Ryo Kawasaki :: Juice A deeply pleasing sensation arises when terrific cover art not only fully delivers on the music, but also bears a distinct resemblance to it. Ryo Kawasaki’s 1976 jazz-funk album Juice is one such record. Bright and refreshing like a piece of citrus, peel the skin back and you’ll find an electric … Continue reading Ryo Kawasaki :: Juice
Omertà :: Collection Particulière Omertà is comprised of five musicians from a handful of projects that line the interior of France’s experimental underground, notably La Société Étrange, releasing limited edition pressings on labels like Standard In-Fi, Desastre, and La Novià. Each of the members, and their associated groups, possess krautrock’s stealthy octave climbing and open … Continue reading Omertà :: Collection Particulière
El Gusano :: Fantasia del Barrio Originally released in 1975, El Gusano’s Fantasia del Barrio was given a second life in 2010 via the Austin, TX based Heavy Light Records. It too soon found itself out of print. Described as the missing link between Texas psychedelia and the chicano soul and funk of the late … Continue reading El Gusano :: Fantasia del Barrio
Andy Paley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview Depending on your entry point, Andy Paley’s body of work might be familiar via a number of unique gateways. Beach Boys fan? Brian Wilson’s proclamation of Paley being “the greatest musical genius I’ve ever come across” might pique your curiosity, as Paley was instrumental to Wilson’s renaissance period during … Continue reading Andy Paley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978) Guitarist Pat Metheny recently described music as a “carrot”, “I am still figuring out what the stick is,” he concluded to Ross Simonini in The Believer. That idea of constant investigation permeates Metheny’s nearly 50 year music career as well as his first s/t LP with his Pat Metheny Group. … Continue reading Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978)
Transmissions :: Craig Finn As leader of The Hold Steady and a solo artist, Craig Finn specializes in unlikely redemption stories. His latest is called A Legacy of Rentals. Like his best work, it traces the lines of down and out characters, imbuing them with humanity and inner drama. Finn is one of the most … Continue reading Transmissions :: Craig Finn
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Tim Bernardes Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus. São Paulo’s Tim Bernardes swept us off our feet earlier this month with his new album, Mil Coisas Invisíveis. Across fifteen tracks sung in beautiful, tender … Continue reading The Lagniappe Sessions :: Tim Bernardes
Tetê Da Bahia :: Duplo Sentido A simmering rendition of Gilberto Gil’s “Duplo Sentido”. The first of only four sides recorded by Brazil’s Tetê Da Bahia, between 1974-75, finds the chanteuse throwing the drifting, folky hue of Gil’s original out the window of a speeding car before heading into a dimly lit tunnel of dream … Continue reading Tetê Da Bahia :: Duplo Sentido
Aquarium Drunkard Book Club :: Chapter 17 Welcome back to the stacks. It’s Aquarium Drunkard’s Book Club, our monthly gathering of recent (or not so recent) recommended reading. This month: the proto T-Rex lit of Marc Bolan, a regional love letter to the art of the concert poster, a deep dive into Dilla’s unique time … Continue reading Aquarium Drunkard Book Club :: Chapter 17
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Neal Francis Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus. The past few years have seen Neal Francis carve out his name with an incendiary live show and a refreshingly well-schooled, analog-obsessed interpretation of 70s soul. … Continue reading The Lagniappe Sessions :: Neal Francis
Travesía :: Ni Un Minuto Más De Dolor Under the name Travesía, the trio of Estela Magnone, Mariana Ingold, and Mayra Hugo graced a handful of albums that defined the direction of Uruguay’s music coming out from under a dictatorship in the early 1980s: Jorge Galemire’s Segundos Afuera (1983), Leo Maslíah’s Recital especial (1983), Eduardo … Continue reading Travesía :: Ni Un Minuto Más De Dolor
Sessa :: Estrela Acesa A celestial nocturne, Estrela Acesa is the sophomore stunner from Sessa. It’s been three years since the São Paulo-born singer-songwriter dropped his perennially stellar debut, Grandeza—a jubilant, sun-dappled LP embodying a confluence of Brazil’s rich past and musical traditions. But where Grandeza was an ode to temporal pleasures, Estrela Acesa is … Continue reading Sessa :: Estrela Acesa
Transmissions :: Mark Stewart (The Pop Group), Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), Eric Random (The Buzzcocks) This week on Transmissions, a post-punk roundtable with Mark Stewart of The Pop Group, Stephen Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire, Eric Random (The Buzzcocks, Nico). On Mark’s latest album, VS, they team up for “Cast No Shadow,” which was made in … Continue reading Transmissions :: Mark Stewart (The Pop Group), Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), Eric Random (The Buzzcocks)
Tim Bernardes :: Mil Coisas Invisíveis A folk singer, a dreamer, a soul. On his newly released sophomore album, Mil Coisas Invisíveis, São Paulo’s Tim Bernardes brings his diaristic existentialism to vibrant sonic life. Whether accompanied with just his guitar, or surrounded by handclap percussion, swelling string arrangements, and muted woodwinds, he stakes his claim … Continue reading Tim Bernardes :: Mil Coisas Invisíveis
