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Talk Talk, Montreux 1986: Before the Silence

Talk TalkPosted on

By July 1986, Talk Talk were still a functioning live unit touring behind The Colour of Spring. But something had already shifted as evidenced by this set from that summer’s Montreux Jazz Festival. Listen closely and you can hear the architecture beginning to loosen: tempos breathe, arrangements open, and familiar material begins to drift toward something less fixed, less performative . . .

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Posted on Talk Talk

Westerman :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

The AD Interview WestermanPosted on

Where Westerman's first record neurotically arranged harmonies into refined ambiences and lush production aesthetics reminiscent of Peter Gabriel and Mark Hollis, and the second succumbed to unsettlingly unformatted bittersweetness, like Nick Drake making a party record, in A Jackal's Wedding he tries to put things into motion once again, if only by breaking them apart. First you clinch it, then you stress it, then it bursts and pours out . . .

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Posted on The AD Interview Westerman

African Head Charge w/ Lee “Scratch” Perry :: Glastonbury Festival 1990

Adrian Sherwood African Head Charge Lee Perry Reggae/DubPosted on

Glastonbury, England. June 1990. One foot in the dying century, the other feeling for whatever comes next. Amid the sweating sprawl, DJ Earthpipe furtively records African Head Charge’s heated 66-minute set with Lee “Scratch” Perry on a Sony Walkman. A séance disguised as a sound system sermon, the tape folds time in on itself---hallucinatory, ritualistic. Press play and drift as tectonic basslines shift beneath the surface . . .

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Posted on Adrian Sherwood African Head Charge Lee Perry Reggae/Dub

The Kynds :: So If Someone Sends You Flowers Babe

The KyndsPosted on

Here’s one that’s been on serious repeat lately. A mid-60s garage rock gem, “So If Someone Sends You Flowers Babe” is the A-side on the sole release by a group known as The Kynds. A trio from upstate New York, organist Joseph Cirincione, drummer Jerry Porreca, and bassist Dan Wood (with one of them anonymously on vocals) laid down the track in Kinderhook while gigging in the area in 1966, fashioning a lo-fi garage rock gem with merry-go-round keys, a sparse drumbeat, and warped humming bass. It’s a mysteriously cool platter, a . . .

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Posted on The Kynds

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

SIRIUSPosted on

Via satellite, transmuting 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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Posted on SIRIUS

Fela Kuti :: Live in Detroit 1986

Fela KutiPosted on

There are records that feel like documents and there are records that feel like contraband. Live in Detroit 1986 sits firmly in the latter… a tape smuggled out of the room, dubbed and redubbed into soft focus until the hiss becomes a third rhythm section. Captured less than a year after Fela Kuti’s release from prison, at Detroit’s Fox Theatre during his first U.S. tour, the set lands with a charged, itinerant electricity: part exorcism, part declaration . . .

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Posted on Fela Kuti

All Song Song :: Scott Bunn on “Boom Boom Boom”

Neil Young PodcastPosted on

For his appearance on All One Song, AD and Recliner Notes contributor Scott Bunn picked a truly deep cut: ⁠“Boom Boom Boom.”⁠ This is a song that you might know better … though not much better…as ⁠“She’s A Healer,”⁠ which closed out Neil’s 2002 LP Are You Passionate?, recorded with Booker T and the MG’s. But “Boom Boom Boom” is the original Crazy Horse version of the song, which was cut in the year 2000 . . .

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Posted on Neil Young Podcast

The Lagniappe Sessions :: Big Bend

Big Bend Lagniappe SessionsPosted on

On their 2024 album Last Circle in a Slowdown, Big Bend took concert recordings and reconfigured them, bending that live energy into weird, spacious and intricate constructions. Leader Nathan Phillips does something similar for his project's first Lagniappe Session, turning these covers into loose, free and focused interpretations of the source material. Slowdown bore the light but pervasive imprint of Talk Talk, especially Mark Hollis' tentative yet determined phrasing and breathy, plein air timbre . . .

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Posted on Big Bend Lagniappe Sessions

R.E.M. :: Lifes Rich Pageant at 40

R.E.M.Posted on

R.E.M.'s fourth album may be 40 years old by the Gregorian calendar, but its cockeyed self-determination and wistful mistrust make it seem younger than many of the band's '90s records. Full of ambivalent emotions expressed in clear, ringing tones, the songs of Lifes Rich Pageant show a band waking up to its potential (commercial as well as artistic) and recognizing the extent of that discovery and what remained to be mapped out. Take a picture here, take a souvenir . . .

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Posted on R.E.M.

Mildred :: Fenceline

MildredPosted on

An unassuming set of songs made by an unassuming four-piece, Fenceline rolls by in a little over thirty minutes. There is a certain sense of inertia to the record, the songs so strong and fundamentally enjoyable that you can’t help but listen to it in sequence, almost as if it were a real piece of wax on a turntable—or better yet, a scuffed CD in a six-disc changer. This is an album made for tooling around the streets of a town you don’t necessarily want to live in anymore, in a car that’s seen . . .

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Posted on Mildred

Adam Schatz :: A Test of Attention Spans and Contact Cleaner

Adam SchatzPosted on

Though he's known for his work with artists like Neko Case, Japanese Breakfast, and Hand Habits, and the prog-pop of Landlady, Adam Schatz steps fully into the role of spontaneous composer with his modal jazz and fractured bop-inspired forthcoming solo album Civil Engineering Vol. 1, out April 24 via Jealous Butcher Records . . .

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Posted on Adam Schatz

Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: April 2026

Radio Free Aquarium DrunkardPosted on

Freeform transmissions from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard on dublab. Airing every third Sunday of the month, RFAD on dublab features the pairing of Tyler Wilcox’s Doom and Gloom from the Tomb and Chad DePasquale’s New Happy Gathering. This month, they’re both celebrating spring; Tyler kicks it off with mix of favorite jams old and new, followed by Chad’s hour of dream pop and art rock. Sunday, 4-6pm PT . . .

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Posted on Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard

Lee “Scratch”Perry & Mouse on Mars :: Rockcurry

Lee Perry Mouse on Mars Reggae/DubPosted on

Occasionally, a song breaks forth from the void and strikes you like a bolt of lightning. That's how it feels listening to "Rockcurry," from the late dub pioneer Lee "Scratch" Perry and electronic duo Mouse on Mars (Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma)'s forthcoming Spatial, No Problem, out on the June 5th on Domino Record Co. It feels a little like plugging a fork into the electrical socket. Shock. Boom. A whole new world . . .

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Posted on Lee Perry Mouse on Mars Reggae/Dub

Wendy Eisenberg  :: S/T

Wendy EisenbergPosted on

Wendy Eisenberg plays like a musical Bildungsroman. It's filled with mature reminiscences on old dreams (and their decay, and their radiance), the invisible coordination of a family, the constant mutations of life as it moves towards death, and the adventure of learning to embody yourself on the way there, while avoiding simple teleological notions of fortune and fate. It's a lesson in self-acceptance (or self-appeasement) as well as self-reinvention . . .

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Posted on Wendy Eisenberg

White Fence :: Orange

White FencePosted on

Like an unwavering sonic horizon, Orange delivers a vibrant and jangly collection of songs that weren't just merely worth the wait, but feel like just the right amalgamation of musician Tim Presley's prolific career to date. The first White Fence record in over seven years, the chiming guitars and Ty Segall back behind the drum kit and console convey a warbly and mysteriously optimistic guiding light. Hence the record's namesake, the record offers a clear-eyed and bullish vibrancy in contrast to the downright foggy greys and blues of yesteryear . . .

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Posted on White Fence