Philosophically Sound

Tony goes over the technical details of how to record yourself singing the Philosophically Sound Theme Song. Instructions written below. We invite you to record yourself singing the theme song to Philosophically Sound and send it in! This podcast is really fun for Gus and I to make, but it’s only gonna be better with more input from more humans. We appreciate you offering your literal voice to the...

Gus & Tony get inspired by an article from the Atlantic by James Parker that uses vivid imagery to describe the music & voices of Lana & Miley, discuss whether criticism is worth spending time on, analyze Lana Del Rey's song Video Games, Sinatrafy Miley Cyrus's song Flowers, and stick to their allotted time. Playlist for this episode (includes songs mentioned in Parker article,...

Gus & Tony talk about the unique listening mindset at a music festival like Warped Tour — "I don't usually spend 8 hours drinking and listening to music... but maybe I should!" — analyze Dead Sara's song Weatherman and theorize that the implied for me might apply to interpretations of song lyrics, too. Playlist for this episode (meant to be shuffled): https://open.spotify.com...

Tony & Gus prepare a bonafide outline for an episode, dig in to the sweetness of Simon & Garfunkel harmonies, talk about what you might owe your influences, and Sinatra-fy "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Playlist for this episode (listen in order for an experience of connecting musical influences): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RYTjTKcTA1dJ7nsCzhQkc?si=bc63894eabd34d51 Playlis...

Tony gets real about his creative mental blocks as a song writer: is a song only "successful" if it sells copies and makes money? Does our language as we speak about music really reflect what we find valuable about songs? Gus offers good context about the attention economy, and how our decisions about what to pay attention to affect the livelihood of artists everywhere. Tony plays an ori...

Sometimes we react weirdly to other people saying they haven't heard of something (you've never seen Star Wars?!). Tony investigates some music that friends were surprised he hadn't heard before, "9 to 5" sung by Dolly Parton. Gus and Tony process the lyrics of "9 to 5" and "How You Remind Me," asking if it matters whether or not the lyrics are authentic t...

Gus and Tony listen to and discuss "Somebody Told Me" (The Killers) and "How You Remind Me" (Nickelback). We theorize about how instruments you play influence how you listen and what you prefer, talk about singing styles (Gus gets a short voice lesson), and feel the power of musical analysis change our preferences. Listen on YouTube .

Gus and Tony get started by introducing The Implied For Me concept and talking about music that shaped our preferences as teenagers: Blink 182's "What's My Age Again" for Gus and Frank Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String" for Tony (though also both for both). We analyze the frequencies and rhythms of the music, laugh, and practice having a deep conversatio...

Welcome to Philosophically Sound, where we explore the music people like and learn to love the music and people we explore. Are you looking for ways to be a more cooperative human? Want to like more things? Tune in to our show for deep musical analysis and philosophical discussion about how we can choose to behave and why. Listen on Youtube .