Tracked in New Orleans at Bruisey Peets’ Lake Vista compound on a Tascam 388, for their debut Lagniappe Session Silver Synthetic add their steady brand of choogle to Coney Island Baby era Lou Reed, some late ’70s Chris Spedding and, naturally, give a nod to the mount Rushmore of the genre via JJ Cale’s “Wish I Had Not Said That.” Hit with a near city wide black out while recording, the band packed their car full of gear and went looking for electricity. The lights were on at Funky Nola LLC, where they finished out the tunes.
Author: Justin Gage
Fruit Bats’ Spelled in Bones at 20
Twenty years ago this month, Chicago songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eric D. Johnson dropped his third album under his Fruit Bats moniker. Spelled in Bones took the charming indie folk melodies and landscape painting lyrics of his earlier work and spun them into a swirling, hook-laden power pop masterpiece. The album, with its sepia-tinged memories of youth and lost love and its apprehensions of fate and the future, found Johnson staring adulthood in the face. Two decades on and it has lost none of its punch.
Dieter Schütz :: Voyage / Inventions
Two reissued albums from Dieter Schütz, an electronic musician who died young, show an eccentric artist turning the future sounds and computer worlds of industrialized Western Germany to his own eccentric devices. Full of heart yet proudly artificial, tropically tinged, loosely lively and factory made, Schütz’s music offers a point of entry into obscure and overlooked corners of the Berlin School and krautrock scenes.
Jimmy Rowles Trio :: Rare-But Well Done (1954)
At a time when the musical acrobatics of hard-bop jazz were in full swing on the East Coast, Rowles showed little interest in the dazzling technical feats or subversion of form that many of his contemporaries were partaking in. Instead, the unfettered Rowles chose to color within the lines, forming elegant arrangements that drift along like blue smoke curling around an after-hours lounge. On his first solo release, Rare, But Well Done (1954), Rowles’ approach is warm and classy, containing the understated sophistication of a well-tailored black suit: no loud colors, garish patterns, or ostentatious branding — just impeccable fit, fine stitching, and classic style.
Burning Spear :: Marcus Garvey
Of all the reggae cornerstones hitting their 50th anniversary this year, you’d be hard pressed to find another that hit with the same gale force of Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey. Part reggae master class, part history lesson, Marcus Garvey introduced Winston Rodney’s impassioned wail to the world, establishing Burning Spear as one of reggae’s foremost emissaries and educators. Simply put, this is one of the heaviest, deepest roots sets ever laid down.
Floating Action :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Over the last 20 years, Seth Kauffman has quietly released more than a dozen albums of languid, slightly exotic indie rock once clunkily described as “Appalachian Beck.” He plays and sings every note tracked in his basement studio with a DIY touch that renders the hallmark Floating Action sound characterized by slightly-off-kilter groove and woozy warmth. With a new LP dropping next month, we caught up with Kauffman at home in North Carolina to discuss all things Floating Action.
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)
Outré California. 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
Tom Carter and Pat Murano :: Songs of Eliphas Levi Zahed
Charalambides guitarist Tom Carter and No-Neck Blues Band synthesist Pat Murano have been collaborating for over a decade, Each of their albums tend to find the duo exploring the liminal spaces of spiritual esoterica. Their latest collaboration is devoted to the philosophy of nineteenth-century French occultist Eliphas Levi, who influenced every seeker from Madame Blavatsky to Aleister Crowley and practically invented the modern language of ritual magic. Carter and Murano channel Levi’s thought into a searing, beautiful work of psychedelic dissonance.
Yesternow: Editor’s Note Volume Three
Volume three of Yesternow. The comments are open. Who are you? Where are you? How are you? Justin runs down some favorites of late including thoughts on the late Anthony Bourdain, Adrian Sherwood’s 1997 dub remix Echo Dek, Cold War jazzists, distance running, LA area listening bars, and more.
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti :: Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti states the sequel to his 2023 jubilant sophomore record Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean is a homage to Anne Carson’s book Eros: The Bittersweet. Marinetti calls this style “poetic jazz rock,” drawing on the chillness of Donald Byrd and the expansiveness of Robert Wyatt. We’d call it apocalyptic ballroom indie, or: music to imagine yourself slow-dancing as the ship sinks.
Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: July 2025
Freeform transmissions from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard on dublab. Airing every third Sunday of the month, RFAD on dublab features the pairing of Tyler Wilcox’s Doom and Gloom from the Tomb and Chad DePasquale’s New Happy Gathering. This month, Chad kicks it off an hour of minimalist indie rock & lo-fi art pop and Tyler follows him with some semi-summery moods. (And they’re both paying tribute to the recently departed Brian Wilson and Sly Stone.) Sunday, 4-6pm PT.
Floreana :: Diamond Head (Beach Boys Cover)
As part of When You’re Calling Me, an upcoming tribute to the Beach Boys Friends LP coming soon on Passing By Records, Floreana (AKA LA-based musician Victoria Mordoch) tackles “Diamond Head,” one of the album’s two exotica-flavored instrumentals. In her hands, it’s a great dot-connector, taking us from Les Baxter to Stereolab to today’s ambient jazz scene. And she gets there in under two-and-a-half minutes. Something tells me Brian would be pleased.
Videodrome :: Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
From Hollywood A-list leading man to B-movie cult favorite, from Oscar winner to Razzie nominee, Nicolas Cage has made a career out of disappearing into his characters. But characters can just as easily disappear into Cage. Vampire’s Kiss is an exemplary example of the aforementioned, where Cage’s eccentricities become so pronounced that both the actor and character implode inward, forming a caricature that occupies the liminal space between meme and reality.
Bandcamping :: Summer 2025
Could this summer get any weirder? Things are tumbling forward in 2025, with the future as unsteady and uncertain as can be. But the great music keeps on coming somehow, making the weirdness more tolerable. For your further explorations (and continued sanity), check out a handful of recent releases that we’re putting on repeat as the mercury rises.
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)
Dubwise summer. 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