My Pop Five
My Pop Five
Our Pop Five (3 Year Anniversary Edition): Olivia Rodrigo's "Guts", Past Lives, Across The Spiderverse, Boygenius, and Special Guests
Three years ago, Daniel and Ryan plugged in our mics, wide-eyed with ambitions and a shared love for pop culture. Now, we're toasting to the Pop Five podcast's third anniversary, a journey stitched with life's unpredictable events and the thrill of fresh episodes. We set the stage with Olivia Rodrigo's musical journey, from her angsty "Sour" beginnings to the matured artistry of "Guts," and how her "Teenage Dream" became a soundtrack to our own growth. Prepare to travel with us through the moments that have shaped not only the music industry but our own pop-driven hearts.
Back by popular demand, Connor slides into the hot seat, ready to right the wrongs of his past pop culture picks. Revelations include his "Amish Paradise" roots and a surprising switch-up on his top five list, ushering "Weird Al" Yankovic into the hall of fame. Then, cue the nostalgia as Devin, our season one favorite, pops in for a trip down memory lane. Together, we unwrap the vibrant tapestry of our shared pop passions, from Connor's Treasure Island gigs to the latest in musical musings and the resurrection of Creed's unexpected charm.
Wrapping up, we unravel the complex emotions stirring in the film "Past Lives," delving into destiny, choice, and the poignant paths our lives weave. Our conversation is a journey in itself, touching the soulful threads of Boy Genius's harmonious collaboration. So, grab your headphones and let us serenade you with this celebratory blend of storytelling, reflection, and the irresistible pull of pop culture. Here's to many more years of Pop Five's symphony of voices and melodies. Cheers!
Outro Music. Welcome back. We are here with another episode of my Pop Five In fact, it's in our Pop Five celebrating our three-year anniversary of the show. The show came out in May of 2021. Here we are three years later. Daniel, this is our baby. This show came out in May of 2021. Here we are three years later. Daniel, this is our baby. This was our brainchild. We're celebrating its three-year birthday.
Speaker 2:The podcast is officially a toddler. How are you, buddy? Oh man, how exciting. It's so nostalgic coming up with the idea for the podcast in like a pre-pandemic world. It's been such a long time coming and then has gotten like so difficult to keep up with, but I feel joy and excitement and I feel like we never took a break, so feeling good man.
Speaker 1:But the truth is we took a big break. We really killed it with two years at the start of this thing, really putting out a ton of episodes for the first two seasons, and then life happens.
Speaker 2:I got married you.
Speaker 1:you showed up to my wedding that was part of it too, uh, and you officially moved back to new Mexico full time. We've all kind of just had a bunch of family stuff and career stuff and life stuff just happened. But, yeah, I'm so, so glad that we were able to kind of come back, release a few episodes, get together, like this one here, and talk about a few things that we've loved in the interim. Some of my favorite episodes we've ever done have been the hour prop five episodes where we come together, have some semblance of a theme to really just talk about. What are the things that we're loving? This is just going to be that.
Speaker 1:So for the audience who's tuning in, we're just going to talk about some things that we've loved since we last recorded, which was back in 2022. At this point, just see where it goes from there and just spend some time talking about how these were impactful for us, what we loved about them, and send you on your way. So we came in with a song by the wonderful Olivia Rodrigo. We have an episode dedicated to Sour, her first album, and since then she has come out with a second record, which just was on my nonstop plays for last year, and that record is Guts. So, daniel, tell me what is your experience with Guts, what is your experience with Bad Idea right, the song we just came in on and tell me what you like dislike about that record.
Speaker 2:Well, I think what's funny about Olivia Rodrigo is that it's so. To me it just brings back all of the feelings of uh first launching the podcast and how that was what we were listening to at the time.
Speaker 2:And you know, when the, when the album rollout for gut started, you had actually sent a text in the pop five group chat, the single uh, vampire, and you know it was just like. So I I always associate olivia rodrigo and these albums with you know, I think it really kind of captures the kind of zeitgeist. Every time that she comes out with something it just becomes so, you know, she kind of like came out of nowhere. I mean, I realized there was the disney, you know the Disney career beforehand, but really just her coming out with music always just reminds me of this podcast. That song in particular, I feel like, is the one that I've heard the most kind of just like out in the wild, like hearing it, like maybe playing on the speakers at like a restaurant or a bar or something, maybe playing on the speakers at like a restaurant or a bar or something.
Speaker 2:You know. I think that what I think of when I think of Guts in comparison to Sour is just like more bold in some ways abrasive, raw in a way, without kind of.
Speaker 2:You know, I think Sour still, while it was all of those things, especially for a young pop star, I think Guts is her coming out of her shell even a little bit more, and I think that that's kind of a perfect song, where it's like suggestive and like a little bit grimy, you know of like a but but still tongue-in-cheek and still playful and funny, yeah, um.
Speaker 1:So I guess just that song to me just makes me think of like you know song from Sour, but really kind of just turned up to 11 in terms of like the bold expression of whatever feeling, like so much pressure on that and you know she can lean into the songs like driver's license, right, and that whole first record is just like lamenting this breakup, right, and I think people were expecting like how is she going to pivot away from that, you know, and one of the things I think she did a really good job of is like leaning into the funny, leaning into the quirky, leaning into like the punky edge of things, you know, and it really made a big difference in terms of how the second record was perceived. There's a lot more variety in instrumentation, there's a lot more in terms of lyrical ideas and different themes. Now, of course, she still has that teenage angst and relationship narratives that get weaved into the story, but there's a lot more personal narrative that you kind of hear in this too and you kind of hit on it a little bit. And one of the things that I really love is there's the song Teenage Dream, where the whole song is literally about like how am I going to create this follow up record?
