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Soundcheck

Monday, March 03, 2008
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  • "Passing Strange" and "In the Heights"

    Rocking the Broadway Stage

    "Passing Strange" and "In the Heights" are a pair of new musicals that are smashing Broadway clichés with electric guitars, hip-hop and salsa. Today, we look at musicals that could save Broadway from cheesiness. Also: Singer and songwriter Kate McGarry's album "The Target" has won numerous critical plaudits, including Downbeat magazine's list of the top CDs of 2007. She performs live in our studio.

Breaking the Broadway Mould

For years, Broadway producers have been chasing a younger, more diverse audience than the relatively homogeneous crowd that usually fills the orchestra seats. Two new shows take a stab at it: "In the Heights" uses hip-hop and salsa to animate its family-friendly tale about the residents of a Latino neighborhood; "Passing Strange" is the tale of a Los Angeles-based alt-rocker named Stew. Joining us are Jeremy McCarter, theater critic of New York magazine; and Richard Zoglin, senior editor and theater critic of Time magazine.

CD Picks of the Week

Four stand-out new albums, as chosen by the Soundcheck staff.

What Made Milwaukee Famous, "What Doesn’t Kill Us" (Barsuk)

This band is not, in fact, from a certain Wisconsin city made famous by breweries. The Austin, Texas-based group is named after a Jerry Lee Lewis song about an inebriated loser. But these guys are winning opening spots for the Smashing Pumpkins and Arcade Fire. Their second album rocks in all the right places, especially if you like Death Cab for Cutie or fellow Austinites, Spoon.--picked by Joel Meyer

Gilberto Gil, "Duetos" (Warner Musica Latina)

Gilberto Gil has been a star in Brazilian music since he helped create Tropicalia, in the 60s. But it was politics that almost killed his musical career. For the past five years, Gil has been the country’s minister of culture and he almost lost his voice after delivering many speeches. The voice problems are evident in some tracks of his latest album, "Duetos." The good thing is that the record spans over 30 years of his career, in duets with people as diverse as singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and rocker Cassia Eller. Also here: late singer and composer Chico Science – one of the founders of the Mangue Beat cultural movement -- and rapper Marcelo D2 (De Dois).--picked by Gisele Regatao

Prism Quartet: Pitch Black, Music for Saxophones by Jacob TV (Innova)

The Dutch new music scene has been one of Europe’s wildest since the '70s, and the composer Jacob TV – real name Jacob ter Velduis – is one of its wildest stars. TV grew up a fan of rock music and American media – television and movies especially. In the '90s he began writing composed works built around sampled sounds from those sources, developing an in-your-face style that says as much about the media as it does about Jacob’s music. Philadelphia’s Prism sax quartet has just released an album of some of these insistent, often fiery pieces – the ones that feature saxes, obviously. --picked by John Schaefer

Bartok: String Quartets 1-6, Belcea Quartet (EMI)

Bartók's six string quartets are arguably the most important and revolutionary cycle of string quartets after Beethoven’s. Intricate, clever, and incredibly physical, these works are tinged with the folk rhythms of Bartok’s native Hungary. Britain’s Belcea Quartet has just recorded the complete cycle and prove here why they are one of the best of the younger quartets on the scene. They’re currently on a US tour that will take them to Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in April. --picked by Brian Wise

Kate McGarry live

Singer and songwriter Kate McGarry is often labeled a jazz vocalist but her repertoire is much more expansive. It includes songs by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and The Cars, plus the Irish tunes of her family's roots. Her album "The Target" was chosen as one of Downbeat magazine's top CDs of 2007. She performs live in our studio.

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: Live from Denver (08/29/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 4 (08/28/2008)
  4. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 3 (08/27/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 2 (08/26/2008)
  6. The Leonard Lopate Show: 1-2-3 (08/26/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: Layered Look (08/27/2008)