Aquarium Drunkard - TRANSMISSIONS: Recent Episodes

Aquarium Drunkard

Weekly interviews with musicians, artists, authors, and filmmakers presented by Aquarium Drunkard.

This week on the show, we’re joined by Sam Shepherd, AKA Floating Points. His discography is full of beautiful and strange electronic music—bubbling Buchalas, skittering beats, washes of synthesized sound, and even moody, spacious post-rock. But underneath it all, his love of jazz is clear. In 2021, he teamed with an actual jazz legend: the late Pharoah Sanders, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra for Promises, a single 46-minute composition broken into nine movements. Though the artists were separated by decades in age, their approach is simpatico. Just as Shepherd has moved between genres and styles, so did Pharoah. His early work with John and Alice Coltrane established him as a dynamic, sometimes frighteningly intense sideman, and his first run of records, including 1969’s Karma, featuring “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” helped set the stage for what we now call “spiritual jazz.” But Sanders, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 81, cared very little about what genre you filed his records under. “I just play whatever I feel like playing,” he told The New Yorker. Sanders stayed restless and creative—listen to his playing on Sonny Sharrock’s masterful Ask the Ages or his works with Bill Laswell, and you’ll hear what we mean. In 1977, he waded into deeply personal waters with the self-titled Pharoah, which will be reissued by Luaka Bop on September 15th. Exploring new age adjacent sounds, funk, and passionate ballads, it’s a radical departure from his early work, but perfectly in keeping with Sanders’ unpredictable ethos. Likewise, Promises is hardly the “back to basics” late career album you might expect an 80-year-old artist to make. It’s its own thing, a meditative sojourn that relies on silence as much as sound. And next week, on September 20th, Floating Points will be joined by past Transmissions guest Shabaka Hutchings, as well as Caribou, Four Tet, the Sun Ra Arkestra, and others for the first-ever staging of Promises live at the Hollywood Bowl. Ahead of that show, Shepherd joined us from his studio to discuss his his years collecting records, making Promises—and we even got him to reveal Pharoah’s favorite place to eat in LA. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts, like Drifter’s Sympathy, with Emil Amos of Grails, Om, Holy Sons, who will be our guest next week on Transmissions. And of course No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man, curated and produced by J Kelly Davis and presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Talkhouse. Back soon. Next week on the show, Jarvis Taveniere of Woods.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you here once again. Our guest this week is Will Sheff, known for his solo work and years with the indie rock band Okkervil River. In this conversation, Sheff and host Jason P. Woodbury cover a wide stretch, examining how the indie rock landscape has changed and evolved over decades, exploring the spiritual core at the heart of his music, and hearing stories about his interactions with luminaries like Roky Erickson and Jason Molina. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts, like Drifter’s Sympathy, with Emil Amos of Grails, Om, Holy Sons, who will be our guest next week on Transmissions, and of course, No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man, curated and produced by J Kelly Davis and presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Talkhouse. Support Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions on Patreon.

We learn that, after jamming namelessly for a year and a half, the band finally started using the Sunburned moniker. Then we tune in to learn about their earliest excursions playing outside the Charlestown loft, including their first show as Sunburned as part of an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. We hear how the interplay between these new locations and contexts provoked new modes of performance and artistic connections. They describe how an invitation to join a tour opening for No-Neck Blues Band (who were opening for John Fahey) prompted them to assemble their first CD – Mind of a Brother. After this tour story, we meet the rest of the band members interviewed for this podcast. Finally, we examine the chain of events that ultimately catapulted the band onto the international stage.

This is Julian Cope’s Album of the Month write up of Sunburned Hand of the Man. You can read the full liner notes that Rob Thomas wrote for the Mind of a Brother reissue. If you want to know more about The No-Neck Blues Band, then check out the (More) Letters from the Earth feature on Aquarium Drunkard. Here’s the band playing a set at P.A.’s Lounge.

Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man’s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned’s Bandcamp Sunburned’s Website

Songs heard in this episode: Jaybird - Jaybird Franklin’s Mint - Show Me the Way - Tir Na Nog Too High To Fly No More - Jaybird Buried Pleasure - Rare Wood Wild Animal 3 - Wild Animal Or Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week’s episodes!

You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Today's guest is writer Laura Snapes. Her work has been published by the BBC, Pitchfork, and NME, and she's the deputy music editor of The Guardian. We’ve been aiming to have her for Transmissions for some time now, and now we're so glad we’ve got this episode to share with you listeners, covering the psycho-geology of songs, the climate, varied definitions of the term “Americana,” and her recent listening: Julie Byrne, Be Your Own Pet, Róisín Murphy, and Jesse Lanza. Plus, the occult roots of Aphex Twin and what it means to "name" a nascent music genre. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on Transmissions? Will Sheff of Okkervil River on Roky Erickson, Jason Molina, Bill Fay, and much, much more. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded.

We rewind way back to before the band started and hear how some of the founding members first met one another. We learn how Sunburned’s precursor band – Shit Spangled Banner – formed, released a tape, and broke up. Thurston Moore provides narrative exposition about the wider music scene that partially informed Sunburned’s formation. We get a third-eye tour of the band’s incubator – an illegal loft space in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. Finally, we hear about several early band members and how all their eccentricities ultimately drove the band’s jamming.

Here’s an amazing and extremely early glimpse of Sunburned playing live in late 1997. You can see many of the musicians described in this episode! You can check out Shit Spangled Banner’s Ass Run release here, and this is the discogs entry for the “other” version. Click through the images to see the accompanying note from Byron Coley. Also, here’s Byron’s piece remembering Marc Orleans published in The Wire. And this is an album by Marc Orleans’s band Juneau. We were wondering if Lothlorien – the Tolkein-themed space in southern Indiana was real. Here’s a fascinating article about it.

Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man’s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned’s Bandcamp Sunburned’s Website

Songs heard in this episode: Loveletter to Complicated Dreams - Mind of a Brother (excerpts heard throughout the episode) Birth of Dearth - Mind of a Brother Shit Spangled Banner - Smallplant Fields - No Dolby/No DBX SSB - Heaven Often Manifests as Silence The If With the Golden Qualm - Mind of a Brother The Brother of All Shakes - Mind of a Brother Or Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week’s episodes!

You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Our guest this week is Darren Jessee, a singer/songwriter and drummer. In the '90s, he played drums in Ben Folds Five, and he’s worked with a number of previous Transmissions guests, including Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger, as well as others like The War on Drugs, Josh Rouse, and Chris Stamey. In 2004, he founded a band called Hotel Lights, and in 2018, he began releasing music under his own name. His latest is called Central Bridge, released earlier this year. On this episode of Transmissions, Darren joins us for a freewheeling talk about influences, lyrics, creative process, and his time on the road with Ben Folds Five. We discuss a wide range of artists—Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Gordon Lightfoot, and spend a lot of time reflecting on Neil Young, who Ben Folds Five toured with in the 1990s. Along the way, we inspect the notion of how songs change and shape our views, the tenor of the culture wars back in the ‘90s, and the value of occasionally overdoing it. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Music journalist and editor Laura Snapes joins us to discuss regionalism, transcendent moments listening to music, the value of names, varying definitions of “Americana,” Aphex Twin, Cornwall, and much more. Join us then. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded.

We hear about the origins and goals of the podcast – grappling with the complexities of Sunburned’s chaotic narrative. Music journalist Allison Hussey joins us to provide an outsider’s perspective of the band. Byron Coley describes Sunburned’s impact on the wider music scene. Then we focus on one song in an attempt to discern a bit of what Sunburned does when they jam. Finally, we turn to Sunburned’s iconic 2002 release, Headdress, and that album’s recent 20th anniversary reissue.

Here’s an image of the center label for the Headdress album. You can read both the original Pitchfork review of Headdress here and an expanded review of the reissue at Aquarium Drunkard.

Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man’s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned’s Bandcamp Sunburned’s Website

Songs heard in this episode: Shitless - Headdress Don’t Get Burned - Earth Do Eagles Do The Illness - Headdress The Underground Press - Headdress The Most Relevant - Headless Or Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this week’s episode!

You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Back in 2022, songwriter Lincoln Barr got in touch, writing a personal note in which he expressed an appreciation for what we do here at Aquarium Drunkard. "Listening to the topics that come up in your conversations, I can't help but recognize a kindred spirit out there in the desert.” Since then, Barr and Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury have gone back and forth via email, discussing spirituality, art, poetry, Ireland, Sinéad O'Connor, NRBQ, psychedelia, personal work, and much more. And now, they finally link up for a proper podcast discussion. Though their conversation was shaded by the passing of O'Connor, a shared favorite, they covered lots of ground additionally, waxing on mysticism, personal exploration, and Barr's incredible album, Forfeit the Prize. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Darren Jessee joins us to discuss songwriting, playing drums in groups like Ben Folds Five and Hiss Golden Messenger and more. Stay loose until then, this Transmissions is concluded.

Sunburned Hand of the Man is a long-running, free-form band from Massachusetts. They record everything, and their discography has over 200 entries. Membership is fluid, at times determined simply by whoever joins in the jam. One time they started to design a deck of cards where each card had a band member… but there were so many people they would have ended up with a full hand of jokers. There are no rules other than the unspoken rule that nobody tells anyone else what to do. Despite this swirling complexity (or perhaps because of it), media outlets typically only interview one or two of the founding members. With this podcast, we embrace the full force of Sunburned Hand of the Man. The final result is assembled from conversations and recordings with 15 current and past members as well as outside commentary from friends, fans, and collaborators. Across eight episodes, we unravel the band’s complex history and examine the hows and whys of this bizarre creative endeavor.

Hataaliinez Wheeler grew up in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. And though he’s just recently released his Dangerbird Records debut, Singing Into Darkness, he’s spent the last few years creating as much art as he can—recording music, making lo-fi videos, and writing poetry. Sunbaked and sly, the new album is full of strange grooves and quixotic lyrics, and a sound that borrows from country, surf, indie rock, and shoegaze. We first heard Hataałii through Michael Klausman, who wrote about him for Aquarium Drunkard in 2021, saying, "[I]t was probably predetermined that he’d make music, as Hataałii literally means 'to sing.' His songs are weirdly genreless and out-of-time, yet constantly reach for some sort of cosmic agency. You can frequently hear him experimenting and trying different personas on, but the force of his charisma unites all the disparate elements he puts together. He’s a master at conjuring a kind of Southwestern saudade," a feeling of longing melancholy that permeates Brazilian music. Today, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss his run-in with and shout-out from Mac Demarco, discuss the influence of his father's record collection, and discuss what its felt like for his personal art project to find a life outside of his own head. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Lincoln Barr joins us to discuss the magic of music. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page.

Welcome back to another episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you with us. A major inspiration for us in the podcast zone is media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, host of the Team Human podcast. As our digital age gets stranger, more fractured, and harder to parse, we find his humanist, consciousness-centered approach very helpful. One of the things he’s known for saying is “Look for the others”—the others who grok your worldview, whose enthusiasms and obsessions mirror your own. And no doubt about it, our guest this week, Andy Zax, feels very much like one of the others. Zax is a lifelong music devotee, and he’s worked on pretty much every side of the music business, writing copy and liner notes, producing records, working with labels like Rhino, and generally helping to shine a light on figures like Judee Sill, David Axelrod, Talking Heads, and many more. In 2019, he oversaw the massive Woodstock 50th anniversary project, restoring virtually all the audio associated with the historic concert. For Zax, all of this is something of a holy calling, and its led him to discoveries in unexpected places, like when he found an unreleased recording by electronic pioneer Mort Garson—known these days for the hippest ever music for plants to grow by LP Plantasia—nested in the archive of spoken word artist Rod McKuen. And not just any recording: we’re talking “Journey to the Moon,” music Garson composed for the live CBS News broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. That recording sees release this week via Sacred Bones’ Journey To the Moon and Beyond, released on Friday, July 21. Over the course of his long chat, we riff on the value of archived music, music streaming and music technology, audio quality, the merits of keeping your records unorganized, the haunting quality of Leonard Nimoy’s late ‘60s studio albums, and much more. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? 20-year-old Navajo singer/songwriter Hataałii joins us to discuss his label debut and what music has meant to him growing up. Until then, this Transmission is concluded. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page

It's the thick of the summer, which means your Transmissions correspondents are spending as much time in cool dark spaces as possible. One record that particularly suits the mood in our summer bunker hideaway is Gia Margaret's Romantic Piano. Though Margaret's 2018 debut, There’s Always a Glimmer, was the striking work of a singer/songwriter, when medical issues put a strain on her voice, she turned to instrumental music, first with her ambient leaning self-titled 2020 album, and now Romantic Piano, a collection of moving piano compositions, mostly instrumental, that feels at once meditative and comforting. It’s the kind of music that carves out more space for the listener—and it turns out, it’s the kind of music that did something similar for its creator. In our talk, we discuss the intuitive roots of Gia’s music, working with previous Transmissions guest David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, and much more. It’s a thoughtful, spacey conversation for you as we weather the way out heat of summers in a changing world Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on the show, archivist Andy Zax shares the story of an unheard Mort Garson soundtrack and ponders alternate musical histories.

In “Lies and Distortion,” the opening essay of his book Unstrung: Rants And Stories Of a Noise Guitarist, Marc Ribot writes: “We seem to love broken voices in general: vocal cords eroded by whiskey and screaming, the junked-out weakness of certain horn players, distortion which signifies surpassing the capabilities of a tube or a speaker—voices that damage, but (at least in performance) don’t actually die…Was this always true? I don’t know.” In a way, that speaks to Ribot’s own playing, on his own and with many luminary collaborators. Though he can certainly play delicately, a frayed, beyond-the-limit quality informs Ribot’s sensibility. Since 2008, he’s released records with Ceramic Dog—a band featuring Ribott on vocals and guitar, previous Transmissions guest Shazhad Ismaily on bass and vocals, and Ches Smith on drums and vocals. On July 14th, the band releases another scalded and electrifying record with Connection. Ribot is our guest this week on the show, and we’re pleased to present this rollicking, and at times charmingly contentious talk this on Transmissions. From his complicated relationship with his former Lounge Lizards collaborator John Lurie, to his views on how labor and capitalism inform his relationship with music, his history as a collaborator, Hal Willner’s Night Music, his recent embrace of the Gibson SG, and much more, this is a charged chat with a jazz-punk creative icon. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on the show, Gia Margaret on her Romantic Piano.

While Black Lips have matured and grown since forming in 1999, the Atlanta-based garage band haven’t "settled down." Case in point is Apocalypse Love, the group’s 10th album, released last year on Fire Records. Incorporating gospel and country influences, it’s as strange and exciting as the band’s early work, but it also showcases a new depth to the band. Today on Transmissions, Black Lip Jared Swilley joins us to discuss his pentecostal roots, his minister father coming out of the closet, the importance of the Bomp Records catalog, his mentor The Mighty Hannibal, and much more. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening, and support Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions by pledging on Patreon. Next week on the show, guitarist Marc Ribot.

