Episodi

  • The Angel’s Share: What AI Music Can’t Replace

    The Angel’s Share: What AI Music Can’t Replace
    Oct 20 2026
    What happens when the artist isn’t real, the voice never lived, and the face can change with a prompt? In a different kind of Riffs on Riffs episode, Joe and Toby dive headfirst into the increasingly strange world of AI-generated music, beginning with the controversy surrounding virtual artist Sienna Rose and accusations of “digital blackface.” From there, the conversation gets much bigger: Who owns the culture an AI artist borrows from? What does it mean to “do the work” when a machine can generate the finished product in seconds? And if audiences can no longer tell what’s real, does it matter? Joe and Toby wrestle with both sides of the technology. AI can democratize creativity, help someone hear an idea they otherwise couldn’t produce, and become a powerful tool for experimentation. But when the shortcut replaces the people, the collaboration, the mistakes, the arguments, the second takes and the happy accidents, something important disappears. Toby calls it the “angel’s share”: the unmeasurable piece of the creative process that evaporates when the humans are removed. The rough edges. The outtakes. The moment a band loses power and keeps playing anyway. The producer challenging the songwriter. The note that isn’t perfectly in tune but somehow feels exactly right. The conversation also takes on our growing obsession with perfection, algorithmic manipulation, AI bias, cultural appropriation, physical media, the resurgence of vinyl and CDs, and why holding a fifty-year-old record suddenly feels almost radical in a world of infinitely editable digital artifacts. At the center of it all is a deceptively simple question: are we using technology to enhance human creativity, or slowly engineering the humanity out of it? And maybe there’s a more hopeful possibility. Perhaps the rise of AI ultimately creates a human renaissance, one where we learn what machines are good at while rediscovering everything that makes real people, real performances, and real connection irreplaceable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 9 min
  • Wild Pitches: Wasia Project, SunandMoon, LP, Kareen Lomax, Malia, Nothing But Thieves

    Wild Pitches: Wasia Project, SunandMoon, LP, Kareen Lomax, Malia, Nothing But Thieves
    Oct 6 2026
    It’s baseball playoff season, so Joe and Toby are taking the mound for a different kind of pitch. In this special “Wild Pitches” episode, each host brings three artists they think deserve a bigger audience, whether they’re genuinely under the radar, underappreciated in the U.S., or simply making music too good not to share. Toby makes the case for Kareen Lomax and her adventurous, genre-bending sound; the organic R&B and vintage warmth of sunandmoon; and Malia, whose new project If I’m Being Honest pairs a rich, mature voice with deeply personal songwriting. Joe counters with South London sibling duo Wasia Project and the lush, cinematic Nocturne; longtime favorite LP, whose unmistakable voice and songwriting have built a massive following overseas; and UK rock band Nothing But Thieves, powered by huge songs and the remarkable vocals of Conor Mason. Along the way, the conversation wanders exactly where a Riffs conversation should: Missy Elliott, Stevie Wonder, George Michael, family collaborations, the return of organic musicianship, the virtues of a great EP, Critical Role, overly long fantasy novels, and what makes an artist truly “vinyl worthy.” Six artists. Two hosts. One highly questionable competition. Listen, make your own picks, and then tell us who won. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 min
  • Stella Lefty "Boston"

    Stella Lefty "Boston"
    Sep 22 2026
    This week on Riffs on Riffs, Joe and Toby hop aboard Stella Lefty’s “Boston,” a deceptively simple song about what happens when something good shows up and your first instinct is to run the other way. The conversation starts with the noise surrounding Lefty: accusations of nepotism, comparisons to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season,” questions about borrowed melodies, and the eternal debate over whether any song can truly be original. From Bruno Mars and Stevie Wonder to Tom Petty, the Chili Peppers and J Dilla, Joe and Toby explore the blurry lines between influence, inspiration and imitation, and wonder whether sometimes we’d all be better off turning on airplane mode and simply listening to the music. They also dig into the unusual way “Boston” grew from a short social-media snippet into a finished song after listeners responded to it, sparking a larger conversation about the benefits and dangers of letting audiences shape creative work. But the heart of the episode is the song itself. A lyric about wanting to run when someone is actually treating you well opens the door to self-sabotage, vulnerability and what Toby calls being “scared of success.” From there, “Boston” becomes a launching point for a much bigger conversation about hope as a verb, resilience through struggle, sacrifice, and the things we learn simply by showing up when we’re nowhere near our best. Plus: terrible dates, pineapple on pizza, mysterious arm name tags, childhood book “borrowing,” TV shows that stayed too long at the party, and a surprisingly passionate defense of the word “courting.” Sometimes a song doesn’t have to reinvent music. Sometimes a good song is just a good song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 min
  • Steve Lacy "Oh yeah?"