Speaker 1:Like what if I'm not good? You know, what if I'm not as good as I intend to be? And what if I'm not as good as I intend to be? And what if I'm just okay? Or what if that's all I was ever going to be is that first record, and so you kind of hear some of that turmoil about like what fame has done to her and what the success of that first record did to her. And yeah, it's just such an incredible record. I love her. So many incredible vocal performances. Let's actually take some time to listen to a bit of teenage dream but I fear that they already got all the best parts of me and I'm sorry that I couldn't always be your teenage dream.
Speaker 4:They all say that it gets better. It gets better the more you grow. Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better. But what if I don't know? They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you grow. Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better. But what if I don't know?
Speaker 1:Incredible song. They all say that it gets better. But what if I don't right? And that's how the album closes and it just hurts and you kind of feel like all the incredible work that she does. But there's like nineties elements in the record. There's really cool, you know, just grooves and instrumentation and the drums are heavy. She has this beautiful valid ballads in vampire and yeah, it's incredible. But, daniel, before we kind of continue on this record, this episode is going to be full of surprises and we have one more surprise and I'm going to be uh, showing you what that is right now. So here comes a very special guest. Buddy, how the heck are you for the audience? Uh, connor Morrison is uh picking his nose and loving it hard, are we?
Speaker 5:uh, is is the audio coming through?
Speaker 1:we can hear you.
Speaker 5:We can hear you are you guys doing video for this? Like should I, should I have a better background?
Speaker 1:like no, you're good we're just having you on for a couple quick questions. So, uh, throughout this episode, sprinkled through this episode, uh, we're celebrating three years of the show. Um and um as part of that. I thought it'd be funny to uh and fun to have some former guests jump on and ask a couple quick questions. So thanks for joining the festivities here I I appreciate it, I'm afraid I'm a little afraid connor was a guest on our season two of the show.
Speaker 1:uh, His pop five included the wonderful likes of people like Ben Folds and Sarah Bareilles, Billy Joel, John McLaughlin and Motion City Soundtrack. Connor, our first question, just since we have you here, since we last spoke, are there any amendments you would make to your pop five? That's some of the things that our guests will sometimes do is being like ah, I wish I should have done this, or they heard something else really great or saw something really great since then. Would you have any amendments to your pop five since you last joined the show?
Speaker 5:Yeah, actually this is great. Like this has haunted me for forever. Actually, my amendment is uh weird.
Speaker 5:Al yankovic yankovic okay, okay and, and I would say like, like, because he started it for me, like it's. It's truly a travesty that I left him out of the initial thing because, like my entire music, everything was started by trying to impersonate weird al and from music parodies and like, doing that, like a substantial portion of my life was just worshiping at the altar of Weird Al. So that's my answer. I would add that in All right, I love it.
Speaker 1:Who would you take out? So who's getting the boot? To put Weird Al in.
Speaker 5:I love John McLaughlin. I've actually met John McLaughlin. Since we did that recording. He did a show in Oakland and I met him, which was truly magical. But he wasn't quite as formative maybe as some of those other artists in my songwriting career love it. So he's gonna get the number six spot and Weird Al would probably go to number one, like he would move.
Speaker 5:No, billy Joel holds the crown but like it's just cause of form. I don't listen to him much anymore, but like because of how much impact I'd say he had to me just even do anything with music yeah, anyway big miss on my part, I'm freaking fired, you know, get ready is there any specific song for weirdo that, uh, you would definitely say was like the intro?
Speaker 5:uh, like like two trillion just came to mind. He doesn't even have that many songs, but they'll play at the same time. Um, I mean, I would say maybe, maybe amish paradise. Only because, like my family kind of knew it, so, like all of us, there were times when, like we'd have family gatherings and the entire family would sing Amish Parish, like everyone. In a way that was kind of weird and culty.
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Speaker 5:So I'd say that one like as a kid I had my own like favorites and stuff but I'd say that one pops to mind. Okay, that and Albuquerque, because you know represent that's where we're from.
Speaker 1:That's right. Okay, and then the last question, connor, before we kind of let you go and thank you again for doing this. What's something that you've had going on? I know you've, since you're in the Bay area playing anything you want to promote or anything that's been exciting since we last did your episode.
Speaker 5:Oh, yeah, yeah, so I've released. I don't remember how many songs I had out when we, when we recorded that thing, but I've released a bunch of songs. So, um, you know, all your listeners, go look up Connor Morrison on Spotify and be promptly disappointed. Um, I just released a song two weeks ago. Today's the two week anniversary always a big milestone for a song. Um, and then, yeah, I've been playing a lot of shows, so tomorrow I'm I'm getting ready to play, um, a festival on treasure Island near San Francisco. Yeah, I've been playing a lot of shows, so tomorrow I'm getting ready to play a festival on Treasure Island near San Francisco With the band.
Speaker 5:Now I convinced some people to play my music, which is insane, like I don't know what they're thinking, but it's a full band show. So it's the Connor Morrison band. I guess, I don't know. We've thought about Unky C and the Ragtags, but yeah, so they're all doing originals. We're sneaking in some Billy Joel covers, lil Elton John and otherwise, and Motion City Soundtrack Beautiful, but yeah. So playing at a ton of shows and releasing a lot of music and there's more to come. I've got probably four more to release this year.
Speaker 1:Awesome, man. Well, we're excited to hear it. Daniel, I cut you off. What were you going to ask about Weird Al?
Speaker 2:Oh, no, no-transcript for that. And like that happens to me all the time, so I think it's funny that you say that, because it happens yeah.
