Soundcheck Podcast

It Feels So Good When I Stop is both a book and a record by Joe Pernice, but you don't have to dig one to get the other. They're both terrific.

Amanda Blank's latest, I Love You, pretty well summarizes how we feel about HER. How about that! And only some of us were drinking.

Bitte Orca, the latest from DaveLongstreth's Dirty Projectors project, is a remarkable effort -- in no small part for its dense arrangements, or its sparse arrangements, depending on your point of view. WNPR's Anthony Fantano joins us for a bacchanal of musical geekery.

The latest offering from the Black Eyed Peas has us on the same derisive and page. What a piece of junk.

Michael Jackson is dead -- what has he left behind? Your SoundCheck pals have a rather animated discussion.

Richard Swift's latest record is called The Atlantic Ocean. That's about what separates our opinions of it.

Sonic Youth has returned to an independent label for its latest record, The Eternal. But is it a return to the band's roots?

Green Day's latest, 21st Century Breakdown, begs the question: Is Green Day still punk?

Zach Condon is a man of many musical methods. His latest project(s) is (are) a double-EP comprising Beirut's March of the Zapotec and Realpeople's Holland. If you think that's confusing, wait until you hear the music.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Their self-titled album might inspire games of "spot the influence," but we agree that the buzz is well-earned.

 Franz Ferdinand is back with a strong follow up to their first two albums, but how does this one stack up? We decide, in a PG-13 kind of way.

We join Rolling Stone, Barack Obama and the rest of the free world in heaping praise upon Bruce Springsteen's latest, "Working On A Dream." But we do it in our own special way.

Kanye West's latest, 808s and Heartbreak, has been hailed as one of the best albums of the year. We politely agree with each other until SOMEONE compares it to Kind Of Blue. Oh no you dint!

The most recent comeback album from Britney Spears would probably take, what, 45 minutes or something to listen to all the way through. We do it for you in less than a minute.

Cardinology is the latest from Ryan Adams, a prolific and sometimes-troubled troubador. He gets three thumbs-up from us.

The latest offering from the duo The Cool Kids creates quite a stir in the Soundcheck studio and incites actual physical violence among your hosts. Guess who wins!

Central Chambers, the third album from Northampton, Mass.-based band Winterpills, is eloquent, charming and complex. So are Philip Price and Flora Reed, two members of the band who sat down with us in a Northampton cafe this week to talk about the record.

Is "Feed The Animals" from Girl Talk a moment of musical genius or pure shameless theft? We agree, more or less.

Death Magnetic marks a return to form for Metallica -- but does that make anyone want to listen to it? We say: Yes!

Is "Breakout," the new record from Miley Cyrus, a decent collection of music, or is it just a piece of Disney? We have an animated discussion.