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Soundcheck / September 11, 2007

Soundcheck

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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  • 50 Cent's new album "Curtis"
    50 Cent's new album "Curtis"

    Mission Impossible for Rap's Aces

    Hip-hop superstars Kanye West and 50 Cent recently launched a war of words to pump up sales of their new albums. Today on Soundcheck: We ask two critics if Graduation and Curtis live up to their carefully crafted hype. Plus: The string quartet Brooklyn Rider features four young rising stars from New York’s classical music scene. They perform live in our studio.

Tough Talk, Tougher Challenge

50 Cent says he'll retire if his latest album, Curtis, doesn't outsell Kanye West's Graduation. But if neither album does well, hip hop might face something even more daunting than the loss of a star. We talk with Sasha Frere-Jones, pop music critic at The New Yorker magazine, and Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune pop music critic and co-host of public radio's "Sound Opinions."

Greg Kot blogs about Kanye West and 50 Cent at "Turn It Up"
Video: Jay Smooth of "Ill Doctrine" on boycotting new albums

Brooklyn Rider

The string quartet Brooklyn Rider joins us to preview its latest piece, "Brooklesca" ("in the Brooklyn style"), written by violinist Colin Jacobsen and built on Gypsy themes. They perform Wednesday and Friday with the pipa player Wu Man at Bargemusic.

Brooklyn Rider at Bargemusic
Musicians for Harmony concert details

The Pacifica Quartet

Soundcheck

Carter Burwell and Maya Beiser

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Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar's Ode to Jack Kerouac

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The Ill Effects of Urban Noise

The Ill Effects of Urban Noise

Soundcheck

Soundcheck received an overwhelming response to our segment on the effects of urban noise. So much so that Arline Bronzaft decided to address the feedback. Listen to the original segment and read Bronzaft's response.

RZA on the Tao of Wu

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