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Vulture

Listen closer to pop music — hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Switched on Pop

Hrishikesh Hirway, host of Song Exploder, returns with his first album in fifteen years, In the Last Hour of Light, made under a premise that's almost contradictory for a podcaster built around isolated stems: session players who had never heard the songs, vocals tracked live in the room, no click track, and no overdubs. 

The layered style that defines current pop production is itself a relatively recent development. Hirway's record reaches back to the older live-tracking tradition that shaped the 1950s and 60s Bollywood recordings he grew up listening to in his parents' house. The album is about memory and so it’s appropriate that the music is recorded whole in all its beautiful imperfections.

Songs Discussed

 Hrishikesh Hirway "Things Change Even Now"

 Hrishikesh Hirway "Stray Dogs"

 Hrishikesh Hirway "The Ocean"

 Hrishikesh Hirway "Home Movies"

 Adrienne Lenker “Anything”

 Chuck Berry "Maybellene"

 The Beatles "Twist and Shout"

 James Brown "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"

 Sidney Bechet "The Sheik of Araby"

 Les Paul & Mary Ford "How High the Moon"

 The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations"

 The Beatles “A Day In The Life”

 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"

 Jacob Collier "With the Love in My Heart"

 Brandi Carlile "You and Me on the Rock"

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Hrishikesh Hirway made an album about running out of time — in no time

BTS is back. The best selling K Pop group of all time has been on hiatus for four years. They haven’t released an album in six. They were once the biggest band in the world. Can they regain their throne? Or has the world moved on. Leaning on traditional Korean sounds and a bevy of international producers, from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker to JPEGMafia, is their album Arirang the future or the past of K Pop? Hye Jin Lee, communications professor at USC and K Pop scholar, joins to break down the album's references and ponder how longtime fans will respond.

Songs Discussed

BTS - Body to Body

Koreana - Hand In Hand

Lee Chun-Hee - Arirang

BTS - Hooligan

Michel Magne - Yang Tse Kiang - Bande originale du film "Un singe en hiver"

ROSALÍA - MALAMENTE - Cap.1: Augurio

Prefuse 73 - The End of Biters - International

BTS - Aliens

Kim Young-gil and Yoon Ho-Se - Ajaeng sanjo - Jungmori

BTS - FYA

Junior Sanchez - Lookin 4 Love - Extended Mix

BTS - No. 29

BTS - SWIM

BTS - Merry Go Round

Tame Impala - New Person, Same Old Mistakes

BTS - NORMAL

BTS - they don’t know ’bout us

The Four Freshmen It's A Blue World

BTS - Paldogangsan

BTS - No More Dream

BTS and Zara Larsson - A Brand New Day

Agust D - Haegeum
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BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same.

Ten years ago, Maggie Rogers was a senior at NYU, scrambling to finish a song for a music production class she was close to failing. The guest critic that week happened to be Pharrell Williams. She played him "Alaska," a track she'd written in about fifteen minutes. It is a bit of folk songwriting crossed with the electronic music she'd fallen for studying abroad. Pharrell told her he'd never heard anything that sounded like it. Someone was filming. The clip went viral, and it launched Maggie into pop stardom. 

Ten years later, she's released three studio albums, earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, and gone back to school to pick up a master's from Harvard Divinity School, where she studied the spirituality of public gatherings. And in the last few months she's been as visible offstage as on — advocating for free speech in DC, performing for 200,000 people at a protest in Minneapolis alongside Joan Baez, and delivering a haunting performance during the final run of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which CBS is ending in May.

This week host Charlie Harding got to sit down with Maggie live at Chelsea Studios, in front of a room of current NYU students. It’s the same school, ten years later, now with Charlie in the professor's chair and Maggie as the visiting artist.

