Brian Wise

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 ...

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: ...

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 ...

Just a block behind our hotel, near Checkpoint Charlie, stood the Berlin Wall. The stretch above is located in a fascinating outdoor museum called the Topography of Terror. This was the site of buildings which were ...

Finally, sun. This must be an extraordinarily beautiful city in the summer. Lunch is usually eaten outside the little sidewalk stand where it's bought - which is barely tolerable today but which must be great when it's warm. Spent a fair amount of time in the Turkish district of Kreuzberg/Neukoelln, ...

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Since the 1960s, countless musicians from throughout Europe and U.S. have made pilgrimages to the legendary Hansa Tonstudio on Potsdamer Platz. The recording studio's credits include major albums by David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Luciano Pavarotti, ...

 

Cloudy but warmer. Our hotel, as mentioned earlier, is right by the old Checkpoint Charlie, and with the fall of the wall a lot of modern new buildings have gone up to make full use of ...

Exec producer Gisele Regatao scopes out Berlin's late-night scene (all in the name of journalistic reporting, of course).

Everyone says the nightlife in Berlin doesn't start until 2am. But you know how skeptical and headstrong New Yorkers are, so we started our evening out much earlier than ...

Deep in Berlin's Scheunenviertel, a trendy neighborhood of galleries and shops, there was the site of a poster for violinist Joshua Bell. It's not uncommon to find ads for classical concerts in Berlin plastered next to posters ...

The Philharmonie, home to the Berlin Philharmonic, is a funky-looking building, with a 60's orange-and-white color scheme and tent-like contours. No doubt it was pretty happening when it opened back in 1963.

Note: For more on ...

The writing that initially appeared on this page has been removed because some words or phrases in it were copied from other sources without attribution. 

It is cloudy and cold - which is probably normal except that we just left an abnormally warm New York. Have to resist the urge to crash on the hotel bed (boy, does it look comfy) so a walk in the fresh air is in order.

Too bad the air ...

On Saturday we met with Berlin's Henrik Schwarz (a.k.a. DJ-Kicks) a DJ and producer who runs the Sunday Music label. His eclectic DJ sets incorporate sources as disparate as Boy George, Marvin Gaye, James ...

The gleaming Sony Center sits amidst the sea of bold architecture and shiny corporate logos around Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. Below: the offices to Morr Music, a small record label specializing in independent rock and pop ...

Home to several Berlin-based artists including the band Contriva. 

The Berlin band Contriva plays an elegant style of indie pop, as heard on four albums to date. We joined two members of the group at their cozy basement studio in Berlin's Pankow ...

Max Raabe (right) the singer and bandleader, joins us at the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Raabe is known for revitalizing the sounds of German cabaret and film music of the Weimar ...

Soundcheck's journey started typically enough, with an hour-plus flight delay at rain-swept JFK. Luckily, our travels proceeded smoothly from there.