    Steve Lacy "Oh yeah?"
    Sep 8 2026
    What happens when R&B, grunge, hip-hop and a healthy disregard for genre boundaries all collide? This week, Joe and Toby dive into Steve Lacy’s “Oh Yeah?,” a track that found new life through the Spider-Man soundtrack and opens the door to a much bigger conversation about where music and culture itself is headed. They unpack Lacy’s stripped-down, almost stream-of-consciousness approach to songwriting, the vulerability running through his music, and why today’s artists seem increasingly comfortable trading polish and perfection for something more immediate and human. From the return of live bands to bedroom production, alternative R&B, retro soul and artists who refuse to stay neatly inside a single genre, the musical map is getting wonderfully messy. But the conversation goes beyond music. Joe and Toby wrestle with the weight younger generations are carrying, the tension between fatalism and hope, and whether the same generation questioning old rules about music is also preparing to rewrite some of the rules about work, culture and society. Plus, they make the case for building your own yearly soundtrack instead of letting Spotify do it for you, and share what they’re listening to now, including Baby Rose, Jungle, Buttered, Nothing But Thieves, LP, Lucky Daye, Leon Thomas and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 7 min
  • Ariana Grande "petal"

    Ariana Grande "petal"
    Aug 27 2026
    Ariana Grande is going a little feral, but she’s doing it with remarkable restraint. This week, Joe and Toby dig into “Petal” and Ariana’s latest album, exploring how one of pop’s most gifted vocalists is choosing subtlety over fireworks and using her music to say some things she may have been too polite to say before. The image of a flower pushing through concrete becomes the perfect metaphor: resilience isn’t always about becoming harder. Sometimes it’s about staying soft, authentic, and unmistakably yourself despite everything pushing against you. From there, the riffs go where the riffs go. The guys wrestle with the price of fame, our strange sense of ownership over artists, the pressure to constantly achieve more, and why walking away can sometimes be as courageous as pushing forward. They get into work-life balance, artists like André 3000 and Fiona Apple who chose different paths, handwritten letters, looksmaxxing, aging, beauty standards, and the exhausting pursuit of external validation. Ultimately, it all comes back to boundaries: knowing what belongs to the world, what belongs to you, and when it’s time to put up the stop sign. Plus: Earl Grey, Doctor Doom, gym mirrors, gray beards, terrible tours, and a surprisingly useful theory involving speed bumps. How are you growing through the concrete? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 6 min
  • Angine de Poitrine "Fabienk"

    Angine de Poitrine "Fabienk"
    Aug 4 2026
    Prepare for an intergalactic funk transmission as Joe and Toby explore “Fabiano” by Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine. Armed with masks, polka dots, microtonal guitars, dizzying rhythms, and enough looping pedals to frighten a Guitar Hero champion, these two musicians create a sound that is equal parts math rock, funk, jazz, and delightful absurdity. But the riffs quickly launch a much bigger conversation. What does anonymity allow an artist to create? Can limitations actually make us more inventive? Who should be trusted with an unfinished idea, and how do we keep one careless opinion from crushing the creative cake before it has finished baking? Joe and Toby also dig into the power of long-term creative partnerships, the confidence born from struggle, the tension between artistic freedom and the desire for recognition, and the identities that remain underneath our everyday careers. Plus, they consider what their 13-year-old selves would think of them today and share some of the artists currently filling their headphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 5 min
  • Sienna Spiro "Die On This Hill"

    Sienna Spiro "Die On This Hill"
    Jul 22 2026
    What are you willing to die on a hill for? For rising British singer-songwriter Sienna Spiro, the question becomes a haunting exploration of loyalty, stubbornness, and the moment you realize you may be fighting for someone who would never fight for you. In this episode, Joe and Toby dig into Spiro’s breathtaking single “Die on This Hill,” from its stripped-back piano opening and sweeping string arrangement to the audible sigh that closes the track. They explore how a failed attempt to learn “Bohemian Rhapsody” sparked the song, why it took countless versions to uncover its true form, and how Spiro learned that restraint can sometimes reveal more than vocal fireworks. The conversation also traces the influences behind her timeless sound, including Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Nina Simone, Adele, Lana Del Rey, and Amy Winehouse, along with the remarkable praise she has received from Sir Elton John. Along the way, Joe and Toby wrestle with artistic vulnerability, stage personas, the value of creative repetition, and why listeners may be craving unmistakably human music in the age of AI. Plus, the guys share what they have been listening to lately, champion artists still bubbling beneath the algorithm, and make the case for why Sienna Spiro is unquestionably vinyl worthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 min
  • Olivia Rodrigo "Drop Dead"

    Olivia Rodrigo "Drop Dead"
    Jul 2 2026
    Joe and Toby dive into Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead,” unpacking the emotional precision, lyrical sharpness, and intimate vocal delivery that make her music feel like an inner monologue. The conversation explores how Rodrigo’s songwriting connects across generations, pulling younger listeners into the immediacy of heartbreak while transporting older listeners back to their own formative relationships. The hosts also trace the song’s sonic and cultural echoes, from The Cure and ’80s/’90s alternative textures to the cinematic potential of Rodrigo’s catalog as the soundtrack for teen romance, obsession, horror, or beautifully awkward coming-of-age stories. Along the way, they discuss Amy Allen’s songwriting influence, Dan Nigro’s production, the strange experience of celebrity in the wild, and why great songs can bridge age, memory, and emotional time travel. As always, the episode wanders joyfully into side quests, including New York celebrity sightings, Helena Bonham Carter near-collisions, Dash & Lily, Spider-Verse, PM Dawn, and a recommendation for Australian artist Ethan French. It’s a conversation about Rodrigo’s artistry, but also about why certain songs don’t just get heard. They follow you around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 min