Soundcheck

Yoko Ono almost needs no introduction. The 80-year-old artist, activist and musician recently told a reporter for The Australian that “art is breathing” -- and she has been breathing, and making art for more than half a century. Among her recent projects is a new album with the Plastic Ono Band called Take Me To The Land Of Hell. Her son, Sean Lennon, produced the album, and it features guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz, Yuka Honda, Questlove, and more. Interview Highlights Yoko Ono on her son Sean Lennon discovering the Beatles music: John and I decided that we [were] not going to influence him with our songs or our careers. So he didn't know about John being a Beatle. So one day he came back, he was about four or five, somebody told him. [Sean said], "Daddy, are you a Beatle?" So John says, "Well, I uh, was." On working with Sean on Take Me To The Land Of Hell: I gotta give it to my son. He's kind of like, "Mom, do you think you can write another song here?" And I just write it, while we were doing things in the studio. So many songs are like that. It just inspires me because he says it. I made him into the music director of my work. I didn't know whether that was a good idea or not. Many people said, "Don't work with your son! That's the worst thing you can do!" So they said that and that's why I [went] the opposite. On the song "Bad Dancer": Whenever there's a song, dance music, my body starts to dance. I can't help it! I'm just very much into dance. Even when I was four years old, you see it in a film that my mother and father made. I'm a little girl who is just dancing all the time. I think dancing is a very healthy way of going through life -- instead of marching. I'm a bad dancer! But I love it.  

Golden Suits is a solo project from Fred Nicolaus of Department Of Eagles, yet "solo" is a weird way to describe it. The band’s self-titled debut includes half of Grizzly Bear as well as members of rising New York groups Milagres and Ava Luna. The record also features delightfully simple melodic lines sung in Nichols’ rich voice, soaring counterpoint harmonies, and shimmering guitars to round everything out. Golden Suits' song “Swimming In ’99” best typifies that dynamic sound, and seems tailor-made to be heard live in concert. Watch Golden Suits perform live in the Soundcheck studio.         Set List: "Swimming in '99" "Under Your Wing" "Little One"     Golden Suits plays Union Pool on Wednesday, September 25. 

The idea that country music is an exclusively “white genre” is one that’s been stubbornly hanging on for a long time. And it’s one that Diane Pecknold -- editor of a new anthology called Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music -- would disagree with.  Pecknold discusses the anthology and the obscurity of African American presence in country music from such seminal artists as Louis Armstrong to Darius Rucker. 

Mandolin Orange has been quietly gathering local and faraway fans since its debut album was released back in 2010. The North Carolina duo's music -- laced with bluegrass, country and folk -- is often wistful and contemplative without being somber, and always firmly grounded in the South. Guitarist and singer Andrew Marlin and violinist, guitarist and singer Emily Frantz recently released their third record, This Side of Jordan, which is filled with unexpected Biblical twists and allusions. They join us in the Soundcheck studio to perform live.        For more photos, visit Soundcheck's Tumblr page. Set List:  "House Of Stone" "Cavalry" "Until The Last Night"

The song “Sweet Home Alabama” is a staple of the classic rock catalog. And like many songs permanently on rotation on radio stations throughout the country, the lyrics have been seared into the minds of many a classic rock fan. But even die-hard followers of Lynyrd Skynyrd might get befuddled by one line in particular: "Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers / And they’ve been known to pick a song or two." Muscle Shoals is the town in Alabama that’s recorded the likes of The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Traffic, and more. But “Swampers” is a much more obscure reference: It’s the house band of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. “They played swampy music,” FAME founder Rick Halltells Soundcheck host John Schaefer. “And it was funky and rootsy and dirty and all that. So they started calling themselves the Swampers.” The new documentary Muscle Shoals sets its gaze on that nugget and seemingly every detail about the town it takes its name from. Hall and Director Greg "Freddy" Camalier join Soundcheck to discuss the film.    Interview Highlights Rick Hall, on how the Swampers formed: Most of them were originally from [the area around Muscle Shoals]…. Everybody had groups and they played fraternities all over the South. So what we would do is take the best drummer out of one band, the best keyboard player out of another band, and so forth. So that way we got the best of all mixes. Greg “Freddy” Camalier, on the importance of Muscle Shoals: It’s a massive amount of iconic music… coming out of this tiny rural place. And then it spans genres of music. This isn’t just one sound we’re talking about here. We’re talking soul, we’re talking deep down soul, we’re talking R&B, we’re talking birth of Southern rock, we’re talking rock and roll, country music, even reggae. Rick Hall, on recording with Aretha Franklin to kick off her outstanding run of success: [Atlantic Records partner and producer Jerry Wexler] said to me, “I’ve got this lady that’s just leaving CBS Records, and she’s had no success whatsoever, and so I want to bring her to Muscle Shoals. What do you think of that?” I said, “I think that’s wonderful.” Now, at the time, I didn’t know who in the hell Aretha was …. He brought her down and we cut two sides the first day, and both sides went number one. 

