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
Transmissions :: Suss
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.
John Coltrane Quintet With Eric Dolphy :: Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland, November 22, 1961
While we wait for Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, let’s enjoy this wondrous 40+ minutes of the Coltrane Quintet in Finland. Compared to the Village Vanguard tapes from just a few weeks before, the performance is relatively smooth — nothing too outward bound like “India” or “Chasin’ Another Trane.”
Ben Chasny And Rick Tomlinson :: Waves
Just six cuts make up Waves, that is, five guitar duets and one noise-drone experiment, but all of them are quietly beautiful, bringing together the spirit, the skill, the intelligence of two remarkable guitarists at play.
Mário Rui Silva :: Stories From Another Time 1982-1988
Compiling 17 tracks across Angolan guitarist, researcher and intellectual Mário Rui Silva’s 1980s output, Stories From Another Time 1982-1988 is an eccentric and engrossing collection of historically informed and forward thinking folk music.
JJ Whitefield :: Ethio Meditations / Drama Al Dente
This first taste from the recently launched Madlib Invazion Music Library Series finds JJ Whitefield at the controls with Ethio Meditations / Drama Al Dente. Created over the course of the pandemic, the series self describes as a nod to “the best ‘Music Library’ releases of the past, on labels like Italy’s Sermi, Germany’s Bruton, France’s MP2000 and the UK’s DeWolfe.” Aesthetic ideals achieved, as Whitefield riffs on Ethiopian jazz and psychedelic funk over the course of the LP’s nineteen tracks.
Maya Ongaku :: Approach To Anima
From a studio tucked away in the back of the Ace General Store, a beachy vintage shop some 60 miles inland of the seaside coast of the small Japanese island Enoshima, emits the smoky, alchemic jazz-folk of maya ongaku. A trio of childhood friends—Tsutomu Sonoda on guitar and vocals, Ryota Takano on bass, and Shoei Ikeda on percussion and synth—the band feels fully at peace with itself on its debut album, Approach to Anima, released last month via Guruguru Brain.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Glyders
Consummate purveyors of ‘American weirdness’, Chicago’s Glyders returned to the fold earlier this year with the release of their latest LP, Maria’s Hunt, via hometown heroes Drag City. Buttressing the album, the band’s Lagniappe Session takes on southern fried Skynyrd, The Damned as chooglers, acoustic Scott Walker and Johnny Mathis by way of the Hoss.
Bonny Doon :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Bonny Doon came together in a scrappy DIY Detroit punk garage scene, but over time has moved towards the sunny clarity of classic pop. The band’s latest album, Let There Be Music, distills exuberant songs to their essence, tamping down the guitar mayhem to make space for the piano and breezy “ooh la las” waft over dreamy hooks.
Snaarj :: Parker Groove
Here’s one that slipped by us in 2021 — the sophomore LP from the Bloomington, Indiana based jazz quartet, Snaarj. Released eight years after Levels, the group’s 2013 effort, Snaarj II immediately makes up for lost time. Case in point, the album’s longest track, “Parker Groove”. In contrast to album’s beat forward material, the leisurely six-plus minute groove stretches out for a solid four minutes before sliding into its eventual prolonged climax.
Sam Evian :: Life Go Low
Summer is creeping in, and if we’re lucky, we’ll soon be by the water somewhere warm. Cue “Life Go Low,” the easygoing new single from Sam Evian, a track which floats along via a humid groove.
Brahja :: Keepers
Recorded in a desanctified church outside of Quebec, “Keepers” is the second track off the NY based jazz outfit’s self-titled 2019 lp. Smoky, languid, spiritual and sublime.
Baden Powell :: Tristeza On Guitar
While much of the Brazilian pop-music scene was caught up in the groundbreaking fusion of traditional folk stylings with Rock and Roll, Baden Powell was lingering further in the past. Tropicalia was taking the underground by storm; applying fuzz guitar, jazzed out sensibility, and tongue-in-cheek humor to far more danceable and groove-oriented cuts than the Anglo-American scene could comprehend. But prior to Os Mutantes massive breakthrough, Powell was working through his own vision of Brazil’s emergence into the mainstream. In 1966, Tristeza on Guitar was released as an essential first step on the road to full-blown Tropicalia.
Bandcamping :: Summer 2023
Summer is rapidly approaching — and if you need some fresh tunes to soundtrack the next few months, we’ve got recommendations, from Ethiopian pop to well-tuned piano minimalism. Be aware: there’s no Bandcamp Friday this month; the next one hits Aug. 4, 2023. But hey, any day can be Bandcamp Friday if you toss a couple extra dollars onto the asking price of any release on the platform.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Dark Canyon
For his premiere Lagniappe Session, Mike Novak takes the cinematic reverberation of Dark Canyon and infuses it into the compositions of Lee Hazelwood – another musician who was no stranger to the spectral sounds of lonesome desert towns.