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Lonnie Holley :: Just Before Music

Lonnie HolleyPosted on

“Where did it begin?” asks Lonnie Holley in his liner note. “We had songs with us all the time. Humans had songs even if they weren’t doing anything but moaning, they had MUSIC.”  Just Before Music is aptly titled since Holley restrains himself from too much conventional musicality–melody and that sort of thing. There is scarcely a proper chord change in his music, much less a full progression. He sings with an intense, emotional voice and unleashes lyrics without consistent meter or rhyme over . . .

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Melody’s Echo Chamber :: The Aquarium Drunkard Session

Aquarium Drunkard Session Melody’s Echo ChamberPosted on

This Friday, during the second hour of the Aquarium Drunkard show, we’re airing the AD session Melody's Echo Chamber laid down for us at Red Rockets Glare Studios last Fall while in Los Angeles. We're debuting it here, first -- those of you sans satellite radio can download/stream the tracks below.

And for those of you who missed it, the singer-songwriter's swirling self-titled debut (produced by Tame Impala's . . .

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Besnard Lakes :: People Of The Sticks

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The Besnard Lakes return with “People of the Sticks”, the band’s first glimpse of brilliant light taken from their forthcoming album, Until in Excess, Imperceptiple UFO, coming April 2 through Jagjaguwar. That’s quite an intriguing title as husband and wife duo Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas have spent the past two albums convincing fans about the existence of “Roaring Nights” and “Dark Horses” along with themes of espionage, codes and imminent danger lurking around every corner. But you wouldn’t know it from this new track. Somewhere among the ether of Spiritualized and Blue Cheer lies The Besnard . . .

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Imaginational Anthem: Volume 5

Tompkins SquarePosted on

Imaginational Anthem Volume 5 is the first volume in this long-running series not compiled by Tompkins Square label boss Josh Rosenthal but by young guitarist Sam Moss, and refreshingly offers some curveballs. The most rewarding contributions to this series have consistently been those that venture furthest from contemporary solo guitarist clichés — colonialist ethno-meandering, Takoma flashbacks, and modal fantasias — and this fifth volume is no exception.

Jordan Fuller’s exciting prepared guitar style on “I Think We’ll Be Happy Here” is imbued with a nervous, clattering . . .

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Townes Van Zandt :: Live – Minneapolis, MN, 1973

Live Upload Series Townes Van ZandtPosted on

There's a collection of unreleased Townes Van Zandt recordings from 1971-72 coming out in a few weeks. I haven't heard a note of it, but I'm going to go out on a limb and call it one of the best releases of 2013. The years 1968-1973 were Van Zandt's peak period, with classics pouring out of him at an astonishing rate. The albums he released during that time -- Our Mother the Mountain, Townes Van Zandt, Delta Momma Blues, High . . .

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Samuel Yirga :: Abet Abet / Guzo

Samuel YirgaPosted on

Samuel Yirga is a talented, young jazz pianist from Addis Ababa. His music is indebted to the “Golden Age” of Ethiopian music, that funky mish-mash of Western jazz and East African folk styles that was popular in “swinging” Addis before the 1974 Communist revolution. However his style is even more cosmopolitan, grabbing at all sorts of Carribbean rhythms and inflections as well as the work of modern jazz players. There’s a smoothness to his style that shares an aesthetic with players like Keith Jarrett or George Winston: Yirga’s got a very clean, fluid way about playing . . .

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The Uniques :: The Love I Saw In You (Was Just a Mirage)

The UniquesPosted on

Originally by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, this poppin’ rendition by The Uniques belongs to the band’s lead singer, Keith “Slim” Smith. His full voice had soul, and his falsetto sounded unhinged, unpredictable, manic–in a word: exciting. Bunny Lee’s production bounces with pep, and The Uniques’ harmonies are unusual, tightly responding to Smith’s lead. During the bridge sections, Smith breaks away from fellow Uniques Lloyd Charmers and Jimmy Riley, punctuating the chorus with upper register gasps and bleats. It’s a ragged and passionate performance . . .

