Soundcheck

Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme is best known as the filmmaking force behind movies like Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia, and Rachel Getting Married. But music fans know that he's one of us. After all, he did the classic Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, and a trio of Neil Young documentaries. Now, Demme has focused his lens on a musician most people have never heard of: Italian saxophonist, singer and songwriter Enzo Avitabile. Avitabile uses traditional southern Italian rhythms and instruments -- many of which double as farming implements –-- as the basis for his own brand of world music. Demme discusses his new film, Enzo Avitabile Music Life, as well as some of the most iconic musical scenes in his movies. A version of this segment originally aired on Nov. 9, 2012.

In the age of DVRs and online streaming, more people are binge-watching their favorite television shows, several episodes at a time. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Steve Knopper says new viewing habits are having an impact on TV theme songs. Knopper talks about what could be a new golden age for such songs. "My favorite example right now is Regina Spektor's great song 'You've Got Time,' which is in the opening credits of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix," says Knopper. "The more you listen to it, the more you think about the different meanings of the song. You don't want to fast-forward the credits; you find something new in them every time."    

The New York City band Television made its debut in 1977 with the album, Marquee Moon. The now-canonical record has been called "one of the all-time classic guitar albums” (Rolling Stone) and “the first punk jam album” (Spin). While punk cohorts like Patti Smith revisit the age through memoir, writer Bryan Waterman has taken the documentarian’s approach. He recently explored the myth and music of Television -- and the New York scene they inhabited - for the 33 1/3 book series. Watarman gives us a fresh look at the seminal album. This segment originally aired on Aug. 17, 2011. Listeners: What is Marquee Moon's place in rock history? Leave a comment below.

Bell X1 is Ireland's second biggest rock band -- after U2, of course -- but that success didn't come immediately. The group has experienced a slew of changes, namely when vocalist Damien Rice -- who once led the band when it was known by a different name, Juniper -- left the band. Soon, drummer Paul Noonan joined, and the band's remaining members -- David Geraghty and Dominic Philips --  changed the name to Bell X1. Now, with its sixth and latest album, Chop Chop, Bell X1 is undergoing another change, albeit a musical one. For Chop Chop, Bell X1's members recorded the album in Bridgeport, Conn. over two weeks, turning to Peter Katis, the producer for The National, and Thomas Bartlett, the musician and producer known as Doveman. The result is a collection that feels like another evolution. Known for infusing its equally wistful and joyful songs with electronics and lots of layers, the new record sounds considerably leaner in scope. "The challenge was in making the songs rich and robust without losing the fragility and intimacy that made them so striking in the first place," explains Bartlett. Still, despite Bell X1's move to a slightly more minimal palette, the music contains plenty of lovely, skittering sounds, carefully crafted melodies and epic, rafters-shaking moments.     Set List: "The End Is Nigh" "Careful What You Wish For" "Motorcades"

One thing that everyone in country music can agree on is that the genre just isn’t what it used to be. But that seems to be about the only thing that the country artists can agree on at this point, as they’re increasingly taking sides in a battle between so-called “traditional country” and “pop country.” We talk with Entertainment Weekly writer Grady Smith and Nashville radio host and author Craig Havighurst about the civil war brewing within the genre. 

