Thoughts for the Golden Hour

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Mixomusicology S2E8: Swallower

Jana Pochop — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:37:31 GMT

Very Important News:

We have our own Instagram now! Follow us, please. We need it for validation as semi-functioning podcasters.

This week’s episode is for Dolly, and Alex opens with a career retrospective and commentary that shows how much influence she had in just about everything. We will always love you, Dolly Parton. Truly.

Consider a donation to The Imagination Library in Dolly’s honor.

Now, a drink!

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SWALLOWER

2oz bay leaf and celery infused gin
.5oz white vermouth
aquavit rinse
3 dashes celery bitters
saline spray (add pinch of sea salt to shaker)
lemon and bay garnish

Infuse gin for up to four days. Add ingredients to cocktail shaker over ice. Swirl chilled martini glass with aquavit, then discard the liquid. Shake cocktail shaker vigorously, then strain into glass. Garnish with a lemon peel and a bay leaf.

Alex notes: This martini is seriously dry - it’s a 4:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. If you like something slightly sweeter, change that to a 3:1, or add in a quarter ounce of a green liqueur. Chartreuse would be amazing here, but if you don’t want to spend $90 on a bottle, Dolin’s Genepy le Chamois will get you somewhere similar for $20, and I bet finochietto - that’s fennel liqueur - would work too.

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This week we start with Chelsea Wolfe’s “Swallower.” Jana immediately hears Tori Amos in the atmospheric piano / drums / bass vibe here. Amy Lee and Evanescence also come up immediately. Chelsea’s lane is doom metal, gothic rock, and folk? (As Alex says, “murder, arson, and jay-walking.”) The vocals shine here, and Chelsea’s voice is sublime. She goes from quiet and intimate to a wail of a chorus. We love the fuzz guitars, the rhythm section is on point, everything here is just good. Lyrically, the vibe is vague but poetic, and fits in the pocket of this gothic doom metal genre. We’re excited to dig into the whole Chelsea project, which is out now!

Next up: The Aces and “Wet Cement.” We love a hazy shoe-gaze pop live song, and The Aces deliver. They have been a solid four-member indie pop band for a long time, delivering solid jams for a long time. They’re also from Utah which is a bit of a surprise, but they sing openly about queerness so it takes all kinds, as they say! “Carve your name into me like wet cement.” Is a great hook line, a bit of a left field metaphor we love. The track is so solid, acoustic guitars are wide and doubled or quadrupled which makes it lush. Overall, a solid entry into the “I’ll Stop the World (And Melt With You)” pantheon.

Lastly, Caroline Rose gives up a bop with “Chow Mein.” Chelsea is an artist that has from a folk singer-songwriter background and has evolved into retro pop and now more of a pop rock sound. We love this song…lots of OTT compressed guitars and interestingly panned vocals with more compression. Lyrically we love it a lot, “Uh oh, it is all coming up now / Regret chow mein.” Caroline encapsulates a drunken night out full of regret and bad choices…a classic party song on the surface tinged with sadness.

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COOL ANNOUCEMENT TIME: Last but not least this week, we are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have an editor, you guys! You might remember Marin Wilts as our special guest commentator on the MUNA full album episode. Marin has graciously agreed to join team Mixomusicology, chopping up our weird thoughts and taking our our um’s and er’s (and also skillfully using Foley as an asset instead of a hindrance when Jana drops her drink shaker). Welcome, Marin! We are so glad you’re here.

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Alex’s links:

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Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack:

Mixomusicology Catch Up: Clink!

Jana Pochop — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:22:10 GMT

Friends! Welcome to your Mixomusicology recap. Alex and I thought we’d catch you up on the last several episodes. We’ve been recording and posting, but some weeks you just gotta move right along on to the next, you know? I will say, the podcast is humming and the drinks Alex has been coming up with are glorious.

We’ve got some fun pod news to reveal to you tomorrow with the latest episode, but until then…maybe you missed a song or a drink or just want to re-visit some of these episodes. Maybe you need some coffee jelly in your life (we all do).

Find all our episodes right here, wherever you stream your podcasts. Don’t forget to follow, subscribe, and review! (Reviews really help, guys. 🥹)

S2E2: The Pin-Up: Jungle, Westside Cowboy, Kelela & PinkPantheress

Songs: “Someday, Somewhere” by Jungle, “Pin Up Boys” by Westside Cowboys, and “The Bridge” from Kelela and PinkPantheress

The Pin-Up:

2oz gin
1oz apricot brandy (the lower ABV kind)
.75oz lemon juice
.5oz elderflower liqueur
barspoon of Luxardo cherry syrup

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry and a lemon peel.

S2E3: Corner Minimart: Gracie Abrams, Fiona Apple, Michelle Branch

Songs: “Corner Minibar” by Gracie Abrams, “Horns of a Bull” by Fiona Apple, and “The Game of Love” by Michelle Branch and The New Radicals.

Corner Minimart

2oz vodka
1oz heavy cream
.5oz demerara syrup

Coffee jelly recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/coffee-jelly/

Add coffee jelly to cocktail glass. Shake vodka, heavy cream, and demerara syrup over ice, then strain over coffee jelly.

S2E4: Saint Laurent: Charli xcx, Amy Shark, Rose Gray

Songs: “Persona” by Charli XCX, “The Biggest Dick” by Amy Shark, and “Just Be Bodies” by Rose Gray.

Saint Laurent

2oz pisco
.5oz fennel liqueur
.75oz lime juice
.5oz lavender simple syrup
muddled cucumber
1 dash celery bitters
Garnish with cucumber

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with cucumber.

S2E5: North Bergen: Ariana Grande, Remi Wolf, Rachel Chinouriri

Songs: “Stay” by Ariana Grande, “Twiggy” by Remi Wolf, and “One Song Away from Crying” by Rachel Chinouriri

North Bergen

1oz bourbon
1oz pisco
.75oz oolong tea-infused sweet vermouth
.25oz banana liqueur
2 dashes ango bitters
1 tsp vanilla simple syrup

Infuse tea at room temp for 45 min - no more than that. Stir occasionally. When making the cocktail, pour ingredients into a mixing glass over ice. Stir vigorously. Strain over a large ice cube, and serve without a garnish.

S2E6: Cardboard House: Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Bea Miller, FLO

Songs: “Nosedive” by Man/Woman/Chainsaw, “Born to Lose” by Bea Miller, and “Touché” by FLO

Cardboard House

1.5oz reposado tequila
1.5oz manzanilla sherry
.75oz amaro montenegro

Stir over ice, strain into rocks glass over a large cube, garnish with orange peel.

Mixomusicology S2E7 | Lost Weekend: Phoebe Bridgers

Jana Pochop — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:19:30 GMT

Back on Substack after a promo lull…but we’ve been cranking out Mixomusicology episodes all along. Check out our back episodes for chats about Ariana Grande, Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams, Amy Shark, Charli XCX, and many more!

And now, we discuss Phoebe Bridgers’ Lost Weekend.

This week’s episode is extra long because Phoebe Bridgers’ new album is extra good. Also we are joined by a special guest, the artist CHAPS, Tyler Morgenstern. Jana opens with a monologue about Phoebe’s take on writing and touring, just an appreciative meander about it all before we get into the record. First, let’s have a drink:

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LOST WEEKEND

Alex says: “A play on a Lion’s Tail, which first appeared in The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book in 1937. It was an early use of allspice dram in a non-tiki cocktail, so early in fact that when allspice dram went out of favor and was taken off the market in the 1980s, it was lost altogether for thirty years.

As we hurtle toward the autumn listening to a new Phoebe Bridgers record, I wanted to make a drink that felt a little unplaceable in terms of flavor, a little mysterious – and I rediscovered this drink, which originally paired that allspice dram with bourbon. I switched out the bourbon for High West Double Rye whiskey here. Rye always tastes like dried hay to me, and I wanted to lean into that – so I infused it with chamomile. A couple other small changes to proportions, a little extra vanilla and brown sugar, and we have something that’s extremely complex, and has quite a long tail, but is still very approachable. Sort of like the album we’re listening to this week.”

