Dua Lipa’s Disco Fever
Dua Lipa remembers the disco era in her hit “Don’t Start Now.” What may sound like just another dance floor track, upon deeper listening unfolds as a celebration of the genre. References to Gloria Gay...
14 Jan 202037min
ICYMI: Chance The Rapper, Kehlani, & The Shifting Sound of R&B — with Oak Felder
The sound of R&B is difficult to pin down. Since the 1950s, the label has been used both as a genre and as a catch-all for the entirety of black popular music. Soul, funk, disco and even hip-hop have ...
7 Jan 202054min
ICYMI: Billie Eilish is a Different Kind of Pop Star (ft. FINNEAS)
On a trajectory to be one of the biggest pop stars for this generation, seventeen year old Billie Eilish is not, however, your typical pop star. Her music speaks to the real anxieties of young people ...
31 Dec 201945min
Dolly Parton's America (with Jad Abumrad)
There are icons, and then there’s Dolly Parton. The country singer-turned-actress-turned-cultural phenomenon has produced a nearly unparalleled body of work, in both quantity (Parton is the sole or co...
24 Dec 201939min
Who's Afraid of the Sound of TikTok? (w Cat Zhang)
Bass distorted to the edge of audibility; voices croaking out dark and violent lyrics; a hacked-together DIY aesthetic. This isn't a fringe musical movement, this is the sound of TikTok, the video app...
17 Dec 201936min
Paper Planes, Chandelier & What the #@%! is Timbre? (with Constance Grady)
We hand over the hosting duties to Constance Grady, book reviewer for Vox.com, to discuss our new book/baby - Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works and Why it Matters, and go deep on two specific c...
10 Dec 201938min
Prelude & Feud on a 'G' Thang: Biggie vs Tupac
The East Coast / West Coast hip hop feud between Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls is full of tragedy and conspiracy, but what did it really sound like? For the third season of of the hit podcast Slow Bu...
3 Dec 201944min
Pop is the Sound We Need Right Now (with Electric Guest)
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 f...
26 Nov 201941min
