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Vulture

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

Switched on Pop

Lizzy McAlpine opens up about her 4th album Angel alongside collaborators Mason Stoops and Taylor Mackall. Recorded live at Power Station at Berklee NYC. 

Songs Discussed

Lizzy McAlpine "Anybody's Fool"

Lizzy McAlpine "A Car Wash and a New Pair of Pants"

Nick Drake "One of These Things First"

Lizzy McAlpine "Two Elevens"

Adam Guettel "Through the Mountain" 

Lizzy McAlpine "Our Strange Ways"

Joni Mitchell "Hejira"

Lizzy McAlpine "Soldier of the Road"

Lizzy McAlpine "Peach"
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Lizzy McAlpine summons Nick Drake & Joni Mitchell

Throughout pop history, groups from The Ink Spots to the Beach Boys to Fleetwood Mac all forged their sound in the alchemy of vocal harmonies, harnessing the magic that happens when different voices join as one. Then suddenly, right around the 1980s, vocal harmonies started to wane in pop. Whether it was Michael Jackson creating a new model of the solo star, music technology making the voice more like an instrument, or simply audiences wanting a new sound, today the art of vocal harmony is hard to find on the charts. But bands like Tiny Habits, whose originals and covers showcase intricate and delicate harmonies, are bringing the sound back to the people, with a message that everyone needs to sing more, and to sing together.

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 Fleetwood Mac – The Chain

 The Roches – Hammond Song

 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

 Pérotin, The Hilliard Ensemble – Viderunt omnes

 Mbuti men – Elephant Hunting Song

 Bulgarian State Television Female Choir – Pilentze Pee

 The Golden Gate Quartet – Stormy Weather

 The Jackson 5 – Who’s Lovin’ You

 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – C’mon Marianne

 The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann

 Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough

 Tiny Habits – Right In Front Of Me

 Tiny Habits – Anything He Was

 Tiny Habits – one more (live acoustic)

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The power of singing together (ft. Tiny Habits)

For the first time in history, five country songs were at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift and Stella Lefty all have songs that range from two-stepping hits to borderline Americana: what do these songs say about the state of country music?

CREDITS

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 Dolly Parton, “9 to 5”

 Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, “Islands In the Stream”

 Dolly Parton, “Rockstar”

 Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”

 Ronnie Milsap, “Smoky Mountain Rain”

 George Strait, “Amarillo By Morning”

 Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues”

 Brad Paisley, “Cluster Pluck (feat. James Burton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, John Jorgenson, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner)”

 Buddy Holly, “That’ll Be The Day”

 Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Texas Flood”

 George Strait, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas”

 The Pointer Sisters, “Slow Hand”

 Conway Twitty, “Slow Hand”

 Morgan Wallen, “Been By Now”

 Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore”

 Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You (From ‘Toy Story 5’)”

 Squeeze, “Tempted”

 The Velvet Underground, “Sweet Jane”

 Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

 Taylor Swift, “cardigan”

 Stella Lefty, “Boston”

 Noah Kahan, “Stick Season”

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Questionably Country

Many of us keep a journal, but few of us are able to turn our unvarnished thoughts into cultural moments touching on love, death, and guitars quite like Phoebe Bridgers. Her new album Lost Weekend isn’t just throwing the pages of her personal life into song, it’s much more than that: A beguiling, hyper-compositional meditation on the last six years of her life. 

The genres range from bluegrass to electronic, and collaborators pepper the record – from her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, to Americana outfit Nickel Creek, to a mysterious presence who may or may not be Geese singer Cameron Winter. The end result is one of the most immersive and heartbreaking albums of the year thus far, transforming the specificity of one person’s story and observations into a universal reflection on life’s fragility.

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 Phoebe Bridgers – The Outside

 Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Boys

 Phoebe Bridgers – Kill Me

 Phoebe Bridgers – The Governor’s Waltz

 Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Weekend

 Phoebe Bridgers – Haunted

 Phoebe Bridgers – Still Standing

 Phoebe Bridgers – Never Going Back!