While the mayoral race is still underway in New York City, another race has come to a close: Soundcheck's Remix The Mayor Listener Challenge, which, for the last month, asked listeners to take short clips of quotes from past New York mayors and craft them into songs. Now it's time to announce the finalists -- and declare our winner. To help, we turned to guest judges: Julie Klausner, the writer, comedian and host of the podcast How Was Your Week, and Evan Gregory, of the Gregory Brothers, whose AutoTune The News and Songify The News videos have taken political remixing to a new level of funny. Given their comedy backgrounds, both unsurprisingly said that at least partially informed what they were looking for in a good remix. "Maybe this is because I watch too much competitive reality television -- I watch too much Top Chef and Face Off," says Klausner. "But I was looking for something that really fulfilled the assignment and spoke to the challenge. It featured the soundbite prominently and that there was humor in it didn't hurt at all." "We always come from a humorous standpoint, or often do," Gregory adds. "Although I was looking for that, it wasn't necessarily a hard criteria. For me, the biggest thing was: did it capture the character of some of the soundbites and elevate it in some way? So overall, what did our judges think the three finalists? "I thought they were great," says Klausner. "There were a couple that were so catchy that I would just have them on my iPod anyway. It was one of those things where I could never imagine doing it myself. [I] was really impressed with the process that must have given birth to these songs." "I was most impressed by the great variety in the submissions," says Gregory. "There were danceable beats, and these sort of dreamy psychedelic entries."   Listen To The Finalists: Jules, Chris, Trevor, "Mayoral Remix"   Julie Klausner: "I like that I've never done MDMA, but I imagine that it would be similar to what I've just heard." Evan Gregory: "That refrain, it's just magical that they just pulled out. And I love that they composed their own musical bed that captures this character. And they even included or incorporated some of the mayor's vocal pauses -- the ums and the uhs -- became the part of the fabric of the song. I love this one." Julie Klausner: "It had a lot of variety. The chorus wouldn't necessarily have to live in the same world as the samples and the verses." The New Lines, "They Pretend To Be Happy But They Are Not"   Evan Gregory: "I would go so far as to call this is a "Songification" -- which they lengthen his speech and were able to tease out this melody from LaGuardia. It sounds fantastic, and they accompanied it perfectly with this kind of waltz feel. It really works. And they focus specifically on this one sample and tried to pull out everything they could from it. They picked a great sample, because it is an eternal political truth: That they pretend to be happy." Julie Klausner: "This was the prettiest one... the one I liked listening to the most. But I think the song is the focus... I don't know whenever you've ever seen someone who wants a tattoo covered up, they don't like their tattoo so they want a bigger tattoo and it's a lot prettier, but you can't really see the original. But for me, I feel like the original LaGuardia quote is kind of the original tattoo that they're sorta just fitting into a bigger, prettier… They wanna do an "Incense and Peppermints" style song, which I love... but I don't feel like it preserved the integrity of the quote." And The Winner Is... Jon Altschuler, "Move Your Car, Move Your Body"   Julie Klausner: "This is a party. I picture all the mayors just like getting down in a room. This is what remix culture in its most celebratory is. This is a big success. I just can't help but smile listening to it. Evan Gregory: "Musically… both Ed Koch and LaGuardia, the cadence of their voices fits so well into the rhythm of this remix, you almost im

In 2000, there wasn't anything quite like Deltron 3030's high-concept world-building music. On its self-titled album, the Bay Area alternative hip-hop supergroup -- comprised of veteran MC Del the Funky Homosapien, Kid Koala and producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura -- unleashed a dense dystopian future set in the year 3030, where Deltron Zero (Del's alter ego) battled against corporate overlords. It was a decidedly sci-fi and geek culture-leaning record -- before that notion became cool -- full of intricate raps and cosmic production. Since then, rumors of a follow-up led to delays and postponements that stretched on for years. But now, 13 years later, Deltron 3030 has finally regrouped and is revisiting that future -- this time, set in 3040 -- on the sequel, Event II. This time out, the group is joined by a slew of unlikely guest stars -- from Rage Against The Machine's Zack De La Rocha and The Lonely Island to actors Joseph Gordon Levitt and Amber Tamblyn, comedian David Cross and even chef David Chang. Still, despite the extra star-power, Event II is definitely darker. The songs and skits delve deeper into the storyline, depicting a bleak post-apocalyptic hellscape where they can comment on the present: There are clear references to economic desperation, wealth gaps, and over-reaching government surveillance. It's a bold, if sometimes unwieldy album, but an inventive one. Watch Deltron 3030 recreate the songs and sounds from Event II in the Soundcheck studio.     Set List:  "The Return" "Nobody Can" "City Rising From The Ashes"

