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Soundcheck

Monday, September 24, 2007
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  • pills

    When the No-Show Bug Goes Around

    An epidemic of cancellations has rocked the music world this fall, whether it's soul singer Amy Winehouse (a stint in rehab), rock act The White Stripes (acute anxiety). Today, we examine why cancellations occur and we talk to Nick Luca, front man for the band Luca, who has a harrowing tale of ill-health on the road. Also: Indian-born, New York-based singer Kiran Ahluwalia is one of the more eclectic voices on the world music scene. She specializes in Ghazal (classical love songs) and Punjab folk music but blends them with Portuguese fado African blues, jazz and more. She performs live in the studio.

Troubled Tours

Amy Winehouse, The White Stripes, and several other high-profile musicians have been canceling concert tours this fall. Today, Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade publication Pollstar, explains why cancellations occur and how concert presenters cope with them. We also speak with singer Nick Luca who ended up in the Emergency Room while on tour with John Doe (X), the result of undetected diabetes.

Pollstar's Web site

Soundcheck CD Picks of the Week

Each week, the Soundcheck staff digs through their inboxes for the best, catchiest, or strangest music they can find.

Georgie James: Places (Saddle Creek)
Take one Washington D.C. punk rocker, add one heartfelt singer-songwriter, and you get the hyper-energetic candy pop duo Georgie James. On their full-length debut, Places, Davis and Burhenn pump out irresistible hooks and harmonies. --Joel Meyer

Places is available for purchase at amazon.com

Michael Holt: Windows
Once a member of a critically acclaimed but woefully underappreciated band called The Mommyheads, this former New Yorker has since moved to Toronto and has been putting out albums under his own name for a few years. His songs range from the sublime to the surreal in any given tune, all sung in a lovely tenor. --Irene Trudel

For more information, please visit Michael Holt's website: http://www.mommyheads.com/holt.html

Tunng: Good Arrows
The term "folktronica" was coined to try to describe this oddly-named UK sextet and their signature sound: a blend of elliptical storytelling and folksy acoustic guitars with the production techniques of ambient and glitch electronica. But on this, their third full-length CD, Tunng goes for a richer, more accessible pop sound. --John Schaefer

Good Arrows is available for purchase at amazon.com

Lucerne Festival Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado: Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (Lucerne Festival Edition)
The name Lucerne Festival Orchestra, a young, multi-national ensemble based in Switzerland, was founded only five years ago. It’s now slated to open Carnegie Hall’s 2007-08 season next week. This new recording of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony shows them at their finest. --Brian Wise

For more information, please visit the website of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra: http://e.lucernefestival.ch/page/content/view.asp?MenuID=3034&ID=3179&Menu=13&Item=15

Kiran Ahluwalia

Born in Indian, raised in Canada and now based in New York, singer Kiran Ahluwalia blends many musical styles into her own performances, including Punjabi folk music, Portuguese fado, Saharan African blues and more. She performs live in the studio.

Kiran Ahluwalia's 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,

  1. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention (08/25/2008)
  2. The Brian Lehrer Show: Battleground (08/21/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 2 (08/26/2008)
  4. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 3 (08/27/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Business Connections (08/22/2008)
  6. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 4 (08/28/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: 1-2-3 (08/26/2008)