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Soundcheck

Friday, December 01, 2006
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  • Alfred Hitchcock playing a mixurtrautonium on set of "The Birds"
    Alfred Hitchcock playing a mixurtrautonium on the set of "The Birds"

    The Music of Hitchcock

    The famous shower scene in "Psycho" wouldn't be half as scary if it weren't for composer Bernard Herrmann's screeching strings. Music elevates many of Hitchcock's most famous scenes from merely gripping to outright to heart-stopping. Today, Jack Sullivan, author of the new book, "Hitchcock's Music," frames his argument for the terrifying power of music. Also on the show: the Microscopic Septet was a fixture on the downtown experimental music scene of the 80s, before splitting up in 1992. (Among their many credits was the theme to WHYY's "Fresh Air.") Now, they're back for a reunion, having recently reissued in two two-CD sets on Cuneiform Records, and they join us today.

From Psycho to Vertigo

Author and cultural historian Jack Sullivan talks about the myriad ways in which Alfred Hitchcock used music in his films.

Hitchcock's Music at Amazon.com

The Microscopic Septet

A visit with the recently (if temporarily) reunited Microscopic Septet, a fixture on the downtown experimental music scene of the 1980s.

Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas

Soundcheck

August 22, 2008
New Orleans singer Irma Thomas has survived 50 years in the music business - and at least two hurricanes. She joins us to talk about her record, Simply Grand.

Bon Iver

Soundcheck

July 30, 2008
Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon spent a winter holed up in his father's hunting cabin in remote Wisconsin, recording songs about solitude that would be released under the name Bon Iver. He joins us to play some of them live.

Billboard Chart

Who's On Top and Who Should Be?

Soundcheck

August 14, 2008
Soundcheck looks at the artists who are reigning atop the Billboard albums chart -- and what their rankings tell us about the state of pop music.

Janelle Monae

The Next Big Things

Soundcheck

Paste magazine editor-in-chief Josh Jackson joins us to talk about Johnny Flynn, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver, Amy MacDonald and other must-hear artists who made Paste’s list of "The Best of What’s Next: 26 Emerging Artists You Should Know."

  1. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 5 (09/05/2008)
  2. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 4 (09/04/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 2 (09/02/2008)
  4. The Leonard Lopate Show: Young'Uns (09/03/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 3 (09/03/2008)
  6. The Leonard Lopate Show: Big Storm (09/04/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: Jazz Can Change Your Life (09/02/2008)