#137 - Ranking the Music of SNL Season 50

This week we're joined by two friends of the show, Daniel Pierce and Tillman Smoot, to talk all things Taylor Swift! We review Taylor's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, plus all the things around it -- the talk show appearances, the "Fate of Ophelia" music video, the cinema listening party, and more. How does this album rate amongst her previous ones? How does the "Ophelia" video rank against other albums' lead singles? Plus, we'll cover the announcement of the upcoming 6-part Disney+ Eras Tour documentary plus a new Eras Tour concert film.  We'd love to hear your thoughts about this episode or about the Taylor Swift album! Drop us a line and let us know at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

26 Okt 1h 3min

After a 52-year absence, Buckingham Nicks,the debut album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, has finally been reissued in a newly remastered form. We're joined by author Steven Cooper to talk about the album and Lindsey and Stevie's journey from obscurity to international superstardom in Fleetwood Mac, and Steven tells us his story of meeting Stevie. Plus we talk a little about the solo careers of some of the other Fleetwood Mac members.  If you're interested in learning more about Steven and his books, you can find information at stevencooperbooks.com We'd love to hear your thoughts about this episode or about the Buckingham Nicks album! Drop us a line and let us know at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

18 Okt 1h 4min

We pay a visit to the year 1995 to talk about some of the music that was released that year. Anthony gives us the lowdown on the metal and prog scene at the time; Stephanie shares stories from her time at Virgin Records; Rob catches us up on the electronic scene, Alan fills us in on what a few legacy acts are getting up to at this point in their career; and the whole gang talks about the battle for radio supremacy between the two big BritPop bands. During the discussion we cover albums by Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Prince, Pink Floyd, Aimee Mann, Matthew Sweet, The Chemical Brothers, and Shaggy, debuts by Garbage, Natalie Merchant, Jill Sobule, and The Foo Fighters, and the juggernaut that was Jagged Little Pill.  As always, follow along with this exploration of 1995 with our handy-dandy Spotify Playlist! These are some of our faves -- what about yours? Is there an album from 1995 that you love that we didn't mention? Drop us a line and let us know at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

5 Okt 1h 5min

All About That BASS!  Anthony leads the Modern Musicology crew in a discussion about the masters of the bottom end, the foundation of the band, the bringers of the thunder -- BASS PLAYERS! We highlight some of the best players in rock, metal, soul, and funk by sharing our favorite songs that open with unaccompanied bass parts! We've got examples from Metallica, Prince, Motorhead, Porcupine Tree, Van Halen, and more. And of course, you can't have a discussion about bass players and not include Chris Squire of Yes and Geddy Lee of Rush! If you want to hear the full songs that we reference in this show, you can find them all on a specially-made handy-dandy Spotify Playlist!  These are some of our faves -- what about yours? Is there a song with an unaccompanied bass intro that we didn't mention? Drop us a line and let us know at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

20 Sep 1h 5min

With Oasis in the midst of a major reunion tour, a fantastic new album from Pulp (their first in 25 years) and Suede (released on September 5), recent albums by Blur, James, and Kaiser Chiefs, the popularity of BritPop is at an all-time high. In this week's episode, Rob, Stephanie and Alan talk a little about where BritPop came from, being involved in the music biz when BritPop bands were making their first splashes in America, favorite bands, songs, and albums, and much more.  We'd love to hear your thoughts about BritPop! Have you seen any of the Oasis shows? What do you think of the new Suede album? IDrop us a line at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

6 Sep 51min

This week the Modern Musicologists are joined once again by our good buddy Matt Alschbach from the Rock and Metal Profs podcast, this time to talk about the brand new Billy Joel documentary, And So It Goes. Our conversation covers Billy's musical origins, his influence on the musical landscape, the new things we learned from this film, and we each talk about our favorite songs / albums / eras from Billy's career. If you haven't seen And So It Goes, you can catch it now on HBO Max.  We'd love to hear your thoughts about the Billy Joel doc! Drop us a line at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

24 Aug 58min

This week the Modern Musicologists, joined by our very good friend Matt Alschbach, look back at the life, career, and legacy of OZZY OSBOURNE, who passed away on 22 July 2025. We each talk about how we first discovered Ozzy, some of our favorite eras / albums / songs, our reactions to his final concert just two weeks before he passed, and Matt tells us about seeing Ozzy live in the 80s.  We'd love to hear your thoughts about Ozzy! Drop us a line at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

10 Aug 1h 3min

Our wayback machine is broken, so we're still stuck in the year 1985! But it's okay, because there was some really great music in the second half of that year! We'll be talking about iconic albums by Kate Bush, REM, John Cougar Mellencamp, KISS, Dio, Big Audio Dynamite, The Firm, The Replacements, Iron Maiden, Simple Minds, Stevie Nicks, and many others!  As always, you can follow along with our discussion by checking out our accompanying Spotify Playlist. What's your favorite album released in the second half of 1985? Drop us a line at modernmusicology1@gmail.com or just leave a comment on our socials or whatever podcast platform you're listening to us.  Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernMusicology  Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernmusicologypodcast/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ModrnMusicology  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-MlcGy5u3fK1j4bVty1Kw  Modern Musicology is part of the ESO Podcast Network. https://esonetwork.com/  Find more about us: Rob Levy: https://kdhx.org/shows/show/juxtaposition  Stephanie Seymour: www.therearebirds.com   R. Alan Siler: www.kozmiccreative.com   Anthony Williams: https://watchers4d.podbean.com/

3 Aug 59min