This week on the show, we’re joined by London-based singer/songwriter David John Morris. Perhaps you know him for his work with folk rock band Red River Dialect, but for this talk, we mostly speak about his latest two solo albums, 2021’s Monastic Love Songs and 2022’s Wyld Love Songs, on which, to quote Aquarium Drunkard's Tyler Wilcox, balances "sacred and profane concerns, finding moments of welcome humor amidst more spiritual matters." He joined us to discuss his time in a Buddhist monastery, how it augmented his approach to music, his podcast listening habits, the consistent spiritual longing of the creative process and, truthfully, so much more. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, Jared Swilley of The Black Lips joins us to document the band's apocalyptic love story. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Writing about The Modern Folk’s Modern Folk One in our AD 2022 Year in Review, we called it, “A blend of field recordings, astral zones, freak outs, leisurely jams, and rustique concrète from the ever-prolific Josh Moss.” That gives you a little sense of the kind of music Moss creates with his ultra-prolific recording project. Head over to his Bandcamp and you'll find dozens and dozens of releases. Moss is such an inspiring creator, completely beholden to doing his own thing explicitly, so naturally, this conversation wanders down strange paths—from Bigfoot to Bob Dylan—and stands as one of our most discursive episodes to date. This episode originally aired exclusively for our Patreon supporters, and we’re sharing it in the main feed as a reminder that if you want to support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon, you’ll get access to bonus audio and more. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, David John Morris of Red River Dialect joins us to discuss monasticism and music. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Welcome to Transmissions. The name Bruce Licher commands respect in the underground world of independent rock. As musician and letterpress artist with Independent Project Press, he’s created art and bespoke album packaging for artists like R.E.M., Stereolab, Camper Van Beethoven, and more, and created music with post-punk combo Savage Republic, instrumental rock pioneers Scenic, and other projects. In 2020, he reactivated his Independent Project label, which he originally founded in 1980. On this episode, Bruce joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss his album art creations, his time in the Mojave Desert, the Southwestern dream-pop scene of the ‘90s, his letterpress origins, his work with R.E.M. and much more. He’s a lifer and a true example of sticking to your vision—we're really honored to have him on the show this week, and of course honored to have you joining us for this conversation. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, The Modern Folk. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

This week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions: ambient country trio Suss. On their own, Suss members Jonathan Gregg, Bob Holmes, and Pat Irwin have been involved in musical projects, with artists like k.d. Lang, the B-52s, John Cale, David Bowie, Norah Jones, the War on Drugs and Wilco—Irwin even contributed music to Nickelodeon's Rocko’s Modern Life. Since 2018, they—along with the their departed bandmate, the late cartoonist and musician Gary Lieb—have created spectral, moody soundscapes they’ve dubbed “Ambient Country,” which is also the name of a podcast Holmes hosts, where he highlights “the roots of the high and lonesome sound,” weaving together strands of instrumental folk, Americana, ambient, electronic, soundscapes and psychedelia. The group’s latest is Suss, a self-titled collection that assembles four EPs—Night Suite, Heat Haze, Winter Was Hard, and Across the Horizon—into a majestic double album, full of slow motion twang, suspended synth drones, and gorgeous swells of pedal steel. This is country music mutated and stretched along a vast horizon, open music for open souls. It was a pleasure to host these three for a loose hang-out episode. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, Bruce Licher of Independent Project Press and Records, who joins us to reflect on a life of indie rock letter pressing and much, much more. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Welcome to the final episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions’ 2022 season. We saved a great one for the finale: Kid Congo Powers. Born Brian Tristan in La Puente, California, he eventually adopted the stage name which appears on the cover of Some New Kind of Kick, a new memoir that documents his time in The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and The Gun Club, with whom he’s credited for “excessive feedback, guitar and slide guitar, whirling whirlies, maracas and ancient mutterings.” And that’s not all it covers. Kid’s story is a layered one. The book, written with Chris Campion, gets into all of it, including frank examinations of queer identity, struggles with addiction, and his connection to the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce—who’s dream visit inspired his 2020 Pink Monkey Birds Latin psych epic “He Walked In.” At once hilarious, tender, and possessing an almost dreamlike spiritual quality, it’s a great read. And it arrives alongside two new records: Summer Forever and Ever, the second album by Wolfmanhattan Project, his trio with Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs and Gories and Bob Bert, formerly of Sonic Youth, and Kid Congo Powers and The Near Death Experience Live in St. Kilda, a live concert taped in Australia. Both will be out physically in 2023—but you can listen to them digitally now. Or rather, after you finish this conversation between host Jason P. Woodbury and Kid, fellow Arizonans. Thanks so much for listening to Transmissions. Our 2022 season closes with this episode. We’ll be back in early 2023, keep your eyes on Aquarium Drunkard for more info and check out the Patreon for bonus content we’ll be sharing over the next couple months. This season of Transmissions is concluded.

Writing about the Bedhead career retrospective 1992-1998 for Pitchfork, writer Mark Richardson put it nicely: “Bedhead had no time for or interest in anything extraneous to the music…And this is what it sounded like—serious, intense, smart, beautiful, occasionally frightening...” Today on the show, we are joined by the Kadane Brothers, who founded Bedhead in 1991 in Dallas, Texas. Matt Kadane calls in from his place in New York, where he teaches history, and Bubba Kadane from Texas, where he composes music for film and television. One of the defining bands of the “slowcore” movement, Bedhead had three guitars but was sparse, melding post-punk to humming Velvets-inspired intensity. Following the end of Bedhead, they formed another pioneering indie rock band, The New Year, and they’ve dabbled in side projects all along the way, including Overseas, with David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and Will Johnson of Centro-matic, and Bubba’s ambient project Sigh of Relief. On this episode of Transmissions, we dig into Bedhead’s history and idiosyncratic approach, exploring how they worked “remotely” and by telephone long before remote work was standard, the space carved out by Bedhead’s unique sound, their cover of Cher’s “Believe,” and much more. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Kid Congo Powers.

On Slow Fawn, Sam Cohen, a producer, songwriter, and musician known for his work with Apollo Sunshine, Yellowbirds, Kevin Morby, Danger Mouse and Karen O, creates a glowing, meditative space. Inspired by Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air and drawing from long jam sessions with his collaborators, it reflects Sam's desire to "create a world without friction, where you could float and feel joy." Combining dashes of jazz, synthesized new age, pop, and minimalist grace and it’s a record we've returned to many times over the last few months. Cohen joins host Jason P. Woodbury from his studio in upstate New York to discuss music's power to connect us to each other, his motivation for creating music, and opening up his own studio. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Matt and Bubba Kadane of Bedhead and The New Year.

This week on the show, Joe Rainey. Hailing from Minnesota, he’s a powwow singer of the Red Lake Ojibwe tribe. He’s known for collaborations with Bon Iver, Chance the Rapper and Alan Sparhawk of Low, and in May he released his debut solo album, Niineta on Justin Vernon’s 38do3d label. Created in conjunction with producer Andrew Broder, it pairs his vocals with samples culled from his vast collection of powwow tapes, thundering percussion, and dense, thickly layered electronic soundscapes. With its double-meaning titles like “No Chants” and “Easy on the Cide” nodding toward Rainey’s understated sense of humor, Niineta takes on a collage-like quality that bends time. He joined us from to discuss his days traveling the powwow circuit, how the collaboration with Broder came to be, and his teenage interest in rap. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Sam Cohen.

This week on our weekly interview podcast, a wide-ranging interview with Clem Burke of Blondie. He joins us to discuss the band’s early years, interactions with luminaries like Robert Fripp and Giorgio Moroder, the fashion forward cultural shift, disco, and Numero Group’s monumental box set collection: Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982. A game conversationalist, Burke brings a quick wit and sharp intellect to this chat, which traces the group's evolution, early days, and his work as a case study documenting the physical condition of drummers. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Joe Rainey.

This week on the show, Danalogue (Dan Leavers), Betamax (Max Hallett) and Shabaka Hutchings, known collectively as the improvisational crew The Comet is Coming. You might know Dan and Max from Soccer96, and Hutchings from his many projects, including Shabaka and the Ancestors and Sons of Kemet. Their new album is called Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam. Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, it’s a blur of electronic music, funk ferocity, and free jazz squall. As that title likely suggests, this conversation goes all over the map, digging into concepts like apocalyptic imagination, the dynamics of improv, and artificial intelligence. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Clem Burke of Blondie.

Welcome to another episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, we're so glad to have you here. Today on the show, Ken Shipley of Numero Group. October has arrived, but the storied Chicago label was still in the midst of its September ‘90s month celebration of reissues from Codeine, Karate, Current, and Unwound when we taped this conversation. Since then, the label has announced a truly bonkers 20th anniversary celebration for 2023, which will see Unwound, Codeine, The Hated, Karate, Ida, Chisel, Everyone Asked About You, Ui (featuring Transmissions guest Sasha Frere-Jones), Rex and Tsunami for the Feb. 18-19 event, which will be held at Los Angeles’ Palace Theater. In this conversation, Shipley and host Jason P. Woodbury discuss how the label has evolved, aesthetics, the new Blondie boxset, Shipley’s midwest emo roots and pre-Numero days at Rykodisc and Tree Records, whether or not Numero will ever release a nu-metal reissue and lots more. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: The Comet is Coming

With his debut book My Life in the Sunshine: Searching For My Father and Discovering My Family, Nabil Ayers walks a tightrope, balancing personal and familial history with stories about a life spent playing music, working in record stores, and falling in love with music. On this episode of Transmissions, Ayers discusses it all with host Jason P. Woodbury: wild record store tales, formative live music experiences, his work with 4AD, The Control Group, and Beggars Group, and his complicated relationship with his father Roy Ayers. Through out the talk, you'll also hear selections from Valley of Search, the 1975 free jazz album by his uncle Alan Braufman, which Ayers founded the label of the same name to reissue. An open, emotive, and riveting chat, we're thrilled to share this one with our listeners. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Ken Shipley of Numero Group.

Welcome to another episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. This week on the show, Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson and guitarist Yonatan Gat join us to discuss their collaborative work as Medicine Singers, which pairs the powwow drum and the voices of the Eastern Medicine Singers with Yonatan’s electrified guitar and contributions from experimental composer Joe Rainey, Ikue Mori of DNA, Thor Harris of Swans, previous Transmissions guest Laraaji, and the late jamie branch. Tapped into a kind of frenzied energy, the album is an overpowering force, and it features a transcendent cover of Link Wray’s immortal “Rumble.” Ahead of a performance September 24 at Pioneer Works with guests Lee Ranaldo, Laraaji, and Thor Harris, Jamieson and Gat join us to discuss their collaboration. A quick word: sorry about some of the audio in this one; there was an issue with a connection, but the conversation is more than worth it. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Medicine Singers.

Today on Transmissions, representatives of the Cosmic Network Gloria de Oliveira and Dean Hurley join us to discuss their new album of dream pop bliss and New Ages swoon, Oceans of Time, out this week from Sacred Bones Records. Dean is best known for his work with David Lynch, with whom he’s collaborated on sound design, music, and more since 2006’s Inland Empire. Gloria is a German-Brazilian songwriter and singer. Without ever meeting in person, they fashioned Oceans of Time. Part Cocteau Twins, part Pure Moods, and also entirely its own thing, it’s a fantastic recording. In this interview, they join host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss their haunting cover of Jeff Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser’s “All Flowers in Time,” the myriad ways Lynch influenced the project, and the ever elusive nature of time and existence. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Medicine Singers.

We're sitting down with Chicago sisters Eibur, Charlene, and Chanté Stepney, who join us to discuss the work of their father, the late Charles Stepney. As a producer and arranger, Stepney was at the helm for incredible '60s and '70s work with Earth, Wind & Fire, Rotary Connection, The Dells, Muddy Waters, Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis, Terry Callier, and many more before his passing in 1976. But on Step on Step, a mind-blowing new collection from International Anthem, a new vision of Stepney emerges: that of a home recording genius. Propelled by a drum machine and warm synths, the music here was recorded alone on a 4-track in his Southside Chicago basement, it retains the sophistication of his studio efforts but presents his sound in a raw, utterly unvarnished manner. As the Summer of Stepney rolls on, the Stepney Sisters join host Jason P. Woodbury to unpack who Stepney was, his relationship with his wife and partner Rubie, his love of science fiction, and his status as one of hip-hop’s most sampled composers. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network and you can find us on Patreon. Next week on the show: Gloria de Oliveira and David Lynch sound designer Dean Hurley join us to discuss their new age/cosmic synth album Oceans of Time.

Our return guest today on Transmissions: Chris Forsyth. The New Jersey-based guitarist and bandleader is back with a new album, Evolution Here We Come. On it his backed up by an all-star cast including Tom Malach (Garcia Peoples), Douglas McCombs (Tortoise), and Ryan Jewell (Ryley Walker), with guest appearances by Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon of The Dream Syndicate, and more. Produced by Dave Harrington, the album leans into electronic textures, conjuring into the existence a zone where ZZ Top goes kosmische musik or Popol Vuh dons skinny ties. Forsyth joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the interplay between man and machine, power pop, improv ethics, and more. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Charlene, Chante, and Eibur Stepney, who join us to discuss the work of their father, the late Charles Stepney, as featured on International Anthem's fantastic new release, Step on Step.

Today on an all-new episode of our weekly interview podcast: Steve Marion, better known by his recording name Delicate Steve. As a sideman, Steve’s joined up with folks like Paul Simon, MacDeMarco, Tame Impala, The Black Keys and Yeasayer, but all along he’s made his own instrumental guitar recordings. His latest album is out on Anti Records, and it’s called After Hours, and it blends viby rhythms with cyber rock riffs, always placing an emphasis on emotionally compelling melodies. For this talk, we dug into his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah," his work with previous Transmissions guest Shahzad Ismaily, his complicated artistic relationship with Kanye West, and his work on Amen Dunes’ Freedom. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Chris Forsyth joins us to discuss Evolution Here We Come.

Built on loops culled from doo wop, psychedelic pop, and early rock & roll records, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom's new album Reset is an exuberant and oracular listen. Mining resonance in the past—including musical themes that recall their past work, both solo and in Animal Collective and Spaceman 3—the duo create the kind of ecstatic music that renders time elastic. In this all-new episode of our weekly interview podcast Transmissions, Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) and Peter Kember (Sonic Boom) sit down with host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss their collaborative partnership, the influence of far out futurist Buckminster Fuller, memory and musical optimism. We connected with these frequent collaborators from their respective places in Portugal following after a long night of celebration. Thanks for checking out Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review—or just forwarding your favorite episodes to a friend. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: plugging in with guitarist Delicate Steve.

If you’re a fan of jittery guitar-driven indie rock, you’re probably most familiar with our guest today, Glenn Mercer from his work with The Feelies. While this episode of Transmissions doesn't skimp on Feelies discussion, Mercer also discusses the diversity of his catalog, including work The Trypes, whose 40th anniversary edition of Music for Neighbors was released earlier this year, and his solo canon. Along the way: the Velvet Underground, The Dead, Peter Buck of R.E.M., his tribute works to David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and Marc Bolan, plus even more. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review. We appreciate you helping us connect with new listeners however you do so. You can listen to and subscribe to Transmissions via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and of course, the trusty RSS feed. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Panda Bear and Sonic Boom discuss their new album Reset.

We’ve been captivated by the striking music featured on Cheri Knight’s American Rituals lately—one of our favorite songs from it opens this episode, the mantric “Prime Numbers.” Recorded in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, Knight’s experimental compositions recall the minimalism of John Cage or Meredith Monk, but are shot through with a post-punk streak, all delivered with meditative, repetitive vocal abstractions that evoke her interest in Buddhism and meditation. Hailing from Western Massachusetts, where she grew up a “farm girl,” which she remains to this day, Knight’s travels eventually took her away from Olympia. She joined up with an alt-country band, Blood Oranges, and after that embarked on a solo career. Cheri is a rare person who connects equally to Pauline Oliveros and Steve Earle, who we discuss in this episode. Thank you for listening to Transmissions. If you dig the show, please consider leaving a five star rating or a review. We appreciate you helping us connect with new listeners however you do so. You can listen to and subscribe to Transmissions via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and of course, the trusty RSS feed. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: Glenn Mercer of New Jersey indie rock legends The Feelies.

