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PODCAST

Switched on Pop

Switched on Pop

A podcast about the making and meaning of popular music hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding. Episodes every other Wednesday.

music

All Episodes

36:37

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery

Switched on Pop ·

2023/05/23

Daft Punk’s first album laid the groundwork for their robot personas, with four to the floor beats, programmed drum machines, and sequenced synthesizers. On their second album Discovery, Daft Punk fully lean into the artificial – singing through robotic vocoders that correspond with their now-iconic robot helmets. But in there is a paradox, explored on episode 2 of Listening to Daft Punk: the more machine the robots become, the more human the music sounds. Songs Discussed Daft Punk - One

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37:30

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Homework

Switched on Pop ·

2023/05/16

Ten years ago, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories gave life back to music. The world-beating smash “Get Lucky” broke streaming records, forged a retro sound that still dominates the charts, and paved the way for artists like The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Lizzo to craft their own throwback hits. How did Daft Punk do it? Switched On Pop’s four part-mini series Listening 2: Daft Punk unlocks the sounds, voices, and stories across all four of the group’s studio albums. On their first album, Homework, Daft

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31:26

The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival

Switched on Pop ·

2023/05/09

After nearly two decades as a band the Jonas Brothers are staking their claim to a magnum opus by calling their next album, quite simply, The Album (out May 12). The project follows the success of their 2019 comeback project Happiness Begins — which blended polished pop sounds with ‘70s funk breaks and produced the No. 1 single “Sucker” — with a focus on the smooth sounds of yacht rock. Switched On pop co-host Charlie Harding spoke with Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas in March 2023, during their five

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28:20

From Westeros-techno to trance metal: Eurovision 2023

Switched on Pop ·

2023/05/02

It’s May, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s edition of the international-but-primarily-in-Europe competition features a uniquely eclectic group of songs (per usual), from a take on electro-flamenco, to Game of Thrones EDM, to a previous winner’s return to the Eurovision stage. On this episode, Charlie and Nate look at the six songs bookmakers are looking at to lead the pack of this year’s entries. Songs Discussed: Alessandra – Queen of

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32:52

Who killed the key change in pop music?

Switched on Pop ·

2023/04/25

When trouble strikes in music town, there’s one guy who gets the call. That’s me, Joe Treble, forensic musicologist. This week, I've got one of the most shocking cases I've ever worked. Someone killed the key change in pop music, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to find the perpetrator. The key change used to be at large on the Billboard charts. From the 1950s to the 1990s, 20-30% of all number one hits featured one. In Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody," the key change hits right

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37:14

AI Drake has put music in a tailspin

Switched on Pop ·

2023/04/21

We have an emergency podcast drop because the biggest and fastest moving story on the internet right now is about a song called “Heart On My Sleeve.” The track sounds like it was made by the producer Metro Boomin featuring Drake and The Weeknd. It might be one of the most consequential songs in music history because it was actually a fake, made with AI. The blowback from this song has been enormous and a bit confusing. So host Charlie Harding went on The Vergecast podcast to break down how this song

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48:45

BTS goes solo together

Switched on Pop ·

2023/04/18

The South Korean idol group BTS is one of the biggest musical sensations in history. They're constantly breaking records and they have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world known as Army. Their hit singles like “Boy With Love,” “Dynamite,” and “Butter” have been discussed on the show in the past for breaking through the US charts. But back in 2022, they decided to take a break from group activities and start releasing solo material because of their obligations to each fulfill mandatory

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43:37

This Generation's Caroline Polachek

Switched on Pop ·

2023/04/11

From the first seconds of her latest album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek asserts that she is truly a once-in-a-generation artist. From her work in the indie band Chairlift to years of behind-the-scenes songwriting, she has worked hard over years to build a stellar music career – culminating in the pop opus Desire, already one of the best rated albums of 2023. On this episode of Switched on Pop, we look at Polachek’s career thus far, and talk to her about the intricacies of her

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31:02

The Shakira Conspiracy

Switched on Pop ·

2023/04/04

Shakira is back on the Billboard Hot 100 – thanks to the help of Argentinian producer Bizarrap. Together, their song “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” is layered with musical and lyrical references, from the callbacks to “She Wolf” to the multiple beat switches. It also works to play into something larger: something akin to a pop music conspiracy. On this episode of Switched On Pop, we take a closer look at Shakira’s latest, and how it’s indicative of a larger metatextual shift in pop

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39:45

Reinventing Bach

Switched on Pop ·

2023/03/28

If you’ve ever learned classical piano, you probably tried to play one of Bach’s Inventions. The composer wrote fifteen pieces containing the most important fifteen keys in order to teach his son the fundamentals of piano and composition. Today, they remain some of the most popular pieces of piano music. Acclaimed jazz pianist Dan Tepfer recently revisited his childhood music books seeing them in a way he’d never realized as a student: the Inventions are much more than novice piano works. For

