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Dave's Side One

Art of Listening Records

Talk about music, vinyl, classic rock, classic jazz, and whatever else comes to mind. Hosted by one of the founders of Art of Listening Records - Dave Gwilliam.

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S1 · E226
September 2 · 6 min
When the Song Becomes a Performance
When does a song stop being a fixed recording and become a performance? In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave continues The Art of Listening with The Allman Brothers Band’s At Fillmore East. A familiar studio recording can become the version of a song we carry in our heads: the guitar enters here, the solo lasts this long, the ending happens there. But a great live performance reminds us that the recording is only one possibility. Dave listens for the conversation inside the band — guitars, bass, organ and drums reacting to one another — and asks why extended performances work when the musicians use the extra time to develop tension, make choices and go somewhere. The Studio vs. Live Test: Play a studio version of a song. Then play a great live version. Don’t ask which is better. Ask what changed: tempo, dynamics, arrangement, solos, interaction and ending. Then ask what those changes did to the feeling of the song. The song may be the map. The performance is the trip. Side One Spin: What live version made the studio version feel incomplete afterward?
S1 · E225
September 1 · 7 min
The $5 Record Can Be Better Than the $50 Record
What is a record really worth once the needle drops? In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave begins a new week of challenges — The Art of Listening by separating market value from musical value. Using Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory, Dave asks a simple question: if one copy costs $5 and another costs $50, is the expensive record ten times better to listen to? Condition, pressing, scarcity and demand all matter when we buy and sell records. But once the music starts, they answer a different question. Dave introduces The $5 Record Test: Pull one inexpensive record you genuinely love. Then pull one record that is worth considerably more. Play both without checking prices, sales history or collector information. Which one makes you want to stay in the room? Which one makes you reach for Side Two? A record does not know what you paid for it. Side One Spin: What’s the cheapest record in your collection that you would absolutely hate to lose?
S1 · E224
August 31 · 7 min
The Side I’d Play for a Skeptic
You get one side of one album. No greatest-hits package. No custom playlist. Just one side to make the case for a band. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave closes Why Album Sides Matter with Side Two of Styx’s Equinox and introduces The Conversion Test: Can the listener enter? Does the side expand their idea of the band? Does it reveal something distinctive? And when the side ends, do they want to continue? A great conversion side does not explain everything. It does something more useful. It creates curiosity. Side One Spin: What one album side would you use to convince someone to give your favorite band another chance?
S1 · E223
August 30 · 6 min
The Side That Changed Direction
Sometimes Side Two does more than continue an album. It changes the rules. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave uses Rush’s 2112 to explore a record built around two very different listening experiences. Side One asks for immersion in an extended long-form suite. Then the record flips. Side Two resets the format and moves through individual songs. Dave introduces The Direction-Change Test: Does Side One fully commit? Does the flip create a natural reset? Does Side Two establish its new rules? And does the whole record still connect? A great direction change doesn’t make an album feel divided. It makes the album feel broader. Side One Spin: What album changes direction after the flip and still works?
S1 · E222
August 29 · 7 min
The Side With No Weak Track
What does “no weak tracks” actually mean? Does every song need to be equally brilliant? Dave doesn't think so. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Side One of Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road provides the test: “Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding” “Candle in the Wind” “Bennie and the Jets” Three tracks. Three different jobs. Dave introduces The No-Weak-Track Test: Does every song earn its place? Does every song add something different? Does removing one weaken the side? And would you simply let the whole thing play? A great album side isn't a ranking. It's a relationship between songs. Side One Spin: What album side contains nothing you'd remove?
S1 · E221
August 28 · 6 min
The Greatest Album Flip
What happens in the few seconds between Side One and Side Two? On vinyl, the answer is: A lot. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave uses The Beatles’ Abbey Road to explore the physical and musical architecture of the album flip. Side One ends with “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” Then: Silence. The listener turns the record over. Side Two begins with “Here Comes the Sun.” That change in weight, mood, and emotional temperature makes the physical flip feel like part of the album itself. Dave introduces The Flip Test: End. Pause. Reopen. Transform. Side One Spin: What album has your favorite Side One closer / Side Two opener combination?
S1 · E220
August 27 · 7 min
The Side-Long Journey
What makes a side-long musical journey work? In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave turns to Side Two of Chicago’s Chicago II and “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon.” The key isn’t the running time. It’s what the music does with that time. Dave introduces The Suite Test: Does the piece establish a theme? Does it change shape? Does staying with it pay off? And when familiar ideas return, do they mean more because of everything we’ve experienced in between? A great extended album side doesn’t simply last. It travels. Side One Spin: What suite or extended album side completely pulls you in?
S1 · E219
August 26 · 6 min
When Side Two Is Better
Side One has one advantage: It gets to introduce the album. Side Two has another: It gets to use everything Side One already established. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave uses Queen’s A Night at the Opera to explore the four jobs of a great second side: Reopen. Escalate. Deliver. Finish. From “The Prophet’s Song” through “God Save the Queen,” the second side keeps changing shape before arriving at one of rock’s most famous late-album payoffs. The argument is not that Side One failed. It’s that sometimes the second side simply carries the bigger reward. Side One Spin: What album has a Side Two you prefer to Side One?
S1 · E218
August 25 · 7 min
Why Album Sides Matter #1 - Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon
