Turning mistakes in magic dust. Lambchop mastermind Kurt Wagner joins Aquarium Drunkard correspondent Al Riggs to discuss the band's 16th full-length, the sprawling The Bible . . .
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Long time reader, first time caller? Welcome to Mailbag, our new monthly column in which we dig in and respond to your questions. Got a query? Hit us up at aqdmailbag@gmail.com. We're gonna keep it loose . . .
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Terry Jennings phantasmic presence runs quietly throughout the early history of minimalism—a whispered name with previously only a meager handful of bootlegs and collaborations to his credit. Piece for Cello and Saxophone corrects that at long last as the first proper document of Jennings as a composer, a resurrected score as monumental in the minimalism’s development as La Monte Young’s “The Well-Tuned Piano” or Terry Riley’s “In C.” It’s a work to be experienced—90 minutes of sustained tones in a glacial chorale, shifting between shades of light and dark, harmony and dissonance, peace . . .
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With his debut book My Life in the Sunshine: Searching For My Father and Discovering My Family, Nabil Ayers walks a tightrope, balancing personal and familial history with stories about a life spent playing music, working in record stores, and falling in love with music. On this episode of Transmissions, he discusses his work with 4AD, The Control Group, and Beggars Group, and his complicated relationship with his father Roy Ayers . . .
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The eleventh installment of Tompkins Square’s routinely superb Imaginational Anthem series, Chrome Universal parts company with the 6 and 12-string territory and delves into some the ever-expanding sonic universe of pedal steel guitar. It’s a beautiful and complex instrument that’s seen a renaissance over the last few years, making its way out of the honky-tonk and charting a course toward a new light of day somewhere between earth and space . . .
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Marva Broome is one of the many gems on Pierre Barouh and the Saravah Sound, a survey of the label’s unique blend of chanson, jazz, soul, African, and Brazilian influences. It’s an embarrassment of riches comp, ranging from Baroque Jazz Trio’s raga-inflected excursions, the unraveling sax and guitar of “EDF Power,” and the sly nocturnal groove of Pierre Akendengue’s “Orema Ka-Ka-Ka.” The Art Ensemble even turns up again on Brigitte Fontaine’s sultry “Comme La Radio” and behind Alfred Panou’s recitation on “Je Suis Un Sauvage.” Mon dieu . . .
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On their self-titled album as Mess Esque, Helen Franzmann and Mick Turner generate poignant and skeletal melodies that float in a self-contained dream pop universe. They joined us to discuss tuning their approach to each other and more . . .
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The cover of 1967’s Guilty declares, in bold newsprint, that Wrecking Crew Howard Roberts has been “judged guilty on 11 separate counts of being a dirty, funky, swamp bossa nova guitar player.” With Roberts’ milky smooth tone, fluttering double-stops, and effortless sweeps as evidence, no jury on earth could exonerate him . . .
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Join me in L.A. 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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This week on the show, Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson and guitarist Yonatan Gat join us to discuss their collaborative work as Medicine Singers, which pairs the powwow drum and the voices of the Eastern Medicine Singers with Yonatan’s electrified guitar and contributions from experimental composer Joe Rainey, Ikue Mori of DNA, Thor Harris of Swans, previous Transmissions guest Laraaji, and the late jamie branch. Jamieson and Gat join us to discuss their collaboration . . .
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...from a decade in obscurity, the king of guitar rumble himself was back. With a stripped-down sound that could have been a companion to Dylan’s Basement Tapes, Link Wray set stereo amplifiers ablaze with “Fire and Brimstone.” A ferocious bottleneck slide exposé kicks off the piece—rest assured listener, the power chording maestro of primitive rock, he remains, but with more than a few new tricks up his sleeve. Phaser-heavy chords wash over the piece as a backbeaten wallop of percussion sends the whole cacophony into a backwoods romp. Then he sings. Wray had experimented with vocals . . .
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On their excellent new album Distances, Elkhorn guitarists Jesse Shepherd (acoustic) and Drew Gardner (electric) lean into the rhythmic possibilities afforded by not one but two guest drummers: the Virginia-based Ian McColm and DC percussionist Nate Scheible. The result is an expansive set of tunes like "Wilderness," which floats along a determined but peaceful groove before taking a left turn into knottier territory. Shepherd joins us here to share a DIY-crafted clip for the song, an unfolding collage that suits the song beautifully . . .
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Over the past fifteen years, in addition to his solo career, Julien Gasc made brief stints in Stereolab and Hyperclean. Most notably, though, Gasc has been a core member of Aquaserge, a French outfit that walks a fine line between psychedelic grooves and avant, Henry Cow-like tangents. On his own, Gasc creates pop songs, classifiably . . .
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Listening to this phenomenal collection of Velvet Underground prehistory, it’s fairly mind-boggling how fast Lou Reed and John Cale moved in the earliest stages of their creative partnership. Less than a year after these acoustic demos were made, the pair were in the studio recording the epochal Velvet Underground & Nico — an LP whose reverberations are still being felt today . . .
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Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard, every third Sunday on dublab. Up first on our four-hour broadcast, Chad DePasquale’s New Happy Gathering, drifting between the seasons with folk, country, ambient & rock. Then, Jason P. Woodbury takes over with Range and Basin, with comic book free jazz, avant-western and ecstatic gospels. Then, Tyler Wilcox pops in Doom and Gloom from the Tomb, with a bunch of solo acoustic Takoma School situations—mostly new-ish stuff, but some dips into the past. Then to close, Tom Scharpling of The Best Show presents The Best Drunk Aquarium Show. Tune in Sunday, September . . .
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