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Soundcheck

Thursday, February 08, 2007
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  • record album

    Why the Album isn't Dead Yet

    Critics have been ringing the death knell for the album format for years. Albums sold 5% less in 2006, whereas digital track sales were up 65%. But don't get too nostalgic yet. We question whether albums were ever blockbusters and see what really makes one. Also: Sicilian tenor Salvatore Licitra joins us to talk about doing double duty at the Met. And finally: your donations, as WNYC's fundraiser gets underway.

Death of the Album?

Is the album format really dead? And if it is, is that such a bad thing for music fans? We get two perspectives.

Salvatore Licitra

Tenor Salvatore Licitra is the opera world's pinch hitter, filling in for an ailing Pavarotti in 2002, and recently, taking on two roles in one night at the Met. He joins us to talk about the art of the last-minute substitution.

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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