This week of of Dave's Side One begins with a question that's hiding in the name of the show: What makes a great Side One? Using Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Dave ignores the album's enormous reputation and concentrates on the five tracks that originally occupied its first side. The result is The Side One Test: Does the side invite you in? Does it take you somewhere? Does it leave you somewhere different? And when the music stops, does it make you want to flip the record? Because a perfect Side One isn't merely half an album. It gives you a reason to need the other half. Side One Spin: What's your perfect Side One?
S1 · E217
August 24 · 8 min
Listen to the Record, Not Just the Song
Do you love the song? Or do you love one particular recording of it? This episode closes out the week of Dave’s Side One: Seven Things to Listen For. Using Journey's “People and Places,” Dave separates the listening experience into four layers: Material. Performance. Arrangement. Sound. The material can travel from performer to performer. But the voices, instrumental choices, interaction, dynamics, space and recorded sound turn that material into a specific record. This episode also brings together every previous exercise—from drums and arrangement to rhythm-section chemistry and silence. The point of active listening isn't to tear music apart. It's to hear more when we put everything back together. Side One Spin: What song belongs, in your mind, to one particular recording?
S1 · E216
August 23 · 7 min
The Space Between the Notes
What happens when musicians choose not to fill every empty space? This episode of Dave’s Side One continues Seven Things to Listen For with Jay Ferguson’s Real Life Ain’t This Way. Dave listens for four kinds of space: CLEAR — removing clutter, FRAME — giving an important part room, BUILD — holding something back so its entrance matters, TRUST — allowing the song to exist without constant decoration. A pause is not nothing. A missing instrument is not always an omission. Sometimes restraint is the arrangement. Side One Spin: What record gets stronger because the musicians know when not to play?
S1 · E215
August 22 · 7 min
When the Rhythm Section Locks In
What makes a rhythm section truly lock? It is not enough to have a great bass player. It is not enough to have a great drummer. The relationship between them is the real instrument. In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave uses Tower of Power's Live and in Living Color for the next Seven Things to Listen For exercise. Listen for: POCKET RESPOND HOLD FREE Do bass and drums share the same center? Do they react to each other? Does the relationship remain intact when the music changes? And what does that stability allow the rest of the band to do? A locked rhythm section does more than create groove. It creates freedom. Side One Spin: What album has your favorite bass-and-drums partnership?
S1 · E214
August 21 · 7 min
When the Arrangement Tells the Story
Can an arrangement tell a story? In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave continues Seven Things to Listen For with The Who's Quadrophenia. Instead of concentrating entirely on lyrics, Dave listens for: changes in density, instrumental entrances, shifts in scale, recurring themes, and musical ideas that return in new contexts. The listening framework is: ESTABLISH SHIFT RECALL RESOLVE A lyric may tell us what happened. The arrangement can tell us what the moment felt like. And when a musical theme returns later in the record, repetition can become something more: memory. Side One Spin: What album tells part of its story through arrangement?
S1 · E213
August 20 · 6 min
Everything Happening Behind the Singer
The human voice naturally pulls our attention forward. That means some of the most interesting musical information can pass by underneath it. In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave uses Steely Dan's Aja for the next Seven Things to Listen For exercise: Listen behind the singer. Follow the bass. Then the drums. Then the keyboards. Then the guitars, horns, harmonies, and small musical details that appear for only a moment. Dave introduces The Background Test: Support. Color. Respond. Reveal. A great backing arrangement doesn't merely decorate the vocal. It changes how we hear it. Side One Spin: What album gets richer when you stop following the lead singer?
S1 · E212
August 19 · 7 min
Listen to the Drummer
What happens when you deliberately stop listening to the most obvious thing on a familiar record? Today's episode of Dave’s Side One continues Seven Things to Listen For with Journey’s Evolution. This time, Dave ignores the lead vocal and guitar and follows Steve Smith. The listening framework: PLACE — How does the beat feel? MOVE — How does the drummer help the band transition? SHAPE — How do the drums change the emotional size of a section? SPACE — What does the drummer choose not to fill? A great drummer does much more than keep time. A great drummer changes how the band moves. Side One Spin: What album would you choose for a drummer-focused listen?
S1 · E211
August 18 · 7 min
When an Album Announces Itself
What happens when we stop asking what to listen to and start asking what to listen for? This episode begins the weekly topic on Dave’s Side One: Seven Things to Listen For. The first exercise is musical identity. Using Earth, Wind & Fire's I Am and the opening of “In the Stone,” Dave listens for the musical information arriving almost immediately: rhythm, horns, voices, arrangement, energy and scale. Then he introduces The Album-Introduction Test: ARRIVE — Does the album command attention? IDENTIFY — Does it establish a recognizable personality? PROMISE — What expectations does the opening create? DELIVER — Does the rest of the album develop that identity? A great opening doesn't need to tell us everything that's coming. It teaches us what to listen for. Side One Spin: What album announces itself almost immediately?
S1 · E210
August 17 · 7 min
You Haven’t Really Heard an Album Until You’ve Heard It All the Way Through
Can you know every song on an album and still not really know the album? In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave closes Seven Musical Arguments by exploring the difference between hearing individual tracks and experiencing a complete album. Using Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Not Fragile, Dave looks at how sequencing, momentum, the Side One break and the album closer create relationships between songs that disappear when every track is treated independently. This is not an argument against playlists, shuffle or streaming. It is an argument that complete-album listening offers something different. Dave also introduces The Full Album Test: Start at Track One. Don’t skip. Don’t shuffle. Stay until the last song finishes. Then ask: Did I hear something I missed before? The final Week 7 Side One Spin: What album should everybody hear at least once, beginning to end, without skipping anything?

Showing 61–77 of 77 episodes