Hosted by Oakland music enthusiast Pam Torno, every episode of Select Five features a special guest talking about five songs and why they matter. Subscribe to the podcast now and get to know artists, music makers, filmmakers, community builders and other creatives from the Bay Area and beyond through the music they love.
Ep. 46: Five Songs With The California Honeydrops' Ben Malament
From busking in the BART stations to playing big music festivals, The California Honeydrops have come a really long way. Meet the Honeydrops' drummer and co-founder, Ben Malament, and hear him talk about some of his earliest musical inspirations while growing up in L.A. before forming the band.
Ben's Selections:
"Clash City Rockers" - The Clash (1978)
"Simmer Down" - The Wailers (1963)
"El Chacombo" - Arturo "Zambo" Cavero
"Do Whatcha Wanna (Part 2)" - The Rebirth Brass Band (1989)
"Open Your Eyes" - Bobby Caldwell (1980)
25 Feb 2026
Ep. 45: Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, Shares His Writing Soundtrack
What kind of music motivates Daniel Handler (otherwise known as children's book author Lemony Snicket) to write bestsellers? In our first episode of 2026, the novelist behind A Series of Unfortunate Events talks about his fondness for obscure movie soundtrack cues, classical music, and songs that provide space for the imagination.
Daniel's Selections:
"Petition Montage" - David Newman (Heathers soundtrack, 1989)
"String Quartet # 8 III. Allegretto" - Dmitri Shostakovich
"Camaraderie at Arms Length" - The Caretaker (2011)
"The Directories" - Howard Shore (Spotlight soundtrack, 2015)
"Night Gang" - Tortoise (2025)
28 Dec 2025
Ep. 44: 2025 Year-Ender With The Select Five Crew
Our annual end-of-year post-mortem episode is here, and boy do we have feelings about this past year! Hear Kate, Pam, and Brian try to make sense of life in 2025 with their singular song selections. Plus, we talk about Bay happenings that gave us hope, and in honor of Select Five's fifth anniversary, we shout out some of the amazing things our past guests have accomplished this year.
Select Five 2025 Selections:
Little Simz - Free/2025 (Brian's pick)
Natural Information Society - Perseverance Flow/2025 (Pam's pick)
Grateful Dead - Touch of Gray/1987 (Kate's Selection)
Jwalt - Ballers Ballad/2025
Tower of Power - So Very Hard To Go/1973
Listen to our playlist to hear the songs we talked about plus many others we loved in 2025
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5.0 / 5
18 ratings
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