SONGS DISCUSSED

 Maggie Rogers "Alaska"

 Maggie Rogers "Better"

 Maggie Rogers "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" 

 Maggie Rogers "Different Kind of World"

 Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"

 Bob Dylan "The Times They Are a-Changin'"

 USA for Africa "We Are the World"

More

Newsletter
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Maggie Rogers: going viral is a trap

Train is the kind of band that some people love to hate. Songs like "Meet Virginia" and "Hey Soul Sister" gave the band huge hits, and no small amount of snark. And then there's "Drops of Jupiter." Released in 2001, the song is almost impossible not to love, no matter how many lyrics about soy lattes and Tae Bo it includes. 

"Drops of Jupiter" was released 25 years ago, so there's no more perfect time to plumb the secrets of this celestial smash, and there's no more perfect guest than Train's lead singer and songwriter, Pat Monahan. Pat breaks down the origin of the song, why he thought it would flop, how Train is like a rom com, and why he'd rather his songs be more famous than him. By the end of our conversation, you might find yourself learning to love Train.

Songs Discussed

Train - Drops of Jupiter, Meet Virginia, Hey Soul Sister

Taylor Swift - Drops of Jupiter
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Learning to Love Train: "Drops of Jupiter" is back in the atmosphere

Going for broke turned out to be the most honest thing Slayyyter ever made. After financial losses and a depressive episode that left her ready to quit music entirely, Slayyyter entered the studio planning to make one final album. In this conversation, she traces how that desperation shaped every decision on Worst Girl in America. This conversation will leave you feeling Daddy AF. 

SONGS DISCUSSED

 Slayyyter – "Daddy AF"

 Slayyyter – "Brittany Murphy"

 Slayyyter – "Dance"

 Slayyyter – "Crank"

 Slayyyter – "Gas Station"

 Slayyyter – "Beat Up Chanels"

 Slayyyter – "Old Technology"

 Slayyyter – "Yes God"

 Slayyyter – "Unknown Lovers"

 Slayyyter – "Cannibalism"

 Slayyyter – "Actually Kind of Famous"

 Slayyyter – "What It's Like to Be Liked"

 Slayyyter – "Mine"

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Slayyyter might actually be the 'Worst Girl in America'

Charlie Puth joins Switched On Pop in Studio A at Power Station at Berklee NYC, live before a room of current students, ten days after performing the national anthem at Super Bowl 60 and weeks before releasing his fourth album, Whatever's Clever. The conversation is grounded in one question: how do you absorb the music you love and turn it into something that actually sounds like you?

Puth traces his national anthem arrangement through a lineage running from Jose Feliciano's 1968 World Series performance to Marvin Gaye's 808-driven 1983 All-Star Game version to Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl rendition. The through-line: citation is letting your influences dissolve into your hands until they become unrecognizable. That principle runs throughout the new record, from the Quincy Jones guitar tone on "Cry" to the Chick Corea quotation buried in "Boy" that Puth didn't realize was there until after writing it.

Songs Discussed

Bruce Springsteen – "Born in the USA"

Madonna – "Like a Virgin"

David Bowie – "Let's Dance"

Charlie Puth ft. Wiz Khalifa – "See You Again"

Charlie Puth – "We Don't Talk Anymore"

Charlie Puth – "Attention"

Charlie Puth – "Light Switch"

Whitney Houston – "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Babyface – "Whip Appeal"

Jose Feliciano – "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Jimi Hendrix – "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Marvin Gaye – "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Marvin Gaye – "Sexual Healing"

Soulja Boy – "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"

DeBarge – "Who's Holding Donna Now"

Charlie Puth ft. Jeff Goldblum – "Until It Happens to You"

Charlie Puth – "Changes"

Charlie Puth – "Cry"

Kenny G – "Lullaby"

SOPHIE – "It's Okay to Cry"

Michael Jackson – "Human Nature"

Johnny Hates Jazz – "Shattered Dreams"

Madonna – "Into the Groove"

Joshua Redman – "St. Thomas"

Charlie Puth – "Boy"

Chick Corea – "Spain"