Speaker 5:It's an it's an introspective journey. I like the first episode wrecked me, like there was a week, it was like a week of thinking and then I missed. I didn't see the forest through the trees, I just missed the main one. So, anyway, I kind of appreciate this redemption. This is a big moment for me Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for joining buddy. We're going to give the audience a taste of our friend Weird Al, and we're going to play some Amish Paradise in your honor. So thank you so much.
Speaker 5:Amazing, awesome. Thank you, guys, so much.
Speaker 4:I'm a man of the land, I'm into discipline, Got a Bible in my hand and a beard on my chin, but if I finish all of my chores and you finish dying, then tonight we're going to party like it's 1699. We've been spending most our lives living in an Amish paradise. A churn butter once or twice living in an Amish paradise. It's hard work and sacrifice. Living in an Amish paradise.
Speaker 1:We have another special guest here real quick, and that is from season one, episode three, Mr Devin. Corey Devin, so welcome. You are a surprise. No, the reason we had you join here this is a bit of a three-year happy birthday to my Pop 5 type of recording.
Speaker 6:Okay, sick.
Speaker 1:And I sent out a text to a bunch of people who have been on the show. Oh, sick and I wanted to just have you join to answer two quick questions for us, and then I'll let you go.
Speaker 6:Okay, sick, let's do it.
Speaker 1:Okay. So first question, since you were last on the show is there any revisions you would make to your pop five? Is there anything you would add and remove based on when you last recorded?
Speaker 6:I. I feel like maybe I wouldn't do. Brand new is like my favorite band fair enough. That is definitely aged poorly very well, yeah, so so probably skip that, because everything else like memes, youtube, all that, all that was good okay.
Speaker 1:What would you add in its place?
Speaker 6:I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what I would pick, but definitely just not that. Um yeah, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1:I feel like you and I could just talk about creed for like 30 minutes you since uh we last recorded your episode, uh Creed has had a resurgence via memes and just pop culture in general.
Speaker 6:And yeah, yeah, they're back.
Speaker 1:Maybe there was records, fucking slap.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, I think that would. I think that would have been probably a more fun, uh little period of conversation, conversation for sure, sick.
Speaker 1:All right, and last question then what major life updates, if anything, or what exciting do you have to promote since we last had you on?
Speaker 6:shit, I don't know. I I feel like I have a lot more projects and things happen. That was so long ago. I was like that was pre, that was pre-pandemic, I think we recorded it pre-pandemic, even though we were like right yeah yeah, I think it was like right before because we were talking about like love is blind and stuff, you know. So a lot has happened since then, a lot of records and a lot of different stuff.
Speaker 6:So yeah I'm not sure there's. I guess it's the same old. At the end of the day it's like just still making music. I'll listen to everyone I work with, you know heck yeah, and people can follow you where again on instagram at dbncy. That's like the best place for finding my work awesome.
Speaker 1:Thanks for doing this buddy. Go have fun yeah of course I'll talk to.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I'll talk to you guys later. All right, peace, bye, see ya. See you, man.
Speaker 1:All right, daniel, we're back and we're ready to talk. More guts, more Olivia, rodrigo, um, we just spent some time, uh, listening to teenage dream. We came in with bad idea. Right, are there any songs off that record that you loved or uh, or you want to talk about?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I would have to say my favorite one and what quickly became like one of, if not my favorite, olivia Rodrigo song is actually a vampire For one. I think the name is like really fitting for this kind of like. Really kind of like Gothic show tune intro, or even like first half, and then like, when it comes in with like the driving beat, the drums and the synths later on, like it just like. I just remember the first time hearing that it's like so memorable and I was just like whoa, this is like really cool and it like really changed. It really kind of put the you know that line that she's singing I've made some real big mistakes. You make the worst one look fine. Like just her vocal delivery on those lines. Like it's just like such a that's just like so memorable for me.
Speaker 2:Like hearing that song for the first time and I think it, it was immediately like wow, this this is olivia rodrigo and like this is her sound. But it's even more ambitious. It's almost like more like progressive in terms of like the song structure, um, so like I really can't say enough about that song. Like when it came out, I just listened to it like over and over and over. Um.
Speaker 1:So really, I would have to say that that's my favorite one yeah, man, I I think back to like when it first came out and I sent it to the my pop five group chat and you being really into like when the drums start driving and it's like the you said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard.
Speaker 1:Like that part and uh, that, yeah, that whole section is just like so fun and like like it's not that ballad piano, like you said, like a Broadway musical type performance, and it like really transitions into something really cool and poppy and she just has such a beautiful voice. One of my favorite things with that song is with that song as well as like throughout awards season after that came out, either via the Grammys or I um, I think she played it at um a couple other like music shows and stuff like her raw, we know performance, not record performance, live. She just has this incredible voice. But also, um, one of the things I also love is she got Kelly Okied, which is when Kelly Clarkson covers the song and everyone says that Kelly always does it better and, yeah, hearing Kelly also sing that song is just really incredible. It just lends itself to just people with powerful voices because it's such a big, big song. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like a song that you might pick at karaoke and not realize that like you need a badass voice to sing. You know like it's like it's almost like subtle how much of a the way the song is written and like there's a lot of range to it. Such a memorable song, such a good song. And you're right, I do remember seeing, you know, like a couple, you know a few performances of it. Still very, very much like her style and it's interesting to see how, uh, she has really kind of created her own sound with these two albums. Like it's it's so distinct, it's so like I feel like very colorful, like I feel, um, like it really does uh, the, the colors in my mind when I hear her songs really are like the lilac lavender, like, uh, aesthetics of her album covers and her single covers and stuff.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, really really good too yeah, love it, love it all, right. Well, why don't we head out on vampire and then we'll transition into another topic?
