Soundcheck

Bo Burnham is a comedian, songwriter and actor who rose to fame via YouTube, where millions of people have watched his homemade musical comedy videos. And while he got his start recording in his bedroom, in the years since, Burnham has made the jump to Comedy Central and MTV. And now, for his latest feat he’s written a book of poetry, Egghead: Or, You Can’t Survive On Ideas Alone. Burnham discusses musical comedy, his rise on YouTube, and to share a Pick Three of some of his favorite music. Bo Burnham's Pick Three:   Atoms For Peace, Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors:  

To call Jenny Hval a multidisciplinary artist is something of an understatement. The Oslo, Norway-based musician is also a conceptual artist, poet, critic -- she wrote her master's thesis about Kate Bush -- and writer with two published books -- one a novel, Prelebryggeriet (The Pearl House). But as musician, Hval is one of the most fascinating young artists out there. Her latest album, Innocence Is Kinky, is a musically bold, experimental collection of songs equally beautiful and abrasive. Produced by longtime PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, Hval's songs fall somewhere between Kate Bush's delicate art pop and PJ Harvey's primal rock. And on songs like "Mephisto In The Water" and "I Called," she blends calming ambient sounds and bursts of harsh noise. Floating above all those textures is Hval's ethereal voice, which seamlessly transitions between icy singing to hushed whisper-singing to spoken word passages. Lyrically, Hval is even more provocative: The subject matter on Innocence Is Kinky -- which began as an experimental sound and light installation -- explores gender roles and sexuality ("Amphibious, Androgynous"), high and low culture ("Innocence Is Kinky"), and politics ("Oslo Oedipus") with direct and graphic frankness. The result is a raw and challenging record full of blunt, but interesting stream-of-conscious ideas.       For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List:  "Mephisto In The Water" "Oslo Oedipus" "I Got No Strings"

He called himself “Doc Pomus,” and he wrote some of the most iconic songs of the 1950's and '60s; songs like “Viva Las Vegas,” “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “This Magic Moment.” But a new documentary called "AKA Doc Pomus” aims to share the story of the man behind the hits -- a disabled Brooklyn songwriter who succeeded in the music industry against all odds. We talk with one of the film’s directors, Peter Miller, as well as Doc Pomus's daughter and the film’s producer, Sharyn Felder.

If there’s one sound that characterizes the Saturday Night Live opening theme, it’s that wailing, fluttering and occasionally ear-splitting lead tenor sax. Lenny Pickett has been playing those legendary solos with the SNL band for almost 30 years -- and he’s been the band’s musical director for almost 20. He gives us a glimpse of life behind the scenes at SNL -- and shares with us a Pick Three.  Interview Highlights Lenny Pickett, on what keeps SNL band members around for decades:  There are very few opportunities that are steady anymore for musicians. One of the great things about our show is we do the 20 or 22 episodes a year, and the summers are off, so these amazing jazz musicians go and do their other tours and continue with their other work and still have a job that helps support their families.  On SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels:  He seems to have found his way into the entire universe of late night television. I've worked with a lot of producers but he has more expertise and more talent at producing than anybody I've ever seen. He's quite amazing.  On whether the SNL band ever collaborates with SNL's guest artists:  Recently, the tendency of these acts is to go out very complete. We play with people like Al Green and Aretha Franklin and Randy Newman - people who were really comfortable working with a studio band. That happened more often. But by and large, we have the budget for it, so we let them come and produce their music exactly the way they do it on their tour. We say, bring in whatever will fit in our studio, and do it the way you want to do it.    Lenny Pickett's Pick Three Selections:  "Dangaye - ongo" by Ongo Trogode "Devil Got My Woman" - Skip James "Wings" (or "Give Me Wings") - The Rising Stars Gospel Quartet

