Episodes
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Surprise! We’re back with a very special episode that may be our last one.
Things are changing in our world as both Alicia and Graham are about to start new jobs. While we’re going to continue talking about music, we’re not sure what the future of the show looks like, so we had to record one more episode.
We’ve decided to go out by talking about new music to prove how young and cool we are. We’ll check out some of the most popular hits from the last couple of years and offer our Elder Millennial takes on what the kids are listening to.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
"Lithonia” - Childish Gambino “The Door” - Teddy Swims “So Sweet I Could Die” - Lucia and the Best Boys “Nothing Matters” - The Last Dinner Party “Saturn” - SZA “Too Sweet” - Hozier “Soup” - Remi Wolf “Imagination” - Foster the People “Shut Up My Mom’s Calling” - Hotel Ugly “Blame Brett” - The Beaches "Lunch" - Billie Eilish "Birds of a Feather" - Billie Eilish "Sexy to Someone" - Clairo "Wonder" - Shawn Mendes "My Kink is Karma" - Chappell Roan "Here's the Thing" - Fontaines D.C. "End of Beginning" - Djo "Sundress" - A$AP Rocky -
It’s the season finale of Music at Work! This week we’re talking one-hit wonders.
How can an artist conjure up a massive global hit but never again crack that code? It’s one of music’s greatest mysteries. We’ll listen to some of our favourite hits from artists who were never able to recreate the magic and ask why creativity is so fickle.
We’ll also reflect on some favourite moments of our first season and give a taste of what is to come in Season 2.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
"Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis "She Drives Me Crazy" - Fine Young Cannibals "Flagpole Sitta" - Harvey Danger "The Safety Dance" - Men Without Hats "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley "Hit Em Up Style" - Blu Cantrell -
Missing episodes?
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The days are long, the sun is shining, and we’re checking out the songs of the summer.
We’ll chat about what make a great summer song, listen to some classic tracks from the past 30 years, and see if Graham can survive a trip to the 2020s.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs discussed this week:
"Espresso" - Sabrina Carpenter "Houdini" - Dua Lipa "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk "HOT TO GO!" - Chappell Roan "Shake It Off (Taylor's Version)" - Taylor Swift "Crazy in Love" - Beyoncé (feat. Jay-Z) "Summertime" - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince "Hot in Herre" - Nelly "Kill Bill" - SZA "As It Was" - Harry Styles "If I Can't Have You" - Shawn Mendes -
The knives are out, the jigsaw is falling into place, and we’re taking a trip through 20 years of Graham’s favourite band of all time.
We’ll sample some amazing tracks from each Radiohead era, debate the existence of the sadness/horniness axis, and welcome our very first sponsor to the show.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" "Exit Music (for a Film)" "Polyethylene (Parts 1 and 2)" "Jigsaw Falling into Place" "Just" "Talk Show Host" "Optimistic" "Knives Out" "2 + 2 = 5" "There There" "Present Tense" "Reckoner" -
This week, we’re heading into the woods to explore the wonderful world of Stephen Sondheim.
Alicia has picked highlights from her favourite Sondheim shows to share with musical theatre newbie Graham. We’ll listen to selections from “Sweeney Todd”, “Company”, “Into the Woods”, “West Side Story” and “A Little Night Music” to appreciate the genius of this singular musical icon.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
From Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" "The Contest" "A Little Priest" "Johanna"From Into the Woods
"On the Steps of the Palace" "Moments in the Woods" "Finale/Children Will Listen (Pt. 1)"From Company
"Being Alive" "Marry Me a Little" "Sorry-Grateful"From West Side Story
"America" "Somewhere" "Tonight"From A Little Night Music
"You Must Meet My Wife" -
We’re back and we’re talking Motown! These timeless songs are stylish, fun, and impeccably crafted. We’ll share our favourites as we explore some of the greatest pop music of all time.
Along the way, we’ll learn a word of unlimited Scrabble power, write a hot new club banger, drop our favourite catchphrase, and deliver an oral history of the California Raisins.
Listen to this week’s songs on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
“What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” - Jimmy Ruffin “(You) Got What I Need” - Freddie Scott “You Can’t Hurry Love” - The Supremes “Hard to Handle” - Otis Redding “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” - Stevie Wonder “Beggin’” - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons “For Once in My Life” - Stevie Wonder “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” - The Four Tops “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - Marvin Gaye “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” - The Shirelles “Dancing in the Street” - Martha and the Vandellas “Somewhere” - The Supremes “I Want You Back” - The Jackson 5 “Reach Out for Me” - Dionne Warwick -
Happy Fathers’ Day! We’re celebrating our dads by throwing it back to the glory days of classic rock.
