Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

Dan Rogge returns -- with our new friends L.V. Beethoven and Phyllis Domain -- to discuss his least favorite William Joel album, 1983's "An Innocent Man." The recurring Diane character, elegant internal rhymes, car-tape-deck privilege, protecting the children from doo-wop, wedding-band improv exercises, and how big a pop star you have to be to get away with pairing Uggs and a tux: keep t...

The moment has arrived: the selection of the Dolliest Dolly Parton song of them all. As we investigate whether all Parton-narration roads pass through "Jolene," we're also discussing insightful user comments, the perils of a glass and a half of Chablis, the ugly weakness of love, audition songs, and  The Aeneid . Pause that  Starsky & Hutch rerun and listen now! Intro and outro by An...

And you think about it, don't you? ...As much as we'd like every one of these Dolly Parton songs to get a participation tiara, we will forge ahead with choosing the championship pair. Along the way, we hear medleys of two of the finalists, contemplate the difference between a "bad" song and a "correct" one, and speculate on Mr. Jolene's double album. Intro and outro by David Gr...

Today we select our Final 4 in the Dolly 64, after struggling with self-imposed rules that don't serve us, identifying the Dolly songs that won't end up in a commercial for floor polish, and speculating on that waterboy's future coot prospects. Why did it take us this long to come up with the phrase "the Fortress of Dollitude"? Maybe because we inhaled too much pink Partonclave smoke...y...

It's the hardest round in every bracket season in some ways, and the Dolly 64's Sweet 16 ep is no different. How many different lists did Sarah have? Is Mark's "Dolly didn't write it" rule going to last? These questions and many more -- which one old coot shall rule them all; whether every "typical" Dolly is good; how to embody "kuntree" without making it a moral posi...

The second half of our Dolly 64 Round Of 32 is still confronting the question of which Dolly Parton narrative voice is the most typical and/or dominant. It's also confronting hashtag coot songs, clarified Miracle Whip, the fine gradations of Tennessee mountain-home ownership, and identifying as kuntree without defensiveness. How many aprons does feminism wear? Listen and find out! Intro and outro...

"What a way to make a living," indeed -- the Dolly 64 Round Of 32 raises a lot of tough questions. Which Dolly are we talking about when we ask which song is the Dolliest? Which tracks unite the coffee shop, or go in a college syllabus? We've really got some feelings about pitiless Southern stories, meeting the old-coot brief, the importance of conveying tumescence in pop music, overrate...

We're wrapping up the Dolly 64 opening round this week with songs that work better in theory than in practice, the difference between "not for me" and "not good," countrymaxxing without slagging "coastal elites," and Vrbo text art in song form. Is it weird that this is the section in which a Dolly Parton song finally bats a thousand points-wise? Maybe...but not really...

The Dolly 64 season has reached perhaps the strongest bracket section in our third ep, with the joyful chaos of mis-alphabetizing, growers and showers in the holler, songs about things men don't want to hear, and multiple hauntings by Little Andy and the narrator of "The Bridge." Find out which Dolly Parton track got ranked "Richard Bachman," how to take control of a cover, and...

The Dolly 64 season continues with our second set of first-round contenders, including overplayed classics, underrated '80s gems, toothless platitudes, tempo no-man's lands, brand ambassadors to the Lord, and things Dolly Parton does well that might not make the first paragraph of her musicianship wiki. Here WE come again, and we hope you'll have a listen! Intro and outro by David Gregory Byrne. V...

Welcome to our Dolly 64 season -- in which we use a highly scientific*, legally binding* March Madness-style bracket to determine the most quintessential Dolly Parton track of all time! In our first episode, we make Final Four predictions, scheme in the style of Tammany Hall, wonder why Mark's parents aren't president, distinguish between country and kuntree, and honor the "old coot at the ed...

It's Part 2 of our ranking of Madonna's studio albums! When did Madonna stop dictating the culture and start chasing it? When should listeners write to their Congressional reps over our heatmaps, and when are heatmap "yellows" actually "reds" but they're too boring to skip? We're not sure we can answer these questions...but we're pretty sure we know when it's time for the endea...

Welcome to Part 1 of our ranking of all 15 of Madonna's studio albums! The Material Girl's woeful underrepresentation on our podcast continues, as we start with the eponymous Madonna and continue through  Bedtime Stories . Along the way, we explain the ranking and heatmapping processes we used, and discuss MTV imprinting, the "dust bunnies" of otherwise-solid albums, how  The Immaculate...

