Switched on Pop

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:Cher - BelieveKaty Perry - FireworkRihanna - DiamondsFuture - F*ck Up Some CommasEmma Robinson - Stay (Cover) Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek Zapp & Roger - Doo Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing) T. Pain - Chopped N Screwed ft. Ludacris Lil Wayne - “How To Love”Kanye - “Heartless”The Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”Jay-Z - Death Of Auto-TuneElvis - Mystery TrainThe Beatles - Tomorrow Never KnowsWhispering Jack Smith - Baby FaceKesha - Tik Tok Bon Iver - WoodsFuture & Juice WRLD - Jet Lag ft. Young Scooter Shek Wes - Mo BambaThe Carters - Apeshit

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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This winter season unwrap a deep dive through a pop subgenre of monumental importance: non-holiday songs that feature sleigh bells, from Bonnie Tyler to Nas, On Side B, we rebroadcast our episode on Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You"...and more sleigh bells. 

Featuring:

•The Beach Boys - God Only Knows

•Gustav Mahler - 4th Symphony, I

•Michael Jackson - Jam

•Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart 

•Miles Davis - On the Corner

•Nas - Halftime

•Kygo ft. Conrad Sewell - Firestone

•Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You

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Four years into Switched On Pop, Charlie and Nate finally reveal what was behind the entire series. We may have not been totally honest with you from the beginning. Back in 2014 we were more pop skeptics than fanatics. The genre was, to some degree, the sugar that made the musical analysis medicine go down. And then something happened. Just as people started to listen to the show, we too began to open our ears. Now, in our 100th episode, Charlie interviews Nate about how transforming the way you listen to pop can truly make life better. And we get raw about the constraints of pop and where we plan to go in our next 100 episodes.

Songs discussed:

Beethoven's 7 & 9Santana - "Smooth" Martha and the Vandellas - "Heat Wave" Zedd - "Stay" Pink Floyd - "The Great Gig in the Sky" Adelle - "Hello" 

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Mike Posner has written hits for himself like "I Took a Pill in Ibiza," and for stars from Justin Bieber ("Boyfriend") to Maroon 5 ("Sugar"), so he has insights for days on what makes a pop song work.

We dig into Mike's excellent new track "Song About You," which leads to an exploration of songs that reuse the same melody for verse and chorus—from Prince to The Boss to Post Malone. Last, we consider "beard phase": a moment of artistic reinvention that every artist has in their career, whether you're Mike Posner, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Taylor Swift.

Featuring:

Mike Posner - Song About You

Jean Ritchie - Barbary Allen

Original Sacred Harp Singers - New Britain (Amazing Grace)

Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover

Prince - Let's Go Crazy

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.

Post Malone - Rockstar

Beethoven - String Quartet No 1 Op. 18/1

Beethoven - String Quartet No 10 Op. 74/III

Beethoven - String Quartet "Grosse Fuge"

Taylor Swift - Teardrops on My Guitar

Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Taylor Swift - ...Ready For It?

Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

Dennis Wilson - River Song

Peaches ft. Iggy Pop - Kick It 

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Dirty Projectors are known for their kaleidoscopic soundscapes. They make strange bedfellows of music techniques like 14th vocal harmonies and African guitar rhythms. But in the backdrop of their obscure orchestrations you will hear the indelible marks of pop music. Longstreth has recently collaborated on songs with Solange, Rihanna, Kanye and Paul McCartney. On his new track "I Feel Energy" we can hear that pop influence shine through. Together we break down his unpredictable 808s to see what gives you energy. We also build connections between Dirty Projectors and other artists in the top 100 including Marshmello, Ella Mai and Khalid.

Songs Featured:Dirty Projectors - I Feel EnergyDirty Projectors - Up In HudsonMarshmello ft. Bastille - HappierElla Mai - TripKhalid - Better

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Classic rock climaxed a half century ago, yet it still survives in two places: FM radio & Greta Van Fleet. The later are an upstart of four boys from Michigan who have found stardom by dusting off the mantle of guitar driven rock. Their latest album, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army, bares an uncanny sonic resemblance to Led Zeppelin. Jeremy D. Larson, senior editor of Pitchfork, gave the album a 1.6 out of 10 calling it "stiff, hackneyed, overly precious retro-fetishism." His vicious and hilarious takedown went viral and caused a rift amongst music fans on the internet. We ask Jeremy to join us to reveal what it means to earn such a bad review. After, we do something we've never done before: a track-by-track album breakdown. In a game of musical Pictionary, Charlie challenges Nate to find every Led Zeppelin reference on the album to answer the question: is it a copy or an homage? We have a feeling this will be a divisive episode...

