In the Distance, Oblivious

Big Al Hammond and Phoebe Fowler

1.0 (2)
Music Commentary
Updated Monthly

Big Al Hammond and Phoebe Fowler invite you to listen as they select songs for their odd and varied music playlist.

06/01/2025

June 2025

Our June episode features a little bit of a new format for us. It’s maybe less of a song by song description of our current playlist, and maybe more of a deeper dive into a few of those songs, with some talk about our musical interests in general. This month we break down a little about how the environment we listen to music in can impact the whole experience, and talk a little about or favorite ways and places to hear music. Show notes from our June 2025 Podcast: Here’s our finished Spotify playlist for this month: Instead of going song by song, here are a couple of our favorite videos of the songs we’re featuring this month: Florence + The Machine – Mother Man Man – Top Drawer Hothouse Flowers – An Emotional Time Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey for help in recording this month. OTHER THANKS. Theme music is from “Red…

1 hr
05/01/2025

May 2025

April showers bring eleven great songs for May! Some fun collaborations, some new artists, some returning friends. One artist we’ve seen live recently, lots more we wish we could see. Come along and listen with us… Show notes from our May 2025 Spotify Podcast: We started with Phoebe’s ten submissions and Al’s ten submissions, We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to 1792 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey for help in recording this month. Theme music is from “Red Eye” by E’s Jammy Jams. On Top of It by Blue Dot Sessions. Golden Grass by Blue Dot Sessions. Trois Gnossiennes 3 by Blue Dot Sessions. Tarte Tatin by Blue Dot Sessions. Our Only Lark by Blue Dot Sessions. Dino De Deus by Blue Dot Sessions. Lahaina by Blue Dot Sessions. Dust Digger by Blue Dot Sessions. Tower of Mirrors by Blue Dot Sessions. Delicates…

50 min
04/01/2025

April 2025

Our April playlist features some older and more established artists, as well as a number of second-time returnees. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of new people that you probably haven’t heard of to spice things up. We’ll also talk about one of our favorite classic albums of the past. Show notes from our April 2025 Spotify Podcast: We started with Al’s ten submissions and Phoebe’s ten submissions, We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. During our show, we also talked about some other music that didn’t get included in our official, finished playlist. If you want to listen to some of that, you can check those out here. Please enjoy the 2021 New York Times article, “50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue'” by Lindsay Zoladz, as well as the actual album itself: Joni Mitchell’s Blue. Thanks to Traveller Whiskey Blend #40 for help in…

51 min
03/01/2025

March 2025

Maybe our favorite themed playlists are when we find what we call “unconventional covers”. Songs you might recognize, but presented in a new (and sometimes almost foreign?) way. We think this batch (our volume three of this format) is out best ever, and at least a few of these are huge improvements on the originals. All eleven are fun and interesting takes on songs you might already know. Show notes from our March 2025 Spotify Podcast: We started with Phoebe’s ten submissions and Al’s ten submissions, We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. During our show, we also talked about lots of other things too: the original versions of these covers, some songs that didn’t quite make the cut this time, as well as some songs (covers and others) from previous playlists. You can check out all of those here. Thanks to Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight…

52 min
02/01/2025

February 2025

Welome to (unplanned) Alumni Month here in ItD,O Land. Al sort of intentionally made all his submissions former playlist faves, but it turns out that all eleven of our songs this month are from artists who have been in our playlist before. It’s a theme… without really intending to be a theme. Plus, we’re attempting to learn how to use some new microphones this month (ahhh, technology!), so hopefully we sound a little better, while remaining true to our uncompromisingly unprofessional standards! Show notes from our February 2025 Spotify Podcast: We started with Al’s ten submissions and Phoebe’s ten submissions, We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey for help in recording this month. Theme music is from “Red Eye” by E’s Jammy Jams. TJ Elwood by Blue Dot Sessions. Country Butter by Blue Dot Sessions. La Naranja Borriana…

