Switched on Pop - Switches Brew

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

Every week the Switched On Pop team gets together and everybody shares one song they’re loving right now. It is one of our favorite conversations each week because we hear music that is new and old, on and off the charts. We’re sharing that conversation with you as a new format we’re calling Switches Brew alongside friend of the show Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute Listen to Brittany Luse on NPR’s It’s Been A Minute: Web, Apple, Spotify Songs Discussed Little Freddie King - Messin' Around tha House De La Soul - Tread Water Nick Hakim - Qadir Lana Del Rey - Born to Die (Marcus Intalex Remix) on Bandcamp Madison Cunningham - Hospital (One Man Down) (feat. Remi Wolf) Remi Wolf - Down the Line Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. Every week, the Switched on Pop team gets together and everybody shares one song. that they're loving right now. It's one of my favorite conversations each week because we hear music that is old, new, on the charts, off the charts. And so I thought, Nate, that we could

share that conversation in a new format that I want to call Switches Brew. So today you're going to hear from the larger team, including producer Rihanna Cruz, engineer Brandon McFarlane here. And we also are very lucky to be joined by a special guest, friend of the show, and new host of NPRs, it's been a minute. Brittany Luce. Hi. Yeah. Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure. All right. Who wants to go first? Well, not to brag, but I was in the most musical city in the continental United States last weekend. I'm talking, of course, about New Orleans, Louisiana. And I was there for a very joyous occasion, which was my younger brother's wedding. And they had a live band. They had a second line.

it was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't, I was so busy with these nuptial festivities that I didn't get to do what I always try and do when I'm in New Orleans, which just go out and hear live music till three in the morning. But being there made me think of the last time that I was in New Orleans when I went to BJ's lounge in the bywater and I heard one of the great living blues musicians. I'm talking about little Freddie King. that was messing around the house off little Freddie King's album of the same name from 2008. Now when you see Little Freddy King Live, it's very stripped down. It's him on guitar, a bass player, a drummer. But on these records, you hear that he's not afraid to incorporate modern production, drum programming, remixes into his sound.

And so that's what's going to keep this music alive for future generations, is like artists being unafraid to incorporate those modern techniques into these classic forms. All right, Brandon, what have you been listening to? Okay, so since De La Sol's Catalog has released on all streaming platforms, I've just been digging into, like, their first three or four albums. First album came out of 89. one of the members of De La Passed recently. So it was like bittersweet.

Truigoy, the dove, rest in peace. Let's listen to Truigoy's verse on Treywater. And Truigui is yogurt spelled backwards for those who don't know. Yes. I had no idea. I had no idea. I've searched for you all over. Now you've found no time to waste.

We must find the preacher man. We must find the PA Mace. For my population's dying. And we're all in tune to I think you daisy, I need water, I need chestnuts to consume. Mr. Squirrel, I said, I'm sorry. I think this group is like super influential because at a time where like gangster rap and a certain type of rap was like ascending to be like the most popular shit, native tongues was like Jungle Brothers, De La Soe and Tribe. There were a couple other groups in there.

But those three groups and De La at the forefront of that, I think represented a type of. of rap that was like we're not creating so much of an image to present to a market we're like just teenagers rapping afro-centrism and just like goofy nerdy stuff in there's like a ton of skids and so it's just like a fun time you just get the sense that they're they're not trying they're just being themselves on wax and like that that was a special thing then and now it's kind interesting to um to just like be listening to that portion and just homing in on that because like it at once sounds very like emblematic of the time. But also their work has been is so influential and it's just it's so elemental to the art form that it's like hearing the source DNA for so many things that come after it.

