This week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, Peanut Butter Wolf of Stones Throw Records. We hooked up for him to spin the yarn about how ST went from a small backpacker hip-hop imprint to an Adult Swim-boosted powerhouse, and how, 30 years in, the label’s roster is as diverse as ever, featuring post-punk, electro, future-forward R&B, and art-soul October 16, 17, and 18th in Highland Park at the Stones Throw 30 music festival. In this career spanning conversation, Wolf takes us back to the label’s earliest days, discusses his own major label experiences, and traces the thread that connects the Stones Throw artistic lineage.
Category: Podcast
Transmissions :: Johnny Marr
Certain people play guitar in a way that is immediately recognizable, no matter the context. Our guest this week on Transmissions, Johnny Marr, is one such guitarists. A founding member of legendary indie band The Smiths, his sound is undeniable a blend of jangle, chime, bite, and attitude. He’s back with a new album The Age Of Everything, which he joins us to discuss.
Transmissions :: Matt Baldwin
This week on the show, guitarist and psychotherapist Matt Baldwin, who is here to teach you How To Play Guitar. OK, not exactly. But Baldwin is the author of How To Play Guitar, a series of zines that have been collected into a handsome book edition. If you’re just picking up the instrument, well, Baldwin isn’t writing about how to play a C chord or run scales. These aren’t “how to” guides so much as “why to” prompts, stressing intuition over technique, dismissal of music industry norms, and the imperative to hone a singular, personal philosophy regarding the instrument—think Captain Beefheart’s “Ten Commandments of Playing Guitar.” In this talk, we discuss his own guitar journey, the paranormal, John Fahey, Philip K Dick, and much more.
Transmissions :: James Austin Johnson
This week on the show, comedian James Austin Johnson joins us to dive into the music nerd obsessions of his new comedy special He’ll Yeah. You’ve likely seen JAJ on the TV. He’s known for portraying Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and occasionally, Bob Dylan, on SNL. But He’ll Yeah’s vignettes and on-stage footage find Johnson creating a more “indie rock” styled special. Along the way, we talk Bob Dylan, the perils of political comedy, and much more.
Transmissions :: The Bird Calls
Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, writer and musician Sam Sodomsky, who records and releases music—a lot of it—under the name The Bird Calls. His latest slice of literate folk rock and alt-country songcraft is called Take Leave, and it was released on August 28 via Ruination Record Co. Take Leave rattles with downcast charm. Its songs are sly and full of knowing. Sam joins us to discuss, talk about his Springsteen fandom, dig into The Blue Nile, and more.
Transmissions :: Sun Ra: Door of the Cosmos
Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week, we’ve got something extra special: a behind the scenes look at the forthcoming documentary, Sun Ra: Door of the Cosmos, a sonic cinema odyssey through the life, work and philosophy of the surrealist composer and musician. In addition to a conversation with director Drew DeNicola, this episode will present archival material gathered for the film, including interviews and statements from Ra himself, rare recordings of the Sun Ra Arkestra in action, and previous Transmissions guest Camae Ayewa, also known as Moor Mother, reading from Sun Ra’s The Immeasurable Equation.
Transmissions :: Jim James
Since 1998, Jim James has led My Morning Jacket. In the early 2000s, the band’s blend of Southern rock, psychedelia, dub, classic songcraft, loner country, and experimental folk put them on the forefront of festival stages. And now, James has a new solo album: Wowed Out. It’s his first solo music in eight years, and a killer return to form. Touching on soul, psychedelic pop, folk, and ambient sounds, it’s some of the most spiritual music James has ever recorded, and tellingly, this conversation takes a heady, mystical turn.
Transmissions :: Fred Thomas
Welcome back to Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, another talk that spun out of our Big Ears hang out, a conversation with a journeyman musician Fred Thomas. Even if you don’t know Thomas’ name, you’ve heard him: In the ‘90s, he was responsible for the math rock band Chore; from there, he joined up with Warren Defever’s genre bending indie rock outfit His Name Is Alive, alongside groups like Lovesick and his own band Saturday Looks Good To Me, who melded Detroit R&B and soul to twee indie pop. From pre-fame adventures with Andrew WK to his work as a music writer, from Ethio-jazz to house music, this conversation runs a wide game.
Transmissions :: Dust-to-Digital
Since 1999, Atlanta label Dust-to-Digital has created lavish boxsets, books, and collections of gospel, folk, blues, field recordings, and other sounds sourced from deep global archives. This week on Transmissions, Lance and April Ledbetter join us to discuss the label’s mission, navigating the algorithms, and of course, some of the most notable Dust-to-Digital fans, including the Brian Eno and Law & Order‘s Carey Lowell.
Transmissions :: Awake, My Soul
Describing the sound of Sacred Harp singing can be difficult. Arcane, otherworldly, and overwhelming, it’s a unique a cappella form of shape note Christian hymn singing that was born in England in the 18th century, but took root in the American south. It’s not something you listen to so much something as experience. This week on Transmissions, co-director Matt Hinton discusses his documentary on the subject, Awake, My Soul.
Transmissions :: Erin Osmon
This week on the show, we welcome Nashville-based music journalist, critic and author Erin Osmon, to discuss her tremendous book, Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America, which chronicles how heartland rock, typified by artists like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and more, brought a populist, Americana-inspired sound to the airwaves of the radio and MTV.
Transmissions :: Mouse on Mars on Lee “Scratch” Perry
This week on Transmissions we’re joined by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma, Mouse on Mars, calling in from Germany to discuss creating Spatial, No Problem with Lee “Scratch” Perry. The two have been friends since they were kids. In 1993, they formed Mouse on Mars, drawing from electronic traditions, live instrumentation, breakbeats, and a propensity for collaboration with other artists, including Mark E. Smith of The Fall, members of the National, and Stereolab—who, hey now, provide our show’s theme song: “Flashes in the Afternoon.”
Transmissions :: Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby is on the mic—and at the piano—for this special episode of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast, joining us to discuss his latest album, Indigo Park, basketball chants, his work with The Grateful Dead and the Dead’s legacy, his taste in literary fiction, and much more.
Transmissions :: Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye’s creative output is kaleidoscopic: he’s a founding member of the Patti Smith Group, bringing his slashing guitar style to classic records like Horses; he curated the legendary rock & roll compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts of the First Psychedelic Era; he’s produced records for artists like Jessi Colter, Allen Ginsberg, and Suzanne Vega; and he’s written a number of books. Today, he joins us to discuss his first solo album, Goin’ Local, his first proper solo album, out July 17 on Yep Roc Records.
Transmissions :: Annahstasia
Annahstasia is one of the most exciting singer/songwriters in the modern folk scene, blending the soul jazz of Terry Callier with Nick Drake’s hushed chamber folk, with her magnificent voice way out front in the mix, sometimes recalling the fullness of singers like Odetta or the jazzy sway of Hejira-era Joni Mitchell. On this week’s show, she joins us to discuss the spaciousness and quietude required to get into a creative zone, the influence of Terry Callier, blazing her own trail as a self-described “Black girl playing her guitar,” and her latest release, a live album recorded in NYC called Live at Glasshaus.