Trivial Merit

Here we are... The end of our second season as a podcast. Naturally, we're ending with a bang. Caroline and Matthew, this time out, are tackling the catalogue of (checks notes) Legendary Singer and Songwriter James William Buffett from defeated to content. Buffett is a favorite of Caroline's, but Matthew was largely unfamiliar with his work outside a few bigger hits ("Margaritaville," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and "Why Don't We Get Drunk"). Tangents and side stories flood this episode to the point where it's our longest yet. But most important is that we've made it this far to send Matthew into fatherhood with a wonderful conversation full of laughs and soundtracked by an artist he came away with a new found respect for. Yes, Matthew's son arrived prior to the publishing of the last episode, but this was the last one recorded before the momentous occasion. Quite possibly the epitome of dad rock. Our hosts will take a bit of a break while Matthew gets his fatherhood feet wet and finds his bearings, but they'll be back for another season as soon as possible. Follow the show on Twitter @trivialmerit for updates. Meanwhile, here are the final 2 playlists for season 2: Caroline's playlist is here. Matthew's playlist is here. We'll see you in season 3. Same time, same station.

Hey there! It's been a long delay due to a dense mixture of illness, work, life and baby prep for Caroline and Matthew, but we're back for our penultimate episode of season 2, Enya from anxious to content.  In this episode, we go on many different tangents including said illnesses, life and baby prep, but also we talk about the imminent arrival of Matthew's little one as well as how they've been reacting to music that Matthew and partner Reba play. Matthew also sheds some personal reflection on De La Soul's music with the news of Trugoy the Dove/Dave's passing.  Just for some postscript, Matthew's baby has arrived. It's a boy and the entire family is now home, well, adjusting and recovering. The next episode should come on schedule, but then a delay will follow as Matthew adjusts to fatherhood. Stay tuned for updates.  In the meantime, here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll see you in 2 weeks for... checks notes... Legendary Singer and Songwriter James William Buffett with playlists to get us from defeated to content. Same time, same station!

After a slew of technical difficulties, the holiday season and Matthew prepping for a baby to arrive, Trivial Merit is back! The current plan is to continue until Matthew is a father and then end the current season, but we'll see how all of that goes.  Caroline and Matthew tackle the never uncool Tom Petty both solo and with The Heartbreakers from anxious to elated and come up with both interesting lists and all the good vibes that come with listening to the idyllic rock and roll pumped out by Petty and company for 40 years. Of course, some detours and tangents are taken, but that's to be expected. So here are the lists.  Caroline's Matthew's Next up, we tackle the Irish new age songstress, Enya. She's the top all-time selling singer in Irish history and second in the tally of artists (bested only by U2). We'll arrive at 8-song playlists to get us (hopefully you also) from anxious to content.  We'll see you in two weeks. Same time, same station!

Hello and sorry for the few day delay, but we're here and we're back! This time out, Caroline and Matthew tackle the group that laid the foundation for the Motown hit machine in the 1960s, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Our dice rolls were relatively favorable in yielding defeated as our negative headspace and content as our positive one. We learn that this music has medicinal properties and Caroline briefly touches on the medicinal system of the 4 humors. Matthew remembers oldies radio, Johnny Mathis covers and that a ska band is how he made the connection of "Tears of A Clown" being by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Also, both think Smokey Robinson is handsome as all get out.  Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Next up, we're tackling Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from anxious to elated in roughly 2 weeks. See you then. Same time, same station!

Back once again, it's 2 friendly neighborhood playlist makers out to make theirs and your day better. Caroline and Matthew are tackling X from defeated to content and they've even brought a friend along. Don from Gamers with Glasses joins us as our first ever guest. We go places in this near 2-hour episode from appreciating Freddie Mercury and our always present puns to Matthew misfiring his metaphors and not being able to stop himself from his distaste for The Doors. To The Playlists! Here's Don's Here's Caroline's Here's Matthew's We'll see you in 2 weeks with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles from defeated to content. Same time, same station!

And we're back, but we had to take a little detour. Do to some things popping up, one of us had to reschedule and it threw our timeline off with respect to our guest, so Caroline and Matthew decided to call a quick audible and tackle The Who right quickly. While they both liked The Who a lot before this, what they realized in doing it was how wide of an emotional range the band has in their catalogue. Some detours are certainly taken along the way and much fun is had. Now Matthew has to watch Freaks and Geeks as homework.  We tackle the who from anxious to content in 8 songs. Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list.  Next up is what was to come before, X from defeated to content featuring our first guest Don from Gamers with Glasses (@opobjectives on social media). We'll see you then!  Same time, same station!

And we're back! This time, we're talking cover songs! Caroline and Matthew bring 8-song playlists of covers to get them (and hopefully you) from defeated to elated. These lists go places as well. Each of us finding things we've not heard and 2 submitted playlists that bring teachable moments along the way as well.  Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list.  Next episode, Trivial Merit will have its first guest. @opobjectives will join us to tackle the band X's discography and come up with 8 songs to get us from defeated to content.  See you then. Same time, same station!

It's been another 2-ish weeks in these streets and Caroline and Matthew have returned to venture into another band's catalog to create a playlist to get them, this time out, from depressed to relaxed. The band this time out: Heart. Definitely known for several huge hits, Matthew learned that Heart did songs that he knew rather well, but never realized it was them. Caroline points out the definite mom vibes of this group. They both also realize that Ann Wilson is a way better vocalist than she's given credit and Nancy Wilson absolutely shreds guitars. We really enjoyed doing this exercise with Heart for sure. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. Next up, we're tackling a various artists idea. It'll be "Oops, All Covers!" That's right all cover songs to get us from defeated to elated. We hope you join us right back here in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

It's that time again for Caroline and Matthew to attempt to brighten your mood with playlists. This time out, Run the Jewels is the topic du jour going from defeated to elated. Due to the nature of Matthew's job as a healthcare worker, he'd been up for more than a day before recording this episode and things get silly from the jump. That didn't get in the way of he or Caroline from enjoying talking about this wonderful hip-hop duo. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. In 2 weeks, we'll be back with the music of the band Heart on the menu. The goal, a playlist to get us (and hopefully you) from defeated to relaxed.  We'll be back then. Same time, same station.

