Doug Paisley :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

This past January, Doug Paisley released his third full-length, Strong Feelings, via No Quarter Records. Regular collaborator Garth Hudson returns on the piano, along with Emmett Kelly, Robbie Grunwald and Mary Margaret O’Hara. Living up to its title, the album is a poignant collection of warm, subtle country-folk, though it finds Paisley exploring new sonic territories and reaching across genres. We caught up with Paisley over the phone, from his home in Toronto, and discussed his new approach for recording this record, the importance of narrative and, of course, Neil Young.

Aquarium Drunkard: I understand, with this album, you took a lot more time and had a lot more people involved than you have previously. What spurred this new approach?

Doug Paisley: The last few recordings I’ve done, prior to this one, were done very quickly; live in the studio in one day or so. I guess I wanted to not keep doing the same thing and just see what it would be like to take a little more time and to get more input from more people. So it was kind of curiosity and also just being able to do that too. In the past, there have been constraints that sort of force you to only spend a day in the studio, financial and otherwise, so this was a bit more of an opportunity.

AD: Did you enjoy that process?

Doug Paisley: I did. I mean, I’ve always found that the fewer options you have, the easier things are and, if you give it some time, whatever you end up making usually ends up sounding right. So, it did mean a little more decision-making. I don’t know if that part helped it all that much, but I did enjoy the process. Being in the studio is a lot of fun. You spend a lot of time songwriting and a lot of time touring and playing and most people don’t get to spend a lot of time in the studio, so it’s kind of a thrill. Like that Metallica movie where they’re in the studio for 700 takes or something. But I think for a lot of artists like me, nowadays, it’s more like a week tops. So, that part was a lot of fun.

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Jack Name :: Light Show

Jack Name's Light Show is shadow music. The outline is familiar but the insides are dark and unknowable. From certain angles, the shape distorts into a giant's proportions. From others vantages, the shadow dwindles. "I could be anybody/ God knows I've got my shadow," sings John Webster Adams, the man behind the see-through moniker of Jack Name. He proves this claim, in sound at least: Name's debut, Light Show, is an unbridled sonic zig-zag. Light Show

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Lydia Loveless :: Somewhere Else

"Well, honey, I was just thinking about you / and how you got married last June / I wondered how that worked out for you / so I just thought I would call," goes the opening line to "Really Wanna See You," the lead track on Lydia Loveless' Somewhere Else. That line is the beginning of a spate of questionable reasoning by our narrator. She goes to a party, snorts coke, starts crying and wants to call him; she thinks about how "there were times I was such a bitch . . .

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Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Paradise Of Bachelors ‘Ides Of March Weekender’ – March 14-16 / Los Angeles

March 14-16: Aquarium Drunkard presents Paradise Of Bachelors 'Ides Of March Weekender' at The Church On York in Highland Park. Night one: Steve Gunn / Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band (tickets). Night Two: Songs Molina: A Memorial Electic Co. & Hiss Golden Messenger (become a member or log in.

Sevens :: Slowdive – Morningrise

(Sevens, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, pays tribute to the art of the individual song.)

If you haven’t heard, Slowdive have reunited for a batch of festival performances throughout Europe and are adding more dates as the weeks progress. Apart from My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, there hasn’t been a more name-checked shoegaze band in the past decade. And rightfully so. Their legacy and impact on current music culture far . . .

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AD Presents :: Real Estate @ The Fonda – March 11th

Los Angeles: Next Tuesday night, March 11th, Aquarium Drunkard presents Real Estate at the Fonda Theatre. Kevin Morby and The Shilohs support. Advance tickets available for purchase, here. We’re giving away a few pairs to AD readers. To land them, leave a comment with your name . . .

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Ike & Tina Turner :: Cussin’, Cryin & Carryin’ On

Been on a raw Tina kick. This one, penned by Wayne Thompson, always tops the list. From the Ike & Tina lp of the same name, 1969. Georgia asphalt, hotter than.

