The Shape Of Things To Come

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The internet is an increasingly goofy place — formerly great websites gutted, excellent writers/creators put out of work, horrible user experience, enshittification wherever you look. The algorithm is a trick, SEO an unknowable riddle, social media a bad joke. Like so many other things, this downward spiral feels inescapable/inevitable. But the spiral isn’t the only option. In fact, it’s easy to go back to a simpler World Wide Web, an Edenic online experience made up of unique digital gardens with unusual perspectives and outlooks. Nothing’s perfect — that’s for sure. But there’s gotta be a . . .

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Another Bummer :: Neil Young’s On The Beach At 50

Neil YoungPosted on

Is On The Beach a bummer? Well, maybe. But it’s a brilliant bummer. To celebrate 50 years of the record, dig into an alternate version of the album, made up of rare live renditions and fireside sessions. Neil didn’t often return to many of these tunes onstage, but when he did, he gave them his all. Some of it is solo — “alone at the microphone;” elsewhere, Young is joined by CSN, Ben Keith and, most interestingly, Britfolk legend Bert Jansch, who shows up on a 2006 version of “Ambulance Blues . . .

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Rail Band :: S/T

Rail BandPosted on

Some serious heat via Bamako, 1973. Having been founded by saxophonist and trumpeter Tidiani Koné as the official orchestra of the Malian state railway three years prior, Rail Band’s self-titled long player, which currently sees reissue via Mississippi Records, is a scorching document of a restless and formative blend of soul, funk, and jazz with traditional West African and Afro Cuban music . . .

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Hiroshi Kamayatsu :: Have You Smoked Gauloise?

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Kicking off Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979, the latest from London-based reissue outfit Time Capsule and the follow-up to their Nippon Acid Folk compilation, is Hiroshi Kamayatsu’s “Have you smoked Gauloise?,” a masterstroke of orchestral, mutant-pop . . .

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Petra Haden and Mike Watt :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

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Petra Haden and Mike Watt discuss their nuclear opera Planet Chernobyl, released under the Pelicanman banner and based on the work of poet Charles Plymell: "It's human expression," says Watt . . .

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Fosse :: Ground

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Fosse’s footprint on music may be small, but there are worlds contained within his releases. Since 2018, SF-based synth and guitar voyager Tyler Chamberlain has shared three sets of recordings—his evocatively titled 2018 debut, Spelunking with Marbles in my Mouth and Fireflies in my Pocket; an instrumental MBV cover given Kevin Shields’ blessing; and now this collaboration with alto saxophonist Ben Almén and guitarist Gyan Riley (son of Terry . . .

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Transmissions :: Roger Eno

Podcast Roger EnoPosted on

Incoming transmission from Roger Eno. This week on the show, he joins us for a freewheeling, friendly chat about art, place, and Dune (1984). Eno began his recording life in 1983, when he joined his brother Brian and Daniel Lanois at the latter’s studio in Hamilton, Ontario, to cut one of our favorite albums of all-time, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Imbued with country and western ambiance, it suggests the vastness of space and man’s ventures into it. Not only that, but it serves as one of the foundational documents of the "ambient country" subgenre that practically forms . . .

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The New Eves :: Post-Punk Drone Folk from Brighton

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The New Eves—the Brighton-based quartet of Nina Winder-Lind, Kate Mager, Ella Oona Russell, and Violet Farrer—craft a rousing brew of post-punk, drone-folk, and avant-choral psych that evokes The Raincoats, Nico, Television, and Horses-era Patti Smith in equal measure, offering one of the more exciting new sounds we’ve heard this year . . .

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Jim White :: All Hits: Memories

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What happens when a renowned collaborator records a solo album? That’s the question when considering Jim White’s first solo endeavor, All Hits: Memories. White first came to prominence as the drummer for the seminal Australian band Dirty Three and now comprises the other half of a slew of duos, including Xylouris White, The Double, and with Marisa Anderson. Additionally, he's provided percussive wizardry to songs by Cat Power, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, PJ Harvey, Bill Callahan, and many others. White has an innate ability to adapt to the particular tone of a song, his contributions are always apt . . .

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The Fourth Way :: Werwolf

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The Fourth Way were one of the more intriguing denizens of the psychedelic ballroom circuit in the Bay Area of the late 1960s. With a quartet lineup of bass, drums, electric violin and ring-modulated electric piano, their strange sound, alternately funky and trippy, represented one of the first serious attempts to merge jazz with acid rock. Werwolf, the last of their three albums, was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in June 1970. Even with the subpar sound, it's a killer slab of the very earliest fusion . . .

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Light Pollution: The Roots of Ambient Jazz

MixtapesPosted on

As Aquarium Drunkard recently reported, ambient appears to be the shape of jazz to come. The newest new thing is cross-pollinating with electronics and minimalism, new age and drone. But even these currents have a history. We dove deep into our favorite space jazz of yesteryear, and put together a mixtape for your astral travelling pleasure . . .

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Kreag Caffey :: Kreag Caffey

Kreag CaffeyPosted on

Some rare private press tome this is not. Despite the at-times questionable atmosphere, obscurity, and ambiguity as to whether or not the record is actually worthwhile, Kreag Caffey’s self-titled debut made its way to shelves with a release on Decca in 1972, bolstered by a heavy-hitting ensemble of the finest studio players to ever do it . . .

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James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg :: Buffalo Stance

James Elkington Nathan SalsburgPosted on

James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg transmute and transform Neneh Cherry's 1988 smash hit "Buffalo Stance" into an idyllic stroll through imaginary countrysides . . .

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Loving :: Any Light

LovingPosted on

After the amiable lo-fi debut If I Am Only My Thoughts, Loving makes a self-proclaimed "sonic leap" on sophomore stunner Any Light. Of course, this seamless transition to the studio is a credit to the Canadian duo's charmingly unwavering formula. With delayed vocals that don't kick in until nearly two minutes, the gentle acoustic strum of the title track sets the perfect tone for this remarkably intimate collection of songs . . .

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Alice Coltrane :: The Carnegie Hall Concert

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Had The Carnegie Hall Concert been released in 1971 when it was originally commissioned and recorded by Impulse as a double live LP, it would undoubtedly rank among the all-time holy grails of live jazz, no, live music, period. But nothing happens before it’s time, and we are unbelievably fortunate to be graced with the revelation of Coltrane’s performance in the here and now. Left in the vault for decades and only partially bootlegged, The Carnegie Hall Concert documents Alice Coltrane cresting a creative peak which marked the end of a cycle of suffering and a rebirth . . .

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Posted on Alice Coltrane