Mixomusicology

This week: CHVRCHES' "Overthinker," PISS and "blocking a scene you can’t remember," and La Roux's "Lose Myself."

Content warning: This week’s second song by PISS is an incredible work that unapologetically addresses the sexual assault and abuse of a minor and the trauma response to that, as well as mentions of self-harm. Please listen with caution, or skip over that section (approximately 19:30 - 31:00).

Jana monologues about Dia de los Muertos and the traditions we all keep to honor our loved ones, as well as the differences in how cultures treat death. New Mexico cele...

This week: Caroline Rose with "Conversation with Shiv," girl in red's "blue," and K. Flay with "Blood Cells."

Greetings from Mixomusicology land! Please make a plan to vote if you are an American and listening to this before 11/3/26!

Alex is monologuing this week about waylaid musical careers and making art in spite of it all. He brings up Ursula K. Le Guin as an example of a writer who didn’t rise as quickly as peers like Plath and Atwood. Her slow start fueled her and made her more dedicated to the craft itself and al...

This week: Olivia Rodrigo & Chappell Roan's "Expectations," Fontaines D.C. feat. Rosalía on "Where Is Gone?," and Angèle feat Caroline Polachek & SebastiAn with "Love Triangle."

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Welcome to Season 3! We made it. Jana monologues about addition…and how all the songs this week are true collaborations of additions. Strengths added to strengths. Chappell and Olivia’s duet is definitely brilliant at bringing everyone into the conversation in an inclusive and natural way. Alex brings up Pet Shop Boys and their collaboration with Dusty Springfield. It’s a fascinating history. Also, Jana admits she is a Gleek. Do with...

Welcome to our second ever Classics episode, a deep dive into the career and discography of Liz Phair.

Alex names Phair as one of his most influential artists, and Jana knows almost nothing about her. Listen as Alex walks us through this roller coaster of a legendary career. Hands down, she holds a place as one of the most important voices and writers in rock to this day.

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But first, a drink:

BLOOD AND SAND

Liz Phair mentions in her interviews that while doing her early recording, she...

The only episode of this podcast where we will ever discuss Chet Hanx and Taylor Swift at the same time (probably).

Jana monologues us through the nepo situation. The word "nepotism" comes from the Italian nipote, meaning nephew, because Renaissance era popes kept passing down cardinal hats to their "nephews," who were often just their sons. It entered into current pop culture zeitgeist in 2022 when New York Magazine declared it the Year of the Nepo Baby.

Alex and Jana set some guidelines about what exactly gets you the moniker in music these days, as there...

Ah, the Song of the Summer. What are the choices? What do we LIKE, and what do we think are the obvious picks, whether we like them or not?

Alex introduces the Minicast this week, and Jana starts strong by saying she doesn’t much enjoy summer, so she doesn’t have a favorite Song of the Summer. Alex goes for Gwen Stefani’s “Cool.” Strong choice.

For 2026, though? Let’s chat about it. We each picked our personal favorite and also our choice that seems inescapable in Summer 2026. The rules: they have to be a notable re...

Songs this week: Carly Rae Jepsen's "Burning Hearts," Miley Cyrus with "Different Religion," and Beabadoobee's "Satellite."

Alex thoughtfully monologues about our artists this week and their not-so-predictable career arcs. Carly Rae Jepsen, widely regarded by music nerds as one of the best ever pop writers and artists in the game, does not have the sales or cultural visibility to match that title. Miley’s career has taken a ton of turns genre-wise, and she seems to embrace the risk switching up her sound and following her muse. Both artists have very ardent gay followings, and the answer ma...

This week: Sylvan Esso’s “Sledge”, Slayyyter’s “crank 2,” and Bleachers’ “Caught Myself Believing.”

Jana monologues about the funhouse mirror dangers trying to go back in time, illuminated by her trip to the New Mexico State Fair. Nostalgia is high on her list lately, but it’s not always a good thing to visit. Small doses, just like Blue Taki Pickle Pizza. (Alex misses V.1 Tamagotchis, which is very valid nostalgia).

