It's Connor's birthday! We finally remembered, but that doesn't mean things go any better... His latest pick is Flying by Cody Fry, an orchestral pop record featuring the viral TikTok hit I Hear A Symphony! In a shocking turn of events, it's an album James has known for 7 years. How will sweeping scores and saturated modern pop Hold On in the rankings? The Mixtaper has done his research into illegal trees, wooden rings, and inconsistent haircuts. Will Connor perform Better than he did last time? It's a one-of-a-kind record with a unique blend of influences from classical to dubstep. Don't miss it! (And stay tuned for a melty birthday curse at the end of the episode...)

We're crawling through Landmines this week as we explore St. Vincent's debut album Marry Me! Her unique, emotionally ambiguous polysemous lyrics paired with complex-but-intuitive instrumental arrangements bring this very gray self-made album to life in vibrant colors. We'll talk about her early life and the Sufjan Stevens connection that landed her a record deal! Then The Mixtaper will teach us about her vibe-matching voicemail butler, a few controversial outfits, a giant toilet, and "The Neon Pink Interview Cube." Discover murder ballads, decadent instrumentals, and war stories as All Our Stars Align and we go Human Racing through this album! Available everywhere Now, Now!

YOW!! We feel good, like you knew that we would when we listened to James Brown's album Out Of Sight! It features the debut of his iconic hit alongside other standards like Mona Lisa, Only You, I Loves You Porgy, and the ethereal Nature Boy. We'll talk about James Brown's time with the Famous Flames and learn how he became the hardest working man in show biz! Find out about the Godfather Of Soul's bougie Poojie, his backflipping Little Richard impression, and what happens when you try to use his private bathroom... Join us for a second go at Episode 21, and don't eat the yellow jell-o! 

Welcome to the Modern Age! The Strokes designed their 2001 debut album Is This It to be like a band from the past making an album in the future. Will its live sound and raw energy land its score among the greats? We'll go back to When It Started and learn how the band changed the conversation around post-punk and alternative music with hits like Last Nite and Someday! The Mixtaper will teach us how to keep track of our drummers and we'll discover several regions of 'wegians as we look to make diamonds in the rough. Find out how terrorists and methadone clinics drastically affected the record! With their bold guitars and lo-fi vocals The Strokes will challenge us to Take It Or Leave It.

Sabrina Carpenter leaves quite an impression (5 feet, to be exact) with her explosive breakout album Short N' Sweet! James & Connor may not be the Sharpest Tools in the shed, but we're ready to break down this album! We'll talk about Sabrina's Best New Artist credentials, her probable and improbable family members, and all the dumb guys in these dozen tunes. The Mixtaper will give us a Taste about her X-Ray Chef Dad, secret dance-offs, and lost child mishap. Is this album Slim Pickins or will it Please Please Please us? How does it compare to Album Of The Year winner Cowboy Carter? Find out.. and also CHECK OUT THE SABRINA CARPENTER CHRISTMAS SPECIAL RARARA!!!!

Okayokayokayokay, we're heading to the Garden Shed this week and going back to November with Flower Boy, the hazy 2017 record from Tyler, The Creator! Find out whether this non-rap fusion record holds up... or whether we have to unleash Connor, The Destroyer. We'll shine like Glitter, discover horrorcore, and eat all the ice cream we can handle as we learn about one of hip-hop's most provocative artists. The Mixtaper will try to trick us with a new game called Guess That Watch Amount and a racist goat from a Mountain Dew ad... Plus, Connor's got to choose a favorite feature! If you're Mr. Lonely, feeling Boredom, or Enjoying Right Now, Today, we hope we'll See You Again this week for another album review! 

Happy March Madness! Grab your controllers... We're taking on another bracket tournament featuring 32 iconic video game soundtracks! From action & RPGs to multiplayer and simulation games, find out which games and their music made the cut and which franchises will only make it to Game Over. We'll consider every detail, from popularity and cultural impact to the effect the music has on the game as we fight to determine the greatest of all time! Did we make any controversial picks? Did your favorite game or series make the cut? Let us know! Sit back and enjoy the madness.

We're waiting for it, that Green Light! This week Jamese and Connore are getting wild & fluorescent with Melodrama, the sophomore coming-of-age breakup album by New Zealand's resident royalty, Lorde! She broadcasts the boom boom boom, we decide whether it belongs in the Louvre. We'll discuss the complexities of dual citizenship before enjoying a Supercut of facts (or spins) about intimate art, comedic cameos, and a dangerous hidden talent that might shatter all your preconceptions. Moody melodies and synthy soundscapes fill out this tale of heartbreak and the complications of teenage superstardom. We might like it now, but what will we do when we're Sober? Find out!

