Soundcheck

The Brooklyn-based band Wet first turned heads in 2013 with an EP packed with 90s-style synth-pop goodness. New Yorker magazine critic Sasha Frere Jones referred to their song “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl” as “completely perfect” and made it one of his songs of the year. In 2016, after a major label bidding war, they released their full-length debut, called Don’t You. Wet (as a trio) joins us to play some of those songs, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2016.)

It's no small thing to command the attention of billions of people with nothing but the sound of your voice and an acoustic guitar. Ask British singer/songwriter Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, whose song "Let Her Go" became a legit worldwide phenomenon after its release in 2012. The song snowballed in slow motion, no instant smash, and wormed its way into ears and hearts one play at a time. Rosenberg brings his thoughtful and subtle songwriting to bear, playing songs from his 2016 record, Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea. in-studio.  

Pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, wear their composer and collaborator hats simultaneously in new music by Vijay Iyer, who reminds us that “the most turbulent music may contain stillness, coolness, even wisdom,” (Uneasy liner notes.) They share the joy in hearing each other together in a room creating something collaboratively based on something put on the page. The members of the trio talk about optimism and hope - in spite of it all, their decades of shared connections, and some of their separate creative projects. Vijay also speaks to his perceived reputation for making art about subjects no one wants to talk about, and believing in the craft of making an album – the shape of it and the journey. Vijay and the trio play music from Vijay Iyer’s 2021 record, Uneasy, for the first in-studio since early 2020, in The Greene Space. - Caryn Havlik Set list: “Combat Breathing,” “Children of Flint,” “Uneasy” Watch "Combat Breathing": Watch "Children of Flint": Watch "Uneasy":

In Hayden Pedigo’s acoustic guitar playing one might hear the “loneliness and the space” of the Texas panhandle. The musician, composer, and former city-council candidate cites inspiration by guitarists from previous generations like Anthony Phillips (original Genesis guitarist), John Fahey, and Leo Kottke to sound very much like kickass fingerstyle guitarists of now, like Gwenifer Raymond and Toby Hay. Guitar nerds take note: Segovia is invoked, as are variations on multiple non-standard tunings, fingerpicks, and Leo Kottke’s masterful banter stories. Hayden Pedigo’s latest record, Letting Go, combines ambient electronics, English pastoralism, pedal steel, and fingerstyle guitar on both 6 and 12-strings for really melodic pieces in hard-to-replicate tunings. Pedigo plays remotely from Lubbock, TX. - Caryn Havlik Set List “Carthage,” “Some Kind of Shepherd” “Letting Go” Watch "Carthage": Watch "Some Kind of Shepherd": Watch "Letting Go":

Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash curates a program exploring the importance of protest music as part of our shared cultural history. She talks of how the rich oral tradition of roots music embraces migration stories, loss, resistance, and how we are moving to something better, but that it might be painful. And ultimately, protest songs can show us a path to get there. (Originally from Live With Carnegie Hall from June 2020.) Set list: Rosanne Cash and Leventhal plays Bob Dylan's "License to Kill" Lizz Wright plays "Blessed the Brave"Elvis Costello sings both "Big Stars Have Tumbled" Rosanne Cash and John Paul White sing "We're All In This Together Now" Watch the entire Live With Carnegie Hall program Rosanne Cash - Present Perfect: Songs of Protest and Memory:

The Norwegian-born, London-based singer Kari Jahnsen records under the name Farao. Her 2015 debut album is called Till It's All Forgotten, and prompted comparisons with Tune-Yards, countrywoman Jenny Hval, and a few other musical outliers. But Farao’s blend of arty pop and unusual arrangements might actually fool listeners into believing they’re hearing something like conventional pop. They are not. Farao uses stately synthesized strings, big grooves with anxious bursts of drumming, and her own implacable vocals in songs that often take unexpected twists and turns. She and her band play, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2015.)

Some songs you love because they communicate deep thoughts or powerful emotions. And sometimes you just want a ridiculously catchy hook. BRONCHO is certainly capable of the former, but in the case of its song "Class Historian," it wouldn’t matter if the band was singing about filing taxes, you might still be bouncing in our seats with that infectious melody stuck in your head all day. While the Oklahoma band has been banging out classic fuzzed-out sounds for awhile, the band got a spike of attention when the HBO series Girls used the song "It's On." That song, along with "Class Historian," ended up on BRONCHO's 2014 album, Just Enough Hip To Be Woman, which draws on garage pop and glam rock in exciting ways. BRONCHO plays some these songs in-studio. Apologies in advance if you've still got that tune in your brain the rest of the week. (From the Archives, 2015.) Set List: "Stay Loose" "Stop Tricking" "Class Historian"

Tennessee-based songwriter Amythyst Kiah loves both roots and alternative music; and her songs often clothe dark subjects - suicide of a loved one, a descent into alcoholism - in bluesy stomps and ecstatic rock. The singer, guitarist, banjo player, and scholar (she holds a degree in Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies), has made records on her own and is a member of the formidable quartet called Our Native Daughters. On her 2021 solo album Wary + Strange, Amythyst Kiah sings of loss, grief, death, and hangovers and dealing with them all; she and her band play some of these tunes remotely. - Caryn Havlik Set list: "Black Myself," "Firewater," "Hangover Blues" Watch "Black Myself": Watch "Firewater": Watch "Hangover Blues": In 2020, she also contributed a tribute to the Reverend Gary Davis for the online New York Guitar Festival:

The Brooklyn band Golden Suits is led by singer and guitarist Fred Nicolaus. You may know him from his earlier band Department of Eagles, or perhaps his duo with Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen. Fred released the first Golden Suits album in 2013 and has just put out the band’s followup effort, called Kubla Khan. It’s full of catchy, often literate, occasionally eccentric songs, which the band plays in-studio. (From the Archives, 2015.)   Here's the dancey "Gold Feeling," where Nicolaus is out to prove that he has all of the right moves to his imaginary middle school dream girl.    

Guitarist and singer Becca Steven's resume includes stints with the adventurous jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, electrifying trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, and hip-hop inflected jazz vocalist José James. She’s part of New York’s new music scene, and has contributed to a compilation of Laura Nyro covers. So you might guess that The Becca Stevens Band would not be your typical indie rock group. And you’d be right. The band’s 2015 debut record is called Perfect Animal, and it’s full of shimmering, strangely augmented chords; angular melodic swoops and dives; and rhythms that catch the ear but don’t settle where you expect. There are also breathtaking forays into pop and even R&B, including covers of songs by Frank Ocean and Usher. The result is a pulsing, personal experience, guided by Stevens' singular voice and vision, that is the most exciting entry on her resume yet. Becca Stevens and her band perform in-studio. (From the Archives, 2015.)

The late American pianist, composer, and “Legend of Jazz,” Randy Weston, stretched across history to forge connections to an African past, as he had done for decades. On his 2017 recording, The African Nubian Suite, Weston took as his subject matter the very origins of humanity – the fossilized skeletal remains of “Ardi,” a hominid who lived around 4.5 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. This "planetary music," as Weston called it stretches across millennia, looking to the Nubian empire (now northern Sudan/southern Egypt), African folk traditions, Sufi music, blues, and jazz. Randy Weston joined us in-studio in 2017. (From the Archives.)   

Genius Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, is one of the world’s exceptional percussionists. The son of Ustad Alla Rahka, Zakir is also a composer, improviser, and a great communicator in Persian, Gujarati, German, English, as well as in jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, Nigerian talking drums, or Indonesian gamelan. One of the most exciting ways that Zakir Hussain shares this deep and vast knowledge in performance is by way of the Masters of Percussion Tour – which is exactly as stunning as a music fan (especially a drum nerd) might ever imagine. For the 2019 tour (in the before times), the ensemble included the sitar virtuoso and instrument inventor Niladri Kumar, and the extraordinary jazzer Eric Harland (Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland's Prism) on Western drums. Zakir Hussain, Niladri Kumar, and Eric Harland join us in-studio for a sample of this astounding musical magic. - (NSAPA and drum nerd Caryn Havlik) Watch the session here: 

Pom Pom Squad is more than a punk band. Led by singer and songwriter Mia Berrin, their music is a romp through many musical styles: a seemingly disparate collection of punk and grunge, Motown, crooner jazz, and wall-of-sound 60’s pop all built on feelings - heartbreak and injustice and intimacy, and navigating the way through treacherous waters. Their 2021 album Death of a Cheerleader takes a knowing, ironic look at pop culture through a queer lens, focusing on the romance and glamour of 20th century film stars, and the iconic figure of the cheerleader from teen movies past, especially the 1999 film, But I'm a Cheerleader. The full lineup of Pom Pom Squad (Mari Alé Figeman, Bass: Shelby Keller, Drums and Percussion, Alex Mercuri, Lead Guitar, and Mia Berrin) plays remotely. Berrin is working on "re-training the muscle" of playing live shows for when the band is scheduled to go on tour later in the fall. Set list: "Lux," "Drunk Voicemail" Watch "Lux": Watch "Drunk Voicemail":

