“The sound is good… the sound is modern and old fashioned. The melodies are very nice melodies, so because of this, everybody had some kind of…. nostalgia.” That’s how Hailu Mergia describes the sound of his […]
Category: The AD Interview
Catching Up With Califone :: The AD Interview
The sound of Califone has always been tattered: Delta blues grafted to clattering, deconstructed rock ‘n’ roll, synths hovering over buzzing, droning strings. It’s a patchwork of ideas held together by the worn voice of songwriter/sole […]
Who Is Harry Nilsson And Why Is Van Dyke Parks Talking About Him?
Van Dyke Parks is a true conversationalist. He speaks in fluid lines, quickly but with great care devoted to each word. At the moment, the producer, songwriter, and arranger — who’s worked for Disney, crafted teenage symphonies to […]
Daughn Gibson :: The AD Interview
Last year, Daughn Gibson (née Josh Martin) debuted All Hell , a mysterious record by a deep-voiced, monikered singer that unfolds in an arresting whirl of loops and twang. The songs on All Hell are moody and disorienting in […]
Bobby Whitlock :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
It’s tempting to cast Memphis-born guitarist Bobby Whitlock as some sort of Zelig like character hiding in the back of various studios in the early 1970s, while classic albums like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, Derek […]
Catching Up With Jody Stephens: The AD Interview
If nothing went right for Big Star during their formative years in the early-mid ‘70s (bad distribution, zero management, internal creative strife), in terms of their legacy, it’s all come out golden in the end. As evidenced […]
Catching Up With Camera Obscura :: The AD Interview
Following a brief orchestral swell, Glasgow-based pop band Camera Obscura wastes no time getting assertive with Desire Lines , the band’s fifth album since debuting more than a decade ago with Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi. “When I found your girlfriend […]
Wooden Wand Interviews Steve Gunn
Among certain critics and cultural trainspotters, there exists a colloquialism — ‘gamechanger’ — to denote a brazen, unexpected creative leap by an already respected and established artist. The risk of potentially alienating a listenership that […]
Swamp Dogg Speaks :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Jerry Williams Jr. didn’t adopt the handle “Swamp Dogg” in the early ‘70s in order to confuse, obfuscate, or mislead anyone. To hear the man tell it, he took on the name because it was imperative to do […]
Chris Stamey :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
It’s hard to talk about North Carolina’s musical legacy – or even indie rock in general – without mentioning Chris Stamey. As a founding member of the dB’s , Stamey often played the chaotic, challenging flip-side to […]
Catching Up With Angel Olsen :: The AD Interview
Like the Biblical angel, the Siren of Greek Mythology is often portrayed as a winged human with an arresting voice. The former might use the gift of song to guide a weary traveler through a […]
Cody Chesnutt :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Cody Chesnutt indirectly made himself into a bit of enigma this past decade. After his band was dropped from a record deal right before the release of their finished debut, Chesnutt holed up in his bedroom and […]
Are Your Songs Rabbits? :: Wooden Wand Interviews Howe Gelb
Our Longshots series returns with two of the more prolific voices working in music today — Wooden Wand’s James Jackson Toth and Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb; both of whom just saw album releases this year, Blood Oaths of the New Blues and […]
Wooden Wand :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Wrapping one’s head around the music of Wooden Wand , the ongoing project of idiosyncratic singer/songwriter James Jackson Toth takes some effort. With over 100 releases to his name, from spiraling freak-out ragas and avant-garde experimentation to […]
Bill Fay :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Singer-songwriter Bill Fay has enjoyed a long and legendary career in obscurity. The British musician first raised eyebrows among listeners back in 1970 with his startlingly unique, baroque debut record Bill Fay, which despite a […]