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Soundcheck

Tuesday, October 09, 2007
  • Joy Division
    Joy Division

    Music Moves at the Multiplex

    Joy Division was one of the gloomiest rock bands to emerge from England in the late '70s. The troubled life of the band's front-man, Ian Curtis, is now the subject of the rock biopic "Control." We talk to the film's director, Anton Corbijn. Also: Composer AR Rahman is a star in his native India, having sold more than 100 million albums, and composed the soundtracks to dozens of Bollywood films. Now American audiences are about to get more familiar with his music, which is featured in Cate Blanchett's film "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," which opens this Friday. Finally, Soundcheck's CD Picks of the week.

No Joy in Tragic Tale

The British band Joy Division had a short life in the late 70s, but today it has become one of the biggest influences in alternative rock, with disciples like Interpol and the Killers. The troubled life of the band’s front-man, Ian Curtis, is now the subject of the rock biopic "Control." We talk to the film's director, Anton Corbijn.

Control 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.

Marcel Khalifé: Taqasim (Nagam Records/Connecting Cultures Records)
Marcel Khalifé is a Lebanese composer and master of the Arabic lute oud who lives in exile in Paris. This instrumental record explores the lower registers of the oud and double bass, making music that sounds like poetry. --Gisele Regatao

Taqasim is available for purchase at amazon.com

Corigliano: The Red Violin Concerto; Sonata for Violin and Piano Joshua Bell, violin; Jeremy Denk, piano; Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Sony Classical)
John Corigliano's film score for “The Red Violin” is heard here in a concerto version that showcases the lush violin playing of soloist Joshua Bell. --Brian Wise

The Red Violin Concerto is available for purchase at amazon.com

Saralunden & Andrey Kiritchenko: There Was No End
Swedish singer/synthesizer player meets Ukrainian producer on an album of unhurried, moody, occasionally eerie songs. Definitely late-night listening. --John Schaefer

There Was No End More details on the label's Web site

José González: In Our Nature
An Argentinian Swede is an unlikely way to introduce yourself, but José González is one of the more thoughtful singer-songwriters on the scene, as his latest album attests. --Allison Lichter

In our nature is available for purchase at amazon.com

AR Rahman

Dubbed the Mozart from Madras, AR Rahman is India's best-known composer. While American audiences know the music he wrote for Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit "Bombay Dreams," they’re about to get even more familiar with his work, thanks to "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a film about Queen Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett that opens this Friday.

AR Rahman's Web site

The Swell Season in The Greene Space

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Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

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