Robert Pollard :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

2023 was a fantastic year for Guided by Voices. The trio of records that came out – La La Land, Welshpool Frillies, and the late-year Nowhere to Go But Up – are some of the best the band has put out in the seven years its most recent incarnation has been together. Founding member Robert Pollard seems just as chaotically creative as ever, whether it’s the pure volume of songs or the developing shape they take. Over the holiday break, Pollard caught up with Aquarium Drunkard via email about the latest trio of albums, how the writing process works for the band 7 years and 16 albums in, the challenge of writing lyrics for music that already exists, and the transformative power of a Glen Campbell cover of your own work.

Return To Hot Chicken :: James McNew Reveals The Secrets Of Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

If you had to pick one album that encompasses the awesomely eclectic nature of Yo La Tengo’s vision, 1997’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One is your best bet. It’s got it all (almost), careening from crunchy noise-pop to spacey ambient, from free-form experimentalism to delicate balladry, from homespun electronica to blown-out Beach Boys covers. Somehow, the band fits all these puzzle pieces together, creating a masterful whole. The double LP’s closer aside, this isn’t a little corner of the world, it’s an entire galaxy.

Destroyer :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Daniel Bejar has been making oblique, urbane pop symphonies as Destroyer for 13 albums and nearly three decades now, but Labyrinthitis is among his best. It pulses with dance rhythms, bristles with literate asides, unspools a hypnotic stream of film-like imagery, hazards a long, rap-inspired spoken word interval, and, once or twice, rocks unabashedly. It’s the kind of album, you can get lost in—or perhaps a little dizzy from. You don’t know quite what’s happening from moment to moment, but there’s a swirl and a sweep and an urgency to it that propels you ever forward.

The Aquarium Drunkard Guide To Three Lobed Recordings

Founded 20 years ago, North Carolina’s Three Lobed Records documents the psych-rock underground. There’s no signature Three Lobed sound or vibe — and that’s a very good thing. To celebrate 20 years of Three Lobed Recordings, we’ve pulled together a selection of noteworthy LPs from the label’s ever-expanding galaxy, with recommendations both from the Aquarium Drunkard crew and Three Lobed-related artists.

Transmissions :: A Conversation With Mary Lattimore

The music of Mary Lattimore is at once intimate and cosmic—her unfolding and widening harp epics connect outer expanses to inner realms. No matter the context, Lattimore’s musical voice resounds as a calming and clear one. Which is why, as the pandemic blues really kick in, Transmissions hosts Justin Gage and Jason P. Woodbury rang her up to discuss adjusting creative practices, dealing with daily anxieties, and narrow down which Succession character is least despicable.