Songs Discussed:

Greta Van Fleet - Age of Man

Led Zeppelin - Rain Song

Led Zeppelin - In The Light

Led Zeppelin - What Is And What Should Never Be

Led Zeppelin - Your Time Is Gonna Come

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

Greta Van Fleet - The Cold Wind

Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie

Greta Van Fleet - When the Curtain Falls

Led Zeppelin - Wanton Song

Greta Van Fleet - Watching Over

Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You

Greta Van Fleet - Lover, Leaver

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

Spirit - Taurus

Muddy Waters - You Need Love

Small Faces - You Need Love

Willie Dixon - I Can't Quit You Babe

Greta Van Fleet - You're the One

Led Zeppelin - What Is And What Should Never Be

Greta Van Fleet - The New Day

Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away

Greta Van Fleet - Mountain of the Sun

Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day

Greta Van Fleet - Brave New World

Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

Greta Van Fleet - Anthem

Led Zeppelin - Tangerine

Lover Leaver (Taker, Believer)

Read the Pitchfork review of Greta Van Fleet's Anthem Of A Peaceful Army

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Charli XCX and Troye Sivan conjure late 90s nostalgia in their latest banger. "1999" drips with lyrical nostalgia for the last decade of the millennium — but does the music follow suit? We think the pair are missing prime opportunities to bring back some neglected musical tricks from the early oeuvre of Britney Spears.

The 90s bug goes beyond Charli and Troye. Anne-Marie and Lauren Alaina also pine for the Clinton era in their millennial bops. Which makes one ask: is the present so bad that we miss the paranoia of Y2K? As usual, Prince has the answer.

Featuring:

Charli XCX ft Troye Sivan - 1999

DJ Bobo - Somebody Dance with Me

Real McCoy - Another Night

Paradisio - Bailando

Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

Britney Spears - Oops! I Did it Again

Anne-Marie - 2002

Lauren Alaina - Ladies in the 90s

Prince - 1999

Check out Megan Lavengood's examples of the complementary chorus.

Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body" from 1986 might be the ur-source of the ubiquitous 90s house piano. Jefferson recorded the original in his Chicago prophet on a Prophet 2000, but never got the rights to the song and saw little proceeds from its success. 

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Four songs on the Hot 100 pop chart reveal the new directions in which music is headed. Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode" boasts an unprecedented formal structure that points to the future of hip hop. Meanwhile, in the world of country, Jason Aldean, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Dan + Shay are putting a modern spin on one of the style's oldest tropes: drinking bourbon. Together these tracks make up the vanguard of their respective genres, but are fans willing to take the plunge?

Featuring:

Travis Scott - Sicko Mode

Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

John Zorn - Cat o Nine Tails

Jason Aldean ft Miranda Lambert - Drowns the Whiskey

Mitchell Tenpenny - Drunk Me

Adele - Hello

Justin Bieber - Sorry

Dan + Shay - Tequila

Recommend Reading: Kathryn Schulz on Chris Janson's "Drunk Girl"

Recommended Viewing: Rich Redmond's studio drumming

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Emily Warren is one of the great rising stars of contemporary songwriting. Her song "Side Effects" with The Chainsmokers is currently rising up the charts. You’ve also heard her writing on Dua Lipa’s "New Rules." She’s collaborated with many of the best performers in music earning her a Grammy and multi-platinum success with “Don’t Let Me Down.” She's also recently released her single "Paranoid." Emily is a real songwriters songwriter. Her process is as much therapy as art. Together we break down her latest work and uncover her creative process. Her album "Quiet Your Mind" is out on October 5th.

Songs discussedThe Chainsmokers - Side EffectsBach - Prelude in F# Minor from the Well Tempered ClavierEmily Warren - Paranoidbülow - You & JenniferTeyana Taylor - Gonna Love MeNick Jonas - Touch

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Drake, per usual, has been inescapable this summer. "In My Feelings" and "Nice For What" top the charts, but there's depth to these bangers. We argue for hearing one as a meditation on fragile masculinity, the other as a paean to NOLA Bounce.

Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and Twitter: @SwitchedOnPop

Songs discussed:Drake - In My FeelingsDrake - Nice For WhatLauryn Hill - Ex FactorThe Showboys - Drag Rap (Triggaman)Cameron Paul - Brown BeatCheeky Blakk - Let Me Get That OutchaBeyonce ft. Big Freedia - FormationBig Freedia - Karaoke ft Lizzo

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The final episode of our Switched on Summer throwback series finds us deconstructing more early aughts bangers.

Under consideration: two of the biggest hits since Y2K, Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling." Tune in to dig how these tracks keeps the temperature rising through harmonic suspension, and to ask if will.i.am cribbed "Chopsticks."

