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.
Category: The AD Interview
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.
Mess Esque :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
On their self-titled album as Mess Esque, Helen Franzmann and Mick Turner generate poignant and skeletal melodies that float in a self-contained dream pop universe. They joined us to discuss tuning their approach to each other and more.
The Aquarium Drunkard Interview :: Oren Ambarchi
Experimental guitarist Oren Ambarchi is one of music’s most prolific and inventive collaborators, working with everyone from Keith Rowe and Keiji Haino to Jim O’Rourke and Merzbow in largely improvised sessions, then layering the results into intricate constructed pieces that blur the boundaries between jazz, noise, rock, minimalism, drone and electronics.
Cass McCombs :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
His tenth full-length, Heartmind at times feels like a representation of Cass McCombs’ own wandering mindset. While the album’s eight songs vary in tone and style, they all seem to hold a common thread, whether lyrically or musically. It’s an album that McCombs couldn’t have intended to make precisely, as to direct himself toward it, would’ve been to betray his own ambitions.
Tim Kinsella :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
In a longform, career-spanning conversation, Tim Kinsella of Cap’n Jazz, discusses the Gimme Altamont project with Jenny Pulse, writing “systems” instead of songs, acting, and more.
Cass McCombs :: Heartmind
In the liner notes of Cass McCombs’ tenth full-length album Heartmind is a rambling paragraph that hides within it a depiction of the creation process: “If I direct myself, I betray my direction, so I keep walking..” McCombs seems to be telling a story about caroming about the streets of San Francisco, but it’s also something akin to a lost Oblique Strategy. Within the album’s classic run-time of 8 songs and 43 minutes is a genuine attempt at avoiding betraying direction and attempting to understand more of the world around us.
Tav Falco :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
More than four decades into it, punk gentleman Tav Falco is still on the road, still tapping into flowing channels of primal rock & roll. Fresh off last year’s release of Club Car Zodiac, he’s united The Panther Burns for the “Rogue Male” tour, and plotting a course through the U.S. Ahead of the shows, Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots/Alan Vega Archive caught up with Falco to discuss his recent work, relationship with Alex Chilton, and the fractured state of the union.
Hiroshi Asada :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Hiroshi Asada’s Greetings From Nashville (You Who’s In My Mind) turned 50 this year, the artist’s expressive aural love letter to Country Music and America. Spoken of reverentially by fans and artists from Japan and beyond, the LP was cut in Nashville at the Acuff-Rose studio with a grip of the industry’s most in-demand session players including members of Nashville’s Area Code 615.