Rhythms Magazine

By Episode 21, On The Record has moved beyond anticipation and into immersion. Brian Wise is no longer circling Jazz Fest—he’s in it, navigating its scale, its heat, and its constant, often punishing, decisions. Broadcasting from the French Quarter, Wise paints New Orleans as it always is: chaotic, convivial and faintly surreal. One moment it’s a communal gumbo dinner with locals and visiting friends; the next, pre-dawn screams echo through the street—mercifully revealed to be part of a film shoot rather than something more sinister. But Jazz Fest remains the centre of gravity. The conditions alone are a test: 30-degree heat, heavy humidity, and crowds pushing well beyond 80,000 across the main days. It’s a physical endurance exercise as much as a musical one, and Wise is candid about the toll—even for a seasoned attendee. Show Notes Brother Tyrone and The Mindbenders - 6/1/2025 - Maple Leaf Bar Live Nicholas Payton + Butcher Brown - “All Blues” (Official Live Performance) GA-20 - Naggin' On My Mind (with Charlie Musselwhite & Luther Dickinson) Ani DiFranco: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert Joy Clark - Lesson (Official Music Video) Glen David Andrews - Medley: Iko, Iko & Right Place, Wrong Time Marcia Ball - They Don't Make Em Like That Things They Like To Do by Jon Batiste Swamp show New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival April 26 2026 Ron Carter: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert Lucinda Williams Bus To Baton Rouge (Album Version (New Mastering) Bob Dylan I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You : Beacon Theatre Mar 2022 The Lowdown | Official Trailer | Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Keith David | FX Elvis Costello Meets Jeff Tweedy in Mojo New Elvis Costello Boxset To Feature A Wealth Of Never Before Heard Punk Era Recordings Bruce Springsteen My City of Ruins (Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2006)

Episode 19 of On The Record kicks off with one foot in the present and the other firmly planted on the long tail of rock history—touching on new Rolling Stones material before sliding into an excerpt from Brian Wise’s recent interview with Mike Mattison of Tedeschi Trucks Band. It’s a neat juxtaposition. From there, the episode turns toward what’s ahead, with Wise preparing to head to Austin and New Orleans. What really comes through is a sense of curiosity about what the trip will feel like this time around. Show Notes Tedeschi Trucks Band website Check out The Rolling Stones’ vinyl-only new single ‘Rough & Twisted’ as The Cockroaches Listen to Michael's debut (and possibly last) album Oversharing With Strangers BRUNSWICK BALLROOM Presents MIKE RUDD DOCO + Q&A + LIVE BAND SHOW WITH GUEST ROSS WILSON - HOST BRIAN NANKERVIS 6:30 pm, Wed 20 May, 2026

If you want to know the exact moment legacy radio started to feel its age, it might have been when a major Australian station began giving away lacy doilies. In the latest episode of On The Record, Michael Mackenzie and Brian Wise—veterans with a combined 70 years behind the mic—stage a fascinating "in-house" intervention for the medium they love (and occasionally despair over). Joined by global "radio futurologist" James Cridland, the trio moved from a high-tech April Fool’s hoax involving Bob Dylan to a deep-tissue analysis of why the ABC is shedding listeners while community radio and podcasts are booming. Show Notes: Project Hail Mary - Official Trailer Sign Up for James Cridland’s weekly radio newsletter

Episode 15 of On The Record is the sound of a long-running Australian institution going quiet — followed by the louder, messier noise of what happens when a festival doesn’t just “take a break”, but goes into liquidation. Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie devote the bulk of the episode to the sudden demise of Bluesfest after 36 years, and they do it with a guest who knows the event from the inside: Sarah Ndiaye, now Mayor of Byron Shire, formerly the “head honcho” of the Bluesfest photo tent — the social headquarters where media, and photographers regrouped each Easter. Important Links Bluesfest Reportage Variety: Calls Mounting for a Class Action Against Bluesfest After 2026 Event Cancelled By Neil Griffiths ABC News: Confusion and anger as Bluesfest ticketholders question timing of cancellation By Julia André Byron Shire Echo: Bluesfest ancillary event in Bruns cancelled By Hans Lovejoy AFR: Refund complication as Bluesfest collapses owing $5.7m by Michael Bailey Arts & Culture editor Opinion If the Bluesfest era has ended, I’ve lost something more precious than money by David Free Pharaoh Sanders The Creator Has A Master Plan Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands (Official Music Video)

