We’ve been blessed with a bunch of Robbie Basho archival hauls in recent years. But the latest unearthing—Songs of the Great Mystery—might be the best of them all.
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Zen Buddhist Cowboy Songs :: Robbie Basho & His Disciples
It’s a good time for fans of Robbie Basho’s wondrous work. The late guitarist-songwriter-composer’s pioneering albums, once painfully difficult to find, are being reissued with regularity (primarily by the Minnesota-based label Grass-Tops Recording). […]
Contemplative Music: Ariel Kalma, Jordan De La Sierra, Robbie Basho
Moon Bros. :: The Wheel
Moon Bros. returns with an absolutely wonderful five-song mini-LP of lightly fried folk rambles. Fred Schneider recorded The Wheel mostly on his own, but he expertly conjures up a laid-back scene of friends sitting around a cozy living room playing together — sweetly groaning pedal steel, chiming 12-string, stoned harmonica, intimate vocals. (It’s not entirely a solo affair: the great Josephine Foster shows up to sing along on one song.) The result is kind of like a heretofore unimagined collab between Robbie Basho and Michael Hurley. Vivid visions of the country, indeed.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Elkhorn
With the remarkable On The Whole Universe In All Directions, Elkhorn continues its constant state of growth and mutation. Built on a solid foundation of drums, vibraphone, and booming 12-string guitar, it charts a path from American primitive folk-isms toward galactic, psychedelic cosmic vistas. The duo’s first Lagniappe Session offered a grab bag of interpretations of songs by the Dead, Sonic Youth, and Robbie Basho, but this one devotes itself fully to just one, epic-length composition: a cover of David Crosby’s “Guinnevere,” as played by Miles Davis.
Group Listening :: Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works, Vol. 2
Group Listening—the UK duo of clarinetist Stephen Black and pianist Paul Jones—returns with Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works, Vol. 2. The follow-up to their 2018 debut is a wintry gift, finding the enterprising instrumentalists again interpreting tunes with a tastefully minimalist approach— adding light touches of field recordings, tape manipulation, and drum machines onto their winds and keys covers of works by Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Robbie Basho, Laraaji, Syrinx, and more.
Group Listening
Group Listening return with Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works Vol. 2, set for release at the top of next year. This new collection finds the U.K. duo setting their sights on works from Robbie Basho, Syrinx, popular folk, and, in this first taste, the inimitable Beverly Glenn-Copeland, covering “Sunset Village” from his 1986 masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Elkhorn
For their inaugural Lagniappe Session, guitar duo Elkhorn take on the traditional ballad “Morning Dew,” as heard by Bonnie Dobson via Garcia, the aforementioned Robbie Basho, Dave Holland, Sonic Youth, and a new traditional song, “John Henry,” often heard as a ballad and a hammer song or work song.
Aquarium Drunkard :: 2023 Year in Review
Looking back to look ahead. It’s our Year In Review 2023. As always, our list is unranked and unruly. Let it blurb.
Aquarium Drunkard exists because of the passion of its contributors and the support of its generous Patreon community, so consider pledging your support as we ring in the new year. If Aquarium Drunkard improves your listening life, the Patreon is the best way to reciprocate. Only the good shit, now, then, and the unspecified moments in-between.
Bandcamping :: Fall 2023
There are plenty of bigger things to be depressed about these days, but for a certain stripe of music fan, the recent Bandcamp news was a particular bummer. If you haven’t heard, the platform was sold to Songtradr, a B2B music licensing service, who promptly laid off a healthy chunk of the workforce. While the ultimate fate of Bandcamp remains unclear, the future looks bleak.
What’s next? We’re not sure. But for the moment, we’ll continue sharing music via our Bandcamping column — especially as Bandcamp Fridays stay in place, offering artists a more-than-decent lifeline.
Autumn Hymnal :: A Mixtape
Autumn Hymnal: 23 tracks of jazz, folk and ambient suited to navigate these changes–from the celebratory catharsis of Tim Buckley, to the mournful acceptance of Anne Briggs, to the haunting beauty of Jessica Pratt. Put on your favorite sweater, pour something warm and enjoy the ride.
Transfigurations 2021 :: Recent + Recommended 21st Century Guitar
A survey of genre-expanding guitar soli from Yasmin Williams, Rob Noyes, Mason Lindahl, Adeline Hotel, Steffen Basho-Junghans, and more, each expanding what you can do with six (or 12) strings.
Aquarium Drunkard :: 2020 Year In Review
Here it is, our Year in Review. As always, unranked and sprawling.
Powers/Rolin Duo
The hammered dulcimer has been played all over the world for more than 1,000 years. But the vast possibilities of the instrument are still being explored. Case in point: Powers/Rolin Duo’s self-titled LP on Feeding Tube Records. Here, Jen Powers uses the hammered dulcimer to create a rippling, reverberant sound, something both minimal and expansive.
Transmissions :: A Conversation With Buck Curran
On this episode, your Transmissions co-host Jason P. Woodbury caught up with guitarist and songwriter Buck Curran. Formerly one half of the psychedelic duo Arborea, Buck is currently situated in Bergamo, Italy, in one of the areas hit hardest by COVID-19. Though he’s quarantining with his family, he decided now was the right time to release his third solo album, No Love is Sorrow.