Brian and Spencer discuss Animal Collective, The Decemberists, and The Thermals in concert, plus new albums by The Dirty Projectors and Coalesce. Also, the movies Drag Me to Hell, Dead Snow, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Tyson, and Dreams with Sharp Teeth.

Brian and Spencer discuss Star Trek, Free Comic Book Day featuring Atomic Robo and Ex Machina, Richard Price’s novel, Lush Life, new music by Japandroids, digging out old music after a hard drive crash, and the application of Newton’s laws to celebrities. But not in that order.

In our launch episode, we discuss new albums from The Thermals and Ihsahn, Observe & Report, the “Mockbusters” phenomenon, and disappointing new shows from talented people (e.g. Sit Down, Shut Up and Kings).

‘The Hazards of Love’ may not have the instantly gratifying hooks the band is capable of, but as a complete listening experience it’s an impressive and satisfying work that gleefully defies convention.

The latest album from MSTRKRFT is indicative of a band growing into a more approachable electro-pop sensibility while still trying to maintain their chunky, rough-edged sound.

‘Caprica’ aims to pick up where BSG left off, Tony Jaa returns for more spectacular Muay Thai kung-fu action, and two very non-asian-robot guys get set to release a very human record.

When no one’s quite sure how exactly to describe your output, seeing how wildly different (and probably wrong) the responses are is part of the fun.

Shane Acker’s feature debut gets added to a list of animated films to see this year, ‘Objectified’ follows up from the ‘Helvetica’ team, and free best of Club Bootie tracks.

Our panel of two sat down for an epic virtual discussion of our absolute favorite things of the year, in every category we could think of, and why each one made the list.

Why we’re passing on Miller’s new movie, wondering who thought Dante would make a good action game hero, year-end gaming thoughts and what makes a good Best Of list.