them and makes them accessible for those not deeply...

Okay...so you need a 32nd episode. Well, let us impress upon you how much we loved covering Shania Twain's ridiculously influential album "Come On Over."

Cody and Hilary weave through the career path of the Queen of Country Pop, and all of the struggles and successes that culminated in the making of this album.

You want catchy? Got it. Songs built for live performance? Boom, got it. How about commer...

What better way to usher in the Leap Year than to cover an artist who is arguably even more unique? 

Alice Coltrane is one of the most dynamic names in jazz history. Cody and Hilary explore her journey to this record, and Ptah's journey from ancient Egypt to 1970.

This lineup is absolutely stacked with jazz legends, and they are all locked in and taking their cue from the person at the helm - Alice freakin&ap...

Everyone get real serious...now throw that all away and gear up for a total vibe of an album - Flying Lotus' "Until The Quiet Comes."

Cody and Hilary talk about floating bathtubs, lucid dreaming, and Adult Swim. All of these are integral to Flying Lotus, a true master whose talents are on full display on this record.

A seamless blend of jazz, hip-hop, psych, and electro, "Until the Quiet Comes&...

Light some candles, turn off the lights, and slip into something a bit more...comfortable. We've got a whole vibe this week.

Hilary and Cody break down the funk, the grooves, the voice, and the poetry that is D'Angelo and his second album - Voodoo. Chock full of absolute stars, this album's personnel is a who's who of 90s soul, with D'Angelo at the helm.

A bit of Sly, a bit of Hendrix, a b...

Make sure you're properly stretched, because this episode is full of backflips, stage dives, and a raucous dose of hardcore royalty.

Cody and Hilary explore the dichotomy that is Bad Brains. They are immensely talented musicians who helped shape a genre that relishes in its simplicity. They are furious bursts of faster-than-life music, followed by a groovy reggae jam. They are punks. They are Rasta.

This albu...

Grace - a name, an attribute, a vibe, and an attitude. And this week we are covering an artist and album that is all of these and so, so much more.

Hilary and Cody put on their sharpest shoulder pads and strike their most stunning poses as they talk about Grace Jones' "Nightclubbing." Full of ambitiously reworked covers and autobiographical originals, this record is a dichotomy of new wave melodies and regga...

We're pulling out all the big guns at once for this one. You want legends? Psh, how about five of them? No big deal. Here's a few names you might have heard: Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and George freakin' Harrison.

Cody and Hilary chat about this most super of the supergroups; from the storybook way they came together to the brilliance of their songwriting. But mainly, they talk about how...

We found 1994 so cozy last week that we're staying right there for our twenty-fifth episode! How about a trip down to Texas to visit an absolute icon - Selena!

Amor Prohibido is a flashpoint for Tejano music, and a huge influence on Latin music's injection into the pop consciousness. Hilary and Cody talk about the value of "crossing over" onto the pop charts, as well as Selena's ability to weave he...