Our guest this week on the show is Mitch Horowitz. Perhaps you’ve heard the occult scholar and author on Coast to Coast AM or The Duncan Trussell Family Hour or perhaps you’ve heard him right here on Transmissions. With the occasion of his new book, Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of your Mind, out this week, as well as the forthcoming essay collection, Uncertain Places: Essays on Occult and Outsider Experiences out on October 18, we invited Mitch back to the show for another fascinating and wind ranging conversation about mind causation, ESP, the paranormal, and music. Daydream Believer—yes, it’s named for the Monkees song—focuses not only on the subject of research into psi, or extrasensory perception, but also examines some of the pitfalls that Aquarian or New Age thinkers sometimes stumble into. Meanwhile, in Uncertain Places, Horowitz offers thoughtful and entertaining essays about UFOs, bigfoot, gnosticism, the historical roots of the Illuminati conspiracy theory, and many other fascinating topics, as well as an uncut version of his David Lynch interview. Horowitz joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss all that and more. Thank you for listening to Transmissions. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Check out Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon to support the show. Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig Transmissions. Next week on the show: minimalist Cheri Knight joins us to discuss American Rituals.

Welcome to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. Our guest today on the show Glenn Jones, who joins us to discuss his new album Vade Mecum, out now on Thrill Jockey Records, as well as touch on and illuminate the complicated legacy of John Fahey. Both solo and as a member of Cul-de-Sac, Jones has been a force of creative energy in the world of solo acoustic guitar, guitar soli, or American Primitive music, a term we discuss in this chat. Before we get into the talk, we want to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Steve Lowenthal, for his great book on Fahey, Dance of Death: The Life of John Fahey, American Guitarist. Though we mostly focus on Jones’ own work—and the new album is a fantastic example of what makes him such an enduring presence in the avant-guitar field—we do at one point shift into discussion of the complicated relationship Fahey had with race. Steve's book serves as a great resource. We also want to thank Glenn for the candidness and honesty he brought to our talk. I want to thank you for listening to Transmissions. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Check out Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon to support the show.

Crossover time. Today on the show, Canadian podcaster, broadcaster, music journalist, and music lifer Vish Khanna. He’s the host of the long running and inspirational Kreative Kontrol, a podcast dedicated to creativity. Here’s what Bonnie “Prince” Billy said about talking with him: “…it’s rewarding, relaxing, fulfilling to engage with Vish, as the exchanges have always been just rife with that rarest rarity: communication.” Alongside Will Oldham, Vish has hosted members of Pavement, Sonic Youth, Warren Ellis of The Bad Seeds, Jeff Tweedy, Ian MacKaye, and many other major alt rock figures. For this episode of Transmissions, Khanna and host Jason P. Woodbury embark on a revealing conversation about niche music podcasting and creative process. Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig Transmissions, which is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Wanna go further? Check out Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Next week on the show: guitarist Glenn Jones on his new album Vade Mecum and John Fahey. Transmission concluded.

On Joan Shelley's fantastic new album The Spur, the singer/songwriter reaches out from a place of solitude, seeking connection. Rooted in Britfolk aesthetics, it's an album that feels intimate but spacious too, all finger picked acoustic guitars, Richard Thompson inspired electrics, and sparse percussion. Alongside her collaborators, who include producer James Elkington, Bill Callahan, with whom she sings a duet, and Shelley's husband, archivist and guitarist Nathan Salsburg, she explores deeply human territory with an almost supernatural calm in her voice.

We’ve interviewed Joan for Aquarium Drunkard a few times, but this is her first appearance on Transmissions. She spoke with host Jason P. Woodbury from Kentucky, and this talk offers a respite from the intensity of the news cycle.

Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig Transmissions, and if you want to take things further, we’re on Patreon. We are a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show: podcaster and music lifer Vish Khanna of the Kreative Kontrol podcast.

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 empathetic indie rock writers out there, and to that end, he’s also launched a new podcast called That's How I Remember It, dedicated to exploring the connection between memory and creativity with guests like Fred Armisen, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, and Brian Koppelman of Billions. On his week's episode of Transmissions, Finn joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss memory, Judee Sill, his mood in New York during the "rock is back" era, and much more. If you want to support Transmissions, check out Aquarium Drunkard’s Patreon page. We’re a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

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 response to the Simon Reynolds book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984, and Nikolaos Katranis, Russell Craig Richardson, and Academy-award winner Leon Gast’s forthcoming documentary of the same name. How did post-punk hit their respective places? What role did regionalism play in the music’s development? These three join us for a freewheeling hour of discussion and deconstruction—talking about the VU, German cosmic music, black magic, and more. If you want to support Transmissions, check out Aquarium Drunkard's Patreon page. We're a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on the show, Craig Finn of the Hold Steady joins us to discuss his new record, A Legacy of Rentals, and his new podcast, That’s How I Remember It. This Transmission is concluded.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, with your host Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, we're joined by Andrew Khedoori and Mark Gowing of 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—it’s tempting to think of Longform Editions as a “record label,” but Andrew and Mark consider it an online gallery for musical works. Every two months, they upload four new entries. On June 15th, the same day this podcast is released, they offer up a new batch, featuring Sam Prekop of Sea and Cake, Foodman, Megan Alice Clune, and Nailah Hunter. Mark and Andrew have a long history in the music industry and are lifelong record collectors. They joined us to discuss the way Longform works, how they crafted it as a sustainable project for both artists who contribute and themselves, the process of deep listening, and much more. Thanks for listening to Aquarium Drunkard’s Transmissions. You can support this podcast by checking out our Patreon page. Help support independent media. And of course, rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig Transmissions, which is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

This week on the show, we're joined by Chicago indie trio Horsegirl—Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng and Gigi Reece. Their new album, Versions of Modern Performance, out now on Matador Records, echoes classic indie rock—think Sonic Youth (after all, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley guest star on one song), Dinosaur Jr, The Clean, and The Breeders. But what really makes it such a compelling listen is the interplay between these three young people. Horsegirl does everything as a group, from answering emails to taking meetings, so naturally all three members join host Jason P. Woodbury to dig in, discussing high school, how the pandemic solidified their band, working at Electrical Audio with producer John Agnello, and trading off on a Bass VI instead of a standard four-string. We hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please consider leaving us a rating and or review. It helps new folks find the show. Transmissions airs wherever you get podcasts each Wednesday. If you'd like to support the show, please consider a pledge to Aquarium Drunkard's Patreon. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse podcast network.

This week on Transmissions: producer, television music maker, radio host, and overall interesting guy Ben Vaughn. His new album is called The World of Ben Vaughn. It was released physically on vinyl back on Record Store Day and digitally earlier this month. Rooted in gentle strums,much of its sweetly traditional songcraft was recorded out in Vaughn’s Relay Shack studio in the Mojave Desert, and it echoes the most rustic of selections he plays on his great radio show The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn. Ben’s produced albums by Arthur Alexander, Nancy Sinatra, Charlie Feathers, and more—as well as collaborating with Alex Chilton and Alan Vega. For this episode, we spoke about the new album, his work as a Hollywood television music maker, producing Ween’s irreverent cult classic 12 Golden Country Greats and much more. Thanks for listening to the show. If you enjoyed this program, please consider leaving a rating or review. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Today on Transmissions, London-based jazz and beat artist Ben Marc. He’s known for his work with Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astatke and with Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Shabaka Hutchings of Sons of Kemet. His new album is called Glass Effect and it blends classical, electronic music, and deeply felt spiritual jazz. He joined us to discuss his work with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Astake, working with Jonny Greenwood and his bandmate Tom Skinner’s work in Radiohead side project The Smile. You can support this podcast by checking out our Patreon page. Transmissions is written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Our audio is edited by Andrew Horton. Our show is executive produced by Justin Gage, Aquarium Drunkard founder. AD Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig the show.

Today we're joined by Jeff Cloud of Velvet Blue Music, known for his work with Pony Express, Joy Electric, and California dream pop band Starflyer 59. Cloud founded Velvet Blue in 1996, and the label has been home to pivotal releases by people like Richard Swift, with whom Cloud played in Pony Express and Starflyer 59, the Broadway Hush, an early project headed by Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw of Cotton Jones, Fine China, and many more. Totally blue collar in spirit and independent, the label continues to release new music from groups like the synth pop outfit Golf Slang, as well as Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric and Jason Martin's Starflyer 59 gem, Vanity. We're happy to have him on Transmissions to discuss it all—meeting the Martin brothers, Velvet Blue, David Lynch, and much more. You can support this podcast by checking out our Patreon page. Transmissions is written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Our audio is edited by Andrew Horton. Our show is executive produced by Justin Gage, Aquarium Drunkard founder. AD Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig the show.

Welcome back to Transmissions. Today on the show we’re joined by Sarah Martin of Glasgow's Belle and Sebastian. The legendary Scottish indie band has a new album out now on Matador, A Bit Of Previous. Offering sunshine pop, disco-inflected groovers, and plenty of jangle, it's a record that finds Belle and Sebastian sounding very much refreshed. Martin joined the band just after it started, linking up with songwriter Stuart Murdoch right before the recording of the landmark album If You're Feeling Sinister. She joined host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the new record, the band’s history, that infamous scene in High Fidelity, the Belle and Sebastian cruise and much more. You can support this podcast by checking out our Patreon page. Transmissions is written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Our audio is edited by Andrew Horton. Our show is executive produced by Justin Gage, Aquarium Drunkard founder. AD Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word if you dig the show.

"It's funny, I was working up to it for so long...it's been my dream." This week on an all-new episode of our weekly Transmissions podcast, return guest Kurt Vile joins us from his basement studio Overnight KV to discuss his great new album (watch my moves). Loose, sprawling, and filled with spacey but intimate jams that couple drum machines, smoke-curled guitars, and off the cuff vocals, the record feels like being invited into Vile's head to sit down and hang out a spell. Since emerging from the Philadelphia freak underground in the mid-2000s, Vile has established himself as a quixotic singer/songwriter. Like his former bandmates in War on Drugs, Vile draws from rock & roll traditions, but turns them sidewise, imbuing his songs with a sidewise humor and charm. (watch my moves) is his first for Verve Records. This conversation with host Jason P. Woodbury is also like being invited into KV's head, as he shares thoughts on the new record, unpacks what he learned during the pandemic, reflects on working with producer Rob Schnapf, digs into his favorite Bruce Springsteen deep cuts, and offers musings on Neil Young, Kesha, and Sun Ra. Thanks for listening to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. We're part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. If you liked what you heard, please subscribe to Transmissions on your favorite platform and tell your friends to listen to the show. We'll be back next Wednesday with another new episode.

Liz Lamere and Jared Artuad join us this week on Aquarium Drunkard's weekly talk show podcast Transmissions to discuss the life, work, and creative philosophies of the late Alan Vega. As one-half of Suicide, alongside his partner Martin Rev, Vega blazed a trail of provocative, synth-driven art rock that was often too punk for the punks. From there, his solo career found him making forays into pop music with producer Ric Ocasek, painting, and constantly creating, rarely working on any terms other than his own. For this program, his widow and creative partner Lamere and collaborator Artaud join host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the Vega Vault, a vast trove of unreleased material that's yielded posthumous releases like It and Mutator on the Sacred Bones label, Surrender, a new career spanning Suicide comp, and Liz Lamere's Keep It Alive, out May 20 on In the Red Records.

Writer, musician, and prolific TikToker Sasha Frere-Jones joins us on Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard's weekly talk show podcast to discuss music criticism, listening habits, and self forgiveness. As a player, he's known for his work with the fantastic post-rock band Ui, whose funky rhythms dipped into dub and electronica, the avant-rock band Body Meπa, where he plays alongside Greg Fox, Grey McMurray, and previous Transmissions guest Melvin Gibbs, and the ambient project Calvanist. As a writer, he's penned essays and criticism for The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, and dozens of other outlets. Most recently, he's focused on the S/FJ Substack newsletter, where he shares music he's interested in and other cultural ephemera. Today on the show he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss recovery, navigating online life, and music. A note for audiophiles: just like online life, there's a lot of extra clicks and noise in this one, but we believe the talk is more than worth sharing. Enjoy.

Today on Transmissions, guest Owen Ashworth of Advance Base/Casiotone For the Painfully Alone and Orindal Records joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a conversation covering life as an indie artist/label head, the merits of "gloss era" Bruce Springsteen, the influence of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and Joe Pera, CCR, working primarily as a solo artist, and diving into the heartland country music of KT Oslin and Nancy Griffith. Also covered? The importance of cool uncles and raiding your parents' record collections. Ashworth is a DIY lifer and a true head, and this conversation is as openhearted as you might expect.

Today on an all-new episode of Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard's weekly interview podcast, we're joined by artist and creator Meredith Graves. She’s best known for her work with the punk band Perfect Pussy, her label Honor Press, and as the director of music at Kickstarter, where she’s also the Head Witch in Charge, responsible for the Magic and Divination section of the crowdfunding site. Graves joined host Jason P. Woodbury to speak about magic and arcana, about the “purgative ritual” that is Perfect Pussy’s 2014 album Say Yes to Love, the work of previous Transmissions guest Mitch Horowitz, her time at MTV News and the incredible artists that allowed her to interact with, Lana Del Rey, Wilco, and so much more.

Roll up/that's an invitation...Today on the show, we're joined by a return guest, Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills. He’s appeared here on the show previously to discuss his great Van Morrison book, Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 and now he joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a conversation about Van Morrison, the paranormal, and mystic corners of The Beatles' universe. On April 1st, you're going to want to head over to ESPeatles.com, to discover a truly freaky Beatles project, related to the obscure occultist HX Newhaven. To learn more, press play...

Roll up/that's an invitation...Today on the show, we're joined by a return guest, Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills. He’s appeared here on the show previously to discuss his great Van Morrison book, Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 and now he joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a conversation about Van Morrison, the paranormal, and mystic corners of The Beatles' universe. On April 1st, you're going to want to head over to ESPeatles.com, to discover a truly freaky Beatles project, related to the obscure occultist HX Newhaven. To learn more, press play...

Right from the top of LABYRINTHITIS, the 13th album from our guest today, new wave art rock master Dan Bejar of Destroyer, you get an example of what makes him such a compelling artist. “It’s in Your Heart Now” starts, and then its real beat stutters in, interrupting a briefly established groove. But rather than feeling like an intrusion, this feels like blooming, and from there the song builds in layers of Cure-esque guitar and cascading synthesizers, with Bejar doing his signature vocal and lyrical darting a top the neon landscape. Today on Transmissions, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the perils of making the new record, This Night, the virtues of being a dilettante, nu-metal, Van Morrison, New Order, and much more.

Right from the top of LABYRINTHITIS, the 13th album from our guest today, new wave art rock master Dan Bejar of Destroyer, you get an example of what makes him such a compelling artist. “It’s in Your Heart Now” starts, and then its real beat stutters in, interrupting a briefly established groove. But rather than feeling like an intrusion, this feels like blooming, and from there the song builds in layers of Cure-esque guitar and cascading synthesizers, with Bejar doing his signature vocal and lyrical darting a top the neon landscape. Today on Transmissions, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the perils of making the new record, This Night, the virtues of being a dilettante, nu-metal, Van Morrison, New Order, and much more.