Samuel Bazawule, a.k.a. Blitz The Ambassador, is now based in New York, yet for his latest single, "DIKEMBE!," the rapper and producer was thinking back to his childhood in Ghana. The song, from his new EP, The Warm Up, glorifies former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, who Bazawule idolized growing up. The track, which features a chorus of spitfire "no's" and a driving, soulful beat, also sees Bazawule name-checking the next generation of rising musical stars in Africa. While Blitz's gruff timbre might not be quite as pronounced as Mutombo's, he flows as ferociously as his idol would swat away shots on the basketball court.     Watch a video below of Blitz the Ambassador on Soundcheck in 2011.       Set List: "Dollar and a Dream" "DIKEMBE!" "African in New York"   Blitz The Ambassador plays The Studio at Webster Hall tonight.

Madonna’s recording career turned 30 this year -- and we've spent much of the week looking back at some of her earliest hits, memorable film roles, and iconic fashion statements. All of which is to say, we've been talking a lot about Madonna's career pre-2000. However, almost half of Madonna's time in the music industry has taken place after the turn of the century -- and today, as we wrap up Madonna Week on our show, we look at a more modern side of Madonna's career with Billboard editor Joe Levy.

The play-along video game “Rock Band,” recently announced an indefinite hiatus. The once popular game, which let players simulate their rock star fantasies by playing with instrument-like controllers, was praised by critics and sold millions of units since it emerged in 2007. So, what happened to break up the band? Anthony John Agnello, a writer for The Gameological Society, charted the rise and fall of the musical game and he joins us to discuss.

J. Roddy Walston and the Business formed over a decade ago in Tennessee -- but in recent years have made a home in Baltimore, Md. The group plays a boisterous Southern-influenced rock, and with its latest album, Essential Tremors, embraces snarl as much as soul -- and has developed a reputation for a fierce live show. A few years back, we met J. Roddy Walston for the first time, and when they played in the studio, the band almost blew the roof off. Listeners left comments like “sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis, Queen, Bowie and Rolling Stones. WILD!” and “Holy hell where did you find this band they're amazing.” Hear the band perform in the Soundcheck studio.      

In 1998, Madonna released Ray Of Light, an album that marked a crossroads for the highly successful artist. Madonna worked with several noted producers, including electronica pioneer William Orbit, to establish a sound that blended dance, pop, and British rock. The album was critically acclaimed, peaking at number two on the Billboard chart and producing two worldwide top-five hits.  NPR Music’s Ann Powers calls Ray Of Light Madonna's “mid-life enlightenment” record — and she walks us through this interesting chapter in the star’s career.  Interview Highlights   Ann Powers, on Madonna integrating yoga and spirituality into her music: Shanti/Ashtangi is a form of kirtan, the chanting tradition that people like Krisha Das were doing around New York City at that time…. The only time I’ve interviewed [Madonna] in person was for Ray Of Light. That’s how I connected with her: Talking about yoga, singing kirtan, and all of the spiritual pursuits that she was doing at the time. She was very serious about it and excited to be able to put that into her music and possibly make it into pop. On working with William Orbit to produce a new sound: I think what Madonna heard in him was a kind of a lushness that she wanted for this record. Techno and rave was happening in the 90’s and had a lot of different forms. There was very experimental, more hard stuff like Aphex Twin. There was party stuff like Fatboy Slim. That’s not what Madonna wanted for this. She wanted something more like a singer-songwriter, really. And William Orbit provided her with that.     On the hit title track, “Ray Of Light,” and the British sound of the record: Another thing Madonna was doing during this time was experimenting with learning how to play guitar. So she’s really going through this growth thing and trying to combine things. I think that was a hit partly because it has that mix of dance and rock. And it’s just such a joyous song. I have a friend… who actually walked down the aisle — she and her groom — to “Ray Of Light.”

In 1984, shortly after Madonna embarked upon her musical career, Detroit News reporter Susan Whitall interviewed Madonna about her childhood growing up outside of Detroit. Now, 30 years later, Susan Whitall is still working for the Detroit News as a music, features and entertainment writer – and she joins us to talk about that interview with Madonna early on in her career. Plus, she reflects on Madonna's relationship with her hometown today.  Madonna made headlines when her Detroit audience booed her during the 2012 MDNA World Tour, after she mentioned President Obama's recent reelection.

