Everyone pretty much agrees that singing to babies is a good thing. Singing can help strengthen the bond between parent and child; it nurtures brain development; and in fact, women are being taught to sing to their babies while they're still in the womb. Heck, even dogs know that it's important. 

Well, all of us saw this coming. "All of us" being myself and the other 30 million people worldwide who've picked up copies of the sado-masochistic beach reads that are the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. (Whatever. I only read the first book, and I also read "The Great Gatsby" this summer, so don't judge.) This morning, EMI Classics announced that the novels have inspired an upcoming album - a literary soundtrack, if you will - comprised of 15 classical works featured in the books. 

Our listener Andrea achieves her summer goal of forming an "all-shrink" band. We couldn't be prouder. 

Don’t let your playlist wilt in the summer heat. WNYC staff, from Jad Abumrad to Soterios Johnson, share what they’re listening to this summer. 

Earlier this week, we got an email from one of our Soundcheck Resolutions participants - Andrea. (You might remember her as the psychotherapist who wanted to start an “all-shrink” band.) She shared some good news with us that we’re going to write about later this week. But her email also included something else that we found particularly interesting: a link to this 1992 “Back to the Grill” MC Serch music video.

The sounds of the Olympics' opening weekend, from Mr. Bean's one-note solo to gymnast Aly Raisman's "Hava Nagila" floor exercise. 

It's no secret on the Soundcheck team that both my co-producer Gretta and I followed (okay, obsessively followed) this summer's season of The Bachelorette. It became a bit of a routine: every Tuesday morning, we'd go over our reactions to the previous night's emotionally fraught episode, while our boss Joel pretended not to notice that his only two direct-reports were animatedly discussing a reality dating show. (Poor Joel.) But this past Sunday during the show's finale, our dual interests in music and The Bachelorette magically aligned: to the tune of Peter Cetera's "The Glory of Love."

In this series, Soundcheck stops headphone-wearing strangers on the street and gets between their ears. This week, we talk with Gabrielle – an "aging" fan of comedy podcasts and Fiona Apple.

Ah, Bastille Day. The annual French commemoration of the storming of the Bastille - which took place on July 14, 1789 - is generally celebrated here in New York with kitchy games of pétanque, too many glasses of pastis and half-hearted attempts at putting that 7th grade French vocabulary to good use (“merci!” “ouais!” “shampooing!”). But here at Soundcheck, we’re gearing up for Bastille Day this year by taking a good hard look at the singles that have recently stormed - and conquered - the top of the French charts. (Check out the full playlist here.)

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In general, musicians hate being assigned to a genre. The desire to experiment, create a definitive personal sound, and reach new audiences is universal. But it’s rare that an artist actually succeeds in shaking off the categorical restraints that we as journalists, fans and consumers impose upon them. Christian Scott is one who has succeeded.

In this new series, Soundcheck stops headphone-wearing strangers on the street and gets between their ears. This week, we talk with O’Neil – a hip hop and soca-loving deliveryman who introduces us to his latest downloads and R-rated playlists.

After threatening to crash our studio via Twitter, the Los Angeles-based band Noah and the MegaFauna successfully paid us a visit (after being officially invited) on their most recent swing through New York. In addition to coming armed with a Soundcheck jingle, the band also laid down an exclusive new track.