The Clientele has been constructing gorgeous, buoyant psychedelic pop for more than three decades now, distilling the languid beauty of a late summer afternoon into whispery gems that hide surprising complications.Yet there has always been more to the Clientele’s art than wistful elegance, and never more so than I Am Not There Anymore, the band’s ninth full-length.
Year: 2023
Stewart Copeland :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Stewart Copeland speaks with Chris Schlarb about the derangement of The Police, film composing, and why he can’t wait to get done with the interview.
Art Time :: Richard Swift Remembered
On the fifth anniversary of Richard Swift’s passing, those who worked closest with him speak to what made his process so magical. Includes remembrances from Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Damien Jurado, Jessie Baylin, Luke Lalonde (Born Ruffians), Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore), Laura Burhenn (Mynabirds), and Kevin Morby.
Danny Paul Grody :: Arc Of Day
Just a perfect Day. The six gorgeous instrumentals that make up Danny Paul Grody’s quietly awesome new LP take us from sunrise to sunset, their steadily unfolding grooves somehow acknowledging the inevitable passage of time and stopping it entirely. Grody isn’t quite as prolific as some of his fingerpicking peers, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single misplaced note in his catalog.
Bobby Lee :: Endless Skyways
Endless Skyways finds Lee having finally reached the horizon he’d been headed toward, only to take a flying leap beyond it. At just nine tracks, the album wastes no time. The band achieves liftoff straight away with “Reds for a Blue Planet,” powered by Lee’s patented homebrew of twang and choogle. Just like that, we’re lost in the ozone and our heads are feeling a little lighter.
Doug Wieselman :: WA-Zoh
Multireedist Doug Wieselman is known for his work with the vanguard of pop, jazz, and avant-garde, but with his new album WA-Zoh, released by Shahzad Ismaily’s figureight records, he turns his attention to electronically manipulated birdsong.
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)
Photo Summerlude. Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
34.1090° N, 118.2334° W
The Skygreen Leopards :: Family Crimes
Over the course of its thirteen year existence, Skygreen Leopards would further evolve, hone and refine its bent take on classic west coast psychedelia. As an album, Family Crimes not only stands as the nexus of this evolution, but is home to some of the group’s best material.
Summer is here and so is its music.
Transmissions :: David John Morris (Red River Dialect)
David John Morris of Red River Dialect joins us to discuss his 2021 album Monastic Love Songs, 2022’s Wyld Love Songs, 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.
Youth Lagoon :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
With Heaven Is a Junkyard, Trevor Powers returns to the Youth Lagoon banner. Crafted with producer Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Adele, Gil Scott-Heron) after period of medical strife that robbed Powers of his ability to sing his signature lilt—thankfully only temporarily—the album finds Powers at his most generous and adventurous.
The Bonk :: Greater Than Or Equal To The Bonk
Following on from their excellent 2017 debut, The Bonk Seems To Be A Verb, the Dublin-based group led by Phil Christie continue to explore the boundless potential of experimentation and instinct with the equally cavalier titled Greater Than Or Equal To The Bonk.
Protomartyr :: Formal Growth In The Desert
This is Protomartyr’s sixth album, arriving out of a maelstrom of uncertainty and loss. The sound has turned slower, weightier and more violent. Where the band began in a spiked Fall-ish spatter, its songs now move with a ponderous nearly metallic heft.
Jimmy Whispers :: The Search For God
The Search For God is best served on close listen, not succumbing to its musical simplicity and charm, but sitting with the simpler and harder-to-tackle questions it poses. Whispers doesn’t bathe much in metaphor, doesn’t water it down with lo-fi glam or frills. Instead, by trimming some excess and focusing on the song craft, Whispers takes a massive step forward. Like those who are subject to his words, we are left wanting more.
Videodrome :: The Seventh Continent (1989)
The Seventh Continent is classified as a family drama, but it’s undoubtedly a horror film, perhaps one of the most horrifying films ever made. It’s nihilism as an aesthetic, misanthropy as a philosophy, and construction as deconstruction.
Joanna Sternberg :: I’ve Got Me
I’ve Got Me is a collection of folk songs in every sense, from Randy Newman-inspired ditties, to dew-eyed ballads, to timeless finger-picked tunes of self-discovery, each with a wonderfully distinct point of view.