Ep538: John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants Returns!

John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants talks rare vinyl rarities, the chaotic story behind the new album's cover art, why re-recording old music is almost always a mistake and lots more Order the new album "The World Is to Dig" here Topics Include: Flansburgh owns roughly 2,000 records across three turntable setups at home He doesn't identify as a collector — just a serious listener His rarest record: an Andy Warhol-autographed Sticky Fingers with wild provenance photos He also owns a peeled-banana Velvet Underground and a Blonde on Blonde rarity Deep dive into what makes each of those pressings so collectible TMBG's new album title comes from a Maurice Sendak-illustrated children's book That led to a fascinating detour on painter Ad Reinhardt's secret black-on-black canvases Flansburgh has been TMBG's de facto art director for 35 years The new album's cover art was nearly a Washington Post-licensed sinkhole photo Washington Post's mass layoffs killed the deal at the last possible moment A Hudson Valley School painting of Yosemite became the actual cover Flansburgh and Linnell don't stockpile songs — cuts are made for specific artistic reasons He once had to shelve a song because Linnell came in with a nearly identical opening line TMBG song titles are uniquely searchable — except the new one referencing Wu-Tang Flansburgh is firmly against re-recording old material — cites Zappa as a cautionary tale Great discussion on remastering: Beatles got it right, Hendrix remaster was disorienting TMBG evolved from NYC performance art venues to rock clubs — crowd energy changed everything Their boutique 8-track manufacturer couldn't keep up when TMBG needed a thousand units Dolby Atmos debate: Flansburgh is skeptical, Nate makes the case for spatial audio Nate's most collectible record is a Nevermind test pressing — rejected pressings are worth more Extended & High resolution version of this podcast is available at: Apple: Spotify: Amazon Music: Support the show at Patreon.com/VinylGuide

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Ep538: John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants Returns! is an episode from The Vinyl Guide by Nate Goyer.

This episode is 55:06 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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