Switched On Summer Winner: Slow Dance

Congrats to Slow Dance for winning our Switched On Summer contest with their song "I'm Your Guy Tonight." Listen to the whole track here: https://soundcloud.com/slowdancemusic/im-your-guy-tonight

You can get all of our song of summer chord loops, song packs and listen to the awesome entires to our Splice Firestarter competition on <a href="https://splice.com/">Splice</a> here: http://splice.com/onpop

Songs Discussed:

• Beyoncé - Crazy in Love

• The Chi-lites - Are You My Woman

• Jay Z - 99 Problems 

• Black Eyed Peas - I Got a Feeling

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What made summer jams of the aughties like Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" so hot? The answer: big, sweaty, doses of harmonic tension. Specifically, each track relies on the Baroque technique of the ground bass. Wait, we mean: the Baroque technique of PEDAL POINT! When the chords in these songs don't match up with their bass notes, the ratcheting tension adds heat—fueling both dance moves, and controversy.

Featuring:

Nelly - Hot in Herre

Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

All summer Switched On Pop & Splice have been diving into the DNA of summer hits, and now we want you to show us what you’ve learned. Get inspired by sound packs and chord progressions created by Switched on Pop and share your best song of summer with us and the world. Hosts Nate & Charlie will be listening and will choose their favorite submission to win a year of Splice Sounds and have their track played on the podcast.

Check out all the details at http://splice.com/onpop-fire

And, read Owen Pallett's excellent article on the use of harmonic tension in Teenage Dream.

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The Switched on Pop Summer Throwback Series continues! This time, with a deep dive into the musical detritus of the 1990s.

In true 90s fashion, our episode is inspired by a pair of classic VH1 shows; "Behind the Music" and "Where Are They Now?"

Our subjects are two songs representing the lunatic fringe of 90s culture, "Cotton Eyed Joe" and "How Bizarre."

In the course of our musicological investigation, we uncover dark truths about these seemingly anodyne hits that will make you question everything you know about pop music.

And in the end, we reach a definitive answer to a perennially vexing question: "WTF was 90s music so weird?"

Songs Discussed

Rednex:

Cotton Eye Joe

Pop in an Oak

The Way I Mate

Cotton Eyed Joe:

Fiddlin John Carson

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys

Karen Dalton

Chieftains

Nina Simone 

OMC:

How Bizarre

Right ON

Start making your summer hit track on Splice and check out our chord pack at splice.com/onpop-chords

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Our Switched on Summer Throwback Series continues with "Dancing in the Street," the 1964 Motown hit by Martha and the Vandellas that was co-written by none other than Marvin Gaye.

Over 50 years and countless covers later, we explore how this song still manages to get people off their feet and onto the streets—not just to dance, but also to raise their voices in joy, catharsis, and protest.

Also, start making your own summer hits with our Switched On Summer repack on Splice at www.splice.com/onpop-pack and use promo code ONPOP for a 1 month free trial.

Featuring:Martha and the Vandellas - Dancing in the StreetMarvin Gaye - Stubborn Kind of FellowThe Mamas and the Papas - Dancing in the StreetThe Grateful Dead - Dancing in the StreetVan Halen - Dancing in the StreetMick Jagger and David Bowie - Dancing in the StreetKendrick Lamar - AlrightPharrell Williams - Happy

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Our Switched on Summer throwback mini-series begins in the heart of the 1960s, with the Beach Boys' perennial school's-out jam "I Get Around."

We explore how every aspect of Brian Wilson's two-minute-long masterpiece is perfectly calculated to literally "get around"—harmonically, melodically, and lyrically—creating that unbeatable feeling of cruising all over town with the top down on a hot summer's night. 

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Part I: The Doctors Are In! We diagnose a listener's musical malady, namely: "why does Charlie Puth's new jam 'BOY' make us feel so weird?!"

Part II: Guest Hanif Adburraqib, author of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, helps break down Carly Rae Jepsen's epic "Cut to the Feeling" to understand why CRJ is a different kind of pop star.

Featuring:

•Charlie Puth - BOY

•Ismael Miranda - Recordando

•Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Nobody's Baby

•The Beatles - She's a Woman

•The Cars - Since You're Gone

•Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No 5 in C Minor, I

•Carly Rae Jepsen - Cut to the Feeling

Check out more of Hanif's work at his website.

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Parliament Funkadelic has had waves of influence on popular music. Their Afrofuturist message and infectious grooves built the backbone of 70s funk, was revived in the 90s with Dr. Dre's G-Funk, and is once again in vogue with in the music of Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis. Bootsy Collins, bass player of Parliament Funkadelic, collaborated with Kali Uchis and Tyler the Creator on the track "After The Storm," which draws on the P-Funk sound. Similarly, Clipping pay homage to the P-Funk lineage through their Hugo nominated song "The Deep," which was produced in collaboration with This American Life. The story explores a mythology created by the band Drexciya. In the story, an underwater civilization birthed from African slaves crossing the Atlantic battles their makers to save their habitat. Listen to hear what makes both infectious tracks so effective. 

