Are things feeling autumnal at long last? Not quite. But maybe this selection of recommended sounds, old and new, can help usher in the cooler, crisper season. Bandcamp Friday only rolls around every couple of months. But remember, you can always add a buck or two to the asking price of any album on the platform and voila — every day is Bandcamp Friday . . .
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The ’70s didn’t end. They just got more elastic. Strut’s Nigeria 80 catches Nigerian popular music in that beautiful, unruly stretch between Afrobeat’s explosion and whatever came next—juju, funk, highlife, reggae, proto-hip-hop, and plenty of glorious cross-pollination along the way . . .
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Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Sessions have been rolling along at a steady pace since 2011, bringing together a global lineup of artists to offer up cover versions of a few of their favorite tunes. And some of the most imaginative Lagniappes have been those that deliver purely instrumental pleasures, embracing melody, rhythm and texture.
We’ve gathered together a 90-minute sampling of those covers from over the past decade, which range from MPB bliss-outs to Takoma School dreamscapes, from free-funk workouts to orchestral jazz. And beyond . . .
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Broadcasting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.
A signal from the afterlife of the ’60s—soft-focus surrealism, garage psych, baroque pop, pastoral folk, English eccentricity, studio alchemy and outsider visions.
SIRIUS 899: Intro ++ Jefferson Airplane – Embryonic Journey >> Today ++ The Rolling Stones – Citadel ++ The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Smell Of Incense ++ The Creation – Painter Man ++ The Chocolate Watchband – Baby Blue ++ Marc Nolan & John’s Children – Desdemona (Version #2) ++ The Creation – Making Time ++ Billy Nicholls – Girl From New York ++ The Millennium – I Just Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye ++ The Association – Never My Love ++ The Kinks – Nothin’ In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl ++ The Rolling Stones – She Smiled Sweetly ++ The Rolling Stones – I Am Waiting ++ Bobby Gentry – Seasons Come, Seasons Go ++ Nancy Sinatra – Summer Wine ++ Curt Boettcher – Lament Of The Astral Cowboy ++ The Lovin’ Spoonful – Coconut Grove ++ The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – I Won’t Hurt You ++ The Velvet Underground – Ride Into The Sun ++ King Crimson – I Talk To The Wind ++ Cream – Anyone For Tennis ++ Lee Hazlewood – Califia (Stone Rider) ++ Nico – I’ll Keep It With Mine ++ Roy Wood – Wake Up ++ Harpers Bizarre – Witchi Tai Go ++ The Beach Boys – Wind Chimes ++ The Cyrkle – The Minx ++ Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 – Righteous Life ++ Marc Benno & Leon Russell – Hello Little Friend ++ The Yardbirds – Stroll On ++ The Association – Wantin’ Ain’t Gettin’ ++ Kevin Ayers – Shouting In A Bucket Blues ++ The Advancement – Child At Play ++ Donovan – Get They Bearings ++ Scott Walker – 30 Century Man ++ Alexander ’Skip’ Spence – Books Of Moses ++ MC5 – Let Me Try ++ Robert Wyatt – Yolanda
Minneapolis lifer Jim Blaha goes it alone on Hang From A Cloud, a raw, bedroom-recorded set of wistful garage-psych and punk songs that crackle with romantic desperation. From the breathy “Some New Day” to the furious, sotto voce anthems of “D.O.A.,” Blaha distills decades in the underground into something intimate, ferocious, and beautifully unvarnished . . .
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This week on the show, comedian James Austin Johnson joins us to dive into the music nerd obsessions of his new comedy special He'll Yeah. You've likely seen JAJ on the TV. He's known for portraying Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and occasionally, Bob Dylan, on SNL. But He’ll Yeah’s vignettes and on-stage footage find Johnson creating a more "indie rock" styled special. Along the way, we talk Bob Dylan, the perils of political comedy, and much more . . .
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A live recording of three jazz masters in transitional phases of their careers, The Third World-Underground captures Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), Don Cherry and Carlos Ward embarking on a joyous, lyrical and profoundly stomping set of tunes, teeming with fanfares, shouts and unruly dances. Newly reissued and remastered, this once Japanese-only release is ready to find its rightful audience. Where Ibrahim, Cherry and Ward are going, they don't need bass or drums . . .
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Stunning psychedelic baroque pop meets Latin-influenced west coast jazz. The story of teenage sisters Wendy & Bonnie and their sublime 1969 record Genesis is one for the books, recorded on the Skye label of family friend and vibraphone extraordinaire Cal Tjader and Gábor Szabó. Brimming with gusto and the sisters' youthful ambition yet confident and chilling sunshine pop harmonies, the duo's lone album is a maturely stunning accomplishment on several fronts . . .
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Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s live show can be any number of things—a solo acoustic ramble through covers and oddities and absurd stories, an electrified duo with Superwolves’ Matt Sweeney, or, occasionally, and if you’re lucky, a full-band interpretation of old and new songs that makes you think of them in new contexts. Ghosts of American Psychonauts is very much the latter, eight songs recorded at the Pico Union Project in Los Angeles in February 2025 . . .
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You might find yourself succumbing to shorthand hyperbole when trying to describe Rose Delta Rising, Nick Jonah Davis’ remarkable new album. Ry Cooder joining Pentangle? Peter Green playing on Bryter Layter? Sonic Youth covering Avocet? Rose Delta Rising can stand up to any such fanciful daydreams, but it adds up to much more than just music nerd wish fulfillment, delivering a highly personalized and singular listening experience . . .
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With In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk, music writer Graeme Thomson charts one of the most mystical trajectories ever undertaken by a one-time pop band. Today marks the 40th anniversary of the band's final live performance in Spain. To commemorate, we're pleased to share an edited extract from In Another World . . .
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Thank You, the first solo work from Mike D, ascribed to the appellation Mike D 5D. Though he hasn’t been too far from music, producing records for Portugal. The Man and Soft Play, the album follows a long period of creative grief. But the work of his sons Davis and Skyler Diamond and their circle of friends have drawn the wildest Beastie back to writing and performing once again . . .
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Strange and turbulent times call for insistent new theme songs and rallying cries. On Talking, Baltimore’s Crying Laughing answer the call with necessary and emphatic instrumental anthems, driven by a twin alto sax attack and percussion that channels the snap and bounce of New Orleans rhythms. The result feels tightly interlocked, yet constantly in motion . . .
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For her debut Lagniappe Session, Maisy Owen turns to four songwriters who share her gift for making difficult things sound beautiful. From Rosa Lee Carson’s devastating “The Drinker’s Child,” written when Carson was just fourteen, to Townes Van Zandt’s “Snowin’ on Raton,” David Olney’s “Deeper Well,” and Amy Winehouse’s “What Is It About Men,” Owen follows a thread through country, folk and soul-pop songwriting, finding a sweetness in songs that are anything but sweet . . .
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Since emerging out of the wilds of Connecticut a few years back, SMG have released three LPs worth of rapturous sounds, each moment filled with pure melody, meditative rhythm and immersive textures, all captured wondrously on vintage 4-track ¼” tape. It’s like Gil Evans arranging an album by Natural Information Society, finding a perfect blend of gorgeously pastel hues and minimalist restraint . . .
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