Best Scheffer Podcasts (2025)

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Eleanor Friedberger Is (Goth) Dancing (Mostly) on Her Own (Archives) 28:16

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1h ago28:16

28:16

Eleanor Friedberger, best known as one half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces, has recently shifted her musical landscape, swapping out live instruments in favor of drum programming and synths for a sound that she can create mostly on her own. (Part of her desire to be more self-reliant, in the wake of the 2016 election.) On her 2018 record,…

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Rachael & Vilray Serve New Old-Timey Songs With a Sly Wink, In-Studio 34:55

3d ago34:55

34:55

The duo of Rachael & Vilray turns the idea of "Everything old is new again" on its head – making new things that sound really old. Over the course of three albums they offer a contemporary take on tin pan alley, the great American songbook, and vintage small combo jazz. The duo’s latest album is West of Broadway and it brings Rachael & Vilray back …

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The Expansive Textured Ambient Songs of Vines, In-Studio 40:56

6d ago40:56

40:56

New York based composer Cassie Wieland first unveiled her ambient songwriting project she calls Vines in 2023. Now she’s released a full LP under the name Vines – that record, called I’ll be here, is full of atmospheric, textural washes of sound and processed vocals that suggest a story rather than actually telling you one. The live version of Vine…

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Afrofuturist Hip Hop From Indianapolis Supergroup 81355, In-Studio 34:03

10d ago34:03

34:03

Indianapolis-based group 81355 (pronounced ‘bless’) is a collaboration between the rapper/singers Oreo Jones and Sirius Blvck, and the lyricist/producer Sedcairn, and while they’re clearly rooted in hip hop, they’re not bound by it. On their impressive new album Bad Dogs, the band races through electropop, future soul, grunge, and avant-garde boom-…

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The Bad Plus Keeps On Making Their Own Rules 41:10

13d ago41:10

41:10

In 2000 the Bad Plus helped usher in the new century with what looked like a 20th century jazz piano trio, with music ranging from groove-based originals to covers of Black Sabbath and Igor Stravinsky. Over the past quarter century they’ve repeatedly surprised listeners. Lately founding members Reid Anderson (bass) & Dave King (drums) with no piano…

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The Pop Precision of Cautious Clay, In-Studio 29:18

18d ago29:18

29:18

Cautious Clay is the stage name of singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Josh Karpeh. He burst out of the gate with his song “Cold War” in 2017, a song that was later sampled by Taylor Swift in her track “London Boy”. Cautious Clay’s music blends R&B, neo-soul, jazz, and more, and his subsequent output includes cowriting with John Legend and…

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Adventurous Harpist Brandee Younger Finds Joy With Gadabout Season 36:32

20d ago36:32

36:32

Bandleader, educator, and improviser Brandee Younger plays the harp. But while she has classical training and knows her way around Ravel and Debussy, she has long been fascinated by harpists like Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, Black women who created new spaces for the harp in the worlds of jazz and pop. Brandee Younger’s new album is called Gad…

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Larry & Joe's Venezuelan and Appalachian Folk Music Has No Borders 33:43

24d ago33:43

33:43

Larry & Joe is a duo that blends the traditional folk music of Venezuela and Appalachia. The duo consists of Larry Bellorin, who has mastered the folk harp of Venezuela, and Joe Troop, who led the Latin-tinged bluegrass band Che Apalache. Larry, a legend of Llanera music, came to America in 2016 as an asylum seeker and describes his current immigra…

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Songwriter Laura Stevenson Rebuilds and Calls The Shots 37:30

28d ago37:30

37:30

American singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson has found a musical home in the area between indie rock and confessional singer/songwriter folk. Her new album, Late Great, runs the gamut of feelings: one moment pulsating with a shoegaze-influenced dreamscape of sparkling guitars and in another, there’s tender, acoustic reflection with elusive, poetic ly…

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Australian-American Songwriter John Butler Soul-Searches and Sublimates 40:57

1M ago40:57

40:57

John Butler has been one of Australia’s most successful independent musicians over the past quarter century. Much of that time he’s led the platinum selling John Butler Trio, three of whose albums hit number one on the Australian charts. Lately, he has been celebrating going solo, using his signature blend of rock, pop, folk, blues, and roots music…

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Puerto Rico's Buscabulla and Their Ever-Evolving Dreamy Pop 41:34