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Ariana Grande has returned with a track that is jarring yet simultaneously catchy. She uses sophisticated musical techniques to tell a story of healing, resiliency, and hope after the attack at her concert in Manchester. Listeners will learn techniques like tempo rubato, modal interchange and amen breaks, which weave together this equanimous narrative.

Songs featured:Ariana Grande - No Tears Left To CryAriana Grande - Into YouAriana Grande - Break Free ft. ZeddThe Winstons - Amen BrotherThe Prodigy - MinefieldN.W.A. - Straight Outta ComptonOasis - Do You Know What I meanFuturama Theme Song 

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There is a lot of scare about the impending future of artificial intelligence making humans irrelevant. Musician Taryn Southern examines this narrative through her song “Life Support,” written with the aid of AI composition tools. We dispel current myths about AI music and discuss its future opportunities. In the second half of the show we run a musical 'Turing test' to see if you can identify music made by a bot from that composed by the hand of a human. 

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Samantha Gongol and Jeremy Lloyd are songwriting duo Marian Hill and they are here to share their annoyingly sharp insights on music. They come bearing the wistful pop of Lorde's "Ribs," and we deconstruct its primordial roots in classical composers like Scelsi, Beethoven and Haydn. Then, we turn to Marian Hill's new single "Differently" to uncover the subtle musical shifts that outline a complex dialogue lurking among the track's sparse, funky textures.

Songs Discussed:

Lorde - Ribs

Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit

Giacinto Scelsi - Memories

Ludwig van Beethoven - 9th Symphony

Franz Josef Haydn - Creation

Kid Rock - All Summer Long

Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA

Marian Hill - Mistaken

Marian Hill - Differently

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On her single 'Butterflies,' Kacey Musgraves demonstrates a tour de force of songwriting. This song is a wild success because it incessantly reinforces one core emotional concept: that queasy anxious feeling in your stomach. No we're not talking about your leftover lunch, we're talking about love. But this is not just a simple little love song. It is a masterclass of creativity. Musgraves uses every element of music to reinforce her core idea. The lyrics fold back onto themselves with dual meanings as the harmony, melody, orchestration and rhythm all interweave to literally give the listener butterflies. Caution: this song may induce feeling of tender sorrow and longing for mutual crushes and anxious kisses.

Songs Discussed:Kacey Musgraves - Merry Go RoundKacey Musgraves - Butterflies

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In which Nate tries to convince Charlie that Lil Pump's SoundCloud Rap hit "Gucci Gang" warps the perceptual present.

Featuring:

Lil Pump - Gucci Gang

Gustav Mahler - Der Abschied / Das Lied von der Erde

Franz Schubert - String Quintet / Adagio

Conlon Nancarrow - Study for Prepared Piano 21

Check out Jonathan Berger's article on musical time in Nautilus.

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"Make Me Feel," is the first hit from Janelle Monáe's upcoming album Dirty Computer. It is a sensual song about the fluidity of desire. In the pre-chorus, the singer proudly expresses that she is a "sexual bender." Fans have embraced the song for breaking free of normative sexual expectations. But these non-binary statements aren't limited to the lyrics. The message is reinforced with musical concepts drawn from the blues, Prince and Michael Jackson. To help break down this track, Nate and Charlie are joined by singer/rapper Lizzo. She and Monáe both collaborated with Prince, making Lizzo uniquely qualified to unwind his influence on the song (Prince was recently named as a collaborator on the track). We also discuss Lizzo's song "Truth Hurts" and her podcast "Good As Hell" where she talks to the queens of hip hop. Hands down, Lizzo is one of the most talented, knowledgeable and fun guests. You don't want to miss this episode.

Songs DiscussedJanelle Monáe - Make Me FeelMichael Jackson - The Way You Make Me FeelMichael Jackson - Beat ItFats Domino - Blueberry HillPrince - KissYing Yang Twins - Wait (The Whisper Song)Lizzo - Truth HurtsSister Nancy - BamBonus MaterialGet tickets for Lizzo's Sister Sister Sister tour with Haim: www.lizzomusic.comDon't miss Lizzo's podcast "Good As Hell" on SpotifyAlso if you haven't read it, Quincy Jones Vulture interview is utterly mad

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In Camila Cabello's "Havana" we hear both her Cuban roots and the modern sounds of Atlanta. Though the singer and featured guest Young Thug reference these two geographic identities, the song says so much more through its core musical elements. A Roland TR-808 kick drum evokes an entire repertoire of Atlanta Hip Hop, while the track's supporting piano montuno descends from a Cuban style lamenting the loss of one's traditional home. 

Also in this episode, we discuss Camila's unlikely path to number one with writer Hannah Steinkopf-Frank — and the musical glass ceiling that holds so many young women artists back.