If you ever needed proof that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is less a museum and more a cultural argument with a gift shop, Episode 13 of On The Record opens by doing what the institution does best: stretching the phrase “rock and roll” until it politely accommodates everyone from Wu‑Tang Clan to Shakira, with a quick stop at INXS (or, as Michael once heard on the BBC, the new Australian sensation “Inks”). Brian runs through the 2026 nominee list like a gig guide for the afterlife—The Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, Phil Collins (solo, because apparently we’re double-dipping now), Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, New Edition, Pink, Luther Vandross—and lands on the question that always makes the Hall quietly hilarious: who is this for, exactly? Michael’s baffled by the ceremony mechanics (do nominees really “turn up hoping”?), while Brian reassures him it’s not quite the Oscars, before casually dropping the detail that there’s a public vote. Nothing says rock’s rebellious spirit like “exercise our democratic right” via a link. The more interesting subtext, though, is what induction inevitably drags in: absence. Several nominees have key members who’ve died—Buckley, Michael Hutchence, Ian Curtis—prompting the kind of morbid logistics only a Hall of Fame can inspire. Michael wonders aloud whether New Order could be coaxed into a once-only appearance, and if so, would Peter Hook be anywhere near the bass, given the long-running fallout. Rock history, as ever, is part music, part family law. From there, the episode pivots into “telly as coping mechanism” territory. Michael has started season two of Hijack, acknowledging (with Idris Elba’s own executive-producer embarrassment) the inherent silliness of re-hijacking a man who has already been hijacked. Brian, meanwhile, goes looking for light relief in bleak news cycles and discovers Resident Alien—a show he’d dismissed as fluff until it turns out to be fluff with enough teeth to feel like therapy. The alien-in-a-small-town premise becomes an excuse for a few sharp jokes about humanity’s trajectory. But the main event is the week’s shared homework: Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, the new documentary spanning the years between the Beatles’ breakup and Lennon’s murder. Brian begins with dread—opening on “Silly Love Songs” is hardly a confidence-builder—but both hosts admit the film wins them over. They praise the craft: strong editing, collage-like imagery, and an effective “no talking heads (but their voices)” approach. Then they do the responsible thing and ask the awkward question: how honest can a documentary be when McCartney’s own company financed it? Their answer is satisfyingly unresolved. Michael argues it’s “warts-and-all enough” to avoid feeling like a total snow job—especially when the film lets other musicians (Nick Lowe, Chrissie Hynde) politely wonder what on earth Paul was thinking during the early, patchy years. Brian agrees McCartney produced plenty of throwaway material, though he’ll still go in to bat for Band on the Run and even dares to defend “Coming Up” (which Michael treats as a personal affront). They both wish the doco lingered longer on the Lagos chapter, one of the few moments in the Wings story that feels like true risk rather than post-Beatles reputation management. The emotional spine, however, is Scotland. The documentary’s portrayal of McCartney retreating to a remote farm with Linda is read here not as quaint pastoral cosplay, but as a survival strategy—grief, disorientation, and the sudden absence of the band-as-family. The hosts talk candidly about parental loss, the Beatles as McCartney’s “emotional prop,” and Lennon as the creative foil who kept Paul’s “twee” instincts on a leash. Linda comes out of it as both partner and lightning rod: necessary to him, mercilessly judged by everyone else. Along the way, Brian remembers seeing Wings at the Myer Music Bowl in 1975 (yes, he was there), and the hosts re

