Stereothematica

We are on break until September 2, but we hope you’ll press play on this re-release of one of our favorite episodes.

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Ever love an album so much, you'd call it perfect—if it wasn't for that one skippable track? This week, Christina and Christine reveal the single songs they'd remove from a couple of their favorite records to create their ultimate no-skip albums. 

VIDEOS:

Beach House: L’Inconnue,  7 (2018)

David Bowie: Andy Warhol, Hunky Dory (1971)

EXTRAS:

Pitchfork album review of “7”

L'Inconnue de la Seine

Reddit thread of L’Inconnue favs 

Dana Gillespie singing “Andy Warhol”

Bowie in Basquiat (1996)   

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

We’re on a short break until September 2, so we’re rewinding our Mixtape episode. Please press play and relive the joy of swapping songs, discovering new favorites, and maybe falling for Devo all over again.

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This week on Stereothematica, we’re diving into the songs we first heard on mixtapes. Whether it was on a carefully curated cassette from a friend, a crush, or a burned CD passed around in high school, these are the tracks that hit different and never left our rotation. We get into the emotional data transfer of mixtapes, and why some songs just stick—even if the relationships didn’t.

Videos:

Devo: Beautiful World (1981) 

The Slits: Typical Girls (1979)

Extras:

Devo performing “That’s Good” on Square Pegs (Correction: Christine mistakenly call it “Good Thing” in the episode)

The Slits: I Heard it Through the Grapevine (1979)

1999 Target commercial 

Portlandia Mixologist Clip

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

Songs can teach you things! Who knew? Our artists knew, obviously. And we've learned a few cautionary tales in addition to our picks this week. Like... don't drink and gamble. Don't be a bad dad! Guns? Not our favorite. But if you're gonna have them, don't take them to town! And above all, if you're a jerk husband like Earl, well, watch out!

Our cautionary tale to you, dear listeners, is to stay in touch lest you want to make us sad. And we will be back September 2 with Season Two of Stereothematica! 

VIDEOS

Slick Rick: Children’s Story (1989)

Bob Dylan: The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest (1967)

EXTRAS

The Making of Children’s Story  

Complex 50 Best Storytelling Rap Songs

Stax Reacts! First time hearing Children's Story (so fun!)

Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick: The Show

Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick: La Di Da Di

Questlove's Top 50 Hip Hop Songs of All Time (2012)

Nautilus Samples 

How Dylan Created a Minimal New Sound on John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan's Most Inscrutable Lyrics

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

Today we are waxing nostalgic. Well, more like longing for a moment, a feeling, a history we never experienced. The Germans, of course, have a word for it: sehnsucht. In Korean, it's han, a soulful ache that can span generations. And in English? We’ve got anemoia (thanks to a somewhat newly made-up word rooted in Greek). Join us as we unpack this beautifully complicated feeling through music, memory (real and yearned for), and imagination. 

VIDEOS

Kim Jung Mi: Haenim (1973)

Karen Dalton: Something On Your Mind (1971) 

EXTRAS

Kim Jung Mi: Spring (When Life Gives You Tangerines - Opening Credits)

Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Shin Joon Hyun: Moon Watching 

Haenim (Apartment Sessions with Song Yi Jeon on vocals)

A Brief History of Han

The Problem with Han

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

This week we tackle the songs we love with lyrics that confuddle us. Less, "what are they saying???" and more "what do they mean?!"  

VIDEOS

The Replacements: Swinging Party  (1984)

Sabina Sciubba: Viva L’Amour (2014)

EXTRAS

When did drunks start wearing lampshades?

VPM Interview with Sabina Sciubba (2024)

Penelope and Mrs. Baskets at Costco

The Pleasure of the Text (Not Christine's copy, but some of her favorite parts are underlined)

Jung in the World discussion with Lewis Hyde

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

Movie magic is back (again)! This time we’re talking sing-alongs! Not the big staged numbers, but those unplanned, diegetic moments when characters just start singing along to a song because they must. Whether it’s in a bar, a bus, or a car, these are the scenes that sneak up on you and stick around long after the credits roll.

VIDEOS

The Deer Hunter - Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You 

Almost Famous - Tiny Dancer

WHAT DOES NOT COUNT:

Lip Syncing  

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Anything Acapella

The Breakup - Move Yourself

Stepbrothers - Sweet Child Of Mine  

Vacation - Mockingbird 

Clearly Choreographed Performances

10 Things I Hate About You - Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You 

Bridesmaids - Hold On (Sorry, Christina! Staged and lip syncing from main cast)

Karaoke (Limbo)

Lost In Translation - Brass in Pocket & More Than This (And God Save the Queen)

WHAT WORKS:

Broadcast News - Edition Speciale

Before Sunset - Just in Time (49 on NYT list)

Magnolia - Wise Up

Wayne’s World -  Bohemian Rhapsody (debatable)

Jerry McGuire - Free Falling

Tommy Boy - Superstar

Barbie - Closer to Fine

Harold and Kumar - Hold On

Heartbreak Kid - Medley

Átame - Resistiré  (CZP's original favorite) 

The Silence of the Lambs - American Girl  

EXTRAS

Interview Magazine - Cameron Crowe

Vulture - The Real Penny Lane Has a Few Things Left to Say About Almost Famous

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

What happens when music refuses to stay in its lane? It gets some major Stereothematica love. 