2oz chamomile-infused high rye whiskey
1/2oz allspice dram
1/2oz vanilla Demerara syrup
3/4oz lemon juice
3 heavy dashes angostura bitters

1. Infuse chamomile for 1 hour: 1 teabag per 2oz rye.

2. Add all ingredients to a shaker over ice. Shake vigorously for ten seconds.

3. Strain into a nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a luxardo cherry.

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We won’t show notes you into oblivion for this episode. It’s a long one, but we had a great time discussing this record with CHAPS. Phoebe’s work deserves a deep listen, and all 3 of us are unabashed fans of this project. Do yourself a favor and spin this whole record.

Also, check out CHAPS wherever you stream music and follow on socials:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chapslovesyou

Everything, everywhere: https://linktr.ee/chapslovesyou

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Alex’s links:

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Jana’s links:

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Mixomusicology S2E2: The Pin Up

Jana Pochop — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:09:44 GMT

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2. We are in the depths of summer, and our moods and song choices reflect that. We just wanna vibe, and vibe we do.

If you want to vibe with us, subscribe, like and review!

Alex monologues about his thoughts on nostalgia, and how do we move forward and grow artistically when we are all so stuck in the past? Toy Story 5 anyone? Alex watches movies from days of yore to escape. Jana listens to her same playlists over and over again. Then Jana admits she’s never seen Twin Peaks, and Alex has to come to terms with that as a friend and a co-host. (Then we go down a She-ra and He-Man gay-lore tangent). Take a listen and see if you agree on the potential harms of too much nostalgia. Our songs this week are all throwbacks to something, which for this moment in time, we are ok with.

Glasses up for a real one.

But first? A drink. Speaking of nostalgia, this week we cheers to the life of Sam Neill. May we live in a way that the whole world mourns when we go.

This week’s drink:

The Pin Up

Somewhere between a Jasmine and a Boston…

Jasmine: Famous cocktail made in the 90s by mixologist Paul Harrington. Used for the proportions of this drink; the Campari in that recipe is switched out for elderflower liqueur and the orange liqueur is switched out for apricot brandy.

Boston: Where the apricot brandy comes from. The recipe Alex found was from Boothby’s World Drinks And How To Mix Them, from 1934.

2oz gin
1oz apricot brandy (the lower ABV kind)
.75oz lemon juice
.5oz elderflower liqueur
barspoon of Luxardo cherry syrup

(Jana used peach brandy and it worked well too!)

First up, Jungle has a new album out, and we are featuring “Someday, Somewhere.” Jungle are a British band formed in early 2013 by London-based producers Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland. In 2023, Lydia Kitto joined as a full-time member.

This is a breezy, island-y, summer jam and there’s not a lot to talk about lyrically. It’s chill, it’s optimistic, it’s the feeling that something better is coming. Don’t we all need it? Alex hears Leon Thomas, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and a lot of 70’s inspired soul and funk. The bass line is strong, as it needs to be in this case, and we recommend the whole Jungle album as a mid-July lift.

“People are dying, some good, some bad, and we need this song.” - Jana

Next up, Westside Cowboys new track “Pin Up Boys.” Another UK-based band, but much newer on the scene. We can tell from this recording that this band is a really practiced live band. This British band is making American-style rock, some Americana to it as well. We love the one channel to stereo trick in the intro, the edgy guitars, and the lyrics play a little on the nostalgia theme too. Alex talks about Rainbow Kitten Surprise as a reference (check out the playlist for this week). The breaks and transitions between parts keep this from being a typical indie rock song. Toward the end, someone is yelling through effects for a melody line and we love that.

Lastly, Kelela and PinkPantheress team up for “The Bridge.” A smooth throwback R&B inspired jam to listen to while you soak up some sun / try not to roast. We love Kelela’s voice here, and they blend really well. Vocal cuts used as rhythmic piece are super cool and make a simple lo-fi housebeat work well for 4 minutes. The stereo-widening of the vocals works nicely here, and a flanging effect is working too (an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds). A Glitter reference too…early 2000’s girly pop will never die.

“The Pussycat Dolls on Xanax.” - Alex

Jana confesses vocal chops as a production technique are near and dear to her (listen to “It Ain’t Me“ by Selena Gomez/Kygo) and Alex references Donna Missal’s “sex is good (but have you tried).”

Anyway - big Kelela fans here, and thus concludes our Summer Jams episode.

As always, thanks for listening! Leave us a review and tell your friends!

Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology S2E1: The BoyToy

Jana Pochop — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:17:37 GMT

Welcome back to Mixomusicology! Season 2 is upon us, and we brought out some heavy hitters for our return. Listen, like, and subscribe right here!

First up, we catch up post-break and Jana monologues about her blissful moment of revelation at a Hilary Duff concert. Not having everything figured out is a feature of living, not a bug. Also the quote “there are only adults in the room if there are children present” rings really true. The best we can do is not take things too seriously, while we take them very seriously. We take listening to music and talking about it over a cocktail...very seriously. Onward.

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This week’s drink:

THE BOYTOY

Named after a lyric from Madonna’s “Danceteria.”

1oz tequila
2oz prosecco
.5oz Campari
.5oz lime juice
2 scoops watermelon sorbet

Mix all ingredients, reserving 1oz Prosecco, in a chilled measuring glass. Pour into a chilled rocks glass. Top with 1oz reserved Prosecco.

Sgroppino! It’s one of the oldest cocktails. It dates back to Venice in the 1500s, so a certified classic, like Madonna. Ice back then was a bit of a status symbol, which, this song is such a name dropper that it felt like it paired up well. I wanted to use nontraditional ingredients, so I swapped out the vodka in a traditional sgroppino for a tequila. The very original recipe was likely grappa-laced lemon ice.

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We jump into this episode with a full on Popmergency...when Carly Rae Jepsen announces a new project, we are SAT. We have nothing but praise for her 2015 album Emotion (highly recommend). “On Wires” is the first single from her 24-track double album coming this fall. We love the tension built by the plunky piano stabs in the intro and verse...not your usual CRJ turn and this bodes well for the new project. Then, the drop - a soaring release of the chorus with the repetitive, reverby vocals comes in and we feel euphoric. Alex hears some of AWOLNATION’s “Sail” in here. The production features more live instrumentation than other CRJ projects...live drums, a talky distorted electric guitar part.

Alex’s bold statement: “Carly Rae is the Mary Oliver of pop songwriters.” Denigrated by male critics, known for one big work, underrated as a whole in every way.

Jana: ‘”Call Me Maybe” is Carly Rae’s “let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”’ Fin.

Madge is back! Next up is “Danceteria” from Madonna‘s epic new Confessions Part II. The whole album is pure Madonna-in-a-club euphoria, but this one is a bittersweet look back on the famous Lower East Side club in NYC where Madonna got her start in the 80’s. She name drops everyone from Debi Mazar to Keith Haring to the door person. (Here’s some footage from Danceteria for a deeper dive). We love the throwbacks in the song itself, where the production shifts to mimic the songs referenced. Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” being a main one alluded to, with Madonna’s “doo de doo” bass line at the end. The vocals feel a little over-compressed when Madonna is singing, though the speaking parts are spot on. Otherwise, it’s a solid club track and the whole record is made for sweaty dancing in a dark room. Get to it.

(Also, Alex discloses he has a “Kick Down the Door” playlist - which now contains “Danceteria.”)

Lastly, we listen to Endlaf’s “Burn Down the Louvre.” Endlaf is comprised of Stacy King (Eisley, Sucré), Darren King (Mutemath), and cellist/composer, Chelsea McGough. It’s a gorgeous track, full of beautifully arranged string parts and King’s perfectly doubled vocals. Alex muses that perhaps this song is a reference to the joke among early 19th century artists like Picasso that they wanted to burn down the Louvre as a protest against stale art. Listen on headphones and take in the gorgeous strings, layered and octaved. It’s 4:30 long, and doesn’t feel like it at all. Swoon.

Thanks for listening, we’re glad to be back!

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Adult Size Medium

Jana Pochop — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 04:03:29 GMT

(This post is adapted from my Patreon, where I share all manner of works in progress and behind-the-scenes sorcery).

I’m coming up for air after a hard stretch. After seeing a great set of shows in Washington and Oregon with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhiannon Giddens, Mavis Staples, and Hurray for the Riff Raff, I got back to Albuquerque just in time to see Hilary Duff. I loved it so much. So much that I’m learning a cover of Hilary’s “Adult Size Medium”, which means I’m spending a lot of time between my 20’s and my Immediate Now, though not exactly how you’d expect.

