Loveable Listening #1

#OnceForMoneyOnceForTaste

Love listening to podcasts and music. Do it everyday. So why not recommend some of what I have been enjoying recently?

Dr. Gameshow

Each episode the hosts, Jo Firestone and Manolo Morano, have a in-studio guest compete with callers in games submitted by listeners. It sounds like a complicated setup but its easy to understand once you start listening. Its one of the oddest and funniest podcasts I have listened to and always puts me in a great mood. Last December it was canceled by the podcast network it was a part of, Earwolf, but was recently brought back under the management of a new network, Maximum Fun. The only downside is that many older episodes are behind a paywall due to their old network's policy to incentivize subscriptions by restricting access to most content older than six months.

Still this is an amazing show that is family-freindly so anyone can listen and enjoy. Plus if you follow the show on Facebook you can learn when they're recording new episodes and get the chance to call in and participate. You should be able to find the show on every podcast platform including Spotify or visit the show's homepage and listen there.

Off Book: The Improvised Musical

Speaking of improve my other favorite comedy is Off Book. In every episode Jessica McKenna & Zack Reno bring in a guest to improvise a musical and it is such a fun show. Some episodes are stronger than others but I feel like none are duds. They also experiment with the format now and then which is always interesting.

Off Book is part of the Earwolf network which means that ,like Dr. Gameshow, many of the past recordings are currently behind a paywall which sucks but that should not dissuade you from checking it out. There are some great episodes currently available like Episode 75, which is an amazing Christmas episode that I relistened to recently. Its on Spotify, their website, and on several other places that I don't/can't link to like iTunes.

Glass Animals - How to Be a Human Being

Could this cover scream "Indie Band!" any harder?

Glass Animals is a band I have known about but only listened to a bit of their work before. Recently one of their songs that I liked on Spotify, Season 2 Episode 3, kept coming up so I decided to check out the album it was from: How to Be a Human Being. It was a good listen and I have been replaying some songs like Life Itself, Pork Soda, and The Other Side of Paradise.

I also listened to ZABA, their first album, and while appreciate its experimentation it was hit and miss at times with some tracks failing to be memorable. How to Be a Human Being is more consistent and has a sound that is more appealing to me. If you are a fan of indie/alternative music this album is definitely worth a try.

Kaen/ Love Dramatic feat. Ihara Rikka/ 99.9

Mob Psycho 100=If One Punch Man was more than a one note joke

My final recommendation is the triple threat that is the openings of all this season's best anime. First is Kaen, which is the opening to Dororo (2019), a series about a man cursed at birth who recovers the body parts that he was born without by slaying the demons his father made a deal with. Its a dark story that injects a nice dose of levity through its character interactions that makes it an overall fun adventure show. Its opening starts by eluding to the melancholy of the entire scenario before becoming more fast paced and bombastic, which signifies our main characters refusal to accept the hand they have been dealt. 

Love Dramtic feat. Ihara Rikka is theme of the season best comedy Kaguya-sama: Love is War, a romantic comedy centered on two high schoolers who harbor feelings for one another but refuse to admit their attraction, instead they try to trick the other into confessing first. The first two episodes are rough around the edges though by episode 3 it finds its footing and maintains an consistently funny rhythm. This OP is pure funk which is cheesy but hard not to fall in love with, much like the series itself. 

Last but certainly not least is 99.9, the theme of the best show of the season Mob Psycho II. Its amazing and I cannot recommend it enough. Smartly written, beautifully animated, and full of heart, this series has everything. Its OP touches upon the recurring theme of Mob needing to accept himself  in order to be a more emotionally healthy person.