Episode 10 opens in the long-running genre they’ve accidentally perfected — two grown men versus consumer electronics — as Michael explains how he revived his ageing Samsung “smart TV” (now “a bit of a nuff-nuff”) with a cheap HDMI streaming box bought from an Australian online retailer that “rhymes with Hogan”. The thrill here isn’t just 4K; it’s the moral victory of upgrading the brain while keeping the body. The upgraded TV then becomes a portal to two YouTube documentaries that send the pair (and us) into a warmly nostalgic British lane. One is an ARTE doc on Madness — “Princes of Ska” — which prompts Michael to re-fall in love with a band he rates as not just a ska novelty act, but an elite singles machine whose later pop craftsmanship deserves more credit than the pigeonhole allows. The other find is the real rabbit hole: John Peel’s Record Box — an hour built around the late BBC DJ’s stash of 142 singles kept separate from his famously vast collection (more than 100,000 records). The documentary hauls the box around to fellow travellers and famous fans — Jack White, Elton John, others — letting them rummage, remember and speculate on why those particular records were kept close. Peel, it turns out, could contain multitudes: Sheena Easton’s “9 to 5”, some Status Quo, a heavy White Stripes presence… and a special extra shrine for The Fall, who were apparently too important even for the box. Then Brian takes the wheel for the episode’s marquee music moment: Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde turns 60, marked with a concert at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom, presented by the Bob Dylan Center (sitting right next to the Woody Guthrie Center, because Tulsa is quietly running a curriculum). Brian’s spoken with the Center’s director, Steve Jenkins, who teases an event titled Sooner or Later with a lineup that reads like an alternate-universe festival poster: Naturally, they can’t leave the album itself alone. They circle around what makes Blonde on Blonde such a gravitational object: the New York-to-Nashville recording shift, Al Kooper and Robbie Robertson in tow, and the snap-in brilliance of Nashville players like Charlie McCoy and Joe South. Michael calls it the culmination of Dylan’s ridiculous 18-month streak from Bringing It All Back Home through Highway 61 Revisited to Blonde on Blonde — productivity that makes modern “content schedules” look like a wellness day. Song picks follow: Michael is unwavering on “Visions of Johanna”; Brian leans toward “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”, while also marvelling that Dylan had “Positively 4th Street” sitting on the bench, unused, like a spare masterpiece. There are lighter detours too: a surprisingly vivid discussion of a film built around stand-up comedy as therapy (Will Arnett, Laura Dern, John Bishop’s life story, Bradley Cooper popping up in a minor role because he can), and then Brian’s recommendation of Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets — a title that briefly defeats Michael because he searches the wrong spelling and finds financial advice instead. Once located, it lands hard: whimsy, sadness, small acts, and a specific episode-four moment that gets Brian teary without him wanting to spoil why. Michael flags the return of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, apparently digging deep into the back catalogue (with a Guardian five-star review from Toowoomba), plus the pair’s Grateful Dead-adjacent moves and upcoming US tribute tour. They also talk up Robert Finley, the 71-year-old, legally blind Louisiana singer with the late-blooming career arc (carpenter most of his life, first records in his 60s, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys), heading to Australia in May for intimate shows. Finley’s story lands like a parable for anyone who’s ever thought they missed their chance. (Michael, who’s finishing his own record — under the gloriously self-aware pseudonym Imposter Syndrome, album titled Oversharing with Strangers — certainly hears it that

