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Lô Borges: The Sneaker Album

Lô Borges was under immense pressure to record his debut record. The eight songs he had co-composed for Clube da Esquina had the luxury of time to gestate and included contributions from many other musicians in the collective. In contrast, Lô had very little time to compose and record the songs for his debut, which consisted of fifteen brand new songs, nine of which he was the sole composer. Reissued this month via VAMPISOUL . . .

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Glyders :: Forever

Chicagoans Joshua Condon and Eliza Weber have been Glyders since 2014, but Forever, technically their second album, marks their debut as a trio, with full-time drummer Joe Seger. The trio makes up for lost time, though, blending their Gram Parsons/Byrds/New Riders ballads with surprisingly souped-up scorchers, burned-out breakdowns and best Western boogies. At a time when cosmic country threatens to leave the galaxy entirely, Glyders return it to Earth, while still keeping an eye on the skies . . .

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Wussy :: Funeral Dress

Released twenty years ago, Cincinnati band Wussy's gritty and homespun debut Funeral Dress established the beginning of a remarkably consistent discography. With a distinctively midwestern blue collar ethos, co-vocalists Chuck Cleaver (of nineties alt-country outfit Ass Ponys) and Lisa Walker deliver a tour de- orce of breakup songs and all sorts of assorted angst. There's a touch of Lucinda Williams meets Crazy Horse sway in Walker's leads, while droning guitars make way for Cleaver's infectiously oft-kilter songcraft . . .

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Dylan Day :: The Unanswered Prayer

Unadorned and strikingly confessional, The Unanswered Prayer flickers humbly at the edge of darkness like a votive, holding space for anyone who might need a little light. Conceived and developed in front of audiences at low-key gigs around LA, Day patiently crafted each piece until the emotional core was revealed. When it came time to put it all to tape, he opted to stay true to the live nature of the music, recording the album straight through in a single half-hour session with only a microphone and a vintage Gibson LG2 . . .

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Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore :: Tragic Magic

Recorded in Paris, Tragic Magic was sponsored by the InFiné label and the Philharmonie de Paris, providing the duo with access to historic instruments from the Musée de la Musique’s instrument collection. And while there are certainly archaic resonances to these lovely cuts—the madrigal purity of “Perpetual Adoration,” the fairy-tale gentleness of “The Four Sleeping Princesses,” the percussive fervor of round-like, Brian Eno-penned “Melted Moon”—the two musicians also reach for the unknowable future . . .

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Will Epstein :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Throughout his career, Will Epstein has amassed film scoring credits, including an IDA Documentary Award nomination for his score for Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV (2023), by attuning to the micro-moments on screen and crafting the music to match them. So it comes as no surprise that, with the release of his latest lyrics-forward album Yeah, mostly (out on Fat Possum Records), he applies this focused attention as well, sourcing his imagery and subject matter from life’s small moments that may otherwise go unnoticed as a person goes on living . . .

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David Bowie’s Blackstar Jazz

Released 10 years ago today, David Bowie's Blackstar marked the artist's most intensive and rewarding collaboration with jazz musicians in the span of his six decade career. To commemorate the album's anniversary we dive into how his work with Maria Schneider, Donny McCaslin and other players shaped his final record . . .

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

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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It’s Common Knowledge I’ve Been Doin’ Alright: Dan Bejar on “Destroyer’s Rubies” at 20

Rubies is not always my favorite Destroyer record—that, like favorite Dylan, changes with the day; there is too much brilliance across too many records to firmly settle on one eternal favorite. It is, however, the best Destroyer record: consistent, nuanced, equal parts enervating and energizing. The album sounds effortless, as if these songs were always there, hovering unseen, waiting to be plucked out of the air and given form by Bejar and his murderous band of Vancouverites. Even after twenty years, I would not change a second. This is as close to perfect as rock records get.

Released two . . .

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Elijah Minnelli :: Clams As A Main Meal

After garnering a reputation for his curated global radio mixes, London-based sound alchemist Elijah Minnelli pieces together a singular fusion of folk, offbeat dub and Cumbia rhythms on sophomore album Clams As A Main Meal. The immaculately layered album balances echoing, frenzied instrumental tracks with vocal tracks featuring cameos by Barbadian reggae mastro Dennis Bovell (on the serene, spiritual offering "Canaan Land") and Welsh musician Carwyn Ellis. There's a worldbuilding element to the references, and an enigmatic quality to the righteous mishmash of a musical palette, one best enjoyed floating along and wrapped up in that mystery . . .

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Robert Stillman :: 10,000 Rivers

We live in a world birthed from the techno-utopian visions of people like Apple founder Steve Jobs, who's the subject of East Kent composer and The Smile collaborator Robert Stillman's remarkable new album 10,000 Rivers. Synthesizing a web of jazz, smooth '80s sounds and modern classical into a whole that works as a provocation, humanizing investigation, and critique all at once . . .

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Miguel Góes :: Pequenas Lembranças

Miguel Góes debuts his solo project with one of Brazil's most exciting new cosmic jazz releases, Pequenas Lembranças. In this short but erudite instrumental work, you can hear the post-bop psychedelia of Yusef Lateef and Pharoah Sanders, the pop circuses of Van Dyke Parks and John Cale, the ethnological classical of Bartok and Debussy, as well as figures from the contemporary West Coast scene of atmospheric jazz, alongside Carlos Niño or Fabiano do Nascimento . . .

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Dry Cleaning :: Secret Love

Produced by Cate Le Bon, Secret Love is the London four-piece’s third and best album to date -- a volatile concoction of hot and cold, rough and smooth. Intellectually rigorous and physically moving, there's a simmering tension in even the coolest temperature lyrics . . .

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

New year, new you. 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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Unearthed, Vol. 20 :: New Year’s Eve (1970s)

We’re back with a seasonally appropriate Unearthed mix of dusty live tapes, this one made up entirely of recordings made on various New Years Eves throughout the 1970s. As with any good NYE party, it’s equal parts awesome, boozy and occasionally chaotic. Hit play at 10:30pm on December 31 and you can time it just right to hear JJ Cale welcome you to 1976 . . .

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