This week, Alicia is going to listen to 15 timeless Dad Rock songs from the late 60s/early 70s and share her first impressions. We’ll break down our favourites and chat about what makes this music great.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones "Elenore" - The Turtles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - The Beatles "Share the Land" - The Guess Who "I Saw the Light" - Todd Rundgren "The Caves of Altamira" - Steely Dan "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" - Iron Butterfly "Black Dog" - Led Zeppelin "Lola" - The Kinks "School" - Supertramp "Time" - Pink Floyd "Let it Ride" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive -
We’re going to the movies! Music is the secret ingredient that ties a movie together, and we’re going to share some of our favourite Hollywood scores.
We’ll explain why timpani are like sensitive jocks, Graham will shamefully admit his ignorance of 80s pop culture, and we’ll drop some scorching hot takes about the best movie songs of all time.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast)!
Songs in this episode:
"Fargo" (from Fargo) - Carter Burwell "Time" (from Inception) - Hans Zimmer "Finale" (from The Empire Strikes Back) - John Williams "Morning Passages" (from The Hours) - Philip Glass "Bloody Christmas" (from L.A. Confidential) - Jerry Goldsmith "End Credits" (from Beetlejuice) - Danny Elfman "Parade of the Charioteers" (from Ben Hur) - Miklos Rosza "Mom Returns and Finale" (from Home Alone) - John Williams "The Landing" (from First Man) - Justin Hurwitz "Forrest Gump Suite" (from Forrest Gump) - Alan Silvestri "That Thing You Do" (from That Thing You Do) - Adam Schlesinger -
This week, we're going on a journey through some of the greatest singers and songs of all time. We'll share our vocal jazz favourites and discuss what we love about this timeless music.
As usual, we'll slander Frank Sinatra and throw it back to the 90s, including a fun story of how jazz music led us to cross paths as teenagers.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist and follow us on Instagram (@music_at_work_podcast).
Songs in this episode:
"Love for Sale" - Ella Fitzgerald / The Manhattan Transfer "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" - Ella Fitzgerald "I Could Write a Book" - Dinah Washington "But Not for Me" - Ella Fitzgerald "The Very Thought of You" - Nat King Cole "As Time Goes By" - Dooley Wilson "I'm a Fool to Want You" - Billie Holiday "I've Heard That Song Before" - Helen Forrest "I Put a Spell on You" - Nina Simone "Someone to Watch Over Me" - Sarah Vaughn "Summertime" - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong "The Shadow of Your Smile" - Ella Fitzgerald "Stars Fell on Alabama" - Billie Holiday "Anything Goes" - Ella Fitzgerald "Puttin' on the Ritz" - Ella Fitzgerald -
We’re turning the clock back to 2003 to dive into indie rock: under-the-radar, Pitchfork-approved music from the farthest corners of the internet.
We’ll debate what “indie” really means, and Graham will regale Alicia with the elitist musical opinions of his youth.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist, which is updated every Thursday with the songs we’ll be discussing.
Songs in this episode:
"The Rat" - The Walkmen (11:05) "Juxtapozed with U" - Super Furry Animals (16:15) "What Do You Want Me to Say?" - Dismemberment Plan (22:10) "False Alarm" - Sloan (27:25) "The Way We Get By" - Spoon (32:10) "Hopeless" - The Wrens (33:55) "Gone for Good" - The Shins (35:10) "To Hell With Good Intentions" - Mclusky (38:45) "Another Morning Stoner" - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (40:50) "Race for the Prize" - The Flaming Lips (42:15) -
This week we’re paying tribute to the music of our home and native land.
From global superstars to hidden gems, Canada has produced some incredible artists. We’ll look at the full spectrum and share some of our CanCon favourites.
We’ll also sing our first duet, throw shade at Dave Coulier, and drag Graham kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist, which is updated each Thursday with the songs we’ll be discussing.
Songs in this episode:
"Bandwagoneers" - The Dears (04:45) "Earned It" - The Weeknd (08:30) "American Woman" - The Guess Who (12:30) "In My Blood" - Shawn Mendes (17:10) "Napoleon" - Sarah Slean (22:10) "You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morisette (25:35) "She Says What She Means" - Sloan (32:50) "Breath" - Swollen Members (feat. Nelly Furtado) (38:25) "Yeah!" - The Golden Dogs (45:35) "Adia" - Sarah McLachlan (48:55) -
This week, we're talking covers. It's the ultimate musical compliment and when it's done well it can breathe new life into an old classic and pass a song down to the next generation.
