Switched on Pop

Adrian Younge is a producer for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar to the Wu Tang clan, a composer for television shows such as Marvel's Luke Cage (with A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Mohammad), and owner of the Linear Labs record label and analog studio. Younge has a new mixed media project that breaks down the evolution of racism in America that he calls his “most important creative accomplishment.” A short film, T.A.N., and podcast, Invisible Blackness, accompany the album The American Negro (available Feb 26). Younge tells Switched on Pop how his experience as a law professor and his all-analog approach to recording resulted in a sound he describes as “James Baldwin hooked up with Marvin Gaye.”

Music Discussed

Adrian Younge - Revolutionize, The American Negro, Revisionist History, Black Lives Matter, Margaret Garner

Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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Additional production by Megan Lubin

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The Netflix series Bridgerton has hooked audiences with its bodice-ripping sex scenes, a colorblind approach period drama casting, and a soundtrack featuring recreations of modern bangers from pop stars like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish arranged in the style of a classical string quartet. By bringing modern melodies into the proper world of Regency England, the show reminds us that classical music wasn’t always so stuffy and solemn. In its time, it trafficked in the same scandal as modern pop.

Alongside these classical-pop mashups, Bridgerton serves up its own ravishing score from composer Kris Bowers, who joins to break down how he made the past pop.

Songs Discussed:

Vitamin String Quartet - Thank U, Next, Bad Guy, In My Blood

Kris Bowers - When You Are Alone, Flawless My Dear, Strange

Maurice Ravel - Tombeau de Couperin, Prelude

Clara Schumann - Der Mond Kommt Still Gegangen

Johannes Brahms - Symphony No 3 in F Major Op 90, Mvt 3 (for Four Hand Piano)

More

Read Maria Popova on the letters of Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann

and Adrian Daub on Four Handed Monsters

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This Sunday, The Weeknd will perform his distinctly dark brand of pop at the Super Bowl halftime show. On the surface, the alter-ego of Abel Tesfaye is a strange pick for the ostensibly family-friendly main-stage — for more than a decade, The Weeknd has fused the sounds of pop, R&B, and trap into a cinematic horror-thriller about drugs, sex and the excess of fame. While his sheer volume of Hot 100 hits have rightly earned him mainstream status, even his most commercial material is hardly PG — the 2015 hit “Can’t Feel My Face” is an 80s throwback laced with on-the-nose cocaine metaphors. 

But over the last year his subversive image has been rewritten by the song “Blinding Lights,” from his 2020 album After Hours. The song vaulted up the charts in March 2020, supported by a viral TikTok challenge: Using the song’s opening instrumental as inspiration, countless families performed the dance together while sheltering in place. Since then, seemingly every radio format, adult contemporary included, has played this song on repeat, making it the longest running song in the Hot 100 top five and top ten (given the songs success, The Weeknd is justly aggrieved by the Grammy’s recent snub).

On Switched on Pop’s first episode as part of Vulture, we break down how “Blinding Lights” blends lyrical relatability with musical familiarity, earning The Weeknd the biggest and perhaps most misunderstood hit of his career.

Songs Discussed

The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

Michael Sembello - Maniac

a-ha - Take on Me

Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By The Light

The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

The Weeknd - Faith

The Weeknd - In Your Eyes

The Weeknd - Save Your Tears

The Weeknd - Until I Bleed Out

More

Read Chris Molanphy's "Why the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Is the First Chart Topper of the Coronavirus Era"

Thanks to Arc Iris for the theme song reharmonization

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Epik High are elemental to Korean hip hop. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo’s underground style boom bap beats with dexterous rapping helped bring this music from its underground roots to a global scale. On their latest release, Epik High Is Here Part I, the textures are subdued but paired with heavy drums and aggressive vocals, a contrast that matches our collective anxiety arising from the pandemic. Charlie speaks with Tablo about the creation of the album, but first first ethnomusicologist Youngdae Kim shares a short history on the development of Korean hip hop. 

SONGS DISCUSSED

Epik High - Rosario, Go, Fly, Map the Soul, Harajuku Days, Born Hater, Lesson Zero, Based On A True Story, Leica, Wish You Were

Seo Taiji and Boys - I Know

Verbal Jint - Overclass

MORE

Read Youngdae Kim and T.K. Park’s “A Brief History of Korean Hip-hop” 

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Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” is breaking streaming records as listeners yearn for the emotional catharsis from this contemporary power ballad. With the help of David Metzer, professor of music history at the University of British Columbia, we break down how “Drivers License” sticks to an age-old formula, and how it deviates from a well worn musical path.  

