Trivial Merit

Here we are... The end of our second season as a podcast. Naturally, we're ending with a bang. Caroline and Matthew, this time out, are tackling the catalogue of (checks notes) Legendary Singer and Songwriter James William Buffett from defeated to content. Buffett is a favorite of Caroline's, but Matthew was largely unfamiliar with his work outside a few bigger hits ("Margaritaville," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and "Why Don't We Get Drunk"). Tangents and side stories flood this episode to the point where it's our longest yet. But most important is that we've made it this far to send Matthew into fatherhood with a wonderful conversation full of laughs and soundtracked by an artist he came away with a new found respect for. Yes, Matthew's son arrived prior to the publishing of the last episode, but this was the last one recorded before the momentous occasion. Quite possibly the epitome of dad rock. Our hosts will take a bit of a break while Matthew gets his fatherhood feet wet and finds his bearings, but they'll be back for another season as soon as possible. Follow the show on Twitter @trivialmerit for updates. Meanwhile, here are the final 2 playlists for season 2: Caroline's playlist is here. Matthew's playlist is here. We'll see you in season 3. Same time, same station.

Hey there! It's been a long delay due to a dense mixture of illness, work, life and baby prep for Caroline and Matthew, but we're back for our penultimate episode of season 2, Enya from anxious to content. In this episode, we go on many different tangents including said illnesses, life and baby prep, but also we talk about the imminent arrival of Matthew's little one as well as how they've been reacting to music that Matthew and partner Reba play. Matthew also sheds some personal reflection on De La Soul's music with the news of Trugoy the Dove/Dave's passing. Just for some postscript, Matthew's baby has arrived. It's a boy and the entire family is now home, well, adjusting and recovering. The next episode should come on schedule, but then a delay will follow as Matthew adjusts to fatherhood. Stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll see you in 2 weeks for... checks notes... Legendary Singer and Songwriter James William Buffett with playlists to get us from defeated to content. Same time, same station!

After a slew of technical difficulties, the holiday season and Matthew prepping for a baby to arrive, Trivial Merit is back! The current plan is to continue until Matthew is a father and then end the current season, but we'll see how all of that goes. Caroline and Matthew tackle the never uncool Tom Petty both solo and with The Heartbreakers from anxious to elated and come up with both interesting lists and all the good vibes that come with listening to the idyllic rock and roll pumped out by Petty and company for 40 years. Of course, some detours and tangents are taken, but that's to be expected. So here are the lists. Caroline's Matthew's Next up, we tackle the Irish new age songstress, Enya. She's the top all-time selling singer in Irish history and second in the tally of artists (bested only by U2). We'll arrive at 8-song playlists to get us (hopefully you also) from anxious to content. We'll see you in two weeks. Same time, same station!

Hello and sorry for the few day delay, but we're here and we're back! This time out, Caroline and Matthew tackle the group that laid the foundation for the Motown hit machine in the 1960s, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Our dice rolls were relatively favorable in yielding defeated as our negative headspace and content as our positive one. We learn that this music has medicinal properties and Caroline briefly touches on the medicinal system of the 4 humors. Matthew remembers oldies radio, Johnny Mathis covers and that a ska band is how he made the connection of "Tears of A Clown" being by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Also, both think Smokey Robinson is handsome as all get out. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Next up, we're tackling Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from anxious to elated in roughly 2 weeks. See you then. Same time, same station!

Back once again, it's 2 friendly neighborhood playlist makers out to make theirs and your day better. Caroline and Matthew are tackling X from defeated to content and they've even brought a friend along. Don from Gamers with Glasses joins us as our first ever guest. We go places in this near 2-hour episode from appreciating Freddie Mercury and our always present puns to Matthew misfiring his metaphors and not being able to stop himself from his distaste for The Doors. To The Playlists! Here's Don's Here's Caroline's Here's Matthew's We'll see you in 2 weeks with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles from defeated to content. Same time, same station!

And we're back, but we had to take a little detour. Do to some things popping up, one of us had to reschedule and it threw our timeline off with respect to our guest, so Caroline and Matthew decided to call a quick audible and tackle The Who right quickly. While they both liked The Who a lot before this, what they realized in doing it was how wide of an emotional range the band has in their catalogue. Some detours are certainly taken along the way and much fun is had. Now Matthew has to watch Freaks and Geeks as homework. We tackle the who from anxious to content in 8 songs. Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list. Next up is what was to come before, X from defeated to content featuring our first guest Don from Gamers with Glasses (@opobjectives on social media). We'll see you then! Same time, same station!

