Let the Music Be Your Master

After a long hiatus, we're back, just in time to tease each other about our year end wrapped (or recap, or whatever apple music does) lists. Fun Fact: the only artist to make all four of our wrapped lists: ...there wasn't one. That's how unique we are, guys! Here's another fun matching question: Match the artist to the podcaster who listened to them the most: 1. White Zombie 2. Sufjan Stevens 3. Chuck Mangione 4. GZA Answers are found in the pod. Also, who's list starts out with these tracks? And what's wrong with "Sensory Alignment II"?! Why is it nowhere to be found in the entire top 100? Tune in to find out. Love you!

Our final (for now) round of Ablum Swap. Can Steve finally appreciate Sufjan Stevens? What is Brian's reaction to finally hearing Dark Side of the Moon for the first time? Tune in to find out.   Courtesy of thehardtimes.net: Screenshot

Another round of Album Swap, this time featuring Brian Croxall, in which we share our thoughts on  Song of Innocence by David Axelrod, Nobody by Nomeansno, No Blues by Los Campesinos!, The Magnolia Electric Co. by Songs: Ohia, and Teenager of the Year by Frank Black.

Each of us assigned one of our fellow pod members an album to listen to and report back on. These are the results. This episode includes: Saved! by Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter Moonshine Freeze by This is the Kit Emperor Tomato Ketchup by Stereolab Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell Enjoy!  

Did you know that last episode was the season finale of season 3? Neither did we. What makes a season in a podcast? No clue. But here we are, episode 1 of Season 4. If there was a theme or goal of season 3, it was to get a variety of guests on the pod. And I'd say we were pretty successful. We got a chance to talk with Gentry Densley, Steve Kesler, Pete Baumann, Janell Tuttle, Brian Watts, Michael Hicks, and Brian Croxall (2 or 3 times!). Great stuff. This season we're planning on focusing on the Album as an art form. For the first episode, each of us was assigned a secret Santa podcast member and we had to choose an album the we loved that they had never listened to and they would give it a serious listen and report back on their thoughts and feelings. After this episode, I think we all came away with the same burning question: Does Steve like New Wave because it's fun? Or is Steve fun because he likes New Wave? That one won't be answered today, and probably not tomorrow, but there's plenty of fun to be had in this episode and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The original intent of this episode was to establish the 2nd floor of the Metal wing of our Hall of Fame. The 1st floor consists of only bands/music up to 1991. So here we are picking up where we left off, focusing on heavy music from 1990ish onwards. But now in hindsight, let's say this episode isn't so much a permanent Hall of Fame addition as it is a current exhibition about the topic. Either way, enjoy!

This time around we're playing musical connections. Join us in trying to find the commonalities in each others picks.

We're taking a break from our usual nostalgic tendencies and instead focusing on new music, or at least music that is new to us, as well as discussion of favorite methods for finding new music.

A tribute to David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Burt Bacharach.

Jason leads us through a discussion of how music triggers and influences our memories.

Will the night last forever? Stay by my side 'Cause tonight, together Would be divine - Low, "Will the Night"  

Thank you to Steve Kesler for guiding us through some great moments in The Dead's vast collection of recordings.

Sometimes dreams do come true. With this episode, they came true for us as we got to sit down with Gentry Densley of Iceburn and Eagle Twin. Join us as we dig into some of his musical and literary inspirations, recording techniques, composition philosophies, and tales of debauchery at the University Mall.

This is for those of you that wanted to hear even more of our thoughts regarding Easy Listening tunes. Thank you to our guest, Janell Tuttle.

Jordan guides us on a tour through the mellow sounds of Soft Rock, Yacht Rock, Easy Listening, and other forms of "grown folks" music. With special guest, Janell Tuttle.  

This episode has been a long time coming. In case you can't tell, we here at Let the Music Be Your Master (most of us, at least) are fans of Neil Percival Young. He is featured on our Tshirts and even our tiny little logo on your web browser tab, and I think embodies a lot of what we are trying to do as music appreciators, educators, and sometime creators. So we are happy to pay tribute to Mr. Young on this episode, and are even happier that we were joined by Brian Watts, a great friend of ours and a true Neil Young evangelist (not apologist). What are your favorite Neil Young songs? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

Wherein we wax nostalgic about our favorite themes of TV shows past and present.

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Michael Hicks, professor emeritus of music composition at Brigham Young University, to discuss the idea of musical virtuosos and share some of our favorite examples.

To kick off Season 3 of LTMBYM, we are exploring the geneology of some of our favorite bands. Jordan gave us the challenge to choose an artist from the 60's or earlier, and then trace their musical influence lineage through the decades.