It's playlist time again! This time Caroline and Matthew are tackling the catalogue of the wonderful Open Mike Eagle and creating playlists to get themselves (and hopefully you) from defeated to content. Open Mike certainly did leave one of the more positive marks on the crew this time out because he genuinely just seems nice and we love that.  Here's Caroline's list: Here's Matthew's list: Next up in 2 weeks, we'll be digging into Run the Jewels and our playlists will get us from defeated to elated. We hope you'll join us. Hit us up on twitter @trivialmerit or email us a playlist of your own to trivial.merit@gmail.com. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

After several delays (burnout has been real this summer, y'all) as well as technical issues, we're finally back with episode 26 of Trivial Merit. This time out, we discuss the wonderful dream pop duo, Beach House, who's a favorite of Matthew's. We're tackling their catalogue and creating playlists to get us from depressed to content this time out and this conversation certainly goes some places. Next time out, we tackle Green Day from depressed to elated. If you ever would like to hit us up with your playlists or anything else appropriate you'd like to send us, follow us on Twitter @trivialmerit. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

For episode 25, Caroline and Matthew tackle Bonnie Raitt's wonderful catalogue from defeated to relaxed. Well, at least they get there eventually, but also go absolutely off the rails and into the tangential unknown through talking about books bound by human skin, what kind of dinosaurs we'd like to walk, and David Crosby being a dick on Twitter. We even have a listener submitted playlist from Matthew's wonderful mother-in-law, Diane. All this and more in just under 90 minutes. Here's Caroline's playlist.  Here's Matthew's playlist. Here's Diane's submission. Next time out, we're tackling a newer fav of Matthew's in Beach House from depressed to content. Please follow us on Twitter @trivialmerit and if you'd like to submit your own playlist, please send it our way via email at trivial.merit@gmail.com. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, Same station!

It's been 2 weeks, so we're back with playlists to hopefully make us and anyone listening feel a little better in the world that insists on not doing well. This time out, we tackle the legendary hip-hop trio, Run-DMC from anxious to elated. Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. In 2 weeks, we'll be back again tackling longtime road warrior and Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt from defeated to relaxed in 8 songs. See you then. Same time, same station.

If you ever want a good idea, it's always a good idea to try out Bill Withers' music. Caroline and Matthew had a wonderful time going through the catalog of just a wonderful seeming dude. We go from depressed to elated in 8 songs here and just gush about this man's output.  Caroline's playlist is here. Matthew's playlist is here. Next time we're tackling one of Matthew's biggest favorites, The Beastie Boys from anxious to content.  Also, you should check out the Zine that Caroline put together, because even with Matthew in it, it's still pretty great.  It's here. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station.

It's time for Caroline and Matthew to tackle the wonderful world of The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. We're going from defeated to content over the course of 8 songs. Here is Caroline's list. Here is Matthew's list.  Next time, we're tackling Bill Withers from depressed to elated.  See you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

It's Daft Punk time on Trivial Merit as Caroline and Matthew make playlists of their music to them and listeners from anxious to elated.  Here's Caroline's playlist. Here's Matthew's playlist. We'll be back in 2 weeks with Aretha Franklin from defeated to content in 8 songs.  Hope you return then as well. Same time, Same station!

Trivial Merit is back again to attempt to lighten your mood with some playlists. This time out, we tackle The White Stripes from defeated to content and completely get lost in several layers of conversation along the way. We hope you enjoy the show! Next up in 2 weeks is The Velvet Underground from anxious to content.  We'll see you then! Same time, same station! Here is Caroline's list.  Here is Matthew's list.

This time out, Matthew and Caroline tackle the career of Madonna from depressed to relaxed in 8 songs and in another fun episode of Trivial Merit where Matthew finds new ways to mess up speaking, Bagel is especially belligerent in the background with his opinions on Madonna and we even get some good Harrison sounds as well.  We even have another submitted list by Matthew's friend Kevin which gives way to all sorts of fun discussion. Here's Caroline's list. Here's Matthew's list. and  Here's Kevin's list. Next episode, we're tackling The White Stripes from defeated to content. If you'd like to be a guest, submit a list or just send us pics of your pets, please feel bombard trivial.merit@gmail.com. It'll make us so happy. See you next episode. Same time, same station.

Here it is! A new episode of making playlists in hopes to feel a little better in a crumbling world.  This time out, we tackle the wonderful world of Creedence Clearwater Revival and try to move from defeated to content in 8 songs (with some acceptable variance for reasons covered within).  In 2 weeks, we'll be back with Madonna from depressed to relaxed.  For now, here are the playlists! Caroline's is here. Matthew's is here. We'll see you in 2 weeks. Same time, same station!

It took a bit longer than we'd hoped, but we're back for season 2 of Trivial Merit! This time out, Matthew and Caroline are digging into the catalogue of Rihanna and choosing 8 songs to get from anxious to elated. Neither are super familiar with her work and even get some surprises along the way. Also stories happen.  Here's Caroline's Playlist. Here's Matthew's Playlist. Also, we have new theme music this season! It's done by the wonderful Julian V, who can be found @Julzvz on twitter. Their work is wonderful and you should support them.  We'll see you in 2 weeks for Creedence Clearwater Revival going from defeated to content in 8 songs. Same time, same station!