Late last year, TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Brooklyn-based drummer Ryan Sawyer (Lone Wolf and Cub) unveiled a project called Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band. The group, named for a brand of ink, just released its self-titled EP this week and preparing for a a month-long Sunday residency at Union Pool in Williamsburg.  And while many will call this a side-project of Adebimpe, this is very much a band with brooding and groove-driven songs. Joined by guitarist Alex Holden (Big Numbers) and bassist Josh Werner (Lee "Scratch" Perry, CocoRosie), Adebimpe and Sawyer bring, uh, HiWaBlaMaBa to the Soundcheck studio for a live performance.   For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List: "The Blast, The Bloom" "Mad Lifeline" "WPIC"    

For more then 50 years, we’ve been hearing from the singer-songwriter and musician Graham Nash. From his time in the Hollies to his work in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, to his solo career, Nash has had his own way of seeing the world. The twice-inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer tells his story in a new book called Wild Tales: A Rock And Roll Life and he shares some of those tales in the studio. Interview Highlights On his song "Teach Your Children," which appears on the 1970 album Deja Vu, from Crosby Stills Nash and Young: It has two photographs [as its source]. One of them was a boy in Central Park by Diane Arbus, a very, very famous New York photographer. The next one that was next to it at this exhibit of my collection was a portrait of Krupp, the German arms magnate. When I was looking at these two images I realized that if we really didn't teach our children a better way of dealing with their fellow human beings, that the very humanity was in jeopardy. Don't forget it's a two way street. You've got a lot to learn from your children as well as teaching them.      On meeting his idols, the Everly Brothers: It affected me deeply. I realized in a way that we're all trying to touch the flame. We're all trying to get as close to creation as possible without getting burnt. That was me and Alan Clock and Don and Phil Everly alone talking on the steps of [a] hotel in Manchester. It was a dream for me. I decided from that day that people really want eye contact. They really want to know whether you're committed to contacting them, rather than just patting them on the head and signing an autograph and moving on. That really affected me deeply.      On his song "Marrakesh Express," which appears on the 1969 album, Crosby, Stills, And Nash: I'd been reading books on the beat poets. You know on Allan Ginsberg and William Burroughs. When you analyzed everything that they were doing it appeared that all they were doing was smoking dope every day in Marrakesh and writing poetry. That sounded really appealing to me. I decided to retrace that journey. So I did take the train from Casablanca down to Marrakesh. I was in the first class compartment with two five-foot older ladies with their gray hair dyed blue. Me going back to the third class compartment where it was really happening -- dogs and pigs and chickens and people lighting fires and cooking food. That's where it was happening. Then I went back to my first class compartment and wrote "Marrakesh Express."  

It's time to hear about some new releases! Sophie Harris of Time Out New York joins us to talk about what she's been listening to lately -- L.A. sister band HAIM, rapper Earl Sweatshirt and singer and songwriter Neko Case. Sophie's picks for New Releases:

The band Kneebody is notoriously tough to pin down, genre-wise. The group, which is made up of several graduates from the Eastman School of Music and Cal Arts, has been around since 2001, and along the way has picked up a Grammy nomination in the "classical crossover" category, worked with trumpeter and label-owner Dave Douglas and garnered plenty of young fans. But whatever you want to call the music on its latest album -- electric jazz, jazz-rock, progressive jazz -- it's at turns danceable, introspective, and always ear-catching. Hear the quintet play songs off of that new album, The Line, in the Soundcheck studio. 

Robert Del Naja and his band, the sprawling electronic ensemble called Massive Attack, changed the sound of British music in the 1990s. Two years ago, he got the idea of joining forces with the acclaimed British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis for a big project that tackles some big questions, like "Who's in charge here?" and "How free are we to determine the course of our own lives?" And, "Do you still feel like dancing?" Del Naja and Curtis join us to talk about the immersive multimedia project "Massive Attack v Adam Curtis," which is running through Oct. 4 at the Park Avenue Armory.