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39:04

100 gecs make good bad music

Switched on Pop ·

2023/03/21

Everyone will describe the music of 100 gecs differently. To some, Dylan Brady and Laura Les make deeply satisfying earworms, tracks able to scratch the itches that occupy the deepest memory-holed corners of the brain. To others, though, their music is an "anarchic assault on the ears,” a quilt of all of the genres historically ridiculed in the popular canon: nu-metal, scuzz-rock, ska and 90’s pop punk are all fair game in the world of gecs. On their latest record, aptly titled 10000 gecs, Brady

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24:04

Switches Brew

Switched on Pop ·

2023/03/17

Every week the Switched On Pop team gets together and everybody shares one song they’re loving right now. It is one of our favorite conversations each week because we hear music that is new and old, on and off the charts. We’re sharing that conversation with you as a new format we’re calling Switches Brew alongside friend of the show Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute Listen to Brittany Use on NPR’s It’s Been A Minute: Web, Apple, Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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36:57

Modern Classics: Seal - Kiss From a Rose

Switched on Pop ·

2023/03/14

“Kiss From a Rose” is one of the most unusual number one hits of all time. Seal’s song can’t decide if it’s in minor or major, it uses an old-fashioned waltz rhythm, and its lush orchestration and elaborate vocal harmonies support mysterious lyrics about a “greying tower alone on the sea.” Seal himself wasn’t sure about the song, and needed some convincing to include the composition on his 1994 album SEAL II. But once director Joel Schumacher decided to use the track for the end credits of the film

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32:59

How John Denver got huge in Asia

Switched on Pop ·

2023/03/07

“Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a song about West Virginia, but its message of homecoming has resonance far beyond Appalachia. Songwriter and producer Ian Fitchuk found this out when he was requested to perform Denver’s music at a music festival in Tibet. Fitchuk discovered that Denver has a huge following in East and South East Asia, where Denver toured multiple times from the 70s through the 90s. Denver’s songs first came to the region through the US Armed Forces Network radio as well as a

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30:20

Chartbreakers: Jersey Club, Complicated Country, and...

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/28

Currently on Billboard’s hot 100 there is an unexpected UK Garage / Jersey House mashup, a disgraced country star making a questionable comeback, and an out of nowhere fifties ballad all jockeying for their moment on the charts. This week, we take a listen to the FEBRUARY 25, 2023 Hot 100, looking for triumphs, fumbles, and oddities. Songs Discussed PinkPantheress, Ice Spice - Boy's a liar Pt. 2 Ice Spice - Munch (Feelin’ U) Drake - Currents Lil Uzi Vert - Just Wanna Rock Sweet Female Attitude -

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35:23

Five years later, the legacy of Nipsey Hussle's...

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/22

Five years ago, Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle released Victory Lap, his only full length album. It was the high point of a career stretching back to the mid 2000s, when Hussle started releasing mixtapes on his own record label — mixtapes that brought him respect from artists like Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, but were not widely heard. Victory Lap brought him both the critical acclaim and commercial success he deserved — It hit #2 on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap

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39:32

“Flowers” and the art of the response song

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/14

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is spending another week on top of the Billboard 100 – quite fitting for Valentine’s Day. The disco-country track has gotten people talking for a few reasons, but most notably, Cyrus invokes Bruno Mars’ classic “When I Was Your Man” in both lyrical and melodic allusions. The connection between the two songs is not one of interpolation, but rather, Miley is responding to Bruno’s hit through her own words: making “Flowers” an answer song. This episode of Switched On Pop,

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52:41

ICYMI Rihanna Party!

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/12

“Rihanna Is The 21st Century’s Most Influential Musician” according to NPR. Millions and millions of fans the world over agree, and while we try to avoid overt expressions of pop favoritism, we think they’ve got a strong case. It’s for that reason and a dozen others that we were thrilled to welcome Gina Delvac of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend back to the show to discuss the legendary career of one Ms. Robyn Rihanna Fenty. As we all await her ninth studio album (R9), join us for a virtual*

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35:52

The L.A. guitar shop that reinvented indie folk

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/07

In 2010, a photographer named Reuben Cox moved to Los Angeles to start Old Style Guitar Shop. In the years since, the instruments that he continues to repair and sell have come to define the sound of the LA indie folk scene among artists like Blake Mills, Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham, Ethan Gruska and Phoebe Bridgers. Reuben’s guitars are Frankenstein-esque creations, cobbled together from spare parts and neglected guitar bodies found in flea markets and estate sales. The sounds that these

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23:35

INTO IT: A History of Whammies at the Grammys

Switched on Pop ·

2023/02/02

It's Grammys weekend and Sam Sanders, host of Vulture's Into It podcast, is ready for disappointment! Sam is joined by Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding and Reanna Cruz to break down the Grammys' history of tone deafness when it comes to the night's biggest awards. Will Beyoncé lose Album of the Year again... or will the voting body finally give her her due? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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306 results

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