Our guests this week are Chad Clark and Erin Nelson of DC post-punk band Beauty Pill. Clark emerged from the DC/Dischord punk scene with his band Smart Went Crazy, and he worked on records by Fugazi, Dismemberment Plan, Lungfish, Q & Not U, and many more. He formed Beauty Pill in the early 2000s and it's proved a musically restless unit ever since. He's allowed the band to shift and morph in public and in 2012 the group was commissioned to craft the album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are live in public. Most recently, the band has released some great EPs, including Instant Night and Please Advise. For this episode of Transmissions, host Jason P. Woodbury spoke with Clark and Nelson about the oblique lyrical references in these works—get ready for our most Matt Damon-centric episode yet—as well as dig into the influence of Miles Davis, William Eggleston, and collaborations with the Taffety Punk Theatre Company.

Though Sonic Youth ended a decade ago, the band's archives have continued to surprise. The latest from the SY vault is In/Out/In (Three Lobed Recordings), a collection of instrumentals recorded during the band's final era, including some with Jim O'Rourke and contributions from The Eternal bassist Mark Ibold. Ahead of the album's release, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth join host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss The Simpsons, the band's Geffen years, stolen (and recovered) guitars, the science fiction of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, and much more on this episode of Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard's weekly podcast.

"Anything that knocks ya out, hits you harder than you planned," sings Matthew E. White on "Genuine Hesitation," which opens K Bay, the third solo album from the Spacebomb founder. And it's a knockout of a record, to be sure. A spirited producer and collaborator known for his efforts with Natalie Prass, Mountain Goats, Flo Morrissey, Sharon Van Etten and many more, the album finds him situating his traditional song craft in a future funk and avant-pop setting. On today's episode of Aquarium Drunkard's Transmissions podcast, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the album, as well as his duo recording with former guest Lonnie Holley, Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, which serves as a mutated musical twin to K Bay. Along the way, he touches on his communal approach, Miles Davis, his youth in the Philippines, and the transcendent qualities of The Flamingo's "I Only Have Eyes For You."

This week on the show, we’re joined by Ade Blackburn of Clinic. The Liverpool-based duo of Blackburn and Jonathan Hartley released a great record last year called Fantasy Island, full of skittering drum machines, cavernous sounds, and fuzzed out melodies, and this week sees the 20th anniversary of their sophomore album, Walking With Thee. The band’s trademark strangeness draws the listener in, and our talk with Blackburn focuses a lot on the allure of leaving room for mystery in music. We also get into his countercultural inspirations, the blending of rock & roll and the avant-garde, discuss the dub-influenced side Clinic offshoot Higher Authorities, and chat about collaborating with Roky Erickson and John Cale. We had a great time speaking with him and think you’re going to enjoy this one. If you do, please consider doing us a favor: leave a rating and a review for the show, recommend it to your friends, and help us spread the word.

This week on the show, we're joined by world renowned whistler Molly Lewis. Last year, she released a great EP called The Forgotten Edge via Jagjaguwar. With its exotica and spaghetti western motifs, the EP is a supremely playful and lovely listen. And Lewis is a charming conversationalist too. We got into her roots in competitive whistling, being in the studio with Dr. Dre, working with John C. Reilly and whistling for the late, great Harry Dean Stanton.

"Transmissions is a lovely name; I think that's a very crucial name for this age." So says mystic musician Laraaji, our guest this week on the show. Sitting down with host Jason P. Woodbury, His Orangeness (AKA Edward Larry Gordon) discusses his new collaboration with NOUS and Arji OceAnanda, Circle of Celebration, plus his upbringing in the Baptist church, initial entry into meditation, the spiritual qualities of laughter, and much more. Introduced to the world by Brian Eno, who heard him playing electric zither and subsequently produced Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, Laraaji has created music constantly since, teaming up fellow artists like Carlos Niño, Bill Laswell, Blues Control, Shahzad Ismaily, and many more. "Metaphysical thought [has] influenced my music in that it prepared me for having an inner hearing experience, a paranormal hearing experience," he says. Join us today on Transmissions to explore his sound visions even deeper.

Today on Transmissions: Cate Le Bon, who, for the last decade plus, has made some of our favorite modern records, as well as producing great work for other artists, like Deerhunter and John Grant, who joined us last year on the podcast to talk about their collaboration The Boy From Michigan. Her new album is called Pompeii, an art pop gem out this week on Mexican Summer records. "I think the underlying theme of the record is we will forever be connected to everything," she says, joining host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the album's genesis, the religious quality of the album's art, wood working, and much more.

Welcome back to our weekly podcast Transmissions. Today on the show, occult scholar Mitch Horowitz. He’s the author of a staggering number of metaphysical books and the tremendous historical project, Occult America, a deeply researched book that examines how America’s alternative spiritualities and esoteric scenes—from freemasonry to Spiritualism and beyond—have influenced the country’s politics, social movements, and general character. Traveling along the ins and outs of the Psychic Highway, Horowitz brings an even-handed and intellectually honest approach to topics concerning mysticism, parapsychology, New Thought, and the study of unidentified aerial phenomena or UFOs. Horowitz can currently be seen in Ronni Thomas’ The Kybalion, an adaptation of the 1908 occult manuscript which explores the seven principles of Hermetics, and his forthcoming book, Daydream Believer, is now available for pre-order. For this talk, Horowitz opens up about his musical roots, Bad Brains, his vast t-shirt collection, musical telepathy, and much more. You can find Mitch Horowitz on Medium, Twitter, Instagram and at his website.

Daydream Believer: Unlocking the Ultimate Power of Your Mind

Welcome to a bonus edition of Transmissions with David Bazan of Pedro The Lion joining host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the release of the band's surprise album Havasu. Like 2019's Phoenix, the record focuses on Bazan's youth in Arizona. In this loose conversation, Bazan describes how he approached writing about his early teenage years, the enduring artistic influence of Fugazi, his initial relationship with Christian rock, and the work of Tom Petty.

Our guest today is Haley Fohr, better known as Circuit des Yeux and Jackie Lynn. Her latest is called iO, and it’s a stunning work of art rock bravado. In our 2021 Year in Review contributor Tyler Wilcox wrote: “On the new Circuit des Yeux album, Haley Fohr has pulled off quite a magic trick. She’s crafted her most accessible (occasionally even poppy) effort yet without sacrificing one iota of her strange, fearless musical vision. Fohr’s inimitable vocals here are bolstered at various times by ornate orchestral arrangements, minimal post-rock, and idiosyncratic electronics. ‘There’s an avalanche inside of me,’ she sings at one point. Prepare to be buried in it.” No one sounds like Fohr—she possesses a four octave voice—and few artists are pushing as intensely as she is these days. She joined us to discuss the evolution of Jackie Lynn, her label buying her a star, and of course, stunt work.

This week on Transmissions, the final episode of the season: Steve Berlin. Steve plays saxophone in Los Lobos, whose new album is called, Native Sons. It features Los Angeles-centric covers by the likes of WAR, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and Thee Midniters. But Steve’s a fascinating figure on his own. He came up in the punk scenes of LA, playing with The Blasters and the Flesh Eaters, but since then he’s gone on to work with everyone from Rickie Lee Jones to The Replacements, The Go-Gos to R.E.M. and many more. Transmissions will return in January 2022, until then, follow Aquarium Drunkard for more and dig into the archives.

This week on Transmissions, our weekly series of strange conversations: Roberto Carlos Lange of Helado Negro. His new album of electronic bliss pop, psychedelic ambient, and soulful love songs is called Far In. Lange joined host Jason P. Woodbury for a talk about Marfa, his journey through the world of independent music, expansive views of consciousness, and the early days of his musical practice—as well as much more.

This week on Transmissions, our weekly series of strange conversations: Scott Hirsch. Perhaps you know his name from the credits of albums by William Tyler or Alice Gerrard. Or perhaps you're into his solo records: the nocturnally grooving Windless Day is the latest. He's a long time collaborator of M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, and their relationship stretches back to the post-hardcore band Ex-Ignota. Hirsch joins host Jason Woodbury from his Ojai studio Echo Magic. On this episode, we discuss JJ Cale, the spiritual topography of California, and his punk rock immersion into the broader world of independent rock.

This week on the Transmissions, Jeffrey Alexander of The Heavy Lidders and Dire Wolves. For decades now, he's been a fixture in the psychedelic mutant underground. He's got a great new self-titled record out now on Arrowhawk with his song-oriented project the Heavy Lidders, a vast catalog with Dire Wolves, and a forthcoming split cassette with Rhyton. Alexander joined us for a conversation about science fiction and fantasy, the Dead, improv, and his life in independent music. And as a bonus, we're presenting a live performance over at Aquarium Drunkard, featuring Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard of Elkland and drummer Scott Verrastro.

Hey, welcome back to Transmissions, we're so glad to have you here tuning in. Today on the show, I’m joined by two lifers of independent rock, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang. Their latest is a tremendous album called A Sky Record. Reviewing the record for Aquarium Drunkard, Tyler Wilcox called it “one of Damon & Naomi’s most purely gorgeous sounding records—and considering the glories of what’s come before, that’s a real accomplishment.” It features the guitar work of Michio Kurihara of Ghost and White Heaven, and he adds washes of sound and melodies to the duo’s deeply felt folk rock. Our talk covers a lot of ground—touching on the duo’s days in Galaxie 500, Naomi’s interest in boxing, Damon’s ever fascinating and insightful takes on the state of the industry, and much more.

This week on Transmissions: the magnificent Neko Case. She’s recently launched Entering the Lung, a newsletter of nature writing. We don't need to tell you that Neko Case is a great writer—her work with the New Pornographers, Case/Lang/Veirs and her solo albums demonstrate that evidently—but it is deeply nice to be able to appreciate her on prose terms via the newsletter. She joined us this week to discuss the mores of the Victorian age, listening to Jane's Addiction, and getting into punk rock. Benefitting her sense of humor, we let this talk roam where she willed.

Today on Transmissions, author, artist, guitarist, and creator Alan Licht. He's the author of Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020. It features some incredible talks with ANOHNI, Tony Conrad, Greg Tate, Yo La Tengo, Kelly Reichardt, Lou Reed, and many more. Licht seemingly never rests—in addition to this fantastic book, he’s part of the new Threshing Floor album—which pairs him with Nate Young and John Olson of Wolf Eyes, Rebecca Odes, and Gretchen Gonzales—produced by El Studio 444 and Transmissions guest Warren Defever. Licht is an artist/writer/and curator, and we touch on all of that in this revelatory talk.

Today on the show, returning Transmissions guest Nick Lowe. 20 years ago, he released The Convincer, which many folks argue is his best album. It's reissued by Yep Roc Records this week. Following his rough and rowdy start at Stiff, his work producing Elvis Costello in the '70s & '80s, and a stint as a genuine pop star following the massive hit “Cruel to Be Kind,” Lowe found himself interested in reinventing the way he made records. The Convincer is part of a long line of albums that embrace subtle pop, R&B, and country tones, with Lowe’s gentle voice leaning into the crooner side of things. Originally released on September 11, 2001, The Convincer helped to establish Lowe’s reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter.

Welcome to Transmissions. Today on the show: Chris Swanson, co-founder of Secretly Group. This year marks 25 years of two of the flagship labels in the group, Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, and to celebrate they’ve got tons going on—including SC25 Editions, which features titles by Damien Jurado, Anohni, Richard Swift, and more, as well as Merch, with net proceeds benefiting Bloomington’s New Hope For Families. Also of note: Jagjaguwar’s Join the Ritual, a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired release featuring Angel Olsen, Bruce Hornsby, Cut Worms, Jamila Woods, and many more. As a young person exploring record stores, Secretly and Jagjaguwar served as hallmarks of quality—it was a great time getting to settle in with Swanson to discuss the labels’ roots, artists like Anohni, Richard Swift, Jason Molina, Bon Iver, and more.

Thanks for joining us on Transmissions. Our guest this week is Bela Koe-Krompecher, who’s written a terrific book called Love, Death, & Photosynthesis, about his time in the ‘80s rock & roll underground of Columbus, Ohio, and the tumultuous lives—and far too early deaths—of his friends Jerry Wick of the punk band Gaunt and Jenny Mae Leffel, a talented but tortured singer songwriter. Deeply felt and alternately moving and hilarious (as well as moments that encompass both zones), it's a great read, and Bela proved as charming, open, and human as readers might expect in this special conversation about music, its place in our lives, friends lost, and memories held.

This week on Transmissions, Jon Wurster, the drummer of Mountain Goats, Bob Mould Band, and Superchunk and one-half of Scharpling and Wurster, the long running radio comedy duo as featured on The Best Show. In his wide-ranging talk with Jason Woodbury, he discusses growing up in Philadelphia during the birth of punk and alternative rock, working with Replacements producer Jim Dickinson in the mid-'80s, his experiences at Sun Records, getting the call to join Superchunk, and much more.

As a curator at the Alan Lomax Archive, Nathan Salsburg is no stranger to reaching deep into the past to bring forth music that speaks to us in the present moment. As a guitarist and songwriter, he's primarily focused on instrumental sounds, but on his new album, Psalms, he offers forth new folk arrangements of Hebrew psalms, singing himself and gathering together other vocalists, like Joan Shelley and Will Oldham, and contributors like James Elkington and Spencer Tweedy, to animate and explore these scriptures. This week on Transmissions, Salsburg joins host Jason Woodbury from his place in rural Kentucky to discuss the album, conceptions of the divine, life as a new parent, and much more.

“Music shapes us and fundamentally changes us. Once we have listened we do not stop. We do not ever recover from music. We will return again and again to the radio, the record store, the bedroom where girls listen to records all day.” That’s a quote from Rickie Lee Jones’ new book, Last Chance Texaco. She joins us today on Transmissions from New Orleans to discuss the book and her experiences in California and Arizona in the ‘70s, when she became a huge star. From her youthful and rebellious days in Phoenix to scoring a massive hit with "Chuck E.'s In Love," Jones joins us to discuss it all and more.

A sprawling talk with record maker John Leckie. As a tape operator at Abbey Road, he oversaw the All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band sessions and rolled tape on Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Fela Kuti, and more. Soon he began producing records, and he's gone on to work with Radiohead on The Bends, plus Dr. John, Spiritualized, My Morning Jacket, and many more. He joins host Jason Woodbury this week on Transmissions to discuss his extensive history and much more.

A sit down with bassist and composer Melvin Gibbs. Emerging from the fertile New York art scene of the early '80s where he played with Defunkt, Gibbs has brought grace and heaviness to work with Arto Lindsey, John Zorn, Caetano Veloso, Bill Frisell, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock, and dozens more jazz luminaries, in rock bands like Rollins Band and Harriet Tubman, and on records by dead prez and David Byrne. His latest project is an EP, 4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25. which reflects on the murder of George Floyd and the spirit of the protests that arose in its wake. He also teams with visionary drummer Greg Fox and guitarists Sahsa-Frere Jones and Grey McMurray in Body Meπa, which recently released The Work Is Slow, a mind-melter of rock abstraction. Gibbs joined host Jason P. Woodbury for a wide-ranging discussion this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

This week on Transmissions: Anika. Best known for her work with Geoff Barrow and Mexico City's Exploded View, she returns with Change, an album of subtle electronic pop, driving bass lines, and lyrics that veer from quixotic to inspiring. Anika joined us for a discussion about her time as a journalist, the shifting state of reality, and crafting an album amidst a global pandemic.

