Switched on Pop

Latest Episodes:

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

In the song "Touch" from Daft Punk's final studio album, 2013's Random Access Memories, featured artist Paul Williams sings a line that augured the end of an impressive collaboration: "I need something more." With RAM, Daft Punk pulled out all the stops, going the opposite direction of their previous albums, to "give life back to music" and bestow hearts and souls upon their robotic doppelgängers.

RAM features almost no samples or programmed digital instruments, instead leaning into extensive collaborations with legendary studio musicians, iconic producers like Nile Rodgers, and modern mavens such as Pharrell. The making of RAM followed the blueprint of classic albums from what Daft Punk called "the golden age" of recording—Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Pink Floyd. The duo spent over a million dollars, held five years of studio sessions, and painstakingly crafted each track. The result was a record that helped usher in a retro disco-funk revival across pop music and generated a smash hit in "Get Lucky." The band had perhaps crafted their magnum opus—but did it also represent the conclusion of their epic narrative of the battle between human and machine?

Songs Discussed

Daft Punk - Give Life Back to Music

Daft Punk - Lose Yourself to Dance (feat. Pharrell Williams)

Daft Punk - Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)

Daft Punk - Giorgio by Moroder

Eagles - Hotel California

Daft Punk - Contact

The Sherbs - We Ride Tonight

Daft Punk - The Prime Time of Your Life

Daft Punk, Paul Williams - Touch (feat. Paul Williams)

Thomas Bangalter - Mythologies: X. L'Accouchement

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Listening 2 Daft Punk: Human After All / Alive 2007 May 30, 2023

Show notes

Throughout their legendary career, Daft Punk continued to prove that the more robotic their music became, the more human they sounded. This dichotomy came to a head on their third album, aptly titled Human After All. Where their past two records wired their circuits and gave the robots a voice, on Human After All, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo gave Daft Punk sentience. On Human After All robots rock, but they also question their rigid programming. The record's ensuing tour and resulting live album, Alive 2007, furthered the narrative by ushering in a new age of live electronic performance. The impact of these two records range from the development of EDM to everlasting hits like “Technologic.” On episode three of our Listening 2 Daft Punk series, we take a look at these two records, and how both Alive and Human After All imbued the robots with super intelligence.

Songs Discussed

Daft Punk - Human After All
Daft Punk - The Prime Time of Your Life
Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Breakwater - Release the Beast
Daft Punk - Steam Machine
Daft Punk - The Brainwasher
Black Sabbath - Iron Man
Daft Punk - Technologic
Daft Punk - Emotion
John Williams – Wild Signals
Daft Punk – Touch It / Technologic
Daft Punk – Oh Yeah
Daft Punk – Technologic
Busta Rhymes – Touch It
Daft Punk – Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger
Daft Punk – Face to Face / Short Circuit
Daft Punk – Da Funk / Daftendirekt
Kanye West – Stronger
Kanye West – On Sight
Daft Punk – Human After All / Together / One More Time / Music Sounds Better With You

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Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery May 23, 2023

Show notes

Daft Punk’s first album laid the groundwork for their robot personas, with four to the floor beats, programmed drum machines, and sequenced synthesizers. On their second album Discovery, Daft Punk fully lean into the artificial – singing through robotic vocoders that correspond with their now-iconic robot helmets.

But in there is a paradox, explored on episode 2 of Listening to Daft Punk: the more machine the robots become, the more human the music sounds.

Songs Discussed

Daft Punk - One More Time
Daft Punk - Teachers
Daft Punk - Aerodynamic
Sister Sledge - Il Macquillage Lady
AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Laurie Anderson - O Superman
Daft Punk - Revolution 909
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Kraftwerk - The Robots
Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove
Herbie Hancock - I Thought It Was You
Zapp - More Bounce to the Ounce
Stevie Wonder - 1-2-3 Sesame Street
Cher - Believe
Kid Rock - Only God Knows Why
Barry Manilow - Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed
Daft Punk - Superheroes
Edwin Birdsong - Cola Bottle Baby
Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman
Daft Punk - Face to Face
Daft Punk - Something About Us
Daft Punk - Voyager
Daft Punk - Veridis Quo
Daft Punk - Superheroes
Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams - LYTD (Vocoder Tests) [feat. Pharrell Williams]
Daft Punk - Digital Love
Daft Punk - Crescendolls
Eddie Johns - More Spell On You
George Duke - I Love You More

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Listening 2 Daft Punk: Homework May 16, 2023

Show notes

Ten years ago, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories gave life back to music. The world-beating smash “Get Lucky” broke streaming records, forged a retro sound that still dominates the charts, and paved the way for artists like The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Lizzo to craft their own throwback hits. How did Daft Punk do it? Switched On Pop’s four part-mini series Listening 2: Daft Punk unlocks the sounds, voices, and stories across all four of the group’s studio albums. On their first album, Homework, Daft Punk stretched the boundaries of electronic music and began wiring the circuits that would become their robot alter-egos, asking a fundamental question: where does the human end and the machine begin?

Songs Discussed

Daft Punk - Give Life Back to Music
Daft Punk - Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)
The Beach Boys - Darlin'
Daft Punk - Around the World
Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Strong
Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Daft Punk - Game of Love
Daft Punk - Da Funk
Daft Punk - Teachers
Black Box - Ride on Time
Daft Punk - Daftendirekt
Daft Punk - Fresh
Daft Punk - High Fidelity
Daft Punk - Oh Yeah
Daft Punk - Phoenix
Daft Punk - Rollin' & Scratchin'
Daft Punk - Rock'n Roll
Daft Punk - Burnin'
Kraftwerk - The Robots
Vangelis - Main Titles
Brad Fiedel - Main Title - The Terminator
Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow - The Turing Test
Daft Punk - TRON Legacy (End Titles)
Daft Punk - Indo Silver Club

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The Jonas Brothers' Yacht Rock Revival May 09, 2023

Show notes

After nearly two decades as a band the Jonas Brothers are staking their claim to a magnum opus by calling their next album, quite simply, The Album (out May 12). The project follows the success of their 2019 comeback project Happiness Begins — which blended polished pop sounds with ‘70s funk breaks and produced the No. 1 single “Sucker” — with a focus on the smooth sounds of yacht rock. Switched On pop co-host Charlie Harding spoke with Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas in March 2023, during their five night broadway run, in anticipation for the release of The Album.

