Switched on Pop

Electric Guest (Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton) take a left turn towards pop on “Dollar" — a song about making more out of less, something too many people find themselves to do right now. The music follows the same principle, turning cheap synths and canned horns into a symphony of sound. We chat with Asa about how the track — equally inspired by Stevie Wonder and Bertolt Brecht —came to be and why pop can be a balm in dark times.

Songs Featured

Electric Guest - Dollar

Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright)

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Nate doesn’t know much about the musical style known as emo. Sadly, he was too busy nerding out on jazz during his youthful years to catch the moment. That’s a shame, because emo is experiencing a revival right now - most surprisingly within the world of hip hop. All of which leaves Nate in the awkward position of not really having any idea what’s going on, so thank goodness for some schooling by Vox culture reporter Allegra Frank, who spent her teenage years the right way: getting emotional to the soundtrack of emo. Her first lesson about this endlessly fascinating subculture? It’s way more than just a sound. 

Songs discussed:

Sunny Day Real Estate - Seven

Jawbreaker - Do You Still Hate Me?!

My Chemical Romance - I’m Not Okay (I Promise)

Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We’re Goin Down

Panic! At the Disco - I Write Sins not Tragedies

Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint

Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

American Football - Never Meant

Foxing - Lich My Prince 

The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Heartbeat in the Brain

Check out more of Allegra’s work here: https://www.vox.com/authors/allegra-frank

And learn more about Tom Mullen and Washed Out Emo here: http://www.washedupemo.com/about

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Once upon a time, classical music was pop, so today it's worth stepping back and asking: where does one genre stop and the other begin? Can classical ever be popular again? And why do only some classical tracks makes for good samples? Luckily James Bennett II of classical station WQXR is on hand to break down these and other musical conundrums, including but not limited to: killer opera clowns, Bach hip hop hybrids, and the namesake album of this very podcast.

Songs discussed:

Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra - Chaconne

Enrico Caruso - Vesti la Giubbia

Mario Lanza - Because You’re Mine

Wendy Carlos - Prelude and Fugue in C Minor

Jackie Evancho - Nessun Dorma

Jackie Evancho - Burn

Lindsay Stirling - Underground

Vitamin String Quartet - Shallow

Florence Price - Symphony 1

Nas - I Can

Black Eyed Peas - Back 2 Hip Hop

Victoria - Impropreia

Kanye West - Gone

Check out more of James's writing here: https://www.wqxr.org/people/james-bennett-ii/

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Back in the fall of 2017, our producer Megan Lubin went for a stroll near her house, popped in earbuds, and heard a song that’s stuck with her ever since: “Si Tú Supieras Compañero” (“If you only knew, my friend”), by the Spanish pop star Rosalía. Since then, Rosalía’s star has continued, especially after the 2018 release of “El Mal Querer,” Rosalía’s genre-blending album of R&B and flamenco. 

On this episode, we dig into Rosalía’s sound to try and figure out what stopped Megan in her tracks back then, and what keeps us coming back. With the help of New York Times Magazine writer Marcela Valdes, we break down key elements of the flamenco tradition, like the hard-to-define magic of duende, and count out some of the diabolical rhythms that keep us dancing. 

Songs Discussed

Episode Spotify Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4zRce31m3RhCjVwmSSMz2Q

Read “Rosalía’s Incredible Journey from Flamenco to Megastardom” by Marcela Valdes: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/08/magazine/rosalia-flamenco.html

Watch Rosalía performing “Me quedo contigo”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32d1bq-kG5c

More coverage of Rosalía from The FADER magazine: https://www.thefader.com/artist/rosalia

**A previous version of this episode claimed that Alicia Key's "Fallin'", Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man", "Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" and Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" were all written in 3/4 time. That was in error, and we've edited the episode to reflect that.

CORRECTION

After airing this episode, listeners informed us that many Romani people consider the term “gypsy” to be antiquated, discriminatory and derogatory. We apologize for airing this this word in the episode, and will avoid its usage in all forgoing work. See the NOW foundation’s explanation for further detail: The “G” Word Isn’t for You: How “Gypsy” Erases Romani Women

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Last year, NPR Music ran an audacious headline: "Rihanna Is The 21st Century's Most Influential Musician." 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.

*Zero blunts were enjoyed at the time of recording.

