Switched on Pop
Is that new song you like AI? Here’s how you can tell
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Show notes
The robots have arrived, and they're making protest songs about boots on the ground. When an AI band called The Velvet Sundown fooled over a million Spotify listeners with their psychedelic folk anthems, it raised an unsettling question: have the machines gotten so good we can no longer hear the difference? Charlie puts Nate to the test with a game of "AI or Human?" featuring Wu-Tang deepfakes, phantom instruments, and songs that sound like Dire Straits and Tom Petty had a baby. Along the way, they uncover the five telltale signs that expose artificial music, from juvenile rhyming patterns to voices that shapeshift between tracks. But here's the terrifying part: just six months ago, AI music was unlistenable chaos. Now it's disturbingly competent. And it's only getting better.
Songs Discussed
The Velvet Sundown - "Dust on the Wind"
Post Malone - "Chemical"
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Ohio"
The Velvet Sundown - "Freedom Song"
Kansas - "Dust in the Wind"
The Animals - "House of the Rising Sun"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
The Velvet Sundown - "Where War Remains"
Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here"
The Velvet Sundown - "Ash and Velvet"
Buffalo Springfield - "For What It's Worth"
The Velvet Sundown - "For the Ones We Couldn't Keep"
The Velvet Sundown - "Mirrors in the Smoke"
Pink Floyd - "Breathe"
The Velvet Sundown - "Rebel Shout"
The Velvet Sundown - "Smoke in Silence"
The Velvet Sundown - "Marching Shadows"
The Velvet Sundown - "As the Silence Falls"
The Velvet Sundown - "How Did This Go Wrong?"
Hip Hop Intelligence - "Bar Fight" (AI Wu-Tang)
Hip Hop Intelligence - "Party with Me" (AI Eminem)
Temple of the Acid Fist Records - "Woman Gone Blues" (AI)
"Echoes of Twilight" (AI student example)
The Velvet Underground - "Sweet Jane"
"Whispers of Chaos" (Charlie's AI generation)
Mungo Jerry - "In the Summertime"
Almost Vinyl - "Phil Wildo's Door to Door Dildos" (AI)
Joey Two Legs - "I Shouldn't Have Done That" (hybrid)
Bill Evans AI track (untitled, by Nobody in the Computer)
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