Switched on Pop

A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived.

Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenoriom and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a concept record set in a future ruled by a mega-corporation that shares its name. In its world, AI has taken most jobs and even the thinking left inside them, so the corporation offers pods where anyone can live any dream in virtual reality. The piece premiered in Cambridge in January 2020, then its New York show collapsed the day before the lockdown.

What follows is the story of a project that outlasted its own premise. When venues closed, they left Providence for Los Angeles, rebuilt a dilapidated house, spent eight months in a 120-square-foot shed, and constructed their own studio and stage. The dystopia they wrote became, in their telling, a personal utopia.
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A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego and makes any success feel shared among the three. Their new album, Dancing on the Wall, wraps that conviction in blaring, unapologetic '80s production: slap bass, brightness pushed to the front, and everything connected in one time and place.Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

MUNA, "It Gets So Hot"

MUNA, "Dancing on the Wall"

Lionel Richie, "Dancing on the Ceiling"

MUNA, "Eastside Girls"

Yello, "Oh Yeah"

Dead or Alive, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"

Pet Shop Boys, "West End Girls"

Billy Joel, "We Didn't Start the Fire"

Charli XCX, "365"

MUNA, "Wannabeher"

Bikini Kill, "Rebel Girl"

Peaches, "Boys Wanna Be Her"

Le Tigre, "Deceptacon"

MUNA, "Big Stick"

MUNA, "Anything But Me"

Flobots, "Handlebars"

MUNA, "I Know a Place"

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Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused, clubby Maid of Honour. All three albums have much different vibes, and are Drake’s first official solo efforts since his seismic beef with Kendrick Lamar back in 2024.

There’s a lot of music to talk about. As a result, Reanna argues that we are living in an era of “Drake Slop” – low-effort, mass-produced dumps of music, often with confused intentions. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate explore all that these three albums have to offer, and try to figure out exactly what is going on in the twisted mind of Aubrey Graham. 

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

Drake – Shabang

Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us

Drake – Circadian Rhythm

Drake, Central Cee – Which One

Drake – NOKIA

Drake – Make Them Cry

Drake – Janice STFU

Drake – Make Them Pay

Drake, Future, Molly Santana – Ran To Atlanta

Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar – Like That

Drake – 2 Hard 4 The Radio

YG, Slim 400 – Word Is Bond

Mac Dre – 2 Hard 4 the Fuckin' Radio

Drake – Rusty Intro

Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds

Drake – High Fives

Drake – Tuscan Leather

Drake – Classic

Drake – Teenage Fever

Drake, Sexyy Red – Cheetah Print

Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA – Rich Baby Daddy

Afrika Bambaataa, The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock

Drake – BBW

Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls

Drake – Princess

A$AP Rocky – PUNK ROCKY

Drake – Find Your Love

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Kacey Musgraves' album Middle of Nowhere finds the country outlaw taking a break from exploring her inner life to look outward, back to her roots: the regional stylings of Texas. She says the album was inspired by a sign in her hometown that read “Golden, TX: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.” The album’s sounds probe this same borderland mentality, encapsulating desert noir, Norteño, tejano, and soft rock. Plus, Willie Nelson.

The result is a collection of songs that are funny, moving, and reaching back to the sound Musgraves established in her debut record 13 years ago. But the world of country has changed since then – artists like Ella Langley have taken over the charts, cribbing Musgraves' sound while courting a more conservative audience. Can the genre encompass all these multitudes? Nate and Charlie explore this debate through Middle of Nowhere.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠

Songs discussed:

Kacey Musgraves – I Miss You

Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go 'Round

Kacey Musgraves – High Horse

Kacey Musgraves – justified

Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well

Kacey Musgraves – Dry Spell

Kacey Musgraves, Billy Strings – Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy

Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson – Uncertain, TX

Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere

Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert – Horses and Divorces

Miranda Lambert – Mama's Broken Heart

Ella Langley – Choosin' Texas

Dolly Parton, David Hidalgo – Before The Next Teardrop Falls

Ella Langley – Be Her

Kacey Musgraves – Rhinestoned

Neil Young – Harvest Moon

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The pedal steel and the saz both live in the spaces between equal-tempered notes, and that gap is where Rostam built American Stories.

Rostam joined Vampire Weekend at Columbia in 2006, produced the band's first three albums, and after leaving in 2016 made records with Clairo and Haim you can identify as his within a few bars.

His solo album, American Stories, reflects his experience as an American whose family is from Iran. He came into the studio this past March, just after the United States launched military operations there. It's a record that asks us to listen between two cultures.

SONGS DISCUSSED

Rostam "Like a Spark"

Wilco "What Light"

HAIM "Summer Girl"

Rostam "Back of a Truck"

Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone"

Bob Dylan "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"

The Supremes "You Keep Me Hangin' On"

Lou Reed "Perfect Day"

Rostam "Forgive Is to Know"

Rostam "Hardy" (ft. Clairo)

Clairo “Sophia”

Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam “A 1000 Times”

David Bowie "I Can't Give Everything Away"

Rostam "The Road to Death"

Rostam "Come Apart"

Rostam "Campus (Original Version)"

Rostam "The Weight"

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