Today on the show, Brazilian singer/songwriter Rodrigo Amarante joins us to discuss his new album, Drama. A lush and enveloping listen, it blends gentle pop with cinematic flourishes. Reflecting on the confines of masculinity, his artistic relationships with Noah Georgeson, Devendra Banhart, Little Joy, Los Hermanos, and much more, this conversation presents Amarante in a reflective, riffy, and casual mode. "Art is supposed to pull the rug, do something to you," Amarante says. Join us for a little creative rug pulling, this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

It’s a bonus episode for you as we head into the weekend. Today on the show we're joined by Ripley Johnson of Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips, and most recently, Rose City Band. Reviewing the latter’s excellent Earth Trip, an album of rural psychedelia, Aquarium Drunkard’s Tyler Wilcox praised Johnson’s zoned out guitar work, noting that his guitar “solos are always on point, often drifting into Garcia-like zones without ever slipping into pointless idolatry. He’s developed into a guitarist who rarely takes a wrong step, minimal, moody, and lovely.” Johnson joined us for a conversation about coming up in the punk and counter culture scene, his multiple bands, the influence of the Dead, and “the ultimate rock & roll statement” of ? and the Mysterians' “96 Tears.”

Today on the program: Tom Scharpling of The Best Show and Double Threat. He’s written a deeply funny and moving new book called It Never Ends, available now wherever you get books. It documents his early days writing and producing a DIY fanzine, working his way into TV writing with Monk, and establishing a lifelong friendship and comedy partnership with drummer Jon Wurster. It’s also a candid look at his struggles with mental health, and while some moments are harrowing, it’s ultimately an inspirational read—an underdog story from a guy who’s especially good at giving voice to the underdog. And again, very funny. Scharpling joined us to discuss the book, his incredible sound collages, Lou Reed, CSNY, Brian Eno, King Crimson, and more.

This week on Transmissions, a heady conversation with Carlos Niño about spontaneous composition, the influence of hip-hop culture, his radio roots, and his latest, More Energy Fields, Current. "...Frequently, I would say I'm doing some version of supercomputing, where I'm completely free in the moment and I'm also bookmarking sections I know I want to get back to." From his days at dublab to his partnerships with artists like Laraaji and Iasos and much more, we're glad to have Niño on.

This week on the show, Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance. His new album is called The Veiled Sea, out this week via Three Lobed Records. Six Organs records can often sound very different from each other—think quiet acoustic sketches or long, blown out psych epics—but this one is a whole new thing entirely, with wild glam inspired solos over wild riffs—plus there’s a Faust cover. Chasny stopped by to discuss the new album, his work with Comets on Fire, his trio with Sir Richard Bishop and Chris Corsano, Rangda, the dubious “freak folk” term and much more.

Welcome to a special bonus episode of Transmissions. Our guest this episode is musician and writer Jeffrey Silverstein. His new EP of gently cosmic guitar music is called Torii Gates, and he's the head the wonderful It’s So Easy (When You Know What You’re Doing), a tribute to the late cult folk musician Ted Lucas, featuring AD favorites like John Andrews & the Yawns, Julianna Barwick and William Tyler, Barry Walker Jr., Amelia Courthouse, and more. He’s also a teacher and a runner, and we get into it all on this special bonus episode of Transmissions. Please rate and review the podcast. Share it on your social media pages, share it via whatever platform you have. We count on word of mouth, so if you like the program, help us out. If you want to take your support a little deeper, check us out on Patreon.

Our guest this week on the show is singer/songwriter John Grant. You might know him from his work with Midlake, the Czars, Sinéad O'Connor or Hercules and Love Affair. His new album is called Boy From Michigan. It's produced by Cate Le Bon and fascinating, Blade Runner synths pulsing underneath incredible melodies and vocal performances. Grant joined Jason P. Woodbury for a freewheeling and candid talk, this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

Our guest this week is Cécile Schott, who records under the name Colleen. Since the early 2000s, she's generated soulful electronic and ambient music, utilizing vintage synths, drum machines, music boxes, and acoustic instruments. Her latest is called The Tunnel and the Clearing. It was recorded in Barcelona during the lockdown and followed a long period of illness and heartbreak for Schott. The resulting album is indeed melancholy, but also hopeful and staggeringly beautiful. She joined us from her home studio for a discussion about her discography, the circumstances that led to the new album, the influence of dub and reggae, and how the studio process influences her bold and original work.

Music is never incidental in a movie made by our guest this week: director, collage artist, and music maker Jim Jarmusch. Music is part of his films’ DNA, a through line running through his characters’ black comedy gags and existential wanderings. There’s no stylistic template—everything from crazed blues to ambient drones have soundtracked Jarmusch’s films—but the director ties songs together with an unmatched patience and style. The soundtrack to one of those motion pictures—2014’s vampire yarn Only Lovers Left Alive—was recently reissued by Sacred Bones. It features Jim’s band, SQÜRL, his frequent collaborator lutenist Jozef Van Wissem, and guest appearances by Madeline Follin of Cults, Zola Jesus, and Yasmine Hamdan. Jim joined us from his place in upstate New York to discuss the pastoralism that defines his creative practice these days, his early days, collaborators like John Lurie and Steve Buscemi, and of course music—Neil Young, Tom Waits, Iggy, Wu-Tang Clan, and beyond.

Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Sarah Louise joins us this week on the show to discuss her new album, Earth Bow. Though Louise is known for her 12-string folks fantasias, her work is wide ranging, evoking the soundscapes of Robert Fripp and the interlocked rhythms of electronic pop. Reviewing the album for AD, Josh Moss writes that while "Louise is an incredibly gifted guitar player...Earth Bow de-centers the guitar, rendering it an integral part of a lush musical environment, as detailed and sensory as a blooming forest looks from within." Louise joined us for a return visit to Transmissions to discuss being off the grid, the perils of social media, and her spiritual and creative practice.

Welcome back. Our guest this week on the show is Wadada Leo Smith, trumpeter, music theorist, and composer. Over his many years, he’s pioneered his own musical notation system, helped popularize and contextualize Miles Davis’s electric period, and has played with a wide set of collaborators including Bill Frisell, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, Vijay Iyer, Anthony Braxton, and many more. In December, he’s turning 80, and TUM Records is celebrating with a year-long slate of releases. Up first, on May 21st, Sacred Ceremonies, a three volume set, featuring Wadada in a duo setting with Milford Graves, a duo setting with Bill Laswell, and a trio with the both of them. He joined us to discuss his long career, Miles Davis, sacred wanderings, Civil Rights, and much more. We hope you enjoy this one. If you enjoy Transmissions, please rate, review, subscribe, and spread the word. If you want to take your support a step further, Aquarium Drunkard is on Patreon. It’s an honor to have a legend of creative music with us—so let’s get into it. You’re listening to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. Here’s my conversation with Wadada Leo Smith.

Our guest this week is guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson. One of the founding fathers of British folk rock, he's the author of a new book, Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice (1967-1975). It chronicles the early days of his band, Fairport Convention, the launch of his solo career, run-ins with Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, a lost jam session with Led Zeppelin, and his collaborations with Linda Thompson, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, John Martyn. He joins Jason P. Woodbury to discuss it all and more this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

Our guest on the show this week is J Mascis. Along with Lou Barlow and drummer Murph, he formed Dinosaur Jr in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. After their original run, which ended acrimoniously in 1989, Mascis continued on with Dinosaur Jr, the Fog, and plenty of other wiggy and interesting side projects. But in 2005, the original Dino Jr. lineup returned with a genuine comeback classic, Beyond. Since then, they’ve reliably put out a great album every couple of years. Plenty of bands come back in some diminished form, but not these guys. Their latest is Sweep It Into Space, produced by previous Transmissions guest Kurt Vile and Mascis. It’s full of incredible riffs and trademark melodic resignation. It was great to have J on to discuss it, along with his solo albums, early SST days, playing with heroes like Ron Asheton of the Stooges, and more. Listen for a special appearance by J’s dog, Candy.

This week on Transmissions, we're digging into the Aquarium Drunkard vault for a 2016 conversation with the late New Age pioneer, composer, author and creator Joanna Brouk. An edited and condensed version of this conversation was published in 2016, but we are happy to present it here in its uncut form. Brouk passed away April 28th, 2017. Her remarkable recordings can be heard on Numero Group’s Hearing Music, a double lp set assembled by producer Douglas Mcgowan, who's known for his work on Light in the Attic’s New Age compilation I Am the Center, which also features Brouk. An alum of Mills College—which recently announced it will no longer be accepting new pupils—she joined us to discuss her time at the legendary synthesizer school, her roots in sound poetry, KPFA radio program, and much more.

As we've noted here before, Durham-based songwriter al Riggs keeps very busy. Their new album is called I Got a Big Electric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep. Though they bounce around genre-wise, this LP is rooted in country rock traditions and it features contributions from cosmic pedal steel guitarist Chuck Johnson, Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country, and others. Riggs joined us for a discursive chat, exploring their relationship with country music and, of course, Robert Altman's failed cult film Popeye. Remember to rate and review Transmissions, send to folks who might find it interesting, and check us out on Patreon to support our cultural reportage, podcasts, radio programs, and more.

This week on the show, Chicago’s Angel Bat Dawid. A composer, clarinetist, poet, and vocalist, she’s one of the shining stars of the International Anthem label, where she’s issued some incredible records like Live, with her band Tha Brotherhood, as well as the Oracle and the Transition East single. She also plays with other groups, like Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble—she’s featured prominently on their incredible new album, NOW, which blends free jazz and hypnotic R&B. Angel joined us to discuss record collecting, the influence of Sun Ra, her history with music and religion, her creative practice, race, and much more. We like to have fun on this podcast, but Angel took things to another level with this playful and deep reaching talk, and I’m very thankful for her doing so. Transmissions is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. If you want to get some cool stuff—our new print journal is well under way, plus bonus audio, radio shows, and much more—head over and check it out. If you want to support the show, remember you can rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts and please do click that share button.

Pino Palladino and Blake Mills are two of the most dynamic studio wizards in music and they join us this week on Transmissions to discuss Notes With Attachments, their Impulse! Records-released collaborative long-player. Backed by a set of LA studio heavyweights like saxophonist Sam Gendel, drummer Chris Dave, organist Larry Golding, and others. Known for their individual collaborations with artists like Bob Dylan, D'Angelo, The Who, Fiona Apple, and Brittany Howard, these two go completely unexpected places as they unite for a set of jazzy instruments that blur the lines between J. Dilla flips, Cuban shuffles, and West African lock grooves. They joined host Jason P. Woodbury for a discussion about keeping track of ideas, the genesis of their collaboration, and the value of knowing how to shake out of creative ruts. Transmissions airs wherever you get podcasts every Wednesday, check back weekly for new episodes and visit our Patreon to support and access bonus podcast content.

This week on the show, we're joined by poet and music journalist Noah C. Lekas and Ethan Miller of Howlin' Rain and Comets on Fire. They've got a new collaboration featured on Sounds From the Shadow Factory, a 10" record from Blind Owl: a rock & roll adaptation of "Saturday Night Sage," the poem from Lekas' recent book of the same name. The two joined us for a discussion about spoken word, their paths in psychedelia, blue collar mysticism, and the current state of the counterculture. Heading deep underground, this week on Transmissions.

Our guest this week on Transmissions is Martin Courtney of Real Estate. On March 26th, the long-running New Jersey group releases its new EP, Half a Human, which embraces the jammier side of the band and continues the stylistic explorations of 2020's The Main Thing. We discussed record stores, adjusting to life without live music, Twin Peaks, and Courtney's 2015 solo album Many Moons—and its forthcoming follow up. We hope you enjoy this conversation. If you do, consider sharing it with a friend. And if you need more, you can check out the archive, which feature dozens of talks with artists, writers, and other creators. You can hear Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions wherever podcasts are found, and it’s always available for direct download here, and you can subscribe via our RSS feed. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, check out our Patreon page, and email us your thoughts about the show.

Description: Our guest this week on the show is Shahzad Ismaily, whose recorded with, well, he’s recorded with a lot of people, from Moses Sumney and Sam Amidon to Beth Orton, Martha Wainwright, Yoko Ono, Bonnie Prince Billy, Jolie Holland, and many, many more. With his buddies Ches Smith and Marc Ribot, he’s a member of the punk jazz outfit Ceramic Dog, and last year he released Visitations with Leo Abrahams on his own label, Figureight Records. We hope you enjoy this conversation. If you do, consider sharing it with a friend. And if you need more, you can check out the archives, which feature dozens of talks with artists, writers, and other creators. You can hear Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions wherever podcasts are found, and it’s always available for direct download here, and you can subscribe via our RSS feed. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, check out our Patreon page, and email us your thoughts about the show.

This week on Transmissions: Detroit’s own Warren Defever of Third Man Records and the experimental pop group His Name is Alive. Since the mid-80s, HNIA has released over a hundred records, EPs, and projects on labels like 4AD, Rykodisc, Time STEREO, and Unsung Hunger. Recently Warren has been exploring way back in the archives, sharing some of the work that caught the ear of Ivo-Watts Russell, who eventually signed His Name Is Alive in the ‘90s. A new boxset collects it all, A Silver Thread: Home Recordings (1979-1990). He’s been tinkering and reworking a lot of that material too, and as always there’s no loyalty to genre or anything like that, on releases like Ghost Tape EXP and Return Versions. Warren’s a music lifer, a classic record person. He does archival audio work with Third Man Records in Detroit and sometimes he’ll put something out there for the internet to pass around like treasure, like “Every Thin Lizzy Guitar Solo 1971-1983,” a CD-R where he edited all that shredding together into a transcendent mega mix. We talked about that—and a lot more—for this particularly loose episode of Transmissions.

Our guest this week is Amanda Petrusich, author of It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, the the Search for the Next American Music, and Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78 rpm Records. She's also a critic at the New Yorker. She joined us from her place in upstate New York to discuss balancing comfort listening and new sounds, Bob Dylan’s Christian era, Harry Smith, musical mysticism, and much more.

Legendary music writer Peter Guralnick joins us this week on Transmissions. He's been writing about the blues, rock & roll, soul, and R&B since the late 1960s. His latest book is called Looking To Get Lost: Adventures in Music & Writing. It is a book about the creativity that fueled artists like Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson, Ray Charles, Dick Curless, and Howlin' Wolf, who Guralnick says viewed his music as an expression "not just of personal freedom but of personal difference." He joins us for an open discussion about the early days of music journalism, artistry, and the curiosity that fuels his work.

Northern California mysticism with Fletcher Tucker. His latest album of ritualistic folk music is called Unlit Trail. Like the previous, Cold Spring, it's a record that settles deep into the sacred nature of existence. It's an lp designed to welcome the listener "into a liminal state, beyond ordinary awareness," and into the unknown. Tucker joined us to discuss Star Trek, animism, family and the deep history of his instruments and home in Big Sur, California.

Hope you're enjoying the new season of Aquarium Drunkard's Transmissions. Here's a good one from the archives, a favorite of Timothy Showalter of Strand of Oaks a roundtable talk with three lifers: Howe Gelb, Robyn Hitchcock, and Steve Wynn. The three share similar paths through scenes and the industry, their paths are shared but divergent, and there’s a spiritual unity at work even in their differences. With his band Giant Sand, Howe Gelb pens strange, dusty songs about love and the desert. Both solo and with his Paisley Underground pioneering band the Dream Syndicate, Wynn composes driving minimalist rock sagas (a recent 11-disc boxset documents much of his range) . And after emerging from the UK punk scene with the Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock has embarked on a career full of wry and funny songs that skewer pop conventions. We spoke in August of 2018 when they performed at HOCO Fest in Tucson, Arizona, a place where they all share considerable history. This interview was recorded at the KXCI studio at the historic Hotel Congress. Please enjoy this one from the vault.