CBGB -- the legendary club on the Bowery that closed its doors for good in 2006 -- is finding new life on the silver screen. A new movie simply called “CBGB” paints a grimy-yet-humorous portrait of the club's opening in the 1970s, as well as the concurrent advent of the punk scene in New York. The club's founder, Hilly Kristal, is played by Alan Rickman, and other key figures from the club's heyday -- from Blondie to Sting to Joey Ramone -- are represented as well.  We talk with the film's director, Randall Miller, as well as Cheetah Chrome -- guitarist for the punk band The Dead Boys, who often played at CBGB and were managed by the club's owner, Hilly Kristal.   Randall Miller, on why he wanted to make a movie about CBGB: There's a generation of kids who don't know how it started, and where it started. The Dead Boys, Television, Ramones, Blondie -- all those great bands. You want to give them due, see how they started. That was important to us.  Cheetah Chrome on capturing the ethos of punk: I think a sense of humor was something the definitely got missed at the time [in the '70s]. Everybody thought it was all nihilism and violence and all that -- it was mostly about humor. It was about ridiculing society and what was going on. We didn't have a whole lot of tact, or good taste, but...  Miller, on building the "CBGB" set:  We got to know the folks who are putting on the CBGB Festival, and they had in storage in Williamsburg, they had the bar, the doors, the toilets, everything. So when we built our set we had that all shipped to us in a storage container. And I remember opening up the bar, and it was there.

This week's Pick Three comes with a twist! Of lemon, lime, a splash of soda. That’s because this Pick Three comes with a beverage pairing courtesy of Rosie Schaap, "Drink" columnist for the New York Times Magazine and author of the memoir Drinking With Men. "I have strong seasonal tendencies with both music and drink." Schaap says. "For me, autumn is essentially about two things: Spooky old folk songs, and brown liquor." Below are three of her favorite singers, with drinks to match.   On Jean Ritchie's "Lord Randall": Jean Ritchie hails from the Bluegrass State, so Kentucky bourbon must be drunk with this. Poor Lord Randall probably could’ve used a few fingers of it himself. Pick something strong, like Wild Turkey’s Rare Breed, at 108.6 proof, and drink it neat.        On "The Poor Murdered Woman" from Shirley Collins:  I always think there’s something so quintessentially English about Shirley Collins, and something so straightforward about her singing. All I want with this is a pint of good English ale, like Wells Bombardier—which was introduced to me by John Stoate, another great English character, and the founder of one of my favorite pubs, the Man of Kent in Hoosick Falls, New York.    On "Reynardine" from Fairport Convention: Is he a fox? A were-fox? An Irish outlaw? An ornery mountain man? A little bit of each? We’ll never know, and we’ll also never know the fate of the maiden with whom he crosses paths. In any case, this obviously calls for absinthe. Use it in a variation on the Sazerac, substituting a smoky Scotch whisky for rye.  Reynardine Sazerac: •   1 sugar cube •   2 1/2 ounces blended Scotch whisky (I use Dewar’s white label) •   2 dashes Angostura bitters •   absinthe In an old-fashioned glass, muddle a sugar cube with the bitters and a couple drops of water. Add ice and whiskey and stir well. Strain into another old-fashioned glass that has been chilled and whose interior has been coated with a few drops of absinthe, swirled about.

Ólafur Arnalds began his music career as a drummer for hardcore metal bands in his native Iceland. But for the last several years, the composer and multi-instrumentalist has taken his sound in a decidedly different direction. His haunting compositions have been called everything from neo-classical to indie-pop, and film and television producers have flocked to him for musical scores. Those scores, plus his penchant for making his music available for free, have garnered Arnalds a worldwide audience. His latest album, For Now I am Winter, features vocals from the Icelandic singer Arnór Dan and orchestral arrangements by the American composer Nico Muhly. Hear Arnalds and a small ensemble perform pieces from the new record in the Soundcheck studio.         For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List: "Near Light" "For Now I Am Winter" "Old Skin"

Inspired by Soundcheck producer Katie Bishop's tale of canine separation anxiety woe, today on the show we attempt to get to the bottom of the question -- can music help a dog in distress?  We hear from a NYC Animal Care & Control behavior supervisor, Jennifer Abrams, about why the organization recently started piping music into their shelters -- and we talk with veterinarian Dr. Pamela Fisher, who started the Rescue Animal MP3 Project, which sends MP3 players loaded with specially designed calming music to shelters like New York City's.  Plus, we talk with sound researcher and music producer Joshua Leeds, who produces the commercially available "Through A Dog's Ear" music therapy program. He explains what dogs actually hear, and what exactly it is about music that can calm dogs, and why more scientific research is needed in the animal music therapy field.  Soundcheck listeners: What's your experience been like with music and your pets? Do you leave music on for them when you're not home? Leave a comment below or call 866 939 1612. 

