Witchi tai to. 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
Smith Perkins Smith :: S/T (1972)
Via their 1972 self-titled debut, Smith Perkins Smith’s “Say No More” was highlighted by Board Of Canada’s Marcus Eoin as part of his Campfire Mixtape. Spanning John Denver to Joni MItchell, the 10 selections that constitute Eoin’s imaginary cassette were intended to serve as a rough guide of aesthetic touchstones that informed the vibe of their forthcoming record. As a song cycle it works, with the inclusion of the Perkins tune being both the highlight and most enigmatic of the bunch…
Keith Hudson :: Pick A Dub
2024 heralded the 50th anniversary of this seminal dub record – one of the first of its kind – and it’s no exaggeration to say this release from Jamaican producer Keith Hudson remains one of the genre’s high-water marks. Recorded in a nascent scene, Pick A Dub‘s edges are rough, but the riddims are pure and shot straight from the heart boasting a simplicity and honesty that is nothing short of enchanting.
Billy Strayhorn :: The Peaceful Side (1963)
Dim the lights. Chill the glasses. Loosen your tie; kick off your heels. For the latest installment of our “Midnite Jazz” column, we look at Billy Strayhorn’s The Peaceful Side (1963), a ghostly offering of sparse jazz standards that showcase Strayhorn not as Duke Ellington’s right-hand man, but as a formidable solo artist in his own right.
Janine :: Muda
Just like the early MPB of Marília Medalha, Nara Leão, and Elis Regina, Janine Price’s music comes from the theater tradition, where she built her musical persona and developed warping intonation techniques. Just like their early MPB too, her music is centered on the tenor vocal range, which prepares grand orchestrations to a sequence of unexpected soft landings.
Cash Langdon :: Dogs
With a tight full band setup reminiscent of his own version of Crazy Horse, the sophomore effort from Alabama-based musician Cash Langdon brings a rugged, heavy country rock feel. Langdon’s muse of forthright melodic songcraft however still delivers the melodic goods, capturing a gritty power pop sensibility. Dogs is an increasingly impressive work, from the uniquely southern identity in the lyrics to electric, shambling song frameworks that hit exactly as hard as intended.
Florry :: Sounds Like
Florry, from Philly and now headquartered in Burlington, VT, makes a tipsy, slurry, utterly fetching variety of country rock, the notes wobbling all over the place but fizzing with unstoppable electric energy. The band spins out songs like a country joyride, rattling, banging, jolting hard on the ruts, but full of unfussed beauty. Sounds like a good time? Sounds like Florry.
The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)
Patois. 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
Zandoli :: A Mixtape (Spring 2025)
Step inside Zandoli, a humid TDK embrace spanning 1971-2025. Analog Estonian groove opens the set before sliding into vintage Italian film funk, Grecian honey skronk, imitation Bengalese hypnagogia, and a rousing 1977 exaltation from Fort-de-France, Martinique. And that’s just the first twenty minutes. Press play, let it soak.
Charif Megarbane :: Hawalat
Charif Megarbane’s prolific schedule of releases via his independent imprint Hisstology looks like a set of Borgesian fantasies or little musical toys that tap into all possible musical traditions. His releases on the much more selective Habibi Funk label, though, are another beast entirely, distilling that beautifully demented potpourri to their essence. Hawalat, the follow-up to 2023’s wondrous Marzipan, is a cosmo-cosmopolitan craftwork, a world tour through a lysergic miniature model. The Lebanese musician, who has lived in Nairobi, Lisbon, London, and other cities around the globe, provides both a self-conscious reflection on the diasporic fluxes he feeds from and a sort of ironic commentary on the transnational dimensions of his own music.
People Whispering, Or The Strip Mine On The Other Side of The Mountain :: The Experimental Folk of North Carolina’s Magic Tuber Stringband
Magic Tuber Stringband is one of the most arresting outfits to emerge from the American folk tradition in the last five years. While they spring from North Carolina’s venerable old-time music tradition, they are experimentalists, deeply engaged in the methods of free jazz improvisation pioneered by Marion Brown and Don Cherry, and the minimalist strategies of postwar composers like Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley.
Mood Stabilizers: The Post-Rock Era, 1993-2002 (A Mixtape)
We’ve had post-rock on the brain lately. New music from genre pioneers Tortoise and the prospect of a North American tour by Stereolab this fall, not to mention recent archival releases by the likes of Aerial M, Gastr del Sol and Seefeel have many of us revisiting the sound’s 1990s salad days. For those wanting more, we’ve compiled a mixtape of some three hours of the genre’s knottiest groove logistics. For the uninitiated, here’s a crash course in what the end of the twentieth century sounded like.
In The Spiritual Kingdom Of Love :: Robyn Hitchcock Dissects The Soft Boys’ Underwater Moonlight
Forty-five years after it was first released, the Soft Boys’ Underwater Moonlight sounds better than ever. The glorious chime of Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberley Rew’s guitars, the buoyant rhythm section of drummer Morris Windsor and bassist Matthew Seligman, the interlocking vocal harmonies, Hitchcock’s surreal and bewitching lyrics … it all adds up to a bona fide masterpiece.
To dive deep into the stories behind the songs, we went straight to the source. Below, Robyn Hitchcock walks us through the album’s 10 tracks.
Aquarium Drunkard Presents: The Hard Quartet, Teragram Ballroom | May 3, 2025
If you missed the gig downtown when the record dropped last fall, now is your shot. The Hard Quartet once again touch down in Los Angeles May 3rd at the Teragram Ballroom. We have five pairs of tickets saved for AD members. Click the link to land a pair …
THiQ :: The New Cats
With his solo Paint project, Pedrum Siadatian has been steadily inching out of the Allah Lahs’ gritty, fuzzy, sweetly disruptive garage aesthetic and into cleaner, synthier, electro-fired dance music. Now with the Montreal producer and Sheer Agony frontman Jackson Macintosh in tow, THiQ pushes further into electronic grooviness. Day-glo fantasies of synth and keyboard open up like a psychedelic curio cabinet, with tableaux after tableaux of anime flavored hyper-realities.