Hilary Duff...pop star, songwriter, mother of 4.

I did not grow up with Hilary Duff / Lizzie McGuire like a lot of people did. She’s a millennial not too far off from my age, but her rise to fame just missed whatever pop culture wave I was on. After her child star years and her 20-something pop career, Hilary took about 11 years off to live a real life, have a family, and do whatever one does with a huge career like that, all of which I paid no mind to, respectfully.

Then all of the sudden she drops Luck...or Something this year, and as a pop music aficionado (self-proclaimed, of course), I had to listen. And holy moly have I listened.

I’m pulling on holes
Of an adult size medium
The twenty year old me still in here
I’m waking up to a dream sequence
Sometimes I can’t see me in it

This song (the end cap on an excellent album) is my current perfect encapsulation of the distance I feel from then to now. From a 20 year old college kid with a guitar and a dream (and a lot of hero worship), to this...um, adult? Who just cleaned out her parents’ house of 39 years, is an estate executor, a business owner, a semi-functioning “grown up.” It all feels surreal, and I am convinced no one has this stuff figured out. That alone keeps songwriters in business.

Anyway, if you know me at all, nothing could represent the “Then and Now” gap and the way things change and also stay the same...than JPo showing up to a Mary Chapin show.

This much is obvious: that 20-year-old with the guitar and a dream? My soundtrack was MCC. She was the voice in my walkman headphones while I was making those exact stupid, sweet, no-idea-what-was-coming decisions. She’s the reason “songwriter” ever felt like a real job an actual person could have. So when I say I paid Hilary Duff no mind back then...respectfully...it’s because my mind was quite full of songwriter-with-an-acoustic-guitar dreams.

Then, a week and a half ago, I’m sitting at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, listening to Mary Chapin sing “Stones in the Road.” That song (which is No. 1 on my Desert Island song choices for our Mixomusicology minicast) has been with me since I was a teenager, a version of me who had absolutely no clue. Estate-executor, business-owner, just-emptied-my-parents-house me. I had a moment.

That’s the whole “Adult Size Medium” theme, thank you Hilary. The song is about the distance of then and now, and last week Mary Chapin closed the gap for me again for about forty minutes. The kid who made all those decisions to these songs did not expect to stand this close to them years later. Time folds clean in half sometimes if you’re lucky (or something).

Was any of it worth it after all?
Is my reflection someone else’s I stole?
But if it’s mine can I still keep it
If I can’t see me in it

The twinge I palpably feel when Hilary sings “was any of it worth it after all?” persists every time I hear it. I am grateful to say that during those shows, watching MCC, Mavis, Rhiannon and Alynda...yes. It was worth it. The magic and the medicine of music shows up time and time again.

Kind of the whole reason for the tour, really. It’s called Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, Rhiannon’s inspiration and impetus, and ev’ry voice meant EVERY voice. Mavis Staples at 86 is still singing relevant songs she sang in the 60’s (a whole other bittersweet and alarming post), making all of us groove and cry at the same time. Rhiannon singing songs carried here by enslaved people, a foundational part of our history (happy 250, America). Alynda ended her brilliant opening set with a cover of “One of Us.” If God had a face, what would it look like indeed. A lot like these women on stage, I’d wager.

And then I fly home and watch Hilary Duff do the exact same thing (but make it pop!) in my own beloved city.

Ev’ry voice. Including the pop star on a comeback tour who has managed to live a real life and write about it. Including me, trying to find my balance again after a year-plus of real life diversions...and starting to think about writing about it.

I’m grateful for all of these women sharing their voices. And I’m grateful I got a Hilary Duff light up cocktail shaker at the show, too (let’s not get TOO serious now).

Cheers, everyone.

jpo

Mixomusicology Minicast: Bizarre Pop

Jana Pochop — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:15:14 GMT

Minicast number 2! We’ll be back next week for Season 2. In the meantime, please enjoy Alex’s banger Transatlantic accent.

We decided to do this episode about what we term “Bizarre Pop.” Songs that we’ve wanted to fit into typical episodes but are just a little too...bizarre.

Playlist if you wanna get bizarre with us: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/LCgMnaQFr4

Don’t forget to subscribe and review (5 stars is always helpful!)

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Firstly, we have another Minicast shot for you!

Professor Pepper

1 part cherry liqueur
1 part coffee liqueur
1 part bergamot or orange liqueur
1 part bourbon.

Chill ingredients beforehand for a layered cocktail. Tastes like a bizarro world version of Coke. Bizarre pop. Salud.

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A little Bizarre Pop history (thanks Alex!):

Bizarre pop has been around for decades – with roots dating back to vaudeville, and modernized in novelty songs and one-hit wonders. In the digital era, though, it seems like a wider audience has begun to embrace or even celebrate things like aesthetic gimmicks and strange production choices. It doesn’t surprise me that the fanbases of a lot of the artists we’re about to talk about are queer or otherwise minority-identifying; as music has democratized, I think fans feel a lot more represented by the strangeness of it all.

More than alt pop, bizarre pop music features aesthetics that may shock or be part of counterculture – in essence maybe they’re anti-pop songs using the sonic palette of pop. Whereas alt pop is typified by the usage of non-pop sounds borrowed from rock and elsewhere, I think bizarre pop is typified by the unexpected – culturally and sonically. Unlike novelty songs, I also think that bizarre pop songs are generally meant with some amount of earnestness. Before we get into it: there’s a huge number of artists and songs that could fit this prompt, from Madonna to We Might Be Giants to M.I.A. to Gorillaz. This is a minicast. If you want a full history lesson, you’re going to have to comment.

Songs discussed in the history section (check out our playlist to listen along):

O Superman - Laurie Anderson
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
MOOO! - Doja Cat (the video is a MUST watch)

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Alex’s Choices (listen to the playlist):

Caroline Polachek - Dang (2023)
SOPHIE - Immaterial (2018)
Magdalena Bay - Image (2024)

Note: they seem to have scraped the Colbert Late Show performance of Caroline Polacheck’s Dang from the internet (boooooo CBS you cowards), so here’s her Tiny Desk instead.

Jana’s Choices (listen to the playlist):

Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again (2000)
Meg Stalter - Prettiest Girl in America (2026)
horsegiirL - Fun Guy Fungi (2026)

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We hope your enjoyed our Minicasts, and thank you again for listening all season long! Subscribe, give us 5 stars, tell your friends. See you next week for Season 2. 🩷

Here’s that selfie Jana took when we were on Drink 3 of our recording marathon.

Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology Minicast: Desert Island Songs

Jana Pochop — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:17:24 GMT

Welcome to our first minicast! We’ll be back with Season 2 of Mixomusicology in July. In the meantime...

🚨 ALERT 🚨

The plane has crashed. We have nothing on this desert island but broken, screen-cracked iPod Nanos that only play 5 songs each. What songs will we choose?

What would YOU choose? Let us know on our Substack / socials. Don’t forget to leave a 5 star review if you like the pod!

Follow along with our episode playlist here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/Ha4DNA144o

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This week’s shot:

Banana Snaquiri

Alex says: Karin Stanley owns a bar called Dutch Kills around the corner from my house. It’s one of my favorite bars in the city. It feels like it’s been there since the 1800s. The music is perfect. The people are perfect. I do wish they had more barstools, but that would kill the vibe.

This drink is based on hers. It’s a mini daiquiri, and it’s the drink that starts the day for bartenders at Dutch Kills. It’s my desert island drink because it reminds me of home. And also because they’re very refreshing and citrusy, so no scurvy for me.

6:4:3 ratio of aged rum to banana liqueur to lime juice. For a standard shot glass, that’s .75oz rum, .5oz banana liqueur, .3oz lime.

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Jana’s desert island list:

Mary Chapin Carpenter: Stones in the Road
SHeDAISY: Love Goes On
MUNA: Around U
Iron & Wine: Woman King
Taylor Swift: This Is Me Trying

Alex’s desert island list:

Magnetic Fields: I Don’t Want to Get Over You
Big Thief: Mythological Beauty
Mitski: Your Best American Girl
LCD Soundsystem: Someone Great
Liz Phair: Shatter

Alex’s Bonus Pick because he edits this pod: Le Tigre: Keep On Livin’

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

I'm Fine, It's Fine. Everything Is Fine.

