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
Author: Justin Gage
John Martyn :: One World
It is perhaps at the peak of his unhinged behavior in the mid-70s that Martyn stumbled into his creative apex. Solid Air confirmed that the chops were there, but it was with One World that the artist cemented his potential for crafting masterworks that transcend the folk-singer moniker.
Project Gemini :: Colours & Light
On Colours & Light, Project Gemini’s second album, released by certified groove merchants Mr. Bongo, UK bassist Paul Osborne welcomes listeners into the soundtracks of his dreams. Expect acid folk, tropicalia, yé-yé, and Caribou circa The Milk of Human Kindness—when they were still a psych-pop band with two drum kits.
Greg Foat, Sokratis Votskos, Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu :: Live at Villa Maximus, Mykonos
On his second live release this year, Villa Maximus sends jazz pianist and synthesizer maven Greg Foat to Mykonos with his frequent collaborators guitarist Warren Hampshire of the Bees and drummer Ayo Salawu of Kokoroko. But the real wild card here is stellar Greek reedman Sokratis Votskos, who adds flute and bass clarinet to this already formidable unit. The thrilling results range from deep space ambient jazz exploration to funky krautrock blowouts.
Catching Up With Amen Dunes
With Death Jokes Damon McMahon has created a complicated musical and cultural tapestry, inspired by hip-hop sample density. “I just really hope that people take the time to pay attention to the details, because there’s so much in this album. Even my dearest friends are saying, ‘I didn’t understand it until I’d listened to it five times.'”
Water Damage :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Maximal repetition with minimal deviation: This is the guiding principle of Water Damage, the amorphous Austin, Texas-based collective specializing in 20-minute slabs of hulking, relentless drone-rock for people who think two notes is one too many. An awe-inspiring racket that sounds like Earth taking a crack at making dance music, or a bulldozer covering Faust.
Nick Millevoi :: Moon Pulses
Enter Nick Millevoi. The guitarist’s Moon Pulses rises over the horizon of cosmic guitar, breathing life from a new direction. The six-part suite that encompasses the LP offers a stoic take on the free-form headyness that proliferates the current world of guitar records.
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.
somesurprises :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
somesurprises began modestly, but with the band’s latest record, the excellent Perseids, they’ve moved into a positively widescreen space. It’s a dreamy sound, occasionally reminiscent of such legends as Stereolab, Grouper, Mazzy Star or Yo La Tengo. But it’s not just dreamy. Beneath the gorgeous drones and sweet motorik pop-rock, there are plenty of sharp edges, both sonically and lyrically.
Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin :: Ghosted II
This second round of Ghosted rides a sinuous pulse, a tricky pop of rhythm playing out over multi-toned drumheads, a subtle nod of bass, a flame-like fluctuation of tone and feedback. Oren Ambarchi who more typically works in the studio, layering texture on texture in post-production, here again sinks into a live, intuitive groove, reacting on the fly to long-time compatriots Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin.
Sufferer’s Time :: Michael Crow At The Controls
Sun is shining. The latest installment in Michael Crow Taylor’s dank reggae mix series, Sufferer’s Time, winds a path through deep devotionals, primo dub and loping, cosmic love jams. Mixed at Dad’s Bar and Grill, Durham, NC. You can find Taylor onstage with Hiss Golden Messenger, and in the studio with Hiss, Revelators Sound System and many other friends …
Goro Ito Ensemble :: Amorozsofia – Abstract João
Equal parts João Gilberto tribute and freshly inspired arrangements, this is a fulfilling experiment reaching cinematic depths. A restless arranger and film composer in Japan, the prolific Giro Ito Ito is perhaps most inventive when playing homage to the Brazilian musicians that perennially influence his compositions. Sean O’Hagan describes it best: “The harmony he manages to craft is post-Jobim and Gilberto but collides with European and Japanese experimentation to create a sound unique to Goro”.
Stereolab :: Black Session (La Maison de la Radio: Paris, France)
March 30, 1993. Paris, France. Following the release of their studio debut, Peng, and eight months before the release of the, now classic, Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements, Stereolab touched down in the 16th arrondissement to record a Black Session at La Maison de la Radio. Sublime Silver Apples cover, naturally.
Agitation Free :: At the Cliffs of River Rhine
Agitation Free emerged in the early 1970s in the same Berlin circles as electronic experimentalists like Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. But this killer 1974 concert from Cologne reveals them in their true form, a first-rate psychedelic jam band influenced by open-ended American boogie outfits like the Allmans and the Grateful Dead.
Television :: Live at the Academy, NYC 12.4.92
Television have two well-known live albums to their name, both taped in 1978 — the classic ROIR release The Blow-Up, which came out in the early 1980s, and the incendiary Live at the Old Waldorf, emerging about 20 years later. Live at the Academy is much more under the radar; originally sold in unassuming CDR format at merch tables in the 2000s, it’s been available only fleetingly since on various streaming services. This year’s Record Store Day, however, sees the performance getting a well-deserved double LP reissue. It’s a necessary addition to Television’s relatively small discography.