Speaker 3:so here is a little bit of Vampire love anyone cause talking to you had a heart.
Speaker 4:I tried to help you out. Now I know that I can cause.
Speaker 1:How you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand. Alright, daniel, now let's go ahead and move on to something you loved since the last time we chatted. Let's talk about Across the Spider-Verse.
Speaker 2:Oh man, yeah, that was like a big one for me. I don't know if I've ever talked about it on the podcast before, but like I'm a huge Spider-Man fan I have been since I was little honestly, it's like probably one of like the very first franchises, pop culture icons that I ever really got into. I remember as a kid just being like obsessed with the toby mcguire movie, so, uh, you know anything, spider-man is like a big deal for me. I think it's particularly fun when you have a franchise that just has been so good. You know, I mean, it's been two movies, but you have like this series of movies that is just, like you know, beautifully animated. Uh, really, I think you know the first movie is like something that anyone could watch. I think it's just like a good movie. So I think that the sequel, you know as like someone who's a huge spider-man fan, just having this whole like spider society where you have like all of these different variants and they really are going like uh, through all of these different universes with different spider-man and different takes on spider-man, is just so fun. So, like, I really really like the movie. I probably saw it in theaters like four times actually when, when we went to san diego for your wedding, I made I made our friend, I made my friends go and watch it with me because I wanted to see it at like the biggest imax theater that I could find in san diego. So that was just, uh, so memorable. But I think you know, talking about the movie specifically, um, I think that it's less straightforward of like. You know, the first movie is like kind of a standard, and I don't say that like pejoratively, but it's kind of a standard hero's journey.
Speaker 2:The second movie, I think, is a little bit more complicated in terms of narrative Like. I think that it's in a lot of ways like very meta. It's kind of like asking like well, what is what is a spider-man? What does it take to be spider-man, kind of like breaking down the conventions of the character and and how you could have all of these different variants of spider-man, yet they can still be true to the character and like what is that character? Yeah, I think is is like what the the movie is kind of exploring.
Speaker 2:And then of course, it has like this amazing cliffhanger ending where you just like you're so it's such a long animated movie, you know longest one in longest american animated movie ever. And yet, like when it ends and says to be continued, you're just like, oh, like what, like I, I just want to see, like where this is going. It's, you know, it's really hard to kind of predict what happens next. So, yeah, I think it's just like it's a little bit maybe, you know, not incredibly uh challenging per se, but I think that it is uh more so than the first one in terms of, like the narrative and the questions that it's asking and, and you know, you don't, you don't have like a real antagonist, at least for most of the movie, or you don't have a villain.
Speaker 2:Really for most of the movie, a lot of the conflict kind of happens between people who are spider people. So yeah, yeah, what, what, what do you think of it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you know both of these movies. These the Lord and miller animated uh, spider verse movies are really incredible because they do two things. One is they take animation and do so much exploration with what animation can be and look like and it's just, it was so groundbreaking in terms of how they made that happen, such an interesting animated style that like no one had done before. And then now you're kind of seeing people get more creative, like the new Ninja Turtles movie that came out this year like had some like cool different segmented animation and just like frame rates and things that they use to make it look so cool, which that in itself was really awesome.
Speaker 1:Separately, I think the any of the people think about Spider-Man.
Speaker 1:They think about Peter Parker and the Peter Parker story, and this one, I think, kind of flips it a little bit, where you imagine you know you introduce a new Spider-Man character in Miles Morales and some people were excited about that who were familiar with comics.
Speaker 1:Others were just like I only want Peter Parker, but not only does it do that, but it introduces all these other variants of Spider-Man. So that way you understand that Spider-Man is not just Peter Parker and it's also not just Miles Morales, but it's something much bigger than that, and so I just think that world building, in that, just like turning things on its head and being so innovative in so many different ways, um really just lended itself to being something really exciting. On top of that, just there's so much going on and it's just you're on a roller coaster throughout the entire thing, just like with how much change is happening, how much action is happening, how much is happening visually, and then you're hit with emotional stuff. You're hit with, uh, emotions not only in the sad way, but also the exciting way and the fearful way and the suspense way, um, but it's just jam packed with, like every possible feeling and it's just a phenomenal film. But I do want to talk about it more, but we have one more special guest.
Speaker 8:I'm gonna let her in whoa look who it is hi guys, hey she hear us, hello it's been forever and like I hate that I I still get nervous to do this. I've been nervous all day I'm, you think I would have grown since the last time we spoke to not be nervous about recording.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's so nice to see you. Thanks for jumping on.
Speaker 8:Yeah, no, I'm surprised I did. I'm like, what the hell? It's Friday night.
Speaker 1:Brianna, welcome back to the show. It's actually really cool to see just this visual of us three on the screen right now, for a couple reasons. Um, my wife's dad just gave me, gave us like the one of those new aura frames.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you guys are familiar, but like you can like upload photos and it'll like actually it's right behind me right now, yeah, but you could see all of the like, different photos you decided to upload and when I was going through my photos, yesterday we took like uh, mpf pictures at the wedding of us three and I was just like, oh, so cool, and there's so many of them like where we did the one, like on the couch, you know, when we were first teasing like one of the first seasons.
Speaker 8:I don't remember that I'll send it to you.
Speaker 1:After we took pictures on my couch in like my Pasadena apartment together and you had like a spin trip.
Speaker 8:Oh yeah, I remember that I was like wait. We recreated that at your wedding.
Speaker 1:I do not remember that um, so all of that to say. It's awesome to have gone through that in a nostalgic way, be celebrating three years of the show here on this recording right now and just having you on the screen. So thanks for joining for a few minutes.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I'm so happy to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the main question we've been asking everyone that comes in. Obviously, you never had a traditional pop five, but what is something and it can be first thing that taught off the top of your head since we last recorded in the last two years something that you've loved?