RecommendationsSwitched On Pop recommends the podcast about sound: Twenty Thousand Hertz Hannah recommends the book: Girl Groups Girl Culture by Jacqueline WarwickCheck out more music and writing from Kwami Coleman at his websiteYou can listen to you playlist of 808s and Montunos on Spotify

Featured SongsCamila Cabello - HavanaTI - Whatever You Like2NE1 - I Am The BestMarvin Gaye - Sexual HealingMariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri - Always Be My BabyOutkast - So Fresh, So CleanLil Jon - Get LowGucci Mane ft. Migos - I Get The BagCompay Segundo - Guajira GuantanameraCuarteto Caney - Guajira GuantanameraBig Mama Thorton - Hound DogElvis - Hound DogLittle Mix & Missy Elliott- How Ya Doin?The Shangri Las - Leader Of The PackSleater-Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey RamoneSpice Girls - WannabeSpice Girls - Spice Up Your LifeThe Ronettes - Be My BabyThe Shirelles - Will You Love Me TomorrowTLC - No Scrubs

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Gina Delvac of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast and Darryl W Bullock, author of David Bowie Made Me Gay, join Nate and Charlie to dig into the poetry of Troye Sivan's "My My My!", the history of LGBT pop music, and the songs we love to hate.

And also be sure to check out:

Darryl Bullock's playlist of LGBT pop, from his book David Bowie Made Me Gay

and the brilliant Call Your Girlfriend podcast, produced by Gina. 

Featuring:

•Troye Sivan - My My My!

•Taylor Swift - Style

•West Side Story - Cool

•Billy Murray - Pretty Baby

•Ma Rainey - Prove it on Me

•Irving Kaufman - Masculine Women, Feminine Men

•Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me

•Jackie Shane - Any Other Way

•Lavender Country - Back in the Closet Again

•John Grant - Glacier

•Alex Clare - Too Close

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The 90s are back. It is as if pop music entered a black hole and came out 25 years in the past. Today's artists are reviving the new jack swing and vocal R&B, creating a wave of 90s nostalgia. Uncover how they trick us into somehow loving those days when we got beat up in the middle school parking lot.

Spotify 90s Nostalgia playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/switchedonpop/playlist/3beUwxOxzbTZ8M3aymZlg5

Featuring:Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B - FinesseCharlie Puth ft. Boyz II Men - If You Leave me NowGuy - Groove MeEternal - StayBell Biv Devoe - PoisonCardi B - Bodack YellowChristopher Williams - I'm DreaminBoyz II Men - MotownphillyBoyz II Men - On Bended KneeHamilton - The Room Where It Happened

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What's up with Justin Timberlake? Two years ago he gifted us the ebullient family-friendly jam "Can't Stop the Feeling," now he's on the cusp of a deeply serious new record called "Man of the Woods," whose first single, strangely, is a bit of electro-funk snarl expertly produced by long-time collaborators Timbaland and Danja. What's going on here—who is JT trying to be? We listen deep to his latest, "Filthy," to try and understand its creator's conflicting musical worlds. 

Featuring:

Justin Timberlake - Filthy

Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River

Bernard Hermann - Psycho

Ken Nordine - My Baby

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Charlie talks laments, Baroque opera, and gender politics in Dua Lipa's sleeper hit "New Rules" with writer Emily Bootle.

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Charlie and Nate breakdown Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" and revisit their favorite tracks of 2017. Sleigh bells abound.

Featuring

• Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas

• Laura Marling - Semper Femina

• Lorde - Melodrama

• Khalid - Location

• Dua Lipa - New Rules

• Logic - Everybody / 1-800-273-8255

• Childish Gambino - Redbone

• Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like the piano in my mothers house

• Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

• Jay-Z: 4:44

• Perfume Genius - No Shape

• Aimee Mann - Mental Illness

And more...

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Björk is uniquely both a pop star and avant-garde composer. Though her music often challenges our ears, underneath her records you'll find more in common with today's pop music than you'd expect. Pieced together, you'll hear that she paints emotional landscapes composed of all the complexities of human experience. We give you a way to enjoy listening to her music. Using this hybrid pop/modernist method, we deconstruct her latest album Utopia. Plus Nate & Charlie fall in love all over again.

Featured Clips

Björk - Losss

Björk - Human Behaviour

Björk - It's Oh So Quiet

Björk - Hyperballad

Björk - Joga

Björk - Thunderbolt

Björk - Lionsong

Björk - Arisen My Senses

Björk - Stonemilker

Björk - Quicksand

Björk - Notget

Björk - Utopia

Björk - Blissing Me

Björk - The Gate 

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Taylor Swift unveils a new, darker identity on her latest album "Reputation," and many have read the lyrics on her latest as not-so-subtle volleys in an ongoing celebrity feud. Still, a question remains: how does Swift cast this dark personality in music? Two songs offer evidence. Melodic drops and temporal gaps in "I Did Something Bad" signal the album's themes of descent and decay. On "Getaway Car," however, some of Swift's old songwriting tricks may betray her new persona.

