Bill Callahan :: Tiny Desk Concert

Some friends and I drove out to the desert last week to see Bill Callahan, who is presently touring behind his latest LP, Dream River - yet another outstanding work, from a near peerless artist. As I've been proselytizing since that night, this is not the Callahan tour you want to miss. He and the band are air tight, completely in step with one another. Without getting too woo woo, the atmosphere was near  transcendent at times. I (no shit) almost . . .

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Lou Reed :: WPIX Radio (NYC) – 1979

When Lou Reed penned the classic "Rock and Roll" he paid tribute not only to rock and roll music, but also to the transformative powers of rock and roll radio. Radio was a lifelong preoccupation for Reed, from his days as a Long Island teen with an ear pressed against the speaker during Alan Freed's legendary broadcasts to the New York Hustle, an eclectic satellite radio show he co-hosted with producer Hal Willner towards the end of his life. Had he . . .

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Sevens :: Tim Hecker – Live Room

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

"Live Room" sits like an elephant on the hardy chest that is Virgins, Tim Hecker's latest and perhaps most breathtaking accomplishment. Positioned between the appropriately ethereal "Radiance" and the long exhale of "Live Room Out," this battle pitched between a pair of glows isn't a composition so much as it is a conjuring. A conjuring of what, though, I couldn't quite . . .

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AD Presents :: Jacco Gardner – Berlin, Germany / November 26th

We’re in Berlin for six months. Next up — AD presents Jacco Gardner, November 26th, at Privatclub. Zulu Pearls supports. We’re giving away a few pairs of tickets to AD readers. To enter, leave a comment below with you name and a valid email we can reach you at. Skalitzer Strasse 85-86, Berlin.

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Mike Fiems :: I Would Dream (1974)

Wanting to “mellow” out in the early ’70s, Link Wray’s elder brother Vernon moved to Tucson, Arizona. There, he reassembled the infamous Wray brothers’ Three Track Shack, rechristening it his “Record Factory.” There, he recorded his classic, Wasted. In December 1973 and January 1974, he welcomed a Tucson-based songwriter named Mike Fiems into the Factory, where he served as the producer of Fiems’ I Would Dream. While the LP — recently posted in its entirety by the become a member or log in.

Damien Jurado :: Silver Timothy

This made the rounds earlier today: "Silver Timothy" - the first taste from the forthcoming Damien Jurado LP, Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son, out next year via Secretly Canadian. Once again, Richard Swift produces.

Damien Jurado :: Silver Timothy

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Porcelain Raft

Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.

Porcelain Raft is Mauro Remiddi. Based in New York, the Italian ex-pat released his second LP,  Permanent Signal, in June via Secretly Canadian. Regarding the atmosphere of this week's session, Remiddi, in his own words, after the jump...

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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.

SIRIUS 319: Jean Michel Bernard — Générique Stephane ++ Reigning Sound - I Walk By Your House ++ The Rock*A*Teens - Down With People ++ Smoke - Awake ++ Vic Chesnutt - Degenerate ++ Songs: Ohia - I've Been Riding With The Ghost ++ Bill Callahan - The Sing ++ Daughn Gibson - Bad Guys ++ Atlas Sound - It Rained ++ Vetiver - Sleep . . .

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Ed Askew :: For The World

With a name like "Askew," you can bet that you'll be slotted you into an oddball/eccentric niche. And to be sure, Ed Askew has outsider cred to burn, having released his debut album on the original avant label ESP Records way back in 1967. But Askew's new LP, For The World, is far from weird -- unless direct, emotional songwriting is weird these days. Which it may well be.
With all-star contributions from Sharon Van Etten, Marc Ribot, Mary Lattimore, and members of the Black . . .

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Jorma Kaukonen :: Genesis

I've been reimmersed in Jorma Kaukonen's 1974 Quah lp the past couple of months, as "Genesis" was originally slated for inclusion on the Indian Summer mix I put together for Cold Splinters. And while the track ended up on the cutting room floor, the record has increasingly acted as life's de . . .

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The Necks :: Open

With a sound that calls to mind the becalmed atmospheres of Miles Davis' In A Silent Way and Eno's Music For Airports, The Necks have been providing captivating listening experiences for more than two decades now. The Australian trio's latest, Open, doesn't stray from the path -- and the world is a better place for it.

Consisting of one unbroken, 68-minute improvisation, this is a deeply immersive record that highlights The Necks' often-unbelievable instrumental interplay and melodic sensitivity. These guys are basically one . . .

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Neil Young & The Ducks :: Little Wing (Santa Cruz, 1977)

In honor of the man's 68th birthday today, let's take a listen to a recently surfaced rarity from the summer of '77. Neil spent much of that year out of the limelight, only to surface with the short-lived Ducks, a band that included former members of Moby Grape. With multiple vocalists and songwriters, this little side-trip suggested that Neil was trying to recapture some of the team spirit of the Buffalo Springfield. Playing mostly low-profile gigs in Santa Cruz, the Ducks . . .

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Warren Zevon :: Join Me In L.A. (Demo & Take 2 Version)

This set has been getting a lot of play of late - New West Records' 2007 Warren Zevon collection, Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings. Spanning 16 tracks, the collection is culled from pre-1976 material that Zevon's son, Jordan, happened upon while clearing out a storage space following his father's death in 2003. From worked up, full-band, demos to Zevon's solo musings on guitar and piano, like the best compilations of this sort, Preludes provides the listener . . .

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Who Is William Onyeabor?

It’s the question asked by the fine folks at Luaka Bop with their new collection, Who is William Onyeabor? This, the first compilation of the Nigerian synthesizer-wielding bandleader’s work, reveals the musical answer to said question: He was a songwriter with groove in mind, recording from 1977-1985. Onyeabor stretched his dance floor incantations denouncing war and injustice past the 10-minute mark, employing minimalist rhythmic grooves, clipped guitar and a chorus of female singers. At times the songs sound . . .

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