WNYC's Soundcheck
WNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck where John Schaefer hosts lively, inquisitive conversations with established and up-and-coming figures from New York City's ever-evolving music scene.
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Gadgets That Haven't Been Invented (Yet) (Soundcheck: Friday, 06 November 2009)
With the holiday shopping season on the horizon, tech companies are rolling out new MP3 players, iPod accessories, mobile apps and more. New York Times technology columnist David Pogue recently asked his Twitter followers for ideas for gadgets that don't exist. He joins us to share some of the resul …
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Bill T. Jones (Soundcheck: Friday, 06 November 2009)
The 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth inspired the choreographer Bill T. Jones to explore the sixteenth president’s life in two major works: Fondly Do We Hope ... Fervently Do We Pray and Serenade/The Proposition. The often-provocative Jones joins us to talk about the meaning of Lincoln f …
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Picks of the Week (Soundcheck: Thursday, 05 November 2009)
This week's picks include some icy sounds, an economic power trio and a multicultural bunch. Click here to read our full reviews.
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All Work and No Play - But High Pay (Soundcheck: Thursday, 05 November 2009)
The stagehands that push the pianos onto the stage at Carnegie Hall make more than the musicians who play them. Bloomberg News recently revealed that the top stagehands there earn $500,000 a year. Reporter Philip Boroff tells us about this specialized corner of the music industry.
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City Opera Launches a New Season (Soundcheck: Thursday, 05 November 2009)
New York City Opera opens its 2009-10 season with a gala tonight after an off-season of drastic cost-cutting measures. General manager George Steel sought concessions from unions – including stagehands – as part of his efforts to bring the beleaguered company back to financial stability. We get a pr …
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The Very Best (Soundcheck: Thursday, 05 November 2009)
The London, UK-trio The Very Best released a critically lauded free mixtape last year that sampled everyone from Vampire Weekend to Michael Jackson and it also got the music blogs buzzing about their rather uniquely Western take on African pop music. Their debut full-length, Warm Heart of Africa, ca …
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Carly Simon (Soundcheck: Wednesday, 04 November 2009)
Carly Simon was in her 20s when she wrote songs like "You're So Vain" and "Anticipation." Over 30 years later, she re-recorded them on a new album, Never Been Gone. They came out so different that Simon says it was like "a visit with a psychiatrist." She joins us to talk about the making of her late …
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Conducting Your Way to the Top (Soundcheck: Wednesday, 04 November 2009)
Roger Nierenberg is a conductor and creator of the Music Paradigm, a program that invites executives to sit inside an orchestra and even try their hand at conducting. He joins us to share his observations on why he thinks conducting can turn business executives into successful leaders as recounted i …
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Musician Activists: Passion or Publicity? (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 03 November 2009)
Last year's presidential election brought out a groundswell of political action by musicians. This year, the causes are lower in profile: Singer Will.i.Am is pushing for health care reform. Trent Reznor, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam are joining a movement to close Guantanamo. But can they effect any real ch …
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Musician activists: passion or publicity? (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 03 November 2009)
Last year's presidential election brought out a groundswell of political action by musicians. This year, the causes are lower in profile: Singer Will.i.Am is pushing for health care reform. Trent Reznor, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam are joining a movement to close Guantanamo. But can they effect any real ch …
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Msician activists: passion or publicity? (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 03 November 2009)
Last year's presidential election brought out a groundswell of political action by musicians. This year, the causes are lower in profile: Singer Will.i.Am is pushing for health care reform. Trent Reznor, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam are joining a movement to close Guantanamo. But can they effect any real ch …
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Vijay Iyer (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 03 November 2009)
Composer and pianist Vijay Iyer has long mixed two genres in his work: jazz and Indian music. On his latest album, Histrocity, he not only covers the jazz standards, but also sets his sight on popular music with covers of songs by M.I.A and Stevie Wonder.
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Behind the Curtain: To Peek or Not To Peek (Soundcheck: Monday, 02 November 2009)
"Myth and mystery have always been crucial to the worship of music," according to NPR blogger and former Sleater Kinney member Carrie Brownstein. But in an age of blogs and tabloids, she asks: "Where is the mystery now?" It might be found in life of an international DJ, as described by Jace Clayton, …
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Alessandra Belloni (Soundcheck: Monday, 02 November 2009)
In Southern Italy, the trance dance known as the tarantella was used to cure a mental disorder among women -- who felt stuck in the spider web of their society. Singer and percussionist Alessandra Belloni joins us to share this and other histories of the tarantella. And, she performs live in our stu …
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Music Pharmacology (Soundcheck: Friday, 30 October 2009)
If new research is any indication, music someday may be widely used in operating rooms to help ease patient anxiety during surgery. A recent study at Cleveland Clinic found that music can slow the neuronal firings deep within the brain during surgery designed to treat Parkinson's patients. Our guest …
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Lauren Flanigan (Soundcheck: Friday, 30 October 2009)
New York City Opera -- beleaguered but showing signs of renewal -- is opening its season with a rarity, Hugo Weisgall's 1993 opera Esther. Singing the title role is soprano Lauren Flanigan, who has long been the company’s prima diva and known for tackling offbeat and difficult roles. She joins us to …
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America's Quintessential Music (Soundcheck: Thursday, 29 October 2009)
Born from the meeting of ragtime and blues, jazz journeyed to Chicago, New York and beyond. Along the way, the music became as complex as America itself. Music critic and scholar Gary Giddins, co-author of the new book Jazz, explains how he tackled that epic history.
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Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar's Ode to Jack Kerouac (Soundcheck: Thursday, 29 October 2009)
Two big names in alternative music are joining forces to pay tribute to Jack Kerouac, the godfather of alternative fiction. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Jay Farrar of Son Volt join us to talk about and perform songs from their soundtrack for the new documentary, One Fast Move or I’m Gone: …
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Doris Day: The reclusive Hollywood star (Soundcheck: Wednesday, 28 October 2009)
Her "girl next door" looks, charming personality and acting in numerous films such as The Man Who Knew Too Much, Pillow Talk, and Midnight Lace made Doris Day Hollywood's biggest female star from the late 1940s into the early 1960s. While trying to step away from the public limelight in the followin …
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Carter Burwell and Maya Beiser (Soundcheck: Wednesday, 28 October 2009)
Film composer Carter Burwell has had a storied career as a film composer for the past two decades. Known for his longtime collaboration with the Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze in which he has scored all their films, including their latest, A Serious Man and Where The Wild Things Are, respectively. He …
WNYC's Soundcheck
