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PODCAST

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH

RISC_OBFUSCATED

Best Arts & Culture podcast Webby 2020 winner about the making and meaning of popular music. Musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding pull back the curtain on how pop hits work magic on our ears & our culture. You’ll fall in love with music you didn’t even know you liked.

music music commentary

All Episodes

00:41:15

All I Want for Xmas is a Year in Review Episode

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/12/14

Charlie and Nate breakdown Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" and revisit their favorite tracks of 2017. Sleigh bells abound. Featuring • Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas • Laura Marling - Semper Femina • Lorde - Melodrama • Khalid - Location • Dua Lipa - New Rules • Logic - Everybody / 1-800-273-8255 • Childish Gambino - Redbone • Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like the piano in my mothers house • Father John Misty - Pure Comedy • Jay-Z: 4:44 • Perfume Genius - No Shape •

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00:38:47

Björk's Emotional Landscapes

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/11/30

Björk is uniquely both a pop star and avant-garde composer. Though her music often challenges our ears, underneath her records you'll find more in common with today's pop music than you'd expect. Pieced together, you'll hear that she paints emotional landscapes composed of all the complexities of human experience. We give you a way to enjoy listening to her music. Using this hybrid pop/modernist method, we deconstruct her latest album Utopia. Plus Nate & Charlie fall in love all over again

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00:38:26

Taylor Constructs A Darker Reputation

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/11/16

Taylor Swift unveils a new, darker identity on her latest album "Reputation," and many have read the lyrics on her latest as not-so-subtle volleys in an ongoing celebrity feud. Still, a question remains: how does Swift cast this dark personality in music? Two songs offer evidence. Melodic drops and temporal gaps in "I Did Something Bad" signal the album's themes of descent and decay. On "Getaway Car," however, some of Swift's old songwriting tricks may betray her new persona. We also dug into

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00:46:29

Unlikely Mashups: Taylor + Cardi B | Clean Bandit +...

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/11/02

At the top of the pop charts, Taylor Swift and Cardi B, two artists with seemingly little in common, exploit the same compositional technique to hook listeners in. Meanwhile, across time and space, electro producers Clean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels, channel the thematic tricks of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz in his 1830 Symphonie Fantastique. FeaturingTaylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do Cardi B - Bodak YellowRight Said Fred - I'm Too SexyClean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels - I Miss

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00:31:30

Kendrick Lamar's HUMBLE deconstructed w. guest Amber...

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/10/19

With Charlie off the grid, Nate sits down with singer/producer Amber Mark to explore the different levels of Kendrick's hit HUMBLE.. Then, they turn to the diverse influences (including house music, Carnatic samples, and autodidactic piano chords) behind Mark's own track "Lose My Cool." Featuring: Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE. Amber Mark - Lose My Cool Amber Mark - SPACE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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00:37:30

Demi Lovato is Not Sorry

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/10/06

Demi Lovato's latest, "Sorry Not Sorry" is at once an unapologetic anthem of defiance and a super catchy mashup of multiple genres. As we'll see, every small musical choice is here for a reason, together fostering Lovato's message of ascension—or even, transcendence. And as we pick apart "Sorry Not Sorry," we'll go to some surprising places ourselves including: Klezmer melodies, spiritual pretzels and musical dementors. Featuring: •Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry •Cardi B - Bodak Yellow •Dave Tarras

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00:32:48

How to 'Feels' the Groove

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/09/22

How does a song with nonsense lyrics capture our attention, making us want to move? It is called the groove. Enter Calvin Harris' "Feels" (ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean). Known for mainstreaming EDM, Harris throws out the software and picks up hardware instruments on this track. Upon first listen, this might seem like a sleeper hit, but as the loop repeats, you're going to want to move your feet. With intricate rhythmic interplay, the bass, drums, keys and guitar seem to talk to

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00:43:10

Anthems of Resilience - Kesha and Imagine Dragons [LIVE]

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/09/07

This episode of Switched on Pop comes at you live from Block Island, RI, recoded in front of an audience of friends and family following a solar eclipse. Fittingly, the two songs discussed that day formed their own kind of syzygy. Kesha's "Praying" and Imagine Dragon's "Believer" are inverse anthems of resilience. Both tracks seek catharsis - one through prayer, the other through pain. FeaturingKesha - Tik TokKesha - PrayingMozart - The Queen of the Night AriaWhitney Houston - I Will Always Love

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00:30:58

The Many Worlds of "Despacito"

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/08/10

What has catapulted Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" to the top spot on the Billboard charts? Sorry, typo—to its status as the biggest song in the world? Your hosts explore the many worlds of "Despacito" in search of an answer. Featuring: Lusi Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee - Despacito Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee y Justin Bieber - Despacito (Remix) Luis Fonsi y Juan Luis Guerra - Llegaste Tú Major Lazer ft Justin Bieber - Cold Water Los Del Rio - Macarena Daddy Yankee - Gasolina Avril Lavigne -

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00:43:29

Selena Gomez: Bad Liar, Psycho Songwriter

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/07/13

Selena Gomez's "Bad Liar" stands out on the charts by doing things a little differently: it's a subtle, at times even awkward, summer surprise. Breaking down this pop morsel reveals it has teeth, though—and not just because it borrows a bass line from the Talking Heads' macabre "Psycho Killer." This is a fun one. Come along for the ride. Featuring: • Selena Gomez - Bad Liar • Julia Michaels - Issues • Selena Gomez - Same Old Love • Talking Heads - Psycho Killer Learn more about your ad choices

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00:32:32

Breaking Down Alanis Morissette (and our own...

