It’s no longer an aberration for artists to collaborate in the cloud, given the ease with which most of the world accesses high-speed internet. And A Sunny Day In Glasgow—collectively based in Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Sydney, Australia—creates the sort of impressionistic guitar pop that feels ripe for working in the ether. But that doesn’t mean the process of writing fine new album Sea When Absent (Lefse) across three cities and two hemispheres was ideal. In fact, the method was so present that it became a centerpiece of its narrative. The band will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on the band.
Ben Daniels: Versus is show that I listen to regularly in Sydney on a radio station called FBI. (I have no idea why the radio station is called FBI, but it’s an excellent, non-commercial station that plays a huge variety of awesome music.) The theme of the show is that two ideas/things are debated and then listeners text in to vote for one thing over the other. The ideas are usually fairly inane (sleep vs. crows, psychopaths vs. grudges, dating vs. Beyonce), but they are just there to set the stage for Nick Coyle and Eddie Sharp (and usually one or two of their friends) to be really funny. Coyle is a comedian and playwright with enough pathos to make me really love his work (I’ve seen one his plays and heard a couple of his radio plays; they’re great!). Sharp strikes me as the guy everyone went to high school with and everyone loves. You already know him, he helped you move, and you’re probably going to brunch with him next weekend. They have a good rapport, and their show is very funny.
They also pack a bunch of other stuff into Versus like a guided meditation, “hot gossip” and good music. I don’t think I’ve ever heard “You & Me & The Moon” on the radio before, and I think that’s what made me stop to listen. The show airs at 10 a.m. on Sundays in Sydney, which is either six, seven or eight p.m. on Saturday in Philly, depending on what kind of daylight savings madness is in effect. It strikes me as a great thing to listen to as you get ready to go to a party or something. Have some cocktails and check it out.