Episode 8 of On The Record opens with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie doing what many seasoned music listeners now do instinctively when the Grammys roll around: stare at the screen and wonder which planet they’ve accidentally landed on. Brian reminds us that the Grammys permanently lost their way the moment they abolished the polka category. This wasn’t a niche concern, either. For years, Brian faithfully rang Jimmy Sturr, the undisputed Muhammad Ali of polka, who won his Grammy almost every time. A system so reliable has no place in modern music awards culture, clearly. The tone shifts sharply—and respectfully—with news of the death of Sly Dunbar, one half of the mighty Sly & Robbie. What follows is a proper reckoning with just how vast Dunbar’s influence was: reggae, dub, dancehall, pop, rock, Dylan (Infidels), Grace Jones (Nightclubbing, Warm Leatherette, Living My Life), even a dub version of the Rolling Stones’ “Undercover of the Night.” Sly and Robbie weren’t just players, they were architects. See the list of some of their important work below, along with links to every other turning point in the conversation. From there, Episode 8 pivots to the curious durability of certain artists who simply refuse to age in the expected way. David Byrne is a rare example of someone who keeps recalibrating his work, with his latest tour behind Who Is The Sky garnering rave reviews in every state. That thought feeds neatly into a wider cultural question: why the Australian Open continues to thrive while music festivals across the country are quietly collapsing? The answer, the hosts suggest, has less to do with sport versus music and more to do with clarity of purpose. Tennis delivers a fixed narrative, star power, and infrastructure, while festivals increasingly ask audiences to tolerate inconvenience, rising costs and vague promises of “vibes.” It’s a sobering comparison given the state of live music in Australia right now. The episode closes with genuine surprise at the quality of Van Morrison’s latest release, an album that sidesteps the curmudgeonly baggage of recent years and reconnects with the musical instinct that made him essential in the first place. It’s not framed as a comeback so much as a reminder: when Morrison stops arguing with the world and channels his Celtic soul, something powerful still happens. Important Links Grammys 2026 list of nominees and winners Jimmy Sturr website Jimmy Sturr youtube channel BAD BUNNY Wins BEST MÚSICA URBANA ALBUM | 2026 GRAMMYs Bad Bunny Tiny Desk Concert BAD BUNNY - NUEVAYoL (Video Oficial) | DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS The Goodies Pirate Radio (A Walk In the Black Forest) Chat GPT’s Top 20 Albums Featuring / Produced by Sly & Robbie Black Uhuru – Red (1981) Black Uhuru – Chill Out (1982) Grace Jones – Nightclubbing (1981) Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette (1980) Grace Jones – Living My Life (1982) Sly & Robbie – Language Barrier (1985) Black Uhuru – Sinsemilla (1980) Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse (1982) Peter Tosh – Bush Doctor (1978) Sly & Robbie – Rhythm Killers (1987) Culture – International Herb (1979) Ini Kamoze – Ini Kamoze (1984) Serge Gainsbourg – Aux armes et cætera (1979) The Gladiators – Proverbial Reggae (1978) Bunny Wailer – Rock ’n’ Groove (1981) Sly & Robbie – Dub Experience (1979) Black Uhuru – Anthem (1984) Bob Dylan – Infidels (1983) Jimmy Cliff – The Power and the Glory (1983) Sly & Robbie – Reggae Greats (1984) Uncut: interview with Sly Dunbar on music Undercover (Of The Night) (Dub) with Sly on percussion Black Uhuru Sistren Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper David Byrne Tiny Desk Concert David's Reasons To Be Cheerful newsletter FRANKENSTEIN Trailer (2025) Guillermo del Toro Michael's fave food movie Chef is on Iview STEAL - Official Trailer | Prime Video Van Morrison Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge (full album) Gillian Welch talks to Brian about Her Forthcoming Tour of Australia with Dave Raw

Gillian Welch spoke to Rhythms Editor Brian Wise about her forthcoming Australian tour with her musical and life partner David Rawlings. David was set to join us but was held up in the studio mastering the vinyl version of the Time (The Revelator) album. Music included: Neil Young’s Albuquerque from the album Live & Obscure Vol. 1, Mavis Staples' version of Gillian’s ‘Hard Times', Emmylou Harris with Gillian’s 'Orphan Girl' from Emmylou's 1995 album Wrecking Ball produced by Daniel Lanois and 'Revelator' from Gillian’s Time (The Revelator) album and 'North Country' from Woodland. Details of the latest tour which begins on February 13 in Brisbane can be found at lovepolice.com.au/tours

