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The notion of Denver’s music scene left me stumped initially. Denver has a music scene? Sure, many of us who follow the music industry are aware that the city is home to the country’s second-largest arts complex, home to at least 11 groups. And yes, there are a smattering of smaller clubs and theaters around […]

Okay, look - I’m a city boy, and I never liked country music. As far as I knew, country music was sappy songs about dogs, trucks, and gun racks. But I did like folk and bluegrass - the songs seemed old, and earthy. Well, the Nashville studios may have smoothed away the rough […]

Composers like Liszt and Chopin may have been the rock stars of their day but the idea of classical music at South by Southwest still can seem pretty jarring in this rock-drenched setting. A chamber concert in a downtown Austin church Wednesday night presented by the publishing house Boosey & Hawkes — the first-ever classical […]

Austin is a city of weird contradictions. On one hand, it’s a ramshackle jumble of thrift stores, head shops, fortune tellers, quirky little dive bars, and storefronts offering both bail bonds and Chinese take-out. You’ll also find gleaming (sometimes gaudy) new high-rises, wide streets, attractive lofts, plenty of BBQ restaurants, and, as my esteemed colleague […]

An action-packed week in Berlin has yielded five very busy shows about that city’s music scene. Check out our visits with various musicians, journalists, producers, and others on the rock, cabaret, world-music and electronic music scenes.
Day One: Berlin: Is it Hot or is it Over? (November 5, 2007)
Day Two: Berlin’s Newest Sounds (November 6, 2007)
Day […]

Originally uploaded by wnyc
For the intrepid music fan, a week in Berlin can be overwhelming in the best sense. After all, it’s a city that finds room for at least 2,000 active bands, 50 theaters, seven orchestras, three state-funded opera houses and countless DJs. Beyond that, there’s hardcore techno, laptop-driven electronica, homegrown hip-hop, […]

Originally uploaded by wnyc
A week in Berlin, based out of a hotel at the old border crossing known as Checkpoint Charlie, is both an exciting and a sobering experience. The city is young, and it’s full of young people, and subway messages pass on the official message of tolerance and community.
The mayor’s slogan “Poor […]

Originally uploaded by wnyc
Left to right: Soundcheck technical director Irene Trudel, WNYC program director Chris Bannon, producer Brian Wise and host John Schaefer listen in during a performance by the Berlin band 17 Hippies. (photo by executive producer Gisele Regatao)

It would’ve been nice to have recorded this week’s shows in the order they were to be broadcast, but given people’s schedules, that was never going to happen. So our last day in Berlin saw us recording — strangely enough — the opening segment of our Soundcheck On Site: Berlin series, as well as its […]

Musicians in Berlin have a particular talent for turning old disused industrial buildings into incredibly unique rehearsal spaces. The acoustic folk-rock band 17 Hippies is a prime example: the group’s airy studio is located in the KulturBrauerei, a huge converted 19th-century brewery located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. Deep in this collection of wings, courtyards, […]