We get into a deep chat about the music industry news of the week: Jasmine Crockett/Chris Brown and Ed Sheeran/Macklemore. Alex leads us through a thoroug...

This week: underscores, THAO & Neko Case, and Rebecca Black

Alex’s monologue starts us off strong with the juxtaposition of trying to be an artist in an age when people have 24/7 access to your online persona, but maybe don’t treat you like a human being. Loneliness, the desire to be desired, and the desire to not be perceived at all. All the songs this week tackle these themes in their own way. To get into it, we need a drink.

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Waschesalon

Ingredients:

This week is our first Classics Episode! A deep dive into the discography of Tori Amos.

Listen along: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/WUpzFTOpCD

Jana has been a Tori-phile since she saw her live on the Scarlet's Walk tour back in 2003. Alex's familiarity stopped with "Cornflake Girl." We think these deep dives are a great chance to share an artist one of us loves with the other, and also attempt to put the cultural impact of their career in context. Tori Amos provides a lot to talk about!

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But first...

Songs on the pod this week: Chelsea Wolfe, The Aces, and Caroline Rose

This week’s episode is for Dolly, and Alex opens with a career retrospective and commentary that shows how much influence she had in just about everything. We will always love you, Dolly Parton. Truly.

Consider a donation to The Imagination Library in Dolly’s honor.

Now, a drink!

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SWALLOWER

A full album episode: we discuss Phoebe Bridgers' Lost Weekend!

This week's episode is extra long because Phoebe Bridgers' new album is extra good. Also we are joined by a special guest, the artist CHAPS, Tyler Morgenstern. Jana opens with a monologue about Phoebe's take on writing and touring, just an appreciative meander about it all before we get into the record. First, let's have a drink:

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LOST WEEKEND

Alex says: "A play on a Lion’s Tail, which first appeared in The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book in 1937. It was an...

This week: Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Bea Miller, & FLO!

Alex starts us off by monologuing about the hard times of shoulder seasons, and masterfully equates the Nicene Creed to the lyrics of WAP. Grief runs through all of our songs this week in an interesting way, and Alex makes note of ways music gets us through our own individual griefs. His main point: you are not alone. We are singular, but not alone.

We talk poets for a bit, Anne Sexton, Rumi, and more. Do songwriters write good poems? Jana is scared by that thought. She...

Up this week: Ariana Grande, Remi Wolf, Rachel Chinouriri!

Jana opens with a monologue about Discourse, and her mixed feelings on having a podcast that addresses pop culture and art while weathering the ups and downs of internet hot takes about the artists we feature. Yes, Ariana is a big topic this week. Jana urges everyone to just watch the music video for "Petal." Ultimately, an artist like Ariana is very in control of her image, and she's giving us a message through her art, which we are here to talk about!

But first, a...

Does having limitless resources when making art...make the art worse? Alex poses this question in the monologue this week. He talks about seeing the Carol Bove exhibition at the Guggenheim recently, where she used about 6 materials total in her work that spans decades. Sometimes limits create genius. Is it necessary to impose the same kind in music? Alex and Jana have a chat about it.

They also need a drink:

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SAINT LAURENT

Play on a Champs-Elysees

Welcome back, it's time for episode 3 and we have a lot to say this week! Jana monologues on her regrets over letting the internet decide what she thinks about new art, often times even before it's out, or she's had a chance to listen. These are weird times when a hot take from Reddit can sour a whole listening experience. There's some Hamnet discussion (we split our decisions on it)...and does response to art depend on the mood you're in when you take it in? So many questions. We need a drink.

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This...

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2. We are in the depths of summer, and our moods and song choices reflect that. We just wanna vibe, and vibe we do.

Listen along on this week’s playlist:

Alex monologues about his thoughts on nostalgia, and how do we move forward and grow artistically when we are all so stuck in the past? Toy Story 5 anyone? Alex watches movies from days of yore to escape. Jana listens to her same playlists over and over again. Then Jana admits she’s never seen Twin Peaks, and Alex has to come to t...