On her second lp, the newly released Urban Driftwood, Virginia-based guitarist Yasmin Williams creates expansive acoustic music. Playing guitar, kalimba, percussion, and kora, she pulls from disparate musical strands—including the smooth jazz she heard growing up—into music that feels spiritually connected to New Age music, Windham Hill guitar, and the work of contemporaries like Daniel Bachman (who calls her "a guitarist for a new century"), William Tyler, and Marisa Anderson, both whom she's recently collaborated. She joined us for a conversation about being a Black artist in a primarily white genre, how she taught herself guitar, and how she processes the "American Primitive" genre tag.

Tamara Lindeman joins us this week on Transmissions for a conversation about Ignorance, her lush and sweeping new album as The Weather Station. Lindeman is the kind of songwriter who dares to write about big topics, like identity and global climate change, but the new album finds her exploring those concepts over deeply rhythmic jazz and pop-influenced compositions. It's out Friday, February 5 on Fat Possum Records. Lindeman joined us from her home in Ontario, to discuss the pandemic, the information overload of daily life, and how she's come to embrace the performative side of artistic practice.

This week we're happy to welcome Margo Price to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions for a talk about the music industry, her creative partnership with husband Jeremy Ivey, her online radio show, forays into the cannabis business, and her latest rock and seventies pop inspired lp, That's How Rumors Get Started. Bold and strident, it's a record that finds her blurring genres, like many of her country heroes, people like John Prine, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. Plus, she fills us in on some of the details about an as of yet unreleased collaboration with the queen of outlaw country, Jessi Colter. We hope you enjoy this conversation. If you do, consider sharing it with a friend. And if you need more, you can check out the archives, which feature dozens of talks with artists like Nels Cline, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Swamp Dogg, and many more. You can hear Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions wherever podcasts are found, and it’s always available for direct download here. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, check out our Patreon page, and email us your thoughts about the show.

It’s 2021 and Aquarium Drunkard’s Transmissions podcast is back. Every Wednesday, your host Jason P. Woodbury sits down with a fascinating guest for a rolling conversation about art, process, and inspiration. To kick off our new season, we’re joined by Nels Cline. Known for his many varied solo projects, work in Wilco, and a long history of collaboration with artists like Yoko Ono, John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and many more. His latest work, out now via the legendary Blue Note label, is called Share the Wealth. Backed up by the Nels Cline Singers—punk jazz saxophonist Skerik, keyboardist Brian Marsell, bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Scott Amendola and Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista—it features the heavier side of Cline’s playing, but also his signature fluidity and extended jams. Cline joined us to explore the new record, discuss what being off the road has been like, and talk about his early days: falling in love with collaboration alongside his twin brother Alex, working in record stores, and how his life changed when he joined Wilco.

Our guest this week is Patrick McDermott of North Americans. His latest is called Roped In and its blissed out guitar-scapes find him teaming up with cosmic pedal steel master Barry Walker Jr, William Tyler, and Mary Lattimore. He reached us from his place in Los Angeles to discuss pleasant zones, video games, and some particularly good lunches. A quick note: this is the final episode of our season. We're going to take a break but don't you sweat it, we'll be back early in 2021 with more strange conversations for our strange times. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Transmissions art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer.

This week, we're joined by returning guest Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple and Big Ego, his studio in Long Beach. His latest is called Houses of the Holy, a four-sided double-album, featuring a different band on each side: Cherry Glazerr with garage pop, the Chicago Underground Trio with their jazz inflection, psych warriors the Dream Syndicate, and rapper and producer Xololanxinxo. Schlarb took some time out of his holiday season to speak with us about the creative ethos driving his work. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Transmissions art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer.

This week on Transmissions, we welcome back a return guest: desert scribe and radio personality Ken Layne. He’s the editor of Desert Oracle, a pocket-sized field guide to the American Southwest and the host of Desert Oracle Radio, a weekly late-night broadcast out of Joshua Tree. With synthesist RedBlueBlackSilver in tow, Layne offers up tales of the paranormal, the odd, and the arcane. Layne illuminates these damned and or transcendent topics with good humor and dusty charm. This week, he releases a new book which collects and expands stories from the program and the magazine, Desert Oracle Volume 1: Strange and True Tales From the American Southwest. He joins us for a far-reaching conversation about the new book, the allure of the weird, the late ’80s underground music scenes of Southern California, the early days of digital publishing, conspiracy theory and literature, the disenchantment of modern life, and of course, venturing into the spiritual wilderness represented by the desert. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Transmissions art by D. Norsen. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer. Show notes and more at Aquarium Drunkard.

This week on Transmissions, we're joined by sound healer, reiki practitioner, and avant-garde composer Devi Mambouka, better known as Masma Dream World. Her latest LP is called Play At Night, out on Northern Spy Records. It’s a blend of subterranean bass, spooky backwards masked poetry, and shifting, nocturnal soundscapes designed to entrance, inviting you to examine your “preconceived relationship with darkness, guiding you to step into it—to play in it.” Mambouka took some time out of a weekend last month to speak with us about her global backstory, discuss how DJing influenced her alchemical approach, and play around with the concept of darkness. We hope you enjoy this one. If you do, share it with a friend. Let them know they can listen wherever they get podcasts. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, check out our Patreon page, send an email letting us know what you like about the show. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, executive producer, seer, and captain.

You’re tuned into Transmissions, where each week Aquarium Drunkard presents a strange conversation for these strange times. Today on the show we’re joined by Elisa Ambrogio of Magik Makers. The Markers’ new album 2020 is out now on Drag City. It’s a gloriously smeared burst of noise, raw riffs, and damaged country and folk songs. Ambrogio joined us to discuss the importance of good quarantine companion, living out west, and getting into music—really inhabiting it—before you are even sure what you are doing. We hope you enjoy this one. If you do, share it with a friend. Let them know they can listen wherever they get podcasts. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, or check out our Patreon page, where you can help us keep the lights on. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Art by D. Norsen. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer.

Incoming transmission from...Yves Jarvis. The singer/songwriter/producer's latest is called Sundry Rock Song Stock, and it's a blur of soft-focus pop and shimmering melodic mirages. He joined us from the Tree Museum in Ontario to discuss his interest in progressive rock, creative approach, the disparate influence of Joni Mitchell, Bill Bruford, and Kanye. Plus, a check in with Vic Berger IV and Doug Lussenhop of Tim Heidecker's Office Hours regarding their upcoming noise-show-slash-audio-visual experience, Drop Concert: The Motion Picture, featuring a baffling sonic collage of clips, loops, and found sound drops combined with Heidecker's improvised keyboard and animation by Ben Levin. We hope you enjoy this one. If you do, share it with a friend. Let them know they can listen wherever they get podcasts. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, or check out our Patreon page, where you can help us keep the lights on. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, sage, guide, and executive producer.

Transmissions…strange talks for these strange days. This week on the show, we’re joined by ambient hero William Basinski and his collaborator and engineer Preston Wendel. They’ve got two wildly divergent projects out this year. In July, they released To Feel Embraced a collection of saxophone-laden lounge and electronica under the name Sparkle Division. And on November 13th, they release William Basinski’s Lamentations, which assembles more than 40 years of archival tape loops and studies from his archives. The dual albums encompass the ecstatic highs and dread-soaked lows of this strange year. We spoke with the duo in September, when it was still warm out enough to take a dip in the pool about doom scrolling, iPhone recordings, cutting loose, and much more. Thanks for tuning in. We hope you enjoy this one. If you do, share it with a friend. Let them know they can listen wherever they get podcasts. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, or check out our Patreon page, where you can help us keep the lights on. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer.

Bonus episode! We put out episodes every Wednesday and we have already done so this week—a great chat with novelist and podcaster Hari Kunzru—but since this week being the week it has been, we’re in an energetic mood. So here we are. Our guest for this extra episode is John Darnielle. Since 1991, he’s released music under the Mountain Goats banner, in addition to writing a couple of great books, including Wolf in White Van and Universal Harvester. He’s got two albums out this year—first, a lo-fi boombox recorded tape, Songs for Pierre Chuvin, and now, Getting Into Knives, recorded with the full Mountain Goats band and producer Matt Ross-Sprang at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, the same place people like Booker T. Jones, Alex Chilton, the Cramps, Three-6-Mafia, Roy Orbison and many more have cut albums. His songs have hailed Satan and cast possums in a theological light. He’s written about myths, tragic heroes, and people trying to unwreck themselves. Getting Into Knives is yet another winner from Darnielle. We were very excited to speak with him about it (and talk about his incredible AD Lagniappe Session). Hope you enjoy this one. If you do, share it with a friend. Let them know they can listen wherever they get podcasts. If you want to take your support a step further, you can leave us a review, or check out our Patreon page, where you can help us keep the lights on. Transmissions is hosted and produced by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark-Walls produces content for our social media and video outlets. Art by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Justin Gage, head honcho and executive producer. We’ll be back this week too, Wednesday, with another Transmission. Until then, take it easy. Further reading: John Darnielle :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

This week on Transmissions, Hari Kunzru in conversation with host Jason P. Woodbury. Kunzru is a novelist and writer; his latest is called Red Pill. It’s about a writer who receives a fellowship in Germany, where he finds himself sucked into a spiral of reactionary thinking. His other 2020 project is a podcast called Into the Zone, from Puskin Industries. It’s a podcast about, well, to put it in reductive terms, the opposite of reactive thinking. Examining the liminal space between borders—visiting Stonehenge, remarking on the early days of the internet, examining what divides country from the blues, and even what constitutes life—and what constitutes death—Kunzru blurs binaries and swims in the waters of the undefined and fascinating.

Incoming transmission from Joe Wong. He's an incredibly busy guy: he hosts the Trap Set, a weekly interview podcast he’s helmed since 2015, where he sits down with artists like Mix Master Mike, Sharon Van Etten, Jim Keltner, Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo, among many others. He also makes music for film in TV—you’ve probably heard his work on Master of None, Russian Doll, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Midnight Gospel. Joe has long played music with artists like Mary Timony of Helium and Marnie Stern, but recently, he released his debut solo long player, Nite Creatures. Produced by Timony, who also plays on it, it finds him joined by members of Flaming Lips, War on Drugs, and that dog. for a set of deeply cinematic psychedelic pop, which brings to mind the mystical lushness of Scott Walker, the Zombies, and Pink Floyd. One of the albums best songs “Dreams Wash Away” was featured in Duncan Trussel’s Midnight Gospel finale on Netflix—one of the most affecting things you’ll see all year, and like that episode, Nite Creatures grapples with mortality and existential dread, but remains vivid, colorful, and beautiful.

Incoming transmission from...Joe Pera and James Wallace, who’s better known as Skyway Man. The two worked together on season two of Joe’s TV show, Joe Pera Talks With You on Adult Swim. Describing “what happens” on the show doesn’t really do it justice. Nothing too out of the ordinary occurs—characters go on hikes, they stay up late watching videos on the internet, they deal with the passing of loved ones. But it’s how the show unfolds—gently, unhurriedly—that makes it such remarkable viewing. It’s a very funny show that takes its time, offering up space and comfort to the viewer while also skewering its characters lovingly. On The World Only Ends When You Die, Skyway Man also puts his characters through the ringer. It’s a psych-folk opera of spaced out country and sci-fi gospel and blues, laced with mythology and nods to George Van Tassel, legendary Ufologist. It’s due out this week on Mama Bird Recording Co, and while it certainly grapples with some heavy existential issues, it’s also a lot of fun to listen to. They joined us to discuss their work together, the paranormal, and mortality. If you enjoy our show, please spread the word. Leave a rating or a review, and tell your friends about the show. If you want to take your support a step further, checking out Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon.

The release of the new career-spanning collection Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland continues a wave of new appreciation for the pioneering folk, electronic, and experimental composer's celestial and enveloping songs. Offering a holistic look at Glenn-Copeland's diverse songbook—ranging from early folk-jazz stunners to electronic devotionals and breakbeat-inclusive pop—the compilation also features a new song, "River Dreams," one of the many songs he says was "downloaded" via the Universal Broadcasting System, a sort of sonic radio signal generated by the universe itself. Beverly Glenn-Copeland joined Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss picking up signals from the cosmos, aliens, Star Trek, and the new documentary, Keyboard Fantasies. If you enjoy this talk, please share it with a friend. They can listen wherever they get podcasts or head directly to Aquarium Drunkard, where they’ll find all our shows, plus 15 years of great music writing, interviews, reviews, radio playlists, features, and more. If you want to take your support a step further, check us out on Patreon. Transmissions is produced and written by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark Walls does video production. Executive producer, main man, and guru Justin Gage.

Incoming transmission from...Sam Prekop. For more than 25 years, he's released music with the Sea and Cake and on his own. With the band, he's responsible for guitarwork and providing signature vocals, cool, aloof, and melodically clear. But his last few solo albums have found him focusing less on pop song craft and more on analog synthesizers and ambient textures. His latest for Thrill Jockey records is called Comma and on it he blends serene soundscapes with twitching electronic rhythms. Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury reached him in Chicago to talk about hunkering down, synths, and how he and his Sea and Cake bandmates continue their remarkable work together. If you enjoy this talk, please share it with a friend. They can listen wherever they get podcasts or head directly to Aquarium Drunkard, where they'll find all our shows, plus 15 years of great music writing, interviews, reviews, radio playlists, features, and more. If you want to take your support a step further, check us out on Patreon. Transmissions is produced and written by Jason P. Woodbury. Andrew Horton edits our audio. Jonathan Mark Walls does video production. Executive producer, main man, and guru Justin Gage.

Our guest this week is legendary guitarist Bill Frisell. In the 1980s, he served as ECM Records’ in-house guitarist, and he’s been hard at it ever since: partnering with John Zorn for a long series of unclassifiable records, playing alongside Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Allen Ginsberg, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vic Chesnutt, and many more, all while making his own records, which blur the lines between jazz, avant-garde, country, surf, blues, and gospel. His latest is called Valentine. It’s out now on the Blue Note label, and it finds him in a trio setting, joined by Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. It features Malian folk, standards, and originals, and it’s as deft, nuanced, and emotive as you might expect. Bill joined me early on a Saturday morning to discuss the record, his friendship with the late Hal Wilner, his deep listening practices, and telepathy. If you enjoy, please share with your friends. They can hear Transmissions wherever they get podcasts. And if you want to take your support a little deeper, check us out on Patreon.

Our guest this week is Jerry David DeCicca. Perhaps you know him best from Black Swans, or maybe some of the great albums he's produced by so called "outsider" songwriters like Ed Askew, Larry Jon Wilson, and Chris Gantry, among others. Since 2014, he's been putting out great records under his own name. His latest is called The Unlikely Optimist And His Domestic Adventures. Jerry describes it as “an anti-Hallmark ode to positivity." Who couldn’t use some positivity this year? In advance of its release on October 16th, Aquarium Drunkard correspondent Chad DePasquale joined Jerry to discuss Texas, his pets and social services work, and of course, Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, which JDD idiosyncratically reviewed for Aquarium Drunkard.

