As a prolific producer, composer, and session player, Jon Brion has been involved with some of the biggest movies and recordings of the last three decades. But with the recent archival release of his debut album Meaningless, listeners can finally hear him as a proper solo artist. Brion joins Aquarium Drunkard to discuss the album and what it means to him more than 20 years after its creation.
Category: The AD Interview
Meg Baird :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Meg Baird’s latest album, Furling, withdraws itself into small domestic spaces. It explores the partnership the songwriter has forged, both musical and romantic, with the guitarist Charlie Saufley. It meditates on the way that a piano can sit at the center of family life, making any house a home. And yet, it also faces outward, pushing out rollicking grooves and aching, pristine clarity. It makes the case for Baird, once again, as one of the finest singers and songwriters of her generation.
Horse Lords :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Comradely Objects is every bit as mathematical as it is melodic, and as already covered artfully here at AD by Brent Sirota, it is arguably the crowing achievement of the Horse Lords cannon. Fresh on the heels of their latest release, we caught up with guitarist Owen Gardner and bassist Max Eilbacher to discuss recording in lockdown, relocating to Germany, weaponizing the avant-garde, Cornelius Cardew, and what happens when lyrics fail.
Spiral Stairs (Pavement) :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg discusses Medley Attack, the influence of The Clean, and takes us deep behind the scenes of the blockbuster Pavement reunion.
Richard Dawson :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Richard Dawson of Newcastle Upon Tyne. This is how the songwriter credits himself on the cover of his new record The Ruby Cord—the third part of a possible trilogy (beginning with medieval Peasant, and modern times in 2020) which finds him delving into the different timelines of communities in England. Alex Riggs joins Dawson (and a cat named Trouble) to explore more.
That Last Train Is Back Again: A Conversation with Cindy Lee
Born Patrick Flegel, musician Cindy Lee walks around Seattle chain smoking cigarettes while his brother’s band, Preoccupations, plays a set for KEXP. He is surrounded by huge concrete slabs and dons an orange ski cap. We spoke via Zoom and for a while, we couldn’t see or hear him. When we do, he sort of looks like someone without a cellphone. Someone who walked into the last Radioshack and stole a few things. He is not in drag. Not yet. He looks like a man.
No Salt, No Lint, No Cassettes: AD Interviews Author And kranky Co-Founder Bruce Adams
Kranky Records co-founder Bruce Adams recently published a book, You’re With Stupid: kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music, which succeeds as both a memoir and a cultural history of a brief wrinkle in time when a few Chicago neighborhoods seemed to comprise the center of a then-flourishing underground rock universe. Aquarium Drunkard spoke to Adams about kranky kommandments, the ways in which the world of publishing differs from the world of music, and the trappings of “functional” music.
Billy Talbot of Crazy Horse :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
It’s been more than 50 years since Neil got together with Crazy Horse, but still — nothin’ else matters. Young has just released the Rick Rubin-produced World Record, his third album with the band in as many years, and the heart of the group remains the same as it was back in ’69: drummer Ralph Molina and bassist Billy Talbot, who together have provided the elemental rhythmic bedrock that Neil has relied on for all these years. Aquarium Drunkard caught up with Talbot from his South Dakota home to get the lowdown on the Horse’s past, present and future.
Bitchin Bajas :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
We spoke with Bitchin Bajas’ Cooper Crain just before Thanksgiving, as the band was preparing for an East Coast tour and moving forward on two new recordings: a second collaboration with Natural Information Society and a 12-hour improvised jam made last spring in the Azores. We talked about how these three make their music and how their audiences receive it, about starting over after a setback and about how music works best when it’s a bit of a mystery.
Alisha Sufit of Magic Carpet :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Magic Carpet were a London based group that consisted of four members: Alisha Sufit, Clem Alford, Jim Moyes and Keshav Sathe. The band recorded one album in the winter of ‘71-72 on the English based label Mushroom. Influenced by the sitar and other cosmic elements of ancient acoustics, Magic Carpet’s lone debut LP is magical, a poetic journey through space and time. Alisha Sufit of the group joined us to discuss the untold story of Magic Carpet.
Robyn Hitchcock :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“My songs are my true autobiography—it’s all in there, if you know where to look.” If that’s the case, the latest chapter in Robyn Hitchcock’s story is the brand-new SHUFFLEMANIA!, the songwriter’s first full-length LP since 2017. Released on his own Tiny Ghost Records label, it’s a star-studded affair, with guest appearances from Emma Swift, Kimberley Rew, Johnny Marr, Brendan Benson, Pat Sansone, Eric Slick, Sean Ono Lennon, Morris Windsor and more, all adding their skills to a very strong collection of new Hitchcock tunes. To get the scoop, Aquarium Drunkard connected with Hitchcock via Zoom in London…
June McDoom :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“I grew up only listening to reggae music. And for a long time, I felt like that was really outside of my musical identity.” June McDoom joins us to discuss her new reggae-inflected collection of psychedelic folk.
‘Round About Midnight: A Conversation With Adrian Sherwood
We caught up with legendary producer Adrian Sherwood on the heels of his latest effort behind the boards: Horace Andy’s new album, Midnight Scorchers.
“I’m just very, very proud of it. We didn’t rush it. We spent two years making it. We started it before lockdown. And we kept improving it, so I was sending Horace back and forth to Jamaica. Let’s do this better. Let’s do this again.”
Small Sur :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Nearly a decade from the release of Labor, Bob Keal’s Small Sur project has returned with the remarkable Attic Room. Presented is a deeply personal record capturing slivers of life from the father, teacher, woodworker, and songwriter. Keal showcases an ability to take a second in time – “A thundercloud unfolding after the rain,” “I’ll have one last cigarette then lie down to rest,” “the silhouette in space formed by the morning sun” – and expand it into a landscape of abstraction.
Tommy McLain :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
For the uninitiated Tommy McLain’s music has been categorized as Swamp Pop. A term that was popularized by author John Broven in his wonderfully enthusiastic and extremely well researched book about the depth and range of the music of the Bayous of Louisiana entitled “South To Louisiana”. His songs have the emotional feel of soul music, the distinct melodies of the back country and certainly the rhythms of New Orleans R&B. But when he starts singing his voice grabs your attention, draws you in and you don’t want to be any where else.