Welcome back to Mixomusicology! Season 2 is upon us, and we brought out some heavy hitters for our return.

First up, we catch up post-break and Jana monologues about her blissful moment of revelation at a Hilary Duff concert. Not having everything figured out is a feature of living, not a bug. Also the quote "there are only adults in the room if there are children present" rings really true. The best we can do is not take things too seriously, while we take them very seriously. We take listening to music and talking about it over a...

Our second minicast! We'll be back next week for Season 2. In the meantime, please enjoy Alex's banger Transatlantic accent.

We decided to do this episode about what we term "Bizarre Pop." Songs that we've wanted to fit into typical episodes but are just a little too...bizarre.

Playlist if you wanna get weird with us: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/LCgMnaQFr4

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Firstly, we have another Minicast shot for you!

Professor Pepper

Chill...

Welcome to our first minicast! We'll be back with Season 2 of Mixomusicology in July. In the meantime...

🚨 ALERT 🚨

The plane has crashed. We have nothing on this desert island but broken, screen-cracked iPod Nanos that only play 5 songs each. What songs will we choose?

What would YOU choose? Let us know on our Substack / socials. Don't forget to leave a 5 star review if you like the pod!

Follow along with our episode playlist here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/Ha4DNA144o

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This week's shot:

Bana...

Folks, we've hit episode 13 and thus, the end of Season One. Incredible. We can't thank you enough for all the listens and the love. It keeps us going. We have some mini-casts planned for our two week break, and we will hit the ground running on Season Two in July. Tell your friends that now is a great time to catch up before the next season!

Follow along with this week's playlist right here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/6dA8kbd2Hq

Alex is monologuing about fame and what the heck is wrong and awful...

Welcome to episode 12...a whole dozen of these things exist! Jana opens with a monologue referencing MUNA's new cover of "King of Wishful Thinking" and waxes poetic about how change is inevitable but it's not always good or kind in the moment. The king of wishful thinking is just getting through something by sheer will. Sometimes this is enough.

Since we definitely need a drink after that monologue, Alex walks us through our first milk punch recipe! It's a reference to a Sidecar, with a new twist.

Follow along with this week's playlist!

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Welcome to Episode 11! Happy Pride, everyone!

Follow along on our playlist: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/bIlbUfUrbL

Alex's beautiful and personal monologue talks about Doris Day's song "Secret Love," part of the soundtrack to the movie Calamity Jane. Love so big it can no longer be hidden...sounds like a theme to us. Secret loves and Calamity Janes...many of us know this combination well. We also talk rom-coms and Julia Roberts supremacy.

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The drink this week:

THREE WISHES

Episode 10! We are in double digits! Wow. Alex says he saw a stat that most podcasts don't make it to Episode 10, so congrats us, and mostly thanks to all you listeners. Jana monologues about the performance art demanded of being online, versus the existentialist detangling from it all..."nothing matters lol." Alex adds some great points about how queer musicians learn to mask and perform from a very young age, and it ends up in our art. There's also a very important update about Leo the Turtle learning new things at an advanced age.

Follow along with...

Episode 9 is here, and Alex is monologuing about how mystery is punk. Our online world doesn't allow for much of that mystery anymore. He admires sharing art while keeping some opacity to it, and our three artists this week lean into it really well. Media with good meta-commentary comes up, Josie and the Pussycats, Spice World, and Network pop up from the movie world. We ARE mad as hell and we don't wanna take it anymore, but we are going to talk about these awesome songs from Charli xcx, Tove Lo, and Aldous Harding. Also, Alex rescued a baby...

Episode 8 brings us two awesome things...our first full length album review and our special guest, Marin Wilts! We are thrilled about both!

And of course, queue up MUNA's Dancing on the Wall.

Follow along with our episode playlist here.

A little about Marin: Marin Wilts is a singer/songwriter/producer based in Phoenix, AZ. She works with We Make Noise, supporting women and gender-expansive musicians through education, community-building, and professional development opportunities. Marin also teaches songwriting at Arizona State University.