Speaker 8:Oh, okay, thank God you didn't ask my pop five, because I think about this no, no, no, no so it's like so basic and so embarrassing, but so formative, like you guys should be lucky. I am who I am with what shapes me. Um, or at least I feel that way. Okay, let me think of something that I loved. Oh, let me think I don't know you guys what's something uh lately that you've liked?
Speaker 1:uh, challengers, did you like that movie, or taylor, or olivia? I love the challengers.
Speaker 8:That was a really fun movie, especially because we've been playing tennis um, yes, yes yeah, I love the challengers. I'm ruining my cameo.
Speaker 1:No, this is perfect. This is perfect. Oh man, incredible movie. The trailers did not do it justice. I think everyone who saw the trailer may have thought that it was going to be something very different than what I think the movie came out to be. But it's such a good movie. I've seen it twice now. The soundtrack in it I've been wanting to just play, to just get me hyped all the time, because that movie is just like so much energy.
Speaker 8:It's funny because I feel like in the trailer, like one of the commercials I saw like on YouTube for it, they had like some crazy quote Like I don't even remember, I just remember it being like really inappropriate quote for like what this movie will do to you and I was like that is bold.
Speaker 8:Remember it being like really inappropriate quote for like what this movie will do to you and I was like that is bold. Um yeah, I still can't think of anything. I'm so sorry you could just cut this. I'm still glad I got to join, no that's a good one.
Speaker 8:Wait what have I talked to you about. I don't want it to be the challengers, like I loved that, but like I don't really know if that would be like I can't have that be my thing, like okay, I guess, like I guess, like honestly, it could be the Taylor Swift album, if no one said that.
Speaker 1:The Tortured Poets Department.
Speaker 8:Yeah, tortured Poets Department, just because it's so funny, like it's just such a community for me now of like getting to talk. Like I think everyone felt like pressure because she it was so many songs that it's like okay, I need to go walking and like how do I listen to all of these? Like I almost felt like like listening and like keep like skipping, which sounds like terrible, but I just was like wanting to digest it all like and I think I've talked on my pop five before about Florence's album and her song Florida with Taylor is just like amazing to me. I don't like totally grasp like why Florida like I haven't looked into the clues like that. I know some Swifties maybe have, but that's just like a good song.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yeah, I'm going to whisper this because I've been such a big Swifty in the past, but this is her worst album.
Speaker 4:Oh my gosh Wait what?
Speaker 8:Okay, the critics are saying that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, okay, I'm being hyperbolic. It's probably not her worst, but I think I might just have a Taylor fatigue maybe.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I could see that for myself too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's so many of the songs I'm going to get roasted.
Speaker 8:Um, but I'm like is this really? I don't want to be in this episode.
Speaker 1:No, I'm glad you liked it, and there's songs I really love on that, like down bad, I'm like is a bop, um, but there's so many, exactly. But there's some songs in here that I'm like this is just like a, a reject from midnights, or this is something that she did better on folklore or did better on midnights, and it's just uh. Yeah, I don't know, I just I listened to it once. There's a couple of songs I go back to but, unlike other records that I've really loved from her, I just uh, I'm not in on it.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I could see it. I guess it's like it's. I hate saying this too, because I love Taylor so much and and even with all of like the hype around her, it always just takes me listening to her music to like bring me back to like why I love her. Um but I guess I haven't really returned to that album so much. But I love the song with post malone, like that's just a really good song yeah, that song's really great.
Speaker 8:I do like the florence one, like you talked about as well I love, oh my gosh, I love the one where she's like who's afraid of little?
Speaker 4:old me you should be.
Speaker 1:That's a good one that one's good and and I like love of my life too, I think, oh yeah, like that's the thing.
Speaker 8:like I I just am so thankful that I I got to have like a listening party with a couple of friends and like we literally only listen. Well, eventually we switched out, but we just listened to a ton of taylor swift and we listened to the album and that was just like. I don't have apple music, which you guys probably already know about me, but what I love is they had the lyrics and my friends had the lyrics on their phone because I just like want to sing to every song, even when I don't know, even when you're hearing it for the first time.
Speaker 8:Even when I'm hearing it for the first time, I want to sing, so that's like perfect. Yeah, I guess I know I haven't talked to you guys just like this in a while. I just want to keep talking to you. The only other thing I'll say that just came to my mind is the National just released, like a cover of Heaven. I know that song from a Talking Heads album I don't know which one it is, but and I love that song and it was just like I don't I've never heard it until we got that CD and like that's just what we had in the car and this was probably like last year that I loved that song. And then the national just came out with a cover and it's just beautiful, it's amazing, and so I've been listening to that just like on repeat, which I feel like sometimes, like with my taste in music, it's like so it could be so, like across the board or all over the place. But I'm like what's his name? Aaron? Who like from the national he works on Taylor album.
Speaker 8:Yeah, he works on Taylor Swift albums Like I love both of them and I love his other projects and like Bonnie Bear. So I'm like there is just like the love of music. That's like the through line, I guess, versus like genre or taste.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yeah, the national records are so good. But yes, uh, go listen to heaven, go listen to Taylor and go watch challengers.
Speaker 8:Or don't apparently.
Speaker 1:Or don't All right, well, brianna, thank you yeah.
Speaker 8:Okay, bye, guys.
Speaker 1:Thank you, we'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye.
