Soundcheck

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WNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck, the arts and culture program hosted by John Schaefer, who engages guests and listeners in lively, inquisitive conversations with established and rising figures in New York City's creative arts scene. Guests come from all disciplines, including pop, indie rock, jazz, urban, world and classical music, technology, cultural affairs, TV and film. Recent episodes have included features on Michael Jackson,Crosby Stills & Nash, the Assad Brothers, Rackett, The Replacements, and James Brown.

Recent Episodes
  • Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 Ignite an Afrobeat Dance Party, In-Studio
    Apr 10, 2025 – 44:00
  • The Punchy Groove of Baroque Ensemble Ruckus, In-Studio
    Apr 3, 2025 – 34:24
  • CocoRosie's Theatrical Baroque Electro-Pop, In-Studio
    Mar 31, 2025 – 53:20
  • The Quartet Sissoko-Segal-Parisien-Peirani Wanders Across Cultures and Genres
    Mar 27, 2025 – 33:15
  • Harpist Ashley Jackson Takes Us To The Water
    Mar 24, 2025 – 29:04
  • Rafiq Bhatia and Chris Pattishall Sculpt Electroacoustic Works, In-Studio
    Mar 20, 2025 – 41:10
  • Berlin-Based Techno/Electro-Musician Jan Blomqvist Considers Silence and Connectivity
    Mar 17, 2025 – 30:06
  • Aukai's Electroacoustic Music for a Timeless State (Archives)
    Mar 13, 2025 – 26:53
  • Songs By Ken Pomeroy to Not Feel Alone, In-Studio
    Mar 10, 2025 – 34:35
  • Kinan Azmeh and CityBand Mix East and West, In-Studio
    Mar 6, 2025 – 39:08
  • The War And Treaty Blends Country, Soul, and the Blues, In-Studio
    Mar 3, 2025 – 39:33
  • Third Coast Percussion Plays New Work by Zakir Hussain, In-Studio
    Feb 27, 2025 – 40:51
  • The Warmth and Soulful Groove of Sachal Vasandani, In-Studio
    Feb 24, 2025 – 32:44
  • Singer-Songwriter Victoria Canal, In-Studio
    Feb 20, 2025 – 35:03
  • The Resilience, Wisdom, and Hope in Brother Ali's Hip Hop, In-Studio
    Feb 17, 2025 – 36:01
  • Intertwining Melodies From American Rock Band, Horsegirl
    Feb 13, 2025 – 27:29
  • Sam Amidon Recasts and Expands Folk Songs, In-Studio
    Feb 10, 2025 – 33:33
  • Afrobeat From Amayo Blends Nigerian Heritage and Kung Fu Teachings, In-Studio
    Feb 6, 2025 – 33:52
  • Cellist Abel Selaocoe On Finding Things That Bind Us Together
    Feb 3, 2025 – 35:41
  • The Band Wunderhorse, Very Raw, No Frills, In-Studio
    Jan 30, 2025 – 26:44
  • Richard Reed Parry's 'Quiet River of Dust' (Archives)
    Jan 27, 2025 – 41:08
  • South African Guitarist Derek Gripper Translates Kora and J.S. Bach, In-Studio
    Jan 23, 2025 – 34:34
  • Enhanced Chamber Music by W4RP Trio and LIKWUID, In-Studio
    Jan 20, 2025 – 41:29
  • Violinist and Bandleader Jenny Scheinman Stretches Out At Play
    Jan 16, 2025 – 44:36
  • Sax Player and Bandleader Lakecia Benjamin Imagines What's Possible
    Jan 13, 2025 – 30:29
  • Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band, In-Studio
    Jan 9, 2025 – 37:34
  • A Celebration of Folk and Indigenous Music From Jarana Beat
    Jan 2, 2025 – 39:20
  • Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2024
    Dec 31, 2024 – 57:52
  • Best of Soundcheck 2024, Part 2
    Dec 30, 2024 – 36:01
  • Best of Soundcheck 2024, Part 1
    Dec 26, 2024 – 41:15
  • Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, In-Studio
    Dec 23, 2024 – 35:42
  • An Original Score From yMusic, In-Studio
    Dec 19, 2024 – 33:12
  • Musician, Artist, and Activist Samora Pinderhughes On Love, Grief, and Forgiveness, In-Studio
    Dec 16, 2024 – 45:16
  • Nour Harkati Blends the Traditional and Modern in His Original Songs, In-Studio
    Dec 12, 2024 – 29:30
  • Transcendent Grooves By Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, In-Studio
    Dec 9, 2024 – 27:50
  • Pom Pom Squad Blazes With Punk Attitude and Vulnerability
    Dec 5, 2024 – 32:17
  • Songwriter Laura Marling Muses on the Mystical, In-Studio
    Dec 2, 2024 – 26:24
  • Rodney Crowell Makes It Personal
    Nov 28, 2024 – 36:33
  • The Timeless Original West Georgia Blues of Jontavious Willis
    Nov 25, 2024 – 36:39
  • José Junior Waxes Psychedelic and Fuzzes It Up, In-Studio
    Nov 21, 2024 – 31:22
  • Dorado Schmitt and Sons Bring the Hot Club Jazz Manouche, In-Studio
    Nov 18, 2024 – 37:10
  • Walk on the Quiet Wild Side With RY X, In-Studio
    Nov 14, 2024 – 39:51
  • Low Cut Connie Cheekily Serves Up Gritty RockenRoll, In-Studio
    Nov 11, 2024 – 36:47
  • Danielia Cotton Brings a Little Bit of Country, and a Little Bit of Soul, In-Studio
    Nov 7, 2024 – 32:35
  • Nick Lowe's 'Second Act' As a Tender Singer-Songwriter, In-Studio
    Nov 4, 2024 – 36:59
  • Brazilian Pianist Amaro Freitas' Futuristic and Spellbinding Music
    Oct 31, 2024 – 47:26
  • Songwriter and Musician Fantastic Negrito Turns Trauma Into Art
    Oct 28, 2024 – 46:58
  • Hermanos Gutiérrez: Two Guitars Are Enough, Live, From National Sawdust
    Oct 24, 2024 – 36:29
  • Loup Barrow's Otherworldly Music For Cristal Baschet, In-Studio
    Oct 21, 2024 – 34:30
  • Scottish Composer Erland Cooper's Naturally-Aged Ambient Classical, In-Studio
    Oct 17, 2024 – 40:45
Recent Reviews
  • Seton Notes
    Fantastic
    Love the music and the enlightening interviews in between!
