Johanna Samuels Discusses Sparklehorse, It's a Wonderful Life

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Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Johanna Samuels joins Al to introduce him to Sparklehorse’s 2001 album It’s a Wonderful Life. Johanna shares the unique circumstance under which she first learned about Sparklehorse, and she explains what makes It’s a Wonderful Life a magical album for her. She and Al also explore two of the music videos that accompanied the release of the album. Johanna talks about her soon-to-be-released fourth album Sorry, Kid (out August 14 on Odd Man Out Records) and the music videos she made for the album’s singles.

#johannasamuels #sorrykid #sparklehorse #marklinkous #itsawonderfullife #albumdiscussions

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https://www.johannasamuels.com/

https://johannasamuels.bandcamp.com/

https://johannasamuels.substack.com/

@johannasamuels on Instagram and YouTube

@johannasamuelsmusic on Facebook

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1:29 Johanna’s introduction

2:49 Johanna revisits the unusual circumstance that led to her discovery of It’s a Wonderful Life

6:13 Johanna made a connection between Sparklehorse and Elliott Smith

8:50 Johanna recalls the artists who were on her iPod when she first heard Sparklehorse

10:25 Johanna talks about the experience of listening to It’s a Wonderful Life in its entirety

12:55 Johanna interprets the overarching theme of It’s a Wonderful Life

16:50 Johanna and Al make note of Mark Linkous’ frequent references to animals and nature in general

19:35 Johanna and Al talk about the indirectness of Linkous’ lyrics

21:19 “Gold Day” was Johanna’s entry point into the rest of the album

22:21 Johanna digs into some specific lyrics from the album

26:25 Johanna talks about some of the collaborators who appear on It’s a Wonderful Life

28:17 Johanna has bonded with people over Sparklehorse

32:21 Johanna thinks the stranger songs on the album play an important role

37:09 Johanna and Al discuss the video for “King of Nails”

42:36 Johanna and Al discuss the video for “Little Fat Baby”

49:09 Johanna’s final thought on It’s a Wonderful Life

50:10 Johanna and Al talk about the videos she made for Sorry, Kid

55:15 Johanna talks about the history of writing and recording “White Limousine”

57:45 Johanna explains how she recruited collaborators for Sorry, Kid

1:01:19 Johanna discusses her upcoming plans

Outro music is from “Full Story” by Johanna Samuels.

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