So it still also sounds really current because everybody's constantly going back to this is like one of the main sources that people are coming back to to influence their own music today. It's cool to think about how the reappearance of this body of work on streaming services could kickstart a resurgence of interest in De LaSoul. And like you were saying, Brittany, like, make plain how relevant this group still is. And like, maybe we'll start to hear some of those sounds and techniques being parroted by other MCs. Because, like, I think, like, most people, like, my, Dre, because I'm, I'm what, 23, you know, I feel like De La Sele is the generation before my generation where, like, a lot of people my age who stream, you know, who mainly consume music through streaming, aren't going to have the access to De La Sol. And like, I realize that. Like, I know personally, like, prior to a few years ago before, like me getting really into like pursuing music, journalism as like a career, like, I didn't know who De LaSole was, you know? And that's just like a product of, like, their absence on accessible music listening platforms. Right. It's like you had tribe and the other groups

that you can listen to and be like, oh yeah, like that's how, you know, they were flipping like jazz samples or whatever like quirky samples that weren't the norm. Yeah. But De La and Prince Paul was one of the main producers for those early albums. They were doing that first and at like a crazy level. I think Prince Paul was already like famous producer for other hip hop groups who the names

are escaping me. Stetsic Sonic. Yep. Grave diggers. Your grave digas. Look at you, Nate. I was a big Prince Paul head back of the day. They don't call him as a psychologist right now thing. Let's pass the mic. Here's some new stuff.

Brittany, what did you bring to us? Okay, so a song that I, the song I'm bringing to you all today is a song that I listen to. Actually, all of the time. I know on Spotify they have that I forget the name of the playlist But it's basically the playlist That turns you into like a Mobius strip

It's just a playlist of songs That you'd like to play all the time And I listen to my Oh like a like on repeat Yeah on repeat I'm like Yeah Why waste time let's cut the fat

So that's how a lot of the songs I listen to in 2021 I also my top listen songs in 2022 I'm sure it'll be the same this year But there's a song that came out I think in April of 2020 by one of my favorite artists, Nick Hakim, called Kadir. And it's a song that he wrote about a childhood best friend who had died a couple of years

previously at a tender age of 25, whose name Kadir. It's an achingly tender and beautiful song, but it also came out at a time when a lot of people were going through it to put out a song about loss, a song about grief, about grieving a friend. April 2020, the significance of that has only grown to me with time. It's a beautiful song that is about grief without feeling. It's not gutting. It's just really achingly beautiful. And it's, I think, a really fitting tribute to a friend.

There's a lyric that he says, though, like in the chorus where he just, he says, he sings Kadir and I miss you so dearly. I don't know, love is always a topic of songs, but I feel like love between friends is like less common. It also makes me think of like one of my favorite Chadee songs called Maureen, which is about a childhood friend of hers who died really young and her just imagining all the things that she would do with Maureen together. That's totally different tone. It's upbeat and kind of jovial, even if it's a little bit lamenting.

But yeah, it's one of my favorite recent love songs, not just because of the quality of the song, but just because, I don't know, I feel like friendship is a type of love that just doesn't get written about in the same way. And especially friendship between men. And I think he does just such a beautiful job of it here. I got to see him at this really tiny venue that has amazing sound in Brooklyn called Public Records. Him and Michelle and Diego Cello, there might have been 85 people there. It was so, so small.

They have these amazing acoustics that are like all wood. It was just like perfect. If you ever get the chance to see Nick Hakim, even if you don't know his music, he's just so incredible as a musician that I would encourage anybody to see him live. he finds ways to make his music sound so much more dynamic. Like, it already sounds great recorded, but it sounds even more dynamic in person. So that's a song that I listen to all of the time. But, yeah, I've definitely been listening to a lot this week since I just saw him, like, last week.

Thank you, Brittany. Yeah, I feel like songs about friendship are special and underrepresented. It makes me want to go dig deeper into that topic and find other songs that reflect on what are the most important parts of human experience, the people that hold us. Okay, if you do that though, you got to bring me back because then I can talk about Maureen. You're in. Shout out to the friendship songs that don't have friend explicitly in the title. I always think about, like, you've got a friend and lean on me as like the two main friendship songs of the world.

