John Schaefer

When Spinal Tap sang "Big Bottom," they were tapping (sorry) into a long musical tradition.  Now, you can too. 

You may not recognize his name, but his bands helped change the sound of modern rock.

The London Olympics will have plenty of music.  Some of it may even be worth hearing. 

British researchers asked why crowds love to sing along to some songs and not others. Will their research hold up in America?

The shooting at an Aurora, Colorado film theater raises old questions and bad memories.

The Bonnaroo Festival’s hi-tech wristbands should bother anyone concerned about privacy and surveillance.  If only they weren’t so awesome.

The huge popularity of EDM – electronic dance music - has led to a sea change in concerts lately, as huge crowds gather to watch brand-name DJs like Skrillex, Deadmau5, and Avicii. Nothing wrong with that, but it was great to be reminded last night at Celebrate Brooklyn that there are still bands playing dance music the old-school way: with multiple human beings and instruments being played in real time.

Williamsburg Park opened for business last night.  John Schaefer reports on the bands – and the venue.

News of the forthcoming Dylan album is jockeying for position with a TV show that claims to have found the electric guitar Dylan famously plugged in at Newport in 1965. First the new album: it will be called Tempest, and will be his 35th full-length release and his first album since the puzzling Christmas record he did in 2009.

Some of your favorite lines from the movies are turning up in album titles, and even band names. 

John Schaefer grew up on the Stones; he shares five pivotal memories of Mick and Keith and the band.

This Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ first gig, which took place at London’s Marquee Club on July 12, 1962. While the band celebrates yet another milestone in its sprawling career, Soundcheck wants you to join us in an alternate universe and answer the question: What if the Rolling Stones – like the Beatles – had called it quits in 1970? John asks music critic and author Anthony DeCurtis how music history would be different without mid- and late-career Stones? We want you to weigh in: Leave a comment below.

Dirty Projectors is an art-pop band led by singer, songwriter, composer, and lefty guitarist (which seems relevant somehow) David Longstreth. They headlined a triple bill last night at Celebrate Brooklyn; and while I missed openers Purity Ring, I made sure to catch Wye Oak, in the middle of the lineup. The Baltimore duo has done some terrific work (check out "Civilian" if you haven't already heard it on TV - it was used in the zombie series The Walking Dead), and I was eager to see them live.

A free download from a Boston band takes us back to the years when Addis Ababa was called “Swinging Addis.”

It’s called “Mick: the Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger.”  But what we’ve seen so far is all wild life and precious little genius. 

It’s like the stuff of science fiction: An audio historian at Indiana University has figured out a way for us to hear the world’s oldest gramophone recording – even though the disc and the player have long since disappeared.

A new film about Jimi Hendrix will not include any of his songs.  Neither does this list of great Hendrix performances. 

At the end of the year, I will do what everyone else in the music biz professes to hate so much, but never misses an opportunity to do: create a top-10 list of the year’s best music.  Since the year’s only halfway gone, though, I’m going to limit myself to 5 current faves for now. 

The mastermind behind the popular indie band Spoon has always juggled other projects.  With no new Spoon material in sight, we check out his other band, Divine Fits. 

Download the collaborative Joe Jackson-Iggy Pop track, "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing."