Soundcheck

It’s been almost 50 years since the musical Fiddler on the Roof made its Broadway debut. But the story of Tevye and his marriageable daughters started long before that — and its influence has continued long after. Alisa Solomon, Columbia University journalism professor, authored the new book Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler On The Roof.  Solomon speaks with Soundcheck host John Schaefer about how the Broadway musical has worked its way into traditional Jewish culture -- and why half a century after its birth, "Fiddler" is still referenced so often in pop culture today.  Once you start looking for them, "Fiddler On The Roof" references abound in modern-day pop culture. Watch a couple of them below.

When we last saw Thomas Dolby, the veteran hit maker had done a new album and a video game, Map of the Floating City. He made that record in his own studio, built on an old lifeboat at his home on England’s North Sea coast. Now, Dolby is back with a one-of-a-kind film and live music project, The Invisible Lighthouse. It's the result of his potentially dangerous — and probably illegal — attempts to document the destruction of a structure that he holds dear. Dolby talks with Soundcheck host John Schaefer about The Invisible Lighthouse.

A lot of powerful and successful people say their music backgrounds and experiences are directly related to their professional achievements. That’s according to Joanne Lipman, in her New York Times piece “Is Music the Key to Success?” Lipman is a former editor at The Wall Street Journal and Condé Nast Portfolio, and she’s the co-author of a new book, Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations. The book tells the story of her own childhood music teacher, who inspired her and countless others. Lipman says that while writing the book, she kept running across "high-profile people who had these secret stealth lives as musicians." "The question I asked all these people - Paul Allen, the founder of Microsoft, and Woody Allen, and James Wolfensohn... who was president of the World Bank and plays the cello - is, 'What is the connection [between music and success] or even is there a connection?' And one of the things Alan Greenspan said was, 'As a statistician I can tell you it is not a coincidence.'" Tell us about your music teachers of past and present. Leave a comment below -- or leave us a voicemail at 866 939 1612. 

Back in 2007, someone illegally uploaded a YouTube video of pianist Valentina Lisitsa playing Chopin. Lisitsa fought back by putting everything up on YouTube. Over 30 million views later, she's not only one of the world's most viewed and therefore most visible classical musicians, she's also found a completely modern route to a global career.  Lisitsa's now releasing a new record -- on a major label -- that showcases the music of Liszt, called appropriately, Lisitsa Plays Liszt. Watch her perform some of that material solo in the Soundcheck studio.   Set List: Schubert-Liszt: Ave Maria Schubert-Liszt: Erlkönig, S.558 No.4 (after Schubert D.328) Liszt: La Campanella

Every week brings another batch of new music releases -- often before there's even been a chance to catch up and digest the last week's onslaught. It can be more than any one person can keep up with. But here at Soundcheck, it's kind of our job (actually, it is our job) to check out and sort through the brand new stuff. It's hard. We cry a lot. But someone's gotta do it. This past week a whole slew of big-name releases came out: Pearl Jam's Lightning Bolt, Cults' Static, and The Avett Brothers' Magpie And The Dandelion. But here are three more albums that we've blasting in our headphones this week. What new music have you been listening to this week? Tells us in the comments or on Twitter at @Soundcheck.     LUCIUS, WILDEWOMAN There’s no way else to put it: Lucius’ debut, Wildewoman, is the most delightful record you’ll hear all year. Fronted by the soulful soaring voices of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, and a battery of thundering percussion, this young Brooklyn quintet's magnetic pop songs like "Hey, Doreen" and "Tempest" are instantly happy-making, but with just the right touch of bittersweet sentiment underneath. (Mike Katzif)     THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN, UNCANNEY VALLEY The Dismemberment Plan surprised me with Uncanney Valley, an album full of catchy pop hooks, driving beats and songs that wander off into weirdness just often enough to keep things interesting. My favorite track, "Waiting," starts with a marching band and then turns into a space-age Graceland-esque jam. (Katie Bishop)     TIM HECKER, VIRGINS Tim Hecker is redrawing the lines of “ambient music.” This is not a peaceful, sleepytime collection of electronic drones; it might just be the most unnerving and downright scary album since Ben Frost’s brilliant By The Throat in 2009. And it uses live musicians, though good luck trying to figure out how and where. (John Schaefer)

Bryce Dessner is best known as a co-founder of the New York indie rock band The National. But when he's not touring the country with his band, Dessner keeps busy with a surprisingly diverse assortment of projects: Along with this twin brother and bandmate Aaron, Dessner curated the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival at BAM and Cincinnati's MusicNOW Festival; he's a cofounder of the label Brassland; and he's collaborated with So Percussion, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Phillip Glass and Steve Reich.  Also a classically-trained composer, Dessner recently wrote a series of four string quartet pieces for the famed Kronos Quartet, which will soon be released on a new record, Aheym. Dessner says he first met the renowned ensemble four years ago when he invited them to participate on the Red Hot compilation Dark Was The Night. The quartet later commissioned him for the works that became the new album. In an interview with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Bryce Dessner talks all about the collaboration.  