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/06/29

Author, critic and podcaster Andrea Warner joins for a throwback episode exploring politics in Lilith Fair, harmonic anger in Alanis Morissette's iconic "You Oughta Know," and the blind spots in your host's assessment of women in rock. Featuring: •Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know Artists mentioned by Andrea Warner: SZA Ibeyi The Overcoats Lizzo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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00:45:48

Morgan Page Reveals the Rule of 3 in Julia Michaels...

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/06/16

Your brain can only hear three things at the same time. What you may not know is that musicians use this cognitive limitation to guide your listening all the time. Charlie and Nate are joined by Grammy Nominee music producer Morgan Page to reveal the secrets of this ubiquitous technique. Listening to Julia Michaels' hit "Issues," we unveil how the rule of three is used to draw our attention and keep us free from sonic distraction. And we look at how Maroon 5's "Cold" uses the same technique but

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00:37:43

DJ Khaled - I'm The One... six... four... five

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/06/01

DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo from Migos and Lil Wayne have allied for a new smash hit: "I'm The One." Despite the star power present, the resulting track is less than the sum of its parts—repetitive, derivative, uninventive. And yet, the lackluster "I'm The One" sits comfortably at the top of the charts, which raises the question: why?? Our answer: because Khaled and company understand the bewitching power of tonal harmony, and they've utilized the most surefire chord

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00:41:06

Musical Architecture in Charlie Puth + HAIM

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/05/18

Two new songs have captured the attention of your hosts—Charlie Puth's "Attention" and HAIM's "Want You Back." On the surface, these two songs appear to have little in common. A closer look, though, reveals the subtle musical architecture undergirding each track, a perfect balance of symmetry and asymmetry that keeps reeling us in for more. Featuring: • Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor - Marvin Gaye • Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again • Charlie Puth ft. Selene Gomez - We Don't Talk

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00:48:03

The End Of Pop Music As We Know It: Fall Out Boy &...

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/05/04

Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop came out of DJ culture and has infused its sound with every mainstream act like Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Tiring of this sound, some artists are finding creative ways to parody this pop trope. The rock outfit Fall Out Boy’s “Young And Menace” demonstrates equal parts mastery and mockery of the pop-drop. And PC Music, a rising art-music label out of London,

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00:44:06

Harry Styles, Eschatology and Teen Girl Fandom

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/04/20

One Direction wunderkind Harry Styles has just released his first ever single, "Sign of the Times," and it's a doozy. Strap in for a discussion of the apocalypse, late Beatles, teen wisdom, and the amen cadence—among other demons exorcised in this most peculiar pop tune. Featuring: •Beethoven 5th Symphony - Scherzo •Harry Styles - Sign of the Times •Prince - Sign o' the Times •David Bowie - Space Oddity •Zayn Malik - Pillowtalk •Steve Aoki + Louis Tomlinson - Just Hold On •John Lennon - #9

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00:42:04

What's to Love About Ed Sheeran? (guest Ross Golan)

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/04/06

Songwriter Ross Golan comes over to start up a conversation, encouraging us to follow his lead and give Ed Sheeran's chart-annihilating record "Shape of You" a chance. Ross, a studio vet with multiple #1 hits (including numbers discussed on this very podcast, such as Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman" and Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love") is the ideal guest to convince a skeptical Charlie and Nate that Sheeran might have a song handmade for somebodies like them. Plus, Ross takes us behind the scenes

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00:45:06

Zedd + Alessia Cara - Stay (w special guest Grey)

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/03/23

Charlie and Nate sit down with up-and-coming producer duo Grey—fresh off their hit "Starving" with Zedd and Hailee Steinfeld—to uncover the secrets behind Alessia Cara and Zedd's dramatic dance track "Stay" and Grey's own deep cut "I Miss You" (ft Bahari). Snare drums as currency, Game of Thrones samples and screaming into the void are all discussed in this deep dive into the world of pop orchestration and 21st century songwriting. Featuring: Zedd + Alessia Cara - Stay Hailee Steinfeld + Grey ft

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00:39:48

Chained to the Green Light: Katy Perry + Lorde

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/03/10

Two artists who haven't released new music since 2013 recently remerged into the limelight: Katy Perry, with her dystopian disco banger "Chained to the Rhythm" and Lorde, with the melodramatic-yet-uplifting anthem "Green Light." Listening carefully, a fact becomes apparent, despite Lorde's insistence that she "hears new sounds" in her mind: there's something familiar lurking beneath both these tracks. And indeed, both were co-written and produced by key figures of the modern pop music firmament

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00:52:10

Oscar Week!: La La Land ft. Genevieve Koski

Switched on Pop — THE 5TH ·

2017/02/24

With the Academy Awards around the corner, Charlie and Nate try something new: a break down of the movie musical La La Land through two of its key songs, "City of Stars" and "Start a Fire." These numbers, one by composer Justin Hurwitz, the other by Hurwitz and John Legend, might represent the two poles of the film's dramatic structure. But a deep dive into their musical construction reveals leitmotifs and left turns that leave us staggered at the different levels to La La Land's score. Special

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