New Sounds is unlike any radio show you've ever heard: a whirlwind tour of new and unusual music from all corners of the globe. New Sounds combs recent recordings for one of the most informative and compelling hours on radio, and aims to make the world smaller. For over 25 years, host John Schaefer has been finding the melody in the rainforest and the rhythm in an orchestra of tin cans. Defying rigid categorization and genre pigeonholing, New Sounds offers new ways to hear the ancient language of song. With guest musicians from David Byrne to Meredith Monk to Ravi Shankar...
Latest episodes
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1 h 00
We've Got Rhythms (Special Podcast of show #3960)
Listen to rhythmic music, whether for percussion, string quartet or vocal duet for this New Sounds. Hear works from percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum, Kelly Moran, and the Jasper S…
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56 min
August & September 2017 New Releases (Special Podcast)
Hear prog-marching band music from Chicago's Mucca Pazza, ambient-gothic Norwegian-Icelandic music from the duo Jo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, jazz-tronic ambient minimal…
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56 min
Classical Instruments, Contemporary Sounds (Special Podcast)
Hear music that begins with classical instruments, like the string quartet, piano, or an orchestra, but which is then augmented, enhanced by electronics, percussion, or preparation…
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56 min
#3928: With Guitarist Shane Parish (Special Podcast)
Guitarist Shane Parish, of the instrumental prog-punk band Ahleuchatistas, plays music from his solo record of “weird old Americana” live in the studio on acoustic & prepared guita…
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52 min
#3912: With Zakir Hussain & Niladri Kumar (Special Podcast)
“Indian music does not stop and start with Ravi Shankar.” So says tabla master Zakir Hussain, who, along with young sitar virtuoso, Niladri Kumar, joins John in the studio for a li…
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59 min
#3893: With Guitarist Guy Buttery (Special Podcast)
South African guitarist Guy Buttery visits the studio to perform virtuosic feats of bending, tapping, picking, harmonics, and other techniques and textures yet to be named for guit…
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57 min
New Music from Ireland Part 3 (Special Podcast)
This episode continues the series exploring the new music of Ireland. John Schaefer sits down with Jonathan Nangle at the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Nangle tells how Donn…
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56 min
Various Electroacoustic Music (Special Podcast)
Hear electroacoustic music by Dublin-based Seán Mac Erlaine and Australian-born, London-based Leah Kardos. Plus, music from NY-based GABI, cellist Julia Kent, and Bing & Ruth.
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57 min
With Missy Mazzoli (Special Podcast)
Composer, keyboardist and bandleader, Missy Mazzoli, joins John Schaefer to introduce selections from her new recording, “Vespers for a New Dark Age.” The work, commissioned by Car…
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56 min
Gamelan Plus (Special Podcast)
Listen to works that include gamelan, but take a more western approach for this New Sounds - like combining Celtic traditional music and Indonesian gamelan in music from Gamelan So…
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57 min
New Music for String Quartet (Special Podcast)
Hear unusual music for string quartet on this program, as Australian composer Andrew Byrne, now based in New York, uses the string quartet as a percussion instrument in his work ca…
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52 min
Psychedelic World Music (Special Podcast)
Listen to world music that veers into psychedelic territory on this New Sounds, with Native-American inspired percussive drone music and Afrobeat from Brazil in music by Bixiga 70.…
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48 min
New Music for Hardanger Fiddle (Special Podcast)
Listen to new music for the instrument from Southwestern Norway known as the Hardanger fiddle, (or hardingfele), but of course there’s a twist. For this New Sounds, there’s post-ro…
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42 min
Music for Choir and Percussion (Special Podcast)
Hear music for the combination of choir and percussion like "Whispers and Cries," by Australian born composer Andrew Byrne, which features fellow Aussie musicians Astra Choir and S…
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57 min
New Music for Duos (Special Podcast)
Listen to music for two-somes by Xylouris White, Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler, Jeffrey Zeigler (confusingly) & Jason Treuting, Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal, and more.
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57 min
Sax Leads the Way (Special Podcast)
Hear some sax players leading the way on this edition of New Sounds, including new music from sax player Tamar Osborn and her London-based Afro-Eastern-space-jazz band, Collocutor.…