Jana Pochop — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 19:17:07 GMT

Every week lately I relish in Thursdays, because new episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution drop on Thursdays. A running theme for the last several seasons has been JJ telling everyone on her team, “I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

Spoiler alert: JJ’s husband died out of the blue last season. In a weird life parallel, I was watching her process that onscreen in fictional FBI land last summer while I was plopped on a couch in my very real grief puddle. It felt poetic.

JJ's recurring refrain to her friends, her boss, her therapist…”I’m fine.” But A.J. Cook portrays JJ with this tight lipped tense vibe that really lets you know…she’s not fine.

So naturally I've been trying to profile myself — because what else is there to do between carrying dusty boxes, driving my possessions across town to my new place, and meltdowns. Here's the case file…this month is kicking my ass.

If taking care of your dying Mom is 100 on the hard level, and then living through a year of grief after she dies is also a 100 (they are different but equally hard), this last couple weeks of house move out has been a solid 98.

I think it’s partially grief brain fog, which I am getting used to, but exacerbated by maybe...compound grief? I think that’s a real term. The fog is real. I forget stuff, miss turns, do things wrong I never used to do. Mostly, it’s amusing from the macro view, but frustrating day to day sometimes. I’m hoping it gets…milder.

I’m clearing out my parents’ stuff, and this last couple of weeks it has gotten to the dregs of...”This is nice but it needs to go.” So I have been parsing through literally thousands of things - big to small - and then making a call on all of them. Pieces of furniture they bought in South Dakota in the 60’s. The instruction manual for the tower fan. Eight separate decks of cards stored in a drawer. Mini screwdrivers for glasses. Endless decisions.

Keeping things is great (I felt like I was living at Target for a minute), because I can use them at my new place. But then I have to brace for a little moment of SAD in the kitchen sometimes because yay, I have these measuring cups. Oh wait, I have them because they were my Mom’s and my Mom is dead. Three quarters of a cup it is.

I’m fine, it’s fine. Everything is fine.

I have to somehow make myself feel ok about giving things away or throwing them out. There’s a dumpster bag in the driveway. Maybe 20 trips to the thrift store with carloads in the last 2 weeks. Yesterday I had 4 different Buy Nothing pick ups for furniture, which is its own hell of coordinating with strangers who may or may not show up on time. Everything gets some sort of last touch or a real moment, a thank you, and then a goodbye.

Because WHY? I don’t know. It meant something to my parents. They were not hoarders, but they kept a lot of stuff around because it was important to them. Dad kept every record of everything ever, from his work stuff to his investments to coins to his Army service records to his large collection of Easter Seal stamps (!?!). Mom kept a lot of projects around...lots of crafts, art supplies, yarn, beads, bookkeeping stuff, etc. All of them were in some form of “being done,” and the ones that did not get completed were stored away for another day. But man, when you need to get it out of the closet and somewhere else...well, you thank it for its time here and a lot of it just goes to the trash. OUCH.

I’m fine, it’s fine. Everything is fine.

Then there’s the aspect of saying goodbye to the house that I have known since I was 4 years old. I fancy myself a wanderer, a free spirit who moved to Austin on a wing and a prayer after college. Truth is, I could free float for so long because I had this home in Albuquerque, with Mom waiting there crocheting an afghan or something. Cleaning all this out is also cleaning out my safe place to land. Now you’re REALLY adrift in the real world, JPo.

I’m fine, it’s fine. Everything is fine.

This past week Mona came over to help. She was one of Mom's caretakers, the one who would come over twice a week and allow me to leave the house and not worry about stuff for 3 hours at a time. She's a lovely machine of a get-things-done person, and after three full days, rooms are actually emptied and cleaned out. I am shocked and thrilled about what Mona can do. She comes back tomorrow for a final go through.

JJ never wraps it up inside a tidy 42 minutes, and neither will I. But I meeeeean… in some regard, it really is fine. The new house owners are the best possible people for this next chapter in the house’s history. Leo the turtle will have new caretakers to train as of next week. These emotions are just par for the course of life I guess, but man. I’m so ready to not have my ass emotionally kicked so regularly.

Leo is also fine!

I’m fine, it’s fine. Everything is fine.

I’m typing this to get it out and to check in here and say hi. Next week I will hop a plane for a little PNW adventure, and then it’s a summer of working on people’s music. And hopefully more writing. Things here will be returning to some semblance of “normal” soon, I hope. (I AM NOT JINXING IT, I SWEAR).

Right after I unpack this box and decide where this thing goes and make a decision about this other piece of paper oh my god.

LOVE! A lot of it!

Jana (fine)

Mixomusicology Episode 13: On Principle

Jana Pochop — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:57:17 GMT

Folks, we’ve hit episode 13 and thus, the end of Season One. Incredible. We can’t thank you enough for all the listens and the love. It keeps us going. We have some mini-casts planned for our two week break, and we will hit the ground running on Season Two in July. Tell your friends that now is a great time to catch up before the next season!

Subscribe, review, like, all that jazz: https://mixomusicology.captivate.fm

Follow along with this week’s playlist right here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/6dA8kbd2Hq

Alex is monologuing about fame and what the heck is wrong and awful about it, something all three of our artist choices have experience with this week. We are not thrilled on their behalf, but we appreciate how they’ve processed it and how they comport themselves in their careers. “You can’t achieve the same type of fame twice,” says Alex.

We discuss our various levels of fame, just as music makers, and the trappings and good parts of it. Social media and parasocial relationships make it a bit of a minefield even for your favorite mid-level podcaster musicians. Everyone just be cool. Let’s have a drink.

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This week’s drink:

ON PRINCIPLE

1.5oz gin
1oz genepy
.75oz beet shrub
.25oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

For beet shrub:

1 part beet juice
1 part apple cider vinegar (white is fine)
1 part maple syrup (sugar is fine)
A few good twists of pepper
A lemon peel if you have one laying around

Steps: Shaker. Pour into Nick and Nora. Garnish with candied ginger.

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First up this week is the return of Ellie Goulding, and we are so thrilled about it. Ellie has been making excellent pop albums for years, and “Black Prada Dress“ is the first single from her September album release. Ellie’s singular voice, with her breathy vocals and powerful lifts, is one of the most unique in pop. (We recommend the Delirium record if you’re new to EG). The lyricism is strong, and it’s a push back on someone who treated her poorly. This leads us into a discussion of Ed Sheeran releasing a diss track about Ellie, which affected her personally and professionally (BOO). Anyway...back to the song. We love the piano in the intro, we love the “janky strings” in the chorus, and we love that the lyrics have teeth. Alex says the words, “Ice Spice Jersey beat,” and we also hear shades of Melodrama by Lorde. It’s pure cinematic pop coupled with the innocent quality of her voice floating powerfully over it all. The outro takes us into a sudden cut after some granular delayed synths for a creative twist. Welcome back, Ellie Goulding, we can’t wait for more.

Next up is “Maggots for Brains,” a track from the already critically acclaimed new release from Olivia Rodrigo. We feel this record is one of the best of the year. The gothic horror lyrical motif throughout works SO well. Images of maggots, moldy fruit, zombies, and rotting all fit with this love song. Hard to pull off and it works. It’s very 80’s inspired, and we hear definite tones of “I Melt with You,” for one. Alex terms her “the Wario of Phoebe Bridgers.” She captures fleeting love stories wrapped in pop that references several eras of influences, which makes it interesting. She’s pulling from New Wave, and the dynamics in the production work really well.

On to Rebecca Black’s “Speakerphone.” We have a lot to say about Rebecca Black, and we think she’s potentially a pop genius. She had a rough start with her instant viral fame as a 13-year-old with “Friday,” but Rebecca has grown her career and re-invented herself into a truly authentic artist. She’s a DJ in high demand (check out her Boiler Room set), she is making consistently great visuals and videos (watch the Speakerphone video for one), and she is a vocal advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights. The song is soaked in OTT compression, and Alex finds it a bit hard to listen to because of that. Jana points out it is mixed well and sounds like it SHOULD blow out your speakers but it doesn’t. It’s just all loud. She’s dipping into Phonk with this track, which is an internet born genre blown up by social media, consisting of a mashup of hip hop and electronic music, mixed with 90’s Memphis rap and lo-fi. Lyrically we love any song in 2026 that references guillotines, and Rebecca uses the portmanteau of “sycophantasy,” which wins the day.