 Phoebe Bridgers – I Can’t Wait

 Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Weekend (Reprise)

 Paul Lansky and Hannah MacKay – Notjustmoreidlechatter

 Phoebe Bridgers – I Know The End

 Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness

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Phoebe Bridgers opens her Moleskine

Madonna has returned this summer with Confessions II: an album full of huge hooks, pounding bass, and sincere emotion. It’s the queen of pop's first record in seven years, and serves as a sequel to her 2005 smash hit, Confessions on a Dance Floor. The record ties together threads that have existed throughout Madonna’s entire discography, but it also serves a greater purpose. Confessions II is Madonna’s biopic, allowing her to tell her story on her own terms. On this episode of Switched on Pop, producer (and Madonna superfan) Reanna Cruz walks Charlie and Nate through the record, and makes the case for it being the best Madonna record of the last twenty years.

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter – Bring Your Love

 Madonna – Express Yourself

 Madonna – Hung Up

 Madonna – Danceteria

 Madonna – Vogue

 Lou Reed – Walk On the Wild Side

 Madonna – Get Together

 Madonna – I Feel So Free

 Donna Summer – I Feel Love

 Madonna – One Step Away

 Madonna – Nothing Fails

 Madonna – Everything

 Madonna – Fragile

 Madonna – Frozen

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We have Confessions to make...

For many people – including Charlie and Nate – studying classical piano as a child always felt like a chore. Now, as adults, there’s a newfound appreciation for classical music, but the art form isn’t always accessible. One of the people trying to change that is the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, classical piano’s greatest interpreter. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie sits down with Lang Lang at the Steinway showroom in New York City to see how taste changes over time, the different ways a master pianist can interpret a work, and ultimately, why classical music is still important.

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A piano lesson that will change how you listen (ft. Lang Lang)

Bridges open up the world of a song: they're a breath of fresh air and a point of contrast, typically delivered right before the final chorus. But sometimes they accomplish even more, changing the whole meaning of a song by introducing a note of doubt, or even defiance. This is what the best artists do, from Beyoncé to the Beatles to Taylor Swift, but some critics are concerned that the bridge is in danger of being demolished. On this episode, Charlie and Nate speak to songwriter and artist Tayla Parx, who's worked with everyone from Ariana Grande to Panic! At the Disco, to learn why the bridge matters more than ever — and why an artist might still want to skip it altogether.

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 James Brown, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"

 Led Zeppelin, "The Crunge"

 Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"

 Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow"

 "On the Sunny Side of the Street"

 The Beatles, "No Reply"

 The Beatles, “We Can Work It Out"

 The Beatles, "Something"

 Beyoncé, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"

 Chappell Roan, "Good Luck, Babe!"

 Maisie Peters, "I'm Trying (Not Friends)"

 OutKast, "Hey Ya!"

 Taylor Swift, "Cruel Summer"

 Taylor Swift, "Getaway Car"

 Ariana Grande, "7 rings"

 Ariana Grande, "pov"

 JENNIE, "like JENNIE"

 Ravyn Lenae, "Saturday Night"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IV. Take It to the Bridge (ft. Tayla Parx)

The chorus was once the part of the song that brought us together, the place we gathered to sing. Now it's the most engineered thirty seconds in music. Legendary producer Trevor Horn and hip-hop icon B-Real of Cypress Hill help Charlie and Nate answer the question on their minds: when everything's a hook, is anything a chorus?

CREDITS 

 Reanna Cruz: Producer 

 Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator 

 Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer 

 Dion Lee: Art Director 

 Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer 

 Nick Ripps: Video Editor 

 Nate Sloan: Host 

 Lissa Soep: Editor 

 Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers 

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠ 

Songs discussed:

 Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"

 Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."