Just a friend does not get. Mario sadly cut out of this conversation. Music's whole child, out. Oh, my God. out of this conversation. Bismarkey, unfortunately, also cut out of this conversation. Yeah, exactly. Those are Friends Zone songs. Brittany, as part of what I love about your show is, you know, you go broad across all of culture, but your music conversations are excellent and highlighting Samara Joy, Kalea, even like your

rundown of Rihanna before the Super Bowl. Thank you. Thank you. So all great things that people should go listen to. But let's keep on listening. Reina. What do you have for us? The other Rihanna. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster? Well, you have to ask lots of questions.

I'm Maria Sharpova and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Do not sugarcoat something for me. No, no.

We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives, actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. So lately, I've been getting into Bandcamp and the, electronic scene on bandcamp, which is so fruitful. So great. A lot of friends of mine have been digging deep to find the best electronic remixes and edits. It is so fun. You find so much good stuff. And recently, I found this remix of Lana Del Rey's Born to Die from famous DJ, rest in peace,

Marcus Intellects. I feel like I have a question for your Anna. Yeah. Hit me. What is this doing for you that you're not getting from the original Born to Die or any of the rest of the melancholia in her catalog? Here you got essentially a drum and bass remix of Born to Die by this DJ, Marcus Intellex, who was a huge British drum and bass DJ. And by putting the brakes under Lana, I don't know. it like gives it a multifaceted dimension that like I hear in the original song but not expounded upon right because I think born to die as a song is very emotional it is melancholic like you said charlie but also so expansive in her vision and by putting the drum and bass breaks you know under it and it enhances londa's vocals it makes it sound really cool and I don't know I've been getting to really into like drum and bass remixes like edits on band camp like flips of popular songs and like this is this is a really dope one because it sort of subverts expectations like the last song i would expect to be drum and bassified is born to die you know but it's like super dope and it's really really cool and i want to like

drop it in a DJ set you know there's a productive tension between her languid laid back vocals right and the nervous intensity of Hendricks' drum and bass production, that contrast is so satisfying to listen to. And it works shockingly well. I'm into it. Yeah, that's a really great way to put it, like a nervous tension. I think a lot of drum and bass flips have that discordant quality where it's like, why is this song over this beat?

I have an ontological question for our esteem panel. what is the difference between an edit and a remix? You asked the wrong person. I guess a remix would be more produced. Like, an edit is like extending the song or whatever. So the stems, the stems make it an edit, right? Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, you're right. I think, like, a remix is created from, like, bits and pieces.

An edit is the whole song that's flipped. Like, it's the whole song that's kind of like remade. I don't know, though. am not the authority on this. So if somebody emails in and explains to me the difference between a remix and an edit, I will be forever indebted. The lines are open. Yeah. Yeah, please. Metaphorically speaking, you can't talk to us, but you can have a phone line tweeted us and tell us the difference. Looking at up, it says like an edit of a track means only bits has been changed. I don't know if that's necessarily true because I see things tagged edit on band camp all the time and they're like taking a little bit

more liberty with the song, so I'm not entirely short. I think at the end of the day, it's like, is it based on an actual song, or are you, like, creating something new out of it, you know? Yeah. I kind of feel like this has always been confusing, because even when I go record shopping and I see, I pick up like a single,

it'll say club mix, not club edit, but really they just extended the drums for two minutes or something. Right, exactly. Who knows? I have this. I have this remix album of Madonna singles. It's literally the same thing.

It'd be like frozen club mix. And then they just put like club drums under it for the entirety. And it's like, okay, you know. Yeah. It's not like a Mariah Carey thing where like she's like, you want to remix? Me and David Morales are going to sit in the studio for six weeks. I'm going to do all new vocals. It's going to be a completely different song.

It's going to be much worse. Yes. It's a dying art. I don't know. It's completely fragmented. People are just making it up as they go along, and it's confusing for everyone. It's like, Rihanna, you covered the Pink Panther's Ice Spice song. They called Part 2, which was literally just adding a verse.