We’re going to share some of our favourite covers and talk about what makes a good one. We’ll look at 10 famous songs from the past and explore how they’ve been recreated, updated, and sometimes improved by other artists.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist to hear the songs we'll be discussing.
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Pretty-boy purveyor of plain vanilla mall music, or insanely talented sexpot? Love him or hate him, John Mayer elicits strong emotions.
This week, Alicia will make the case for his inclusion in Graham’s musical canon and get to the bottom of 20 years of indie snobbery.
Can the podcast survive this clash of opinions? Listen and find out!
Check out our Spotify playlist to hear the songs we'll discuss in this episode.
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We’re back and we’re getting weird.
After wallowing in beautiful music, it’s time to shock and horrify each other by plumbing the darkest, weirdest depths of our musical lives.
We’ll hear about detachable penises, dental floss farming, benign tumours, big butts, and find out why everyone’s in love with Diane. Will we still be speaking at the end of it all? Listen and find out!
As always, listen along on our Spotify playlist, which is updated each week with the songs we’ll be discussing.
Songs in this episode:
"Detachable Penis" - King Missile (1:55) "I'm Too Sexy" - Right Said Fred (6:25) "Fuck the Shit" - Sons of Butcher (10:50) "Lump" - Presidents of the United States of America (13:15) "Prisencolinensinainciusol" - Adriano Celentano (16:45) "Pepper" - Butthole Surfers (20:10) "Montana" - Frank Zappa and the Mothers (23:40) "Song 2" - Blur (28:10) "Backwards Priests" - Jocelyn Pook (31:05) "Get UR Freak On" - Missy Elliott (34:45) "Hocus Pocus" - Focus (39:15) "Saturday (Ooh Ooh)" - Ludacris (42:55) "Wild Honey Pie" - The Beatles (47:15) "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz (49:35) "I Love a Magician" - Dismemberment Plan (54:45) -
This week, we’re taking a close look at “Romeo and Juliet,” Sergei Prokofiev’s exquisitely beautiful retelling of the famous love story.
Surprisingly, we have a shared fondness for this relatively obscure Soviet ballet. We’ll explain how we found it, discuss our favourite parts, and somehow manage to quote the Spice Girls.
As always, listen along on our Spotify playlist. It’s updated each Thursday with the songs we’re discussing.
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This week we’re revisiting La La Land, the gorgeous 2016 movie musical featuring songs by Justin Hurwitz, Justin Paul, and Benj Pasek.
We’ll break down our favourite moments, learn how many times Graham snuck out to see it solo, and say the word “beautiful” until it loses all meaning.
As always, listen along on our Spotify playlist called Music at Work Podcast. It’s updated each week with the songs we're discussing.
Songs in this episode:
"Another Day of Sun" (8:08 - 12:45) "Someone in the Crowd" (15:55 - 19:50) "Mia & Sebastian's Theme" (19:51 - 24:40) "A Lovely Night" (25:25 - 31:20) "City of Stars" (31:21 - 34:12) "Planetarium" (34:13 - 40:25) "Start a Fire" (40:30 - 45:00) "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" (45:01 - 50:11) "Epilogue" (50:12 - 53:34) -
It's our first episode and we're kicking things off by introducing ourselves musically to each other and to you. We've each picked six of our absolute favourite songs that have been in our lives for years or decades. We listened to each other's picks and we're going to break them down, share our first impressions, and tell some stories about what they mean to us.
Listen along on our Spotify playlist called Music at Work Podcast . We'll update it each week with the songs we're discussing.
Songs in this episode:
"One Song Glory" - Jonathan Larson (from Rent) "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead "1979" - Smashing Pumpkins "Waterloo Sunset" - The Kinks "Fantasy" - Mariah Carey "Jazz Waltz #2" - Dmitri Shostakovich "Don't Speak" - No Doubt "'Cross the Breeze" - Sonic Youth "For Good" - Stephen Schwartz (from Wicked) "Ch'ella Mi Creda Libero e Lontano" - Giacomo Puccini (from La Fanciulla del West) "Our Love is Here to Stay" - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong "Devant le Garage" - Michel Legrand (from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
