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      André 3000’s Experiments With Flutes and Fame

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis month, André 3000 — half of Outkast, and one of the most innovative rappers of all time — made a tentative return to music with the release of his first solo album, “New Blue Sun.” It is … not a hip-hop album. Instead, André, who has regularly been spotted out and about playing one of several flutes, has released an LP of contemplative experimental music, in which he is a supporting character, not the star.What does it mean when one of the most famous musicians of his generation decides to take such a radical creative turn? In what ways is this unconventional musical choice as revealing as the ones for which he’s long been known?On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about André’s reluctant relationship to stardom, the musical scene providing the setting for his public return, and the ways in which one can be in the spotlight but still very much in hiding.Guests:Zach Baron, GQ senior special projects editorSadie Sartini Garner, a critic for Pitchfork and othersConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      Popcast (Deluxe): Mailbag! The Beatles, Taylor Swift and More

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The new song from the Beatles, “Now and Then,” which deploys technological advancements to build an original recording from pre-existing parts, and the implications of artificial intelligence for restoring or re-enacting works by dead musiciansA recent Taylor Swift academic conferenceThe potential rise of minimalism in pop musicThe costume of rural authenticity in Americana and roots-adjacent pop music, in both musical and sartorial choicesHow the legacies of less-critically-acclaimed musicians are shaped following their deaths, as encapsulated by the recent posthumous coverage of Jimmy Buffett and Steve Harwell of Smash MouthSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      Popcast (Deluxe): What Is Going on With the Grammy Nominations?

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards, which include multiple nods for the true pop stars Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, but also for the R&B sensualist SZA, as well as the loose-knit indie rock supergroup boygenius and the former talk-show bandleader and exuberant border-crosser Jon Batiste.“The Curse,” the new show on Showtime from Nathan Fielder that continues his philosophical and moral experimentation with the tropes of reality television.New songs from Dua Lipa and Jack HarlowSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      PinkPantheress Leaves the Bedroom for the Wider Pop World

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      The British producer, singer and songwriter PinkPantheress, 22, emerged during the pandemic with a hushed and nostalgic play on dance music, turning canny samples from the club and beyond into intimate, original bedroom pop.With the release last year of her hit single “Boy’s a Liar,” and especially the remix with the rising rapper Ice Spice, PinkPantheress traded a growing internet cult for mainstream cachet, with billions of plays on TikTok and Spotify.On Friday, the singer released “Heaven Knows,” her official debut album — “To Hell With It,” from 2021, was called a mixtape — and its personnel reveals an artist open to further expansion: There are features from the Afrobeats star Rena and Central Cee, the U.K. rapper of the moment, along with production from hitmakers across genres, including Greg Kurstin, BNYX, Cash Cobain and Danny L. Harle. For the first time, the songs also tend to exceed two minutes.Yet even while leaving the confines of her bedroom, spiritually and sonically, “Heaven Knows” feels firmly like PinkPantheress’s turf and her terms. Committed to her own personal privacy, she has maintained some anonymity and the mystique that comes with it, while sticking close to frequent collaborators like the producer Mura Masa, who touches every track.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about the unusual rise of PinkPantheress, her new album “Heaven Knows” and the art of sampling well in a time of unartful sampling.Guests:Kemi Alemoru, a freelancer culture writer for GQ, i-D, Vogue, The Guardian and othersLindsay Zoladz, a New York Times pop music critic and writer of The Amplifier newsletter More

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      Popcast (Deluxe): ‘Priscilla’ and ‘The Golden Bachelor’ Plumb Heartbreak

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:Sofia Coppola’s new film “Priscilla,” a biopic of Priscilla Presley based on Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N’ Roll.” An impressionistic take on the behind-the-scenes relationship of Elvis and Priscilla, it stands in contrast to the ornate extravaganza “Elvis,” directed by Baz Luhrmann, which was released last year.The hit reality show “The Golden Bachelor,” which follows 72-year-old widower Gerry Turner in his search for new love, and in so doing, inverts and maybe rescues the tired format of reality-television dating shows.New songs from Brent Faiyaz featuring Tommy Richman & FELIX! and Cody JohnsonSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      Noah Kahan’s Rootsy Rock Revival

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicNoah Kahan’s song “Stick Season” currently sits at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. On its own, that’s a moderately impressive feat. But it’s more remarkable because “Stick Season” is the title track of an album released just over a year ago. Via diligent touring and an instinctual grip on how to leverage TikTok, Kahan has squeezed a fan favorite so hard it became a hit.That success arrives a few years into Kahan’s career, which began with more straight-ahead pop and shifted into rootsier territory during the pandemic. He inflects his songs with bits of Vermont attitude and lore, and has collaborated with Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about how Kahan’s niche stardom has given way to pop acclaim, how Vermont figures into his songwriting and sound, and how he revisits the rustic mainstream rock of the early 2010s.Guests:Rebecca Jennings, a senior correspondent at VoxJason Lipshutz, executive director, music at BillboardConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

    • 125 Shares189 Views

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      Popcast (Deluxe): Is the Pop Music Machine Stuck in Place?

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The current conundrums on the pop charts, which include the glut of music by Drake, Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift hogging up space; the tactics imposed upon younger artists trying to break through; unimaginative turf-protecting collaborations; and the curious divides separating pop on the radio, pop on streaming services and pop on TikTok.New songs from Suzy Clue and CorpseSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      Who Is Troye Sivan Now?

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe pop singer Troye Sivan released “Something to Give Each Other,” his third album — and first in five years — earlier this month to largely positive reviews.But while Sivan, 28, may have grown into his musical and visual identity with a string of recent singles and videos that borrow from 1990s dance music, meme culture and international cinema, he has not yet broken through as the mainstream gay male pop star many expected when his career began.A one-time YouTube vlogger who was born in South Africa and raised Orthodox Jewish in Australia, Sivan came out as a young teenager and has been matter-of-fact in songs and interviews about his sexuality. Earlier this year, Sivan appeared ably as an actor in HBO’s much-maligned music industry satire, “The Idol,” about a pop star and her team being sucked into the dangerous web of a cult leader.Yet despite his rising public profile and artistic confidence, Sivan has found less commercial success with “Something to Give Each Other,” which debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard album chart, than his less self-assured previous two albums, “Bloom,” in 2018, and “Blue Neighborhood,” from 2015.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about this new iteration of Sivan’s sound and persona, where he fits into pop’s growing middle class and the ceilings he may still face as an openly gay male performer.Guests:Harry Tafoya, a freelance writer for Pitchfork, NPR and othersShaad D’Souza, a freelance writer and critic for The Guardian, The New York Times and othersConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More