1M ago41:34

41:34

The band Buscabulla began here in New York over a decade ago, when singer Raquel Berrios and multi-instrumentalist Luis Del Valle began making their sophisticated, electronically-tinged Latin pop together. The name Buscabulla loosely translates as “troublemaker,” though the only trouble they’ve caused is to people who’ve tried to pin down their mus…

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Brooklyn Band Wet, In-Studio 30:14

1M ago30:14

30:14

New York indie-pop group Wet, sometimes melancholic, sometimes bright, and always soulful, has just released Two Lives, a memoir-ish bittersweet reflection on life’s major transitions, featuring some of vocalist Kelly Zutrau’s most accomplished songwriting yet. With deconstructed R&B elements, dreamy textures, and a lot of vulnerability, Wet plays …

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Senegalese Singer Cheikh Ibra Fam's Music as a Force for Good 37:03

1M ago37:03

37:03

Cheikh Ibra Fam is a singer and songwriter from the West African nation of Senegal; he toured the world singing with Senegal’s famous dance band, Orchestra Baobob, for six years. In 2022, he released his first solo record, Peace in Africa, and in October he’ll release his new album, Adouna, or Life, which draws from Afro-Cuban rhythms and classic s…

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New York's La Banda Chuska Plays Cumbia-Surf, In-Studio 27:27

2M ago27:27

27:27

New York group La Banda Chuska combines the psychedelic takes on the sounds of 1970’s Peru and Colombia and brings them to the beach party resulting in an irresistible cumbia-surf mixture. They play in-studio. In Peru and Colombia in the early 70s, young musicians who’d grown up with South American folk sounds began picking up electric guitars and …

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The Wonder of Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith): Electronic Fantasies at Play 44:48

2M ago44:48

44:48

When we last heard from Rachika Nayar, she was creating warped textures from her guitar and the software program called Ableton. Our introduction to Nina Keith came from her 2019 album Maranasati 19111, an eerie album of electroacoustic chamber music. After fan-girling each other’s music online, the two composer/musicians have now joined forces for…

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Singular Artist Shamir's Last Solo Act: Celebrating Community 30:38

2M ago30:38

30:38

The Philadelphia-via-Vegas artist, singer, and songwriter Shamir has had a decade long career as a musical shapeshifter. Shamir has marked his ten year career with his tenth album, and perhaps not surprisingly, it’s called Ten. What is surprising is that it features songs that Shamir didn’t write, but that were written by his friends and colleagues…

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Juneteenth 2025 Special Edition 35:33

2M ago35:33

35:33

Listen to a Juneteenth edition of the Soundcheck Podcast, with music celebrating African-American culture and history. Juneteenth marks the day that the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas learned that they were legally free - June 19, 1865. Hear music from Igmar Thomas' Revive Big Band – a blend of jazz, neo-soul, funk, blues, and hip hop – which …

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Another Side of Guitarist Marc Ribot: Intimate Songs With His Voice 32:45

2M ago32:45

32:45

Guitarist Marc Ribot has established himself as one of the most versatile , distinctive, in-demand guitarists anywhere. He’s played with Tom Waits, Marianne Faithfull, Elvis Costello, and dozens, maybe hundreds of others, and led his own bands that have touched on jazz, Cuban music, no wave, and more. But now, with his new album, "Map of a Blue Cit…

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Alt-Pop Band OK Go Bubbles With Shifting Perspective 33:16

2M ago33:16

33:16

The melodic power pop band OK Go, as much a visual art ensemble as they are a rock band, has just released its first new album in over a decade. It’s called And The Adjacent Possible, and it’s full of relatively small songs with some really big ideas. It also means there are some new entries into the catalog of how-did-they-do-that videos that OK G…

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#25 Stanford-Trained Electrical Engineer “Reverse Engineering the Brain” - Dr. Louis Scheffer 59:42

2M ago59:42

59:42

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 1:12 Journey from Electrical Engineering to Neuroscience 6:45 Initial Interest in Neuroscience 8:16 What is connectomics? 11:45 Parallels Between Microchip Design and Neuroscience 14:22 Probabilistic Reconstruction in Connectomics 19:46 Neuro…

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Brooklyn Rider, Cross-Pollinating Chamber Music for 20 Years, and Counting 42:42