Since his 2007 breakthrough album, Spiderman Of The Rings, Dan Deacon has assumed numerous roles. He’s a staple of Baltimore's Wham City art collective - and a classically-trained composer and film scorer. On stage, he’s a mad scientist tinkering with colorful electronics - and a ringleader encouraging his wild fans in absurdist dance-offs. Likewise, his music delivers both exquisite bliss and full-on beat-heavy cacophony. But no matter the setting, Deacon's unfettered sense of humor and his masterful ear for sonic textures unify his various music sides in endlessly exciting ways. Now, after several records written for larger ensembles, Deacon has gone solo with his 2015 album, Gliss Riffer. In some ways, it's a return to what he’s best known for: exuberant and densely-stuffed electronic dance music. And while singing has always played some part Deacon's songs, Gliss Riffer showcases his voice more fully. You can hear that immediately in the lead single, "Feel The Lightning," and in "Learning To Relax" - where Deacon changes the pitch or timbre of his voice to sometimes sound female - like a duet with himself. It's a big pop-infused sound that will easily get fans flailing with awkward abandon on the dance floor. Deacon plays those two new songs -- plus a completely improvised piece -- and talks about his writing process and more for this in-studio session. Set List: "Learning To Relax" "Untitled Improvisation" "Feel The Lightning" Interview Highlights Dan Deacon, on why Gliss RIffer showcases more of his voice: I think the reason I focused on the voice is because I permanently destroyed it. There [was] a venue in New York called 285 Kent. I was sick. I had a sore throat and I did the show anyway. I didn’t warm up and people were smoking inside. It was the perfect storm for a terrible worsening of the throat. I went to a throat doctor and was like, "Well, you didn’t do permanent, permanent damage, but you have to realize you can’t treat your voice like your shoes. You have to treat it well and you have to know how to use it." I was like, "What?!? I have no idea how to use my voice! That’s insane!" I’m not going to have the same voice in 2040, 2020. I kept thinking that I should utilize this expiring instrument before it's expired. On the vocal techniques in "Feel The Lightning": This is the first record where I wanted to use a different technique to augment the pitch in my voice. I use an old Les Paul technique that The Beatles used a lot too called Varispeed: You change the speed of the music. And you sing regularly and then speed it up and slow it down and then it augments the sound of your voice. After years of pitch shifting, I have a different way of thinking about it: I don’t hear sounds as gendered. I’m not doing a female voice, I’m just doing a higher pitched voice. Just like how the left hand on the piano isn’t a boy and the right hand on the piano isn’t a girl. On his exploration of synthesizers: After I made America, I was like, "Why aren’t I thinking about the orchestration of the synthesizer? Why don’t I try to realize these synth parts, not with soft synths but with hardware synths?" So when I was down for Moogfest, doing a demo for something we were making, I [thought] it would be really fun to come down here and record for a few days. And they gave us full access to their facilities. They let me use a new synth called the Sub 37 that wasn’t out yet; didn’t have a manual, it was still in beta testing. It felt really good, and it was exciting to use an instrument that hasn’t really existed yet. I’m often fascinated with the history of musical instruments and how people are like, "Electronic music, what is it?" On the writing process: When I’m writing anything, I wonder where it will it go. What it’s future will be? Will I play live? Will it be something that exists on an album? Will it be something that I play in a seated area, like in a concert hall, or in a venue? Would it be something I play to be paired to image, like for film or video? Once I sort of figure out where it’s going to go, it start to grow into that mold. On the shift in music listening habits: I also don’t like thinking of music as a commodity. It’s only existed as a commodity for like a 120 years max? I don’t know the exact date but it didn’t use to be something like, "You want to hear a song? Give me five dollars, I’ll sing it for you. And I’ll sing it for you whenever you see me." [laughs] Any paradigm shift, there’s going to be a fall out and a quote-unquote Dark Age surrounding it. I just feel like, music is constantly changed. The way you heard it, the way you made it, the way it interacts with society, the way you interact with it, so I don’t think there are wrong turns.

Rachika Nayar is a composer and producer who uses her electric guitar as a sound source, creating rich layers of sound in real time. She then "mutilates" and "contorts" these sounds, processing them, arranging them into the finished pieces on her 2021 LP Our Hands Against The Dusk and its companion record, the 2021 EP Fragments, which could be considered as a collection of Etudes; none of the works on Fragments were translated into larger pieces. Nayar's guitar playing is informed by math rock, post rock, jazz, EDM - "the 4AM warehouse rave", and lately – exploring open tunings. She talks us through and demonstrates her process, starting with solo electric guitar loops, which are processed, pulled apart, and rebuilt, shifted, stretched, and arranged with other electronic instruments.  Rachika Nayar improvises guitar loop-based pieces and transforms them for this remote session. - Caryn Havlik Set list: "Memory as Miniatures," Untitled Guitar Piece Watch "Memory as Miniatures": Watch: Untitled Guitar Piece: