Queue up the gramophone, burn a MiniDisc, or drop a file onto your Zune – it's time for a new CVC. On today's episode, we offer an extensive tour through the birth and re-births of audio recording technology, and how the media of listening have shaped, blown up, and rearranged the ways in which people make the music itself.  Join us as we explore the four distinct epochs of sound recording: (1) The Acoustic Era; (2) The Electric Era; (3) The Magnetic Era; (4) The Digital Era. Featuring music from Mamie Smith, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Madonna, and more. Want to hear the full songs or check out our sources? Go to https://linktr.ee/chorus.vs.chorus.

On today's episode (recorded a year ago), we rappel into the uncanny valley to explore songs that violate expectations and have certain qualities that don't seem like they belong. Our categories are songs that are: (1) oddly pretty; (2) oddly moving; (3) oddly familiar; (4) oddly successful. Featuring music from The Flaming Lips, Caetano Veloso, Sky Ferreira, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc. 

If music is the soundtrack of our lives (quote by Gandhi), then surely soundtracks must be the music of our movies (also Gandhi). Today on CVC, we take a look at the beauty of song selection in the cinematic arts. Apologies in advance to Garden State heads – but are advance congrats in order for fans of the Little Nicky soundtrack? Tune in to find out!  Our categories are: (1) best film score; (2) best soundtrack; (3) best musical soundtrack; (4) best soundtrack to a movie we haven't seen. Featuring music by Hot Chocolate, Mika Levi, Stealers Wheel, Jimmy Cliff, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc. Mentioned: How Under the Skin Terrifies Us With Sound

Today, CVC is taking you back to the time when your teen brain was sleepiest, your AV club credentials freshest, your chin pimples stinging-est: It's time for school. We're exploring songs relating to these four subject areas: (1) Math (2) Science (3) Drama (4) P.E. Featuring music by Bomba Estéreo, Hiatus Kaiyote, 10cc, Leith Ross, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc.

All good artists know negative space is as important as what's there -- that's our official excuse for why there's so much awkward dead air on our podcast. So on today's episode, we're exploring the concept of missing elements from music. Our categories are: (1) Songs missing bass; (2) Songs missing drums; (3) Songs with a key band member missing; and (4) Songs by a missing person. Featuring music by The Smashing Pumpkins, Connie Converse, Lenine, The Replacements, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc.

Do you like bass? Well, so did Carol Kaye, one of the dozens of legendary session musicians we'll be profiling on today's episode.  Don't know what a session musician is? You're in luck -- this episode is a full-on "session" session in which we explain the hidden histories behind the following squads of hired-gun studio instrumentalists: (1) The Wrecking Crew; (2) The Nashville A-Team; (3) The Funk Brothers; (4) The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Featuring music from The Association, Roy Orbison, The Gants, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc. 

It's season 2, baby, and we're back after a nine month hiatus!  Hey, scene kids: is your favorite pastime telling anyone who'll listen that you were one of five people present at Commander Venus' first show at the Sokol? Did you live in Athens in 1981 and know Michael Stipe's acupuncturist? Were you in gym class with Timbaland? Were you always... there? Then let's talk about four small American towns that, against all odds, have produced some of the most important music of the past 50 years. The scenes we're exploring today are: Omaha, NE; Athens, GA; Virginia Beach, VA; and Bakersfield, CA.  Featuring music from Cursive, Aaliyah, Merle Haggard, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc.

We're joined by songwriter, guitarist, music-opinion-haver, and bard of all things brütal Luke Henley to discuss songs that rock, songs that stink, and the important ways in which artists sequence the music on their albums. There may even be some accusations of dad-rockism thrown about. Our categories are: best first track; best Side A closer; best final track. Featuring music from In Solitude, Baby Huey, Lauryn Hill, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc. Follow Luke on Instagram @sexheadaches, and buy his music at Bandcamp (Sex Headaches / Microdoser /  Fibber).

Today we stop thinking with our heads, and start thinking with our chests. That’s right, singing nerds — your hosts are doing a cantabile episode about vocal registers. Whether you’re an expert in all things glottis or you’re wondering if a larynx is a type of mythical creature, you’re about to hear us talk about what singers do best: push air out of their throats in different ways. We discuss our favorite instances of singers using the four types of vocal registers: whistle; falsetto; modal; vocal fry. Featuring music from Björk, The Dismemberment Plan, Ruth Brown, Ariana Grande, and more.

We're joined by Charles Frantz (@charlesfrantz), a friend, funnyfella, and former coward who refused to come onto our show for months. When asked why, he explained that he currently subsists on a music diet exclusively of guilty pleasures. That's why we drafted in Charles for today's episode to explore what it actually means to feel guilty about the media we consume, touching on songs by problematic faves, shameless sugar pop, room clearing nuisances, and evilest of all: Shaggy.  The categories are: (1) Guilty guilty pleasures; (2) Guiltless guilty pleasures; (3) Should I feel guilty about this? Featuring music from Ted Nugent, Ashlee Simpson, System of a Down, and more. Wanna hear the full songs? Go to tinyurl.com/spotify-cvc.