Episode 30 – Where Have All The Bangerz Gone?

On Episode 30 of Pop Unmuted, Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge discuss this Summer’s lack of “bangerz.” With Katy Perry’s “Rise” and Britney Spears’s “Make Me,” it seems as if the era of battling for the Song Of The Summer is over. Guess you win, Justin Timberlake’s Troll song.

For more reading:
Michael Cragg, “Britney Spears’ Make Me and the New Slow Pop Movement,” The Guardian

Episode 29 – Timbre & 80s Synthpop

On Episode 29 of Pop Unmuted Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge are joined by Music Theory Ph.D. student Megan Lavengood, who is writing her dissertation on timbre and the Yamaha Dx7 synthesizer. They talk about the role timbre and sound plays in defining genre and why so much music released in the 2010s is called “80s inspired.”

For more reading:
Mark Spicer, “(Ac)cumulative Form in Pop-Rock Music,” in twentieth century music vol. 1, 1.
Theodore Canterforis, Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s, University of Michigan Press.
Marissa Larusso, “Shura’s ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ Video Celebrates Teen Crush Team Work,” npr.org.

Episode 28 – Pop Unmuted Turns Two

To celebrate two years of Pop Unmuted, Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge look at songs from two years ago and then songs from those same artists that have come out this year. Kurt discusses Sia’s “Chandelier” and “Cheap Thrills” while Scott recommends Mitski’s “First Love / Late Spring” and “Your Best American Girl.”

Thanks for sticking with us for two years! If you like the podcast, show your appreciation by leaving a rating and review on iTunes so more people can find us. Here’s to two more!

K-Pop Unmuted Episode 1 – Tiffany vs. Jessica

On the first episode of our new K-Pop Unmuted podcast, Stephen Knight and Scott Interrante discuss the solo debuts of current and former Girls’ Generation members Tiffany’s and Jessica.

Songs in this episode:
Tiffany – “I Just Wanna Dance”
Jessica – “Fly (ft. Fabolous)”
Girls’ Generation-TTS – “Twinkle”
Wonder Girls – “I Feel You”
Tiffany – “What Do I Do (English Version)”
Tiffany – “Yellow Light”
Jessica – “Falling Crazy In Love”
Jessica – “Love Me The Same”
Jessica – “Dear Diary”
AOA – “10 Seconds”
Oh My Girl – “Windy Day”

After this first episode, K-Pop Unmuted will not show up in the Pop Unmuted feed. Subscribe to the new show if you want to keep following along!

Episode 25 – “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys

For Episode 25 of Pop Unmuted, Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge continue their discussion of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds by breaking down the musical structure of one of the album’s best-known songs, “God Only Knows,” and exploring the surprisingly difficult question of what key it is in.

For more reading:
Daniel Harrison, “After Sundown: The Beach Boys’ Experimental Music,” in Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis, eds. John Covach and Graeme M. Boone.
Philip Lambert, Inside The Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys’ Founding Genius.
Greg Panfile, “Mind of Brian 1: God Only Knows,” Surfermoon.com.
Henry Tozer, “Harmonic Language and Tonal Organization Within the Songs of Brian Wilson,” Academia.edu.

Episode 23 – Take It To The Chorus!

On Episode 23 of Pop Unmuted, Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge talk about choruses. They discuss the development of the modern pop chorus from the Tin Pan Alley AABA structure, look closer at some of our favorite choruses, and explore the baffling section labels of Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack.”

For more reading:
Mark Spicer “(Ac)umulative Form in Pop-Rock Music,” twentieth century music(1/1).
Megan Lavengood, “Max Martin’s Complement Chorus (Poster),” Academia.edu.

This episode features:
Fred Astaire – “They Can’t Take That Away”
Judy Garland – “Over The Rainbow”
Herbie Hancock – “Watermelon Man”
Buddy Holly – “Everyday”
The Beatles – “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
Fifth Harmony – “Sledgehammer”
Phil Collins – “Can’t Stop Loving You”
John Mayer (ft. Taylor Swift) – “Half Of My Heart”
Hailee Steinfeld – “Love Myself”
Carly Rae Jepsen – “Warm Blood”
Justin Timberlake – “SexyBack”
Britney Spears – “Oops…I Did It Again”
Chumbawamba – “Tubthumping”
Cam – “Burning House”
Ga-In – “Bloom”
The Cardigans – “Lovefool”

Here’s a Spotify playlist with all these songs and more. Let us know in the comments or on twitter what your favorite choruses are and we’ll add them to the playlist.

Episode 22 – Who Is Larry Stylinson?

On Episode 22 of Pop Unmuted, Scott Interrante and Kurt Trowbridge explore the popular conspiracy theory known as Larry Stylinson, which suggests that Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles from One Direction are in a romantic relationship, forced in the closet by their management. We talk to Helena Dare-Edwards, who recently received her Ph.D. in Media Studies and has written extensively about Larry and One Direction, Caitlin Foster who co-hosts the Talk Direction podcast, Jessica Leski, a documentary film-maker working on a film called I Used To Be Norma: A Boyband Fangirl Story”, and MaryClare, whose tumblr Louis and the Alien has a post exploring the mysterious gay teddy bear mascots of One Direction. Scott and Kurt also talk about the sensitive subject of questioning the validity of Louis’s recently born son.

For more reading:
Aaron Butterfield, “We Need To Talk About One Direction,” Breathe Heavy.
Ellie Woodward, “There’s a Wild Conspiracy Theory That Louis Tomlinson’s Baby Is Fake,” Buzzfeed.
“Louis Tomlinson Going To Be A Dad! One Direction Star Expecting Baby With Briana Jungwirth,” People.com.
Lou Woodley, “Why Harry Styles’ ‘Not That Important’ Is Massively Important,” Huffpost Teen.
The Harry+Louis Treatise, theharrylouistreastise.tumblr.com.
“RBB & SBB For Dummies,” louisandthealien.tumblr.com.
Master Posts on 1arry-isnt-rea1.tumblr.com