Speaker 1:Bye-bye, all right, everybody, we have returning back from season. Was it season one? Season one, mr Dom? Sean Dom, how you been, ah, busy, how you been, man, we're doing good, brother, we're doing good. All right, dom, we won't keep you too long and thanks so much for joining last minute like this. But we've been having people come through to celebrate the three-year anniversary of the show and what we really want to ask is, dom, since you recorded your episode, are there any amendments you would make to your pot? Five, oh all five, all five, all five, maybe not?
Speaker 2:all five, maybe not all five, maybe like four to five. I was. It was funny. I was going back to it the other day I was like, ah man, I would keep this one. I would maybe keep rick rubin 40 for music, probably. I mean, all the inspirations are still there, they're still the same. It's just like you know you get older, you change a little bit. You know you draw. Inspirations are still there, they're still the same. It's just like you know you get older and you change a little bit.
Speaker 1:You know you draw inspirations, you're cutting board.
Speaker 6:Dane man and guitar hero no, to be honest, I still watch a ton of like no reservations, all the time guitar here because I hear I can go, man, you know all right.
Speaker 1:What are you putting in its place, man? What are you putting in its place? That's my.
Speaker 6:What are you putting in its place? That's my part five, Dude Kanye.
Speaker 1:West, oh controversial man.
Speaker 2:I think he's top three all time in terms of just the artistry.
Speaker 1:I think, just for the purposes of what we just did with Brianna, I think I got to cut this whole segment at this point. We were just talking about Taylor and you're coming in with the Kanye right after brother.
Speaker 2:Hey, you got to both sides of the argument.
Speaker 6:This is good this is good tv, okay all right, man.
Speaker 1:well, other than that, why don't you then pick a kanye song? Uh, the new addition to your power five for us to send you out on. Man Father, stretch my Hands.
Speaker 2:Come on now.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, brother, anything that you want to promote anywhere, people can continue to follow what you're doing. New album on the 31st Okay, that's it, 31st, awesome. Well, we'll make sure to share it and I'm going to go ahead and send you out on. Father, stretch my hands. Okay, yeah, thanks brother I appreciate you guys, man Likewise.
Speaker 2:I'll talk to you boys more later, see ya.
Speaker 1:Here's father, stretch my hands by uh.
Speaker 4:Spider-Verse.
Speaker 1:Any particular scene or moment that you remember is like a pivotal moment for you.
Speaker 2:Okay, the character and all of the scenes of Spider-Punk were just like I loved him, I think, just like the perfect example of like what you can do with all of these different art styles, like they gave him like the old school. Okay, first of all, I remember hearing of that uh, it was going to be daniel kaluuya kaluuya that plays spider punk and so in my head, you know, I'm like, oh, he's gonna be doing his.
Speaker 2:You know, normal thing like get out. Um, you know his like cool guy kind of thing. The biggest curveball for me for that movie which is probably I'm probably being overdramatic, but I just love this character so much but like the biggest curveball was that he comes in and he's talking in his normal british accent and he's like total like british punk. The aesthetic, uh, his little like you know the whole introduction that they do. Okay, let's do this one more time. But his is like funny and like his. But then, but not only that, not only is he just like such a gem of a character, so, so unique.
Speaker 2:The performance by Daniel Kaluuya is like I just feel like nothing we've really seen from him before. Kind of seems like he doesn't really care about anyone or anything. He actually is the one who comes through at the end after saying fuck the spider. Society comes through and says no, like I'm gonna help you guys, yeah, and he's like the, the reason, like he's kind of like the key to what's going to happen next. So like I just I just the. And it didn't.
Speaker 2:Even the first time I watched it, I think I was just so. It's so overwhelming that it took me like a few watches to realize like, oh shit, like spider punk is like playing a big role. So, just overall, like I could just like, even though he's like not in the movie like that much or he doesn't say much, um, I just really love his character. I love everything about him. I like when he finally takes off his mask, like it's just kind of like oh shit, and he's like cool as fuck, like he's got you know and miles is so jealous of his relationship with gwen and uh, but yet he's still spider-man. He's good to the core like he's still spider-man like I. I could talk forever about Spider-Punk. It's probably my favorite Spider-Man variant. I just love him so much.
Speaker 1:Awesome, man. All right, you had your movie here, daniel, spider-verse Excellent. I took one of my favorite movies here since we last recorded and went in a completely different direction, and that is the movie past lives. Past lives is a movie about these two childhood friends who have an incredible story. You follow them as children and then catch up with them a little bit later, in their 20s and then in their late 30s, and just see where life has taken them. It's so hard to not spoil because the movie is so incredible. It is a Korean-led, but you know. It transitions into Canada and to America and you really just see the various different lives. The main premise behind the movie is this pastime and phrase called Inyeon, which is the idea that if you come across anyone in your life, it's likely because in many other versions of past lives you interacted in some capacity and it's only because of that that you then find yourself interacting with these people.
Speaker 7:There's a word in Korean, inyeon. It means providence or fate, but it's specifically about relationships between people. I think it comes from Buddhism and reincarnation. It's an inyon if two strangers even walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush, because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives. If two people get married, they say it's because there have been 8,000 layers of yin-yang Over 8,000 lifetimes.
Speaker 1:Daniel, you just watched it for the first time. What are your thoughts on Past Lives? It's one of my favorite movies ever. Give me your thoughts on past lives, I'll.
Speaker 2:It's one of my favorite movies ever. Give me, give me your thoughts for one. I think you know, just having like just having watched it and kind of thinking about it, and you know, as a whole, the narrative is just so unique.
