Song of the Day

Song of the Day > All Episodes

April 15, 2021

No-No Boy: “Imperial Twist”

By: Jack Anderson

Without getting too much into politics, I think we can all agree that the Asian-American experience has recently been catapulted into the national spotlight. And in concern to the historical context of that experience, nobody’s captured it in recent music as comprehensively as Nashville-born songwriter Julian Saporiti.

Appropriating the moniker No-No Boy from John Okada’s 1957 novel of the same name, Saporiti’s Ph.D. dissertation took him across the country to several Asian-American landmarks, often wrought with troubled history, to develop his concept album 1975. Saporiti’s dissection of what constitutes American folk isn’t obscured by his outspoken societal observations; rather the two march hand-in-hand across 1975’s dozen, sonically channeling the likes of Okkervil River, Shearwater, Grateful Dead, and The Avett Brothers while lyrically rising to the challenge of telling American folk tales from a different perspectives, perhaps heard best on “Imperial Twist”.


Episodes

July 4, 2025

Katherion: “Dance”

Happy Hot Dog and Fireworks Day! Whether you’re staying home and having fun or enjoying one of the city’s myriad of events, you might need something to wavy-baby dance to. Austin’s Katherion has been hitting stages between Austin and Houston for the last three years leading up to her debut album EROS, out later this […]

Listen

July 3, 2025

Okkervil River & The Antlers: “Lost Coastlines” [Live In Studio 1A]

A collaboration between Okkervil River and the Antlers, two of the poetic indie bands of our time, both in sound and word, is one that seems so perfect you can almost see photos of Will Sheff, Peter Silberman, and Michael Lerner cutely cropped together like a fan zine-style shipping board. Last year this music nerd […]

Listen

July 1, 2025

Keihl Phillips: “Iced Green Tea”

Being a sound designer doesn’t often mean you’re looking to use your own music, or even that you’re a musician at all. Sound designers are the folks who choose the right song to elevate scenes and make you feel a certain type of way in a TV show or the person who finds the right […]

Listen

June 30, 2025

GHOSTWOMAN: “Alive”

Belgian/Canadian duo GHOSTWOMAN are all about finding freedom in a reckless space. On the upcoming album Welcome to the Civilized World, they take this notion head-on and put it center stage. The album was recorded on an old tape recorder using old instruments. The recording space was a home they didn’t bother to treat for […]

Listen

June 25, 2025

Local Al: “Hold Me – Pidän (mä pidän)”

So, you’re a runner looking for a playlist. Maybe you do a quick Spotify or Tidal search, hit the one that matches your personal taste the most, or just hit play on the first one that pops up. Maybe you go an extra step to ask a friend or consult a subreddit. Maybe. Eventually, you […]

Listen

June 24, 2025

Tamir Kalifa: “Jackie’s Rock”

Even if the name Tamir Kalifa is new to you, his projects certainly are not. A member of both the orchestral-indie collective Mother Falcon and its alter ego rowdy party band Sip Sip, Kalifa’s part of two of Austin’s biggest “moment bands” of the 2010’s. A photojournalist who splits his time between Austin and Berlin, […]

Listen

June 23, 2025

Ramesh w/ Invoke: “Broadway” [RECORDED LIVE IN STUDIO 1A]

It’s the last week of Pride Month, and we’ve got one more great profile for you, and this one gets a little teaser. Ramesh Srivastava spent the 00’s enchanting audiences with the catchy indie-pop group Voxtrot, a group Ramesh started after high school and moving to Europe. He brought Voxtrot back home to Texas, making […]

Listen

June 6, 2025

West of Rome: “Movement In Your Picture”

South Texas rockers West of Rome are here to dislodge the kernel from your craw and even offer you a spittoon so you can get that novel, satisfying “ting.” The band is made-up of childhood friends who, in the absolute tumult leading up to and including the pandemic, decided to finally come together creatively to […]

Listen