51 min
01/14/2025

Greatest Hits Volume Five

Every eleven months, we go through our previous playlists and pick out the favorites of our favorites. Plot twist: Phoebe can only submit songs that were originally Al’s, and vice versa. So we end up with not only eleven great songs, but eleven songs that both of us feel a deep connection to. In this special bonus episode of our podcast, we’ll talk about these songs, why we love them, and what makes a song good enough to be a “Greatest Hit”. Show notes from our Greatest Hits Volume Five Spotify Podcast: For our Greatest Hits playlists, Phoebe submitted ten songs that were originally Al’s, and vice versa. We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): This month’s special Greatest Hits playlist was recorded in room 17 of the Blue Heron Motel in Nags Head, North Carolina. During our show, we also talked about some other music that didn’t get included in our official, finished playlist. If you want to listen to some of that, you can check those out here. Thanks to Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey for help in recording this…

52 min
01/01/2025

January 2025

Where in the podcast universe can you find Vic Chesnutt, Howlin’ Wolf, Lemoncello, and Doeschii, all in the same episode? You’re lookin’ at it! Our first playlist of the new year brings a great variety of artists… seven returning ones, and four great new additions too! Show notes from our January 2025 Spotify Podcast: We started with Phoebe’s ten submissions and Al’s ten submissions, We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. During our show, we also talked about some other music that didn’t get included in our official, finished playlist. If you want to listen to some of that, you can check those out here. We talked a good bit about Doechi, and we wanted to include some links about her here. Doechii Talks “Alligator Bites Never Heal”, The Rolling Stone article that featured her and Brittany Howard, Her performance on Colbert, The Breakdown, Interview with…

50 min
12/01/2024

December 2024

This month’s additions feature six new artists to our playlist, and five acts who are back for their second appearance. (And one new version of a previously heard song). Also, this month we’re changing our format around a little… a little less of the playlist play-by-play, and a little more general talking about various music stuff. We’re still loving making our Spotify playlist every month, but wanted to shake things up a little here on “the pod”. Hope you enjoy! Show notes from our December 2024 Spotify Podcast: We started with Al’s ten submissions and Phoebe’s ten submissions. We narrowed those submissions down and eventually ended up with these eleven songs… Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. During our show, we also talked about some other music that didn’t get included in our official, finished playlist. Here are a few of the other songs we mentioned, as well as the Lowell George documentary that we talked about. And…

41 min
11/01/2024

November 2024

After bringing you a bunch of returning artists last month, Phoebe brought all new musicians to her submissions for our November playlist. Al contributed some new ones too, as well as new releases from our two most honored artists. We hope you enjoy these eleven songs. Show notes from our November 2024 Spotify Podcast: We started with Phoebe’s ten submissions and Al’s ten submissions, but our finished, 11-song playlist is put in an order that we think makes sense musically. Which is not same same order that we pick the songs during the picking ceremony heard during our podcast. Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to Gentleman Jack Double Mellowed Tennessee Whiskey for help in recording this month. Theme music is from “Red Eye” by E’s Jammy Jams, accordion music by Andrew Huang. Tarte Tatin by Blue Dot Sessions. Molly Molly by Blue Dot Sessions. TJ Elwood by Blue Dot Sessions. Featured image: The Chicken of Feats’…

59 min
10/01/2024

October 2024

October brings us lots of returning artists to the playlist. Beirut, Harry Nilsson, and the amazing Allison Russell are among the seven returnees we’ve got for you this month. This is might not the most cohesive collection we’ve presented. We don’t care. Here are eleven good songs for you… Show notes from our October 2024 Spotify Podcast: We started with Big Al’s ten submissions and Phoebe’s ten submissions, but our finished, 11-song playlist is put in an order that we think makes sense musically. Which is not same same order that we pick the songs during the picking ceremony heard during our podcast. Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics): Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia. Thanks to Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey for help in recording this month. Theme music is from “Red Eye” by E’s Jammy Jams, accordion music by Andrew Huang. Basketliner by Blue Dot Sessions. Trois Gnossiennes 3 by Blue Dot Sessions. Our Only Lark by Blue Dot Sessions. Lahaina…

54 min

10 Episodes

1

out of 5

2 Ratings

5 stars

12/10/2024

Yomamma2025

Super cool, chill, informed
Ridiculous and a huge waste of time.

03/24/2023

AliceUSee

Ridiculous and a huge waste of time.

Big Al Hammond and Phoebe Fowler invite you to listen as they select songs for their odd and varied music playlist.

Creator

Big Al Hammond and Phoebe Fowler
Years Active

2023 - 2025
Episodes

10
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2024 In the Distance, Oblivious
Show Website

In the Distance, Oblivious