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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

30:59

26. Linus and Lucy

Switched on Pop ·

2015/12/17

Celebrate 50 years of A Charlie Brown Christmas and his eponymous holiday album. If you’re feeling worn out on holiday music, this one never wares old. Its gone triple platinum and charts almost every year on the holiday Billboard. Join us as we dive deep into the brilliance of Vince […]

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29:13

25. Same Here

Switched on Pop ·

2015/12/02

Two unlikely anthems of individuality are rocketing up the charts: Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” and Alessia Cara’s “Here.” One is from an established star, the other from a total unknown, but both use similar musical techniques to make their voices heard against the madding […]

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41:14

24. Searching for Max Martin

Switched on Pop ·

2015/11/19

The most omnipresent figure in pop music is also the most elusive: Karl Sandberg aka Max Martin, the mad Swedish genius who’s ruled the charts for 20 years. With the help of New Yorker writer John Seabrook, author of The Song Machine, and comedian Chris […]

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30:35

23. Hotline Hello: Drake and Adele

Switched on Pop ·

2015/11/04

Drake and Adele are two megastars who may not seem to share much in common on the surface, but their recent hits exhibit some surprising parallels. Both revisit past relationships over the phone and both conceal inner anguish beneath subtle musical shifts. Featuring special appearances […]

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33:26

22. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head

Switched on Pop ·

2015/10/22

As much as we might have crazy love for pop music, pop music also loves to drive us crazy. Earworms that grab you and won’t let go; cookie-cutter compositions that bedevil in their unoriginality; strange new sounds that vex, rankle, confound. How does pop music […]

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29:27

21. Justin Bieber’s Existential Suite

Switched on Pop ·

2015/10/07

Bieber’s two new hits, “Where Are Ü Now” and “What Do You Mean,” showcase the prodigal pop star’s soberer side. In each, his realization of the fictive nature of relationships is musicalized through slippery piano chords and disembodied voices. But just two songs does not […]

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23:20

20. The Weeknd: Dance of Deception

Switched on Pop ·

2015/09/23

The Weeknd’s deliriously funky chart topper “Can’t Feel My Face” has sparked sweat-soaked dance sessions across the country, but dark notes lurk at the outskirts of this ebullient jam. Chromatic intrusions and Classical laments crowd the scene and invite more clandestine interpretations. What’s this song […]

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32:46

19. Let’s Talk About Sax

Switched on Pop ·

2015/09/09

The sax is back. This surprisingly funky reed keeps popping up in pop hits from Derulo to Grande. But where did the sax come from? And where did it go? Tighten your embouchure, because we journey to the center of sax in this week’s episode. […]

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23:40

18. Kacey Musgraves: Transgressing Country

Switched on Pop ·

2015/08/14

Can you be a country star and critical of the country at the same time? Grammy Award Winner, Kacey Musgraves, has two hit albums that challenge the small-town clichés of modern country music. Is she bucking the trend of big trucks and dirt roads, or embracing an old tradition of transgressing social norms? To answer […]

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27:07

17. Song of Summer: LIVE!

Switched on Pop ·

2015/07/30

In the first-ever LIVE edition of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate enter an epic debate over what track should be crowned 2015’s definitive Song of Summer. Charlie’s candidate is the retro anthem “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, while Nate argues for […]

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18:18

16. The Dual Meaning of Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen

Switched on Pop ·

2015/07/15

Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen is an unlikely contender for the top 10. It straddles genres between hip-hop and pop in subtle yet mesmerizing ways. Is it a drug song? Is it a love song? Or is it both at the same time? Join us to find […]

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21:01

15. One Direction: Our Modern Day Castrati

Switched on Pop ·

2015/05/29

One Direction is one of the biggest bands in pop, but unless you’re a preteen or the parent of one, like us you’ve probably never heard a second of their music. Until now. Let’s see if we’ve been missing out, on the latest from Switched […]

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5:27

14. The Final Dropout

Switched on Pop ·

2015/05/15

How does a good pop song end? With a bang, right? As it turns out, explosive endings are kinda over. Songwriters are instead opting to end with a final dropout. Even the biggest pop anthems close with a quiet final moment. In this musical short, […]

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18:38

13. Hidden Sounds in FourFiveSeconds

Switched on Pop ·

2015/05/06

FourFiveSeconds is one of the more surprising collaborations in recent pop history. Rhianna, Kanye, Sir Paul McCartney. The motley lineup doesn’t dissapoint, serving up one of the most unexpected songs of the year—though not for the reason you’d think. Tune in and wile out while […]

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19:26

12. Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You

Switched on Pop ·

2015/04/15

Carly Rae Jepsen might be the patron saint of Switched on Pop, the show first hatched by Charlie and Nate on a trip down CA-1 while the stereo blasted “Call Me Maybe.” So when we heard she had a new single out we knew we […]

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14:53

11. Hozier’s Waffling of Faith in Take Me To Church

Switched on Pop ·

2015/04/02

Written in the Hozier family basement, Take Me To Church has risen up to be one of the biggest pop hits of the year. But this is not a typical pop song. The unsettling music and provocative lyrics about faith and relationships irk many listeners. […]

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13:09

10. Taylor Swift’s Beethovian Blank Space

Switched on Pop ·

2015/03/26

Taylor Swift’s Blank Space is about emptiness of the heart. This motif of Blank Space is contained through the entire piece: from the drums, to the melody, to the lyrics. We pull away the sonic structures to show how Taylor recreates that empty feeling and […]

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44:57

09. A Cappella Dreams

Switched on Pop ·

2015/03/16

A cappella, Italian for in the style of the church, refers to music for unaccompanied voices. Just a decade ago it was nowhere near the radio dial. Now it’s everywhere: college campuses, Hollywood blockbusters, prime time reality television, and the Grammys. A cappella hasn’t been […]

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27:35

08. Radio Africa

Switched on Pop ·

2015/02/19

Reporting live from Kenya, we search for African pop that is making its way into global dance music. The barriers to producing high quality audio are reduced to merely owning a laptop. Now, regional artists are reaching a global audience. We speak to Blinky Bill, […]

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25:14

07. Star Spangled

Switched on Pop ·

2015/01/28

Did you know the melody to the Star Spangled Banner was once a British drinking song? In preparation for the Super Bowl, we uncover how the national anthem has been co-opted and reinterpreted by mega pop-stars. Our understanding of how this song sounds has been […]

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306 results

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