Songs Discussed

Jonas Brothers - Wings, Waffle House, Montana Sky, Summer Baby, Before the Storm
Daryl Hall & John Oates - She's Gone, Wings
Kenny Loggins - Meet Me Half Way
Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel, Leave Me Alone
The Doobie Brothers - Takin' It to the Streets, Minute By Minute
Thundercat, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins - Show You The Way
Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgettin'
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
Eagles - Take It Easy

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From Westeros-techno to trance metal: Eurovision 2023 May 02, 2023

Show notes

It’s May, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s edition of the international-but-primarily-in-Europe competition features a uniquely eclectic group of songs (per usual), from a take on electro-flamenco, to Game of Thrones EDM, to a previous winner’s return to the Eurovision stage. On this episode, Charlie and Nate look at the six songs bookmakers are looking at to lead the pack of this year’s entries.

Songs Discussed:

Alessandra – Queen of Kings
Deadmau5 – Right This Second
Gabry Ponte, R3HAB, Timmy Trumpet – Call Me
La Zarra – Évidemment
Édith Piaf – Non, je ne regrette rien
Claude François – Alexandrie Alexandra
Blanca Paloma – EAEA
TVORCHI – Heart of Steel
Kalush Orchesta – Stefania
Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity
Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone
Metallica – 72 Seasons
Loreen – Tattoo

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Who killed the key change in pop music? Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

When trouble strikes in music town, there’s one guy who gets the call. That’s me, Joe Treble, forensic musicologist. This week, I've got one of the most shocking cases I've ever worked. Someone killed the key change in pop music, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to find the perpetrator.

The key change used to be at large on the Billboard charts. From the 1950s to the 1990s, 20-30% of all number one hits featured one. In Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody," the key change hits right before the final chorus. The song’s harmonic center shifts up, raising the pitch of the song, challenging the vocalist to hit higher and higher notes, juicing the big finish with excitement and pep. But starting in the 1990s the key change virtually disappeared from the Hot 100. Now, hit songs start and end in the same key, and no one seems to have even noticed. Except for me.

This investigation will bring me face to face with a rogue's gallery of suspects and sources: Chris Dalla Riva, music and data specialist; Brandon McFarland, alias 1-O.A.K., producer; Emily King, singer and songwriter. Each interrogation brings me closer to revealing the murderer, but will I be able to handle the terrible truth? Tune in as I tackle the hardest case of my career: the case of the missing key change!

Songs Discussed

Emily King - Georgia Sleepwalker, Medal, The Way that You Love Me

YG, Kamaiyah, RJ, Mitch, Ty Dolla $ign - Do Yo Dance (feat. Kamaiyah, RJ, Mitch, Ty Dolla $ign)

Beyoncé - Love On Top

Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer

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

Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night

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A.I. Drake has put music in a tailspin Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

We have an emergency podcast drop because the biggest and fastest moving story on the internet right now is about a song called “Heart On My Sleeve.” The track sounds like it was made by the producer Metro Boomin featuring Drake and The Weeknd. It might be one of the most consequential songs in music history because it was actually a fake, made with artificial intelligence. The blowback from this song has been enormous and a bit confusing. So host Charlie Harding went on The Vergecast podcast to break down how this song was likely made, and what it might mean for the music industry, the tech industry and all of our intellectual property.

Listen to the whole episode on The Vergecast
Read Alex Cranz's story on Laser Bongs on The Verge

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BTS goes solo together Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

The South Korean idol group BTS is one of the biggest musical sensations in history. They're constantly breaking records and they have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the world known as Army. Their hit singles like “Boy With Love,” “Dynamite,” and “Butter” have been discussed on the show in the past for breaking through the US charts. But back in 2022, they decided to take a break from group activities and start releasing solo material because of their obligations to each fulfill mandatory military service in South Korea, precluding them from working together at the same time. Solo projects aren’t new for the group – BTS members have released mixtapes as far back as 2015 and countless solo singles – but this was the first time that BTS had ever announced a prolonged break. This moment, originally presented as a hiatus, has evolved into a whole new musical chapter for the group, with a seemingly endless array of new solo releases. Switched On Pop listens back to one track from each solo effort so far to introduce the casual listener to what is happening in this new era of BTS. Joining the show is Lenika Cruz, senior editor at The Atlantic, who literally wrote the book on BTS, simply called On BTS out on the Atlantic Editions imprint.

Songs Discussed:

j-hope, J. Cole - on the street
Jimin - Like Crazy
RM, Youjeen - Wild Flower
Agust D - People Pt.2
Agust D - People
Jung Kook - Dreamers
JIN - The Astronaut
BTS - Singularity, Inner Child
Coldplay, BTS - My Universe

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This Generation's Caroline Polachek Apr 11, 2023

Show notes

From the first seconds of her latest album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek asserts that she is truly a once-in-a-generation artist. From her work in the indie band Chairlift to years of behind-the-scenes songwriting, she has worked hard over years to build a stellar music career – culminating in the pop opus Desire, already one of the best rated albums of 2023. On this episode of Switched on Pop, we look at Polachek’s career thus far, and talk to her about the intricacies of her latest.

Songs Discussed