The Runaways were an all-girl rock group that formed in L.A. in 1975, turned heads in New York at CBGBs, became stars in Japan -- and then crashed and burned after four short years. The group, which included Lita Ford, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, has seen its story told before -- on screen and in print. Now, the music writer Evelyn McDonnell has released a book called Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways. She joins us to discuss the lasting legacy of the short-lived but influential band.  

Tired Pony was originally assembled as a side-project by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody as a way to realize a long-standing goal to make an Americana album. But soon, the side-project became something more: A supergroup comprised of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Iain Archer (Snow Patrol), Richard Colburn (Belle And Sebastian), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5), Troy Stewart and producer and multi-instrumentalist "Jacknife" Lee. Following Tired Pony's critically acclaimed 2010 debut, The Place We Ran From, the group is back with its follow-up, The Ghost Of The Mountain. Recorded at Lee's Topanga Canyon studio over nine days in February and March, the album (out Oct. 1) expands beyond the band's original country-tinged songs with a wide variety of textures and a lush, uplifting, and almost cinematic rock sound. Hear the group perform songs from the new record in the Soundcheck studio.   For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List: "All Things At Once" "Creak In The Floorboards"

If you have a brilliant idea for a new project, but you don’t have a lot of money, you might turn to a site like Kickstarter. Lots of folks, including musicians, are crowdfunding new projects -- soliciting small investments from fans and friends in exchange for a gift or service. But composer and Musopen.org founder Aaron Dunn has a new idea for some very old music. Dunn tells Soundcheck host John Schaefer about his Kickstarter campaign, "Set Chopin Free."

For thirty years  TV and radio host Eddie Trunk has been charting the hard rock and heavy metal scene. He’s shared his love for bands like Metallica, Bon Jovi and Anthrax on VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, and over the airwaves with Eddie Trunk Rocks on Q104.3. Now, he’s releasing the second volume of his book Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal – this time, he’s focusing in on some lesser known acts. We hear about Whitesnake, Angel and Overkill. Plus, Trunk weighs in on the new Metallica concert film, Through the Never.  

Novelist and writer Nicholson Baker’s new book, Traveling Sprinkler, is about a fairly well regarded poet named Paul Chowder who is having a hard time writing a new book. So he picks up a guitar instead -- and composes a series of songs. And, it turns out, so did Nicholson Baker. He joins us in the studio to discuss his new book -- and the actual companion album he recorded.

When Brooklyn dance band LCD Soundsystem hung up its hat in 2011, few thought that frontman James Murphy would be quiet for long. And in the years since, he’s been busy with all kinds of things, like producing for other bands and running his record label, DFA. Now, his latest musical venture is taking him to Broadway, where he's composed music for a new revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, (in previews starting Oct. 1), which is directed by Mike Nichols and starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall. Murphy discusses scoring for the stage, talks about producing the upcoming Arcade Fire album, and designing a custom sound system, called Despacio. Interview Highlights James Murphy, on writing music for the Mike Nichols-directed revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal: The music is not to be a soundtrack in the classic sense. It's supposed to be music for transitions, going between scenes and moments... Because I make music for myself, when I get to make music to accompany a play I have a job. It's really clear to me and I really enjoy the job, which is: "What does this person want to happen for their piece of work?" It's similar to the job that I hope someone would do for me for a record cover of mine. I'm going to put myself in it as much as I can, but it's not for me. On working with Arcade Fire for their upcoming album Reflektor: Every member of that band could very easily be the primary creative force of a band. And they do find a way to work together that I find very admirable, and I'm a little jealous of it.     On designing Despacio, his custom sound system: There was a sound system that I felt was missing. Something that's very natural, the way an old disco system would be, but has the weight and power of a modern system, but not as aggressive. I wanted a dance club that an opera buff could bring their perfect pressings in, sit in the middle of, listen to their operas, and be really happy. We contacted McIntosh, and they loaned us amps, 50,000 watts... It was really beautiful -- I'm more proud of this than I should be.