We also dug into Reputation and other great listener questions in our Reddit AMA.

Featuring:

Taylor Swift:

• I Did Something Bad

• Getaway Car

• Trouble

• Love Story

• You Belong With Me

• Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - Away Out There

• Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek

• The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

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At the top of the pop charts, Taylor Swift and Cardi B, two artists with seemingly little in common, exploit the same compositional technique to hook listeners in. Meanwhile, across time and space, electro producers Clean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels, channel the thematic tricks of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz in his 1830 Symphonie Fantastique.

FeaturingTaylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do Cardi B - Bodak YellowRight Said Fred - I'm Too SexyClean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels - I Miss YouBerlioz - Symphonie Fantastique performed by Berliner PhilharmonikerBerlioz - Symphonie Fantastique performed by DuPage Symphony Orchestra

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With Charlie off the grid, Nate sits down with singer/producer Amber Mark to explore the different levels of Kendrick's hit HUMBLE.. Then, they turn to the diverse influences (including house music, Carnatic samples, and autodidactic piano chords) behind Mark's own track "Lose My Cool."

Featuring:

Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

Amber Mark - Lose My Cool

Amber Mark - SPACE

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Demi Lovato's latest, "Sorry Not Sorry" is at once an unapologetic anthem of defiance and a super catchy mashup of multiple genres. As we'll see, every small musical choice is here for a reason, together fostering Lovato's message of ascension—or even, transcendence. And as we pick apart "Sorry Not Sorry," we'll go to some surprising places ourselves including: Klezmer melodies, spiritual pretzels and musical dementors. 

Featuring:

•Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry

•Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

•Dave Tarras - Freilach Yidelach

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How does a song with nonsense lyrics capture our attention, making us want to move? It is called the groove. Enter Calvin Harris' "Feels" (ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean). Known for mainstreaming EDM, Harris throws out the software and picks up hardware instruments on this track. Upon first listen, this might seem like a sleeper hit, but as the loop repeats, you're going to want to move your feet. With intricate rhythmic interplay, the bass, drums, keys and guitar seem to talk to each other. Listen closely to hear how he does it. Also, we'll reveal why Katy Perry is so into going fishing.

FeaturingCalvin Harris - Feels (ft. Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean)James Brown - I Got The FeelingJames Brown - Get Up Offa That ThingDNCE - Cake By The OceanGeorge & Ira Gershwin - Blah Blah Blah (performed by 2012 Original Broadway Cast)

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This episode of Switched on Pop comes at you live from Block Island, RI, recoded in front of an audience of friends and family following a solar eclipse. Fittingly, the two songs discussed that day formed their own kind of syzygy. Kesha's "Praying" and Imagine Dragon's "Believer" are inverse anthems of resilience. Both tracks seek catharsis - one through prayer, the other through pain.

FeaturingKesha - Tik TokKesha - PrayingMozart - The Queen of the Night AriaWhitney Houston - I Will Always Love YouMariah Carey - EmotionsLalah Hathaway - SomethingImagine Dragons - RadioactiveImagine Dragons - Believer

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What has catapulted Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" to the top spot on the Billboard charts? Sorry, typo—to its status as the biggest song in the world? Your hosts explore the many worlds of "Despacito" in search of an answer.

Featuring:

Lusi Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee - Despacito

Luis Fonsi ft Daddy Yankee y Justin Bieber - Despacito (Remix)

Luis Fonsi y Juan Luis Guerra - Llegaste Tú

Major Lazer ft Justin Bieber - Cold Water

Los Del Rio - Macarena

Daddy Yankee - Gasolina

Avril Lavigne - Complicated

Toto - Africa

Further reading:

Petra River-Rideau Interview in The Atlantic

Remezcla Roundtable on Despacito w Isabel Herrera and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

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Selena Gomez's "Bad Liar" stands out on the charts by doing things a little differently: it's a subtle, at times even awkward, summer surprise. Breaking down this pop morsel reveals it has teeth, though—and not just because it borrows a bass line from the Talking Heads' macabre "Psycho Killer." This is a fun one. Come along for the ride. 

Featuring:

• Selena Gomez - Bad Liar

• Julia Michaels - Issues

• Selena Gomez - Same Old Love

• Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

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Author, critic and podcaster Andrea Warner joins for a throwback episode exploring politics in Lilith Fair, harmonic anger in Alanis Morissette's iconic "You Oughta Know," and the blind spots in your host's assessment of women in rock. 