In 1967, Joan Didion penned “Goodbye to All That,” an influential essay about leaving New York for the West Coast. Four decades later, New Yorkers are still grappling with the realities of life in our expensive, rapidly evolving city. (Just read David Byrne's recent op-ed for Creative Time Reports.) Sari Botton, editor of a new collection of essays called, yes, Goodbye to All That, joins us to talk about loving and leaving New York.

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is best known for being one third of the legendary hip hop trio Run-DMC -- famous for marrying rap and rock on tracks like “Walk This Way” and “It’s Tricky.” But these days, DMC is also marrying his passion for rap with his longstanding love of comic books. His new comic book imprint is called Darryl Makes Comics, and it launches with a graphic novel in January that features DMC himself as an Adidas-sporting hip hop superhero.  DMC talks about basing his early rap lyrics on Marvel comics; his struggles with dysphonia (a condition that affects the vocal cords); his take on modern-day rap; and how he found out that he was adopted at the age of 35.    Interview highlights:  On his early love of comic books:  For me growing up it was school and comic books. Me and my brother, we collected a lot of the Marvel series. Even as a young kid watching TV, it was Batman and Superman.... I definitely was one of those kids that would put my blanket on my neck with a safety pin. Comic books empowered me, comic books gave me confidence and comic books was a world where I could get away from all the trouble of being a young kid trying to survive in this universe.  On dealing with dysphonia, a medical condition that affects his vocal cords:  It's kind of like a superhero thing for me. I have a physical weakness but I have this other super ability.... Think about it. Superheroes always have two identities. They have glasses.  On the commercial hip hop being made today:  99% of it is totally what we created hip hop to get rid of. The negativity that exists in our communities -- gang banging, drug dealing, violence, disrespecting women -- we created this form of communication so that we can empower and educate ourselves. A lot of the hip hop right now is empowering negativity. 

When White Denim was on Soundcheck a few years back, the Austin band was a young, scrappy trio. The group, which formed in 2005, brings together garage rock and psychedelic blues to punk to create a decidedly guitar-driven American sound.  Now a four-piece -- comprised of Joshua Block, James Petralli, Steve Terebecki, and Austin Jenkins -- White Denim is set to release yet another record, its fifth, Corsicana Lemonade (out Oct. 29). The record stands out as a groovier and more mature collection of songs, filled with frenzied classic rock riffs, and big choruses. Hear the band road-test some of its new songs in the Soundcheck studio.       Set List: "Pretty Green" "Corsicana Lemonade" "Come Back"

While Eagulls makes throttling and scorched earth songs tailor-made for cramped basement parties, it's also a surprisingly melodic band with a knack for singable and sneering choruses that could one day fill a big rock club full of fist-pumping fans. The Leeds-based hardcore band first landed on many people's radar with its single "Council Flat Blues," and later with the seething punk anthem "Moulting" from this year's 12" EP. Now the band is prepping a debut full-length album, due out in early 2014, and playing a whole slew of shows at this year's CMJ Music Marathon. Hear the band perform some of new songs in the Soundcheck studio.   Set List: "Nerve Endings" "Yellow Eyes" "Possessed"   Eagulls are playing a bunch of shows at CMJ this week in New York, so check them out here: Wed. (10/16): Pianos, 5:45 p.m.  Wed. (10/16): Glasslands, 10 p.m. Fri. (10/18): Mercury Lounge, 11 p.m. Sat. (10/19): Pianos, 4:00 p.m.

As a wise man named Dave Grohl once said, "Joan Jett is the real deal. She is a real rock and roller." The founding member of the all-female '70s rock band The Runaways and longtime leader of her own band, The Blackhearts, recently released her first album of new material in almost a decade. Titled Unvarnished, the record is a reflection of Jett's recent life experiences -- dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in her town of Long Beach; moving past the deaths of her parents; and reflecting on the place of social media in today's society. We talk with Jett in the Soundcheck studio about her latest album, blasting through rock and roll stereotypes as a young female artist, and why she roots for the Green Bay Packers.    Interview highlights:  On maintaining her privacy as a young artist:  Whether you're a girl or a guy, really the focus should be the music. I remember when I was maybe 16, right when the Runaways started, and we were doing interviews. And the interviewers would start to talk about more salacious issues -- about what we might personally be into, or other things that didn't have to do with the music. And I realized at that moment, if I start to talk about anything but the music, if I answer that question, that's going to be all they're ever going to want to talk about. They'll never talk about the music. So I put these boundaries -- I don't talk about anything else.  On the present-day media and pop culture interest in her band The Runaways:  There'll always be questions about The Runaways. There's not a lot of press, not a lot of moving pictures on The Runaways. I think people are really curious about this band. To me, it was one of the most magical times in my life. Three and a half years of beauty, and grief and struggle and all the things that make being in a rock and roll band special. i think any band goes through trials and tribulations, personality issues -- that's normal. But for some reason, with The Runaways, I don't know if it's because we're girls, or whatever, people try to make more of it than what it is.  On how songwriting has changed for her throughout her career:  Maybe in my very early songwriting career, things seemed to come a little more... maybe because you were just starting and you were filled up to the top, so it was earlier to have things spill out. Later on, especially maybe about 10 years ago, I had this sense that I had writers' block. But really, I didn't have writers' block -- it's just a matter of remembering, you've gotta sit down and work at it, just like you would anything. If you have a verse and an idea, sit down and play that. If it's only 10 minutes, great. Come back to it the next day. 

The first novel from the award-winning Irish novelist and writer Kevin Barry, City Of Bohane, was set in a dystopian near future. But his new short story collection, Dark Lies The Island, focuses in on outcasts living their lives in a more recognizable present. Barry says that sequencing a short story collection is like sequencing an album. "I am completely channeling Marvin Gaye when I'm sequencing a book of short stories," Barry says. "I'm thinking about my favorite records. I'm Marvin in '71 putting What's Going On together." Barry shares a few of his favorite songs for Soundcheck's Pick Three.  Kevin Barry's Pick Three     Blondie, "Heart of Glass": "What really interests me sometimes in music is when you have different strains that cross-breed. [In "Heart of Glass"] you have the kind of, '70s disco coming out of the gay clubs in New York -- big, pounding, throbbing bass lines, getting mixed up with Lower East Side with the CBGB's new wave kind of set up. The two of them coming together and creating, for me, one of the touchstone tracks for New York City."     Reggae and Desmond Dekker, "You Can Get It, If You Really Want": "My big thing of all forms, is kind of dub reggae and '70s Trojan Records. Almost anything from that label, I'm kind of in heaven. I will listen to that stuff as I write. I hope that it kind of infects the prose at some level, and some of that rhythm -- that slow kind of skank-- gets in there. Irish people actually like to claim a little bit of the reggae heritage for themselves. There was a huge exodus to Jamaica in the 1700s. In fact, the father of Mister Robert Marley had Irish heritage. So we're claiming Bob."     On The Pogues' Phil Chevron: "Very sadly just in the last couple of weeks, Philip Chevron passed away at the tragically early age of 56 after an illness. A couple of months back in Dublin, a lot of people came together and had a big, wonderful benefit concert for Philip in the Olympia Theater. I couldn't make it, I was away but it was an amazing night. U2 showed up, everyone showed up. He was a brilliant influence on the Pogues and what he brought into the Pogues.... He was a guy who never quite got the weight of reputation that he deserved. But an utter gentleman, and a very dapper man. You would spot him around Dublin in a blue velvet suit on a grey, wet Tuesday."

Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein -- the Detroit duo behind the indie rock band Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. -- say their band name came about as something of a joke; They are of no actual relation to either NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. or his late father. But once the onetime collaboration coalesced into a regular working band, they say they kept the admittedly silly moniker because it allowed them creative freedom. "If one can accept a band being named Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., then you’ve already opened yourself up to listening to anything that band can come up with," says Epstein. "You’ve already decided to leave expectations behind.” That attitude informs Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s latest album, The Speed Of Things, which further showcases the band's summery blend of surf rock, folk, dreamy electronics and propulsive dance beats. Hear the band perform songs from the new record in the Soundcheck studio.   Set List:  "Run" "A Haunting" "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)"

The New York subway has inspired not just songs but a great deal of album cover art. A new exhibition at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn displays over 30 years of record covers featuring the subway. The albums show an evolution in musical and artistic styles from the 1950's to the 1980's, as well as the changing face of the subway. Robert Del Bagno, director of exhibitions at the museum talks about the exhibition. Then, we check in with "Latin Soul King" Joe Bataan, whose 1968 album, Subway Joe, -- featuring the infectious Boogaloo hit of the same name -- is part of the exhibit. (And you can make your own subway "album cover" at the Transit Museum's live band karaoke night.) The cover photo of Simon & Garfunkel's 1964 album Wednesday Morning, 3AM was shot in the 53rd Street station.     The Velvet Underground's 1970 album Loaded featured cover art by Stanislaw Zigorski.     The Ramones' 1983 album Subterranean Jungle.     Grandmaster Flash's 1985 album 'The Source.  

Seattle indie folk band The Head and The Heart independently released their self-titled debut back in 2009. Since then, they’ve been signed to Sub Pop Records -- the Seattle label behind bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney and The Postal Service -- and toured relentlessly with groups like Iron and Wine and Dave Matthews. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the title of their new album is Let's Be Still. Hear the band plays some of it live in the Soundcheck studio.    Set List: "Shake" "Another Story" "Let's Be Still"