The band called English Teacher is from the northern English city of Leeds, although as their debut LP This Could Be Texas suggests, one place is very much like another when it comes to how people treat each other, and themselves. One might expect a band with a name like English Teacher to be smart, and their songs are chock-full of literary and cultural references, as well as unexpected shifts in sound and mood. They play bright and crispy post-punk songs that combine  a talky, angularity with indie-prog, rock, and folk electronica, in-studio. 

Set list: 1. Albatross 2.Nearly Daffodils 3. Albert Road

Composer, guitarist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli is from the Italian island of Sardinia, and his instrument began as a chiterra sarda, a large, slightly deeper member of the guitar family. But over the years he has added multiple layers of strings: harp strings, sitar strings, motorized hammers, pickups, propellers, movable bridges, kalimba, and so much more – attached to the body of the guitar to help multiply the sonic possibilities. Then, there are the pedals! Paolo Angeli, as a one-man-orchestra with foot percussion, and traditional Sardinian vocals, performs new compositions from his latest, Nijar, in-studio. 

Set list: 1. Monologo de la Luna 2. Nijar 3. Ramas de Suenos 4. Telon 5. A tour of the prepared Sardinian guitar

British singer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson OBE was part of the groundbreaking folk rock band Fairport Convention in the 1960's, made records with his then-wife, Linda Thompson, and has many fan-favourite solo records as well. Rolling Stone lists him as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time and the LA Times called him the greatest living songwriter after Bob Dylan. The folk-shredder and troubadour Richard Thompson joins us to play some acoustic solo versions of songs from his 2018 album, called 13 Rivers. (From the Archives.)

Watch the full session here:

The NYC group Zelenaya mixes traditional folk music with heavy metal in ways that are both surprising and convincing. Haunting three part harmonies, doom-laden guitars, pummeling drums – somehow it all comes together in Zelenaya’s debut album, called simply, Folk Songs. The band has both confused and carried away audiences at campground diasporic folk festivals and at death metal shows; serving up music for those who are into Ukrainian choirs, Mussorgsky, math rock and Tuareg guitar bands, Black Sabbath, and Bolt Thrower. In what is likely the first instance of a blast beat and a wall of amps in the Soundcheck Studio, Zelenaya sculpts Eastern European folk tunes into doom metal-laden arrangements, sung in Ukrainian and Georgian, in-studio. (-John Schaefer/Caryn Havlik)

Zelenaya plays a FREE show with Gamelan Yowana Sari, and Antinomie in Forest Park, Queens at the Seuffert Bandshell on June 23 at 4PM AND in Brooklyn on June 27 at Our Wicked Lady.

Set list: 1. Hora Za Horoyu (Ukrainian) (Mountain Beyond Mountains) 2. Okro Mch’edelo (Georgian) (Goldsmith) 3. Oy Letilo Kupailo (Ukrainian) (Oh, Kupalo Flew)

The Tuareg singer and guitarist Mdou Moctar is from Niger, and his music career began with his songs being shared across mobile phone trading networks in West Africa. Now, as an ambassador of the Agadez sound, he plays his songs on the world’s biggest music stages, including Coachella, and, coming soon, Bonnaroo and Glastonbury. Moctar and his band combine rock and psychedelia, often in the "Desert Blues" style of loping and sometimes accelerating threes. Mdou Moctar’s latest album is called Funeral for Justice, and features his most fiery guitar playing yet. He and his band are here, to stretch out and play this perhaps trancey music for staying lifted, in-studio. 

They play at Bowery Ballroom on June 25 and at Warsaw in Brooklyn on June 26. 

1. Imouhar 2. Modern Slaves 3. Imajighen

The duo called Ringdown makes what they refer to as electronic cinematic pop from Portland, Oregon. But there are also elements of folk and classical music in their songs, which makes sense given who they are. Ringdown is Caroline Shaw, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and musician, and Danni Lee Parpan, folk-rock singer and songwriter. Together, they have a handful of Grammys, and a "Best Drum Major" Award  - and they have begun releasing songs about love, and heartbreak, and dancing. They present a preview of new music - using synths, violin, keyboard, voices, and processing - from their forthcoming EP, in-studio.

Ringdown headlines the closing night celebration of ChamberQUEER 2024: Constellation, in Brooklyn on Sunday, June 16. 

Set list: 1. Reckoning 2. Thirst 3. Two-Step

The band called Tipa Tipo comes from Brooklyn via Peru. The trio plays an unexpectedly danceable mix of tropical Latin funk, cumbia, disco, and yacht rock. With their synthesizers, guitar, and tight vocal harmonies, they offer a kind of retro 70s sound, but with a modern, feminist sensibility and lyrics sung mostly in Spanish. Tipa Tipo play songs from their latest record, Cintas, in-studio, with all of the cowbells.

Set list: 1 Poco Tiempo 2 Grifo 3 Ataque de Medianoche

Julia Holter’s could be in the realm of contemporary classical music, experimental pop, and ambient music. Often dreamy and elusive, her songs defy easy description. As likely to work with adventurous rockers as with contemporary classical musicians, Holter has an unusually keen ear for unexpected sounds. Take her song, “Evening Mood,” where hazy layers of vocals swirl over a rhythm section that seems more about the feeling of movement than the actual sound of it – and it turns out the basis of the song is a heavily processed heartbeat. Her latest record, built around the waterlike flow of the body's internal sound world, is called Something in the Room She Moves. Julia Holter and her band play new music, in-studio.

Set list: 1. Spinning 2. Marienbad 3. Talking to the Whisper

The alternative rock band Guster, formed over bongos and acoustic guitars at Tufts University in 1991, has built its reputation on their striking vocal harmonies, their close connection to their fans, and their sense of humor. So in the wake of Taylor Swift’s bank-busting Eras tour, Guster embarked on their own tour, which they called "We Also Have Eras" – a reminder of their enduring presence and road warrior work ethic on the music scene for over 30 years. Guster has a new record out, their first in 5 years, called Ooh La La, and it brings the band back to our studio for a live set, with bongos.

Set list: 1. Keep Going 2. Black Balloon 3. Satellite (with Max Fine, piano)

Grace Cummings, the Australian singer and songwriter from Melbourne, has a strikingly rich and commanding voice, the kind that can cut through a big production. Which is good because Cummings has become known for her love of big, dramatic productions and gothic atmospheres. Her new album, Ramona, made in L.A., goes for a cinematic, emotional sound, and it brings Grace Cummings and her band to play some of her songs, in slightly smaller arrangements, in-studio.

Set list: 1. Common Man 2. Ramona 3. Work Today (And Tomorrow)

Ramona by Grace Cummings