Soundcheck

On the face of it, Red Baraat is a dhol-driven big band full of brass instruments and drums (both the dhol and drumset keep the groove going), rooted in Bhangra music (Punjabi dance music), who bring a party with them wherever they go. On their l2018 record, Sound the People, they combine the sounds of South Asian diaspora, along with jazz, hip-hop, psychedelia, and a bit of Caribbean music, to draw attention to issues of migration, colonialism, and our current political climate. The record blends instruments, cultures, and offers an aural tribute to "the way diversity makes, and has always made, America great.” With songs that make a joyfully and defiantly disruptive ruckus for dancing, the band Red Baraat plays in-studio (Archives, 2018). 

Watch the full session here: 

Watch the individual songs below:

The Argentine singer/songwriter and brilliant producer of experimental off-kilter folk-tronica, Juana Molina, has a former life as a well-known comic actress. She embraces that playful humor and explores ancient folk legends involving bone on her latest record, Halo. The ever-changing electronic textures feel mysterious, and are full of shadows, but with a sense of devious fun, even at the risk of being morbid. Juana Molina joins us to play some of these fantastical (and fantastic!) tunes live in the studio. 

Lute-based and percussion driven, the rugged duo of Cretan lauto player George Xylouris (scion of one of Greece’s most revered musical families) and Australian drummer Jim White (he’s played with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, and Dirty Three) perform groove-based, improvisatory music that is both grounded in Cretan tradition- the island has a great history of singers, lyra players, and other folk musicians – and fused with the rugged vitality of raw rockenroll. The duo gives us a preview of their latest record, Mother, due out early next year, in-studio. 

Watch Xylouris White's session via Facebook Live:

Composer, pianist, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes writes urgent, poetic and immersive music that responds to the times and fits neatly into no genre, all while putting his heart right on the table. Samora Pinderhughes plays some of these intimate and revolutionary songs remotely: recent work from his Black Spring EP, along with new work from his song cycle “Grief.”

France-based Cameroonian musician Blick Bassy’s quiet and beautiful songs fall somewhere on the spectrum of blues, folk-soul, and pop, and embody a deep reverence for the traditional music of Cameroon and other parts of Africa. On his latest record, 1958, dedicated to the memory of Ruben Um Nyobé, Felix Moumié and the other heroes of Cameroonian independence, Bassy embraces a listener (mostly in his ancestral language of Basaa) over minimal cello, trumpet, trombone, keyboards, and electronic production. Bassy performs some of these songs acoustically, in an intimate setting in-studio. (From the Archives, 2017) - Caryn Havlik

Watch the session here:

Mumbai-born singer, composer, bandleader, and ultra-marathoner Priya Darshini is based in Brooklyn. Her musical studies range from Indian Classical music and ghazals (devotional songs) to jazz, and she has experience in Mumbai indie rock bands and on Bollywood film soundtracks besides. Darshini takes a cross-cultural approach to song for her original compositions from her Grammy-nominated debut record, Periphery. She joins us with a band that includes hammered dulcimer, bass, and drums, performing music remotely from the Brooklyn venue Wild Birds.

Set list: “Jahaan,” “Loneliest Star,” Bonus video: "Home" 

"Jahaan": 

"Loneliest Star":

"Home": 

Brooklyn-based Ellen Kempner (who performs as Palehound) and L.A.-based musician Melina Duterte (who performs as Jay Som), have joined forces as Bachelor – a friendship, not just a band. They play songs from their collaborative debut album, Doomin’ Sun, which combines vivid imagery, adventures in production, and an intimate sense of comfort.

On June 10, the duo will present and perform at their first concert, Doomin’ Sun Fest, a livestream whose line-up includes Tegan & Sara, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Jeff Tweedy, Courtney Barnett, Vagabon, Tune-Yards, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy, and more.

Set list: “Stay in the Car,” “Sick of Spiraling,” “Went Out Without You” 

“Stay in the Car”:

"Sick of Spiraling":

"Went out Without You": 

Here's Doomin’ Sun:

Doomin' Sun by Bachelor

New York’s own gypsy punks Gogol Bordello have roots in Eastern European folk and Brecht-ian cabaret, along with punk and dub. With a band that usually includes accordion, fiddle, horns, percussion, jangly and electric guitars, Gogol frontman Eugene Hutz leads the turbo-charged “avalanche of rage-turned-joy,” whipping up frenzied crowds all over the world in every savage live performance. Their latest record, Seekers & Finders is coming for us all, and even features Regina Spektor as a guest. It brings some of the band and their playful magical riot to the studio in this 2017 session from the archives.   

The singer Ala.Ni has a cosmopolitan background: born in Britain to parents from Granada and now based in Paris. So it perhaps shouldn't be a surprise that her music is varied too. And yet, Ala.Ni’s forthcoming debut album, called You And I, is nothing but surprises. Often sounding like a long lost artifact of the mid-20th century, her striking voice goes from torchy jazz to intimate pop to atmospheric vocalise. Ala.Ni made her American radio debut, with guitarist Marvin Dolly in our studios, in early 2017. (From the Archives.)

Here she is on Jools Holland, with "Cherry Blossom": 

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn have each – in their own separate ways during their separate careers – been reinventing the sound of the banjo. Bela has drawn on jazz, classical, rock, folk, and world music; Abigail is fluent in Mandarin and has used her voice and banjo to draw connections between Chinese and Appalachian music. Together, though, this husband and wife team has released a couple of albums that really go for the old fashioned front porch sound. Their 2017 record is Echo In The Valley, and they'll play some of it in-studio. (From the archives.)

Set List: