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Soundcheck

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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  • Yankee Stadium
    (Tadef/Flickr)

    Baseball's Greatest Hits

    Few sports have inspired a broader range of music than baseball. Major songwriters and composers have tackled baseball as a subject; several players are musicians themselves (Bernie Williams, Denny McLain); and just about every big star these days has a personal theme song that plays when they go up to bat. Today, as the Yankees open their home season in the Bronx, a look at baseball's soundtrack with Tim Wiles, director of research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. Also: with Passover approaching, we visit with Aaron Bisman and Jacob Harris, who together run JDub Records, a Jewish record label and production company that was behind the success of Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu. They're also part of a trend towards making Jewish culture hip. Finally: The British punk act Art Brut, one of the most ubiquitous bands at this year's South By Southwest Festival, joins us.

Hit Music

A look at the many ways in which baseball is featured in music with Tim Wiles, director of research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.
» The Baseball Hall of Fame Web site
» For the Sandman, Déjà Vu All Over Again by Richard Sandomir

Too Cool for Shul

A conversation with the directors of JDub Records about making Jewish culture hip.
» JDub Records Web site

Art Brut

Scottish band Art Brut shares their debut album, "Bang Bang Rock & Roll."
» Art Brut's Web site

Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas

Soundcheck

August 22, 2008
New Orleans singer Irma Thomas has survived 50 years in the music business - and at least two hurricanes. She joins us to talk about her record, Simply Grand.

Bon Iver

Soundcheck

July 30, 2008
Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon spent a winter holed up in his father's hunting cabin in remote Wisconsin, recording songs about solitude that would be released under the name Bon Iver. He joins us to play some of them live.

Billboard Chart

Who's On Top and Who Should Be?

Soundcheck

August 14, 2008
Soundcheck looks at the artists who are reigning atop the Billboard albums chart -- and what their rankings tell us about the state of pop music.

Janelle Monae

The Next Big Things

Soundcheck

Paste magazine editor-in-chief Josh Jackson joins us to talk about Johnny Flynn, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver, Amy MacDonald and other must-hear artists who made Paste’s list of "The Best of What’s Next: 26 Emerging Artists You Should Know."

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