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Soundcheck

Monday, November 28, 2005
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  • river

    Music on the Other Side of the River

    Today on Soundcheck, a look at New Jersey's thriving music scene. If you haven't been paying attention lately, music in New Jersey is more than just Bruce Springsteen and hair bands from the Shore. The suburbs outside of New York City have given rise to pop-punk bands like My Chemical Romance and Fountains of Wayne. There's a jazz scene thriving again in Newark, and there’s also cutting-edge classical fare to be found in Montclair and Princeton. We're joined by Tammy La Gorce, who writes about music for the New York Times New Jersey section and Todd Abrahamson, the owner and talent booker of the Hoboken rock club Maxwell's. Also, a conversatino with the German-born singeer and bandleader Max Raabe.

Music West of the Hudson

We take a look at the New Jersey music scene and take your calls on the best places to hear your favorite music.
» New Jersey Music Hall of Fame Web site
» Maxwell's Web site

Bandleaders Past and Present

The young bandleader Max Raabe 's records outsell the Beatles in some places. We speak with the German-born upstart today on the show.
» Palast Orchester Web site

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,

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