wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

On Demand

Program Schedule

Topics


Soundcheck

Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Previous Episode | Next Episode
  • Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon is a popular concept album from the 1970s. (© Capitol Records)

    Concept Albums Make a Comeback

    The concept album became popular in the 1970s with records like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Who's Tommy. The format, long passe, is making a surprising comeback through today's pop musicians including Green Day's hit album American Idiot. Today, Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine and executive editor of Tracks magazine discusses how the genre has stubbornly refused to disappear. Also: How loud is too loud? This question has come up not only among rock musicians but also orchestra members lately. Today we look at the issue with Colin Paris, a bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra and a member of the orchestra's "noise team," and with Marshall Chasin, an audiologist at the Musicians' Clinics of Canada.

Additional Resources:
» Green Day's 'American Idiot' still atop the Billboard chart
» Musicians' Clinics of Canada Web site
» Concept albums are hip again
audience

Soundcheck Smackdown: When Contemporary Met Classical

Soundcheck

Like vegetables stuck into a delicious meal, contemporary classical music is forced on concert audiences before they are allowed to enjoy their Brahms. So says humorist, critic and author Joe Queenan. Today, Queenan and John Berry, Artistic Director with English National Opera, join us for a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on the merits of contemporary music.

musical clouds

You Are What You Hear

Soundcheck

Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi takes us through some of the most famously botched song lyrics in rock history. We’ll explore why the words we make up are usually more interesting than the real version. Then, listeners confess their favorite and most embarrassing reinvented lyrics.

Leave a comment: Give us your favorite set of misheard lyrics! Were you disappointed when you learned the actual words?

Rosanne Cash and Mark O'Connor

Soundcheck

For her, he was a father. For him, he was a boyhood hero. For the nation, he was an icon. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and composer and violinist Mark O'Connor join us to talk about how Johnny Cash has inspired their musical collaboration. And they will play live.

Katy

Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll

Soundcheck

Every year, popular and critical opinion somehow converge to settle on a "summer song." In 2007, it was Rihanna's "Umbrella." The year before, it was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. The practice stretches back to the very dawn of pop radio. Yet defining the essence of a "summer song" is a bit elusive. We enlist the help of Blender editor at large Lizzy Goodman -- and of our Soundcheck listeners, in an online poll.

Cast your vote: Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll 2008

Can't decide? Check out audio and video clips of the contestants here.

Our blog: John Schaefer asks what makes a good summer song,

  1. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention (08/25/2008)
  2. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from Denver (08/29/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 4 (08/28/2008)
  4. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 3 (08/27/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 2 (08/26/2008)
  6. The Leonard Lopate Show: 1-2-3 (08/26/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: Layered Look (08/27/2008)