At its best, art develops its own associations as it moves through the world. With Only the Void Stands Between Us on Silver Current Records, Julie Beth Napolin delivers a singular debut, one that cuts new trail through the cosmic and the colloquial wilds while adding to the amorphous canon of psych-folk.
Category: The AD Interview
Grooves Outside The Academy: An Interview with Peter Gordon from Love of Life Orchestra (Part 2)
An almost Zelig-like figure whose life and career has seen him careen from postmodern rock and jittery Downtown dance music ensembles, to opera and theater pieces, orchestral works, contemporary DJ culture, and so much more, Peter Gordon is the type of multifaceted artist whose wide range of interests have made him something of a cornerstone of underground music culture in New York City for well over four decades now. Even if few people outside of New York know who he is. And even there he’s not a household name. But that hasn’t stopped him from casting a wide net of influence over present-day sonic exploration, in all of its various forms.
Grooves Outside The Academy: An Interview with Peter Gordon from Love of Life Orchestra (Part 1)
An almost Zelig-like figure whose life and career has seen him careen from postmodern rock and jittery Downtown dance music ensembles, to opera and theater pieces, orchestral works, contemporary DJ culture, and so much more, Peter Gordon is the type of multifaceted artist whose wide range of interests have made him something of a cornerstone of underground music culture in New York City for well over four decades now. Even if few people outside of New York know who he is. And even there he’s not a household name. But that hasn’t stopped him from casting a wide net of influence over present-day sonic exploration, in all of its various forms.
Ralph Towner :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
As a member of the pioneering chamber/world/GORP jazz group Oregon, as a solo artist and leader or co-leader, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Ralph Towner has been making wide-ranging, pigeonhole-defying music for more than half a century. Speaking to Aquarium Drunkard from his home in Rome, Towner was happy to look back at a few of the many highlights of his remarkable and varied career, from including but not limited to all-night concerts in the ‘70s, an impromptu jam session with Sonny Rollins, his jazz-snob regrets, kicking Bill Evans off the piano, looking for a sex-free crash tent at Woodstock, meeting astronauts and the vicissitudes of selenography. Most importantly, he showed that, nearing his 85th birthday, his musical mind is as restless and active as ever, even if there’s still one instrument he’ll never, ever play.
Sam Wilkes :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Jazz in Los Angeles is blooming right now. Thanks in part to concert promoters like Yousef Hilmy of Minaret Records, people across the city are hearing a wide range of improvisational music styles in bars, stores, churches, and gardens that now moonlight as jazz venues. Sam Wilkes, a bass player, composer, arranger, and bandleader, is one of the most sought-after musicians in that scene.
Dylan Tupper Rupert & Jessica Hopper on Groupies :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
It opens with an abduction—and only gets crazier from there. Groupies is the latest series from KCRW’s Lost Notes music podcast. Written and hosted by Dylan Tupper Rupert and producer Jessica Hopper, the show’s eight episodes span the end of the ’60s, the birth of the ’70s Sunset Strip culture, and the dawn of punk rock, illuminating the lives of women often written out of the story or viewed as mere accessories to their rock star companions.
Jeff Parker on ETA :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“With the ETA band, there were all these other experiences dealing with music that people were composing. So, when we would improvise, all of that other stuff was informed in what we were doing.” Visionary guitarist Jeff Parker joins us to discuss The Way Out of Easy, recorded live at his residency at ETA.
Bob Holmes (SUSS, numün, Ambient Country) :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
One of the ambient country scene’s biggest proponents for almost a decade now has been Bob Holmes, whose work with SUSS, numün and the Ambient Country podcast — among many other efforts — have spread the gospel far and wide. Holmes’ latest project is Across The Horizon, a collaboration with Northern Spy Records that brings onboard various like-minded artists drawn “from the wide landscape of instrumental music” (including Luke Schneider, Marisa Anderson, William Tyler and more) to curate a series of digital releases that will culminate next year in a double LP compilation of stellar sonic explorations.
J Spaceman on Stranded in Canton :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“It’s almost a Biblical connection.” Today at Aquarium Drunkard, Jason Pierce, aka J Spaceman, discusses Harmony Korine, Jim Dickinson, and his new soundtrack to William Eggleston’s 1974 documentary Stranded in Canton, released this week on Fat Possum Records.
The Soundcarriers :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
There was an eight year gap between Nottingham, UK band The Soundcarriers’ 2014 album Entropicalia and 2022’s Wilds, but thankfully the retro-pop combo have returned after a much shorter wait with Through Other Reflections, a spellbinding collection of beatific harmonies, motorik pulses, reverberating flutes, and fuzz guitars, all eased along by the haunting vocals of members Leonore Wheatley and Dorian Conway. Multi-instrumentalist Paul Isherwood joins us today to discuss the new album, creating music for the sorely missed television program Lodge 49, and the enduring influence of Scott Walker.
Jennifer Castle :: Letting The Songs Out
“I don’t want to teach anybody anything with a song. I’m not trying to steer anybody towards anything with a song. I’m not trying to be manipulative. I’m trying to let it out,” she says. “I must want it to come into being, so I just try to let it out as honestly as I can and then work from there.”
Office Culture :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Inspired by a dream in which he produced a CD called Enough, the latest from Office Culture signals a shift in songwriter/producer Winston Cook-Wilson’s whip smart songcraft: employing a wide cast of collaborators, including guest appearances by Alena Spanger, Sam Sodomsky’s The Bird Calls, and Jackie West, he turns his attention to rhythms, textures, and mood, creating mini-movies with each of the album’s 16 songs. From clanking, layered polyrhythms, to melodious fretless bass, to pensive piano ballads, it’s a dynamic listen that feels as personal as it does ambitious.
Sun Araw :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Sun Araw’s Cameron Stallones doesn’t stick to one mode. Since 2007, he’s exercised extreme artistic freedom, creating tapestries of experimental pop, zoned-out soundscapes, MIDI-symphonies, and dub-inflected synthscapes. On his 10th album, Lifetime, he spent years manipulating his bandmates’ contributions digitally, blending improv and post-production, resulting in a florid space of clapping drums, guitar scrawls, and oozy synths, all aided by sunny, yacht rock ready melodies. He joins us to discuss the record, as well as his collaborations with legends like Laraaji and The Congos
Anaïs Mitchell :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
There seems to be something downright mystical about everything Anaïs Mitchell does. With Bonny Light Horseman’s Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free, a double album and their third release to date, blends conversational songwriting and a cast of characters culled from our collective mythology to expand upon their already rich brand of storytelling and music-making. Anaïs joined us via Zoom from her family farm in Vermont.
The Necks :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
The Necks have created conditions for themselves as a band that embraces a constant pattern of departure and arrival. In the leadup to the release of Bleed, Aquarium Drunkard interviewed Lloyd Swanton (bass), Tony Buck (drums, percussion), and Chris Abrahams (piano, keyboards) of The Necks by email, comparing and contrasting how they work in the studio as opposed to performing live, the band’s decision-making process while recording, the mountains of live recordings in their archives, and more.