This week Christina and Christine talk about the artists who blur boundaries, break molds, and bend genres in ways that feel both surprising and inevitable. These are sounds shaped by curiosity, contradiction, and a refusal to be easily defined.

Videos:

Arthur Russell: This is How We Walk on the Moon (1994)

Yellow Magic Orchestra: Simoon (1979)

Extras:

Psycho Killer feat. Arthur Russell playing cello

Wild Combination documentary

"My favorite song" by Ramesh Srivastava

“‘I Want to See All My Friends At Once’: Arthur Russell and the Queering of Gay Disco” Journal of Popular Music Studies

Live Version of Simoon

The Music That Shaped Haruomi Hosono

Crafting the Sound of the Future

Michale Jackson cover of Behind the Mask

De La Soul Sampling YMO in Big Brother Beat 

Reddit - Let’s Talk Music: YMO 

The Amazing History of YMO

YMO on Soul Train - Tighten Up cover 

Archie Bell and the Drells: Tighten Up 

YMO on Soul Train - Firecracker 

Firecracker Samples:

Afrika Bambaataa: Death Mix II

Mariah Carey: Loverboy

Jennifer Lopez (Featuring Ja Rule): I’m Real

De La Soul: Funky Towel

2 Live Crew: Mega Mixx II

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

It’s our 25th episode! What better way to celebrate than with a chat about collaboration—the good, the weird, and the legendary. From surprise duets to global jams, we’re talking about musical magic-making that moves our bodies and minds and reassures us that just maybe humanity isn’t doomed after all. Thanks for being a part of the Stereothematica collaboration!

VIDEOS

David Byrne and Selena: God’s Child (Baila Conmigo) (1995)

Khruangbin & Vieux Farka Touré: Tongo Barra (2022)

EXTRAS

Saharan Cellphone Music

Janne Oinonen’s review of Ali in Line of Best Fit 

Olivia Rodrigo and David Byrne Burning Down the House

David Bryne: God’s Child

MORE COLLABORATIONS

Bad:

Bowie and Jagger: Dancing In the Street

Cringey but beloved:

Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder: Ebony and Ivory  

Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney: 

The Girl is Mine & Say Say Say

Most ridiculous: 

Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy Whatzupwitu

Most Iconic: 

Run DMC and Aerosmith Walk This Way

Queen & David Bowie Under Pressure 

Favorites: 

Sofi Tukker collab with Amadou & Mariam 

Amadou & Mariam collab with Santigold

Collaborating for Good:

The Sahel Initiative - Raising awareness and funding for humanitarian action across West Africa’s Sahel region

Vieux Farka Touré, Amadou & Mariam, Bassekou Kouyate, OMG Oumy Gueye, Songhoy Blues and Tal National: My Sahel

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

From the grief-fueled artistry of Ben Kweller to the soulful resurgence of Ethiopian legend Girma Bèyènè, this week, we get into the emotional power of musical comebacks—those triumphant, and sometimes tragic, returns to the spotlight.  

Videos:

Ben Kweller: Dollar Store (2025)

Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé: Enkèn Yèlélèbesh (2017) 

Extras:

Ben Kweller’s famous nosebleed at ACL 2006

Vulture’s Review of “Cover the Mirrors”

Ben’s show at the Troubadour is on July 23!

Girma Bèyènè: Enkèn Yèlélèbesh (Original 1969) 

Girma’s Comeback Concert at Studio de L’ermitage (2015)

Ethiopiques Collection

Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul

My Beautiful Girma

Donate:

17 Non-Profits Supporting Immigrant Rights

More Social Justice Orgs

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back! 

Whether you think the summer song is a relic of the past or you need some tunes to get up and dance--or maybe just for lounging by the pool--we’ve got you covered. 

Videos:

Sofi Tukker: Energia (2018)

Charli XCX:360 (2024)

Sofi Tukker Collabs:

Sofi Tukker and Pabllo Vittar: Energia Part 2 (2018)

Sofi Tukker Featuring Charlie Baker: Good Time Girl (2018)

Sofi Tukker and Bomba Estéreo: Playa Grande (2019) 

Sofi Tukker and Amadou et Mariam: Mon Cheri (2022)

Other Summer Songs:

Sofi Tukker: Drinkee 

Sergio Mendes: Roda

Gal Costa: Vou Recomeçar 

Tim Maia: O Caminho Do Bem

Our Predictions episode also had some serious summer vibes:

Reyna Tropical: No Me Quieres

Drugdealer, featuring Weyes Blood: The End of Comedy 

Sam Evian: Jacket 

Extras:

Mean Cute with Charli xcx

Is the Summer Song Dead?

What is brat? (According to the NYT) 

This is Nicolas Jaar (According to Nicolas Jaar)

Connect with us on Instagram (to share your song picks or troll us), Spotify (for our ever-growing playlist), and Stereothematica.com (for extra fun)!

If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe, and if you love it, a five-star rating and review would send us into the exosphere of excitement.

And email us at [email protected]! We will write back!