SONGS DISCUSSED

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Professor David Metzer’s The Ballad in American Popular Music: From Elvis to Beyoncé

Aiyana Ishmael for Teen Vogue “Olivia Rodrigo Song "Drivers License" Sparks Fan-Made TikTok POV Covers”

Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram demo

Richard S. He Twitter thread 

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Listen to Top 40 pop over the last decade and you’ll notice something weird is happening. The chorus—the emotional apotheosis of a pop song, its dizzying high, its cathartic sing-along center—is disappearing. In its place, artists from Bad Bunny to Taylor Swift are toying with new, chorus-lite song forms that introduce a new musical grammar to the sound of contemporary pop. We may not think much about pop structure when listening to our favorite songs, but this is a big deal—the last time pop experienced such a seismic shift was when the chorus first came into fashion, back in the 1960s. What does this mean for modern musicians and listeners? Emily Warren, songwriter for new-guard stars like Dua Lipa and Khalid, joins to break down why the sea change in pop form represents a new horizon of creative possibility.

Songs Discussed

Bad Bunny - Si Veo a Tu Mamá

Future & Drake - Life Is Good

Billie Holiday - Blue Moon

Beyonce - Formation

Travis Scott - Sicko Mode

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

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

Drake - Laugh Now Cry Later (ft. Lil Durk)

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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, skewers the whole of pop cliché on their mixtape collaboration with Charli XCX. After this episode, we promise you’ll be ready to move on to new sounds. Luckily, listeners have collaborated to create a new favorites playlist to help you cleanse your palette.

This episode was originally published May 2017.

SONGS DISCUSSED

The Chainsmokers – Closer

Kygo & Selena Gomez – It Ain’t Me

Lady Gaga – The Cure

Fall Out Boy – Sugar We’re Going Down

Fall Out Boy – Young And Menace

Jay Z – D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)

Ariana Grande – Into You

Katy Perry feat. Skip Marley – Chained To The Rhythm

Drake – Passionfruit

Postmodern Jukebox – Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging

Britney Spears – Oops! I Did It Again

Skrillex – Bangarang

DJ Snake – Middle

Beyoncé – Love On Top

Icona Pop – I Love It (feat. Charlie XCX)

Iggy Azalea – Fancy ft. Charli XCX

Selena Gomez – Same Old Love

Charli XCX – 3AM (Pull Up) (feat. MØ)

Hannah Diamond – Every Night

Bronze – Thy Slaughter

Danny L Harle – Super Natural (ft. Carly Rae Jepsen)

SOPHIE – JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE

A.G. Cook – Superstar

Ariana Grande – Side To Side

Coon Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra – I’m Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston

Spotify Playlist

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Auto-Tune may be the most divisive effect in music. Artists have protested it publicly at the Grammys, and critics have derided the effects for its inauthentic reproduction of the voice. And yet, nearly a decade since Jay-Z prophesied the death of Auto-Tune, the sound is alive and thriving in contemporary pop and hip-hop. Journalist Simon Reynolds has written a definitive history of Auto-Tune for Pitchfork that fundamentally changed how we hear this sound. This deep dive criss crosses geology, technology, and the evolution of pop as we know it.

Songs Discussed:

Further Reading: Simon Reynolds - “How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music" Simon Reynolds -Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture 

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Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. That’s because most of our favorite seasonal songs come from the 1960s and earlier. But in addition to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas,” Wham’s “Last Christmas” reliably returns each winter. Despite the cheesy 80s synths and drum machines, the song’s harmonies are remarkable resilient, a testament to George Michael’s auteur songwriting method. Celebrated artist known for his solo piano works, collaborations with Feist and Daft Punk, and his musical masterclasses series, Chilly Gonzales—musical genius—AKA “Gonzo,” sits down at the piano to share in the beauty of this nu-classical Christmas love song, as well as a few selections from his new album “A Very Chilly Christmas.”

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Get tickets for A Very Chilly Christmas Special airing Dec 23rd at www.chillygonzales.com

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Just five months after releasing her Grammy-nominated album “folklore,” Taylor Swift surprised fans with a continuation of sorts — her ninth studio album “evermore.” Working with many of her “folklore” collaborators, Swift says that the team “couldn’t stop writing songs.” Like its sister album, “evermore” shies away from over-the-top pop production, and leans into Swift’s craft. Stripped of the highly produced synth layers from her “Lover” and “Reputation” era, Swift’s lyrics and vocal performance shine in their unvarnished restraint. On this hour-long album, Swift shows her ingenuity with the building blocks of songwriting, giving us more of her signature Swiftian strengths: Lyrics, melody and story. 

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Read "Figure It Out: The Linguistic Turn in Country Music" by Jimmie N. Rogers and Miller Williams in Country Music Annual 2000

Listen to Jenny Owen Youngs album Night Shift for more rubber bridge guitar and great songs

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