Charlie Puth – "How Long (Has This Been Going On)"

Bell Biv DeVoe – "Poison"

Elton John – "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"

Prince – "When Doves Cry"

Schoolly D – "PSK What Does It Mean"

Rick Astley – "Never Gonna Give You Up"

Charlie Puth – "Beat Yourself Up"

Britney Spears – "Lucky"

George Benson – "Give Me the Night"

No Doubt – "Hella Good"

Michael Jackson – "Beat It"

Michael Jackson – "Billie Jean"

Charlie Puth – "Washed Up"

Charlie Puth – "I Used to Be Cringe"

Richard Smallwood – "Center of My Joy"

Richard Smallwood – "Total Praise"
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How Charlie Puth honored Whitney Houston for 125 million people (live at Berklee NYC)

RAYE names Amy Winehouse and Edith Piaf as her artistic predecessors on the opening tracks of new album This Music May Contain Hope. Both died young, undone by the same darkness they sang about, and placing them there reads as a dare to herself. The album that follows is her attempt to find a different ending: a 17-track, 75-minute work featuring Al Green, Hans Zimmer, the London Symphony Orchestra, and over 80 collaborators, structured around the four seasons as a journey from autumn despair toward summer light. 

Every genre shift on the record, from Vivaldi's Winter to post-bop jazz combo to gospel choir, serves that arc: small emotional truths get cinematic treatment, most strikingly when the click of heels on pavement becomes the central rhythm of an anthem about getting dressed to go out with friends. The episode serves as a field guide to the album's vast musical language, and to the argument that hope is something you have to build, genre by genre, track by track.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

 RAYE – "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" 

 Nat King Cole – "Let There Be Love" 

 Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – "Summertime" 

 RAYE (ft. 070 Shake ) – "Escapism." 

 RAYE – "Intro: Girl Under the Grey Cloud." 

 RAYE – "I Will Overcome." 

 Edith Piaf – "La Vie en Rose" 

 RAYE – "Nightingale Lane." 

 RAYE – "Fin." 

 RAYE – "The WhatsApp Shakespeare." 

 Mark Ronson & RAYE – "Suzanne" 

 RAYE – "I Hate The Way I Look Today." 

 RAYE – "Winter Woman." 

 Vivaldi – "The Four Seasons: Winter" 

 RAYE (ft. Hans Zimmer) – "Click Clack Symphony." 

 RAYE (ft. Al Green) – "Goodbye Henry." 

 Al Green – "Love and Happiness" 

 Aretha Franklin – "Rock Steady" 

 RAYE – "Skin & Bones." 

 Fred Wesley and The J.B.'s (ft. James Brown) – "Damn Right I Am Somebody" 

 RAYE – "Beware.. The South London Lover Boy." 

 The Supremes – "You Can't Hurry Love" 

 Iggy Pop – "Lust for Life" Jet – "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" 

 Mark Ronson (ft. Amy Winehouse) – "Valerie" 

 Charles Albert Tindley – "I'll Overcome Someday" 

 Prince - “Purple Rain" 

 Beyoncé – "Love on Top" 

 RAYE (ft. Amma & Absolutely) – "Joy."

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RAYE’s maximalist masterpiece is the hope we need

On a recent podcast interview, Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow said that, to craft his new album Monica, he “got blacker.” The problem is… Jack Harlow is white. The statement, while extremely tone-deaf, speaks to his intentions with this musical pivot: musically, Monica turns to the historically Black genres of R&B and neo-soul to craft a new image designed to shed the stigma of being a “white rapper.” 

The pivot is more costume than culture, but in doing so, Harlow seems to be following in the footsteps of several white rappers over the past decade. Artists like Post Malone, MGK, and Jelly Roll have all had radical shifts in sound and image over their career, separating themselves from their roots in hip-hop. So, in response to Monica, Reanna and Charlie ask: where have all the white rappers gone? 

