Riffs on Riffs cover art

Riffs on Riffs

Riffs on Riffs

By: Evergreen Podcasts
Listen for free

About this listen

 Riffs on Riffs is about the thrill of musical discovery — that tingle down your spine when a perfect melody kicks in. Every chart-topper is a sonic time capsule. We'll crack it open, trace its history, decode those cryptic lyrics, and unearth the hidden gems in its musical DNA. Hosts Joe and Toby are back as your audio archaeologists, digging up the stories behind the songs. But here's where it gets fun. From those melodies, we riff. Wild tangents, pop culture connections, personal stories, those "shower thoughts" sparked by a killer chorus – think of it as the ultimate deep dive followed by a freewheeling jam session inspired by the hits. Dust off your headphones and get ready to rediscover those songs you thought you knew.All rights reserved 2025 Music
Episodes
  • Bad Bunny "Baile Inolvidable"

    Bad Bunny "Baile Inolvidable"
    Dec 21 2025
    In this episode of Riffs on Riffs, Joe and Toby take a deep, joyful, and thoughtful journey into “Baile Inolvidable”, a song that feels like a dance remembered long after the music stops. What begins as a discussion of Bad Bunny’s latest single quickly unfolds into a rich conversation about salsa, nostalgia, cultural memory, and what it means to honor your roots while still pushing art forward. We explore how “Baile Inolvidable” functions on multiple levels: as a love song, a reflection on formative relationships, and a bold artistic statement. We discuss Bad Bunny’s decision to fully embrace salsa, a genre with deep historical and cultural significance, and how that choice adds emotional weight to the song’s themes of acceptance, gratitude, and looking back without regret. Along the way, Toby and Joe share personal stories sparked by the music, including memories of learning to dance, the generosity of dance communities, and the way certain songs can instantly transport us to another time in our lives. The episode also breaks down the music video’s powerful symbolism, including the appearance of Puerto Rican cultural icons and subtle visual details that reward curious viewers willing to look a little deeper. Beyond the song itself, the conversation expands into larger ideas about creativity, stillness, and why boredom and rest are essential for making meaningful art. We reflect on Bad Bunny’s career choices, his cultural activism, his genre-defying approach, and the importance of making space for voices and styles that may be unfamiliar to some listeners. This episode is about dance as memory, music as education, and art as an invitation to learn, move, and feel together. Whether you’re a longtime Bad Bunny fan or encountering his work more deeply for the first time, this conversation offers context, warmth, and plenty of reasons to press play again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Amber Mark - "Sweet Serotonin"

    Amber Mark - "Sweet Serotonin"
    Nov 25 2025
    Welcome back to Riffs on Riffs, where in this episode Joe and Toby break down Amber Mark’s “Sweet Serotonin,” a track off her latest album Pretty Ideas, and explore why she’s becoming one of the most compelling voices in modern pop, R&B, and genre-bending artistry. They dive into Amber’s global background—Jamaican roots, German family, years spent in Berlin, India, Miami, and New York—and how that cultural mixtape shapes her sound. From Motown and Amy Winehouse inflections to country detours, folk gems, and dreamy pop, Amber refuses to fit neatly into any genre box. Some of the riffing: • The Tiny Desk (Home) performance that proves Amber has serious vocal chops • Wildly different tracks across the album—from “Let Me Love You” to the John the Blind collab • Her production journey from GarageBand to fully owning her artistic vision • Great covers (Sade! Bill Withers!) and why they matter • The dopamine-vs-serotonin debate and what the song is really saying • Touring with Sabrina Carpenter and the potential power-duo moment we all need • Whether Pretty Ideas is officially vinyl-worthy And then, as only Joe and Toby can, the episode spirals into hilarious side quests: parenting through playlists, NBA-fueled late nights, Jay-Z’s ability to stop time, speakerphone offenders in public (stop it!), Thanksgiving myth-busting, flash-mob revenge fantasies, and the eternal struggle of Browns fans. Hit subscribe, drop a comment, and let us know: Is Pretty Ideas vinyl-worthy for you? What should Joe & Toby’s holiday song be? And have you ever wanted to throw a metaphorical penalty flag at a speakerphone sociopath? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Daniel Caesar "Call On Me"

    Daniel Caesar "Call On Me"
    Nov 9 2025
    When Daniel Caesar quietly dropped his album "Son of Spergy", most of the world didn’t see it coming. In this episode Joe and Toby dive deep into Caesar’s lead single “Call On Me,” uncovering the soulful layers, hidden nuance, and emotional depth that make his music feel both intimate and transcendent. Per usual, the conversation starts with a laugh — Shakespeare references, hats, and Toby’s ongoing book of analogies — but soon spirals into an exploration of what harmony really means in music and in life. Joe breaks out the guitar to dissect Caesar’s deceptively simple two-chord vamp, revealing how small changes in tonality and phrasing can create something entirely fresh in pop music. Toby draws parallels between gospel, jazz, and the improvisational genius that defines Caesar’s sound — a sound that lives in tension between structure and soul. Together, they explore: The gospel and jazz DNA behind Caesar’s harmonies How musical “vocabularies” shape every artist — and why Caesar’s is joyfully odd The spiritual throughline in his songwriting and his relationship with his father What it means to reconcile faith, creativity, and identity through art Why harmony, not balance, is the truer metaphor for living a whole life As the conversation unfolds, “Call On Me” becomes a mirror for something universal — how we all try to live as complex, imperfect humans in search of connection and clarity. Joe and Toby riff on everything from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to side quests in Zelda, from father-son relationships to finding the melody that ties our stories together. By the end, what starts as a discussion about one artist’s song becomes a meditation on purpose, reconciliation, and the beauty of learning to live in harmony — musically, emotionally, and spiritually. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 5 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.