Episode 68: Iggy Pop

“American Valhalla”

SongExploder68

Iggy Pop is a pioneer of punk rock, whose legendary career began over fifty years ago. In 2015, he began collaborating on music with Joshua Homme, of Queens of the Stone Age. The result was Iggy Pop’s 23rd album, Post Pop Depression. In this episode, Iggy and Josh break down the song “American Valhalla,” and tell the story of how it was shaped by reverb, opera, and the military.

You can buy “American Valhalla,” from Iggy Pop’s album Post Pop Depression, on iTunes.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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Episode 67: Oneohtrix Point Never

“Sticky Drama”

SongExploder67

Daniel Lopatin has been making experimental electronic music as Oneohtrix Point Never since 2007. In this episode, he takes apart the song “Sticky Drama,” from his 2015 album Garden of Delete. He breaks down how he created artificial voices using software for the vocals, and how he sees his songs as pieces of science fiction.

You can buy “Sticky Drama,” from Oneohtrix Point Never’s album Garden of Delete, on iTunes.

Watch the music video for “Sticky Drama” —

Check out Oneohtrix Point Never on tour: pointnever.com/live.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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Episode 66: KT Tunstall

“Suddenly I See”

SongExploder66

Singer/songwriter KT Tunstall released her debut album in 2004. It was nominated for a Mercury Prize. The song “Suddenly I See” from that record was a hit on the radio, and it’s been used in the soundtracks of big movies and television shows. But the song was originally written back before KT Tunstall had a record deal, when she was a struggling street musician, living in a small apartment in North London. In this episode, which was recorded live at the Sundance Film Festival, KT breaks down how she made the song, with help from producer Steve Osborne.

You can buy “Suddenly I See” on iTunes.

Watch the music video for the song:

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
The album cover of Horses by Patti Smith:
Horses by Patti Smith
Which features the song Gloria.

Thanks to KT Tunstall for being my guest today, and thank you @sundanceinstitute for hosting our conversation! #Sundance

A photo posted by Song Exploder (@songexploder) on

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