This week on the show, Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance. His new album is called The Veiled Sea, out this week via Three Lobed Records. Six Organs records can often sound very different from each other—think quiet acoustic sketches or long, blown out psych epics—but this one is a whole new thing entirely, with wild glam inspired solos over wild riffs—plus there’s a Faust cover. Chasny stopped by to discuss the new album, his work with Comets on Fire, his trio with Sir Richard Bishop and Chris Corsano, Rangda, the dubious “freak folk” term and much more.
Category: Podcast
Jeffrey Silverstein :: Transmissions
Musician and writer Jeffrey Silverstein. His new EP of gently cosmic guitar music is called Torii Gates, and he’s the head behind the wonderful It’s So Easy (When You Know What You’re Doing), a tribute to the late cult folk musician Ted Lucas, featuring AD favorites like John Andrews & the Yawns, Julianna Barwick and William Tyler, Barry Walker Jr., Amelia Courthouse, and more. He’s also a teacher and a runner. We get into it all on this special bonus episode of Transmissions.
John Grant :: Transmissions
John Grant on his synth-dappled Boy From Michigan, produced by Cate Le Bon, full of Blade Runner synths pulsing underneath incredible melodies and vocal performances.
Colleen :: Transmissions
Our guest is electronic composer Cécile Schott, who records as Colleen. Her latest album of spacey synths and vintage drum machines is called The Tunnel and the Clearing and she joined us for a talk about its roots in heartbreak and personal rebirth.
Jim Jarmusch :: Transmissions
Director, musician, and artist Jim Jarmusch joins Transmissions for a wide-ranging talk about his movies, collaborators, and life in upstate New York, where he’s at work on art and music nearly all the time. “I have a kind of slow rhythm to the way I talk, to the music I make, to the films I make.”
Sarah Louise :: Transmissions
Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Sarah Louise joins us this week on the show to discuss her new album, Earth Bow, an interconnected eco-system of guitar, synth, vocals, and hypnotic rhythms. Though Louise is known for her 12-string folks fantasias, her work is wide ranging, evoking the soundscapes of Robert Fripp and the interlocked rhythms of electronic pop. Louise joins us for a return visit to Transmissions to discuss being off the grid, the perils of social media, and her spiritual and creative practice.
Wadada Leo Smith :: Transmissions
Composer, trumpeter, and theorist Wadada Leo Smith joins us to discuss year of releases centered around his 80th birthday, his blues roots, spiritual journey, and creative outlook.
Richard Thompson :: Transmissions
Our guest this week is guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson. One of the founding fathers of British folk rock, he’s the author of a new book, Beeswing. It chronicles the early days of his band, Fairport Convention, the launch of his solo career, run-ins with Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, a lost jam session with Led Zeppelin, and his collaborations with Linda Thompson, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, John Martyn. He joins Jason P. Woodbury to discuss it all and more this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.
J Mascis :: Transmissions
J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. joins us to discuss Sweep It Into Space, along with his solo albums, early SST days, playing with heroes like Ron Asheton of the Stooges, and more.
Joanna Brouk :: Transmissions
This week on Transmissions, we’re digging into the Aquarium Drunkard vault for a 2016 conversation with the late New Age pioneer, composer, author and creator Joanna Brouk. An edited and condensed version of this conversation was published in 2016, but we are happy to present it here in its uncut audio form. Brouk passed away April 28th, 2017.
Al Riggs :: Transmissions
Durham songwriter al Riggs returns with a new country music album, I Got a Big Electric Fan to Keep Me Cool While I Sleep. They joined us to discuss the album’s concept, finding your own way into traditional music, and of course, Robert Altman’s 1980 movie Popeye.
Angel Bat Dawid :: Transmissions
This week on the show, Chicago’s Angel Bat Dawid. She joined us to discuss record collecting, the influence of Sun Ra, her history with music and religion, her creative practice, race, and much more.
Pino Palladino & Blake Mills :: Transmissions
Pino Palladino and Blake Mills are two of the most dynamic studio wizards in music and they join us this week on Transmissions to discuss Notes With Attachments, their Impulse! Records-released collaborative long-player. Known for their individual collaborations with artists like Bob Dylan, D’Angelo, The Who, Fiona Apple, and Brittany Howard, these two go completely unexpected places as they unite for a set of jazzy instruments that blur the lines between J. Dilla flips, Cuban shuffles, and West African lock grooves.
Noah Lekas & Ethan Miller of Howlin’ Rain :: Transmissions
This week on the show, we’re joined by poet and music journalist Noah C. Lekas and Ethan Miller of Howlin’ Rain and Comets on Fire. They’ve got a new collaboration featured on Sounds From the Shadow Factory, a 10″ record from Blind Owl: a rock & roll adaptation of “Saturday Night Sage,” the poem from Lekas’ recent book of the same name. The two joined us for a discussion about spoken word, their paths in psychedelia, blue collar mysticism, and the current state of the counter culture. Heading deep underground, this week on Transmissions.
Martin Courtney of Real Estate :: Transmissions
Our guest this week on Transmissions is Martin Courtney of Real Estate. On March 26th, the long-running New Jersey group releases a new EP, Half a Human, which embraces the jammier side of the band and continues the stylistic explorations of 2020’s The Main Thing. We discussed record stores, adjusting to life without live music, Twin Peaks, and Courtney’s 2015 solo album Many Moons—and its forthcoming follow up.