Sasha Frere-Jones

Lawrence English considers it his job to document sound, to question the mechanics underpinning our ways of listening. It's not always simple.

We don’t usually think of pop music lyrics as being very deep. But a huge number of internet searches are for lyrics. Why are they suddenly so important?

Acts like Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings and Eli (Paperboy) Reed present a soul sound that some cast as throwbacks to the sixties and seventies. Writer Siddhartha Mitter says that these revival acts walk a fine line between homage and pastiche. But New Yorker critic Sasha-Frere Jones, once a skeptic, says that they’re moving the genre forward.

Last week, three days before turning 69, superstar tenor Placido Domingo appeared at the Metropolitan Opera at in title role of Verdi’s opera “Simon Boccanegra.” The reviews have been largely positive. Yet other singers have much less success with vocal preservation. Today, we look at how aging effects the voice, ...

Twitter first made a splash with music insiders at the 2007 South by Southwest Festival. Two years later, the social-networking tool is being used by musicians, fans and critics in ways that make blogs look outdated. But can anything musical really be summed up in 140 characters or less? In ...

Cher used Antares Auto-Tune in 1998 for her song "Believe," and few paid much attention. But lately, the robotic sounding vocal effect has become standard among rap and R&B acts from T-Pain to Kanye West and others. New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones and producer and mixer David Bendeth ...

In the rock world, bass guitar is a bit like Rodney Dangerfield: no respect. Bassists often live in the shadow of flashy guitarists and charismatic singers. Now, some of rock's most successful acts -- the White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Black Keys among them -- don't even ...

Lil’ Wayne claims to be the best rapper alive, but it took New Orleans' most famous guest MC two years to put out his new album. In another Soundcheck Smackdown, we debate Lil’ Wayne’s claim to greatness and his new album, "Tha Carter III." Joining us in studio: Sasha Frere-Jones, ...

A classically trained cellist from Iowa who cut his teeth on New York's downtown '80s art scene, composer Arthur Russell recorded everything from disco to experimental music to haunting electronic ballads. He died in 1992 at age 40. Matt Wolf, director of the new documentary "Wild Combination: A Portrait of ...

50 Cent says he'll retire if his latest album, Curtis, doesn't outsell Kanye West's Graduation. But if neither album does well, hip hop might face something even more daunting than the loss of a star. We talk with Sasha Frere-Jones, pop music critic at The New Yorker magazine, and Greg ...

A certain Icelandic songstress is earning rave reviews for her new Volta and the live shows she's performed in support of it. We talk with New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere Jones about the role musical collaborators and the singer's high-profile played in the new CD. And, we find out ...