Twisted Toons Vol. 2

Stu Brown's first Twisted Toons album explored the music of maverick bandleader, composer, inventor and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott, whose music featured heavily in the Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1940s onwards. His new release, Twisted Toons Vol. 2, delves deeper into the zany world of cartoon soundtracks, including the pioneering work of Carl Stalling, whose brilliantly detailed scores accompanied the antics of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and co., as well as the equally groundbreaking music of Scott Bradley, which underscored the slapstick violence of Tom & Jerry and Tex Avery cartoons. Most of this music has never been recorded or performed live since the original cartoons were made. Expect to hear complete Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Roadrunner and Porky Pig scores alongside new arrangements of Carl Stalling’s commonly used themes (including Raymond Scott’s ‘Powerhouse’ and his own ‘Screwball Theme’), a selection of kitsch 1950’s library music cues that appeared in Ren and Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants, and some of Bill Frisell’s atmospheric writing for Gary Larson’s Tales From the Far Side.

Preorder the album here: http://stu-brown.com/album/383764/twisted-toons-vol-2-the-music-of-carl-stalling-scott-bradley-and-more

Anthropophagy Feast

On this date in 1937, Raymond Scott returned to CBS studios with his Quintette for their third session to record "Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals." It was an immediate hit when it was released 79 years ago, and is immortalized in "Which Is Witch" along with at least 16 other classic LOONEY TUNES. Download the vintage Columbia recording from the iTunes store, or Amazon, and check-out this cover by Kronos Quartet, plus a live performance by Ego Plum. Below is a private rehearsal by the original Quintette, released on the 2-CD "MICROPHONE MUSIC" collection from the Basta label:

Raymond Scott Rewired

UPDATE (Feb 6): Raymond Scott Rewired now has a website.

As a musician, composer, bandleader, and inventor, Raymond Scott was a perfectionist, but not a stylistic purist. His late-1930s six-man "Quintette" crafted novelty jazz that layered ethnic contours and pan-global riffs over a propulsive beat. In the 1940s Scott's antic melodies were adapted in Warner Bros. cartoons because WB music director Carl Stalling found the compositions genetically animated. Scott's mid-century orchestral works were danceable, except when they veered into complex, cerebral concert-jazz. In the 1950s and '60s Scott invented and recorded with electronic instruments. He was a genre-hopper, reflecting a musical restlessness and adventurousness. Scott loved what he did, but craved what came next.

As archivist for the Scott musical estate, I commissioned three remix artists to take apart Scott's catalog and reshape it in a fresh way. The Bran Flakes (Otis Fodder, Montreal), The Evolution Control Committee (TradeMark Gunderson, U.S.), and Go Home Productions (Mark Vidler, U.K.) were ftp'ed hundreds of Scott recordings in various genres, including unreleased material, spanning the 1930s to the 1980s. They were invited to have fun, but keep it rhythmic. Each contributed six audio montages with new titles, and they collaborated on Scott's signature tune, "Powerhouse."

The result is RAYMOND SCOTT REWIRED, produced for the Basta label. The album will be released in North America on February 18. Three tracks can be streamed on Soundcloud.

Over 250 sample sources were used in the construction of these 19 tracks. Those samples were edited, looped, flipped, and stretched; they were tweaked with EQ, pitch-shifted, compressed, and transformed. Disassembling one man's sonic legacy and reassembling the pieces into something different, something worth hearing repeatedly, requires an intuitive gift that approaches songwriting. Scott fans will recognize some passages, but in countless cases, the source recordings have been altered beyond recognition. The composer himself would have difficulty identifying his own works. The reconfigurations were done playfully, but respectfully. Nothing was destroyed. The originals still exist.

The cover art was adapted from an unfinished, untitled, black & white Jim Flora illustration from the 1950s.

Listen to new NPR feature:"Musical DNA of the 20th Century"

The new 1-hour NPR show with me, Jeff Winner, as the in-studio guest — and Raymond Scott's son, Stan Warnow, joins us by phone — hear it online now, or anytime:

>> listen here <<

We talk about the connection to STAR WARS, celebrations for the 75th Anniversary, the new award-winning documentary film — and discover why Raymond Scott loved the bathroom at CBS studios! The radio program, which is simulcast internationally by Sirius XM® satellite, also features rare unreleased recordings of Scott demonstrating his historic electronic music inventions:

''STAN WARNOW, Scott’s son, directed a very personal documentary about his father called 'Deconstructing Dad.' JEFF WINNER, a music historian, archivist, and co-producer of the film, joins us in the studio to discuss this musical DNA of the 20th Century.''

RADIO TIMES is heard live by an audience of millions each weekday 10-noon and rebroadcast 10-midnight. It is also heard live on the Sirius XM channel NPR Now 122 at 10AM. NPR Talk Sirius 123 airs it again from 6-8PM.

• MORE INFO: here

New "Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection"3-DVD Blu-ray set

Just in time for the cartoon geeks on your holiday shopping list, the new "LOONEY TUNES: PLATINUM COLLECTION" 3-DVD Blu-ray set includes 2 Raymond Scott "Behind the Tunes" featurettes with movie-music maestro, John Williams, and Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh:

• "Powerhouse in Pictures"

• "Twilight in Tunes: The Music of Raymond Scott"

More info: here