Featuring:

•Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know

Artists mentioned by Andrea Warner:

SZA

Ibeyi

The Overcoats

Lizzo

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Your brain can only hear three things at the same time. What you may not know is that musicians use this cognitive limitation to guide your listening all the time. Charlie and Nate are joined by Grammy Nominee music producer Morgan Page to reveal the secrets of this ubiquitous technique. Listening to Julia Michaels' hit "Issues," we unveil how the rule of three is used to draw our attention and keep us free from sonic distraction. And we look at how Maroon 5's "Cold" uses the same technique but creates an exceptionally different sound. Of course, it wouldn't be Switched On Pop if we didn't dig into the classical past to find out if this rule really holds up in the history of music. 

Featuring: Morgan Page - Fight My WayJulia Michaels - Issues Julia Michaels - Issues (Acoustic)Maroon 5 - Cold ft. FutureSkrillex - First Of The Year (Equinox)Ed Sheeran - Shape Of YouDJ Khaled - I'm The OneSelena Gomez - Bad LiarThe Beatles - When I'm Sixty FourArnold Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire - III - Der MondfleckDead & Company - Live at the Hollywood Bowl 6-1-17The Beatles - A Day In The LifeIke & Tina Turner: Deep River Mountain HighSwedish House Mafia - One

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DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo from Migos and Lil Wayne have allied for a new smash hit: "I'm The One." Despite the star power present, the resulting track is less than the sum of its parts—repetitive, derivative, uninventive. And yet, the lackluster "I'm The One" sits comfortably at the top of the charts, which raises the question: why?? Our answer: because Khaled and company understand the bewitching power of tonal harmony, and they've utilized the most surefire chord progression in pop history to ensure their success, a simple sequence of chords that has captivated listeners for almost a century: I - vi - IV - V.

Check out our playlist of songs using this progression — and please send us any others that you identify!

Featuring:

• DJ Khaled - I'm The One

• Dean Martin - Blue Moon

• Ben E. King - Stand By Me

• Hoagy Carmichael - Heart & Soul

• The Police - Every Breath You Take 

• Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

• fun. - We Are Young

• Justin Bieber - Baby

• Jean-Philippe Rameau - Les Sauvages

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Two new songs have captured the attention of your hosts—Charlie Puth's "Attention" and HAIM's "Want You Back." On the surface, these two songs appear to have little in common. A closer look, though, reveals the subtle musical architecture undergirding each track, a perfect balance of symmetry and asymmetry that keeps reeling us in for more. 

Featuring:

• Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor - Marvin Gaye

• Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again

• Charlie Puth ft. Selene Gomez - We Don't Talk Anymore

• Charlie Puth - Attention

• Haim - Want You Back

• Dvorak - Carnival Overture (United States Marine Band)

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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.

Featuring:The Chainsmokers - CloserKygo & Selena Gomez - It Ain’t MeLady Gaga - The CureFall Out Boy - Sugar We’re Going DownFall Out Boy - Young And MenaceJay Z - D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)Ariana Grande - Into YouKaty Perry feat. Skip Marley - Chained To The RhythmDrake - PassionfruitPostmodern Jukebox - Sugar We’re Going Down SwingingBritney Spears - Oops! I Did It AgainSkrillex - BangarangDJ Snake - MiddleBeyoncé - Love On TopIcona Pop - I Love It (feat. Charlie XCX)Iggy Azalea - Fancy ft. Charli XCXSelena Gomez - Same Old LoveCharli XCX - 3AM (Pull Up) (feat. MØ)Hannah Diamond - Every NightBronze - Thy SlaughterDanny L Harle - Super Natural (ft. Carly Rae Jepsen)SOPHIE - JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYEA.G. Cook - SuperstarAriana Grande - Side To SideCoon Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra - I'm Gonna Charleston Back To CharlestonSpotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/switchedonpop/playlist/1LeUhwRJfMGdlPkSMR9Uxu

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One Direction wunderkind Harry Styles has just released his first ever single, "Sign of the Times," and it's a doozy. Strap in for a discussion of the apocalypse, late Beatles, teen wisdom, and the amen cadence—among other demons exorcised in this most peculiar pop tune. 

Featuring:

•Beethoven 5th Symphony - Scherzo

•Harry Styles - Sign of the Times

•Prince - Sign o' the Times

•David Bowie - Space Oddity

•Zayn Malik - Pillowtalk

•Steve Aoki + Louis Tomlinson - Just Hold On

•John Lennon - #9 Dream

•George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

•The Beatles - The End

•British Pathe Broadcast

•Meg Says YouTube Channel

•Megan Elizabeth YouTube Channel

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Songwriter Ross Golan comes over to start up a conversation, encouraging us to follow his lead and give Ed Sheeran's chart-annihilating record "Shape of You" a chance. Ross, a studio vet with multiple #1 hits (including numbers discussed on this very podcast, such as Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman" and Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love") is the ideal guest to convince a skeptical Charlie and Nate that Sheeran might have a song handmade for somebodies like them. Plus, Ross takes us behind the scenes of his own podcast, "And the Writer Is...", in which the industry's best writers break down their trials and triumphs on the way to the top.