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Tim Hecker And Daniel Lopatin :: Instrumental Tourist

Tim Hecker and Daniel LopatinPosted on

Despite David Byrne and St. Vincent gracing the decommissioned altar of the Church of St. John the Baptist, despite Win Butler and the Strokes’  Nik Fraiture running a charity basketball game in McGill’s shoebox-sized gym, despite even a homecoming set by Grimes, the most-hyped performance at Pop Montreal this September was the premiere of new work by drone maestro Tim Hecker. Call it home cooking--Hecker, though a Vancouver native, lives and works in Montreal--but his at the very-much-in-service Church of St. John the . . .

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Posted on Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin

Turquoise Wisdom: Like A Coat From The Cold (A Mixtape)

Mixtapes Turquoise WisdomPosted on

Turquoise Wisdom here with another installment of my Sad Seasons mixtape series for AD. This time around we're thinking about winter. ps- I have officially joined the future and started a 'lil website to regularly post jams from my record collection, that's here: playitasitlathes.com. Onward! zc/tw

1. Terry Callier - Dancing Girl (excerpt) - What Color Is Love - Cadet (w/ a sampled introduction by Gil Scott Heron. RIP to both of you.)
2. Robert Wyatt - Biko - Work In Progress - Rough Trade . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Tashaki Miyaki (The Flamingos / Replacements)

Lagniappe Sessions Tashaki MiyakiPosted on

Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.

Aquarium Drunkard's Lagniappe Sessions return with  Tashaki Miyaki. Here, the ethereal Los Angeles dream-pop three piece lay down a resonating, haunting rendition of The Flamingos "I Only Have Eyes For You", coupled with a narcotized take on the Mats "Unsatisfied". Drummer and vocalist Lucy Miyaki, in her . . .

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SIRIUS/XMU :: Aquarium Drunkard Show (Noon EST, Channel 35)

SIRIUSPosted on

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can be heard twice every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.

SIRIUS 276: Jean Michel Bernard — Generique Stephane ++ Loose Fur - Hey Chicken ++ Fuzz - This Time I Got A Reason ++ Brian Eno - Needles In The Camel's Eye ++ Ghetto Cross - Still ++ Atlas Sound - Doctor ++ Cass McCombs - The Same Things ++ Chris Cohen - Optimist High ++ Pet Politics - The Ghost Mary And Her Friends ++ Jana Hunter - New Orleans . . .

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MV & EE :: Space Homestead

MV & EEPosted on

Space Homestead finds Matthew Valentine (MV) and Erika Elder (EE) continuing their association with taste-making label Woodsist, and offers a fine summation of the group’s distinct brand of naturalist boogie and rural Beat music. Recorded at various locales over an undetermined amount of time and featuring various co-conspirators including Woods’ Jeremy Earl, Sunburned’s John Maloney, and J Mascis, Space Homestead feels like an ideal entry point into an intimidating but rewarding discography.

MV & EE do . . .

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Clover :: Mr. Moon

CloverPosted on

Speaking of the Band, here's one from an old mix I put together entitled Band Not Band. In short, the homemade compilation consisted of tunes from stylistically simpatico artists -- most of whom were contemporaries of the Band (e.g. Goose Creek Symphony, shack-era Link Wray, etc). Here's the song that kicked it off, Clover's "Mr. Moon" -- a little slice of country rock, a la The Big Pink,

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The Byrds And Earl Scruggs :: You Ain’t Going Nowhere

Earl Scruggs The ByrdsPosted on

Taken from the excellent Earl Scruggs: The Bluegrass Legend: Family and Friends -- the 1972 flick that captures Scruggs and his two sons playing with the Byrds and Dylan, then taking a pilgrimage to Joan Baez's Laurel Canyon home. Get your mind off the wintertime. words/ m garner

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Posted on Earl Scruggs The Byrds