Episodes

  • Episode 353 Guitarist Reg Bloor

    Episode 353 Guitarist Reg Bloor
    Jun 7 2026
    Reg Bloor is a guitarist, instrument builder, and founder of the Systems Neutralizers record label. For 18-years she collaborated with composer Glenn Branca, serving as a guitarist, concertmaster, and manager on international tours and multiple albums. On June 12, 2026, she will conduct Branca's Symphony No. 13 at Lincoln Center, and she is currently preparing the release of his Symphony No. 4. Independently, Reg has released four solo guitar albums, co-founded the bands The Paranoid Critical Revolution and Twitcher, and contributed to several film soundtracks.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Episode 352 Beirut Slump's Bobby Swope AKA Bobby Berkowitz

    Episode 352 Beirut Slump's Bobby Swope AKA Bobby Berkowitz
    May 31 2026
    Robert "Bobby" Swope belonged to a talented cadre of avant-garde visionaries—among them Arto Lindsay, Connie Burg, Mark Cunningham, and Gordon Stevenson—who first crossed paths as students at Florida's Eckerd College in the mid-1970s. This collective moved to New York City in 1977, where they formed the nucleus of the No Wave movement alongside other luminaries like Lydia. Bobby first met Lydia at her birthday celebration in 1978, where she was introduced to both Bobby and his sister, Liz. Captivated by their energy, Lydia invited the siblings to join Vivienne Dick and Jim Sclavunos in Beirut Slump, a side project conceived to run parallel to her band, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Bobby adopted the stage moniker Bobby Berkowitz, a satirical nod to David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam who had terrorized New York City from 1976 - 1977. Beirut Slump's tenure was brief—spanning a year of rehearsals, a single release, and three live performances—the group eventually dissolved as Lydia moved on to new frontiers. Following his foray into the musical underground, Bobby pursued a variety of professions before co-founding a successful antiques enterprise with his partner. The business eventually relocated to Pennsylvania, ultimately paving the way for Bobby's current chapter in Mexico City where this interview took place.
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    58 mins
  • Episode 351 Short Tour Special

    Episode 351 Short Tour Special
    May 24 2026
    Lydia and Tim are on a whirlwind tour right now, hitting stages in Brazil, Australia, Japan, and Europe! The heavy travel and intense performance schedule have made pinning them down for an interview tough, but this week we've got the scoop on exactly where you can see them live. If they are coming to your city, you won't want to miss it. Listen now to get all the details.
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    28 mins
  • Episode 350 Writer Zoe Hansen

    Episode 350 Writer Zoe Hansen
    May 15 2026
    In this episode returning to The Lydian Spin is writer and artist Zoe Hansen. Zoe is a writer, video artist, and longtime friend of the podcast. On this episode she is here to celebrate a big milestone. Her brand new memoir, Going Down in Gotham, is officially out from Far West Press. It is an amazing, firsthand look at three decades of New York City's underground culture, documenting her survival and journey from a London runaway to a Manhattan madam.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Episode 349 Genre Is Death

    Episode 349 Genre Is Death
    May 8 2026
    Genre Is Death, a limitation-destroying noise band formed by Ty Varesi (guitar, vox) and Tayler Lee (bass, vox), release their debut album, Attractive People out May 1 2026 on In The Red Records. Their sound is abrasive yet melodic, using heavy distortion, dissonant riffs, and reverberating vocals to create music that feels both minimal and overwhelming. Their newest record Attractive People, recorded by legendary sound producer Martin Bisi, prods and pushes its listener with tongue in cheek lyrics that accuse and indict their audience, cacophonous guitar shrieks of power and madness, and bass lines that oscillate from funky to erratic dissonance. While comparisons to Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks are inevitable (and quite welcome), Genre is Death build's on NYC's legacy without repeating it… eschewing nostalgia and nihilism in favor of total sonic liberation. The duo moved from the south to NYC in August of 2023 looking for something more than their mundane lifestyle of day drinking and playing doom metal in friends' basements… Their move to NYC, coupled with their desire to express something, anything, led to the inception of Genre is Death. The pair hit the ground running, playing anywhere and everywhere they could… However, it was only after a chance encounter with 80s noise forerunners Live Skull that the pair was introduced to the strange underbelly of NYC noise and began playing regular gigs with The Art Gray Noizz Quintet and Lydia Lunch. In 2025 the pair played toured with Gogol Bordello, embarked on their first East Coast tour, and played gigs with Cherubs, Bush Tetras, and Jon Spencer. The album is out now. Order a copy here.
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Episode 348 Lorin Benedict

    Episode 348 Lorin Benedict
    May 1 2026
    Lorin Benedict is a California-based improvising vocalist (scat singer, essentially), who operates in the fields of jazz and jazz-adjacent music. In addition, he works as a theoretical and computational applied physicist where his focus is on understanding the properties of materials in extreme conditions of pressure and temperature.
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • Episode 347 Al Johnson

    Episode 347 Al Johnson
    Apr 17 2026
    As the frontman for U.S. Maple, Al Johnson utilized his voice as a textural and percussive instrument rather than a melodic vehicle. His delivery consisted of rasps, sharply drawn breaths, and fragmented phrasing. Al operated with rigid adherence to a self-devised notation system, scripting every pause and vocal eccentricity in advance. This formalized approach to dissonance allowed his vocals to function not as a traditional lead, but as an integrated component within the band's broader framework of structural deconstruction.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Episode 346 Larry Mullins Pt2

    Episode 346 Larry Mullins Pt2
    Apr 7 2026
    Part 2 of Larry Mullin's sit down with Lydia and Tim.
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    1 hr and 1 min