Songs Discussed

Check out Jenny Gathright's NPR article “Rihanna Is The 21st Century's Most Influential Musician” here: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/15/638551793/rihanna-is-the-21st-centurys-most-influential-musician

And find even more work from our wonderful contributors this week down below:

Gina: http://ginadelvac.com/

Ivie: https://ivieani.contently.com/

Zoe: https://zoehaylock.com/

Cate: https://www.cate-young.com/

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Anil Dash is obsessed with Prince. Since he’s the host of the tech podcast Function, he has a unique perspective on the Purple One’s complicated relationship with technology. Anil joins the show to break down the many ways that Prince predicted the sound and science of modern pop, from drum machines to online distribution to internet culture. We’ll discuss how Michael Jackson jacked Prince’s electronic experimentation for Thriller, why Prince liked to lurk in fan chat rooms, and how he found ways to change his sound without ever sacrificing his integrity. We’re only beginning to understand Prince’s legacy, but Anil takes us one step closer to fully appreciating the ahead-of-their-time talents of a once-in-a-century artist. 

Songs featured:

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Men singing high is so ubiquitous in modern pop that we might take it granted, never pausing to ask: has it always been this way? Estelle Caswell, who makes the Emmy-winning Earworm series for Vox, decided to find out, and she stops by to share results from her painstaking study of male falsetto in pop music from 1958 to today. Some of her findings may surprise, like 1996 was the peak year for falsetto, Justin Timberlake doesn't sing as you high at might think, and falsetto has been around as long as pop itself. 

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NPR's Sam Sanders stops by to break down the tracks that Switched On listeners have been loving. Swedish dancefloor confessionals, songs that stop time, the specificity of Lana Del Rey, and the awkwardness of descending fourths: it's all on the table in this freewheeling conversation of deep musical nerdiness.

Songs DiscussedTove Lo ft Kylie Minogue - Really don’t like uCamila Cabello - LiarAce of Base - All That She WantsTyler the Creator - EARFQUAKETaylor Swift - Cruel SummerLana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus - Don’t Call Me AngelLana Del Rey - Happiness is a butterflyKing Princess - ProphetKim Petras - Hillside BoysIDK - PornoJai Paul - Str8 Outta MumbaiJai Paul - Genevieve (Unfinished)Many thanks to everyone who called in for this one: Amanda, Jackie, Melanie, Alec, Madeleine, John B, Steve, Courtney, Julia, Zach, Lee, Tara, Habbi, and of course - John from Baltimore.

For more of Sam's great takes on culture, check out It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. 

CORRECTION: A version of this episode incorrectly stated that Jack Antonoff was a writer on the song "Lover." Taylor Swift was the sole credited songwriter on that song, while Jack Antonoff has a production credit on the piece.

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Dallas Taylor, host of the stellar sound design series Twenty Thousand Hertz, stops by to fill Nate in on the science and style of mastering: the subtle art that explains why Metallica had to re-release a controversial album, Kanye sounds so crisp, and why the best pop really pops. 

Songs Discussed

Lizzo - Juice

Kanye West - Heartless

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to heaven

Pink Floyd - Money

Daft Punk - Get Lucky

Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper

The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Intrigued by mastering? Get your fix with the Twenty Thousand Hertz episode The [Compressed] History of Mastering.

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Charlie's out on parental leave, which means no one is here to stop Nate from going off the rails. And you know what means... JAZZ! As soon as dad left the room, Nate enlisted his favorite journalist, jazz and sports writer Natalie Weiner, to come on the show and discuss her incredible 1959 Project — a day-by-day chronicle of jazz during one of its most pivotal years. We listen to classic 1959 albums Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and Dave Brubeck's Take Out, discuss the complex legacy of Billie Holiday, and dig into some of the year's forgotten gems.

Sixty years later, jazz is no longer the cultural juggernaut is once was — but it still has much to teach us about pop culture of the present.

Playlist:

•Miles Davis - So What

•Dave Brubeck - Take Five

•Billie Holiday - Blue Moon

•Billie Holiday - Billie's Blues

•Erykah Badu - On & On

•Amy Winehouse - There Is No Greater Love

•Muriel Roberts - Sleigh Ride

•Terry Pollard - Laura

•Willene Barton and her Trio - Rice Pudding

Check out the 1959 and 2019 jazz cuts we're listening to.

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