La Mecánica Popular infuses the colorful sound of Latin salsa with a shot of fluorescent psychedelia. Led by Peruvian singer and pianist Efraín Rozas, the band includes musicians from Venezuela, Colombia and the U.S. -- and that diversity allows the band to creating its own reinterpretation of traditional and modern Latin music and culture. 

La Mecánica Popular's latest self-titled album, released in 2013, showcases Rozas' skill melting together heavy Afro-Caribbean grooves and mind-warping textures of psychedelic rock. Full of singable melodies and bouncy electronic beats, avant-garde synths, fuzzy guitars and tight syncopation, it's an infectious and headphones-rich sound that will get anyone moving on the dance floor.

Hear La Mecánica Popular bring that energy into its performance in the Soundcheck studio.

Above, listen to Soundcheck host John Schaefer talking with All Things Considered host Richard Hake about the legacy of rapper Big Bank Hank. Below, John Schaefer writes about the first time he heard the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."

Henry Jackson, better known as Big Bank Hank of the pioneering rap group the Sugarhill Gang, died Tuesday of complications from cancer.

Electric Youth first won over scores of fans with “A Real Hero” -- a collaboration with French musician David Grellier (a.k.a. College) -- which was prominently featured twice in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Ryan Gosling-starring 2011 film Drive. The 1980s-styled pop song perfectly matched the doomed neo-noir tone of the crime drama, and presented an evocative cinematic scope that carries through all of the L.A. and Toronto-based synth duo’s music. That sense of timeless romance no accident; in fact, it’s almost too good to be true: Electric Youth’s members, Austin Garrick and Bronwyn Griffin, have been a couple since they were in 8th grade -- and making music together since 2009. And as one might expect, there’s a seamless ease in the way the melodies unfurl and intimately intertwine on the band’s recently-released debut, Innerworld. 

Inspired by countless films played on repeat while writing, recording and sculpting the sounds of Innerworld, the record is stunningly rich in imagery, tailor-made for pairing with visuals on the screen or in the duo’s stage shows. That’s especially true in this gorgeous live performance video of the single “Runaway” -- shot in a Toronto studio for its label, Secretly Canadian.

ARTIST: Midnight Faces

GIG: Wednesday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

Combine the instrumentals of 80s British post-punk with the vocals of 70s classic Americana and you get Midnight Faces. The LA-based duo is comprised of vocalist Phil Stancil and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Doty. Midnight Faces share the stage with Electric Youth tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

In this episode: As the guitarist of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page is known as one of the greatest players in rock ‘n’ roll history -- as well as a groundbreaking innovator on the “world music” scene. In a long, in-depth conversation, Page talks about his book, Jimmy Page By Jimmy Page, a coffee-table collection of photos chronicling his epic career.

And: New Orleans-based guitarist Benjamin Booker is only 25 years old, but he’s already being heralded as one of the most fiery performers around. Hear him and his band play songs from his self-titled debut album in the Soundcheck studio.

You might have spotted Fergie Duhamel (born Stacy Ann Ferguson) in purple spandex and red sequins in her early days on the 1983 Disney TV show, Kids Incorporated. Or perhaps in her 1991 girls band, Wild Orchid.

But it wasn't until she became a vocalist for the Black Eyed Peas in 2001 that Fergie's career really took off. As soon as the sultry pop star joined, the longtime hip-hop group -- built around rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo -- rocketed to superstardom, with massive hits like "Where Is The Love" and "Shut Up" from its 2003 album Elephunk.

And then came the Black Eyed Peas' fourth album, 2005's Monkey Business, which was an an even bigger success. It went four times Platinum in the U.S., and spawned four singles: "Don't Phunk with My Heart," "Don't Lie," "Pump It," and, of course, "My Humps." That song in particular became one of Black Eyed Peas' biggest hits ever, peaking at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and selling more than 2 million downloads alone.

