Episodes

Dave and Caleb have a close encounter of the third kind as they choose the best album for seeing aliens. Is music a universal enough language to avoid world domination? Do aliens even exist? Is it better to give them …

What's the right soundtrack for barreling down a highway in pursuit -- or being pursued -- in your very own General Lee? Dave & Caleb lay out the criteria, buckle in, and gun it to 95 with The Prodigy's Fat …

Special guest co-host Vince Brackett joins the podcast this week to discuss what it means to “sell out” for a variety of musicians, and the template for popular and highly successful musicians to “reverse sell out” with an al...

We go deep on a roadmap for getting your kids to rap music, from Sugarhill Gang to whatever is happening in the genre right now. How do you approach conversations about lyrical content, specific life experiences that aren’t o...

Dave and Caleb welcome in 2024 by naming the best albums for starting a new year. What albums best capture that fine line between eternal optimism and existential dread about what could come? Dave suggests Prince’s 1999, a pa...

Dave and Caleb are wrapping up 2023 with our inaugural top tens of the year, plus loads of honorable mentions and singles. We count it down 10-1 and hopefully introduce you to some of your new favorite music! Our favorite …

This week we're doing something different, a game we call Let's Make a Mixtape . Our friend Hana Kim joins us as we draft 18 Christmas songs that we're publishing as a playlist you can listen to on Spotify or …

December is here and we’re ready to get in the Christmas spirit! Or Dave is at least. Dave brings Caleb on a magical journey through a season of lights and traditions and a spiritually moving season, while Caleb keeps us …

Dave and Caleb celebrate their November birthdays by introducing you to one of their favorite bands, the Scottish indie rock legends Frightened Rabbit, and their seminal break-up album, The Midnight Organ Fight . Discussed to...

The leaves are changing, the hot apple cider is brewing, the bonfires and bonfiring, and Dave and Caleb are ready to crown the best album for autumn. What are the albums that we pull out for just a few months …

Daylight Savings Time is upon us, and Dave and Caleb are celebrating by choosing albums that sound great at one in the morning. What makes an album sound best in the dark, wee hours of the morning? Dave gets into …

Halloween is upon us, and after a quick stroll through all things traditions and family policies, Dave and Caleb unpack what makes a song spooky? Is it the song itself, or are the images we associate with it doing half …

Taylor Swift is a global sensation with legions of devoted fans who call themselves "Swifties." Surprisingly, your hosts Dave and Caleb -- a.k.a. two dads in their 40s -- aren't among them. But in the midst of the year of …

If movies like Roadhouse and Fight Club taught us anything, it’s that every bar fight is accompanied by a catalyzing track. Today, two pacifists take another trip into their imaginations to determine the album that could com...

Dave and Caleb hop in their DeLorean to travel back to the year 1966 and decide which album they most want to experience in the time of its release. They talk about the frenzy that surrounded every Beatles release and …

They say you can’t go home again, but this week Dave and Caleb make an attempt to as they think about hometowns. The good, the bad, the people, what it means to bring your full grown up self to a …

Dave and Caleb go deep on how they formed their imagination for high school (spoiler alert: Saved by the Bell shows up) and what types of feelings and memories shaped their mindset as they remember entering high school, with ...

Dave is joined this week by a special guest, Quentin Coaxum ( https://quentincmusic.bandcamp.com ). Quentin is a professional trumpeter, composer and teacher in the Chicago area, where he’s performed at the Chicago Jazz Festi...

Dave and Caleb make one last splash before summer comes to a close by determining the best album for jumping in a lake with your friends, including a surprise album that neither of them like all that much. Can an …

In today’s episode, Dave wants to bring you in on one of his most embarrassing behaviors that began with a brilliant attempt to be cool in high school, and Dave and Caleb attempt to determine what songs you can blast …

You get a call in the middle of the night from your best pal, panicked and determined. Something unthinkable has happened. Things will never be the same. And now you have to pick the best album for burying a body …

Dave and Caleb lament how easy it is to lose momentum on work outs and pick their best albums for getting out of bed or out the door to get a work out in when you're really unmotivated. Caleb takes …

Dave and Caleb explore their ideal work settings and choose the album for the inevitable times you’re stuck in a coffee shop with bad reggae covers playing in the background. Along the way, they explore where jazz music sits ...

Dave and Caleb hit the open road and pick the best album for a road trip by yourself. Along the way, they talk about guilty pleasures, whether one can dance while driving a car, the scourge of hidden tracks on …