And we're back! This time, we're talking cover songs! Caroline and Matthew bring 8-song playlists of covers to get them (and hopefully you) from defeated to elated. These lists go places as well. Each of us finding things we've not heard and 2 submitted playlists that bring teachable moments along the way as well.  Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list.  Next episode, Trivial Merit will have its first guest. @opobjectives will join us to tackle the band X's discography and come up with 8 songs to get us from defeated to content.  See you then. Same time, same station!

It's been another 2-ish weeks in these streets and Caroline and Matthew have returned to venture into another band's catalog to create a playlist to get them, this time out, from depressed to relaxed. The band this time out: Heart. Definitely known for several huge hits, Matthew learned that Heart did songs that he knew rather well, but never realized it was them. Caroline points out the definite mom vibes of this group. They both also realize that Ann Wilson is a way better vocalist than she's given credit and Nancy Wilson absolutely shreds guitars. We really enjoyed doing this exercise with Heart for sure. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Next up, we're tackling a various artists idea. It'll be "Oops, All Covers!" That's right all cover songs to get us from defeated to elated. We hope you join us right back here in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

It's that time again for Caroline and Matthew to attempt to brighten your mood with playlists. This time out, Run the Jewels is the topic du jour going from defeated to elated. Due to the nature of Matthew's job as a healthcare worker, he'd been up for more than a day before recording this episode and things get silly from the jump. That didn't get in the way of he or Caroline from enjoying talking about this wonderful hip-hop duo. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. In 2 weeks, we'll be back with the music of the band Heart on the menu. The goal, a playlist to get us (and hopefully you) from defeated to relaxed. We'll be back then. Same time, same station.

It's playlist time again! This time Caroline and Matthew are tackling the catalogue of the wonderful Open Mike Eagle and creating playlists to get themselves (and hopefully you) from defeated to content. Open Mike certainly did leave one of the more positive marks on the crew this time out because he genuinely just seems nice and we love that. Here's Caroline's list: Here's Matthew's list: Next up in 2 weeks, we'll be digging into Run the Jewels and our playlists will get us from defeated to elated. We hope you'll join us. Hit us up on twitter @trivialmerit or email us a playlist of your own to trivial.merit@gmail.com. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

We're back again! This time out, we tackle Green Day from depressed to elated. This particular exercise sends us down memory lane for different reasons and with different results. We also learned about Greenery Day right as we started recording and that brought us way too much joy. Here is Caroline's list. Here is Matthew's list. Next up for us is the wonderful rapper Open Mike Eagle from depressed to content. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

After several delays (burnout has been real this summer, y'all) as well as technical issues, we're finally back with episode 26 of Trivial Merit. This time out, we discuss the wonderful dream pop duo, Beach House, who's a favorite of Matthew's. We're tackling their catalogue and creating playlists to get us from depressed to content this time out and this conversation certainly goes some places. Next time out, we tackle Green Day from depressed to elated. If you ever would like to hit us up with your playlists or anything else appropriate you'd like to send us, follow us on Twitter @trivialmerit. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

For episode 25, Caroline and Matthew tackle Bonnie Raitt's wonderful catalogue from defeated to relaxed. Well, at least they get there eventually, but also go absolutely off the rails and into the tangential unknown through talking about books bound by human skin, what kind of dinosaurs we'd like to walk, and David Crosby being a dick on Twitter. We even have a listener submitted playlist from Matthew's wonderful mother-in-law, Diane. All this and more in just under 90 minutes. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Here's Diane's submission. Next time out, we're tackling a newer fav of Matthew's in Beach House from depressed to content. Please follow us on Twitter @trivialmerit and if you'd like to submit your own playlist, please send it our way via email at trivial.merit@gmail.com. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, Same station!

It's been 2 weeks, so we're back with playlists to hopefully make us and anyone listening feel a little better in the world that insists on not doing well. This time out, we tackle the legendary hip-hop trio, Run-DMC from anxious to elated. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. In 2 weeks, we'll be back again tackling longtime road warrior and Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt from defeated to relaxed in 8 songs. See you then. Same time, same station.

