Nevermind the Music

What makes us hate a particular song? What’s the best possible beginning to a mixtape? In this episode, we finally dive in and answer listener questions! Come back next week for a full episode! Music heard in this episode: Gracie Abrams - “That’s So True”, Linkin Park - “Casualty” Send us your thou...

Don’t you love that “misunderstood villain” song sung by Idina Menzel? Wait… which one? In this episode, we follow the yellow brick road to the iconic “Defying Gravity” from the 2003 musical and 2024 film “Wicked.” While Nichole wants to talk about important things like empowerment and social movem...

Ever moved from Nashville to L.A.? Mark and Nichole reminisce about their big moves and the big changes they brought. Nichole somehow finds a way to bring the conversation to a big California-bashing session. Cheap shot, Nichole, cheap shot. Be sure to join us next week for a full episode! Send us ...

Are you nodding your head like, yeah? In this episode, we sing along to Miley Cyrus’ 2009 anthem “Party in the U.S.A.” While Nichole breaks down the cultural relativism of a big life change, Mark talks through how the song packs so much punch through the pairing of two different scales: the major a...

How hot are keyboard players? In this absolutely serious and academic discussion, we dream up two musical supergroups. Rigorous standards of consistency were certainly upheld! Listen next week for a full episode! Music heard in this episode: Nickel Creek - "Somebody More Like You", Red Hot ...

Can you hear music that no one’s playing? This week we listen to Outkast’s 2003 eargasm “The Way You Move”. This song has a really cool chord progression, but… no instrument is playing it. What’s up with that? We talk about mental schemas and how good our brains are at filling in the blanks in all ...

Can you still feel the butterflies? In this episode, Mark gives five reasons why Jimmy Eat World’s 1999 hidden gem “For Me This is Heaven” could possibly be the greatest song of all time. Nichole starts off very, very skeptical. Will Mark be convincing? Come back next week for a full episode! Music...

Who needs silence when you can have music? We break down Depeche Mode’s melancholy 1990 gem “Enjoy the Silence.” While Nichole can appreciate that silence, and shares how introversion and extroversion shape our personalities, Mark would rather blab about how the song’s chords and guitar riff are in...

What’s wrong with a little celebration, now and then? In this sidetrack, Mark gets nostalgic for his old band, Dream Hydra, who released their debut (and only) album, Radiant , exactly ten years ago. He takes Nichole on a tour of the band’s music and we discuss songwriting, being in a band in LA, a...

Ladies, did you leave your man at home? Leap into Destiny’s Child’s 1999 hit “Jumpin’ Jumpin’.” Mark talks about how a big part of what makes this song’s melody so cool is that it is so….um… jumpin’!, and Nichole explains what makes certain moments like this song catch the attention of our brain an...