If On The Record were a boxing match, Episode 5 would open with the bell ringing and Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie already mid-ring.. The topic? The Golden Globes. The real issue? Whether a film can be called a “musical or comedy” when it is clearly neither, and whether Paul Thomas Anderson should be declared a genius by popular vote or sent to the cinematic sin bin. Two overly seasoned cultural obsessives staring at the same screen and seeing entirely different movies. From there, the episode sprawls—happily and unapologetically—into a wide-ranging conversation about awards hype, viewing expectations, and the strange disconnect between critical acclaim and lived experience. One host praises audacity and subversion, the other demands coherence and restraint. Nobody backs down. Nobody changes their mind. Which, frankly, is exactly how these debates should be conducted. Luckily, special guest Liz Stringer moves the conversation into other areas that are slightly more important - touring her latest album and raising money to address housing insecurity along with the uncomfortable truth that this is no longer a fringe issue confined to capital cities or stereotypes. The show rolls on, touching on music-making, self-management, creative independence, reality TV guilt, Russian books that are abandoned for the sake of mental health, and the eternal question of why we all say we won’t watch that show again… and then absolutely do. By the end of Episode 5, On The Record has done what it does best: entertained, provoked, and digressed wildly. It’s messy, funny, opinionated, and oddly comforting—like a long conversation you didn’t plan to have, but are very glad you did. Episode Links Liz Stringer website Liz's album The Second HighOne Battle After Another - Official Trailer If I Had Legs I'd Kick You | Official Trailer HD | A24 Sam Fender - Remember My Name Audrey Powne - From The Fire (ALBUM) The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah KrasnosteinMilk Fed by Melissa Broder The Pitt Succession THE HISTORY OF SOUND | Official Trailer SENTIMENTAL VALUE - Official Trailer The Faces Ooh La La (2004 Remaster)

Brian Wise talks to Paul Kelly in depth about Paul's latest album Seventy.

Episode 3 of On The Record once again proves that no matter how long you’ve worked in media, technology will always sense weakness. Once operational, the episode quickly becomes a rallying cry for the quietly furious demographic known as Grumpy Older Men Who Have Had It With Banks. Michael officially embraces his new identity after discovering his bank changed everything without warning, while Brian counters with tales of frozen debit cards, vanished tellers, and the most devastating bank exit in history... From there, the conversation widens—considerably. There’s a surprisingly heartfelt discussion about the best technology of 2025, which turns out not to be AI, crypto or anything with a subscription fee, but a lightweight laptop, a digital library card, and apps that simply work. Radical. Travel takes centre stage next, with Michael recounting a punishing but transcendent hike through Albania’s Accursed Mountains, involving donkeys, snow-capped peaks, dodgy knees and a journey that somehow includes minibuses, boats and a black Mercedes. Brian counters with a pitch for Tulsa, Oklahoma—a city with no tourists, no traffic, a Bob Dylan Centre, a Woody Guthrie Centre, and an offer to pay you $10,000 to move there (family approval not guaranteed). Music eventually breaks through—this is a Rhythms podcast after all—with Christmas gift recommendations ranging from Mavis Staples and Paul Kelly to Dylan box sets, Patti Smith anniversaries, Springsteen gloom, and vinyl for hipsters aged anywhere between 30 and 60. There are also book tips, documentary detours, and a shared belief that Brad Pitt shirtless does not automatically equal a good movie. By the end, Episode 3 has covered banks, libraries, hiking, Dylan, Tulsa, laptops, Formula One, Christmas shopping and the philosophy of buying technology like a V8 Mustang—all without ever fully sticking to a plan. Which, frankly, is exactly the plan. Essential Links Brian's fave tech of 2025 Michael's fave tech of 2025 Michael's Journey through Albania's Accursed Mountains Tulsa's Bob Dylan Center PBS Documentary on the Tulsa Race Massacre Live, work, and grow in Tulsa (incentive program) The Watchmen TV series that is built around the real life Tulsa massacre Louis Theroux talks with David Byrne on Apple Podcasts Adam Buxton talks with David Byrne on Apple Podcasts Formula 1: Drive to Survive - Season 7 | Official Trailer | Victorian Record Stores to shop at or online for Christmas Captain Stomp Greville Records Rocksteady Records Rathdowne Records Brian's Musical Christmas Recommendations Mavis Staples Sad And Beautiful World Van Morrison Remembering NowPaul Kelly 70 Loretta Miller Loretta Geese Getting Killed Recommended Box SetsBob Dylan Through The Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18Patti Smith 50th anniversary of HorsesRolling Stones Black and Blue RemixedBruce Springsteen Nebraska Re-released on vinylChris Wilson King For A Day Recommended BooksPatti Smith: Bread of AngelsCameron Crowe: UncoolPeter Wolfe: Waiting On The MoonTom Piazza: John Prine - Living In the PresentMike Campbell: Heartbreaker