 Handel, "Hallelujah Chorus" (from Messiah)

 Pete Seeger, "Oh! Susanna"

 Odetta, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"

 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, “Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

 Handel, "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" (from Messiah)

 Joan Morris & William Bolcom, "After the Ball" 

 Judy Garland, "Over the Rainbow"

 Chuck Berry, "Johnny B. Goode"

 The Beatles, “Yesterday"

 The Beatles, "Getting Better"

 Otis Redding, "Respect"

 Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

 Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You"

 Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You"

 The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star"

 Prince, "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

 Katy Perry, "Roar"

 Calvin Harris, “I Need Your Love" (ft. Ellie Goulding)

 Britney Spears, "(You Drive Me) Crazy"

 Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream"

 Maroon 5, "Payphone" (ft. Wiz Khalifa)

 Bad Bunny, “Si Veo a Tu Mamá"

 Drake, "Janice STFU"

 Lykke Li, "I Follow Rivers"

 Charli xcx, "Rock Music"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)

Everybody sings the chorus, but superfans quote the verse. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate trace the verse from Shakespeare through opera to TikTok, and songwriter Audrey Hobert shares her philosophy of specific verses and anthemic choruses: you can't have the payoff without the setup.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer

Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator

Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer

Dion Lee: Art Director

Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer

Nick Ripps: Video Editor

Nate Sloan: Host

Lissa Soep: Editor

Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠

Songs discussed:

 Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"

 Edward Meeker, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" 

 Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life"

 Zara Larsson, "Lush Life"

 John Denver, "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

 Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up"

 William Smith, Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, "Opening Versicles and Responses"

 Georges Bizet, Michel Plasson, Angela Gheorghiu, Les Éléments, Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse, "Bizet: Carmen, WD 31, Act 1: Habanera. "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen, Chœur)" 

 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"

 Built to Spill, "Joyride"

 The Killers, "Mr. Brightside"

 Gracie Abrams, "That's So True"

 Audrey Hobert, "Sue me"

 Lizzo, "About Damn Time"

 Audrey Hobert, "Drive"

 Audrey Hobert, "Bowling alley"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)

Research says you judge a song in under half a second. So why write an intro at all? On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate kick off their Netflix launch and probe what an intro means in today's musical landscape, alongside special guests like Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, The National, Gracie Adams), who helps build the case for intros and reveals the surprising sources that form the opening sounds of Taylor Swift's “cardigan.”

CREDITSReanna Cruz: ProducerIris Gottlieb: IllustratorCharlie Harding: Host, Executive ProducerDion Lee: Art DirectorBrandon McFarland: Audio EngineerNick Ripps: Video EditorNate Sloan: HostLissa Soep: EditorZach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme ComposersSwitched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠

 Black Eyed Peas, "Let's Get It Started" 

 Shawn Colvin, “Sonny Came Home”

 Smashing Pumpkins, “Tonight Tonight”

 The Cranberries, "Zombie"

 The Cranberries, "Linger"

 Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"

 Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"

 Britney Spears, "Toxic"

 Miles Davis, "Freddie Freeloader"

 Robyn, "Call Your Girlfriend"

 The Beatles, "All You Need Is Love"

 Led Zeppelin, "Over the Hills and Far Away"

 Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable"

 Deee-Lite, "Groove Is in the Heart" 

 Missy Elliott, "Get Ur Freak On"

 Missy Elliott, "Work It"

 Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee, "Despacito" 

 Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Luther"

 Mariah Carey, "Fantasy"

 The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"

 Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"

 The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"

 Rick Astley, "Never Gonna Give You Up"

 Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black"

 The Supremes, "Baby Love"

 The Kinks, "Sweet Lady Genevieve"

 The Beach Boys, "God Only Knows"

 Erik Satie, "Je te veux"

 D'Angelo and the Vanguard, "Back to the Future (Part I)"

 The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, "Closer"

 Sabrina Carpenter, "Taste"

 Benson Boone, "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else"

 Stella Lefty, "Boston"

 Taylor Swift, "Cardigan" 

 The National, "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness"

 Taylor Swift, "So Long, London"

 Gracie Abrams, "Hit the Wall"

 Noah Kahan, "End of August"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I. Let's get it started (ft. Aaron Dessner)

In case you missed it, “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* blunt-smoke-laced tour through the hit songs that defined her early sound, and a delectable deep dive into her most recent album, ANTI.
MORE CONTENT
Check out Jenny Gathright’s NPR article “Rihanna Is The 21st Century’s Most Influential Musician.”
And find even more work from our wonderful contributors this week down below:

Gina

Ivie

Zoe

Cate

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Rihanna Party! ICYMI

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