Speaker 2:It's like hard to tell where it's going sometimes, but not in any way is that a bad thing, like it's just um, you know, and I feel, I feel like it's just so, the dialogue between people and one thing I noticed is, like you, there's only like three characters in the movie really like you have maybe very like, very, very small interactions with other people, but it's just centered on these three people and yet it's such a roller coaster within the first, you know, 15 minutes like I'm hooked and I'm like, okay, like where's like, I feel like it like the first, uh, because you mentioned like there being like time skips and like it kind of seems like it's going really fast at first, but yet it all like there were some parts where I was like whoa, whoa, like wait, don't jump yet, like I need to know what happened. And then, but it, you know, it fills in as time goes on and you really get a complete picture of the, the, you know their entire lives, really up until this point. So just the narrative narrative and the way that it messes with time and the way that they choose to reveal those things that you skipped when they hit you and you realize it, you're just like man. The narrative is just so interesting and unique. I would recommend the movie just based on that alone, just being a very, very unique film.
Speaker 2:Oh, like you said, so hard to spoil, because it's just like, uh, the ending is really such a uh, you know, it just really hits you and um, yeah, but I I actually wanted to ask you, like, what is it about this movie that that drew you to it, like why was this the thing that? Well, first of all, when did you see it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, when it first came out. Yeah, I saw it in theaters. Um, I'm like, such a big, I can be a movie snob sometimes. Um, and just like anytime I hear anything is Oscar Beatty, I just immediately want to go see it. So I went in just like, hey, I hear it's a good movie, I'm going to check it out. Right, no further expectations.
Speaker 1:But there's something that I think um has resonated with me in a couple of different ways and I think this movie captures it a little bit as well. But there's this uh poem of um Sylvia Plath. Uh, I think it's surrounding a fig tree and the main idea of it is that she sits under. I'm going to totally butcher this, but the general takeaway that I have with it is that when you look at a fig tree, there's all these various different branches and if you look at your various life, every single branch and direction represents some form of a choice, and by making one choice to go down one path, you're basically saying no to the others.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's come up in a couple of different pieces of pop culture and in that narrative itself, where there's something to be said for the grief, but also reflection and joy, that comes from making decisions in your life and having a longing and a thought process of what would have happened if I had done something differently, and not necessarily in a way that is longing You're not necessarily longing for things to be different but there is an acknowledgement that I could have lived so many different lives had I made so many different choices.
Speaker 1:And I think that's just a theme from other stories that I think have has always resonated with me, maybe because it's something to say that like there's so many different points in my life that I'm grateful for and loved living and I probably would have loved different other pathways of how my life could have gone right.
Speaker 1:It doesn't make me any less proud or grateful for the one that I'm living today, but I can understand and appreciate that Like there could have been something great that happened in another direction as well, and so I think that generally resonates with me and I think this movie does a great job of that, you know. And there's a point where she talks to her husband, um, and she kind of just says like this is the life I'm living, right, like it almost doesn't matter what those other things are. But then you hear, you see her throughout the film also grappling with the fact of, like what could have been, you know, um, and when we're talking about that Indian right, like, there are these different levels of lives that you could have lived, um, and sometimes they're real possibilities and sometimes they are imaginative and speculation, but at the end of the day it's like having peace with, kind of, the decisions you've made and the place that you're in.
Speaker 2:But I also can understand that thought process of like wonder and, I guess, just fantasy of what life could have been should things have gone a different way that's interesting, that you, that that's what what draws you to it, because what I think is great about this movie is that I think it does a lot of pondering without trying to give like it's. It's talking about this like deep maybe not necessarily deep, but it's talking about kind of this universal philosophical concept, right, like something that's so built into the human condition, because we all think about this Like what if my life went in different ways?
Speaker 2:But I think it doesn't get heady about it no not at all super grounded and like it is a statement on enjoying your time with people, enjoying your life, not having regret, but yet also is not hammering a point home as much as it is kind of just like think about this. That's how I felt watching the movies, like it made me think so much of my own life and how, and, and the people that I've come in contact with, the people that I've had, people that I've lived my life with, regardless of who they are romantic partners, friends, people that you maybe just cross paths with that it's a memorable experience, you know. So, yeah, I think this movie does a really good job pondering, without, I think, making so much of a definitive kind of thesis. In a lot of ways, Go watch it.
Speaker 1:Like you said, there's so much of it that's not in your face, that's not really explicitly stated, but more felt Throughout the entire experience. All all three characters you have just like the realist emotions, right, like you can understand what everyone could be feeling at any given moment, right. And there's moments where it depicts long distance relationships and you know the struggles of like I can't just jump on a plane anytime. I want to, to go be with this person and that could have been the one thing that fixes everything, right, potentially. Or you know the, the husband character again mentions like what if there was a different person at the space when we first met? You know, like would that have changed our lives? And it's just those questions you get all the times of, like the what if? And the thought experiments that can go with that.
Speaker 1:But this movie has a perfect ending. I like my heart hurt forever, for ever in that last line, um, and without seeing it, you know the last line being see you then and uh, you know when, with context, when you see the movie, you'll know exactly how and why that hits you. Um, but gosh that it's such a perfect movie.
Speaker 2:It really is man.
Speaker 1:Yes, go watch past lives. All right, daniel, we're going to wrap it up with one last one, just for the sake of time here. Okay, we we talked about a couple of movies, we talked about the Olivia Rodrigo record, and we collectively came up with one that we both loved. Uh, that came out since we last recorded, and that is, of course, boy Genius. Their record, called the Record, came out last year. Let's talk about the Record. Tell me, speak on it. What did you love? How did you come across the Record, phoebe?
Speaker 2:Bridgers, lucy Diggins, julian Baker have all had so much success in the 2020s, and then for them to kind of just do, in a lot of ways, what feels like kind of a victory lap for their own. You know, kind of just do in a lot of ways, what feels like kind of a victory lap for their own. You know kind of just celebrating the, the fantastic, like few years that they've all had as solo artists and then to come together and just like enjoy that together. I think is really cool. Um, just like a moment in music and pop culture.