2M ago42:42

42:42

The string quartet known as Brooklyn Rider features the usual two violins, viola and cello. And that’s about all that’s usual with this band. Over the past two decades they have played with Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Mexican singer Magos Herrera, Irish fiddler Martin Hayes, and banjo wiz Bela Fleck. They’ve commissioned a bunch of new pie…

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Kentucky Singer/Songwriter S.G. Goodman Passes Down Stories in Song 36:13

2M ago36:13

36:13

Kentucky-based singer and songwriter S. G. Goodman blends a deeply-rooted Americana sound with indie rock and sharply observed tales of life, love and loss. Her songs acknowledge the poverty, violence, and homophobia of the region while celebrating its beauty and the strength to be found in family, friends, and storytelling. Her new album, Planting…

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Brooklyn Bhangra Party With Red Baraat, In-Studio 37:59

3M ago37:59

37:59

The brass and dhol-led party band Red Baraat began as a Punjabi wedding band here in New York, but for the past 15 years they’ve brought their raucous energetic dance sound to everyone through a series of well-received albums and their memorable live shows. Drummer and bandleader Sunny Jain, infused the band with the sounds of his upbringing: music…

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Songwriter/Guitarist Jill Sobule Keeps Moving on 'Nostalgic' Record (From the Archives) 31:29

3M ago31:29

31:29

Denver-born songwriter, guitarist, singer, activist, and performer Jill Sobule, is possibly best-known because of her breakthrough hit of “I Kissed a Girl” (pre-dating Katy Perry by more a decade), and “Supermodel,” the anthem from the film Clueless. In her over seven albums, the troubadour has "mused on topics such as the death penalty, anorexia, …

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The Haunted Atmospheric Guitar of WIlliam Tyler Unspools Time 42:30

3M ago42:30

42:30

Since releasing his first solo album in 2010, William Tyler has become associated with the so-called cosmic country style – his music has tended to be expansive, atmospheric, clearly rooted in Americana but with an experimental edge. Now comes Tyler’s new record, Time Indefinite – an album that might, paradoxically, be his most modern or avant-gard…

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#24 Decoding Brain Signals, Neuromorphic Computing, MEMS w/ NeuroEngineer Dr. Akshay Ananthakrishnan 54:53

3M ago54:53

54:53

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 4:36 Initial Interest in Neurotechnology 7:34 Exploring Diverse Fields of Interest: Neuromorphic Computing, Brain-Machine Interface, Heliostat Fields, Military Applications 10:51 MEMS 14:52 Bio-compatiblity and Bio-mimetic Systems in Neurotec…

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Jlin's Percussive-Driven, Math-Loving, Adventurous Electronic Music, In-Studio 36:35

3M ago36:35

36:35

The artist, producer, and educator Jlin, born Jerrilynn Patton, first came out of the electronic dance music scene – specifically, the Chicago style of house music known as footwork. But she’s also become a sought-after composer, and one of her works was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her collaborators include Icelandic pop star Bjork, composer…

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Chicago-Based Composer Macie Stewart Makes Music Out of the Spaces In-Between 36:43

3M ago36:43

36:43

Macie Stewart is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who’s been a key player in the Chicago music scene, and a go-to collaborator for her string arrangements for pop stars like SZA, or playing with leading improvisers like Makaya McCraven or touring with Japanese Breakfast. Her current project is an album called When Distance Is Blue, ful…

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A New York Evening with Anoushka Shankar 46:07

3M ago46:07

46:07

Because she is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, perhaps the most famous Indian classical musician of the past century, Anoushka Shankar is associated with that style of music. But though she plays the sitar, and does indeed play Indian ragas in the style of her illustrious dad, she has also drawn on jazz, flamenco, various world and electronic music t…

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Fiddlers Mark and Maggie O’Connor Connect Chamber Music and Bluegrass, In-Studio 38:26

3M ago38:26

38:26

The fiddler Mark O’Connor is probably best known for his million-selling Appalachian Waltz project – a kind of chamber/folk album with famed cellist Yo Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer. Mark has also written string quartets, concertos, and orchestral pieces – and they all come from the same place as his solo fiddle sets – everything is rooted in the s…

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#23 Neurotech Startup Writing Algos to Track Biomarkers- Connectome's Dr Rufus Mitchell-Heggs 36:29

