Amanda Petrusich is the author of Do Not Sell at Any Price and a critic at The New Yorker. She joined us from her place in upstate New York to discuss balancing comfort listening and new sounds, Bob Dylan’s Christian era, Harry Smith, musical mysticism, and much more.
Category: Podcast
Peter Guralnick :: Transmissions
Legendary music writer Peter Guralnick joins us this week on Transmissions. He’s been writing about the blues, rock & roll, soul, and R&B since the late 1960s. His latest book is called Looking To Get Lost: Adventures in Music & Writing. It is a book about the creativity that fueled artists like Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson, Ray Charles, Dick Curless, Howlin’ Wolf, and others. He joins us for an open discussion about the early days of music journalism, artistry, and the curiosity that fuels his work.
Fletcher Tucker :: Transmissions
Northern California mysticism with Fletcher Tucker. His latest album of ritualistic folk music is called Unlit Trail, a record settled deep into the sacred nature of existence. Tucker joined us to discuss Star Trek, animism, family, the Esalen Institute, human potential, and the deep history of his instruments and home in Big Sur, California.
Robyn Hitchcock/Howe Gelb of Giant Sand/Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate :: Transmissions
One from the Transmissions vaults: a roundtable conversation with three indie rock lifers: Robyn Hitchcock, Howe Gelb (Giant Sand), and Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate). The talk was recorded in August 2018 at Hotel Congress in Tucson, Arizona.
Yasmin Williams :: Transmissions
On Yasmin Williams’ second lp, the newly released Urban Driftwood the Virginia-based guitarist creates expansive acoustic music. Playing guitar, kalimba, percussion, and kora, she pulls from disparate musical strands—including the smooth jazz she heard growing up—into music that feels spiritually connected to New Age music, Windham Hill guitar, and the work of contemporaries (and collaborators) like William Tyler, Marisa Anderson and Daniel Bachman, who calls her “a guitarist for a new century.”
The Weather Station :: Transmissions
Tamara Lindeman joins us this week on Transmissions for a conversation about Ignorance, her lush and sweeping new album as The Weather Station. Lindeman is the kind of songwriter who dares to write about big topics, like identity and global climate change, but the new album finds her exploring those concepts over deeply rhythmic jazz and pop-influenced compositions. It’s out Friday, February 5 on Fat Possum Records. Lindeman joined us from her home in Ontario, to discuss the pandemic, the information overload of daily life, and how she’s come to embrace the performative side of artistic practice.
Margo Price :: Transmissions
This week we’re happy to welcome Margo Price to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions for a talk about the music industry, her creative partnership with husband Jeremy Ivey, the politics of country music, and the cannabis business.
Transmissions :: Nels Cline
Nels Cline joins us as we kick off the new season of our weekly Transmissions podcast. The guitarist and bandleader discusses his new album, Share the Wealth, long history, early days working in record stores, and how joining Wilco changed his life.
Transmissions :: North Americans
Our guest this week is Patrick McDermott of North Americans. His latest is called Roped In and its blissed out guitar-scapes. This is the final episode of this season. We’re going to take a break but don’t you sweat it, we’ll be back early in 2021 with more strange conversations for our strange times.
Transmissions :: Psychic Temple
This week, we’re joined by returning guest Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple and Big Ego, his studio in Long Beach. His latest is called Houses of the Holy, a four-sided double-album, featuring a different band on each side: Cherry Glazerr with garage pop, the Chicago Underground Trio with their jazz inflection, psych warriors the Dream Syndicate, and rapper and producer Xololanxinxo. Schlarb took some time out of his holiday season to speak with us about the creative ethos driving his work.
Transmissions :: Ken Layne of Desert Oracle
This week on our show, Ken Layne, author of Desert Oracle Volume 1: Strange and True Tales From the American Southwest. He joins us for a far-reaching conversation about the allure of the weird, conspiracy theory and literature, the disenchantment of modern life, and of course, venturing into the spiritual wilderness represented by the desert.
Transmissions :: Masma Dream World
On her new LP Play at Night Masma Dream World blends electronics and ritual to build a shadow world of sound. She joins us to discuss her global history, DJing, and the spiritual qualities of frequencies.
Transmissions :: Magik Markers
You’re tuned into Transmissions, where each week Aquarium Drunkard presents a strange conversations for these strange times. Today on the show we’re joined by Elisa Ambrogio of Magik Makers. The Markers’ new album 2020 is out now on Drag City. It’s a gloriously smeared burst of noise, raw riffs, and damaged country and folk songs. Ambrogio joined us to discuss the importance of good quarantine companion, living out west, and getting into music—really inhabiting it—before you are even sure what you are doing.
Transmissions :: Yves Jarvis (plus Vic Berger & Doug Lussenhop)
Incoming transmission from…Yves Jarvis. The singer/songwriter/producer’s latest is called Sundry Rock Song Stock, and it’s a blur of soft-focus pop and shimmering melodic mirages. He joined us from the Tree Museum in Ontario to discuss the disparate influences of Joni Mitchell, Bill Bruford, and Kanye. Plus, Vic Berger and Doug Lussenhop of Tim Heidecker’s Office Hours join us to discuss their new audio/visual sonic collage, Drop Concert: The Motion Picture.
Transmissions :: William Basinski and Preston Wendel
This week on the show, we’re joined by ambient hero William Basinski and his collaborator and engineer Preston Wendel. They’ve got two wildly divergent projects out this year. In July, they released To Feel Embraced, a collection of saxophone-laden lounge and electronica under the name Sparkle Division. And on November 13th, they release William Basinski’s Lamentations, which assembles more than 40 years of archival tape loops and studies from his archives. The dual albums encompass the ecstatic highs and dread-soaked lows of this strange year. We spoke with the duo in September, when it was still warm out enough to take a dip in the pool about doom scrolling, iPhone recordings, cutting loose, and much more.