Kevin Morby :: This Is A Photograph The awareness of our own mortality is a blessing and a curse. This isn’t a new idea, and it’s one that we’ve seen reflected time and again in art. While catalysts vary, for Kevin Morby it was witnessing the sudden collapse of his father at a dinner. Thankfully … Continue reading Kevin Morby :: This Is A Photograph
Revelators Sound System :: Revelators The inner and the outer. We’re inclined to view them as separate things, but they are tied together. REVELATORS is the collaborative project between MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) and Cameron Ralston (Spacebomb House Band). Utilizing solitary guitar loops recorded by Taylor at Dad’s Bar in Grill, Durham NC, Ralston … Continue reading Revelators Sound System :: Revelators
Sá & Guarabyra :: As Canções Que Eu Faço During the 1970s, Brazilian luminaires Sá, Rodrix & Guarabyra invented what they called “rural rock” as a mixture of anglophone folk rock and música caipira (an umbrella term for the Iberian-descending, acoustic-guitar-based musics from the countryside of Brazil). In 1974, Rodrix dropped the band and Sá … Continue reading Sá & Guarabyra :: As Canções Que Eu Faço
Isaiah Collier & Michael Shekwoaga Ode (I AM) :: Beyond The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s expression, “Great Black Music: Ancient to the future,” is a program for life and not a mere slogan. It reminds us that we cannot move forward without reference to the past; that we must respect and respond to our elders. … Continue reading Isaiah Collier & Michael Shekwoaga Ode (I AM) :: Beyond
Spacemonkeyz Vs. Gorillaz :: Laika Come Home All mouths will be fed. Twenty years ago next month saw the release of Laika Come Home, a complete and total transfiguration of Gorillaz s/t debut as remixed in dub. Spacemonkeyz (dj Darren Galea) is the controller, and the results are nothing short of sublime. At times haunting, … Continue reading Spacemonkeyz Vs. Gorillaz :: Laika Come Home
Wagner Tiso :: A Igreja Majestosa Legendary composer and arranger Wagner Tiso is one of the most underrated figures in Brazilian music history. Tiso led the Clube da Esquina scene in the 1970s, and although his name is scarcely mentioned in international guides to the movement, his maximalist aesthetics and chamber music influences are deeply … Continue reading Wagner Tiso :: A Igreja Majestosa
Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard On Dublab :: June 2022 Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard returns for four hours of freeform melodies and modulations this Sunday, June 19, airing this month from 7-11 PM Pacific, following a series of special Juneteenth broadcasts. Up first is New Happy Gathering with an hour of psychedelic dub, drum machine funk, … Continue reading Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard On Dublab :: June 2022
Wednesday Knudsen :: Soft Focus – Volumes One And Two Wednesday Knudson describes the glowing set of tracks on her new LP, Soft Focus, as “ambient.” That’s true, to an extent, but that genre is widely used as a label and has grown a messy head of hair lately. Recorded in spring of last year, … Continue reading Wednesday Knudsen :: Soft Focus – Volumes One And Two
The Running Kind: David Cantwell on Merle Haggard David Cantwell is a critic and journalist, and co-author (with Bill Friskics-Warren) of Heartaches by the Number: Country Music’s 500 Greatest Singles. Last month, he released a revision of his book on Merle Haggard, which originally appeared in 2013. The Running Kind: Listening to Merle Haggard is, … Continue reading The Running Kind: David Cantwell on Merle Haggard
Jeff Tweedy :: On Wilco’s Cruel Country “As bad as it seems, it’s worse than expected,” sings Jeff Tweedy near the start of “I Am My Mother,” the opening number of Wilco’s 12th studio album, Cruel Country. Like many of his finest lyrics, it’s a line that lingers with a dark sense of humor. That … Continue reading Jeff Tweedy :: On Wilco’s Cruel Country
Transmissions :: Longform Editions Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. This week on the show, we’re joined by Andrew Khedoori and Mark Gowing of Longform Editions. Transmissions :: Longform Editions Home to extended experimental works by previous Transmissions guests like William Tyler, Carlos Nino, and Angel Bat Dawid—plus, many more avant composers and music makers, … Continue reading Transmissions :: Longform Editions
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Andrew Bird Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus. Andrew Bird’s virtuosity is no secret. It’s a disservice at this point to dip into adjectives of praise and find a new way to say as … Continue reading The Lagniappe Sessions :: Andrew Bird
Shintaro Sakamoto :: Like A Fable Fall once again, dear friends, into the warm waters of Shintaro Sakamoto’s musical universe. Ever the maestro of mellow groove, Like A Fable is Sakamoto’s first album in six years, the fourth in a string of idiosyncratic solo albums that include Love If Possible (2016), Let’s Dance Raw (2014), … Continue reading Shintaro Sakamoto :: Like A Fable
Badge Époque Ensemble :: “Zodiac” On their new album, Clouds of Joy, Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble has swelled into a 13-headed hydra. Drummer Jay Anderson has played with the group since it began as a duo of himself and Max “Twig” Turnbull four years ago. In director Colin Medley’s rock doc style video for Badge’s … Continue reading Badge Époque Ensemble :: “Zodiac”