Van Halen’s 5150 was a turning point for the legendary party rockers for more than one reason. The replacing of original front man David Lee Roth with rocker Sammy Hagar was what was driving headlines, but the real news was in the music. Revved up, radio-friendly, and raring to go, this “new” Van Halen supplemented often questionable machismo with synths, honest-to-god pop hooks, and, most radically: Feelings.

Washington Post Pop Critic Chris Richards and Broke Royals’ Philip Basnight are joining us as we reconsider one of the most divisive albums of Van Halen’s career, reveal it’s secrets, and more.

This, dear listener, is what dreams are made of.

On her latest LP Goners, Laura Gibson is taking on grief and the joy that can be found through grieving, and the result is her strongest record yet. Lush, adventurous, and human AF, Goners drags the listener down to the bottom, where it may be dark, but at least you’ve got good company.

PLUS: Maryjo Mattea is in pretty much ALL of the bands in Washington, D.C., and on her new single she’s being joined by good friend Cody Valentine (Allthebestkids) for a potent tale of personal empowerment and the joys that are out there waiting for us when we set ourselves free.

The members of The Skiffle Players — Neal Casal (Circles Around The Sun/Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Dan Horne (Beachwood Sparks), Cass McCombs, Farmer Dave Scher (All Night Radio/Beachwood Sparks), Aaron Sperske (Father John Misty/Beachwood Sparks) — are some of the most respected musicians on the scene today. So when they find the time to get together for a new Skiffle Players album, you’d best believe it’s going to be something special. Skiff, the collective’s second LP, expands on the foundation they laid with 2016’s Skifflin’ and hints at a blindingly bright future that looks a lot like the past that they’ve been celebrating.

On her new album Lake Accontink, Marian McLaughlin invites the listener along on her quest to try and make sense of the many ways in which we impact and are impacted by the environment, and what it all may mean in the long run. We’re sitting down with the Baltimore-based musician to talk about what inspired her self-described “music for the Anthropocene Epoch,” the perils of capitalism in the modern age, the joy of playing in a room with one-hundred other guitarists and much more!

To call Chicago’s Makaya McCraven, just a drummer would be doing the multi-talented musical truth seeker a grave disservice. Over the past few years, McCraven has been refining a production technique that mixes live jam sessions and impromptu performances with radically creative editing to produce some of the most exciting jazz of the modern day. On Universal Beings, an album recorded in four different locations with four distinct groups of musicians at each, McCraven seems to have perfected this technique, and the result is one of the best albums of 2018. Meditative, complex, smooth, and even funky, Universal Beings points to blindingly bright future for not just McCraven, but jazz as a whole.

PLUS! Saxaphonist, vocalist, and DMV native Braxton Cook is back with a new album No Doubt, and we’ve got a listen to it’s title track to help you get hip to this remarkable talent!

Washington, DC is a town that is in the middle of a massive cultural shift, and I.M.P Productions (the folks behind the 9:30 Club) are at the forefront of this change. Recently the mega-promoter signed a 40 year lease on the historic Merriweather Post Pavilion and has announced plans to open another venue - The Anthem - on the shores of the rapidly developing DC waterfront. Marcus Dowling (Bandcamp, Decades) is joining us to talk about what these changes mean for this "small town", what I.M.P's impact will look like, and how this relates to cities struggling to support the arts all around the world.

On his 11th album, The Iceberg, DC "ex-pat" Oddisee has delivered his strongest musical statement yet. A potent mix of philosophy, history lessons, and beats drives the latest collection of songs from one of hip-hop's most unique voices. 

PLUS! Columbia, MD based rapper K.A.A.N. is back with Abstractions, his new EP produced by Klaus Layer, and we've got its first single "Toonami" for you to check out!