Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
34.1090° N, 118.2334° W . . .
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Greg Foat’s latest, Blue Lotus, is as good an entry point as any. Credited to the Greg Foat Group, his longstanding ensemble with Rob Mach, Trevor Walker, Phil Achille and Eric Young, Blue Lotus also features veteran UK soprano saxophonist Art Themen and the ferocious drummer Morgan Simpson of the shit-hot UK avant-rock band black midi. Foat himself, of course, mans a formidable Wakeman-esque bank of electric piano, vintage synthesizers, ring modulators and space echo units . . .
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Mattson 2 guitarist Jared Mattson joins us for a discussion about his solo debut Peanut, covering Ween and John Coltrane, inhaling tire rubber, and the underrated power of Andy Summers of The Police . . .
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We’re hanging out with Mac DeMarco this week on Transmissions. His latest album forgoes lyrics in favor of instrumentals. It’s called Five Easy Hot Dogs and it came about as the result of series of recording sessions Mac underwent while on a road trip. We caught up to discuss life in LA, quitting smoking, the influence of heavy grade players in his orbit like Thundercat, and more . . .
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No Rivers Here exists in constant motion, pulling together jazz phrasings, fourth world tones, and Sextant-fusion rhythms. It's three tracks rope you in with its aqueous grooves and perpetual motion. Small figures link together creating both a sense of repetition and continual movement. It’s generative and sentient, a kinetic energy slightly too sinister for the fourth world . . .
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In 2020 Erik Hall released his version of Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich--the first in a planned trilogy of classical minimalist interpretations by the Chicago musician. This month sees the release of the second installment in the series, Hall's take on Canto Ostinato by the late Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, an intimate, hour-long solo performance consisting of multitracked grand pianos, electric piano, and organ. For this edition of Diversions, Hall digs into the inspirations behind the series thus far . . .
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On numün’s excellent new album Book of Beyond, the synthesis of earth and space seems more complete. Indeed, the entire album exudes a kind of gravity, decidedly reminiscent of the wide-open melancholy of Bruce Langhorne’s Hired Hand. numün have perfected something like a space-age cowboy music here, plaintive and freighted. Even its sci-fi sonic filigree, the theremin trills and Mellotron moans, seem like signifiers of a future that has already been foreclosed . . .
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With a rallying call of “We, Here and Now!,” and an abiding faith in minimalism, collective improvisation, and amplification, Pärson Sound were the primordial sonic maelstrom from which much of Sweden’s underground ‘progg’ scene emerged . . .
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On her latest, All Of This is Chance, Irish singer/songwriter Lisa O'Neill leads listeners down a foggy, meandering path. It opens with a telling lyrical invocation: “Clay is the word and clay is the flesh, where the potato gatherers like mechanized scarecrows move along the side-fall of the hill.” O’Neill’s hunger is for a more far-reaching connection; to nature, to creativity, and to an unseen spirit . . .
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Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
34.1090° N, 118.2334° W . . .
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Unsung Britfolk hero Steve Tilston joins us to discuss his sparse early '70s gem An Acoustic Confusion, the influence of Bert Jansch, and that time John Lennon wrote him a letter...which he never received . . .
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Max Turnbull of Badge Époque Ensemble on Transmissions, our weekly podcast. Last year, BEE released the magisterial Clouds of Joy, which landed on the Aquarium Drunkard Year in Review best of the year list. A stirring blend of jazz, choral music, prog, funk, R&B, and indie rock, it’s a layered and dynamic creation. We discussed that record, Max’s work with his wife, Meg Remy of U.S. Girls, his lifelong hip-hop influence, and the myriad and mysterious ways music connects to listeners . . .
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Heartfelt tributes to Tom Verlaine have been pouring in since news broke of his death late last month. A famously enigmatic character, the Television co-founder never went out of his way to make himself lovable — but he was loved all the same. As you’ll see below, Verlaine provided a guiding light for a wide array of artists through the decades. His deeply original approach (to the guitar, to songwriting, to life) went beyond mere influence and inspiration; it seeped inextricably into the DNA of generations of musicians and writers. As a result, this case will likely never be . . .
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When Hot Rats came out in October 1969, it showed a new side of Zappa’s music. It wasn’t poking fun at trends or mixing genres in a blender. It highlights his compositions and skill in both writing memorable songs and as a guitar hero. The lengthy guitar solos showed him emerging as more than just the scruffy leader of the Mothers of Invention, while the musicians he surrounded himself with - from session players to heavyweights like Jean-Luc Ponty - pointed to his ambitions as a musician. But when compared to the material within this box, it also shows . . .
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Long time reader, first time caller? Welcome to Mailbag, our monthly column in which we dig in and respond to your questions. Got a query? Hit us up at aqdmailbag@gmail.com. In this month’s bag: Steely Dan haters, scratching that Van Morrison itch, music from the Sonoran desert, bandcamp reccs . . .
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