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Still House Plants :: If I Don’t Make It, I Love U

Still House PlantsPosted on

Still House Plants filters torch blues through a cracked mirror, floating polysyllabic jazz singer melisma over clanging, clattering noise abstractions. It sounds like the most irregular sort of post-rock—U.S. Maple or Slint—with a Billie Holiday aficionado along for the ride, or perhaps like Circuit Des Yeux doing a guest shot with Black Midi. Let us stipulate right now that Still House Plants will not be to everyone’s taste, but you have to hear it. This is a band absolutely carving its own swath through music . . .

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Dadawah :: Peace And Love

Dadawah Ras Michael Reggae/DubPosted on

That this sublime slice of life-affirming music is considered reggae is incidental in the same way that Alice Coltrane's Journey In Satchdinanda is considered jazz. What it really is, what they both really are is devotional music that transcends genre limitations and taps into something that most musicians could spend a lifetime failing to achieve . . .

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Posted on Dadawah Ras Michael Reggae/Dub

The Seventh Sons :: 4 A.M. At Frank’s

The Seventh SonsPosted on

Tucked away in the jeweled annals of the ESP-Disk catalog is 4 A.M. at Frank’s (or Raga, as it was later titled upon reissue), the lone album by NYC free-folk progenitors The Seventh Sons. It’s quite possibly the most peaceful and flat-out beautiful album the label ever put out, an extended eastern-tinged folk jam that’s close kin to the searching guitar soli of Robbie Basho and Peter Walker . . .

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Creation Rebel :: High Above Harlesden 1978-2023

Adrian Sherwood Creation Rebel Reggae/DubPosted on

In the late 1970s, a budding dub-loving producer named Adrian Sherwood assembled a crack band of Caribbean musicians living in the working class neighborhoods of North-West London. Before they became Prince Far I’s onstage accompanists, Creation Rebel recorded a series of albums under their own name, cementing their status as the house band of Sherwood’s On-U Sound label . . .

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Posted on Adrian Sherwood Creation Rebel Reggae/Dub

Writhing Squares :: Mythology

Writhing SquaresPosted on

Writhing Squares’ antecedents are the heaviest of heavy psychedelicists. They draw from the ecstatic riffery of Blue Cheer, the nodding hypnotics of Wooden Shjips, the heavy raptures of Red-era King Crimson. When they employ a drum machine, as in hard-popping “Cerberus,” you can hear an echo of Suicide in the whip-crack of percussion and the answering blat of saxophone . . .

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First & Last: Japanese Private Press, Vol. 14

First & Last MixtapesPosted on

Step into spring with the latest edition of First & Last, a series of mixes providing a glimpse into the world of Japanese private press, or 自主盤, pronounced “jishuban”, which loosely translates to “independent board.”

Included are tracks from two of our favorite records: Book End, whose band leader was also the leader of Primary Mini-Band, and Naotune Saga. The mix also features Buraiha, a band steeped in the avant-garde Angura movement, along with a group called Sharons Forever which (with no liner notes to guide) offers a poignant tribute, leaving us to ponder the mystery behind this memorial record . . .

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Aquarium Drunkard Book Club :: Chapter 29

Book ClubPosted on

Welcome back to the stacks. It’s Aquarium Drunkard’s Book Club, our monthly gathering of recent (or not so recent) recommended reading. In this month’s stack: the life and times of Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell, the late Jean-Patrick Manchette, blurring the conceptual lines of experimental filmmaking and abstract animation, “the most unread book ever acclaimed,” and more . . .

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

SIRIUSPosted on

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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John Martyn :: One World

John MartynPosted on

It is perhaps at the peak of his unhinged behavior in the mid-70s that Martyn stumbled into his creative apex. Solid Air confirmed that the chops were there, but it was with One World that the artist cemented his potential for crafting masterworks that transcend the folk-singer moniker . . .

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Transmissions :: Sean Howe (Live at PRS)

Podcast Sean Howe Will SheffPosted on

On Saturday, April 20th, Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions returned to the esoteric grounds of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles for a living taping with guest host Will Sheff (Okkervil River) in conversation author Sean Howe, discussing Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s, book on High Times founder, provocateur, and trickster Thomas King Forçade as part of PRS' Earth Day celebration Plantstock . . .

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Posted on Podcast Sean Howe Will Sheff

Project Gemini :: Colours & Light

Project GeminiPosted on

On Colours & Light, Project Gemini’s second album, released by certified groove merchants Mr. Bongo, UK bassist Paul Osborne welcomes listeners into the soundtracks of his dreams. Expect acid folk, tropicalia, yé-yé, and Caribou circa The Milk of Human Kindness—when they were still a psych-pop band with two drum kits . . .

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Greg Foat, Sokratis Votskos, Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu :: Live at Villa Maximus, Mykonos

Greg FoatPosted on

On his second live release this year, Villa Maximus sends jazz pianist and synthesizer maven Greg Foat to Mykonos with his frequent collaborators guitarist Warren Hampshire of the Bees and drummer Ayo Salawu of Kokoroko. But the real wild card here is stellar Greek reedman Sokratis Votskos, who adds flute and bass clarinet to this already formidable unit. The thrilling results range from deep space ambient jazz exploration to funky krautrock blowouts . . .

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Catching Up With Amen Dunes

Amen Dunes The AD InterviewPosted on

With Death Jokes Damon McMahon has created a complicated musical and cultural tapestry, inspired by hip-hop sample density. “I just really hope that people take the time to pay attention to the details, because there’s so much in this album. Even my dearest friends are saying, ‘I didn’t understand it until I’d listened to it five times . . .

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Posted on Amen Dunes The AD Interview

Reversed Lens: The Return of Michael Macioce

Michael MaciocePosted on

Although a few diehard indie rock fans would probably recognize his album artwork for groups like Galaxie 500, Urge Overkill, and the Butthole Surfers, it’s likely that even that small coterie of people wouldn’t readily recognize Michael Macioce's name. But he documented NYC's avant scene with his camera, offering photos of Sonic Youth, Ween, John Zorn, Galaxie 500 and many more . . .

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Water Damage :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

The AD Interview Water DamagePosted on

Maximal repetition with minimal deviation: This is the guiding principle of Water Damage, the amorphous Austin, Texas-based collective specializing in 20-minute slabs of hulking, relentless drone-rock for people who think two notes is one too many. An awe-inspiring racket that sounds like Earth taking a crack at making dance music, or a bulldozer covering Faust . . .

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Posted on The AD Interview Water Damage