Posts

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Candid may not have the same name brand recognition as Blue Note or Impulse! But during its brief existence, the label made its mark on the jazz and blues worlds—as a recent series of remastered reissues demonstrates. The cream of the crop is Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, recorded in October 1960 and released the following year. It’s a thoroughly crackling affair, highlighting the composer at one of his many peaks and featuring an awesome lineup of musicians . . .

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Videodrome :: The Cinematic Metropolis

In this installment of Videodrome, Stephen Lee Naish examines the sinister and dangerous representation of urban spaces in cinema. From comedies like Adventures of Babysitting to Taxi Driver, The Warriors, and Cosmopolis, he explores how film filters our own sense of danger and makes the city a strange and intriguing place—and a hellscape once night falls . . .

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Transmissions :: Glenn Mercer (The Feelies)

If you’re a fan of jittery guitar-driven indie rock, you’re probably most familiar with our guest today, Glenn Mercer from his work with The Feelies. While this episode of Transmissions doesn't skimp on Feelies discussion, Mercer also discusses the diversity of his catalog, including work The Trypes, whose 40th anniversary edition of Music for Neighbors was released earlier this year, and his solo canon. Along the way: the Velvet Underground, The Dead, Peter Buck of R.E.M., his tribute works to David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and Marc Bolan, plus even more . . .

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Rich Ruth :: I Survived, Now It’s Over

An ambitious and thrilling slice of neo-spiritual jazz fusion from Rich Ruth (AKA Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Michael Ruth). The sonic touchstones on I Survived, It’s Over come fast and thick, ranging from Santana and John McLaughlin’s cosmic collabs with Alice Coltrane to mid-1990s Tortoise (indeed, the album was mixed by Tortoise co-founder John McEntire . . .

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Minami Deutsch :: Fortune Goodies

Minami Deutsch are not shy when it comes to krautrocking. Their name in Japanese translates to “South Germany,” they’ve self-identified as “repetition freaks,” and band leader Kyotaro Miula calls the Japanese trio’s third album, Fortune Goodies, an "encyclopedia of krautrock." But the band offers much more than just pastiche, achieving instead a kind of spiritual homage . . .

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Prince Far I and The Arabs :: Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter 1

Released in 1978, Prince Far I’s Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter 1 is a pivotal album at the juncture of Jamaican and British dub—a nexus of dub’s origins and everything the music would evolve into. It’s a dank and earthy affair full of Flabba Holt’s & Sly Dunbar’s driving, deep-nodding basslines that still pack enough power to rattle the foundations of Babylon . . .

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

Dance The Mutation. 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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Transmissions :: Cheri Knight

Cheri Knight is a rare person who connects equally to Pauline Oliveros and Steve Earle. Her recently released archival collection American Rituals presents the post-punk minimalist recordings she made at Evergreen State College in the late '70s and early '80s. She discusses it all today on Transmissions . . .

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Healing Potpourri :: Paradise

Even when exploring themes of trepidation, the jovial songs of Paradise seem to function as naturally optimistic relics. On the aptly named album, Simi Sohota's Oakland-based Healing Potpourri creates a swirling palette of psych-pop and multi-layered aural exotica . . .

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The Lagniappe Sessions :: Mapache

Mapache returned earlier this summer with the release of Roscoe’s Dream, the Los Angeles duo’s third, and tightest, LP to date. Comprised of Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch, we described their sound in 2017 as something akin to “a blazed up Everly Brothers” — something the pair make good on in 2022, via their debut Lagniappe Session. Here, Mapache pay tribute to Don and Phil’s “Always It’s You”, originally cut by the brothers in 1960 as a b-side. Next up is a faithful cover of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ “You Only Have Your Soul”, a . . .

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Molly Lewis :: Mirage

Among new artists digging into the bygone sounds of Pacific impressionism, Molly Lewis is the standout. She has taken her sound to the masses and has been met with praise and approval. In the seventy years since America’s initial Exotica sensation, popular music has been in a state of near-constant upheaval and reformation. Yet, on her forthcoming EP Mirage, Lewis’ sound manages to mystify while remaining accessible to collective taste . . .

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Who Knows Where The Time Goes: Twelve Years of Turquoise Wisdom

Aquarium Drunkard turned 17 a few months ago, and Zach Cowie (aka Turquoise Wisdom) has been a part of it for 12 of those years, beginning with the third entry in our (then new) guest selector series. A music supervisor by trade, Cowie's mixes span myriad decades, genres, and moods, always aesthetically maintaining an empathetic through line. Now totaling a baker's dozen, we have re-upped each individual mix beginning with the first volume from 2010 . . .

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Martin Courtney :: Magic Sign

Some albums are meant to be listened to when we’re alone—in an empty living room, in a corner booth of an all-night diner, driving along familiar roads. It’s these reflective environments that help us to enter what Martin Courtney calls the basement of our mind—the liminal space that forms when we reappraise our memories from the subjective vantage of the present day. And it’s this bittersweet spot from which Magic Sign draws its energy . . .

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Joseph Allred :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Stringed-thing wizard and tireless sonic explorer Joseph Allred is in the process of moving back to the only place that truly feels like home: The verdant sliver of rural Tennessee that inspired their new album The Rambles & Rags of Shiloh, a collection of 10 gorgeous instrumental works for acoustic guitar and banjo. We recently connected with Allred for a wide-ranging chat about Black Sabbath, Buck Gooter, being a hillbilly in a big city and finding a sense of belonging in music . . .

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Sharayet El Disco: Egyptian Disco & Boogie Cassette Tracks 1982-1992

In his sterling new compilation Sharayet El Disco: Egyptian Disco & Boogie Cassette Tracks 1982-1992, archivist Moataz Rageb, aka DJ Arabesquo, highlights the importance of cassettes to the musical culture of 1980s Eqypt. The compilation effortlessly moves through nine tracks, across thirty-seven groovy minutes, filled with classic 1980s production effects, early drum machines and synthesizers tweaked to accommodate Egyptian rhythms . . .

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