Speaker 2:I think the album was mus. Musically, it's just like. You know, you have these three very distinct singer, songwriters and they play sometimes they play backup singer some, and then one person might take the forefront. Or some of my favorite songs are like like Cool About it where you have each one doing their own verse, you know and that happens a couple of times but like cool about it being like a one that I think stands out to me the most about that. It's just like, uh, they might each take their own verse and then do a, do a, you know, do a chorus, and then it might just go on to the next one, and then that person does their own verse and chorus and then you know. So I think it just has a really cool structure to it. I remember talking about it with our friend mark and, and jennifer um, his fiancee, and just being like they're like what are your favorite songs?
Speaker 2:and I'm like, oh man, I just love 20 or I love satanist and they're like damn you really like the hard one, and it's like, yeah, there even are some songs on that album that kind of just rock out, you know, and it's cool that it just goes in so many different directions. I would say that my and that was early, early on, like when the album first came out. I would say, as time has gone on, probably my favorite, favorite song on the album is Not Strong enough.
Speaker 1:Yep, let's listen to a little bit of that one. That one actually got them nominated for tons of Grammys. They won a Grammy for that song. So here's a little bit of not strong.
Speaker 4:Every clock's a different time. It would only take the energy to fix it. I don't know why I am the way. I am Not strong enough to be your man.
Speaker 1:I almost wanted to play the whole thing. Yeah, one of the things that I think they did a really great job of they had the EP that came out a couple of years back, and it was like the first foray into boy genius right, their first time that they said, hey, we want to get together and make some sort of project together. Right, and it was great. I loved it. They, they toured it, and it was incredible. Separately, though, I think one of the things that that EP did is they very much did like a here's a Lucy song, here's a Phoebe song, here's a Julian song, and then we'll sing one all together and then again, here's a Lucy song, here's a Phoebe song and here's a Julian song and the last one, we're singing it all together. This one did a good job.
Speaker 1:Where there are songs that are like that, right, like Emily, I'm Sorry, did a good job. Where there are songs that are like that right, like emily, I'm sorry, is a phoebe song, right and um, you know you have leonard cohen, which is a lucy song, but then you have some like not strong enough there. That is just very much weaving into. Where it's like no, this is a boy genius song, like you can hear. Yeah, maybe phoebe takes a whole verse on her own, but then all the choruses are all three of them, and it's just like you hear Julian screaming out at the top of the chorus, or you hear Lucy cut out at different parts, and it's like they made their their one collective voices, a singular instrument that ends up being like a boy genius sound as opposed to like the three individuals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, satanists, like you mentioned, is probably one of my favorite songs on the record too, you know, and I love the, the one of the things that we can talk about their voices and the unique qualities of each of their voices. But then you also talked about their lyricism, right, I think.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's what I was just thinking.
Speaker 1:One of the things that, having been a fan of all three of these artists separately, is like in Satanist specifically, the way they approach each of the verses is so unique to who they are Right, like a lot of what Lucy writes about is like her experience growing up in Christianity, right, and like she has a song on her last record called like vacation Bible school and stuff like that, you know, um, but like she's working in lyrics like hey, remember when they were talking about this in the book of Ecclesiastes, you know, and like that's worked into a verse and then you hear you know Phoebe talking about you know, stuff that's very related to like what you know her backstory to be and it's just like the lyricism that you hear from all three parties is just like so incredible.
Speaker 1:And it makes me think back to like when we had Zach Ray on the show and he talked about the traveling Wilburys, you know, which at the time was that like super group with Dylan and Tom Petty and Roy Orbison, and like this is our version of that, you know, and I think it's so cool to get to see that.
Speaker 2:Speaking specifically on Phoebe's lyrics on Satanist will you be an anarchist with me? Sleep in cars and kill the bourgeoisie, and it's like that is so bb but that is so true like I could think of you. There's so many moments on that album, or even like, uh, on not strong enough. Julian says um, can you see us getting scraped up off the pavement like stuff?
Speaker 2:like that is just like, ah, like it's so unique to them. Good on them for being able to figure out how to be in a super group where they're all their own singer songwriters and figure out how to make it work in a way that is comes out with good songs and uses all of their separate, but in a lot of ways like similar talents. So, yeah, a true blue is like such an amazing ballad. Yeah, I just I feel like. Yeah, like I said, kind of a moment in music, but I think it also. Fantano said something along the lines of like yeah, for the most part, like it works and like that's a lot of what I feel about it. You know, it's its own thing. Like you said, it's Boy Genius, it's their sound. It kind of just becomes its own thing and I think that that's impressive for them to have made an album that is so cohesive and yet still so true to who each of them are as such big personalities, you know, in their own music. So impressive, I think, is a word that I would use.
Speaker 1:Well, everyone, go listen to Boy Genius, go check out all of the stuff we talked about today. Big thank you to the people who dropped by. Thank you, devin, thank you Brianna, thank you Dom and thank you Connor for the last minute. This jumps in to keep us updated on your pop fives and your lives and what you guys have going on. We're going to go out with the Boy Genius song, because we talked about it so much. Why don't we head out on Satanist Everyone? This is wrapping up our three-year anniversary celebration. This is the last episode for now. We will be back when I don't know. We all have a lot of stuff going on, but we will be back. We'll see you next time, but until then, what's your pop five? Kill the bourgeoisie, at least until you find out what a fake I am.
Speaker 4:Straight paid by initials on an ATM. I burn my cash and smash my old TV.