Our guest this week on Transmissions is Jerry Williams Jr., but if you know your musical cult heroes, you probably know him by the name Swamp Dogg. Since the early '50s, he's lived as a true record man—writing songs, producing artists, self-releasing music, and putting out major label flops that have gone on to achieve lost classic status. He’s always walked the line between R&B and country, making a joke of the music industry’s intentional segregating of white and black audiences. He managed Dr. Dre early on, and he's been sampled by Kid Rock and Talib Kweli. The country pop classic, Don’t Take Her (She’s All I’ve Got)?” He co-wrote it. The line where Jerry ends and Swamp Dogg begins is transitory. In the early '70s, after a career of singing under his own name, Jerry needed Swamp Dogg to serve as an outlandish avatar who could satirically tackle societal mores. His provocative jokes about civil rights and politics earned him hangs with Jane Fonda and the anti-war crowd and put him afoul of J. Edgar Hoover and the Nixon administration. These days he puts out records on Joyful Noise. His latest is called Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, and it pairs him with producer Ryan Olson, Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, and the late John Prine, who sings “Memories” and the beautiful “Please Let Me Go Round Again.” Over the many years, Swamp Dogg has embraced auto-tune, twang, and ambient flourishes. He’s a world class adapter, a weirdo hero who refuses to yield to expectations, sometimes at the expense of good taste, but remember: it’s never Jerry doing the offending, that’s Swamp Dogg. Let that be your content warning: this episode contains language some listeners might find objectionable. Need more Swamp? Check out his 2013 Aquarium Drunkard interview. This week’s episode was written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury and Michael Krassner, Andrew Horton edited and engineered. Justin Gage, executive producer. Video production by Jonathan Mark Walls. Imagery by D. Norsen and Heavy Hymns. Does Aquarium Drunkard make your listening life better? If so, you can support us through Patreon. Help continue to produce mixtapes, podcasts, radio shows, audio visual presentations, interviews, features, and much more.

Our guest this week is Chris Forsyth, guitarist, bandleader, composer, and DIY lifer. His studio albums evoke the punk psychedelia of Television, balancing ‘70s rock grooves the loose, exploratory feel of the Dead. But as good as his studio LPs are, it might be live recordings that best showcase his sound. His latest is called First Flight. On it, he’s joined by guitarist Dave Harrington, drummer Ryan Jewell, and bassist Spencer Zahn on stage at Nublu in New York City on September 20th, 2019. Who knows how long it will be before we can safely cram into a room to take in some live jams, but in the meantime, the 40-some minutes of First Flight should help those missing the thrills of unexpected and immersive live music. Forsyth joined Transmissions to discuss his roots, time spent studying with Richard Lloyd of Television, and his motivations in opening a DIY space in Philadelphia, Jerry’s on Front. Does Transmissions make your listening life better? Help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Doing so will get you access to our secret stash—including bonus audio, exclusive podcasts, printed ephemera, and vinyl records—and help us keep an independent publication going.

This week on Transmissions, we're joined by songwriter, Dr. Dog drummer, and noted Twitter personality Eric Slick. His new album of classic pop songcraft is called Wiseacre. Best known for his work with Dr. Dog and his wife, songwriter Natalie Prass, Wiseacre was inspired by the golden-hued melodies of Harry Nilsson, Haruomi Hosono, and a general '70s gloss. It's a deeply personal record, one that explores contentment and domesticity, as well as unpacking no small amount of personal weirdness and trauma. Eric joined Aquarium Drunkard contributor Ben Kramer—you might know him from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard’s The Tonight Zone, as featured on the Adult Swim live stream to get into it all: how his marriage to Prass influenced the lyrics of the record, how his meditation practice informs his songwriting, and what it's like to get into a real songwriting groove.

On Mama You Can Bet, her new album under her Jyoti alias, Georgia Anne Muldrow embraces her jazz roots. Born and raised in Los Angeles, her parents were immersed in the city’s jazz community. Her father Ronald Muldrow worked with Eddie Harris; Rickie Byars-Beckwith, her mother, worked with Pharoah Sanders. And there’s the matter of her spiritual lineage: the Jyoti name was bestowed upon her by Alice Coltrane at her ashram. “I’ve had many experiences in that woman’s force field, and I’ve never forgot any of them,” Muldrow says, discussing how Coltrane’s work felt like “music from her home planet.” Mama You Can Bet leans into Muldrow’s jazziest tendencies, incorporating two remixes of works by Charles Mingus, whose influence is palpable. But Muldrow is her own creation, and her love of electronic funk, ambient, and hip-hop colors and shades the album. Ahead of what would have been Turiya Alice Coltrane’s birthday on August 27th, Georgia joined Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury via Skype to discuss the new record, the West Coast jazz tradition, and maintaining a long running creative partnership and independent label with her husband, Dudley Perkins. Mama You Can Bet is available wherever you get music August 28th. This week’s episode of Transmissions was written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury and edited by Andrew Horton. Executive producer Justin Gage. Art and imagery by D Norsen and Heavy Hymns. If you dig what we do at Aquarium Drunkard, share our podcasts, features, interviews, mixtapes, radio shows, and sign up for our Sidecar newsletter. If you wanna take your support a step further, head over to Patreon and look us up. We appreciate it. Music heard in this episode includes “Mama, You Can Bet” and “The Crowrie Waltz” from Mama, You Can Bet (SomeOthaShip Connect). One more note: On August 29th, get to your favorite independent record store to get your hands on our vinyl release with ORG Music, The Lagniappe Sessions Vol. II. 13 performances from your favorite artists covering songs they’re inspired by on beautiful clear vinyl. Listen to the entire album now at Aquarium Drunkard.

Our guest this week practically invented kosmische guitar. As a member of Neu!, Harmonia, and an early incarnation of Kraftwerk, Michael Rother's fluid, emotive playing helped define the sound of krautrock, as the music came up out of Germany's avant-garde underground in the late '60s and headed for the cosmos in the '70s. In 2019, he released of Solo, a multi-disc boxed set that documented the first part of his solo career and on September 4th, the Forst-based guitarist and composer follows that collection up with Solo II, which includes 1983's Lust , 1985's Süssherz und Tiefenschärfe, 1987's Traumreisen, 1996's Esperanza, 2004's Remember (The Great Adventure) and a brand-new album, Dreaming, which finds him returning to the spaced out pastoral drift of his classic albums. He was kind enough to join us on Transmissions to discuss his musical youth in India, his days as a conscientious objector, his collaborations with Klaus Dinger, Roedelius, Moebius, and his experiences with younger musicians who were inspired by his sound, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth.

Our guest this week is Colin Dickey, author of The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession With The Unexplained. Bigfoot, UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, phantom islands like Atlantis and Lemuria…the paranormal haunts our collective imagination. In his new book, Dickey smartly explores the lore woven into these topics, and along the way, he describes the way occult literature, pulp magazines, pop culture, and media myth-making influences and shapes our perception of these damned subjects. It’s a book packed with ideas, but easy to read, thoughtful, good humored, and sharp. Dickey determinedly engages with the currents of nationalism, colonialism, hucksterism or outright ill-intent, and racism that often accompanies these topics. This stuff is no longer confined only to the fringes. With the weirdness of our age getting ever weirder, the need to know how to navigate the strangeness is clear and present. Colin Dickey steps up to the task with your host, Jason P. Woodbury, this week on Transmissions.

Since the late '90s, Phil Elverum has remained at work on one of the strangest and most beautiful discographies in independent rock. As The Microphones, he created genre-defining records like 2001's The Glow Pt. 2, which has been hailed by critics like Heather Phares, who praised its "kaleidoscopic sounds...pastoral folky ballads, playful symphonic pop, and gusts of white noise," and Elverum's "strangely hymnal lyrics." In 2003, he abandoned the name The Microphones and embarked upon a series of records under the Mount Eerie moniker. They not only retained that sense of spaciousness, but greatly expanded it, incorporating the influence of black metal and extended song lengths. In 2016, Genevieve Castree, and illustrator, musician, and cartoonist, and also Phil’s wife and the mother of their daughter Agathe, passed away from pancreatic cancer. Phil recorded a set of harrowing, beautiful, and extraordinarily human albums about the experience, including A Crow Looked at Me, Now Only, and Lost Wisdom Pt. 2, recorded with Julie Doiron. Along the way, he married actress Michelle Williams and moved to New York City, though that relationship has ended and he and Agathe are back in the Pacific Northwest these days. It’s hard to sum up Elverum’s story, but in a weird way, that’s kind of what he does on his new record, The Microphones in 2020, which features one, 44-minute long song. It’s his first time using the Microphones name since 2003, and to hear him express it, it’s kind of an album about identity. While it’s no less autobiographical than his recent records, it’s a step in a different direction, temporal poetry about transience and the way a person becomes a different person—but somehow, it's also how they stay the same person. Once again, we’re dabbling in paradox and contradiction. Elverum created a film to go along with it, in which he displays decades worth of personal photographs, occasionally brushing them from the frame, where they are replaced by new images. And that’s where we find Phil: in the midst of trying to figure out how time shapes and creates us, and how we shape and conceive of time. This week on Transmissions, he opens his (virtual) door and invites us in to discuss the new album, personal history, identity, and Weird Al.

This week on Transmissions, we’re joined by songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jenn Wasner. She had planned on spending a fair amount of 2020 on the road playing guitar, keys, and singing with Bon Iver, but instead she’s spending it in a manner probably familiar to readers: watching TV and drinking coffee, thinking about the potential end of the world. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t kept busy: this week, her duo with Andy Stack, Wye Oak, releases its new EP No Horizon, a collaboration with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. And she’s got another EP out too, the recently released Like So Much Desirefrom her solo project, Flock of Dimes. Both projects are great showcases for her progressive songcraft, which pairs oblique and exploratory lyrics with swooning avant-pop. Wasner has never settled comfortable into just one mode—scanning through her discography reveals folk, synth-driven art rock, and guitar epics—but her inquisitive, intricate lyrics serve as a throughline. She joined us to discuss the role of imagination in creating the future, staying sane, what’s keeping her company on the turntable, working with Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver collective and what she’s learned from producing singer/songwriter Madeline Kenney.

Lots of records evoke a place. But Mossy Kilcher’s 1977 lost folk gem Northwind Calling does more than that: it welcomes the listener into the spirit of her treasured place of origin, Alaska. Born to homesteading parents who’d fled Switzerland during World War II, Mossy was raised near Homer, Alaska, and her beguiling songs are filled with references to the land, paired with field recordings she made there. At 76, Mossy is experiencing a late career rediscovery following Tompkins Square Records reissue of the album, which earned her a great story in the New York Times by Grayson Haver Currin, who praised her “soft, welcoming voice,” which “floats over delicately picked acoustic guitar and an occasional banjo or fiddle, or her own recordings of birds.” This week on Transmissions, Mossy joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss returning to her masterpiece more than four decades after its release, the utopian dreams of her parents, her relationship with the land, and the work of Jewel, her niece. Oh yeah, did we mention Jewel is Mossy’s niece? Northwind Calling is available now from Tompkins Square Records.

Our guest this week is Johnathan Ford of Unwed Sailor. For more than two decades, he’s led the post-rock band Unwed Sailor. In that time, Ford has steered the band—an ever-evolving collective that’s included members of Pedro the Lion, Fleet Foxes, Danielson Famile and more—through a searching string of albums, incorporating the influence of ambient music, shoegaze, new age, math rock, and drone into its body of work, which constitutes one of the great under-recognized discographies in all of indie rock. Unwed Sailor’s latest is called Look Alive, and it showcases the collective’s more driving side, marrying Peter Hook-inspired basslines to rumbling soundscapes that evidence the early influence of groups like Bedhead and Tortoise. I caught up with Ford to discuss his history in American indie rock, and how he made his way from the grinding math rock of Roadside Monument to the slow-core folk of Pedro the Lion, and Unwed Sailor’s vast genre-diverse tapestry of sounds—and all zones in between.

Welcome back to another episode of Transmissions podcast, our weekly talk show. Our guest today is Don Bryant. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Bryant was one of the premier songwriters at Hi Records, where he wrote material for Al Green, O.V. Wright, Syl Johnson, and his wife, Ann Peebles. He released Precious Soul under his own name in 1969, but mostly kept behind the scenes, baring a few gospel records he released along the way, but in 2016, he returned to making records under his own name with Don’t Give Up On Love, released by Fat Possum Records. He’s got a new one, too: You Make Me Feel. Produced by Scott Bomar, it’s a raw, live feeling record, but it also showcases the subtle lyricism and sophistication of Bryant’s songwriting chops. He joined host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss highlights from his massive songbook, his marriage and creative partnership with Ann Peebles, and his return to the stage.

Our guest this week: Joe Casey of Protomartyr. One of the most exciting rock bands of the last decade, the Detroit-based post punk band will release its fifth album, Ultimate Success Today via Domino Records July 17th. The word prophetic isn't a stretch. With its references to disease, institutional brutality, and gross inequality—symptoms of “a cosmic grief, beyond all comprehension”—the new record matches the apocalyptic mood of the US, and much of the world, in 2020. But it also speaks to the continued growth of the Protomartyr aesthetic, pairing guest vocals and contributions by players associated with free jazz and experimental music with reverb-drenched guitars and brittle rhythms. Writing about the album, Ana da Silva of the Raincoats says: “Our world has reached a point that makes us afraid: fires, floods, earthquakes, hunger, war, intolerance..there are cries of despair. Is there any hope?” For this episode of Transmissions, Jason P. Woodbury asks Casey to answer that question, as well as Protomartyr's artistic growth, the uncanny influence of Robocop, and other doomed and damned topics. A reminder: Transmissions relies on our supporters on Patreon. Everything at Aquarium Drunkard does—so if you enjoy this show, our mixes, the Lagniappe Sessions—where your favorite artists cover their favorite artists—our weekly Sidecar newsletter, and the rest of our efforts, consider helping us by pledging your support of our independent outfit.

We're back. This week, we’re featuring Jesse Locke’s interview with Jack Cooper of Modern Nature. The band’s new mini-album, Annual, is the follow up to the band’s debut, 2019’s How to Live. Inspired by the group’s time on the road in support of that album, this new one demonstrates the way live performance and improvisation has informed Cooper’s continually more expansive approach to Modern Nature. Drifting, seasonal, and often focused on the subtle saxophone work of Jeff Tobias of Sunwatchers, the album also features percussionist Jim Wallis and Kayla Cohen of Itasca, who’s been a guest here on Transmissions as well. That talk’s available in our archives, like all our past episodes. This show is sponsored—like everything at Aquarium Drunkard—by our listeners, who support us directly via Patreon. Supporters receive access to bonus audio, notes, special mixes and other projects.

Welcome to another episode of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, our weekly interview series. Our guest this week is Lisa E. Harris, whose new album with Nicole Mitchell is called EarthSeed. It was recorded live at Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago and features the Black Earth Ensemble—an all-star collection of Chicago improvisers and free jazz artists—backing up the two composers. Presented alongside a gallery of artist Cauleen Smith’s Human_3.o Reading List, EarthSeed was inspired by the work of Octavia E. Butler and will be released June 22nd, on Butler’s birthday. It’s the third album from Mitchell to draw from Butler’s work. It also represents a return to the ideas of Butler for Lisa Harris. An interdisciplinary artist, composer, and activist from Houston, Texas, Harris had been at work on an opera called Lilith before even learning of Butler’s work—but says that learning the author’s pioneering science fiction opened her up to new worlds of thought.

Welcome to another edition of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, our weekly interview show featuring artists reflecting on their creative process, history, and work. This week, counter culture icon David Crosby. Anyone familiar with his Twitter feed knows Croz is a fount of opinions and insight, capable of immense warmth and good humor, but never one to pull punches. On July 31st, he’s reissuing the catalog of CPR, his cheekily named late ’90s and early 2000s supergroup with guitarist Jeff Pevar and Crosby’s son, keyboardist James Raymond. Alongside the trio’s two studio albums, 1998’s CPR and 2001’s Just Like Gravity, two live albums, Live at Cuesta College and Live at the Wiltern (featuring guest musicians Graham Nash, Marc Cohn, and Phil Collins) round out the overview of the group that set Crosby off on a late career renaissance that continues with recent albums like 2018’s Here If You Listen. A quick note. Crosby spoke with Transmissions co-host Jason P. Woodbury as the mass Black Lives Matter that began in late May were beginning. The conversation does not reflect the remarkable events of the last few weeks. The latest issues of our Sidecar newsletter is dedicated specifically to the inspirational struggle for justice happening in the streets of America right now.

