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Soundcheck

Monday, April 16, 2007
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  • (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alialhasani/331474080/" target="_blank">Ali Alhasani</a>/flickr)
    (Ali Alhasani/flickr)

    To Sit ... or Not To Sit

    For rock music fans, it’s a classic concert conundrum: Stand up and risk being impolite, or remain seated and risk missing the show. Join us for a debate on the fine line between minding your manners at a concert — and rockin’ out. Plus, a conversation with composer and guitarist David Torn.

Sit Down! Stand Up!

Could sitting at a rock concert be a sign that you're over the hill? For PopMatters.com columnist Meta Wagner, the decision to sit rather than stand at a concert is "a sign of giving up on the youthful exuberance that defines the rock concert experience." New York Times music critic Kelefeh Sanneh isn't so sure. We talk to both writers - and take your calls - in a debate that might just bring you to your feet.

Meta Wagner's column on PopMatters

David Torn

On his latest CD, Prezens, composer and guitarist David Torn crafts heavy sonic layers with the help of experimental jazz artists Tim Berne, Craig Taborn and Tom Rainey. He drops by Soundcheck on the eve of his Tuesday night gig at Joe's Pub.

David Torn's web site

My Humps

Alanis Morisette is making a comeback with her strange, moody cover of the Blackeyed Peas song "My Humps." Idolator.com associate editor Maura Johnston tells us why.

"My Humps" by Alanis Morisette

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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