Eddie Constantine :: Strawberry

Culled from Black Solidarity Presents String Up the Sound System, a compilation of tracks released by the Jamaican based Black Solidarity reggae label, Eddie Constantine’s “Strawberry” is a booming, dancehall rendition of Miriam Makeba’s “Love Tastes Like Strawberries,” a sneaking cut of spiritual soul from her 1962 lp, The Many Voices of Miriam Makeba . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Maston

An American expat based in Paris, Frank Maston crafts sonic worlds of singular origin. Reminiscent of the deepest crates of library music and vintage Italian film scores, Maston's output (four LPs to date beginning with 2013's Shadows) feels at once widescreen and cinematic, yet intimate. Following up last year's collaboration with Swiss septet L'Eclair, Souvenir, this month sees the release of Panorama via the London based Be With Records. To accompany the album's release, Maston laid down his first Lagniappe Session in Paris, paying tribute to Dutch popper Alice Deejay, along with a tune via . . .

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Tommy McLain :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

For the uninitiated Tommy McLain’s music has been categorized as Swamp Pop. A term that was popularized by author John Broven in his wonderfully enthusiastic and extremely well researched book about the depth and range of the music of the Bayous of Louisiana entitled “South To Louisiana”. His songs have the emotional feel of soul music, the distinct melodies of the back country and certainly the rhythms of New Orleans R&B. But when he starts singing his voice grabs your attention, draws you in and you don’t want to be any where else . . .

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The Holy Modal Rounders :: Spring of ’65

Following the mind-altering fuck-folk of Indian War Whoop and The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders, Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber reined in their psychic troubadour ambitions and embraced melody once more. 1971’s Good Taste is Timeless finds an expanded Rounders digging into the annals of American goodtime music for inspiration. That is, until we near the end of the first side. As the band tiptoes into “Spring of ‘65” there is a familiar cadence in the delivery—this time from across the North Atlantic . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Lee Baggett

Lee Baggett's Just a Minute, released earlier this year, marks his first outing under his own name after decades in the West Coast underground. For his first-ever Lagniappe Session, he breaks out selections from Def Leppard, The English Beat, and Van Halen, reflecting on the cuts as he goes along . . .

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The Mistakes Make It Interesting :: A Conversation With Kurt Wagner of Lambchop

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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Aquarium Drunkard :: Mailbag

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 :: Piece For Cello And Saxophone (1960)

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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Transmissions :: Nabil Ayers

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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Chrome Universal: A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel

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 :: Mystifying Mama

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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Mess Esque :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

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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Howard Roberts :: Guilty

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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The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PDT, Channel 35)

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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Transmissions :: Medicine Singers

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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