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Soundcheck

Thursday, September 22, 2005
  • Tunes for 'Toons by Daniel Goldmark
    Tunes for 'Toons by Daniel Goldmark

    Music and the Hollywood Cartoon

    Throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Hollywood's animated cartoons were a major vehicle for composers writing in a classical and jazz style. Today, music historian Daniel Goldmark gives us a history of the genre, especially the cartoons produced by major animation studios like Warner Bros., MGM, and others. Goldmark's latest book, "Tunes for 'Toons" discusses several well-known cartoons in detail, including "What's Opera, Doc?," the 1957 Warner Bros. parody of Wagner and opera. Also on the show: Associated Press music writer Nekesa Moomby Moody joins us to look at a recent phenomenon: the greatest-hits album. These once stood as a career watershed but in recent years, everyone's doing them. This calls into question just how great they really are.

Is Cartoon Music Great Art?

The musicologist and cartoon music expert shows us why we should stop worrying and learn to love the music from cartoons.
» Tunes for 'Toons Web site

Greatest Hits and Misses

AP music writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody on the ubiquity of the greatest hits album.
» SOME "BEST OF" DISCS ARE WATERED-DOWN, NOT WATERSHEDS

Introducing our Video Contest

Soundcheck

John Schaefer gives the lowdown on Soundcheck's music video challenge with the Fiery Furnaces.

In Studio: Angel Deradoorian

Soundcheck

The 22-year-old multi-instrumentalist performs live in our studio.

Cucu Diamantes Performs Amor Cronico

Soundcheck

Cucu Diamantes went from a tough childhood in Havana, Cuba, to an art school in Rome to underground New York City, where she co-founded the Latin alternative band Yerba Buena.

In Studio: Stephanie McKay

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The local singer-songwriter performs "Jackson Avenue," a nostalgic toast to her childhood in the South Bronx.

In Studio: The Decemberists

The Portland, Ore., band's latest album, "The Hazards of Love," is a concept album with a mythological flair. They joined Soundcheck to play live for a studio audience in WNYC's Greene Space.

Sound Off

Soundcheck

Throughout May, Soundcheck presents “Sound Off” a Friday series on the many aspects of noise in music and our lives. The series -- which coincides with “Better Hearing and Speech Month” -- looks at issues like New York’s noisiest neighborhoods, the latest research on iPods and hearing loss, and what happens when noise becomes a musical ingredient.