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Richard Swift :: 4 Hits & A Miss

Richard SwiftPosted on

"If the freedom doesn't kill you/Well then man, I think the politics might." Richard Swift cracks that line in "The Original Thought," the opening number of 4 Hits & A Miss-The Essential Richard Swift, a 50-minute, 14-song collection that serves as a primer or introduction to the late songsmith. Lovely, charmed, oddball, and often ha ha funny, this playlist presents Swift as a pop wizard/joker/wisecracking oracle, tap dancing the line between sarcastic wit and transcendental wisdom . . .

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Limbo District :: Carnival

Limbo DistrictPosted on

Limbo District made its own rules. The Athens, Georgia post-punk outfit spliced hammering Afro-centric rhythms to Weimar cabaret decadence in theatrical performances that pushed late 1970s gender norms to the breaking point. They were out and gay before almost anyone, creative in a variety of artistic disciplines and an inspiration to a whole generation of wild, weird Athenians: Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Keith Strickland of the B-52s and members of Pylon . . .

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Helen Merrill :: S/T (1955)

Helen Merrill Midnite JazzPosted on

For the latest entry into our ‘Midnite Jazz’ series, we take a trip back to Manhattan circa 1954 and find a twenty-one-year-old Quincy Jones embarking on his first studio gig as an arranger for Helen Merrill’s eponymous debut album . . .

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Aquarium Drunkard Book Club :: Chapter 31

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: a guide to Krautrock, Lucy Sante’s sermons for Bob Dylan, plot twist poetry, and tomes devotes to Alan Vega of Suicide and The MC5 . . .

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Rogê :: Curyman II

RogêPosted on

Rogê is steeped in bossa nova tradition, building lush, rhythmically restless compositions that are light as air but resonant with feeling. Here in his second U.S. released solo album, the Brazilian native now living in LA, pays tribute to the genre’s masters, covering João Donato’s "A Rã," “A Força,” from his collaborative album with Seu Jorge and “Lendo Do Abaeté” a song made famous by Dorival Caymmi, while also taking the form in new directions with original material . . .

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Mount Eerie :: Night Palace

Mount EeriePosted on

Phil Elverum emerges from unimaginable loss in Night Palace, returning from relentless (and understandable) exploration of his own wrenching experiences to consider again the largeness of the natural world, the purpose of art and human transience. This larger scope extends not just through the lyrics, but into the sound of this double album, which throws off the limitations of poetic, minimalist, lyric-focused indie folk and dallies with rock, drone, free improv, country and black metal . . .

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Tomin :: A Willed And Conscious Balance

TominPosted on

As the electric keys of the "Untitled Dirge" minisuite kicks off A Willed and Conscious Balance, it's evident that Tomin Perea-Chamblee's shapeshifting palette expands upon his own woodwind arrangements, transmuting an orchestral symmetry with the record's ensemble. It's a record with an ever-evolving framework, conveying the essence of canonical free jazz entities with a set of signifiers that sounds ambivalently modern . . .

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Bondo :: Harmonica

BondoPosted on

LA based post-rock quartet Bondo returns with their sophomore LP, Harmonica. Recorded live to tape by engineer and producer JooJoo Ashworth, Harmonica conveys an organic sensibility that only a live band can communicate. There is a tightness, a musical understanding through technique and dynamics with an added dimension of nuance - some improv, and the happy accidents that can only come from four people playing together live . . .

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Barry Archie Johnson :: Fortune’s Mirror

Barry Archie JohnsonPosted on

Though he's been playing for years, Fortune's Mirror, released by the esteemed VDSQ imprint, is Barry Johnson's proper instrumental debut, and has the distinction of possibly being the most "California" sounding solo guitar record to come out since Will Ackerman's first few albums for Windham Hill . . .

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SW Hedrick :: Devotional Drift: Vol 1

SW HedrickPosted on

Though he's best known for his work in thrash metal band Skeletonwitch, guitarist SW Hedrick sets his sights on more pastorale zones with Devotional Drift: Vol. 1. A collection of meditative guitarscapes and consciousness-expanding grooves, the album was recorded at Scott Hirsch's Ojai studio Echo Magic (Hirsch mixed the album, too). Devotional Drift finds Hedrick evoking Fripp, Fricke, Göttsching, Rother et al, but it's no mere pastiche; nor is it overly monastic . . .

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Posted on SW Hedrick

The Aquarium Drunkard Show (The Halloween Edition)

Halloween SIRIUSPosted on

Broadcasting from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery … The Aquarium Drunkard Show. The Halloween edition, Wednesday night / 7pm California time. SIRIUS/XM ~ Channel 35 . . .

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Posted on Halloween SIRIUS

Lee Baggett :: Waves For A Begull

Lee BaggettPosted on

Existing in a dusty space between shambolic whimsy and rock solid songwriting, the experience of a Baggett record is one in which the stalwart musician crafts his own classic rock fantasy. Like an afternoon drive through a seaside beach town, Waves of a Begull delivers the washed out guitar rompers you need this year . . .

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Transmissions :: Rosali and David Nance

David Nance Podcast RosaliPosted on

This week on the show, a double-header. First, Rosali Middleman, and then, her bandmate, collaborator, and the leader of Mowed Sound, David Nance. Together, they both play on Rosali’s fantastic 2024 album, Bite Down. This week on Transmissions, they open up about their collaborative process in two individual interviews . . .

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Posted on David Nance Podcast Rosali

J Spaceman on Stranded in Canton :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

J Spaceman Jason Pierce Spiritualized The AD InterviewPosted on

"It's almost a Biblical connection." Today at Aquarium Drunkard, Jason Pierce, aka J Spaceman, discusses Harmony Korine, Jim Dickinson, and his new soundtrack to William Eggleston's 1974 documentary Stranded in Canton, released this week on Fat Possum Records . . .

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Posted on J Spaceman Jason Pierce Spiritualized The AD Interview

Videodrome :: An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Halloween VideodromePosted on

An American Werewolf in London straddles the line between comedy and horror without ever tipping the scale too far in either direction. Tonally, it’s a maverick balancing act, and this tightrope walk between laughs and screams makes it an enduring example of gateway horror . . .

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Posted on Halloween Videodrome