Featuring:

• Ed Sheeran - Shape of You

• Justin Bieber - Love Yourself

• Kygo ft. Ella Henderson - Here For You

• Maroon 5 - Don't Wanna Know

Check out And The Writer Is... With Ross Golan: http://www.andthewriteris.com/

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Charlie and Nate sit down with up-and-coming producer duo Grey—fresh off their hit "Starving" with Zedd and Hailee Steinfeld—to uncover the secrets behind Alessia Cara and Zedd's dramatic dance track "Stay" and Grey's own deep cut "I Miss You" (ft Bahari). Snare drums as currency, Game of Thrones samples and screaming into the void are all discussed in this deep dive into the world of pop orchestration and 21st century songwriting.  

Featuring:

Zedd + Alessia Cara - Stay

Hailee Steinfeld + Grey ft. Zedd - Starving

Grey ft. Bahari - I Miss You

Earth, Wind and Fire - Kalimba Story

Maroon 5 - Don't Wanna Know

Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition

Ravel - Pictures at an Exhibition

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition

Grey - Do You Remember (Remix)

Grey - You're Not There (Remix)

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Two artists who haven't released new music since 2013 recently remerged into the limelight: Katy Perry, with her dystopian disco banger "Chained to the Rhythm" and Lorde, with the melodramatic-yet-uplifting anthem "Green Light." 

Listening carefully, a fact becomes apparent, despite Lorde's insistence that she "hears new sounds" in her mind: there's something familiar lurking beneath both these tracks. And indeed, both were co-written and produced by key figures of the modern pop music firmament. Who are they, and how do we detect their fingerprints on the latest from these two low-voiced chanteuses? Tune in and test your acumen in a high-stakes game of musical forensics. 

Featuring:

Katy Perry - Chained to the Rhythm

Lorde - Green Light

...and some secret songs

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With the Academy Awards around the corner, Charlie and Nate try something new: a break down of the movie musical La La Land through two of its key songs, "City of Stars" and "Start a Fire." These numbers, one by composer Justin Hurwitz, the other by Hurwitz and John Legend, might represent the two poles of the film's dramatic structure. But a deep dive into their musical construction reveals leitmotifs and left turns that leave us staggered at the different levels to La La Land's score. Special guest Genevieve Koski, deputy culture editor for Vox and co-host of the film podcast The Next Picture Show, joins to help our hosts journey through the uncharted terrain of cinema.

Featuring:

• Start a Fire - John Legend

• City of Stars - Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

• John Legend - Ordinary People

• Backstreet Boys - Everybody

• Ariana Grande - Side To Side

• Die Walkure, The Ring Cycle - Richard Wagner

• Engagement, Planetarium, Epilogue, Mia + Sebastian's Theme - Justin Hurwitz

• Générique, Dans le magasin de parapluies, Final - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

• Tie Fighter Theme - John Williams

Check out Genevieve Koski's writing on Vox and her great podcast on La La Land here.

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"I Don't Wanna Live Forever," the new track from Zayn and Taylor Swift, finds two members of the pop pantheon joining forces with producer Jack Antonoff to craft an inexorable hit song. But this duet—between a former One Direction heartthrob aiming to avert the sophomore slump and a megastar returning to the limelight—is far from triumphant. Instead, "Forever" delves into themes of loss and separation—emotions in turn embedded in the very structure and melody of this most unusual duet. Also, Charlie and Nate discuss what upcoming Grammy nominations have them most excited, From Chance the Rapper to Radiohead, Bowie to Solange, there's much to celebrate from 2016. Musically speaking, that is. 

Featuring:

• Zayn & Taylor Swift - I Don't Wanna Live Forever

• Giovanni Gabrieli - Symphoniae Sacrae II

• Solange - Cranes in the Sky

• Chance the Rapper - All We Got

• David Bowie - Lazarus

• Radiohead - Burn the Witch

• Tycho - Glider

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"Into You" was one of the biggest hits of 2016, the stellar production of reclusive legend Max Martin combining with the acrobatic vocals of Ariana Grande to create an undeniable, ubiquitous earworm. With "Into You" still burning up the charts, we dive deep to uncover the insane puzzles, Trompe-l'oiel tricks and Baroque games that lie under the surface of this morsel of pop perfection.

PLUS, brilliant rocker and rapper K. Flay joins to discuss the mysteries of Ariana Grande and takes us through the composition of her own, bass-heavy anthem of catharsis, "Blood in the Cut."

Featuring

• Ariana Grande - Into You 

• K Flay - Blood in the Cut

• Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

• J.S. Bach - A little hocket example

• Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman

• The Chainsmokers - Closer

• The Rolling Stones - Can't Get No Satisfaction

• The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black

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