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

 Jack Harlow – First Class

 Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me

 Jack Harlow – Trade Places

 Post Malone, Hank Williams Jr. – Finer Things

 Jack Harlow – Tyler Herro

 Jack Harlow, Doja Cat – Just Us

 Jack Harlow – Lonesome

 J Dilla, Common, D’Angelo – So Far to Go

 D’Angelo – Spanish Joint

 D’Angelo – Feel Like Makin’ Love

 Jack Harlow – All Of My Friends

 Led Zeppelin - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

 Paul Wall, Big Pokey – Sittin’ Sidewayz

 Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right

 Post Malone – White Iverson

 Post Malone – Leave

 Post Malone, Morgan Wallen – I Had Some Help

 James Taylor – Machine Gun Kelly

 MGK – LOCO

 MGK, blackbear – my ex’s best friend

 5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect

 MGK – cliche

 Jelly Roll – F*ck What They Talkin Bout (ft. O.N.E.) 

 Jelly Roll – Need A Favor

 Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance

 Eminem – Cleanin’ Out My Closet

 Eminem – Without Me

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Where have all the white rappers gone?

Jacob Collier is a rare musician: an expert in so many musical languages (western harmony, negative harmony, microtonalism) and a phenomenal communicator about music. He's something like an Ambassador for Music, traveling the world and getting thousands of people, musicians and non-musicians alike, to sing in his audience choirs.

Live at On Air Fest, this conversation, catches Jacob between projects. Last year he released The Light for Days, a comparatively minimalist collection of songs written on his special five-string guitar, a quiet turn after the massive Djesse quadrilogy, which featured over 50 collaborators from Herbie Hancock to Anoushka Shankar and wove hundreds of thousands of audience choir voices into the recordings.

Given that Jacob is always improvising with the best collaborators, Charlie wanted one of his own own. Five minutes before the show, Charlie spotted Sam Sanders, co-host of Vibe Check and host of the Sam Sanders Show on KCRW, and asked him onstage. Sam's a musician and one of the great interviewers, and he showed how improvising in conversation is just as essential as it is in music.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube
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Jacob Collier can make anyone sing

The dance floor is where Harry Styles does his therapy, and this album is the session notes. Four years after Harry's House, Styles returns with Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally, a record built from minimal ingredients: live drums, Moog bass, nylon guitar, and synth sequences that stretch across entire songs without a drop in sight. This is Styles' anti-drop album. Where classic disco era dance celebrated collective joy, Styles uses the dance floor as a stage for self-examination.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTubeSongs discussed:

 Harry Styles – "Aperture"

 Ice Spice – "In Ha Mood"

 PinkPantheress – "Boy's a Liar"

 Zara Larsson – "Midnight Sun"

 LCD Soundsystem – "Dance Yrself Clean"

 LCD Soundsystem – "Someone Great"

 LCD Soundsystem – "Oh Baby"

 Harry Styles – "Pop"

 Harry Styles – "Sign of the Times"

 David Bowie – "Space Oddity"

 Elton John – "Rocket Man"

 Harry Styles – "Dance No More"

 Chic – "Good Times"

 Stevie Nicks – "Edge of Seventeen"

 Simon & Garfunkel – "Keep the Customer Satisfied"

 Paul Simon – "You Can Call Me Al"

 Harry Styles – "Carla's Song"

 Paul Simon – "Kathy's Song"

 Simon & Garfunkel – "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

 Harry Styles – "Are You Listening Yet?"

 DJO – "Basic Being Basic"

 Harry Styles – "Season Two, Weight Loss"

 Sons of Kemet – "Play Mas"

 Harry Styles – "Coming Up Roses"

 Harry Styles – "American Girls"

 LCD Soundsystem – "American Scum"

 LCD Soundsystem – "Drunk Girls"

 Harry Styles – "As It Was"

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Learning to Love Train: "Drops of Jupiter" is back in the atmosphere

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