Mixomusicology is a podcast hosted by Alexander Daoust and Jana Pochop. In each episode, Alex walks Jana (and the listeners!) through making a delicious cocktail based on a batch of new songs the duo have chosen for the week. They'll review and break down recently released songs and chat about production, lyricism, and where the work fits into the larger pop culture zeitgeist. They'll bring along a few tangents, and you BYOB.
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Tarry at the Airport Bar: Snail Mail, Grace Ives, Anne Hathaway
Episode 1
Thursday, March 26, 2026 • Duration 43:45
In Episode 1, Alex walks Jana through his cocktail creation "Tarry at the Airport Bar", featuring bourbon, Frangelico liqueur, and rhubarb bitters. They also discuss "My Maker" by Snail Mail, "Drink Up" by Grace Ives, and "Burial" by Anne Hathaway. Jana waxes poetic about airports and existential crises, Alex confesses he has Vanessa Carlton fan forum history, and they're both going to Devil Wears Prada 2 opening weekend. Listen along to the playlist with this week's tracks, a few other mentions from the show, and some bonus songs Alex and Jana are listening to right now: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/tL1y1Tpf7p
The drink this week:
TARRY AT THE AIRPORT BAR
2oz Old Grand-dad bourbon
1oz Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
2 hearty shakes of rhubarb bitters
2 star anise pods
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker full of ice. Shake fervently. Serve over a large ice cube with an orange peel or a Luxardo cherry, and an extra star anise pod if you like.
Mixomusicology is a podcast hosted by Alexander Daoust and Jana Pochop. In each episode, Alex walks Jana (and the listeners!) through making a delicious cocktail based on a batch of new songs the duo have chosen for the week. They'll review and break down recently released songs and chat about production, lyricism, and where the work fits into the larger pop culture zeitgeist. They'll bring along a few tangents, and you BYOB.
Come to God: Indigo de Souza, Paris Paloma, Olivia Rodrigo
Episode 2
Thursday, April 2, 2026 • Duration 36:08
We made it to episode 2! Alex instructs us on how to make a "Come to God", our last gasp of the boozy, sipper bourbon season before we embrace Spring (looking RIGHT PAST the easy drink pairing of a Paloma for this episode). It's a tasty one, a riff on a classic Manhattan.
Add a large ice cube, add one or two Luxardo cherries and enjoy!
Jana asks what the heck vermouth is anyway....Alex explains. (Keep your vermouth in the fridge, friends!)
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This week's songs are "Come to God" by Indigo de Souza, "Miyazaki" by Paris Paloma, and "The Book of Love" - a Magnetic Fields cover by Olivia Rodrigo. Jana launches into her complicated feelings about generative AI art (she hates it), Alex responds with his thoughts (he does too). Jana is trying to find a place to live, and Alex is recovering from a bachelorette weekend where he was "the guy who just started a podcast," (which reached No. 78 on the Apple Music Commentary Charts in week 1, thank you guys).
Indigo de Souza blows us away with the production on "Come to God" while hitting home with a song about grief. Paris has "Miyazaki," the perfect song for the AI discussion, and we talk about the community and struggle of and ultimate joy of making art, and the horrifying trend of generative AI cranking out prompt-songs...the death of art and creativity and the human spirit as we know it. Jana brings up Mary Chapin Carpenter without much of a stretch, because Paris covered her too.
It Gets So Hot: MUNA's Dancing On the Wall
Episode 8
Friday, May 15, 2026 • Duration 01:11:58
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.
Vegas Wedding: The Beaches, Kacey Musgraves, Beth Orton
Episode 7
Thursday, May 7, 2026 • Duration 41:53
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."
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.
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!)
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.
Doublespeak: Sofia Isella, Alabama Shakes, Noah Kahan
Episode 5
Thursday, April 23, 2026 • Duration 39:22
Episode 5 takes us through some really heavy topics and songs, and that's why we do this together, and why we have a cocktail while we do it. Alex's monologue addresses his thoughts on writing protest songs, and the three songs we are listening to this week excel at addressing large systemic issues in deeply personal ways. But first, Alex talks us through our first egg white cocktail on the pod!
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and do a dry shake first. Add ice and then shake until it's cold. Pour into a glass, serve up in a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange peel if desired.
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Sofia Isella starts us off with Numbers 31:17-18, her meditation and indictment of the Old Testament verse. Sofia brings an incredible vocal range to this track, and every part of the production helps to buoy the point. We hear shades of Dresden Dolls, Ethel Cain, and Tori Amos. Moreso, we are excited that younger artists are using their platforms to address deeper societal issues in pop music. As Alex says about the production, it's good mixing and good sound design, bringing a theatrical bent to it all that deepens the meaning. Listen with headphones.
Onward to Alabama Shakes and their new single "American Dream." As with anything the Shakes do, this one is pure excellence, but also pure protest coming from the voice of the average American existing in the slog that is 2026. When presented with the skill that a band like Alabama Shakes provides, it's a home run of an affecting track. Brittany Howard sings us through the deeply pocketed groove, speaking to the drudgery of waking up every day in America, with lines like "Low-grade fever, lower-wage people, How many folks got shot this week? It's enough to make you wanna go back to sleep." Indeed.
Memory Palace: Holly Humberstone, RAGEFLOWER, Bruce Hornsby
Episode 4
Thursday, April 16, 2026 • Duration 36:36
Episode 4! That's a whole month's worth of podcasts! Thanks for being here. We are celebrating with a true delight of an episode. In fact, Jana monologues about delight, since the songs this week offer that in spades both lyrically and musically (and her turtle, Leo, has been taking turtle spa days lately, which is also delightful). Alex survived another NYC winter and Spring has arrived.
