James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

The excellent All Gist, out this week on Paradise of Bachelors, sees James and Nathan taking their musical partnership back to its roots. It’s an album full of gorgeously interlocking guitars, bewitching melodies and a couple of curveball covers. More than anything, All Gist sounds like a conversation between two old friends — one that we’re all lucky we get to eavesdrop on.

Nathan Salsburg :: Transmissions

This week on Transmissions, Alan Lomax Archive curator and guitarist Nathan Salsburg joins us from his place in rural Kentucky to discuss his new album of Hebrew devotional music, Psalms, conceptions of the divine, life as a new parent, and much more.

Alasdair Roberts :: The Evernew Tongue

On September 13th, Alasdair Roberts releases his new album, The Fiery Margin, via the venerable Drag City label. To mark to the occasion, guitarist and archivist Nathan Salsburg reflects here on “The Evernew Tongue,” the first selection shared from the forthcoming lp: “…a jeremiad against the all-too-familiar ‘mocking whine of demagogues…. quick to mock and slow to bless,’ hollered from amid the revelry of the changing year and among the small comforts of home.”

Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: April 2024

Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard returns to the Dublab airwaves for another round of sound. New Happy Gathering kicks things off with an hour of folk, chamber atmospheres, and downtown jazz + Doom & Gloom From The Tomb will jam some new favorites from 2024 — motorik workouts, early morning ambient and dreamy drones. Sunday, 4-6pm PT.

Aquarium Drunkard :: 2023 Year in Review

Looking back to look ahead. It’s our Year In Review 2023. As always, our list is unranked and unruly. Let it blurb.

Aquarium Drunkard exists because of the passion of its contributors and the support of its generous Patreon community, so consider pledging your support as we ring in the new year. If Aquarium Drunkard improves your listening life, the Patreon is the best way to reciprocate. Only the good shit, now, then, and the unspecified moments in-between.

Meg Baird :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Meg Baird’s latest album, Furling, withdraws itself into small domestic spaces. It explores the partnership the songwriter has forged, both musical and romantic, with the guitarist Charlie Saufley. It meditates on the way that a piano can sit at the center of family life, making any house a home. And yet, it also faces outward, pushing out rollicking grooves and aching, pristine clarity. It makes the case for Baird, once again, as one of the finest singers and songwriters of her generation.

Bandcamping :: Autumn 2022

With a welcome chill in the air and a fresh Bandcamp Friday hitting on November 4, it’s time for one more 2022 edition of AD’s Bandcamping, filled with recent & recommended sounds. Fill up that cart and find some new favorites.

Joan Shelley :: The Spur

At this point in her career, we would probably settle for a “pretty good” album from Joan Shelley. But no, The Spur continues an unbroken streak of masterpieces for the Louisville-based artist. It’s a record that features some of Shelley’s very best songwriting, bolstered by sensitive and occasionally surprising arrangements, ravishingly lush at some points, spare and spectral at others. The Spur is a wonder, from start to finish.

Joan Shelley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

We caught up with Joan Shelley on a summer Friday shortly after the Supreme Court upended Roe Vs. Wade, a weird and unsettled time for everyone, but perhaps particularly for a female artist in Kentucky with a new daughter. We talked about making art in a pandemic, the importance of collaboration and the difficulties of doing anything else when you have a young child, as well as the pleasures of listening to music all the way through, the way it was intended.

Transmissions :: Joan Shelley

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.