As charts analyst Chris Molanphy tells us on Soundcheck, Fergie's role in the song -- and those repeated references to her "lovely lady lumps" -- helped lay the groundwork for her successful solo career.

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Within in the theater community, Idina Menzel has been known and celebrated for years. Beginning with her role as Maureen in Rent, and later for originating the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked -- for which she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical -- Menzel has demonstrated her powerful, stirring voice in countless beloved stage productions, as well as on TV shows (Glee) and in films (Enchanted).

But it wasn't until last year, with her turn as the voice of Elsa the Snow Queen in the 2013 Disney film Frozen, that the New York actress and singer achieved international stardom. Built on the strength of the ubiquitous empowering hit "Let It Go," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, Frozen not only became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, but made Menzel a household name. (Well, that and John Travolta's bizarre "Adele Dazeem" name flub at this year's Academy Awards.)

As a culture, we're obsessed with the idea of creative genius. From a huddled Beethoven scribbling by candlelight to Einstein and his apple, we label individuals as "geniuses" with a sort of romantic fascination. However, as entranced as we are with the idea of the individual genius, some of the most influential creators have come in pairs. Whether considering John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, or Matt Stone and Trey Parker, it has been proven time and time again that two heads are better than one.

Author Joshua Wolf Shenk explores the success of duos in his new book, Powers Of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs. In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Shenk discusses the musical aspect of creative partnerships like John and Paul, and Crosby and Nash, and helps us parse out whether opposites really do attract.

ARTIST: Jessie Kilguss

GIG: Tuesday night at The Bowery Electric

Before she was a musician, Jessie Kilguss was a Shakespearean actor. But after performing alongside Marianne Faithfull in Tom Waits musical, Kilguss discovered that she had another artistic calling…music. Her fourth album drops today, featuring this song, “Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight.”

In this episode: Idina Menzel is known for her character-originating performances in Rent and Wicked, and for voicing the role of Elsa the Snow Queen in Disney's Frozen. Now, she's back on Broadway performing in the Tom Kitt/Brian Yorkey musical If/Then. The musical centers around Menzel's character Elizabeth (who also goes by "Liz"), a divorcee who at age 38 returns to New York after more than a decade in Phoenix to start over again. Menzel talks about her dual role in If/Then, and performs selections from the production accompanied by composer Tom Kitt.

Then: Author Joshua Wolf Shenk explores the success of creative duos in his new book, Powers Of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs. Shenk discusses the musical aspect of creative partnerships, and helps us parse out whether opposites really do attract.

And: As part of the ongoing series That Was A Hit?!?, Soundcheck looks at the unlikely success of two singles from the Black Eyed Peas' lead vocalist Fergie -- one of which changed the way we look at "lady lumps." Pop chart columnist Chris Molanphy analyzes the puzzling chart success of the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and Fergie's solo "London Bridge." 

Back in 1961, in the small Greenwich Village venue The Bitter End, a folk trio called Peter, Paul and Mary took the stage together for the very first time in New York City. Less than two years later, they were singing in front of the Lincoln Memorial for hundreds of thousands of people during the famous March on Washington of 1963.

A half century later, Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey -- the two surviving members of the group -- are now looking back at their explosive career of music and political activism.

In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Yarrow reflects on how that performance at the March on Washington shaped the group's mission, how the trio chose and wrote the songs that made up their repertoire, and what led the group to part ways for a time during the 1970s. 

To most, Suzanne Vega may still be best known for "Luka" and "Tom's Diner." But since those songs -- and her 1987 album, Solitude Standing -- made her a pop sensation, the singer-songwriter has continued to craft idiosyncratic rock songs full of interesting production sounds and sharp lyrical turns. In 2010, Vega formed her own record label and began the process of re-recording her entire back catalog -- releasing new versions of her early songs over four thematic compilations. But until earlier this year, it had been awhile since we heard anything new from her.