Right, exactly. Like, there wasn't like any difference. It's like, sure. Yeah. All right. I'm going to take over here. I'm going to leave us with a song that I have been really loving right now. It comes from the episode that I produced for our 300th, which was about that rubber bridge guitar.

And I saw that there was a mash. up of two of our guests that were in that story. Madison Cunningham produced a song with Ethan Grisca, who were both in that story, and it features the artist Remy Wolfe, who I really love and been trying to get in the podcast forever. The song is called Hospital One Man Down, which is pursuant to what you were just saying, Charlie, a re-recording of Madison Cunningham's song Hospital. so it's it doesn't it doesn't end okay I did not realize that was a re-recording

now I got to listen to the original is this is this an edit is this a mix remix what is this let's see okay this is a complete reimagining of the song new production re-recording I like that and I actually think I like the one with Remy Wolf even better because it's just got these sounds that I can't identify that are at the in-between of like acoustic folk music, rock music, funk music.

Like, I can't tell if the acoustic rubber bridge guitar is doing the funk playing. There's these weird like, like, wows sounds that I don't even know what they are. And I love that I'm a little... What sounds? Rows sounds. Oh, okay.

Gotcha. Yeah, that's the only academic term. Go consult the Harvard music dictionary. But there's something about like checking into a hospital and having this fever dream kind of feeling. And I like that the sounds are disorienting. I find the song very rewarding. I keep going back to it. I almost picked a Remi Wolf song to share today.

But I was like, I have a feeling. I just have a feeling somebody else is going to pick a Remi Wolf song. And so I didn't. And my Spidey Spence is right. Brittany, give it to us. Why do you love her? What's the song? You get an extra.

Oh my God. Oh, the sound is. The song is down the line. The chorus is transcendent. It just, the way that you just described the, like, the mix of genre's tones, even when you said songs, you can't, like, sounds you can't even identify. I feel like that's present in so much of her music. And in that song specifically, like, I've been listening to it for a couple years now, but I was listening to it the other day. And I, like, realized, like, during the chorus, I'm like, wait, even though she's saying the exact same melody twice, right, like in a stanza, let's say. She, It doesn't just take a different vocal approach, but like the vocal production is literally different. So there's like different filters on it and it just changes from like line to line. And I didn't even notice that until I've listened to song already for like a couple years. Brittany, important question for you. Down the line by Remy Wolf or the Kimber remix.

I haven't heard the Kimber remix. Well, you're going to have to listen to it on your own. We're going to listen to the original. For everyone who can't see what's happening right now, everyone is nodding their head. There's so many elements in the song to like, but also, It's such a tightly composed song and tightly produced song, a tightly written song, that you could also just listen to it and just enjoy it. There's just a lot of really good points of tension that are sort of contracting and expanding at different kind of rates throughout the whole song. So cool.

To piggyback off what she said, I think when we played the end of the song, she even like looped in a vamp style, which is like who even does a vamp anymore in a song. but like she looped her hook like with her vocals yeah like that's that's that thoughtful thing you mentioned like she didn't fly the hook that'll be the technical term like for us engineers they just say like oh take the hook that we did here and copy it each time like she didn't do that and uh it shows you y'all this has been so much fun getting these sounds in my ears some of which i've heard before but not in a long time some of which are completely new to me this is a uh a testament to how much music is out there. And I love that we've come up with this criteria for sifting through it, which is simply, what are you listening to right now? That seems as good as anything

to me. So thank you. Innaugural Switches Brew panelists. What a treat. Brittany, thank you for joining us. Thank you, Brandon, Rihanna, for letting listeners. enter our inner sanctum here for a change. And thank you, for being my friend. Are you going to write a song about it, Charlie? You're all my friends, but started with this friendship. I might write a song about it.

I will, for sure, make a playlist of all these recommendations and share it with everybody. And I will post in our show notes a little link to Britney's podcast. It's been a minute. There are so many great interviews with musicians and beyond. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you all. See all next time.