The hardcore-turned-"cowpunk" band The Meat Puppets have been around since the 1980's and just this year put out its 14th album, Rat Farm. But no rock band goes through a 30-year period without its share of ups and downs, and The Meat Puppets is no exception.  Before Soundcheck co-presents the Meat Puppets at Brooklyn Bowl this weekend as part of the CBGB Music and Film Festival, host John Schaefer talks with the band's founding members -- brothers Curt Kirkwood and Cris Kirkwood -- about their punk roots and the drug-fueled ten-year hiatus that almost broke up the band for good.  

Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass -- the two women behind the charming indie pop group BOY -- have been playing their infectiously catchy single "Little Numbers" since 2011. But it wasn't until this year that the Swiss/German duo finally caught on in the U.S.; that song's music video has been played over nine million times on YouTube. As a result, BOY's debut album, Mutual Friends -- which is already certified gold in Germany -- is now earning much-deserved wider exposure.  But beyond "Little Numbers" Mutual Friends' songs strike the perfect balance between bittersweet and introspective lyrics and sleek songcraft with delightful melodies. And at the heart is the lilting vocals of Steiner and Glass -- falling somewhere between Feist and Suzanne Vega -- which makes these songs equally heartfelt and irresistible. Hear Boy perform an acoustic version of its international hit and more songs in the Soundcheck studio.     For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List: "Little Numbers" "Drive Darling" "Oh Boy"

Singer-songwriter Alina Simone released her first album on an independent label in 2005, around the time that many musicians found new ways to distribute and promote their own work online. She released albums on two other independent labels; all three eventually went out of business. So Simone decided to go it alone for her 2011 album, Make Your Own Danger, and spent a year "slumped at her computer" and managing the minutiae of her recording career. Simone hasn't released an album since. "I was a singer, not a saleswoman," she wrote in a recent op-ed in The New York Times.  Simone and Jason King, an associate professor at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, joined John Schaefer to talk about the entrepreneurial pressure that many independent musicians face in the digital age. For Simone, the prospect of mailing CDs, toggling between spreadsheets and running Kickstarter campaigns was enough to drive her out of the music business. A chance encounter with an editor led to a book deal and a memoir called You Must Go and Win. This year, she published her first novel, called Note to Self.  "From this strange new vantage point I had, suddenly as a writer, there were all these new opportunities available to me that never had been available to me as a singer. Grants, residencies, teaching opportunities, there were all these things you could apply for [as a writer]," she told Soundcheck. "Just time to think, time to work, make something." In his role at the Clive Davis Institute, Davis works with students who are learning how to be artists and entrepreneurs. "As recorded music has been devalued as a commodity, to some degree, more and more artists who already have an entrepreneurial spirit are the ones who are rising to the top," King said, citing success stories like producer Pharrell Williams, singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and rapper Macklemore. "On one hand you have the superstar artists that are being marketed and promoted by major labels, and on the other hand you have everybody else who's trying to make a living on a daily basis doing it," King said, noting that Simone's op-ed identifies "the loss of a kind of middle-class music maker, distributor, the independent labels and so on. It's harder and harder for those kind of labels and entities to stay afloat in the music industry." Musicians: we want to hear from you: How successfully have you juggled the creative and business sides of your music career? Do digital tools and social media make it easier or harder to get your music out there? Leave a comment below or leave us a message at 866-939-1612. 

New York City Opera's recent production of Anna Nicole at the Brooklyn Academy of Music raised a few eyebrows last month, as any opera about the late supermodel Anna Nicole Smith should. It may also have been City Opera's final act. The 70-year old company announced this week that it will dissolve and declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Writer Fred Plotkin joins us to reflect on City Opera's demise, the subject of his recent column for WQXR's Operavore.