This episode, we cover one of Matthew's absolute favs which is also a bit of a hole in Caroline's taste. Vanity Fair once called them The Everlasting Flavor. They began life as a New York hardcore band, but took the mid-80s by storm proclaiming "you've gotta fight for your right to party" and releasing the first rap album to ascend to the summit of the Billboard 200. When nothing else was expected of them, they released a standard-bearer in the hip-hop canon, Paul's Boutique to way less fanfare and were able to walk their own path from there. It's the Beastie Boys from anxious to content. Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list. We'll be back in 2 weeks with another important trio in hip-hop, Run-DMC from anxious to elated. See you next time. Same time, same station!

If you ever want a good idea, it's always a good idea to try out Bill Withers' music. Caroline and Matthew had a wonderful time going through the catalog of just a wonderful seeming dude. We go from depressed to elated in 8 songs here and just gush about this man's output. Caroline's playlist is here. Matthew's playlist is here. Next time we're tackling one of Matthew's biggest favorites, The Beastie Boys from anxious to content. Also, you should check out the Zine that Caroline put together, because even with Matthew in it, it's still pretty great. It's here. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station.

It's time for Caroline and Matthew to tackle the wonderful world of The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. We're going from defeated to content over the course of 8 songs. Here is Caroline's list. Here is Matthew's list. Next time, we're tackling Bill Withers from depressed to elated. See you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

It's Daft Punk time on Trivial Merit as Caroline and Matthew make playlists of their music to them and listeners from anxious to elated. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll be back in 2 weeks with Aretha Franklin from defeated to content in 8 songs. Hope you return then as well. Same time, Same station!

This time out, Matthew and Caroline are covering an important one for Matthew in The Velvet Underground from anxious to content. Please feel free to join us in making playlists as well by sending yours in via email to trivial.merit@gmail.com. You can also hit us up on Twitter @trivialmerit. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. In 2 weeks, we'll be covering Daft Punk from anxious to elated right here. Same time, same station!

Trivial Merit is back again to attempt to lighten your mood with some playlists. This time out, we tackle The White Stripes from defeated to content and completely get lost in several layers of conversation along the way. We hope you enjoy the show! Next up in 2 weeks is The Velvet Underground from anxious to content. We'll see you then! Same time, same station! Here is Caroline's list. Here is Matthew's list.

This time out, Matthew and Caroline tackle the career of Madonna from depressed to relaxed in 8 songs and in another fun episode of Trivial Merit where Matthew finds new ways to mess up speaking, Bagel is especially belligerent in the background with his opinions on Madonna and we even get some good Harrison sounds as well. We even have another submitted list by Matthew's friend Kevin which gives way to all sorts of fun discussion. Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list. and Here's Kevin's list. Next episode, we're tackling The White Stripes from defeated to content. If you'd like to be a guest, submit a list or just send us pics of your pets, please feel bombard trivial.merit@gmail.com. It'll make us so happy. See you next episode. Same time, same station.

Here it is! A new episode of making playlists in hopes to feel a little better in a crumbling world. This time out, we tackle the wonderful world of Creedence Clearwater Revival and try to move from defeated to content in 8 songs (with some acceptable variance for reasons covered within). In 2 weeks, we'll be back with Madonna from depressed to relaxed. For now, here are the playlists! Caroline's is here. Matthew's is here. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

We're back again! This time tackling Mariah Carey from anxious to relaxed in 8 songs. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Next episode, we're tackling the Hot Rocks era of the catalog of The Rolling Stones. So all of their material from 1964-1971 is eligible. The dice served us up the parameters depressed to relaxed. We hope you have a wonderful day. See you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

Caroline and Matthew are back again with yacht rock luminaries Steely Dan on the brain and taking their 8 song playlists from depressed to relaxed. Jokes are made, Matthew nerds out a lot, and Caroline figures out a way to break them both at the end. In 2 weeks, we'll be back tackling Mariah Carey's catalogue and going from anxious to relaxed in 8 songs. BE THERE!!!! In the meantime, here are the playlists! Caroline Matthew

It's been 2 weeks, so we're back with playlists for your feeds! This time out, we're tackling power pop, post-punk, 80s powerhouse, The Cars from Boston. We're creating 8 song playlists to get us from anxious to relaxed. We also hope you enjoy the show. Caroline's playlist Matthew's playlist In 2 weeks, we'll be tackling Steely Dan and going from depressed to relaxed in 8 songs. See you then! Same time, same station!