Ike & Tina Turner :: Cussin', Cryin & Carryin' On

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Natural Child :: Dancin’ With Wolves

Someone's going to accuse Natural Child of going soft and they'll be wholly wrong. Across their previous 3 LPs, the Nashville trio carved out a little niche with a whole lot of machismo, a healthy dose of riff-rock and a firm rooting in country. Their shirts have beer stains. The bottoms of their lighters are colored black with ash. Their trail of women and buddies is long, often listed and equally tender and flippant. This is the band whose version of maturity was yelling, "want to tell you . . .

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John Fahey :: The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA – September 1973

John Fahey would've been 75 today, and though he's been gone for some time now, the legend of Blind Joe Death seems to grow larger with each passing year. There's no shortage of Fahey live material in the hands of collectors, but this 1973 KSAN broadcast is up there with the very best, as the guitarist plays a series of lengthy, positively mind-splitting medleys that offer up a convincing argument for Fahey as one of the 20th century . . .

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SIRIUS/XMU :: Aquarium Drunkard Show (Noon EST, Channel 35)

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can be heard twice every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.

Jason Woodbury is my guest this week.

SIRIUS 332: Jean Michel Bernard, "Générique Stephane" - We The People, “Function Underground” - Ned Doheny, “I’ve Got . . .

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Revisiting :: David Byrne’s True Stories / 1986

On Talking Heads’ final album, 1988’s Naked, the band imagines a reverse evolution, the erasing of centuries of pollution, development and commercialization. The particular song in reference is “Nothing But Flowers.” With a subtle, but knowing smirk, David Byrne laments the loss of the factories and shopping malls, the highways and parking lots, the Dairy Queens and 7-Elevens. “If this is paradise,” he sings, “I wish I had a lawn mower.”

Two years prior, Byrne would paint a picture of that world - the one of microwaves and discount stores, of rapid commercial and technological growth, in its prime, with his 1986 film, True Stories. Byrne’s sole directorial work, True Stories is very much the film equivalent of a Talking Heads album. It is a keen and musical portrait of modern America, with Byrne serving as the nameless narrator and tour guide through the fictional town of Virgil, Texas - a sort of every town, USA, in the midst of celebrating its 150th anniversary. Virgil is populated by the idiosyncrasies and the seemingly mundanes found not only in America, but on Talking Heads records as well -- highways, shopping malls, televisions and computers. And, of course, people.

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Aquarium Drunkard Presents :: Angel Olsen @ Echoplex, March 2

Los Angeles: This Sunday night, March 2nd, Aquarium Drunkard presents Angel Olsen at the Echoplex. Cian Nugent and Paul Bergman support. Advance tickets available for purchase, here. We're giving away a few pairs to AD . . .

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Eddie Dimas :: Por Perdido Amor

“For lost love.” Recorded by a 17-year-old Eddie Dimas and his band the Upsets, “Por Perdido Amor” is a woozy ode to love gone wrong. The song was put to tape in Audio Recorders studio — a hallowed Phoenix room where hits by Lee Hazlewood, Waylon Jennings, and Duane Eddy were recorded — and each line is sung with bruised pride.

Though Dimas and the Upsets’ biggest hit, 1966’s “El Mosquito,” favors an instrumental ranchera vibe, “Por Perdido Amor” is a classic slice of Norteî±o soul, tilting lovingly toward Dimas’ affinity for R&B. "His favorite was . . .

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Fats Domino :: Please Don’t Leave Me (Live, 1965)

Today is the 86th birthday of the unsinkable Antoine "Fats" Domino: rock 'n' roll progenitor, Beatle lodestar, and one of the greatest to ever sit on a piano bench. This version of "Please Don't Leave Me" is taken from the hard-to-find The Complete Session, a live recording originally released as Fats Domino '65. It's the entirety of Fats' appeal (appropriately) overstuffed into a six-and-a-half minute fury of twinkling keys, hard-hitting brass, and full-cheeked smiles–and a great explanation of the . . .

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Wax Wonders: The Soul Of NOLA, Part 1

With its complex and rich history, New Orleans has long served as a hotbed of rhythm and blues, with the city's musicians often adding an air of sophistication (i.e. jazz influence) to the music. This provided a unique slant to the soul sounds of NOLA. As such, there's a staggering number of great NOLA soul recordings -- from the output of minuscule local labels, pressed in tiny quantities for the local market, all the way up to massive national releases.

Irma Thomas :: Hittin' On Nothing . . .

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