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called Life... and learn about one of pop music's biggest icons, Prince! His legendary film and soundtrack album Purple Rain dominated the mid-80s, whether he was tearing up the dance charts with When Doves Cry or triggering a congressional hearing full of parental outrage for Darling Nikki! We'll talk about the creation of the film, the whereabouts of his motorcycle, his legendary halftime show, and the unbelievable amount of music that's still in the vault! The Mixtaper has tales of smells, smoke, and spaghetti... get your toilets ready. Baby, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince (aaaand currently known as Prince, too) is a Star.. so Let's Go Crazy this week!

There's nothing like the sound of Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, and there's no voice that can sing it like the froggy croak of Kris Kristofferson, perhaps the smartest man in music! His eponymous debut album is full of character work and hit after hit of excellent storytelling. We'll discover how he abandoned his Rhodes scholar days and exploited his military pilot training to harass a superstar and break into the music biz! After churning out hits like Me And Bobby McGee and To Beat The Devil he even launched a lucrative acting career... The man doesn't Stop Stopperson! The Mixtaper delivers during his Kris-themed round of Fact Or Spin where we learn about wrestling refs, brutish rugby, and Kristory in the making. Even if you don't love his music, you'll want to listen to this episode just For The Good Times! 

Maybe it's the loving in her eyes, but we're ready to Dive right into Olivia Dean's debut album Messy to celebrate Valentine's Day! She's one of the UK's biggest up-and-coming songwriters, and her vibrant lyrics and neo-soul style effortlessly dance through new love and heartbreak alike. We'll discuss her childhood stage fright, crack down on UFOs and UAPs, and learn about our own limited high-dive and Ladies Room experience. The Hardest Part might just be Fact Or Spin as the Mixtaper prepares for his date night with floating festivals, picnic parties, and blooming bushes. It's an album that's Dangerously Easy to enjoy (on Valentine's Day or any day at all)!

This ain't Texas, ain't no Hold 'Em... But there sure is an Album Of The Year Grammy! Beyoncé took home top honors at the 67th Grammy Awards this week and we're celebrating with our traditional special dedicated to Cowboy Carter! This genre-fluid country crossover record defied expectations and shed new light on country's history and trajectory. James & Connor will debrief about our favorite moments and award predictions (with VERY different results than last year) and stampede our way through this 27-track record with cameos from Willie, Dolly, Posty, Miley, Linda Martell, and more! We'll talk about Jolene, spaghetti westerns, Oreos, and shotgun riders, while the Mixtaper has his own set of awards to hand out. If you like the sound of frogs, toes, or 80,000 bees this episode is for you! Do a Riiverdance, raise II Hands II Heaven, and get Buckiin', buckin', buckin' like a mechanical bull for this year's one and only SPIN IT GRAMMY SPECIAL! 

Happy Gopher Day! We finally caught 'em all-- all the members of Boygenius, that is-- and now it's time to be Cool About It as we learn about their debut record, The Record! You've listened to their episodes separately; now hear Lucy, Julien, and Phoebe's powers combined in a supergroup! From the sick riffs of $20 to the Grammy-winning Not Strong Enough, find out if We're In Love with this album! The Mixtaper has a Pokemon-inspired round of Fact Or Spin queued up where we'll learn about the Forest Gym, a shiny album, and tattooths! It's a special conclusion to an 81-episode arc, so choose your favorite starter and get ready to battle! 

Hey, all you able-bodied creatures! This week James & Connor learn all the rules behind Mentors, the new album by singer, songwriter, Poet, and folk renaissance multi-instrumentalist Fish In A Birdcage. Connor discovered his music on a trip and has deemed it a "no skips" discography. After sharing a Fish List with James he decided to bring a brand new album to the podcast full of plucky instruments, ballads, and lyrics that are just so good! The Mixtaper will enlighten us about wedding crashers, espresso splashers, and song stashers in Fact Or Spin. If there's a Badger clinging to your back and you're a Long Way From Home, be Brave and tell your Elders to tune in for another Connor's Pick!

Jump into the heat of a Technicolour Beat with the 2015 debut record from the indie-pop duo Oh Wonder! This collection of bedroom-produced tracks was rolled out as a series of singles over the course of a full year before launching the couple into stardom! Get ready to Lose It in a warm, cozy blanket of soft emotions, sparked by a Livewire of electronic ambience. We'll discover how quickly and naturally Anthony and Josephine write their music as the Mixtaper takes us on a lavender-scented tour full of toys and a van named Wendy. See how well this record's aged a decade on.. they've given all their love to you!