In a gloriously shambolic podcast debut of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie briefly wrestle with technology; however, once the cockpit stops flashing warnings, they settle into a free-wheeling conversation about music, ageing audiences, dodgy voting scandals, Patti Smith, Beatles archaeology, sci-fi mind melds, and why matinee gigs are the greatest invention since the flat white. Wise and Mackenzie first teamed up when they co-presented Dig On The Radio, a summer season of music and performances on ABC Local Radio between 2003 and 2006. Since then, the pair have kept in touch both on and off the air, and decided there might be literally dozens of people eager to hear their meanderings in this new addition to the Rhythms stable. In this debut episode Michael and Brian meander through: The annual Rhythms Readers Poll, which, shockingly, people have actually tried to rig. (Move over Florida.) Why older gig-goers prefer concerts that end before the evening news, and the uncertain future for finding new music audiences via radio. Mavis Staples’ new album, Sad and Beautiful World, which both agree is so good it may actually restore faith in humanity. A detour into Tom Jones, who’s made excellent records while the world wasn’t looking. Todd Snider, the mayor of East Nashville and patron saint of long, funny songs. Paul Kelly’s new album and gig, celebrated for making audiences actually listen because they didn’t know the lyrics yet. The Beatles Anthology reboot, where Apple Records proves once again that there is no bottom to the barrel if you have AI and Giles Martin. Final season of Stranger Things: getting so dark it may require night-vision goggles Pluribus, the new Vince Gilligan sci-fi series about humanity becoming one hive mind—an idea Brian finds horrifying and Michael could really get behind. Cowboy Junkies live, who apparently sound so good Brian is still vibrating. The Springsteen biopic Deliver Us From Nowhere, prompting the important philosophical debate: Is it bi-OH-pic or BYE-opic? Patti Smith, whose writing has Michael crying and whose life stories have Brian reading again. Subscribe to here Substack here. A CNN Live Aid documentary, featuring Bob Geldof, Margaret Thatcher, and the invention of global-scale concert viewing way before GoFundMe. Watch on 9Now.

This week’s guest is Texas singer songwriting legend James McMurtry, son of the author Larry McMurtry, who has just released his 11th studio album, The Black Dog & The Wandering Boy (via New West Records). Produced by Don Dixon, whom McMurtry worked with on his third album in 1995, the latest album is McMurtry’s first in four years. Rhythms editor Brian Wise met up with McMurtry on Zoom. This podcast has been produced by Jasmine Griffiths. You can find out more about Rhythms and the special subscription offer as well as catch up on the latest music news at rhythms.com.au