Still in New Orleans — the Weather Wins, Wilco Go Long, and Joni gets the Biopic Treatment
Rhythms MagazineShow Notes
On his final night in New Orleans, Brian Wise files a slightly frayed dispatch that captures Jazz Fest’s defining tension: a festival big enough to feel infinite, and a schedule brutal enough to make you choose your regrets in advance. Episode 22 becomes a story about how festivals actually unfold—less like neat recaps and more like a sequence of weather calls, crowd-panics, and last-minute pivots. With the festival reckoning done, the conversation swings to another kind of canon-building: Joni Mitchell. Sparked by a Mojo “top 50 songs” feature, the hosts trade favourites (Wise namechecks “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter” and multiple Court and Spark staples, plus “Magdalene Laundries,” “Amelia,” and “River”), and Wise recalls seeing Mitchell at Jazz Fest in 1995, performing with her VG-8 guitar setup. They also discuss an attention-grabbing industry development: a Joni Mitchell biopic being directed by Cameron Crowe, with Meryl Streep cast as the older Mitchell and Anya Taylor-Joy as the younger. The enthusiasm is tempered by a journalist’s instinctive question: can a close friend make an objective film? Show Notes Fred Wesley & The New J.B.'s | Live at Moods Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few - Full Performance (Live on KEXP) Wilco - Impossible Germany with full solo recorded live at the Saenger Theatre May 2026 Mavis Staples Chicago May 3 2026 New Orleans Jazz Fest Herbie Hancock - Chameleon (Official Audio) Joni Mitchell's 50 Greatest Songs In The New MOJO! Little Feat - Spanish Moon (Official Music Video)
More from Rhythms Magazine
A box set should tell a story, not merely find new ways to sell you the same songs. In Episode 45 of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie reckon Elvis Costello has delivered one worth hearing. The expanded My Aim Is True receives an enthusiastic assessment from both hosts, who hear its early recordings, alternate versions and live performances as a portrait of a songwriter becoming himself. “This really builds a story about how Elvis Costello came to be,” says Wise. For Wise, that story comes with eyewitness credentials. Living in London, he heard Costello’s demos on Charlie Gillett’s radio programme, then headed to the Hope and Anchor expecting a quiet night. Instead, he found a queue stretching around the corner. Mackenzie’s memories are dawn starts cleaning a restaurant ship on the Thames, with Live Stiffs in his headphones. Costello’s performance of “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” still takes him straight back there. Show Notes Elvis Costello Unboxes ‘My Aim Is True’ 49th Anniversary Edition Elvis Costello Walk On (Hope & Anchor Studio) Elvis Costello & the Attractions - I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself Whole Wide World (Live Stiffs, at University of Lester, Lester, UK / October 22nd, 1977) Elvis Costello (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Live at Great American Music Hall,... Elvis Costello Trust Full Album The Kings of America Live At The Royal Albert Hall Elvis Costello Brilliant Mistake (Live) Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... Lou Reed shows Sweet Jane riff Lou Reed and Elvis Costello perform "Perfect Day" Best of Bleak Squad Bob Dylan. Tangled Up In Blue. Lights of Autumn Tour. Oslo. October 17, 2026 Zach Bryan - Nine Ball The Gentlemen | A Guy Ritchie Series Official Trailer | Netflix
“I ain’t gonna drive in Maggie’s car no more.” Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” gets an unlikely alternative lyric in Episode 44 of On The Record with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie, as the hosts consider its licensing to an Audi electric-vehicle ad. For Wise, the commercial’s invocation of Dylan’s electric breakthrough at Newport raises an uncomfortable question: what happens when a song’s cultural associations become advertising material? Mackenzie is more amused by Dylan’s apparent indifference to how others treasure his catalogue. Between them lies the familiar predicament of the devoted listener: the artist has moved on, but you’re still attached to what the music meant. Show Notes Emily Wurramara - 'Adore Me' (Official Music Video) Dylan on Audi Ad Rewrite the rules | the Audi RS 5 Karen Dalton: In My Own Time | Official Trailer Karen Dalton In My Own Time on SBS Amazon in court for introducing ads to Prime Video using allegedly unfair contract terms Elvis Costello Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver) Official Trailer | Dustfall | ABC iview Blade Runner 2099 - NYCC Trailer | Prime Video
Brian Wise has reached a familiar collector’s reckoning: “I’m just rebuying my entire record collection.” In Episode 43 of On The Record with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie, the latest Rubber Soul box set provides both the evidence and a persuasive defence. Wise hasn’t exhausted every outtake, but the new stereo mix has renewed his enthusiasm for an album he first encountered in rather less revealing circumstances. The expanded edition brings together Giles Martin and Sam Okell’s stereo remix, sessions and demos, the original mono album and its differently configured American counterpart. For Wise, “Nowhere Man” is a sonic highlight; for both hosts, the songs capture a band rapidly outgrowing its early pop template. George Harrison’s “Think for Yourself” and “If I Needed Someone” earn particular appreciation. Show Notes The Beatles - If I Needed Someone - 2026 Mix (Visualiser) JUDY COLLINS ~ In My Life The Beatles Complete On Ukulele - Rubber Soul The Beatles Balcony Appearance in Melbourne - Color Home Movie #2 - 14 June 1964 The Beatles - Rain THE GET OUT Official Trailer (2026) Russell Crowe UNABOMBER | Official Trailer | Netflix The Weight | Official Trailer (HD) | Vertical The Hunt for the Last Nazis | Official Trailer | SBS & SBS On Demand Neagley S1 - Official Trailer | Prime Video Murder in a Small Town (FOX) Trailer HD - Kristin Kreuk series THE MUSICAL MIND a portrait in process | Trailer | Amazon Prime Silverchair - Emotion Sickness (Official Video)
What makes a great cover version? For Paul Dempsey, it is not fidelity. It is risk. In Episode 42 of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie welcome the Something for Kate frontman to discuss Shotgun Karaoke, his disarmingly loose—and increasingly popular—solo covers project. Across two albums and a growing run of sold-out shows, Dempsey has turned the familiar songs of Cher, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, Tanita Tikaram and more into a rolling invitation for audiences to sing, shout and occasionally rescue him from a forgotten lyric. Show Notes Kylie Minogue TAKES FLIGHT at the 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final (Full Performance) John Craigie I Swam Here Full Album Something For Kate - Monsters (Official Video) Something For Kate The Killing Moon Paul Dempsey – 'Twist In My Sobriety' – Visualiser for ‘Shotgun Karaoke Vol II' Paul Dempsey - Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely Paul Dempsey - Bats XTC - This Is Pop (Documentary) R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (Official HD Music Video) Bright Eyes - Light Pollution Paul Dempsey - "Born To Run" Tony | Official Trailer HD | A24 Tony Soundtrack Album The Tony Blair Story on Iview The Dropout | Trailer | Hulu
What makes a rock star? It is not simply the hits, the haircut or the size of the crowd. In Episode 41 of On The Record, Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie turn to a 2014 essay by Robert Forster for a more exacting test: a rock star, Forster argues, is one even when nobody is watching. Show Notes SPIT Trailer (2025) Comedy Movie HD https://youtu.be/7mPdrlAJOQ4 Robert Forster "What’s the difference between a rock star and a pop star?" Amyl and The Sniffers - Guided By Angels Neil Young Casting Me Away From You from his new album Second Song Lanterns | Official Trailer | HBO Max Madness - Baggy Trousers (Official 4K Video) Madness - One Better Day Death Valley | BritBox Original Trailer Smithsonian Starstruck Madness - Theatre of the Absurd Presents C’est La Vie