Can we nap to heavy metal? Did Evanescence save a plane full of people? Did we really miss the mark with Weezer? In this super-sized episode, we hear one last batch of listener questions for Season 1! Come back next week for the last regular episode of our first season!

Music heard in this episode: Luciano Berio - “Sinfonia: III - In ruhig fliessender Bewegung”, Evanescence - “Bring Me to Life”, Sugar Ray - “RPM”, LL Burns - “Don’t Call Me at Home”, Bonobo - “Recurring” 

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Why do we always keep coming back? Here we break down Post Malone’s 2019 summer jam “Circles.” Mark has some thoughts about how the melody feeds on itself, but Nichole would rather talk about what it would be like to “check out” and completely disengage from society. We dare you to DOOOOOO something!

Other music heard in this episode: Post Malone - “White Iverson”, Post Malone - “Rockstar”, Post Malone - “Psycho”, Post Malone - “I Like You”, Aaron Neville - “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, Adriana Caselotti - “Someday My Prince Will Come”, Taylor Swift - “I Knew You Were Trouble”, Huey Lewis & The News - “Stuck With You”

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Did either of us ever think we’d have an episode about psychics? For some reason, we have a fun conversation about paranormal mental abilities, what exactly we believe, and how it all connects to psychology. Come on back next week for a full episode!

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Don’t you just love a good beat switch? Here we pray to Dionne Warwick’s sneaky-fancy hit from 1967, “I Say a Little Prayer.” While Mark wants to marvel at the changing time signatures in this song, Nichole is most interested in what the song shows about the life situations of military families. Are these ideas related? Nichole certainly makes a good stab at explaining how they might be!

Other music heard in this episode: Aretha Franklin - “I Say a Little Prayer”, Lou Johnson “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me”, Dionne Warwick - “That’s What Friends are For”, Tennessee Ernie Ford - “Sixteen Tons”, Diana King - “I Say a Little Prayer”, Outkast - “Hey Ya!”, The Bee Gees - “Jive Talkin’”, Hozier - “Take Me to Church”, Blondie - “Heart of Glass”, Little Richard - “Tutti Frutti”, Pat Boone - “Tutti Frutti”

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What do pop stars and 19th-century opera composers have in common? Some of them are awful people! After avoiding it for months, we finally have the conversation about what it means to love music created by potentially terrible people. There’s a whole lot of Michael Jackson talk. No answers are found but a whole lot of interesting questions are raised. Tune in next week for a full episode!

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When is one note actually a bunch of notes? Here we listen closely to Green Day’s rock radio earworm “Waiting,” from 2000. Mark quite literally pulls apart some notes to figure out whether a chord is major or minor. And Nichole talks about why waiting is so hard in our modern age, and wonders if there is a better way. Also, does Nichole have perfect pitch? 

Other music heard in this episode: Green Day - “When I Come Around”, Green Day - “Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life)”, Green Day - “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, Green Day - “J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)”, Green Day - “Scattered”, Green Day - “Whatsername”, The Kinks - “You Really Got Me”, Puddle of Mudd - “Blurry”, Huun-Huur-Tu - “Aa-Shuu Dekei-oo”, Sarah Hopkins - “Past Life Melodies”

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Which one of us broke the most laws for the sake of seeing a great show? In this sidetrack, we reminisce about some of our favorite concerts, some from years ago and some much more recent. Check us out next week for a full episode!

Music heard in this episode - The Flaming Lips - “She Don’t Use Jelly”, The Rise Against - “Give it All”, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - “Teach Your Children”, Gin Blossoms - “Hey Jealousy”, My Morning Jacket - “One Big Holiday”, Steve Reich - “Music for 18 Musicians”, Fiona Apple - “Criminal”, Nickel Creek - “Rest of My Life”, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic - “You Don’t Love Me Anymore”

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When we all fall asleep, where do we go? In this episode, we dig up Billie Eilish’s mysterious 2019 gem “Bury a Friend.” Mark shows how the song gets its creepy vibe in part by using some very simple and clever melodic tricks. Nichole talks about the monster under the bed and how nightmares can actually play a useful role in treatment. Also, why are lullabies so creepy?

Other music heard in this episode: Billie Eilish - “Ocean Eyes”, Ariana Grande - “Problem”, System of a Down - “Hypnotize”, Justin Timberlake - “Mirrors”, Meghan Trainor - “All About That Bass”

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Hey, who ordered the nipple gong? In this sidetrack we celebrate the unusual instruments that grace us in pop music. From the hurdy-gurdy to the musical saw, underappreciated instruments, we salute you! Tune in next week for some normal instruments in a full episode!

Music heard in this episode: Kate Bush - "The Dreaming", Earth, Wind & Fire - "Evil", The Beach Boys - "I Know There's an Answer", Depeche Mode - "Everything Counts", The Troggs - "Wild Thing", Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away", Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", Buddy Holly - "Everyday", Korn - "Shoots and Ladders", The Rolling Stones - "Lady Jane", Donovan - "Hurdy-Gurdy Man", Metallica - "Low Man's Lyric", Soundgarden - "Spoonman", Incubus - "Aqueous Transmission"

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How do you do it? Here we meet in outer space with Incubus’ 2000 rock radio staple “Stellar.” Mark can’t get enough of how rhythmically confusing the song is, with different possible ways to count the beat. Nichole tries to figure out why that kind of thing tickles us so much, and how we change our attitudes and identity over time. Listen close and learn something about how stupid Mark was in high school…

Other music heard in this episode: Incubus - "Drive", Incubus - "New Skin," Incubus - "Pardon Me," Incubus - "Redefine", Mike Einziger - "Wake Me Up", Wynonie Harris - "Good Rockin' Tonight", Queen - "We Will Rock You", The Beach Boys - "Slip on Through", 311 - "Loco", Chris Thile - "On Ice", Coldplay - “Clocks”

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