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Soundcheck

Tuesday, May 13, 2003
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  • Toy Symphony

    Kids, Toys, and Cartoons

    MIT Media Lab music professor Tod Machover has created a number of "musical training wheels" for young children, several toys, and computer games that allow them to compose. He's in town this week to let kids try out the toys, culminating in a performance of his "Toy Symphony." Also, clarinet, composer and animator Andy Biskin has made cartoons from old drawings by Rube Goldberg, and he performs his original soundtrack along with them this week. If that wasn’t enough fun stuff about town, Time Out New York's Steve Smith drops by to give his concert pick of the week.

Additional Resources:
Boston Globe review of the Toy Symphony
More on Andy Biskin
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: Battleground (08/21/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 2 (08/26/2008)
  4. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 3 (08/27/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Business Connections (08/22/2008)
  6. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Democratic National Convention: Day 4 (08/28/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: 1-2-3 (08/26/2008)