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Soundcheck / January 15, 2008

Soundcheck

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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  • film poster for John Ford's The Searchers
    film poster for John Ford's The Searchers

    How the West is Sung

    The revival of Hollywood westerns means the return of the genre's classic iconography - fearless gunslingers, ruthless outlaws, tumbleweeds. It also means some increasingly unconventional musical scores. Today, we explore the changing sound of the movie western - from the classic era of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood to revivals like "3:10 to Yuma" AND "There Will Be Blood." Also: singer-songwriter Tyler Ramsey shares his latest album "Swimming Across the Sea," and performs live in our studio.

Western Soundtracks: Back in the Saddle

Just as Hollywood's latest crop of Westerns take a revisionist view of frontier life, their musical scores sound incredibly different from those of the classics of the 50s and 60s. Today, we look at the changing sound of the Western with Jon Burlingame, a film music historian who teaches at USC and writes for Variety; and Kathryn Kalinak, author of How the West Was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford.

How the West Was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford
Jon Burlingame's Variety articles

Tyler Ramsey Live

Before singer and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Ramsey joined the critically lauded Band of Horses this year, he was a versatile solo artist and sideman in Asheville, N.C. We talk with Ramsey about how the slow, mournful sounds on his new CD "A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea" caught the attention of one of the buzziest bands in rock. And he performs live in the studio.

Tyler Ramsey's Myspace page

Introducing our Video Contest

Soundcheck

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

In Studio: Los Amigos Invisibles

Soundcheck

The Venezuelan funk-rock band "Los Amigos Invisibles" was discovered by David Byrne in a Manhattan record shop. They perform live on Soundcheck.

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.

The Decemberists

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.

headphone

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.