wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Soundcheck

Monday, December 03, 2007
  • super fuzz

    Own the Record? See the Concert.

    Music industry watchers say the album is a dead format, killed off by the popularity of song downloads. Today on Soundcheck, find out how the spirit of the album lives on: Mark Arm of the band Mudhoney and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune talk to guest host Elisabeth Vincentelli about live-album concerts. And later: Few bands can boast a Pulitzer Prize-winner in their ranks. Seeking that elusive place where "Cole Porter meets prog and punk," the group Rackett performs live in our studio.

Albums Find New Life ... Live

As sales of "digital singles" continue to rise, a familiar format -- the album -- is enjoying a reprieve at live concerts. Veteran acts like Sonic Youth, Mudhoney and even Lucinda Williams have staged live, full-album performances of fan favorites. Guest host Elisabeth Vincentelli asks Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm and Chicago Tribune pop music critic Greg Kot about the appeal of live-album shows and what they suggest about the music industry.

Weigh in: If you've seen an album performed life, what did you think? If not, what album would you pay to see performed live?

Mudhoney web site
Mudhoney on MySpace
More about Don't Look Back concerts

Rackett

Paul Muldoon is a Pulitzer prize-winning poet who is also the leader of the band Rackett. He describes their music as "where Cole Porter meets prog and punk, or Ira Gershwin glam and grunge." They join us to explain what that means, and they play live in studio.

More about Rackett

The Swell Season in The Greene Space

Soundcheck

Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

Soundcheck