3M ago36:29

36:29

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 3:02 Founding Story: Connectome Health 6:15 Inspiration for Company Name: Connectome Health 8:12 fNIRS Overview and Connectome’s Modality Agnostic Strategy 10:23 Hardware 11:26 Key Brain Metrics 13:16 Goal to Move into NeuroDiagnostics 13:59 …

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Revisiting Mike Peters of The Alarm, In-Studio (Archives) 37:03

3M ago37:03

37:03

Since 1981, Welsh musician Mike Peters has been the voice of the hit-making British band The Alarm. After the band split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, before reconstituting The Alarm in 2000, (Wikipedia.) Since being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2005 (he is also co-founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation), Mike …

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King Hannah's Fuzzy-Jangly Charged Romanticism, In-Studio 41:27

4M ago41:27

41:27

King Hannah is an indie-rock duo from Liverpool consisting of singer and songwriter Hannah Merrick and guitarist Craig Whittle. Their latest album, Big Swimmer, seems to be the result of Merrick’s observations after touring around the United States, where it wasn’t the big cities or expansive vistas that inspired her songs, but the little moments a…

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#22 YC Startup Building a Foundation Model for the Brain - Piramidal AI Co-Founder Kris Pahuja 19:21

3M ago19:21

19:21

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction: University, First Startup, Corporate Experience 2:44 Initial Interest in AI and Neuroscience 4:24 Founding Story of Piramidal 5:49 Y Combinator: Learnings and Experiences 7:35 Product: Foundation Model for the Brain 9:47 Competitive Landscap…

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Ancient-to-Future Hot Psychedelic Gnawa Blues from Bab L' Bluz, In-Studio 36:17

4M ago36:17

36:17

Bab L’ Bluz is a French-Moroccan band playing a distinctive band of rock, one that’s built on the sounds of North and West African music, and on the Blues. The band was born from the dream of propelling Guembri (the Gnawa's guitar) on the international music scene of contemporary music, and has expanded to include electric mandole and electric riba…

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Marlon Williams Connects With His Maori Roots, In-Studio 25:36

4M ago25:36

25:36

Aotearoa singer/songwriter Marlon Williams’(Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) is a singer and songwriter from Lyttleton, New Zealand. He’s spent this past decade creating a personal blend of country, indie, and folk music; and he’s been an actor, and makes an appearance in the film A Star Is Born. But his new album is something different – maybe not musically, b…

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Immersion and SUSS: Rhythm and Synths Meet Ambient Country, In-Studio 40:56

4M ago40:56

40:56

Immersion consists of the husband and wife team of Colin Newman, who you may know from the veteran English rock band Wire, and Malka Spigel from the band Minimal Compact. And Nanocluster is the name of a series of collaborations between the Immersion and various guests (Laetitia Sadier, German post-rock duo Tarwater, electronic musicians Ulrich Sch…

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All the Flavors of the Rainbow of Cello by Peter Gregson, In-Studio 42:10

4M ago42:10

42:10

The British cellist, producer, and composer Peter Gregson has collaborated with some of the biggest names in contemporary music, including Max Richter, Gabriel Prokofiev and Jóhann Jóhannsson. His own work includes soundtracks for film and TV, electroacoustic works, and a series of string quartets. Daringly, he has also “recomposed” J.S. Bach’s six…

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Tabla Master Zakir Hussain and Santoor Player Rahul Sharma, In-Studio 42:47

4M ago42:47

42:47

The Indian-born tabla player and composer, teacher, and advocate Zakir Hussain, son of Ustad Alla Rahka, who passed away in December of 2024, wasn’t just a virtuoso improviser - he was one of the world’s exceptional percussionists, working in many genres, and was the world’s preeminent tabla master. Zakir Hussain enjoyed the different challenges th…

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Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 Ignite an Afrobeat Dance Party, In-Studio 44:06

4M ago44:06

44:06

The Nigerian singer, songwriter and bandleader and Seun Kuti keeps alive the Afrobeat tradition founded by his legendary father, Fela Kuti, back in the 1970s. In fact, when Fela died in 1997, it was Seun, his youngest son, who took over the band, now called Egypt 80. Like his late father, Seun Kuti takes on topics like government corruption and cor…

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#21 Reach Neuro: Spinal Stimulation to Restore Movement In Upper Limb Post-Stroke - CEO Marc Powell 31:37

