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Hosted by Doug Lief · 🇺🇸 US · EN-US · 26 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Every episode of this podcast Doug, Ami, and Kyle break an album down, track by track, to cover why it's not only worth playing, but replaying.
Doug Lief hosts Playing By Ear, a music show with 26 episodes published.
Buffalo Tom's "Big Red Letter Day" may not have commercially been the big red letter day the band was looking for, but it exemplifies the feelings and soundscapes of grunge-era college rock. We're joined by musician and
Heartfelt and full of swinging, bright melodies "Sounds Like This" sounds like Eric Hutchinson finding his musical footing. The album exhibits a confidence of an artist taking command of his style and audience, as darker
R.E.M.'s eighth album lived up to the band's name, as it featured a far more dream-like sound than what they had done before. With deeper lyrical subjects about death, aging, and legacy, R.E.M. challenged themselves, the
Weezer's second album looked nothing like Buddy Holly. While Rivers Cuomo and company returned with their signature memorable melodies, their sound was significantly harsher, full of screams and squeals. As a result, the
Easy on the ears, The Chicks' fourth album "Wide Open Spaces" broke wide open and made the band, then known as The Dixie Chicks, a household name. Nearly thirty years on, this album still holds up beautifully, as the tri
To honor Pride Month we start by tearing down walls revisiting the glam rock soundtrack of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". It's the 25th anniversary of John Cameron Mitchell's landmark adaptation of the stage production abo
Fastball's winning album "All The Pain Money Can Buy" was best known for its huge hits, "The Way" and "Out Of My Head" but if you only stopped at those two, then you missed out on an album full of endearing and heartfelt
Dan Wilson is one of the most prolific and accomplished songwriters of the last thirty years. Before hitting it big with "Closing Time", his band Semisonic released its first album, "Great Divide" which showcases exactly
The Prince of Darkness, the Ozzman, whatever you call him, Ozzy Osboune remains the undisputed master of heavy metal. No one did more to cement what metal was, and his unique vocals and showmanship were untouchable. This
One way or another, "Parallel Lines" from Blondie is gonna get you. This 1978 album is innovative, and a convergence of genres on the rise, from punk rock, to new wave, and everything in between, anchored by Debbie Harry
We give a little respect to Erasure's "The Innocents". The album features classic 80s new wave synth sounds that perfectly suit Vince Clarke's smooth voice. Vivacious, danceable, and sometimes moving, "The Innocents" per
The Blues are the bedrock of all modern popular music. From rock, to R&B, country, hip-hop and more, it all owes a debt to one of America's greatest musical inventions. On this episode we explore a more modern and femini
Did we lose control over Teddy Swims' debut album, or did we show it the door? The true answer is that it is problematic, an album with some high highs, but the second, slower half loses some steam along the way, somethi
Moody, beautiful, deep, dark, all words that describe goth music. And yet, while The Mountain Goats' "Goths" explores all the themes of goth music, the bands that played it, and the subculture that embraced it in the 198
By 1990 hair metal was on the precipice of irrelevance, soon to be swept aside by grunge. Nevertheless, the genre's last big year was filled with big riffs, big beats, and big hair as Poison ripped some incredible bops (
Bic Runga's debut album features beautiful, haunting vocals and equal parts soft singer/songwriter, and late 90s female-powered grunge. Does "Drive" drive, or does it just drive us crazy? We delve into this layered and c
By the time of 1987's "Bad" Michael Jackson was an unstoppable cultural phenomenon, perhaps the most singularly famous person in the entire world, and all off of the strength of its predecessor, "Thriller" which remains
This is the end of the beginning... How do you break down one of the best albums by one of the best (if not perhaps THE best) band of all time? Kyle presents The Beatles' masterpiece, "Revolver", to Ami, Doug, and return
Wistul, emotional, cheeky, and melodic, Mike Viola's "An American Egypt" uses inventive stream-of-consciousness lyrics to paint a dreamy picture of life as a middle-aged parent in Los Angeles. Sometimes silly, sometimes
Soulful, heartfelt, and powered by James Morrison's unique raspy vocals, "Songs For You, Truths For Me" strings together one spectacular song after another, but is it too much of a good thing? Ami, Kyle, and Doug talk ab
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Playing By Ear is hosted by Doug Lief. The show is categorised under music (commentary) and has published 26 episodes.
Playing By Ear has published 26 episodes.
Playing By Ear regularly covers music, commentary, history. It sits in the music category, with a commentary focus.
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Playing By Ear hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
Episodes of Playing By Ear average 115 minutes, giving guests a long-form format with plenty of time to expand on their expertise.
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