Some of this week's best-selling albums come from heavy metal's flagship act, a producer-songwriter, and the frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish. Today: what Billboard charts reveal about the state of pop music, part of our series, "Who’s on Top, and Who Should Be." Plus: a live performance from Brooklyn-based songwriter Jennifer O’Connor. And, our CD Picks of the Week.
Who's on Top .. and Who Should Be
Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman" debuts at #2 on the Billboard charts but one critic thinks rapper Izza Kizza should be blowing up instead. In the second installment of this monthly series, Slate critic Jody Rosen helps us crack open the Billboard charts to see what the biggest selling albums ...
CD Picks of the Week
Skuli Sverrison, "Seria" (12 Tónar)
For a country with such a small population, Iceland seems to have more musicians than it knows what to do with. So some of them have to leave the musical hotbed of Reykjavik backwaters like London or New York. Bassist Skuli Sverrison is ...
Jennifer O'Connor
A psychic once told Jennifer O’Connor she’d be rich. The no-frills Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter is still not on the Forbes 400, so perhaps the clairvoyant was speaking in metaphor. When it comes to emotionally stirring songs, O’Connor is one of the wealthiest on the New York scene. She joins us for ...
Who's on Top Today?
So Metallica is atop the Billboard 200 chart. Sort of reminds me of the 70s and 80s, when the Billboard album charts regularly featured rock bands. Now? Not so much. Aside from heavy metal (Metallica at #1, Slipknot at #12), there is almost no rock music atop the Billboard charts. ...
Connect with Soundcheck: