Soundcheck

Norwegian band Wardruna creates music born of Nordic history, Norse runes and nature - and is led by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Einar Selvik, who composed music for the TV series Vikings. (He was formerly the drummer in the black metal band Gorgoroth under stage name Kvitrafn, for those keeping track.)  Hear a captivating combination of old and recreated Norse historical instruments: Tagelharpa (bowed harp-lyre), birchbark lure (a trumpet), goat horns, Kraviklyra, instruments from nature: stones, bones, trees, fire and ice, along with sounds captured in nature, vocal techniques of many kinds, and ancient poetry. The 2018 record, Runaljod – Ragnarok, is the third of a trilogy of musical interpretations of each of the twenty-four old Nordic runes (the word rune can also mean magical song). Wardruna performs some of their unusual, spiritual, ancient sounding-modern ritual music in-studio. (From the Archives, 2018.)  -Caryn Havlik Set list: "Wunjo," "Isa," "Helvegen" Watch "Helvegen":

Bette Smith was born and raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn – but on her debut LP called Jetlagger she draws on the gospel she sang in the church and the soul music she heard on the block on hot summer nights music growing up on the corner of Nostrand and Fulton. On the 2018 record Jetlagger, the tunes range from originals to covers of Staples Singers and Isaac Hayes classics, showcasing Smith’s deep, confident, and powerful voice. Amidst rugged, muscular arrangements that hearken to the timeless sounds of Mississippi and Memphis soul and funk, Bette Smith barely contains a New York aggressiveness and passion, and piles on the sexy. Smith and her band play some of these songs, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2018.)

The rock band elbow (small "e") hails from greater Manchester and makes subtle, sensitive, anthemic, joyful music, sometimes augmented with the strings of the Hallé Orchestra, (which they did not bring with them.) Guy Garvey’s vocals and wordplay are perched atop a well-orchestrated but never overwrought blend of melodic bass, guitar and piano riffs, and pulsing percussion, all the while squeezing out a wide range of bottled emotions onto expansive life paintings. They’ve referred to themselves as "prog without the solos" (AllMusic). elbow plays music from their 2017 album, "Little Fictions" in-studio. (From the Archives, 2017.)

The Norwegian band called Barokksolistene is out to give classical music a bad name. They’re trying to drag classical music – and especially Baroque music – down to the level of folk musicians fiddling in back of a pub. We here at WNYC fully support this sort of thing. Led by violinist Bjarte Eike, the band Barokksolistene has created a project they call The Alehouse Sessions, where they merrily blend together the sounds of Baroque music, drinking songs from the British Isles, and folk fiddling from various places in Northern Europe. See if you can figure out which is which. (From the Archives, 2017.) "Hole In the Wall" (Henry Purcell - Abdelazer); "Johnny Faa/I Drew My Ship" (Scottish/Irish trad.); "Travel Set, medley" (Norway/Scotland/Norway/Denmark/Shetland Islands/America)

Philadelphia's The Districts have opened for Modest Mouse, and been compared to Sharon van Etten and the Killers. On their latest, 2022's Great American Painting, the songs take on the paradox of the state of the country, going from the big, tough ideas about gun violence, police brutality and oppressive structures to contemplating spiritual life in the remote and isolated pure landscapes and scenery in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, (Track by track, Flood Magazine.) The band’s aim is to process the heavy stuff cathartically, and dance forward in spite of fear and darkness. Songwriter and vocalist Rob  Grote also reflects on the remote collaborative process, and admits that being in a room with friends making music can’t be replaced, and emphasizes how much the band lives for playing for rooms with people in them. The Districts play remotely for the Soundcheck Podcast. – Caryn Havlik Set list: “Revival Psalm” “Long End,” “Cheap Regrets” Watch "Revival Psalm": Watch "Long End": Watch "Cheap Regrets":

Composer, DJ, and techno pioneer Carl Craig joins us with the Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble. Lately, Carl Craig has been venturing beyond the usual techno venues through his work with chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Chineke! Orchestra. Recently, the Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble played at Carnegie Hall, as part of its Afrofuturism series. The Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble recorded live tracks at Spot Lite in Detroit for today's podcast. Carl Craig - Max Fine Set List: "At Les," "Desire," "Technology,"

Kae Tempest is a gifted wordsmith and performer; their two previous albums were both nominated for the Mercury Prize. Their 2022 album, The Line is a Curve, addresses struggles with mental health, as well as Kae’s own journey with their non-binary identity, and features collaborations with some of the South London creative community. Tempest offers live performances of music from the record, and spoke with host John Schaefer in London about the new album. - Caryn Havlik Set list: “More Pressure” “Salt Coast” Listen to the entire New Sounds Show with Kae Tempest, from London: 

