I received a text message from an old friend of ours recently.͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 

I received a text message from an old friend of ours recently. And it’s going to have a big impact on today’s newsletter. 

Hello, by the way! This is Andrew from TBTL. I hope this email finds you well.

Animated GIF of Tobias (from "Arrested Development") crying in the shower with text that says "HOW YOUR EMAIL FINDS ME"

You of course remember our pal, Stu “The StuBot” Neuman, TBTL’s blogger emeritus and the man who put Minnesota on the map. He reached out to me over the weekend with a question about the podcast. 

“What’s the best way to send you a song for the Music For Your Weekend segment?” he asked. 

“Oh, hi Stu!” I wrote back. “We unfortunately don’t do that segment on the podcast anymore. However, we do occasionally include it in our Friday newsletter!”

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“Well, Spotify and YouTube started pulling-down some of our archived shows because they contained copyrighted music. So we felt it was prudent to discontinue the music segment on the podcast.” 

“But that was the best part of the show.” Stu is a blunt man, especially for someone from the midwest. 

“I know, I’m sorry, man.” I responded. “I’m glad you liked it. But you know how the show evolves over time.” 

“No, I mean, it was the best part of the show by a longshot.” How Stu is able to italicize certain words in a text message I’ll never know. But I didn’t respond to this. He was clearly feeling his feelings, and I figured it was best to just let it drop. 

All of this happened around lunchtime on Saturday. On Sunday morning, I woke up to find another text message waiting for me. He sent it at 2:43 a.m.  

“What did you replace it with?” 

“I’m sorry?” I responded. I was groggy and didn’t know what he was talking about. 

“The music segment. It was a Friday feature for years. If you don’t do it anymore, what did you replace it with?”

“OH!” I said. “Well, we didn’t really replace it with anything. Sometimes we read some emails, sometimes we just talk about the Mariners or our weekend plans or Alfred Molina or something.” 

“Alfred Molina?”  

“Well, yeah, sometimes,” I said. 

“Sounds amazing.” Stu’s sarcasm stung, and I could practically smell last night’s Johnny Walker coming through the messaging app. I didn’t respond. 

After a few minutes, I received one more note from Stu. 

“I’ll email you a song later,” he snarled. “For the newsletter.”

Now, say what you will about The StuBot’s general demeanor, the man is true to his word. The next day, I had an email from him waiting in my inbox with a heck of a song suggestion that he’d like to share with you all. I asked Luke if he’d like to add a song, too, and the next thing you know, we had an honest-to-gosh Music For Your Weekend (Email Edition) ready for today’s newsletter! Just scroll down! 

Thank you, StuBot. And thanks to all of you for subscribing to this newsletter. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Luke and I will talk to you on Monday!

- Andrew

Hey Dummies

YouTube still image of Andrew talking into the camera in his office, hands gesticulating very closely to the camera

Music For Your Weekend

Illustrated animated gif of a red fender-style guitar and an amp on a bright blue background. The guitar is vibrating and making music notes.

StuBot: Dancing in the Club by This Is Lorelei

I was tipped off to this song when MJ Lenderman covered it and posted it to his Instagram stories. Best use of auto-tune since prime T-Pain. The rest of the album is full of catchy little numbers like this, sans the auto-tune. RIYL: Elliott Smith ("Two Legs"), Spoon ("Perfect Hand"), and Neutral Milk Hotel ("A Song That Sings About You").

Luke: Cry MFER by My Idea

I’ve lost a good portion of my morning sitting atop the horns of a dilemma; trying to decide which song by the band My Idea best encapsulates their 2022 album “Cry MFER”.

The thing I’m realizing, after careful consideration (and 5 cups of java), is that I’m trying to do the impossible. This is because the songs on the album (the creation of Lily Konigsberg and Nate Amos -- the same Nate Amos who performs as This Is Lorelei from StuBot’s suggestion above) range so widely in terms of style and sound. Usually that kind of thing puts me off; I like my music to do one thing AND KEEP DOING THAT ONE THING, but somehow on this album, the variety works seamlessly. 

So without further buildup, here are three standout tracks: 

Crutch - This song takes me right back to 1996, sitting in the basement of the UW HUB watching Mary Lou Lord play a solo show to about 20 college kids. I also can’t stop thinking about the line “Sorry you're my crutch, and the pain it causes all of us”. What a great way to put words to a very human dynamic we’ve all been through. 

Baby I’m The Man - Featuring a chord progression that could (please god?) raise Elliot Smith from the dead. Listen when Lilly sings “pick it up and put it back”, the last chord goes exactly where you don’t expect it to go, and it’s absolute perfection. 

Not Afraid Anymore - One day, music scholars will describe this as “The Most TBTL-Inspired” of My Idea’s music. During the song, Konigsberg is basically saying “we’ll cut this all out” and then they don’t. It feels like you’re getting to listen to a work in progress with no specific idea where it’s going. Like TBTL! 

This Week On TBTL

Very old photo of two men in front of either a recording device or listening device. One guy looks a lot like Teddy Roosevelt.

#4404 Bad Coach: Port Of Call
Monday, February 17
Luke found himself in an unexpected broadcast on his frantic trip to Heathrow Airport. Andrew solved a problem with his new computer that is still boggling his mind. And Luke apologizes for a misinformed hot take last week. 

#4405 Melon Parties And The Infinite Sadness
Tuesday, February 18
Luke got quite the scare during yesterday’s TBTL recording, but he learned a valuable lesson. Meanwhile, Andrew’s sense of smell is going haywire. And they finally talk a little (or maybe a lot) about season 2 of Severance.

#4406 Bike Curious 
Wednesday, February 19
Seattle’s mayor made one of the worst jokes possible in his State of the City address. Luke and Andrew also investigate new and old claims regarding NBA players pooping their pants on the court. And a listener tells us what it’s like to be friends with a Blue Man. 

#4407 Molina On Me
Thursday, February 20
Luke filled out a survey yesterday to remind himself why he never fills out surveys. Andrew is excited about some McDonald’s-related beverage news. And for reasons still unclear, they stumble down an Alfred Molina rabbit hole. 

#4408 FCC Your Way Out
Friday, February 21
Luke and Andrew do some on-air sleuthing to figure out why Luke suddenly has to take an FCC-mandated training course about the Emergency Broadcast System. Turns out, it involves a wayward CBS radio producer and an episode of Young Sheldon. 

Ten Of The Week

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This space is reserved for you! If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming TBTL Newsletter, just click here, answer a few fun questions, and you’ll be a podcast newsletter star! 

You can check out prior Tens of the Week in our archives. 

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