Dan Rogge is back (-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack) to help us discuss and rank William's 1979 breakthrough release, "The Stranger" -- complete with derogatory  Lost In Translation  references, mediocre parental reviews of jukebox musicals, coherent statements on alienation, Mrs. Dash sponcon, the sound of the Fortunoff elevator, and why Mark needed a looseleaf notebook at the gym. Grab some stale...

Don't ask us why* we decided to hurl a rock at William Joel's 1980 release, "Glass Houses" -- but we're ranking that album with the help of Ambassador To Long Island Pop Culture Dan Rogge. Along the way, we met a shark named Leyna, contemplated essential Billy-ness and Blondie cosplay, added to the list of songs Mark can't retain, and went behind the scenes of an ill-advised French mash...

We end the Best New Artist season where it all began for the podcast: the Grammys. We're talking today about the 67th Grammy Awards' "big 4" categories, plus a couple of wildcards -- and along the way, the American need for underdogs, nominations of encouragement, Mark's "Folkmore" playlist, Uncanny George Valley nightmares, couples skate, and a purse dog named Aristotle. Grab...

It's the Best New Artist Breakdown season finale, featuring a MASTAS greatest-hits line-up, the return of sprung rhythm, grand unifying complaints about breakthrough categories, Elt Zeppelin, and how to evolve past Wolfman Jack in pop-music discovery. Do we agree with the Grammys' most recent BNA choices? Have we decided how to tackle the 2025 nominees? Should jerks win awards? Come spook the Reco...

Our penultimate Best New Artist Breakdown moves into the teens; we're talking about Amy Clonehouses, lost anthems of lady rage, gold-watch nominations, the Overton window of band-name ludicrosity, and much more. Grab those Kendrick Lamar seminar syllabi and have a listen! Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne; for more information/to become a patron of the show, visit patreon.com/mastas . SHOW NOTES Epi...

As the Best New Artist Breakdown season rounds the millennium turn, we're talking about which band is playing when Jennifer Love Hewitt flees a serial killer, artists we should like on paper but fall asleep to in practice, the music of shampoo ads, and the basic room in each of our hearts. If Kanye West will make room, join us on the line between genius and madness for our latest episode! Intro an...

We're closing out the twentieth century in our fifth episode, and there are fewer howling embarrassments among our Best New Artist winners this time...but just as much anal-retentive insanity in our prep, plus diversity of sound, nothingburger arrangements saved by a Braxton, convincing Patsy Cline drag, effortful album titles, and the memory-holing of a multi-platinum act. Your dinner-party table...

Confusing band names, the MTV aura, and what happens if the comedy/tragedy masks and a keyboard mate: it's the 4th episode of our Best New Artist season, which brings us great winners, indefensible losers, and tracks that are more branding exercise than song. Does Mariah tie a whole Reagan-era room together? Listen now and find out! Intro and outro by Andrew Byrne; for more information/to become a...

Disco, NuRo, and not knowing where to look during "Afternoon Delight" -- it's all part of our third episode, when we're also talking about Starman's dinner party, the mayonnaise filter, the Michael McDonald industrial complex, and Mark's request to dump all the geography-named bands into one planetary supergroup. There's only one way to lift the Best New Artist curse, and that's to liste...

We're wading into the '70s in our second ep, which includes ruminations on inessential classic rock; how Karen Carpenter and Judy Garland can take you whenever they are; holding your nose and throwing your vote at the nomination dartboard; and more. We've only just beguuuuuun / to taaaaaaalk -- and to hear your comments! -- so listen now. Intro and outro by David Gregory Byrne. For more informatio...

The Best New Artist Breakdown season has begun! Instead of pitting the 64 winners of the Grammys' Best New Artist category against each other, we're talking about each year's nominees and winner in the context of their time...and in today's sixties-spanning ep, we're trying to make sense of the 20th century's monocultures, how far in the past most votes had gotten stuck, the weird dominance of the...

Our finale finds us talking about actor/musicians with lasting pop careers: Oscar-winners (Jamie Foxx), Grammy-winners (Childish Gambino), former child stars (Hailee Steinfeld), and Jokers (Jared Leto). After discussing contemporary stank, the competent/memorable axis, music for coffee shops, and the R&B version of that  Top Chef challenge where they have to elevate gas-station snacks, we talk...