It's been 2 weeks in these streets, so Trivial Merit is back with some playlists for your feeds. This time out, we tackle the careers of Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli including both their solo output and looking at Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star for no other reason than Matthew cannot break the link in his head between these 2 wonderful emcees. We're going from anxious to relaxed in 8 songs. Caroline's list is here. Matthew's list is here. See you in 2 weeks where we take on The Cars!

Despite some difficulties, both technical and otherwise, episode 8 is finally here. This time out, we tackle AC/DC and try to get from depressed to relaxed in 8 songs. We even received a listener response to our hip-hop episode. Next episode, we're going back to hip-hop and examining the output of Mos Def and Talib Kweli both as Black Star and their wonderful solo careers. Reach us on Twitter @trivialmerit Email us your list for any of our episodes, trivial.merit@gmail.com Here's Caroline's list Here's Matthew's list We'll be back in 2 weeks!

Caroline and Matthew are back again with a full on dive into the career of the legendary Dolly Parton. The dice dished out depressed as a negative headspace and content as the positive headspace and the bridge between them will consist of 8 songs. A tricky proposition since neither Matthew or Caroline were super familiar with the work of Dolly Parton prior to this episode. Let's see what they come up with. Caroline's playlist can be found here. Matthew's playlist can be found here. As always, we hope you enjoy the show and have a wonderful day. We'll see you in two weeks.

This time out, Caroline and Matthew take a trip through Robyn's discography coming up with 8 songs taking them from anxious to content. Matthew goes into why he loves Robyn so much, Caroline enjoys listening to much of her discography for the first time and both express their happy difficulty making their lists. Speaking of which... Caroline's list is here! Matthew's list is here! We'll see you back here in 2 weeks as we tackle the modern secular saint, Dolly Parton.

It's been 2 weeks, so here's a new episode for the feeds. This time out, Caroline and Matthew tackle The Eagles going from depressed to contented in 8 songs. Both come at this task from different angles as Matthew has reverence for a few of the band's songs, but doesn't really care for the band anymore and Caroline has a lifelong love of their music. They both agree that Don Henley might be too much of a jerk face, but Glenn Frey (may he rest in peace) wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Regardless, this list was fun to make for all. We sincerely hope you enjoy this and we'll see you in 2 weeks when we tackle Robyn! Here's  Caroline's list:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PqMjPJpg7ZvJ1ooZBk2kU?si=e83e742185164a91  Here's Matthew's list:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6bP0zTJ8HsOthYLI48I2j8?si=weQ1_TbsTK-JRFtNZuoFoQ&dl_branch=1

We're here for Episode 3 of Trivial Merit and, this time, we're traveling from anxious to relaxed in 8 songs from the all-powerful Whitney Houston. Along the way, we learn that Matthew will trip over his words, Caroline is a black belt in the art of punnery (which we really already knew) and that these 2 cohosts 100% deserve each other. In short, good times discussing one of the greatest vocalists in history. Please rate and review us on whatever pod catcher you might listen to this on as well as feel free to get in on the conversation with us on Twitter @trivialmerit. You can also email us at trivial.merit@gmail.com. As always, here are the playlists the hosts came up with on Spotify. Caroline: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3JXkzPkQhTb82Z2Vvm7haK?si=7066da773c894afc Matthew: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4EzcaGEJpYoXtH3JX5l0JP?si=c8a736ff5e064c90 Have a wonderful day and be back in 2 weeks. Same time, same station.

Caroline and Matthew are back again and tackling the Smashing Pumpkins catalog with the goal of going from anxious to content in 8 songs. Caroline teaches Matthew about cosmetic dots, Matthew goes down several levels of memory lane, neither really care for frontman Billy Corgan due to his conduct regarding his bandmates, but fun was had by both with regards to making the playlists and even examining the exercise as performed in this and the previous episode. Here are the playlists: Matthew's can be found here. Caroline's can be found here. Hit us up on Twitter @TrivialMerit Email us your list at trivial.merit@gmail.com We'll see you again in 2 weeks!

Hello and welcome to Trivial Merit! This is a bi-weekly show where Caroline and Matthew join together to listen to music in an effort to feel better in this weird, wild and often bonkers world. Each episode, we'll pick a band and come up with 8-song playlists from them that bring us from a negative headspace to a positive one based on an exercise in music therapy. This is where we let you know that we are NOT mental health professionals and in no way are offering medical advice. In fact, we'll both advocate for seeking help when you need it. We're here to enjoy our own coping mechanism our way and hopefully share thoughts and experiences with music and maybe introduce each other and listeners to different things when possible.