Jana's monologue waxes poetic about the ritual of listening to...

Episode 7 and we can hardly believe it. Alex monologues about Nevada, and the beauty of the desert, the deep history there that goes back thousands of years, and the ugliness of Las Vegas, or as Alex puts it..."the worst city I have ever been to." Thankfully he turns it all into cocktail inspiration, with a drink that will make up for a hundred bad turns at the roulette table. As Alex notes, it is based on a coffee order from Gabi Bakery, who are not sponsors but are a lovely reprieve "from almost everything else in Vegas."

Episode 6 is a big one…our first special guest! Songwriter/musician/producer Noëlle Hampton joins us from Austin to talk about Metric, Lucy Dacus, and Suki Waterhouse. Check out Noëlle’s work with The Belle Sounds and XANIMAL to get you started (we included some on our weekly playlist!)

Listen along: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/Cnjrx0WyUf

Jana monologues about the bittersweetness of being back in a place that played a big part in her young singer-songwriter days. Austin is an amazing town, and now she cruises through a few times a year w...

Episode 5 takes us through some really heavy topics and songs, and that's why we do this together, and why we have a cocktail while we do it. Alex's monologue addresses his thoughts on writing protest songs, and the three songs we are listening to this week excel at addressing large systemic issues in deeply personal ways. But first, Alex talks us through our first egg white cocktail on the pod!

Want to follow along with this week's playlist? Right here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/8WLGKHqwtY

This week's drink:

DOUBLESPEAK

1.5oz...

Episode 4! That's a whole month's worth of podcasts! Thanks for being here. We are celebrating with a true delight of an episode. In fact, Jana monologues about delight, since the songs this week offer that in spades both lyrically and musically (and her turtle, Leo, has been taking turtle spa days lately, which is also delightful). Alex survived another NYC winter and Spring has arrived.

Want to follow along with this week's playlist? Right here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/vK4qbVL3b1

This week, Alex concocted a truly delightful drink inspired by Bruce Hornsby's "...

Episode 3 feels like an arrival of sorts, or maybe a settling in. To celebrate, Alex makes us a gin based Shunning Away, based on Naomi Scott's song from this week. Alex's monologue discusses our week's theme of songs that evoke senses that aren't just hearing...using production, lyricism, what have you. The songs this week ask you to use your other senses really well! We talk a little politics, just because we have to decompress a little after a threat of nuclear war on a Tuesday, Jana geeks out over Artemis II and The Moon, and we reaffirm the...

We made it to episode 2! Alex instructs us on how to make a "Come to God", our last gasp of the boozy, sipper bourbon season before we embrace Spring (looking RIGHT PAST the easy drink pairing of a Paloma for this episode). It's a tasty one, a riff on a classic Manhattan.

This week's playlist so you can listen along with us: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/OyA7lJXlA0

The drink this week:

COME TO GOD

2oz bourbon (rye preferred)

1/2oz Amaro Montenegro

1/2oz Cocchi di Torino<...

In Episode 1, Alex walks Jana through his cocktail creation "Tarry at the Airport Bar", featuring bourbon, Frangelico liqueur, and rhubarb bitters. They also discuss "My Maker" by Snail Mail, "Drink Up" by Grace Ives, and "Burial" by Anne Hathaway. Jana waxes poetic about airports and existential crises, Alex confesses he has Vanessa Carlton fan forum history, and they're both going to Devil Wears Prada 2 opening weekend. Listen along to the playlist with this week's tracks, a few other mentions from the show, and some bonus songs Alex and Jana are listening to right now: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share...

Mixomusicology is a podcast hosted by Alexander Daoust and Jana Pochop. In each episode, Alex walks Jana (and the listeners!) through making a delicious cocktail based on a batch of new songs the duo have chosen for the week. They'll review and break down recently released songs and chat about production, lyricism, and where the work fits into the larger pop culture zeitgeist. They'll bring along a few tangents, and you BYOB.