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Iron & Wine :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Iron & Wine The AD InterviewPosted on

Sam Beam thought he had writer's block as he entered the studio post-pandemic. But it turns out that wasn't the case at all: the sessions produced so much music Beam had to split it into two different albums, 2024's Fiona Apple-featuring Light Verse and his eighth album, Hen's Teeth, released by Sub Pop in late February. "Deciding on which ones go on the record is just an intuitive thing," Beam says. "There’s no right or wrong answers, you just try to find ones that flow into the next, keep you on your toes . . .

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Gregory Uhlmann :: Extra Stars

Gregory Uhlmann JazzPosted on

The SML guitarist moves away from the instrumental collective's fragrant, glitched-up grooves on his new solo album, instead charting a path through weirder waters. Featuring a wealth of pedals, loops, samples and synths, Uhlmann creates a strikingly diverse yet surprisingly simple world, one in which wisdom and naivete strike a tentative balance. Though his sound may be warped and stretched, Uhlmann's peculiar emotional resonance rings clear and true . . .

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V/A :: Pop Ambient 2026

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Drifting in on a familiar frequency, Volume 26 of Kompakt’s annual ambient dispatch feels nocturnal, gently untethered, and softly out of focus. An hour-plus slow exhale, the compilation—like the series itself—lingers in the in-between, favoring atmosphere over immediacy without drifting into aimless abstraction. While open to the casual, passing tourist, these sets thrive in their subtle currents, revealing deeper layers to those who appreciate the power of the pause . . .

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Damaged Bug :: Zuzax

Damaged Bug John DwyerPosted on

Now five albums into the Damaged Bug solo project, John Dwyer brings the pounding krautish grooves you expect, as well as some things you don’t: gothy, baritone, ballads a la Roxy Music or John Cale; 70s-fusion jazz-influenced improvisations, and Afro-beat rhythms. Damaged Bug has always been more open-ended than even the wide-ranging Ohsees, and it’s a treat to see an artist like Dwyer following his own inclinations, wherever they might lead, and often into illuminating new territory . . .

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The Box Set: An Appreciation, Vol. 2

Box SetsPosted on

The initial standard for a compact disc was 74 minutes. Legend has it the length was decided upon in order to fit all of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony onto a single disc. In terms of format, the arrival and adoption of the CD in 1983 changed not only how we listen to recorded music, but how it’s presented as an art form. No longer beholden to the 22 minute confines of a “12 side, artists began experimenting with the medium… as did labels. Welcome to the second installment of The Box Set: An Appreciation in which things take a . . .

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Jay-U Experience :: Enough Is Enough

Jay-U ExperiencePosted on

With the mercury hitting 91°F here in Los Angeles, our summer crate is calling. At five tracks and under thirty minutes, Enough Is Enough makes no apologies for refusing to hitch its wagon to a single sound, offering instead an unruly sonic free-for-all. And it works. Each track stakes its own claim, from wet rubberband reggae and crunchy, Sabbath-tinged acid rock to loose-limbed jazz-funk and thick Afrobeat heat. Yet somehow(!) the album maintains its aesthetic cohesion. Find a patch of shade and dig the informed chaos. No rules. No boundaries . . .

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The Grateful Dead :: The 1975 Ace’s Sessions (2026 Edition)

Grateful Dead Jerry GarciaPosted on

There are Dead Freaks … and then there are Dead Freaks. If you find yourself in the latter category, point your browser immediately over to the always-excellent Save Your Face blog, where you’ll find a massive collection of rehearsal sessions at Bob Weir’s home studio — Ace’s. It was there that the Grateful Dead holed up in 1975 to dream up their Blues For Allah LP up from scratch. And by massive, we mean it: the tapes total just about 24 hours . . .

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Florian Pellissier Quintet :: Pacifiques Biches

Florian Pellissier Quintet JazzPosted on

Jazz grip. Via Paris, the Florian Pellissier Quintet dropped their fifth long-player, Pacifiques Biches, in the waning days of last year, casting a subtle, if luminous, glow over the tinsel-lit holiday hustle. Echoing the reflective sophistication of 1970s European jazz, the album weaves atmospheric textures and interplay into a nuanced tapestry of understated restraint. Impressively, and this is no small feat, its nine tracks maintain a contemporary edge without slipping into the well-trodden traps of obvious pastiche . . .

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Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: March 2026

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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, Tyler kicks things off with a mix that celebrates a very small sampling of the diverse/eclectic artists playing this year’s Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN. Chad follows it up with a collection of 2026 digs, both new + archival. Sunday, 4-6pm PT . . .

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Scout Gillett :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Scout Gillett The AD InterviewPosted on

“I don't want a record to sound like what everyone else is trying to sound like,” Scout Gillett says, and that means keeping her various inspirations close, allowing Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, and The Deftones to share space in her imagination. Gillett joined us virtually on a sunny Wednesday morning from her home in Los Angeles to discuss her new album, Tough Touch . . .

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Posted on Scout Gillett The AD Interview

Kim Gordon :: PLAY ME

Kim GordonPosted on

Shuddering beats disintegrate, dragging pieces of themselves over rough surfaces, all noise and rhythm and confrontation. Kim Gordon, now on her third album as a solo artist, works again with Justin Raisen, churning up a particularly dirty, distorted variety of hip-hop crossed with indie rock, blitzed by amp buzz and ruptured occasionally by guitar. Over this seething, volatile bed, Gordon chants ominous verses that glance on, but do not explicate, the day’s big questions: AI, climate change, alienation, colonial overreach . . .

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Adiós Augie Meyers: 1940-2026 

Augie MeyersPosted on

On March 7th, musician and producer Augie Meyers passed away at the age of 85. A founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and The Texas Tornados with Doug Sahm, Meyers also played with a host of legends, including Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Tom Waits, and more. Today, we share this remembrance by another artist Meyers collaborated with, songwriter Jerry David DeCicca (who helms our Dollar Diamonds column . . .

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

SIRIUSPosted on

It’s a dream. 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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Greg Belson’s Divine Funk: Rare American Gospel Soul And Funk

Compilation Greg BelsonPosted on

Hit me! Get sanctified, testify, and let it all hang out across a dozen raw Holy Ghost-infused funk and soul jammers where the spirit locks deep in the pocket. Putting in the work, DJ and record collector Greg Belson is the selector, unearthing heavyweight rarities from his personal crates. Originally released in 2021, Divine Funk is back in print as of last year via Cultures of Soul . . .

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Posted on Compilation Greg Belson

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis :: Deface the Currency

James Brandon LewisPosted on

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis return, for their second collaboration. While their first record dealt in deep grooves and comfortably familiar rhythms, Deface the Currency aims for something noisier, angrier and more invigorating. The guitar takes command, with Anthony Pirog unleashing boiling leads and laying down thickets of distorted drones, while the rhythm section barrels away behind him. Lewis holds his own, sometimes playing fierce counterpoint to Pirog, sometimes bolstering the guitar's attack, and often making his own searing, soaring declarations . . .

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Posted on James Brandon Lewis