Free Daily Podcast Summary
Switched on Pop: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Vulture
Listen closer to pop music, and hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 days ago57 min
Lizzy McAlpine summons Nick Drake & Joni Mitchell
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" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- 5 days ago40 min
The power of singing together (ft. Tiny Habits)
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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago34 min
Questionable Country
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” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- 3 weeks ago36 min
Phoebe Bridgers opens her Moleskine
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Aug 18, 202639 min
We have Confessions to make...
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
- Aug 11, 202636 min
A piano lesson that will change how you listen (ft. Lang Lang)
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
- Aug 4, 202642 min
IV. Take It to the Bridge (ft. Tayla Parx)
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
- Jul 28, 202650 min
III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. B-Real and Trevor Horn)
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
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