Get ready for a run-in with The Police and their farewell record Synchronicity! We're having Tea In The Sahara with Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers, and Sting... and you know he'll be watching you! From the chaotic Mother to the dinosaur-filled Walking In Your Footsteps, this new wave record truly has a little bit of everything. We'll trace the band's story and learn what Sting can do during a headstand. The Mixtaper's also teaching us how he got his iconic stage name, making fake jazz, and spoiling TV shows! How does it feel to fight yourself? Is there a little black spot on the sun today? Why is the Loch Ness Monster here?! All your biggest Police questions and more will be answered right here, right now. 

What's our age again? 182 Episodes? That sounds like the perfect time to get into All The Small Things with Blink-182's genre-altering skate punk record Enema Of The State! We'll learn the moving stories behind Adam's Song and Going Away To College and the un-moving stories behind The Party Song and Mutt. The Mixtaper will teach us about Mark Hoppus' comedic flamingos, Tom DeLonge's extraterrestrial achievements, and an old friend makes an unexpected yet logical return. Don't be a Dysentery Gary... spend a couple hundred of your blinks listening to this week's episode and let the music turn the lights off, carry you home.

We're Back Again just in time for The New Year, and we're taking the leap with Parachute's very 2009 debut record Losing Sleep! It features their biggest hit She Is Love, alongside pop-rockers like Under Control and piano ballads like The Mess I Made. The Mixtaper's gone a bit mad and is teaching us about Parade Chutes, laundromats, and the Taste Of Love as we tackle another round of Fact Or Spin. Will this record's songwriting and hooky melodies overcome production that leaves it stuck in its time? When Words Meet Heartbeats you'll know!

Three years of competition all comes down to this... It's our annual Naughty Or Nice Holiday Special! We'll put the best seasonal songs by podcast artists head-to-head and see who comes out on top with live voting, and the stakes have never been higher. Not only is this a rubber match between James & Connor, NoN 2024 will also determine the fate of two-time champion Last Christmas by Wham! Will they rise to the challenge and earn the triple crown, or will this truly be their last Christmas? Only the chat knows... See who stays nice and who ends up naughty as we compare our personal brackets to the fan favorite results in Naughty Or Nice 3: The Wham-Off!!

We don't want a lot for Christmas, we just want to listen to Mariah Carey's first holiday album, Merry Christmas! It features seven impressive covers of the tried-and-true classics alongside brand new songs for the season, like Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) and the incomparable All I Want For Christmas Is You! We'll talk about the annual staple's broken records-- it's a LOT. We also get into the centuries of history behind carols like Silent Night, Joy To The World, and more. The Mixtaper has crafted a Twelve Spins Of Spinmas parody song complete with pampered puppies, milk baths, and all you need to know to win the beauty school popularity contest! Get into the Spinter Wonderland spirit as we prep for next week's Naughty Or Nice!

There's a little bit of something Rob Thomas in everything in you.. We're entering a Mad Season with the sophomore album from the new millennium's hottest pop rock band, Matchbox Twenty! We'll learn the true stories that inspired songs like Rest Stop and Last Beautiful Girl, and ponder the softball jersey that gave the band their name. The Mixtaperoo will teach us how to Tour The Rainbow and give us a quote for a standard barber shop expansion. We'll get Angry, get defensive, and sleep in this Bed Of Lies... but one thing we'll NEVER do is talk about Santana's Smooth (or the shrine to it that Rob Thomas may or may not have in his spare bedroom).

Up on the hill, James & Connor are talking about Aja by Steely Dan! The group gave up on touring to pursue perfection in the studio and this 7-track yacht rock staple was the result. With the help of more than 40 session players who learned to work the saxophone, Don Fagen and Walter Becker's complicated chord work and "obscure" lyricism will take us Home At Last. The Mixtaper whisks us through space and time as we learn about arcade soundtracks and hunt down the Title Track Bandit! From the harmonious seediness of Peg to the rockin' Josie, get ready to drink your big Black Cow and get outta here this week!

Country Roads, Take Me Home! We're heading to almost-heaven this week with John Denver's commercial breakthrough record Poems, Prayers & Promises! It features his first and biggest hits like the title track and Sunshine On My Shoulders, as well as several well-chosen covers from musicians he loves. We'll talk about his Deutschendorf days, his ill-fated aviation aspirations, his Muppet specials, and more. The Mixtaper teaches us about his extensive conservation efforts and a shocking decapitation as we get ready to celebrate another Thanksgiving! Get ready for a wave of nostalgia like only John Denver can provide.. the radio reminds me of my home far away!