A note: Mixomusicology is charting in Australia, Norway, the UK, the US, and Canada! Thank you all so much for listening. Tell your friends and your enemies, too.

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Follow along with this week’s playlist!

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology Episode 12: Drive Around the Bend

Jana Pochop — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:05:28 GMT

As always, listen, like, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Welcome to episode 12...a whole dozen of these things exist! Jana opens with a monologue referencing MUNA’s new cover of “King of Wishful Thinking“ and waxes poetic about how change is inevitable but it’s not always good or kind in the moment. The king of wishful thinking is just getting through something by sheer will. Sometimes this is enough.

Since we definitely need a drink after that monologue, Alex walks us through our first milk punch recipe! It’s a reference to a Sidecar, with a new twist.

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This week’s drink:

DRIVE AROUND THE BEND

Makes two servings as written, scales VERY well

Ingredients:

3oz cognac
3oz rum
3oz curaçao
2oz lemon juice (reserve the zest for garnish)
4oz milk, infused with Raisin Bran
Lemon demerara sugar (for rimming the glass)

Steps:

1. Infuse milk by packing in Raisin Bran (we used about a cup) and letting steep for an hour. Alternatively, heat mug in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Let cool.

2. To make the lemon demerara sugar, mix lemon zest into a cup of demerara. Let sit.

3. Mix all ingredients except for milk in a large measuring glass.

4. Stream milk into measuring glass, and stir.

5. Let the mixture sit for an hour. It will form curds. The curds will look gross.

6. Using a mesh strainer and some cheesecloth, filter the drink into a clean container.

7. Without disturbing the curds, filter the liquid again. Do this until it’s transparent.

8. Refrigerate until chilled.

9. Coat one side of the glass with lemon demerara sugar. Serve up.

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The first song up is Tinashe’s “Too Easy.” A filthy club song that’s less than 2 minutes long. We both agree that it’s too short because we wanna dance. Best lyric, “If you’re mad then go to therapy.” It’s got great forward motion with the kick and bass, but the vocal arrangements shine with some modal harmony that is just hinted at, along with maybe even some K-Pop influences with the “la la” refrain. Inspirations hearken to Janet Jackson and Britney Spears. We agree maybe most good things reference Janet (which sends us down a reminiscence of the Janet and J*st*n incident). Also, Alex reveals he has a very secret “Sexy Getting Ready Playlist.” One day, we will share it.

deBasement brings us “STAY IN UR LANE,” to which we ask, “Is you even gay?” This track has a giant sound and we love finding up-and-coming artists that we think should have way more listeners than they do. Alex hears Cobrah references, and overall, we just encourage you all to “stay in ur lane, bitch.”

On to Jana’s favorite kind of moment, a new Taylor Swift song. “I Knew It, I Knew You“ is featured on the Toy Story 5 soundtrack. A collab between Taylor and Jack Antonoff, we are taken to a breezy 70s folk rock + almost bluesy vibe, with some R&B Braxton-melody lines thrown in. It all works, and it’s a fun departure from the Showgirl era Taylor has been in for a while. We even hear some Faith Hill “Love the Way You Love Me.” We talk Taylor’s odds of getting an EGOT (high), and go on a little diversion about the Cats remake. Overall, this is a simple and solid Taylor Swift song and we love it for the Toy Story nostalgia. The lyrics are vague enough to apply to anyone. Well-written, well produced, goes down like the smooth soundtrack song it is. (Just like a smooth cocktail called Drive Around the Bend).

Then we go off on great soundtracks from our younger years. Jana brings up something that’s not even in print anymore, Mr. Wrong. Alex talks about Magnolia with the fabulous Aimee Mann. Taylor makes us want to reminisce, apparently.

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Don’t forget to like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology Episode 11: Three Wishes

Jana Pochop — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:31:22 GMT

Welcome to Episode 11! Happy Pride, everyone!

Follow along on our playlist: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/bIlbUfUrbL

Alex’s beautiful and personal monologue talks about Doris Day’s song “Secret Love,” part of the soundtrack to the movie Calamity Jane. Love so big it can no longer be hidden...sounds like a theme to us. Secret loves and Calamity Janes...many of us know this combination well. We also talk rom-coms and Julia Roberts supremacy.

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The drink this week:

THREE WISHES

2oz dry vermouth
.5oz sweet vermouth
.5oz lychee syrup
Barspoon of elderflower liqueur
drop of rosewater

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

This drink is based on a pre-Prohibition drink called a Richmond. Very vermouth forward, “east meets west” with some gorgeous flavors mixing together.

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Cara Delevingne is quite the...quintuple threat? The actor / model / director / artist is releasing an album! The first few songs are out and we are listening to “I Forgot.” We want to issue a headphone / levels warning on this...it varies quite a bit, to an interesting effect. This song has some of the hardest sound we’ve covered thus far due to the distorted synth and the weird mixing. The back and forth from soft piano to hard synth is overwhelming in a purposeful creative way. We like the vocoder on the vocals (hi Imogen Heap), and the switch from traditional pop vocals to a more theaterical approach which is cool. This song is a whole journey that we think sets the sonic palate for the project, and we are on the ride with Cara. There’s also a short film!

Bella Kay gives us a solid ethereal pop-songwriter track full of yearning with “Promise?“ Bella is having a career surge this year at the ripe age of 20, putting out some critically acclaimed singles and opening for Gracie Abrams. The melodic hooks are excellent, Jana digs the acoustic vibes. We talk vocal production techniques (parallel compression, good or bad?). Mic proximity, stylistic choices, indie versus polished pop...all choices. We are excited to see where Bella goes (check out her breakout single The Sick, too).

CARI takes us home with a gorgeously produced and sung track “Crashing Out!” It’s half R&B and half industrial beats and distortion, which is a fascinating mix from this West London based artist. The song is about intense chemistry and pushing into passion instead of shying away. “You got me acting all 4-legged lately,” is a the line for that vibe. The use of panning in the production is a stand out note, listen on headphones. CARI seems to be on the rise in her career, which we will absolutely gloat about when she is a household name. Bonus lesson on Brauer Motion!

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology Episode 10: Blood Flower

Jana Pochop — Thu, 28 May 2026 19:20:08 GMT

Episode 10! We are in double digits! Wow. Alex says he saw a stat that most podcasts don’t make it to Episode 10, so congrats us, and mostly thanks to all you listeners. Jana monologues about the performance art demanded of being online, versus the existentialist detangling from it all...”nothing matters lol.” Alex adds some great points about how queer musicians learn to mask and perform from a very young age, and it ends up in our art. There’s also a very important update about Leo the Turtle learning new things at an advanced age.

Follow along with this week’s playlist: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/CVvVc1QHdW

As always, follow us on your favorite podcast platform…and like and subscribe and all that stuff. We <3 u.

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Alex sent some magic beans to Jana in the mail this week for the drink ingredient...Tonka Beans. They are used in a super delicious drink! Listen to Alex's very informative note about how these beans might be illegal in the U.S...but here we are making a drink with them anyway.

BLOOD FLOWER

1.5oz aged rum

.75oz cherry liqueur (ginja rossio)

.75oz lemon

.5oz cinnamon and tonka syrup

2 dashes angostura

luxardo cherry

Shake all the ingredients over ice and strain into a glass over a big ice cube

Cinnamon and Tonka Syrup Recipe

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1 cup water

* 2 tonka beans

* 6 cinnamon sticks, broken into shards

Toss everything in a saucepan, and whisk until sugar is saturated. Bring to a boil, let sugar dissolve, then let sit until cool.

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This week’s song batch is another interesting grouping. We start with “Cut Back” by Marmozets, a British-based four-piece rock band. We love the aggressive synth melodic line...maximalism is back, Alex exclaims. We hear some Paramore and Metric here. A song about hating small talk is close to both our hearts. “Keep it on the sunny weather,” is a smart hook and they dig into the mindlessness of surface level interactions. The angle of the song’s narrator criticizing herself for engaging this way keeps it from being a preachy song and more of a smart commentary.

Maisie Peters and Julia Michaels give us “Kingmaker,” an almost perfect folk-pop musing on being used and left behind. It’s about a relationship, it’s about the music business, it’s about all the things. Maisie excels at a Swiftian confessional songwriting style, and pairing with Julia Michaels is a one-two punch of smart, witty lyricism. We love that it’s a full-on duet, not just a guest spot with wimpy background vocals. We discuss whether the post-chorus is passé or coming back...or just needs to be executed really well.

The Mountain Goats give us “Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds,” already winning for best song title on the pod ever. It’s referring to some interesting lore concerning Charlie believing that a Japanese horror film (Guinea Pig 2) was so violently realistic that it had to be a real snuff film. The FBI was called in (there was no real murder, it’s just a movie). John Darnielle’s songwriting is smart, charming, and another interesting take on being so deep into the screen that reality becomes fuzzy. Charlie is placed as the hero of the moment, which is another excellent use of a POV/angle in a song. It’s a straightforward folk-rock song, which aids in getting the storytelling across. Will someone please think of the Charlie Sheen of it all? We did.

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Mixomusicology Episode 9: Train on the Island

Jana Pochop — Thu, 21 May 2026 15:19:20 GMT

Episode 9 is here, and Alex is monologuing about how mystery is punk. Our online world doesn't allow for much of that mystery anymore. He admires sharing art while keeping some opacity to it, and our three artists this week lean into it really well. Media with good meta-commentary comes up, Josie and the Pussycats, Spice World, and Network pop up from the movie world. We ARE mad as hell and we don't wanna take it anymore, but we are going to talk about these awesome songs from Charli xcx, Tove Lo, and Aldous Harding. Also, Alex rescued a baby starling, so things are gonna be okay.

Follow along with our playlist for this week: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/w235LrEdWP

As always, remember to like and subscribe, and give us a 5 star review on your podcast app if you feel so moved!

First, though...Alex teaches us how to fat wash bourbon!

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This week’s drink:

TRAIN ON THE ISLAND

1.5oz sesame-washed bourbon

.5oz rum

.5oz banana liqueur

pinch smoked sea salt

2 dashes angostura bitters

garnish with Básī xiāngjiāo (caramelized bananas)

1. To fat wash the bourbon, add toasted sesame oil to bourbon in a 1:8 ratio. Steep for a few hours or overnight in a sealable container. Place container on its side in fridge for a few hours, until fat solidifies. Filter out bourbon.

2. Add ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until cold, then strain over a rocks glass with a large ice cube.

3. Garnish with caramelized bananas, (or a banana chip, or an orange peel, if you don’t feel like candying something while you’re making a drink.)

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Charli xcx dropped “Rock Music” out of nowhere and we are excited for whatever that means (new Charli music is what it means). We hear strains of “Celebrity Skin”, though Charli is not going with actual rock music here, it’s classic Charli tongue-in-cheek fodder. We talk about the impact of brat on pop music and the culture as a whole, and now there's 1:55 of super processed guitars and live drums, but it's still a pop song. We agree she's priming us for a new sound palette, but this seems to be a transition track into her new world. More singles to come, and we will be listening. Plug for Alex’s Substack where he writes about the PR behind music and how things are shifting weekly...well worth a read!

Next up is Tove Lo, our Swedish pop icon who has been making bangers for a long time. Her lead single off her new project is “I’m your girl, right?” It’s indie rock crossed with the house 90’s vibe with a full on build to a drop. Take us to the club, Tove Lo. We love the opening lyric “I love your teeth, I could watch you eat for days.” Phew.

Lastly, Aldous Harding is a New Zealander who brings us a gorgeous track called “Train on the Island.” as opposed to Charli and Tove Lo, there’s a lot of lyrical mystery here. The repeating bass line, fuzzed out effected guitars, and the tasteful and restrained production really speak to the theme of mystery this week. We also love the blown out bass tone that sounds like it was run through a tiny practice amp. The lyrics seem to be bits and pieces of moments in time, but all wrapped up together by a gorgeous track. (Also, an amped flute...who needs anything more?)

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack:

Jana’s links:

Follow along with our episode playlist here.

Jana’s Substack:

Mixomusicology Episode 8: It Gets So Hot

Jana Pochop — Fri, 15 May 2026 14:59:10 GMT

Episode 8 brings us two awesome things...our first full length album review and our special guest, Marin Wilts! We are thrilled about both!

And of course, queue up MUNA’s Dancing on the Wall.

A little about Marin: Marin Wilts is a singer/songwriter/producer based in Phoenix, AZ. She works with We Make Noise, supporting women and gender-expansive musicians through education, community-building, and professional development opportunities. Marin also teaches songwriting at Arizona State University.

Jana’s monologue waxes poetic about the ritual of listening to an album in-depth. Jana’s got a system (or a ceremony)...a late night, a glass of something good, and a dedicated and focused first listen to projects by her favorite artists. Alex and Jana share a deep love of MUNA, so of course this episode was a much looked-forward-to episode for them. Marin was not familiar with MUNA at all, and as you listen, you’ll hear the magic of introducing a pal to a band you love.

But first, a drink. Alex made two this week!

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This week’s cocktail:

IT GETS SO HOT

2oz Diplomatico Mantuano Rum
1oz St. Germain
.75oz lime juice
8 basil leaves
Tepache

1. Put liquid ingredients in shaker without ice.

2. Add in basil and using a muddler or fork, macerate the basil leaves into the liquid.

3. Add ice and shake.

4. Strain into a Collins over ice.

5. Top with Tepache and stir.

6. Garnish with more basil.

Notes from Alex

- Tepache is a fermented drink made from pineapple rind and spices like cinnamon.

- It’s not often that I get to play around with ingredients like this, but so much of this album is a love letter to LA, and so much of LA’s history and culture is owed to Mexico. Tepache is a real tie back to pre-Columbian root and to modern Mexican traditions. To stay as adherent to traditional recipes as possible, I made my own. Here’s the recipe.

- If you don’t want to make it at home, that’s fine - you can find it canned. Or better yet, find someone selling it.

- I find that pineapple pairs really well with a lot of different things. In this recipe, it’s balanced with citrusy elderflower liqueur and herbal basil.

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This week’s mocktail:

STUCK IN THE SUBLIME

4oz Tepache
.75oz lime juice
2oz ginger beer
1.5oz blueberry juice
2 dashes bitters

If you’re sober, you should be aware that traditional Tepache, like a kombucha, will always have a little bit of alcohol in it as a byproduct of fermenting.

Canned options, which are less traditional, often have less than .5% ABV, so that’s what we’re opting for here. We’re pairing the pineapple here with ginger, which is a classic combo, and then with blueberry, which offers a good complement to the other flavors here.

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This week we listen to the entirety of MUNA’s Dancing On the Wall. MUNA is a Los Angeles based trio consisting of Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin.

A few notes from each song:

It Gets So Hot: a great start to this whole project, the synth, bass, and percussion work lets us know we’ve arrived, we are in a tension-filled hot L.A. summer, it’s all happening.
Dancing on the Wall: the lead single with good reason...we are so back. The 80’s slap bass is sending us. Lots of great MUNA harmonies, one of the most overtly pop songs on the album. We also talk about how good the bridges are, and this one sets the tone with the musical spiral upwards. Katie Gavin vocal supremacy forever.
Eastside Girls: one of our collective faves, with the Billy Joel bridge, the geography placing us in East L.A., as Alex says, “just a small town girl, living in a lonely world.” Weird beats galore and it works so well. It’s pop music in a time of war, “Making love in a chemical sunset.” Marin brings up scansion and how you have to know the rules and them break them.
Wannabeher: “Obsessed step on my neck yeah.” We can’t stop singing this. It’s fun, period.
On Call: Alex declares it a Celine Dion bop, and packs a whole bunch into 2:35, including a Diane Warren key change. Harmonic modulation keeps taking us higher and we love it, especially another monster bridge.
So What: Full on banger, no tension release here either. We get a huge extended instrumental in the outro, and the mental breakdown is musical and not lyrical. More discussion on the excellence in sapphic yearning that Katie Gavin nails so well. It’s not bravado in the first person POV, it’s the last gasp of trying to not be bothered about not being loved by that One Person.
Party’s Over: a transition to...
Big Stick: the new section of the record...MUNA gets political. “The Teddy Roosevelt core of it all.” Katie sings from the perspective of Big Brother, and it’s haunting lyrically while still going hard musically.
Mary Jane: a song about addiction being the third in the room. We have Kate Bush, we have Gaga, we have the slap bass! We talk about how this album is really building a cohesive batch of sounds, bringing sounds and themes in and out without boring us.
Girl’s Girl: the queer issue of a small local incestuous dating pool...real. We LOVE the pre-chorus with Katie’s “ha ha ha ha”’s as a vocal stim. It’s got “Jessie’s Girl” vibes, filtered guitar, a sing-along chorus, and hooks galore.
...Unless: another transition to...
Why Do I Get A Good Feeling: The Imogen Heap of it all, and we are ready for it. Strings beneath another intense beat, Katie’s diction is perfection and gets all her smart words out on this in perfect time.
Buzzkiller: a last track that utterly destroys us. Some of our favorite lyricism on the album. Strings bringing a dissonance, with some acoustic guitar, along with the pulsing, gated synths. Hearts dropped. Tears swelled. The record is over. We loved it so much.