  • JLSpring
    Find new favorites here
    I love this wide ranging show and the contribution it makes to my ongoing music explorations. John and his team obviously love what they do, and the artists sound happy to be there.
  • Nucleargetaway
    A great show
    This is a great way to explore and discover new artists. A broad array of styles, genres, flavors, philosophies and stories, from people that care deeply about creating music.
  • AllyC7
    Genius
    This is simply the BEST podcast about music.The encyclopedic knowledge (I'm dating myself) the host, John Schaffer has about both history and directions of modern music is unparalleled. And the podcast had the best ratio of music:talking. This show is also one of the reasons I'm a WNYC member!
  • cbearg
    If you’re looking for new music...
    ... this is a perfect place to find it. Guests are often musicians or groups that are just under the popular radar but deserve more love and attention.
  • omarsdad
    Amen!
    Just read e-mail from WNYC’s new CEO, reversing the decision to cancel the show! Good things are still possible - Schafer is a wizard we’d be poorer without.
  • bermudajune
    Incredible
    The most interesting podcast on contemporary music.
  • Hattiehein
    Insightful & great
    John the host actually listens to music, & asks thoughtful questions. He doesn't just read the publicity sheet. The in-studio live sessions interest me less than the conversations. I miss the conversations with critics, biographers, & comedians about music history, especially the "THAT was a HIT?" recurring segment.
  • MooseTheDJ
    Something happend
    Since I'm not in NYC, I don't get to hear the whole show I assume, just the segment that week they choose to upload. That said, a couple years ago when I started listening, it was fascinating. Most of the better shows were like great lectures on genre, history, theory, etc. Sometimes you'd have a basic "interview/live performance" and that was OK. Now in the past year, the podcase is all just small, often local acts performing and being interviewed. While John might like that and/or they might be less research, they're now MIND NUMBINGLY DULL. Few care about motivation and history of an act you have no history with. New acts are great, but they shouldn't be the focus and they certainly don't need an indepth interview. Bring back the effort you used to put into educating and impressing us fellow music geeks. I'll hang on for now, but it hasn't improved in 2016...yet.
  • Yoko134
    The best music interview show ...
    Soundcheck’s John Schaefer is one of the best interviewers in the business.
  • VanessaKM
    Great music show
    I'm a big fan of Soundcheck. The host John Schaefer is clearly knowledgeable on the subject of music but is also very relaxed and friendly. I've discovered some cool bands listening to this program. The show covers a broad spectrum of music too-I loved the segment about accordions. I'm glad they've started offering individual segments as separate downloads again. I can't always listen to the program in its entirety (I teeter on podcast overload as is) and I really like being able to pick and choose. Some other great music podcasts: All Songs Considered, Sound Opinions, Morning Becomes Eclectic, World Cafe
  • Amin67
    The best music radio program
    This is the best radio program about music I've ever seen. I like their talk shows about pop music, but there's more. Live performances and ...
  • Liam in Ohio
    Simply wonderful
    Is there a more knowledgeable host than John Schaefer on any music podcast anywhere? Between this and Sound Opinions (from WBEZ), I discover great music, learn more about music I already knew, and delve into realms that I never would have known about. Highly recommended. Not every segment is going to please or interest everyone, but this is one fine, fine show.
  • Dicken74
    Great content, but too segmented
    Not sure why they split an episode of their show up into individual segments. It should be posted as one file. They never seem to download together.
  • The_Banshee_of_Bop
    John Schaefer rules
    I used to listen to his New Sounds show on WNYC back in the early 80s when I was a law student in NYC. He's really knowledgeable, never egotistical-sounding. I learned an awful lot of great new music composers in those days!
  • CaitieDidIt
    Entertaining and Insighful
    WNYC's Souncheck is a thoughtful and entertaining show that I have routinely downloaded for months. I'm so glad to see that it's available via iTunes so I can listen to it on-the-go.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.