Tune in as we wrap up 2021 (and Season 2 of LTMBYM) with some of our favorite Christmas songs. Featuring a brilliant Christmas Medley by our own Sir Ricks-a-Lot. Plus a shoutout to all our fans in Guelph, Canada!    

Tune in to check out Side B of our Songs from 1971 compilation album.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of all the great albums released in 1971, we visit this seminal year in music history to make our own Definitive, yes Definitive, compilation album (now available at Media Play and Sam Goody record stores nationwide).

Things get feisty as we nominate hip hop tracks to go head to head and see who wins. Tune in to see who has the best picks and/or the most conveniently fluid and vague definition of what does or doesn't qualify as hip hop.

Wherein we share our picks for 3rd wave Ska, along with some ska-influenced tracks by other bands, and conclude with the best/worst ska band names of all time.

In this episode we are joined by special guest Brian Croxall to discuss his time in the local ska scene as well as induct our entries to the Ska wing of the LTMBYM Hall of Fame.

I know you're surprised and disappointed that the best cover of all time didn't make an appearance on our previous episode, but there's a good chance it shows up on this one. Also featuring commentary on The Beatles from Professor Michael Hicks, and another round of Name That Tune.

There are so many great covers to choose from, and here we share a few of our favorites and discuss what makes a cover stand the test of time. Also Steve Tells Us Something Good and Jordan sets a personal best for longest duration without mentioning Bonnie Prince Billy.

We continue our exploration of the best popular songs from the 2000's and 2010's.

In this episode we try our best to repress our music snobbery and sing the praises of popular music, specifically songs that reached the Billboard Top 10 (by an artist not shared yet on a previous episode). Part 1 covers the 80's and 90's.

We continue our nominations for The Beatles wing of the LTMBYM Hall of Fame. Share your comments with us at www.letthemusicbeyourmaster.com  

An exploration of the influence and legacy of The Beatles as we build them their very own wing in the LTMBYM Hall of Fame.

In this episode we discuss the value of a “canon” of albums and share our top 3 albums each.

In this episode, along with celebrating the end of 2020, we celebrate the multifaceted power of music: its ability to energize, comfort, warn, mourn, rejoice and give hope.

This Christmas, tune in for more discussion of Jazz, including some deep cuts and honorable mentions.  

Our inductees for the LTMBYM Jazz Hall of Fame. No big deal.

We explore some deep tracks that may or may not qualify as metal.

Here are our nominees for the Metal wing of the LTMBYM Hall of Fame.

Believe it or not, we had more to talk about in relation to New Wave music. Including honorable mentions to the Hall of Fame and our best/worst new wave bands/songs.

Steve claims New Wave is the greatest genre in the history of music. But can he back up that claim? We each nominate three picks for the New Wave wing of the LTMBYM Hall of Fame.

We draft our team of Funk players for the LTMBYM Hall of Fame. Spoiler alert: This guy gets drafted pretty early. But which song? Or will there be more than one? Tune in and find out.

After focusing on Ennio Morricone last time, we wanted to share some more of our favorite film scores. Enjoy! Comments? Questions? Let us know at www.letthemusicbeyourmaster.com/contact/  

Welcome to Season 2 of Let the Music Be Your Master. With the recent passing of beloved film composer Ennio Morricone, we wanted to pay tribute to his musical genius. Join us as we listen to iconic tracks from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Mission, […]

Dr. Steven Ricks was kind enough to record his own top 10 from the 2010’s and share it with us. Got any questions or feedback? Send us a message or voicemail at letthemusicbeyourmaster.com

We wrap up Season 01 of Let The Music Be Your Master with part 2 of the Best of the 2010’s, including our picks for Overrated, Underrated, and Decade Champ.

Check out our picks for best of the first half of the 2010’s.

In this episode we attempt to answer the following question from one of our listeners: “My husband and I have been debating a question that I pose to you because I think it’s interesting. Whether you love or slightly dislike The Beatles, you can’t deny the impact they’ve had on music and their insane popularity. […]

We continue our discussion of music from the 2000’s including Sufjan Stevens, LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, and an obscure artist named Beyonce. We finish up with our nominees for Most Underrated/Overrated and Decade Champ.

Parental Warning: This episode contains discussion of language and slurs in popular music of the era, and examples of such language. If you’re okay with that, join us as we discuss the most important and influential music from the early 2000’s, including Outkast, Jay-Z, Arcade Fire, Wilco, and The Microphones (???) (never heard of them, […]

Our discussion of music from the 1990’s continues, including our nominations for over-rated, under-rated, and decade champ. Also feature some voicemail and letters from our listeners! Listen to our playlist here:

Jason and I followed strict social distancing protocol and recorded an episode via internet technology. Here are some more songs to enjoy while under quarantine.