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Maya Ongaku :: Approach To Anima

From a studio tucked away in the back of the Ace General Store, a beachy vintage shop some 60 miles inland of the seaside coast of the small Japanese island Enoshima, emits the smoky, alchemic jazz-folk of maya ongaku. A trio of childhood friends—Tsutomu Sonoda on guitar and vocals, Ryota Takano on bass, and Shoei Ikeda on percussion and synth—the band feels fully at peace with itself on its debut album, Approach to Anima, released last month via Guruguru Brain . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Glyders

Consummate purveyors of 'American weirdness', Chicago's Glyders returned to the fold earlier this year with the release of their latest LP, Maria's Hunt, via hometown heroes Drag City. Buttressing the album, the band's Lagniappe Session takes on southern fried Skynyrd, The Damned as chooglers, acoustic Scott Walker and Johnny Mathis by way of the Hoss . . .

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Bonny Doon :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Bonny Doon came together in a scrappy DIY Detroit punk garage scene, but over time has moved towards the sunny clarity of classic pop. The band’s latest album, Let There Be Music, distills exuberant songs to their essence, tamping down the guitar mayhem to make space for the piano and breezy “ooh la las” waft over dreamy hooks . . .

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Snaarj :: Parker Groove

Here's one that slipped by us in 2021 -- the sophomore LP from the Bloomington, Indiana based jazz quartet, Snaarj. Released eight years after Levels, the group's 2013 effort, Snaarj II immediately makes up for lost time. Case in point, the album's longest track, "Parker Groove". In contrast to album's beat forward material, the leisurely six-plus minute groove stretches out for a solid four minutes before sliding into its eventual prolonged climax . . .

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Sam Evian :: Life Go Low

Summer is creeping in, and if we're lucky, we'll soon be by the water somewhere warm. Cue "Life Go Low," the easygoing new single from Sam Evian, a track which floats along via a humid groove . . .

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Brahja :: Keepers

Recorded in a desanctified church outside of Quebec, "Keepers" is the second track off the NY based jazz outfit's self-titled 2019 lp. Smoky, languid, spiritual and sublime . . .

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Baden Powell :: Tristeza On Guitar

While much of the Brazilian pop-music scene was caught up in the groundbreaking fusion of traditional folk stylings with Rock and Roll, Baden Powell was lingering further in the past. Tropicalia was taking the underground by storm; applying fuzz guitar, jazzed out sensibility, and tongue-in-cheek humor to far more danceable and groove-oriented cuts than the Anglo-American scene could comprehend. But prior to Os Mutantes massive breakthrough, Powell was working through his own vision of Brazil’s emergence into the mainstream. In 1966, Tristeza on Guitar was released as an essential first step on the road . . .

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Bandcamping :: Summer 2023

Summer is rapidly approaching — and if you need some fresh tunes to soundtrack the next few months, we’ve got recommendations, from Ethiopian pop to well-tuned piano minimalism. Be aware: there’s no Bandcamp Friday this month; the next one hits Aug. 4, 2023. But hey, any day can be Bandcamp Friday if you toss a couple extra dollars onto the asking price of any release on the platform . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Dark Canyon

For his premiere Lagniappe Session, Mike Novak takes the cinematic reverberation of Dark Canyon and infuses it into the compositions of Lee Hazelwood - another musician who was no stranger to the spectral sounds of lonesome desert towns . . .

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

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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Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Space Is The Place (Music From The Original Soundtrack)

This month marked the 109th anniversary of Sun Ra’s arrival on earth. As such, it's a fine time to revisit the soundtrack to the iconoclast's 1974 Afrofuturist science fiction film, Space Is The Place. The Sundazed label has it covered via their new boxed set, Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Space Is The Place (Music From The Original Soundtrack . . .

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Joshua Abrams :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

On April 19 of this year Abrams sat for a Zoom call in the Chicago home he shares with his partner Alvarado, backed by one of her signature glowing artworks. Abrams expressed his life’s work with the same reflective purpose and dedication he brings to his art. He discussed his Jewish upbringing, working with The Roots, jamming with Chicago’s finest improvisers and his unparalleled Eremite albums . . .

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Transmissions :: Allyson McCabe on Sinéad O’Connor

Today on the show, we’re joined by Allyson McCabe, author of the new book: Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters. McCabe is a writer, broadcaster and producer, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, BBC Culture, Wired and on NPR . . .

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Ndikho Xaba And the Natives

Reissued last year via Mississippi Records, slip into this long out-of-print South African spiritual jazz LP from 1971. A songwriter, bandleader and pianist, Ndikho Xaba relocated from South Africa for San Francisco in 1964, falling in with the likes of Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra . . .

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Aquarium Drunkard :: Mailbag, Vol. V

Long time reader, first time caller? Welcome to Mailbag, our monthly column in which we dig in and respond to your questions. Got a query? Hit us up at aqdmailbag@gmail.com. In this month’s bag: out-of-print albums, new versus ‘old’ music, a Bicycle Day query from New Zealand, record store strategies and more . . .

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