The Twin Cities area is home to Doomtree, one of the best independent hip-hop collectives in the country. The seven members includes rapper P.O.S., producers Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak, and its only female MC, Maggie Wander, a.k.a. Dessa. But with Dessa's previous record Castor, The Twin -- which embraced a melodic, jazz-inflected tone -- she proved she's expanding beyond skillful and fluent rapper. Dessa's latest solo album, Parts Of Speech, continues that progression, asserting herself as a singer and writer with grand concepts. And musically, the record is her most diverse yet. Parts Of Speech showcases a variety of sounds, from slow haunting dirges ("Call Off Your Ghost"), to bold beats ("Warsaw"), to complex, grand statements about relationships, community, and empowerment ("Skeleton Key"). With fantastic production flourishes and complex sonic experimentation, Dessa is an exciting star on the rise. Hear the Minneapolis rapper and her band perform in the Soundcheck studio.         Set List: "Call Off Your Ghost" "Skeleton Key" "The Man I Knew"

This week on Soundcheck, we’re talking all about Madonna, who released her debut album 30 years ago this summer. But soon after her music career began, Madonna also embraced another creative calling: film. Since the mid-‘80s, Madonna has appeared in 19 movies, including Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, Who’s that Girl, Dangerous Game, and A League of Their Own. Madonna has also directed a number of films as well – her most recent being the 2011 film W.E.  Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman, co-hosts of The Takeaway’s Movie Date podcast, join Soundcheck to discuss the ups and downs of Madonna’s career as an actress. Kristen Meinzer, on why Madonna’s talent doesn’t necessarily translate to the screen: I think it’s because she can’t be realistic. She is such a performer and she’s so much a big show. That’s what makes her a great stage act, a great concert to see. When she tried Broadway, people said she was fantastic there. But the subtleties of the camera, dealing with close-ups, interacting with others as opposed just being the center of attention — I think that’s a big challenge for Madonna…. There’s a big difference between showmanship and great acting.   Rafer Guzman, on Madonna’s solid performance in Evita: I think people actually were quite impressed with Madonna [in Evita]. I remember this was one of the times when people thought, “Oh! Maybe there’s something more to her. Maybe she actually can act….” This is a perfect role for Madonna. All she has to do is basically sing her way though it. It's sort of acting the way an opera singer would act. It’s not quite movie acting.   Guzman, on Madonna’s reality-television-esque documentary, Truth or Dare: She does give this kind of monologue, and it’s funny because when I first saw the film, it seemed real enough to me. And now when I went back and saw it, I thought, this is exactly the kind of monologue you see everyone in every reality show do. They always cut away from the action, sit that person down and say, “OK, spill your guts — in this particular way….” She’s doing that. For better or worse, this film was light-years ahead of this time.

 "Weird Al" Yankovic launched his career with send-ups of Michael Jackson hits in the 1980's, but his latest release from isn't another parody. He joins Soundcheck from the studios of NPR West to talk about his latest work, a children's book, My New Teacher And Me, which is a sequel of sorts to his first book, When I Grow Up.  Plus, we ask Yankovic about his "Madonna Moment":   "Weird Al" Yankovic On His Madonna Moment Interview Highlights "Weird Al" Yankovic on what inspired him to write My New Teacher And Me: I probably drew a little from personal experiences. I did have a couple of teachers earlier in my life where we didn't get quite get along. I had an eighth grade electric shop teacher who was a bit harsh. Billy, the character in my book, is the kid I wish I could have been. He speaks up for himself. He finds his voice. I was a bit more intimidated at that age. On imagination and creativity:  That's the nature and the essence of being a kid really. This book is sort of a cautionary tale of having that creativity beaten out of you. There are people in your life that will maybe tell you to "grow up" and they might stifle some of that childlike wonder.  On how he got the idea to parody Madonna's "Like A Virgin":  Madonna was actually the person who suggested that I do the parody "Like a Surgeon." She was apparently talking to a friend of hers as they were walking through New York City one day, and she just happened to wonder aloud, "I wonder when Weird Al's gonna do a parody of "Like A Virgin" called "Like A Surgeon." It got back to me, and I thought -- not a bad idea, thanks Madonna, think I will! 

The Good Lord Bird, the latest novel from James McBride, is a fictionalized retelling of the true story of abolitionist John Brown -- the grizzled anti-slavery rebel who was eventually captured in 1859 during his unsuccessful raid on Harpers Ferry. But in addition to his work as a best-selling author of books like The Color Of Water and Miracle At St. Anna, McBride is also a conservatory-trained musician and composer. McBride joins us in the Soundcheck studio to talk about his most recent work and to perform a selection of traditional spirituals with a quintet of singers and musicians.