4M ago31:37

31:37

Free Neurotech Newsletter: https://neurotechnologynews.beehiiv.com/subscribe Key Moments: 0:00 Introduction 3:17 Initial Interest in Neuroscience 4:50 Origin Story of Reach Neuro 6:16 Reach Neuro’s Avantis Platform 11:12 Reach Neuro Competitors 14:40 Navigating FDA Regulations and Breakthrough Device Designation 19:02 Research Tools and Product Dev…

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The Punchy Groove of Baroque Ensemble Ruckus, In-Studio 34:28

4M ago34:28

34:28

New York-based Ruckus is an early music ensemble that plays with the energy of a rock band. Most early music groups feature instruments like the harpsichord and the viola da gamba, and Ruckus does too, but you’ll also hear synthesizer, guitar, bassoon, bass, and near Eastern frame drums. And on their new album, The Edinburgh Rollick, they focus on …

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CocoRosie's Theatrical Baroque Electro-Pop, In-Studio 53:27

5M ago53:27

53:27

CocoRosie -the band founded by the sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady – blends elements of pop, freak folk and electronic music into a distinctly personal, idiosyncratic sound. The sisters use their voices, electronics, and found sounds – usually the sounds of toys – to make songs that can be whimsical, provocative, haunted, beautiful - sometimes all…

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The Quartet Sissoko-Segal-Parisien-Peirani Wanders Across Cultures and Genres 33:20

5M ago33:20

33:20

In 2010, we first fell under the spell of an extraordinary duo: Ballaké Sissoko, master of the West African harp or kora, and Vincent Segal, the French cellist. After a couple of albums together they added another duo, accordion virtuoso Vincent Peirani and sax player Emile Parisien, and that quartet has released an album called Les Egarés – thos…

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Harpist Ashley Jackson Takes Us To The Water 29:08

5M ago29:08

29:08

Harpist, soloist, collaborator (Harlem Chamber Players), educator, and arranger Ashley Jackson’s brand new album is called Take Me To The Water. In the American spiritual tradition, water is a powerful metaphor for freedom and for moving from this life to the next. Jackson’s record takes listeners on a watery journey through works by Debussy, the j…

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Rafiq Bhatia and Chris Pattishall Sculpt Electroacoustic Works, In-Studio 41:16

5M ago41:16

41:16

New York composer and guitarist Rafiq Bhatia is part of the art rock band Son Lux, the experimental trio best-known for scoring the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. His new EP – his first new solo project in 5 years - features pianist and improviser Chris Pattishall and is called Each Dream, A Melting Door. In their electro-acoustic songs, R…

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Berlin-Based Techno/Electro-Musician Jan Blomqvist Considers Silence and Connectivity 30:10

5M ago30:10

30:10

Jan Blomqvist is part of the legendary electronic music scene in Berlin – but he’s also a singer and producer, so his take on techno and house music is more song-oriented than many of his fellow DJs. One thing that sets Blomqvist apart is that he makes music in the studio with an eye towards live performance, earning him a description of “concert t…

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Aukai's Electroacoustic Music for a Timeless State (Archives) 26:57

5M ago26:57

26:57

German producer & multi-instrumentalist Aukai, aka Markus Sieber, grew up in the former East Germany, but his travels have taken him through Latin America, and he is now based in Colorado. "Aukai" is a Hawaiian term for a seafaring traveler, and on 2018 record, Branches of Sun, he has captured a certain nomadic wanderlust which might connect a list…

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Songs By Ken Pomeroy to Not Feel Alone, In-Studio 34:39

5M ago34:39

34:39

With her clever guitar playing and powerful stories, Oklahoma-based Cherokee singer and songwriter Ken Pomeroy draws on brutal honesty and the songwriting skills she has honed since she was 11 years old. She’s already found herself on the big screen and small when her song “Wall of Death” made its way onto the Twisters soundtrack, while Hulu’s Rese…

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Kinan Azmeh and CityBand Mix East and West, In-Studio 39:13

5M ago39:13

39:13

Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has been based here in New York for many years. His music is an organic mix of East and West, of classical composition, jazzy improvisation, and Near Eastern music traditions. He’s played with the Silk Road Ensemble and lots of other groups large and small, but the one we see him with most often is his Ar…