Want to follow along with this week's playlist? Right here: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/vK4qbVL3b1
This week, Alex concocted a truly delightful drink inspired by Bruce Hornsby's "Memory Palace". It's a play on a Last Word, with a lot of swapped ingredients. Alex used buckwheat honey, and Jana could only find Neem honey, which turned out to be...guess what? Delightful.
(Alex makes simple syrup by microwaving the correct amount of water and other ingredients; for one cocktail here you’ll need roughly 1oz of water and 1oz of honey accounting for evaporation. Heat it for 30sec - 1min and let cool).
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Holly Humberstone gives us "Make It All Better" off her new album Cruel World. It's got sweet, earnest lyrics we love that don't sway into sap thanks to Holly's delivery and production choices. We are digging the "gross but sweet" vibes and the power of sung pop lyrics, and it's delivered well here. Production-wise, we love how the repetitive synth keeps a motor going throughout, and the breakbeat outro taking us to a new moment in the production (shout out Grace Ives) makes the track a winner.
Shunning Away: Robber Robber, Arlo Parks, Naomi Scott
Episode 3
Thursday, April 9, 2026 • Duration 38:20
Episode 3 feels like an arrival of sorts, or maybe a settling in. To celebrate, Alex makes us a gin based Shunning Away, based on Naomi Scott's song from this week. Alex's monologue discusses our week's theme of songs that evoke senses that aren't just hearing...using production, lyricism, what have you. The songs this week ask you to use your other senses really well! We talk a little politics, just because we have to decompress a little after a threat of nuclear war on a Tuesday, Jana geeks out over Artemis II and The Moon, and we reaffirm the importance of SD card and file management. Always label your SD cards, kids.
Alex MADE his own aquavit...we celebrate that with an Ina Garten cheers.
Stir over ice and pour over a large ice cube into an old fashioned glass
Top with soda water
Garnish with an orange peel
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Robber Robber's "New Year's Eve" takes us on a crunchy guitar existential crisis that we love lyrically..."grind me down blood computer," we felt that. While it's harder than what Jana goes for, it's softer than Alex's norm, so we met happily in the middle. We loved the discussion of apathy and again, towing the line of distortion and confusion, and again, the lyricism shines here.
Arlo Parks' "Senses" ft. Sampha is up next. We luxuriate in the production of this song and the whole project (Ambiguous Desire). Arlo takes us on a series on nights out clubbing in NYC, and as Alex says, it's all "Dope. Dope dope dope." Silky and smooth. This was made for a late night driving through a city playlist. We talk production choices morphing from synth instruments to more organic as the song evolves, and the Arlo and Sampha discussion in the lyrics. Frank Ocean is a very overt influence here in the best way.
Train on the Island: Charli xcx, Tove Lo, Aldous Harding
Episode 9
Thursday, May 21, 2026 • Duration 44:28
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.
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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And then...is "The Book of Love" the best love song ever written? Maybe so. Olivia Rodrigo delivers a stunning cover of The Magnetic Fields/Stephin Merritt song, which is now part of the War Child UK benefit project (Donate / Watch the video here).
- 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.
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.
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!
Lastly, Noah Kahan brings a more personal take on getting through while looking back with "The Great Divide." A more traditional indie folk pop track, Noah's rumination on a friendship that is long over but still bringing up regrets really gets us in the feels. His writing is vague in a way that allows the listener to feel it personally. While we veer into stomp-clap production, it's an evolution of such and suits the subject matter well. We hear some Jason Isbell influence in there along with the Lumineers. It's a bittersweet end to this trio that are all good answers to anyone who dares to ask, "Where are all the modern protest songs?" They're right here.
Tune in next week when we have a special guest: Noëlle Hampton is joining us from Austin! Check out her band The Belle Sounds while you wait.
RAGEFLOWER is a Sydney-based indie rock artist whose new single, "Control," brings a huge sound inspired by the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, MUNA, and Japanese House. Written from the perspective of her "inner male narcissist," it's a dynamic track with lyrical wins like, "I want the feeling of the world in between my knees / I want an erection, a marble statue of me." Alex hears some Courtney Barnett influence, and Jana detects some early 2000's Americana/indie-rock inspiration, too. The production is huge and lush, and we can't wait to hear more.
Bruce Hornsby and Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) bring us home with "Memory Palace" from Bruce's new record Indigo Park. Lyrically dense, it's a song about trying to literally hold on to your faculties as you get older, in true poetic Bruce fashion. And yet...still a catchy jam. We discuss the place Hornsby holds in pop culture, and Jana waxes poetic about how he is a quiet icon who holds a core place in pop history but is also maybe not quite as recognized as he should be. We loved the low harmonies in the track provided by Ezra Koenig, Alex appreciates the "softest guitar solo" ever, and Jana notes the classic Bruce "doot doot" vocalized percussion. Overall, cheers to Bruce.
If you like the podcast, please give us a 5 star review in your podcast app! Thanks!
Last but certainly not least, Naomi Scott gives us "Gracie," a Mary Mary / Janet + Michael inspired and overall 80's funky pop inspired track and record that really respects the era is comes from. We are HERE FOR IT. There's ear candy, there's a Norwegian producer on deck, there's true joy throughout the whole record and we can't sing Naomi's praises enough.
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?)
