Soundcheck

Black Feminist Punk trio Big Joanie formed in London, but are now based over various cities in the U.K. Their sound is “punk” and… also looks to Riot Grrrl jaggedness and DIY sensibilities, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and girl group harmonies. Their 2022 album, Back Home, sees the band ruminating on the ideas of home, whether that’s in the U.K., back in Africa or the Caribbean, and considering how second and third generation communities of Black & Brown folks define themselves as British people.

Borne of guitarist/vocalist Stephanie Phillips’s desire for a space “where I could be Black and be into punk and it wouldn’t be seen as a conflict”, Big Joanie began as a post on social media, (Kerry Cardoza, Bandcamp), and is named for Phillips’ mom. Stephanie Phillips of Big Joanie talks DIY and making one’s own culture, and the band plays remotely from their London recording studio.

Grammy-winning Puerto Rican singer-songwriter iLe (Ileana Cabra) takes on colonialism and the patriarchy, mixing boleros and ballads with reggaeton and hip hop for a collection of politically-conscious art-pop for her latest album, 2022's Nacarile. She and her band play in-studio.

Oregon-based songwriter Laura Veirs re-discovers her “self-sovereignty” as she calls it, on a new record, Found Light. For this album, Veirs made her first foray into producing on her own, making choices about out-of-sync guitars to create waves, adding saxophone, or calling on friends to be guest artists, and co-produce with her. Mostly, it's about keeping choices mostly simple and direct, and harnessing the power of her dad’s nylon string guitar to sublimate her raw emotions from personal upheaval. She plays these intimate songs of artistic independence, remotely. - Caryn Havlik

Set list: “Ring Song”, “Naked Hymn”, “Sword Song”, “Time Will Show You”

Watch "Ring Song":

"Naked Hymn":

"Sword Song":

"Time Will Show You":

The four members of Combo Chimbita are from Colombia. But they met and formed their band here in New York. From their home base in Queens, Combo Chimbita plays a kind of tropical futurist pop that combines elements of Afro-Colombian spirituality, razor-sharp social commentary, and booty-shaking dance rhythms. Hear their set, live from the New Sounds 40th Anniversary Party from Brooklyn Bowl, and an interview with bass/synth player Prince of Queens. 

Set list: "El Camino", "Testigo", "La Perla", "Sin Tiempo", "Ahomale", "Oya"

IRE by Combo Chimbita

Guitarist, composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli plays a custom prepared Sardinian guitar, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument that looks like a guitar crossed with a cello. Angeli’s build has been fitted cross-wise and lengthwise with additional strings: cello strings and drone strings, and has numerous other inventions attached to it, including hammers, pedals, bicycle cables, and some propellers at variable speed. Then, there’s his array of electronics and treatments...

Paolo Angeli demonstrates some of these sounds, which include percussion, organ, kora, sitar, slide guitar, cello, hammered dulcimer, fretless bass, and drone (and teases a new custom prototype in the works!) He also performs music from his latest release – a concept album about the wider Mediterranean - Rade, on his custom instrument, complete with plastic bag percussion, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik

Set list: "Baklawa", "Mare Lungo", "Rade"

Watch "Baklawa":

Watch: "Mare Lungo":

Watch "Rade":

Watch the entire session: 

Banjo player, fiddler, singer, and scholar Jake Blount’s latest feat is an Afro-futurist concept album called The New Faith, where instead of shiny interstellar travel, there's an enviro-apocalypse. Blount presents the music of the surviving community as a religious service in three sections, captured as a future field recording - one with a direct through-line to folk, gospel, the blues, and spirituals. There is an explicit tie-in with Octavia Butler’s visionary 1993 work of science fiction, Parable of the Sower. Combining cleverly deployed fiddle and banjo, hand claps, call and response vocals, and rapped verse from Demeanor, Blount connects the threads of ever-evolving Black folk music within these tunes. Jake Blount and his band play some of these songs, in-studio. Set list: "Once There Was No Sun", "City of Heaven", "Didn't It Rain"

Classically-trained Belgian-Egyptian singer/songwriter Tamino has a voice that covers three octaves; his sultry croon and rich falsetto envelop a listener and draw inevitable comparisons to Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley. Tamino's vocal lines and riffs sometimes incorporate Arabic quarter notes, and he now writes on the Arab oud, not unlike his grandfather, the Egyptian singer and movie star Muharram Fouad. His latest album, Sahar, “just before dawn” – suggests an in-between time, full of reflection and moments of mystery. He performs these latest baroque pop / Arab-gothic* songs, in-studio. (*Thanks, GQ Middle East for the hybrid term.)  - Caryn HavlikSet list:  “A Drop of Blood” “The Longing” “The First Disciple”

With eight members, London-based caroline looks like a combination rock band and chamber music ensemble with their violins, cello, flute, guitars, bass, percussion, and drums. Their songs are a study in the balance of restraint and release, as they journey through what could sound like Appalachian folk, Midwestern emo, minimalist classical, electronic music, and post rock music. caroline writes their songs improvisationally, as a core trio, then they develop them further as the full 8-piece band. Phrases are chanted, intermittently, drones are established and then carefully moved, as the songs stretch out to suites. In live performance the band has a tendency to play in the round, as if in the middle of some private ceremony – the better to play off of one another. caroline plays in-studio. - John Schaefer/Caryn Havlik 

Set list: "Dark Blue", "Skydiving onto the library roof", "BRJ"

Cover of claire rousay's "Peak Chroma":peak chroma by caroline

The singer/songwriter Denitia first attracted notice here in New York as a kind of alternative R&B singer. Her songs, either as half of Denitia & Sene or as a solo artist, often had subtle, but expansive production. But her new album, Highways, takes a turn to a more intimate, largely acoustic sound, with songs that draw on folk and even country music. Now based in the Hudson Valley, Denitia has traveled down to our studio to do some solo versions of these new songs. 

Set list: "Highways", "My Weakness", "All the Sweet Tea"

Watch: "All the Sweet Tea":

The Heavy Heavy is a band out of Brighton, England – but they sound like a band that’s been time-shifted straight out of 1975. The couple at the heart of the band, Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, decided on their name after hearing an interview with David Bowie. They describe their sunny, trippy sound as “primal, yet extra,” and  enjoy an expanse of sound with reverb and layered vocals, along with organ and guitars. The Heavy Heavy plays some of their psychedelic pop remotely.

Set list: “Miles and Miles”, “Go Down River”, “All My Dreams”

Watch Set list: “Go Down River”: