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Van Dyke Parks :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

The AD Interview Van Dyke ParksPosted on

Ahead of planning an upcoming concert at the Getty Museum, Van Dyke Parks caught up with AD from his home in Los Angeles. In addition to his philosophies on arranging and composition, we discuss some of the more understated (yet fascinating) parts of his prolific career: the audio/visual unit he created at Warner Brothers, relationship with Haruomi Hosono, fascination with steel drums and tuneful percussion, the moment he was embraced by psychedelia, and much more . . .

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Lori Vambe :: Space​-​Time Dreamtime

Lori VambePosted on

Do drummers dream of playing stringed umbilical cords? One definitely did, and that’s the Zimbabwe-born, London-raised Lori Vambe. A self-taught drummer, inventor, and sonic experimentalist, Vambe released two private-press albums featuring the hypnotic, trance-inducing playing of the drumgita, an instrument of Vambe’s own creation, conceived in a “dream-vision” where he played an unknown instrument that extended from his own umbilical cord. The works, now reissued for the first time via Strut as the merged Space-Time Dreamtime, share the lost treasures of this dimension-shifting sonic explorer . . .

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Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: October 15, 2023

Radio Free Aquarium DrunkardPosted on

The veil between worlds is practically see through, it’s Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard on dublab. This month, Chad DePasquale drops in with New Happy Gathering, with a host of avant-autumn drone & spiritual jazz-soul numbers. Then, Jason P. Woodbury’s Range and Basin, featuring soul, jazz rock, synth epics, and vibes. Then Tyler Wilcox arrives with Doom & Gloom from the Tomb, featuring autumnal ambient sounds—mostly from 2023. And to close, Rob Jones of Be With Records shares Telemix, Vol 1 . . .

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Aquarium Drunkard Book Club :: Chapter 26

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: '60s girl groups, glitching realities and mirror world doubles, poetry from Richard Hell, modern occultism, and the indie rock fashions of the '80s . . .

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Searchlight Moonbeam :: A Compilation

CompilationPosted on

A self-described “narrative compilation”, if Searchlight Moonbeam was meticulously designed for autumnal listening, it goes beyond reaching that intention. Coming from Australian label Efficient Space (responsible for other excellent compilations like Sky Girl and Ghost Riders), this multi-faceted offering reaches from the archival depths of somber instrumentals, spoken word vignettes, glistening avant-proq, and dusty orchestral transmissions . . .

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Lou Reed: The King of New York (In Conversation With Will Hermes)

Lou Reed The AD Interview Will HermesPosted on

Right at the start of his phenomenal new biography, Lou Reed: The King of New York, Will Hermes makes a confession: “If you’re looking for some neat totalizing statement or psychological profile to explain Reed, to fix him like a butterfly specimen, you won’t find it here.”

Recently, Aquarium Drunkard hopped on Zoom to chat with Hermes about all things Lou . . .

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Meernaa :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Meernaa The AD InterviewPosted on

The calling card of Meernaa is the smoky timbre of Carly Bond’s voice. It’s an instrument of immense warmth and controlled tension, which imprints a sort of charged unpredictability onto her songs. This has never been more true than with the humbly titled, So Far So Good. Bond spoke with us about the joys and terrors of opening a studio, unlearning old ways of thinking, and the powerful themes of love and self-worth on her new record . . .

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Posted on Meernaa The AD Interview

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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Simply Saucer :: Cyborgs Revisited

Simply SaucerPosted on

In the summers of 1974 and 1975, one of the great Canadian cult rock ‘n’ roll groups left their mark on musical history. Yet despite how far ahead their electronically enhanced songs may have sounded at the time, the scorching recordings captured on Simply Saucer’s Cyborgs Revisited would not be released until 1989, thanks to the tireless efforts of their champion Bruce “The Mole” Mowat. Formed in the humble hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, these sci-fried proto-punks created a sound fusing Hawkwind, The Kinks, Pink Fairies, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and the omnipresent Velvet Underground . . .

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Posted on Simply Saucer

Transmissions :: Maria Elena Silva

Maria Elena Silva PodcastPosted on

We were introduced to the music of Maria Elena Silva via 2021’s Eros, which featured collaborations with previous Transmissions guests Jeff Parker of Tortoise and was produced by Chris Schlarb. Silva is back with a new one, the recently released Dulce. Here, she’s joined by Schlarb once again, as well as Transmissions alumni Marc Ribot, who brings a raw, questing intensity to her new songs, which swell with rock & roll gusto and a newfound display of bravado . . .

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Posted on Maria Elena Silva Podcast

Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean :: Bob Dylan | Peco’s Blues (or: Lucky Luke)

Bob Dylan Diamonds From the Deepest OceanPosted on

Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean is a new series exploring classic Bob Dylan bootlegs from the CD era. Before broadband internet, YouTube, and bottomless hard drives overflowing with FLACs, many Dylan fans relied on the grey market to gain entry into the world of unreleased Dylan. This series celebrates those tangible treasures and wonders: "What's lost when you can have it all?"

First up: Peco’s Blues (or: Lucky Luke . . .

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Posted on Bob Dylan Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean

Hauschka :: Philanthropy

HauschkaPosted on

Volker Bertelmann, known professionally as Hauschka, follows up his 2022 Oscar winning soundtrack to All Quiet on the Western Front with a set of intricate, fractally complicated piano compositions. Hauschka is a master of the prepared piano, the use of sticks, hammers, keys, and other unlikely paraphernalia to alter the sound of the keyboard. What is delightful about Philanthropy, though, is how it combines traditional and unconventional piano sounds, so that lyrical runs and post-modern flurries of notes coincide with bumps, clashes and otherworldly vibrations . . .

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Yo La Tengo :: Idiot’s Delight with Vince Scelsa, WNEW, December 28, 1997

Live Upload Series Yo La TengoPosted on

Yo La Tengo are one of our greatest bands — but they're particularly great on the radio. Who else would be able to expertly accompany Daniel Johnston via a telephone call-in? Or take off-the-cuff requests from listeners every year during WFMU's pledge drive? This vintage WNEW broadcast is terrific, too, coming at the end of 1997, when YLT were winning hearts worldwide with I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One . . .

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Posted on Live Upload Series Yo La Tengo

Edsel Axle :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Edsel Axle Rosali The AD InterviewPosted on

Variable Happiness was made available to the world in August 2023, courtesy of a previously unknown artist named Edsel Axle. But it doesn’t take much detective work to determine that Edsel Axle is a nom de plume of Rosali Middleman. As Rosali, she has released a number of albums in the singer/songwriter mode, whereas Variable Happiness is a collection of instrumental electric guitar recordings . . .

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Posted on Edsel Axle Rosali The AD Interview

Blue Lake :: Sun Arcs

Blue LakePosted on

Copenhagen-based Jason Dungan makes fully transportive music as Blue Lake. Sun Arcs is an absolutely perfect folk/ambient/new age/neo-classical hybrid, with the musician blending a 48-string zither, acoustic guitars, a Roland 606 drum machine, clarinet and more into these beauteous and buzzing instrumental compositions. “Bloom” sounds like a dreamy Pentangle / Laraaji collab, while “Fur” finds a happy middle ground between John Fahey and Steve Reich . . .

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Posted on Blue Lake