And we’re back. Welcome to another edition of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, our weekly series of conversations with artists, writers, and creators. This week: a discussion with sitarist and ambient composer Ami Dang, whose new project is called Meditations Mixtape, Vol. 1. Dang is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, and we reached her there to discuss her particular fusion of sounds and the way she explores the middle ground between what’s considered sacred—and what isn’t You can her her new album wherever you listen to music—we recommend heading over to Bandcamp to support Dang and Leaving Records directly by purchasing it digitally or on cassette. We'll be back on Wednesday with a conversation with David Crosby. Thanks for listening. We'll be back on Wednesday with a talk with David Crosby.

And we’re back. Welcome to another installment of Transmissions. For this episode, we’re bringing you one from the Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard’s archives: a live conversation with Ben Kramer and our founder Justin Gage, discussing 15 years of Aquarium Drunkard. Though RFAD is on pause, keep your eyes open for the eventual return of the Tonight Zone, Kramer’s late night call-in show. For now, tune in and drift as Kramer and Gage discuss the evolution and vision behind Aquarium Drunkard.

And we’re back. Welcome to the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast—our series of strange conversations for strange times. My guest this week is pedal steel player Luke Schneider. He’s got a brand new album out this month called Altar of Harmony, released by the venerable Third Man Records. Luke is best known as a sideman for country artists like Margo Price and Orville Peck, but he takes the pedal steel for a cosmic ride on his new album, conjuring up uncanny sounds that seem to bend the ear, recalling Robert Fripp guitars one moment, or the shapeshifting keyboards of Harold Budd the next, but all fashioned from raw pedal steel performances. It’s a gorgeous record—another example of Cosmic Pastoral aesthetic Schneider’s friend and collaborator William Tyler has discussed here on Aquarium Drunkard. The new record could be “justifiably be described as ‘new age’ in the most essential sense,” writes previous Transmissions guest Douglas Mcgowan in his bio. It “represents a radical new approach to the versatile and cosmic instrument of the steel guitar…This is something new under the sun, a total reinvention of an iconic instrument. Quite literally, there has never been anything else quite like it.” But we’ll let Luke describe what he’s done on this record himself via this interview we recorded back on Mother’s Day. Thanks for tuning in. A reminder that you can rate and review us on Apple Podcasts—and that you can use the handy share buttons on Spotify, Stitcher, and Tune In to put our show directly into the various feeds of people who might enjoy it. Aquarium Drunkard is funded by our supporters on Patreon, so if you like what we do—this podcast, Justin Gage’s weekly two-hour show on Sirius XMU, our mixtapes, our 24-hour pirate radio stream, the Lagniappe Sessions, where your favorite artists cover their favorite artists—consider chipping in a couple bucks over there. We do appreciate it. We’ll be back next week with a special archived broadcast from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard’s The Tonight Zone—a longform interview with AD founder Justin Gage. But first, Luke Schneider, exploring his Altar of Harmony.

Were joined by singer/songwriter/producer/guitarist Steve Gunn for this episode of the Transmissions podcast—completing our round of talks with the participants of the Gunn/Lattimore/Tyler canceled tour. But there’s much more to hear here than another pandemic rap. Topics of conversation include the new Livin’ In Between EP, which pairs Gunn’s last Lagniappe Session with a brand-new cover of Neil Young’s “Motion Pictures,” Steve’s hardcore youth, immersion in the experimental Philadelphia scene, and his longstanding creative partnership with drummer John Trucinski.

On this episode, we caught up with guitarist and songwriter Buck Curran. Formerly one half of the psychedelic duo Arborea, Buck is currently situated in Bergamo, Italy, in one of the areas hit hardest by COVID-19. Though he’s quarantining with his family, he decided now was the right time to release his third solo album, No Love is Sorrow. It’s a gorgeous and comforting record. Writing about it for AD’s Bandcamping feature, Tyler Wilcox said the lp was full of “melancholy but uplifting folk visions” from Curran, whose label Obsolete has also released tributes to Jack Rose and Robbie Basho, as well as archival works by the latter. “There are traces of both Basho and Rose in No Love Is Sorrow, of course,” Wilcox. writes, “But Buck has his own thing happening, too, managing to expertly balance ominous vibes with heartfelt devotionals.” We connected via Skype to discuss his journey from Maine to Italy, how the new album came together, quarantining with family, and of course the episodes of Star Trek he’s been watching. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by Patreon, which will allow readers and listeners to directly support our online magazine as it expands its scope while receiving access to our secret stash, including bonus audio, exclusive podcasts, printed ephemera, and vinyl records. Your support will help keep an independent cultural resource alive and healthy in 2020 and beyond.

Welcome to the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, and this episode, we’re encouraging you to watch UFOria, a 1985 science fiction comedy starring Cindy Williams, Fred Ward, and Harry Dean Stanton. At once sweet, earnest, silly, and wry,it was a flop upon initial release and has subsequently slipped through the cracks of cinematic history—but thanks to an enterprising YouTuber, you can join AD’s Jason P. Woodbury and Chad DePasquale in falling under its strange spell. “This is one of those movies in which you walk in not expecting much, and then something great happens, and you laugh, and you start paying more attention, and then you realize that a lot of great things are happening, that this is one of those rare movies that really has it,” Roger Ebert wrote in his review. “UFOria is not just another witless Hollywood laugh machine, but a movie with intelligence and a sly, sardonic style of humor. You don’t have to shut down half of your brain in order to endure it.” Aquarium Drunkard is powered by Patreon, which will allow readers and listeners to directly support our online magazine as it expands its scope while receiving access to our secret stash, including bonus audio, exclusive podcasts, printed ephemera, and vinyl records. Your support will help keep an independent cultural resource alive and healthy in 2020 and beyond.

And we’re back. For this episode of Transmissions, we’re joined by author, WFMU DJ, and historian of all things “heady,” Jesse Jarnow. His writing has been published by Relix, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times, and in addition to his beautifully written and deeply researched books, which include Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock, Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, and Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America, Jarnow pens a recurring column for Aquarium Drunkard called Blanks and Postage, where he covers the intersection of psychedelics, art, and technology. His weekly WFMU program, The Frow Show, is an essential listen. With society in a state of monumental flux, it felt like the perfect time for Transmissions co-host Jason P. Woodbury to ring Jesse up to discuss the radical possibilities of the current moment, science fiction, various dystopian and utopian happenings, jam culture’s ahead of the curve embrace of live streaming tech, and his next book, which will document the alternate history of the recording industry via bootlegs and grey market releases.

For the last decade, William Tyler’s widescreen guitar epics have told wordless stories, about forgotten histories, American myths, backroads, and mystic visions. On this episode of Transmissions he discusses traveling to Nashville as the pandemic spread and the art he’s been enjoying while hunkered down.

Social distance dispatching. Some background, to start. In recent weeks, we've been assembling elements—interviews, readings, scripts, segments—for the next season of the Transmissions podcast. But the onset of global pandemic has caused us to consider: What feels important right now? Would discussing it help? To that end, we're taking the Transmissions podcast weekly for now, and featuring check-ins between AD founder Justin Gage and editor Jason P. Woodbury. We have a lot of plans for the podcast in the coming weeks, from guest interviews to audio collages, but expect it to be loose. Stay in, wash your hands, reach out to those who need you. Remember you need them too. Stay in touch.

New year, new decade. Welcome to the future, it’s 2020 and you’re tuned into Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard’s monthly podcast, featuring, as always, sounds and ideas that inspire us, the team behind Aquarium Drunkard. Your hosts are founder and editor Justin Gage, and editor Jason P. Woodbury. Our guest this episode, is guitarist and composer Jeff Parker. Parker is best known for his work with Tortoise, the Chicago Underground Quartet, and Isotope 217, and he’s worked with a wide cast of notable players, including Brian Blade, Bill Callahan, George Lewis, Makaya McCraven, Joshua Abrams, Rob Mazurek, Joey DeFrancesco, and many, many more. In 2016, he released The New Breed, a tribute to his late father, and now, a record for his mother: Suite for Max Brown. Like The New Breed, the new LP blends deep, Dilla-Inspired grooves, clipped R&B samples, and Parker’s beautiful guitar—often languid, occasionally frenzied, but always powerfully soulful. The record is yet another winner from Chicago’s International Anthem, which has established itself as one of the key labels in underground jazz, and it’s released in collaboration with the legendary Nonesuch imprint. Episode playlist: William Tyler-Four Corners + Jeff Parker-Go Away + Jeff Parker-Fusion Swirl + Jeremy Cunningham featuring Jeff Parker-1985 + 「ゴドメス星人」より侵略者のテーマ Art via D. Norsen

Welcome to the final 2019 episode of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast. On this episode, we sit down with educator, synth pioneer, and all around genuine soul Don Muro. Earlier this year, Flannelgraph Records continued its archival dig into his treasure trove of sounds with a reissue of Anthology, his 1981 LP featuring jazzy funk, synth pop, and progressive fusion rock. Back before synth culture was a thing, Muro and his compatriots adhered to a DIY ethic. I sat down with Don to talk not only about how he got his hands on advanced musical tech, but how he started his own label to distribute his music, and what it’s been like to see a whole new generation embrace it. Then, Josh Neas offers a personal reflection on Dead Man's Pop, the 2010 Replacement boxset that creates a kind of alternate timeline version of the band's 1989 lp Don't Tell a Soul.

Boys and girls, All Hallows’ Eve is here, and you’re tuned into the October edition of the Transmissions podcast. The veil is thin and we’re back with another round of discussions and digressions. On this episode, Chicago’s Whitney discusses Forever Turned Around, the group’s sophomore lp. Then, New Age pioneer Don Slepian takes us back to the early ’80s. And to close out, a long ramble about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ haunted instant classic, Ghosteen. Whitney’s second new album, Forever Turned Around, is out now on Secretly Canadian records. Like their debut, Light Upon the Lake, it’s a balmy, breezy record. Produced by Brad Cook of Bon Iver and Johnathan Rado of Foxygen, it sees the duo of Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich expanding and deepening their sound. Sitting down for a backstage interview with AD, Kakacek says “more of our own true emotions” made it into the new songs, which were informed by the constant touring that followed the band’s first album. “We knew better what it felt like to play them every night.” You might recognize Don Slepian’s name from Light in the Attic’s I Am the Center: Private Issue New Age Music in America 1950-1990 compilation, where he appeared alongside Laraaji, Joanna Brouk, Iasos, Steven Halpern and other early practitioners of cosmic devotional music. Two of his early ‘80s works have recently been reissued—Sea of Bliss by Numero Group and New Dawn on Morning Trip—and he had plenty to tell guest interviewer Jesse Locke about those heady, early days. Earlier this month, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their 17th studio album, Ghosteen. A double album, ambient in nature and featuring two longform spoken word performances, it’s one of Cave’s most tender, centered on the loss of his son, and the idea of “a migrating spirit.” Marty Sartini Garner, longtime Aquarium Drunkard writer and a frequent guest on this podcast, wrote a review of the album for AV Club, praising its “otherworldly and spiritual quality.” He and co-host Jason P. Woodbury got together to discuss.

Welcome to the September edition of our monthly Transmissions podcast, our series of conversations with musicians and artists about why—and how—their art exists. On this episode, Aquarium Drunkard founder Justin Gage sits down at AD HQ with Devendra Banhart to spin selections and discuss his new album, Ma. Then, Jason P. Woodbury joins Throwing Muses founder, solo artist, and writer Kristin Hersh backstage to discuss future sounds from Throwing Muses and Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, her book about her friend, the departed Vic Chesnutt. And to close out, Jason rings up Bill Orcutt, whose latest release, the sparse electric guitar noir, Odds Against Tomorrow, sees release October 11th.

Welcome to a late summer edition of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast. On this episode, we’ve got two talks taped at AD HQ in Los Angeles. Up first, Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter. On September 6th, Lower Dens releases its fourth LP The Competition. The conversation reflected on Hunter’s solo beginnings, the formation of Lower Dens and the project’s subsequent sonic evolution over the past ten years. Also discussed were the intervening years between 2015’s Escape From Evil, Hunter’s experience with gender dysphoria, and coming out the other side. And on side B: Rain Phoenix, musician, actress, and host of the LaunchLeft podcast, which returns for its second season soon. Rain founded Aleka’s Attic in the late ‘80s with her late brother River Phoenix, and has recorded as paper cranes and with the “galactic country” band Venus and the Moon. On October 31st—the same day River passed away in 1993—she releases her debut solo album, River.

You’re tuned into the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions broadcast…welcome back. We’re happy to launch the third season of our out-there conversations about art, culture, and whatever else gets our imaginations going. Glad to have you along for the ride. This month, we bring you the uncut edition of Justin Gage’s conversation with comedian, musician, actor, songwriter, and all-around creator Tim Heidecker. Heidecker put together a playlist of the classic rock that inspired his latest, What The Broken Hearted Do, and walked us through it, noting what turns him on about tracks by Joni Mitchell, Warren Zevon, Judee Sill, Songs: Ohia, and more. Then, Marty Sartini Garner reviews the recent John Coltrane boxset, Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings. Compiling every song Coltrane cut as a bandleader in that pivotal year, and captures him at a crucial stage in his journey, his first true attempt to will his sax into new territory. And to close out, Justin sits down with poet and songwriter Jonathan Rice live at Gold Diggers, to discuss both his haikus—optimized for the social media age—and new album, The Long Game.

Welcome to the March edition of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, our monthly collection of audio esoterica and conversations—superbloom edition. We’ve got a pretty interesting collection of talks this month.

First up, actor, writer, and covert ethnomusicologist Jason Mantzoukas joins co-host Jason P. Woodbury at Gold Diggers Sound in East Hollywood to discuss the ways improv comedy and jazz inform his work on shows like The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Big Mouth, and Parks and Recreation.

Then, an audio version of the postscript Josh Neas wrote for the late Sara Romweber, who passed away earlier this month at 55. As a member of Let’s Active, Romweber was a pivotal part of the Chapel Hill indie rock scene—as a North Carolinian, Josh brought his ground-level view to her legacy and impact on the world of independent rock & roll.

And finally, we join Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low at the Valley Bar in downtown Phoenix, to discuss the band’s 12th album, Double Negative, a noisy, some times claustrophobic look at our present moment. Perhaps no record has more accurately captured the confusion and tension of the current digital and societal moment.

Greetings from the rainy west. Welcome to the February episode of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast. This episode, we’ve got a duo of musicians whose art blurs the lines between minimalism, the avant-garde, and Americana (whatever that word means in this fractured age). This episode, we’re joined by guitarist William Tyler. You might recognize him from our podcast’s theme song, “Four Corners,” or the essay he recently penned for Aquarium Drunkard, “Cosmic Pastoral,” which drew lines connecting the tranquil sounds of Windham Hill to cosmic new age, the modern jazz and classical sounds of ECM, and William’s own music. Your host Justin Gage sat down with him at Gold Diggers in East Hollywood as part of our recurring Talk Show series, to discuss and hear live selections from his most new record, Goes West.

But first, we head to Wickenburg, Arizona where Jason P. Woodbury sat down with Bruce Hornsby to discuss his brand new, just announced album, Absolute Zero. It’s out April 12th, and like everything he does, it’s hard to put it in a box. Self-produced, the record features collaborations with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Brad Cook, ECM veteran Jack DeJohnette, guitarist Blake Mills, yMusic, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and others. There are moments inspired by jazz, others inspired by classical, some which draw on Hornsby’s folk and roots influences.