The four members of Sō Percussion can turn nearly anything into a playable instrument – blocks, bells, drums, and other surfaces (as well as lumber, flower pots, garden tools – don’t set them loose in a hardware store.) Composer and So-founding member Jason Treuting has even turned the numbers 1-9, as in the Japanese puzzle game, sudoku, into an immense pattern-based work called Nine Numbers, which uses interlocking rhythms and melodies, as well as the plosives (some of the hard consonants in English) of speech. Together with strings of the Bergamot Quartet, Sō Percussion plays some of the cyclical and pattern-driven pieces of Treuting's Nine Numbers, live from The Greene Space. - Caryn Havlik Watch Sō Percussion and Bergamot Quartet: “Nine Numbers VII”: Watch Sō Percussion and Bergamot Quartet: “Nine Numbers VIII”: Watch Sō Percussion: “Nine Numbers IV”:

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Lizzy McAlpine processes heartache, dreams, love, and breakups, with striking detail and sharp wit on her latest record, Five Seconds Flat. McAlpine is already a veteran songwriter who sets a tone with some chords on the guitar, and vividly describes vulnerable situations and tender feelings with a clever balance of wit and weirdness. She has lately been working at setting up her ideal balance of silence with big productions, some including guest artists Jacob Collier, Laura Elliot, and the Grammy-winning FINNEAS. McAlpine plays solo, unplugged versions of these new tunes for the Soundcheck Podcast. - Caryn Havlik Set list: “erase me” “firearm” “weird” Watch "erase me": Watch "firearm": Watch "weird":

Gabriel Kahane writes classical music and what he called “deranged pop”; his new 2022 album, Magnificent Bird, was written after spending a year off the internet. The results are deeply personal but also a celebration of his musical community. He plays most of the new album as well as songs from his previous album, Book of Travelers, which documented an 8,980-mile railway journey in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Gabriel Kahane and a special guest string quartet perform in an intimate setting in The Greene Space. Set list: We Are The Saints, Hazelnut Tree/Chemex/To Be American, Baedeker/Baltimore/Little Love (this set from Book of Travelers), Linda & Stuart, Sit Shiva Watch "We Are the Saints": Watch songs from Magnificent Bird, part 1: Watch songs from Book of Travelers: Watch songs from Magnificent Bird, part 2: Watch 'Sit Shiva":

Hear music from the Montreal-based one-woman band, Saltland, aka cellist Rebecca Foon, from her2017 album, A Common Truth. She layers multiple loops of her cello, atop a rich set of drones, live in-studio. (From the Archives, 2017.)     

Anand Wilder has released his debut solo album after the breakup of the band Yeasayer.  I Don’t Know My Words (written and recorded throughout lockdown) is full of great, wide-angled pop, which may look to 1970s hippie music and Indian popular cinema. For the Soundcheck Podcast, Anand Wilder and his band play some of these songs from his studio, in arrangements including mountain dulcimer and steamy EWI (electronic wind instrument.) – Caryn Havlik

Theon Cross is a stunning tuba player, a member of Mercury-nominated group Sons Of Kemet, and a central figure on London’s new music scene. He’s also just released a solo album full of inventive ways of processing and extending the tuba’s sound, while drawing on Caribbean music, grime, jazz, and the city’s spoken word scene.  He and his quartet offer live, instrumental versions of some of those songs for the Soundcheck Podcast.

North Carolina-based traditional musician Jake Xerxes Fussell approaches ostensibly antique songs of the American south as a folklorist and as a creative musician, pulling out the relatable bits and going for the unexpected arrangements, including pedal steel, horns, and strings. He’s a lifelong student and researcher of folk and roots and blues music – second generation, actually, since his father was also a folklorist – and can hold forth on murder ballads, disaster songs, Choctaw fiddlers, sea shanties, and blues and gospel songs. He plays some of these elegantly- arranged and composed story-songs from his latest album, Good and Green Again, for the Soundcheck Podcast. - Caryn Havlik Set list: “Love Farewell,” “The Golden Willow Tree” Watch "Love Farewell": Watch “The Golden Willow Tree”:

The orchestral-folk-rock Minnesota band Cloud Cult is a creative collective who continually celebrates catharsis, change, and comfort through music and multimedia performances. [They’re also hailed as one of the Top 10 Green Bands by Rolling Stone with environmentally-sound packaging, a geothermal-powered studio, and touring with net zero greenhouse gases.] The latest record, Metamorphosis, is “all about inner change... from the kind that's marinated in joy to the kind that hurts like hell but somehow makes room for a better you. Life is a rabbit hole of wonder, mystery, chaos, pain, and love, and these songs are here to help you hum your way through it.” (Cloud Cult’s Facebook). From the woods of Wisconsin, on a balmy 30 degree day, Cloud Cult’s founder and main songwriter Craig Minowa plays in the snow with an acoustic guitar, featuring the rest of the band on backing tracks. - Caryn Havlik Set list: “Back Into My Arms” “Victor” “Song From Oblivion” Watch: "Back Into My Arms": Watch "Victor": Watch "Song from Oblivion":