The prog rock band's first studio album in 20 years -- widely understood to be its last -- is the most pre-ordered record in Amazon UK's history. 

ARTIST: Daniel Lanois

GIG: Monday night at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Daniel Lanois is best known for producing both sonically and commercially enormous records: U2’s “The Joshua Tree,” Peter Gabriel’s “So” and albums for Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Neil Young. Lanois writes and records his own music too, though, and as you can hear on his new song “Sioux Lookout,” the production is just as luscious as you’d expect.

In this episode: Peter Yarrow -- the “Peter” in the legendary folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary -- talks about his 50-plus year music career, his political activism, and, yes, we listen to “Puff the Magic Dragon.”

Then: Hear Lily and Madeleine -- the young sisters folk duo from Indianapolis -- perform songs from their latest album, Fumes.

And, hear a song from Kimbra's performance in the Greene Space last week.

 For a record about journeying deep inside the darkest recesses of the mind, there's nothing introverted about the Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome's new album, The Heart Of A Dark Star. Named for an evocative phrase in a Neil Gaiman book, The Heart Of A Dark Star is a bold and blustery hurricane of guitars, organs and voices, all swirling around in the night air.

It's a raw, romantic sound that Mr. Gnome's members — singer-guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer-pianist Sam Meister — have refined and expanded across several records, including 2011's excellent Madness In Miniature. The Heart Of A Dark Star is the band's first entirely self-recorded album, and that extra time and a more casual writing process adds up to a satisfying, conceptually ambitious work.

Bryan Ferry rolls back the years with Avonmore, an album with eight original songs that recall his classic mid-'70s albums with Roxy Music, as well as two covers that are by themselves worth the price of admission. Ferry's "Loop De Li," the album's opener, has the stinging guitars, wisps of sax and lush keyboards of old favorites like "Both Ends Burning" and "Love Is The Drug." "Midnight Train" marries a cool '70s soul sound to vintage blues imagery ("Midnight train, rollin' down the track / Midnight train, never comin' back"). And, for fans of later Roxy Music, there's "Lost," cut from the same cloth as the 1982 hit "Avalon."

Azealia Banks' new album, 'Broke With Expensive Taste,' is now finally out.

In late 2011, Azealia Banks exploded out of the gates with her electrifying single "212," in which she asserted herself as one of rap's most explosive and uncompromising new voices. But then she went silent.

As fans awaited the full-length album she announced back in 2012, behind the scenes, Banks fought for creative control with her labels. In July of this year, she finally parted ways with Universal Music Group. And today, the Harlem rapper surprised everyone by dropping Broke With Expensive Taste, the album many did not expect to hear any time soon.

Now that it's finally out on iTunes and Spotify, members of the Soundcheck team took the record for a spin and have these initial thoughts.

Parkay Quarts is the not-much-altered-ego of Parquet Courts, the Brooklyn punk revivalists that have been favorites of ours since the band released Light Up Gold in 2012. Mostly we count on the band for short, weirdly catchy blasts of youthful exuberance and subtly smart lyrics, as heard on this summer's album Sunbathing Animal. But the song “Uncast Shadow Of A Southern Myth,” from Parkay Quarts' forthcoming 35-minute recording, Content Nausea, is something else again.

In this episode: English singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry rose to prominence in the 1970s as the leader of the art rock band Roxy Music. The impossibly dashing gentleman is back with his upcoming album, Avonmore. He talks about the record, his collaborators and looks back on his long career in music.

Then: Ariel Pink made waves two years ago with his record, Mature Themes, a wild and infectious record of psychedelic rock and pop gems. Hear the unpredictable Los Angeles singer-songwriter preview songs from his upcoming release, pom pom, in the Soundcheck studio.

And: A recent study shows that some people -- in fact, perhaps as much as two percent of the population -- don’t feel any emotional response when listening to music. Robert Zatorre, neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute, explains the condition known as “musical anhedonia” and why music might not have an impact on some brains.