Check out the videos for:

Dancing On the Wall | Wannabeher | Eastside Girls

and Katie Gavin’s solo record, What A Relief - buy it on Bandcamp here.

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Marin’s links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinwilts

Official Website: https://www.marinwilts.com

We Make Noise: https://www.we-make-noise.org

Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack:

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack:

One Year On

Jana Pochop — Fri, 08 May 2026 12:07:58 GMT

It’s been one year since my Mom left this plane for elsewhere. A year of walking around with my new emotional trait, the equivalent of an anvil pressing on my chest at all times. I have a cool new party trick of being able to cry on demand when I think about her just the right way (and sometimes not on demand, when the grief just takes a day to knock me out). I’m thinking I could finally try my turn at acting because I can make waterworks happen WHENEVER. Watch out, Meryl.

One year of abject listlessness, feeling untethered and wondering if that’s necessarily a bad thing or not. All the grief gurus on the socials (that’s a thing) will tell you once you’ve had a significant loss, like say…your Mom, you lose your tolerance for bullshit. That is absolutely true. Apologies to all the BS artists I used to entertain, I’m good now.

I’ve found myself hoping to discover ghosts are real, because I think Mom would be a chill ghost. I regret to report that after a year in this house, where she lived for 38 years and where she took her last breath…there are no ghosts here. Just memories, and me, and about 50 plants, and Leo the turtle who is very much existing on this current plane. Probably for the best.

There’s been 1001 times I wished she was still here for something. To ask her where the keys are to that thing. To ask her how to prune all her plants so they’re happy. I wish she had seen the astronauts circle the Moon last month. I wish she was sitting in her chair and we were watching Matlock together. To tell her about my day.

I’ve also been relieved she’s not here for some of this. She didn’t need to live through the whole nuclear war threat thing, she already did that in the 60’s. She doesn’t have to mess with taxes or gas prices or any of this lame stuff. This is great news.

While it’s Just Stuff, it’s really hard to clean out a house full of your parents’ stuff. While they were far from hoarders, I am finding that stuff just amasses when you live into your 70’s (Dad) and 80’s (Madre), and for whatever reason, Mom left a lot of it untouched in the crevices of this house. So here I am, digging up crochet projects and old business incorporation binders and Depression era glassware and high school yearbooks from the 1950’s.

Once again, all just Stuff, and we can’t keep all of it, we just can’t. So every time I decide something goes to the thrift store or the trash, I have a little mental ceremony for it. It clearly meant something to them to keep it in a house for all these years, or it simply stands as a marker of their lives well lived. High school, college, kids, moving, businesses, art projects, travels, cooking, filing, volunteering, reading. Each thing I treat like a tribute to the people who raised me, who had whole other lives and stories past being “Mom and Dad,” each thing now sent to some other place to be useful or to rot. It is exhausting. I am grateful for the chance to do it. I want it to be over. I dread the day it will be over.

If you’ve read this far and you’re thinking, “oh no,” don’t worry. I’m good. I’ve got therapy, and music, and the gift of time. We all have to process this stuff when it happens, and the lesson that you are forever changed by it is hard to grasp, but necessary. It’s like getting new sea legs in life when, if you are an elder millennial like me, you thought maybe you had finally gotten your first pair of sea legs settled in. BAM. New storm, wrecked ship.

There are still good sunsets post-storm, and birds still sing, and I have photos and ephemera that I can’t get go of…the stuff really does help some days. A tangible connection to the cosmic one.

I love this photo of Mom for some reason. She’s cute and amused, and it’s how I often remember her. Every night when I was around, I would not so much give her a good night hug as I would awkwardly work my head into her chest space under her chin, and she would pat me on the head and say “Nighty night. Love you.” I’d say “Love you” back and leave her to her night owl reading / crocheting. I figure she’s staying up as late as she pleases to this day, working on some cool project.

Love you, Madre. ❤️‍🩹

Mixomusicology Episode 7: Vegas Wedding

Jana Pochop — Thu, 07 May 2026 19:55:53 GMT

Episode 7 and we can hardly believe it. Alex monologues about Nevada, and the beauty of the desert, the deep history there that goes back thousands of years, and the ugliness of Las Vegas, or as Alex puts it...”the worst city I have ever been to.” Thankfully he turns it all into cocktail inspiration, with a drink that will make up for a hundred bad turns at the roulette table. As Alex notes, it is based on a coffee order from Gabi Bakery, who are not sponsors but are a lovely reprieve “from almost everything else in Vegas.”

Follow along with our playlist for this week right here.

This week’s drink:

Vegas Wedding

1.5oz matcha-infused gin

.75oz yuzu juice

1oz simple syrup

1 egg white

Shake all ingredients dry. Shake all ingredients with ice. Serve up in a coupe glass.

Substitutions: matcha as a flavor pair can handle almost any other floral, vegetal, or fruity note – this would be great with vanilla, lavender, fennel, mint, stone fruits, or citrus added in as a substitute for the simple syrup

You can infuse the gin with a bunch of different kinds of tea, as well – something with rose hips or chamomile or even a strong oolong tea would work great here, too.

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🚨 POPMERGENCY!!! When Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter put out a collab, we have to mention it. We agree, “Bring Your Love” is a dance hit, and Sabrina compliments Madonna like whoa.

On to “Should Have Known Better” from The Beaches, a band we both really love. They deliver with a solid 90’s full rock band sound with the classic harmonies and strong lead vocal from Jordan Miller. The Beaches excel at hooky melodies and there’s no exception here. It’s warranted for a song about the non-committal situationship that everyone should run from...but run from it with this earworm playing.

Next up is “Dry Spell” from Kacey Musgraves’ new album Middle of Nowhere. We really dig the direction Kacey has taken overall on this record, shining with her usual wit and candor while pulling in all kinds of influences from traditional Mexican and Tejano music (the true Texan musical history, as Kacey notes). We love the 6-ish different guitar layers, the cool doubled vocals, Kacey’s vocals sitting so wide in the mix, and we insist you watch the video. Also, any song with the line, “Lonely with a capital H,” is a winner.

Beth Orton’s new track, “Waiting,” from her forthcoming album The Ground Above, takes us through a heart-achingly gorgeous jazz inspired journey. One of the pioneers of folktronica in the UK, Beth’s career has huge range and depth. It’s a bit of a throwback to Earth Wind and Fire but make it lo-fi, which is so cool. Her voice is a main feature, pulling us into the heartbreak before, surprisingly, giving us a positive spin at the end. Deep breath here.

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Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substack

Jana’s links:

Jana’s Substack

Powerlines: 5 Weeks On

Jana Pochop — Mon, 04 May 2026 18:19:47 GMT

Powerlines has been out in the world for a little over 5 weeks now, and part of me wants to pat it on its little back and say “good job”, and part of me feels like after release week it’s just a lot of screaming into the void for an indie artist like myself…tap tap tap…is this mic on? Have we all moved on already? Have I moved on already?

Time to mull over some of the lessons learned from really going the DIY release route on this one. It’s been a trip from literal start to finish over here.

First, what a flip from producing the album, and living in creation mode, figuring out the artwork with Alex, having cool videos made by Rachel and Esther…to then realizing I had to have some sort of mechanism in place to promote all of it. I decided I have more time than money, and large questions about ROI on most press efforts lately, and even larger questions about how much I want to kowtow to the very arbitrary rules the Big Tech overlords throw at us concerning things like “reach” and “impressions” and the algorithm.

For The Astronaut (a record I am also immensely proud of and is now even more relevant because of NASA’s Moon forays), Adam Dawson over at Broken Jukebox Media did a bang up job of press. It’s good to get quotes, it’s good to get radio play.

Powerlines felt a bit different, in that it’s even less folky and more synthy, and where does that fit, and also did I mention I have more time than money right now?

I decided I’d reach out to regional radio and also any DJ’s that had played me in the past. That took a lot of emailing, but you know what? I’ve never gotten consistent radio play in my home state until now (thanks Radio Free Santa Fe and the Green Chile Revival and Medicine Show on KGLP in Gallup!). That feels good and right. Also mad thanks to folks like Matt Meinke at Notably Texan, Chris Kocher at The Signal on WHRW 90.5 FM Binghamton NY, Chris Denerly at The Folk and Acoustic Show Beyond Radio UK, Mark Michaelis at Acoustic Harmony on WDGR in Vermont, Gerry Goodfriend at Folk Directions in Montreal, Art Menius in NC at The Revolution Starts Now, Mary Brett Stringer at KMXT in Kodiak, AK, Kevin Elliot and From the Joshua Tree Inn on WEFT, and many more. Turns out the folk shows DO play stuff from Powerlines!

I also sent the record around for reviews, and that’s one of those press things you want to have just to, I dunno, put in your press kit and on your website. The Mysterious Pull Quote. I got a few of those too, some of which blew my mind a little it. The Big Takeover is a rad online and real life magazine, and they said:

Albums like Powerlines are rare things these days. To find such a collection of songs that are so well crafted, so intriguing, intimate yet relatable, so achingly beautiful, and where every song is so meaningful and memorable, so single-worthy that the whole thing feels like a Greatest Hits compilation, is something that you need to wrap your arms around and never let go of.

Americana Highways (always a champion of the songwriter lot) said about “Feeling Around in the Dark”:

The song…fairly moves toward one of my favorite lines so far this year – “I learned the weight of the world gets lighter/When I made you smile on Friday night.” In our aggressively mean world, it’s those little moments of magic that resonate.

Hot dang.

In the meantime I did some Reels that had vibey B-roll footage with the lyrics over them, and completely ignored Tik Tok because I decided I don’t have the strength right now. This is a Jana album roll out in 2026, haha.

But you know what? I tell people that it feels like the best one yet. Part of it the continued momentum of simply still being here and making records. The snowball of my music career keeps rolling down the hill, and while I have picked up plenty of rocks and sticks along the way, overall, it’s still a nice if not sometimes lumpy looking snowball.

And the folks! The folkie folks and the indie folks…people pre-ordered the physical records and bought it on Bandcamp, which if you’re going to be all capitalistic about it, is the only tangible ROI there is. I still have a stack of merch at the ready (which you can nab on Bandcamp), but the post office saw me a lot in March and April and that’s a fun thing.

I also wrote a book to go with it all…liner notes that blossomed into essays about the songs, the production, my time in NYC, and the cast of characters who so graciously helped make the project. I loved doing this part, and I hope more artists do this…expanded liner notes, and a physical thing to have and hold even if you are streaming the record! Aside from the songs themselves, this feels like the most personal part of the project. 24 pages of words spewed out of my brain.

What are we left with? Just a lot of notes.

It means a lot to hear that people are spinning the record (and some of you say you keep playing it over and over…that’s my main marker of success right there!)
There’s no shortcut to building a base of folks who support you, and I realize the snowball keeps rolling down the hill year after year.
This is the first release where Apple streaming has overtaken Spotify for me…did everyone switch? Are my people just Apple Music people?
Speaking of, streaming numbers used to matter to me a lot and they just don’t anymore. Over on Spotify you’re competing with AI bot music-makers and it’s almost funny but it’s not.
Does getting radio play do anything except make me feel good? I’m not sure. It feels REALLY good, but I don’t know if anyone has streamed the record due to radio play.
Same with the press quotes. Lovely to have for posterity. Moving the needle to new markets? No.

So what…are we doing? I think I have arrived at the thought that I’m so happy this project is out there, and I’m thrilled it’s reached some people who seem to enjoy it deeply. I’ll keep talking about it, somehow…even though the algorithm changes weekly, and I am a promo team of one. I’ll book more shows and take it to the streets, so to speak, but it’s also a marvelous miracle that music lives amongst us so easily now. I love it when someone wants a vinyl, and CDs might be coming back, but what a gift that we can load up most any song or artist for a drive and it’s there. I’ll never be mad at that, even if the machinations of Big Tech behind the scenes are less than savory.

Again…so what are we doing? I think it’s this: making the thing as well as we possibly can, giving it as much opportunity to be heard as possible, realizing it’s meant for the people it’s meant for, and trusting that the snowball will keep rolling because I’ll never stop making stuff.

Not every record needs to reach everyone. Some records just need to reach the right people at the right time and settle in.

And lastly, I will keep asking those of you who dig it to share it. That’s really my biggest move right now, and it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with your generous word of mouth (Words of mouths? Hm).

Powerlines is out. Spin it right here.

Here’s my selfie in the mirrored ceiling of the Space Shuttle Independence, lest you doubt my nerditude today. 🪐

Mixomusicology Episode 6: Crush Forever

Jana Pochop — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:42:09 GMT

Episode 6 is a big one…our first special guest! Songwriter/musician/producer Noëlle Hampton joins us from Austin to talk about Metric, Lucy Dacus, and Suki Waterhouse. Check out Noëlle’s work with The Belle Sounds and XANIMAL to get you started (we included some on our weekly playlist!)

Listen along: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/Cnjrx0WyUf

Subscribe to Mixomusicology and don’t forget to rate and review if you feel like it!

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Jana monologues about the bittersweetness of being back in a place that played a big part in her young singer-songwriter days. Austin is an amazing town, and now she cruises through a few times a year with out of state plates. Metric and Lucy address these moments in our past and how we work with them in the present.

But first, Alex walks us through his creative play on a Ranch Water, with strawberry infused mezcal and a tajín rim.

This week’s drink:

Crush Forever

2oz mezcal joven (Del Maguey good, or even something less smoky like a salmiana)

1oz ruby grapefruit juice

Twist of Grapefruit Topo Chico or other grapefruit sparkling water (to top)

Rim collins glass with tajín. Add ingredients over ice, stir hard.

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Metric starts us off with “Crush Forever,” a disco infused track off their new project Romanticize the Dive. We love Emily Haines’ sweet, monotone vocals that tell the story so well in the track. Writing to your younger self is a challenging feat, we all agree, but this track tells a story in small moments like “I’ve spilled outside the cup, mania is only grief spеd up.” Hits us in the feels...and with Metric’s long-storied top notch production, this is a clear winner off a great album.

Lucy Dacus brings us “Planting Tomatoes,” a sweet but grungy indie folk track about living in the present moment while remembering someone who has passed and now Lucy is older than they were when they left this plane. We loved the details in the lyrics, which Lucy excels at, like the saxophone down the street and the tomatoes not being good yet. (Jana loves a nerd writer, we all know that). We hear strains of The Weepies and Deb Talan in Lucy’s melody lines.

Suki Waterhouse brings us home with a total banger of a track in “Tiny Raisin.” As everyone refrained upon listening…”it’s a JAM.” Suki takes us on a dangerous and edgy romp with this one…we hear tinges of The Pixies, Sheryl Crow, and some 60’s French pop with a retro vibe but modernized. “That’s my kid in his arms,” was not our favorite lyric juxtaposed with this sexy song, but hey. Suki can do what she wants.

We all agree, all of the tracks this week involve some brilliantly executed mixing to make them come together, so take a listen with those ears on!

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Noëlle’s links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebellesounds

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebellesounds

Website: https://www.thebellesounds.com

Alex’s links:

Alex’s Substac

Jana’s links: