This week on Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard founder Justin Gage joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss big changes coming to Aquarium Drunkard: AD is transitioning to a membership-based model subscription model on April 8th.  Transmissions has a very smart audience and one that?s tapped in?so we likely don?t need to explain to you how much the online landscape has changed, but this decision wasn?t reached lightly, and this conversation will shine some light on the reasons behind our moves. Aquarium Drunkard is coming up on its 20th anniversary; and it?s a trusted oasis for music lovers, a place driven by the passion for sharing music both new and old; insightful reviews, extensive interviews, exclusive sessions, esoteric mixtapes, dusty bootlegs, curated radio shows, wide-ranging podcast conversations. It?s a place that celebrates creativity and eclecticism, and (importantly) a place that isn?t beholden to editorial calendars or flavor-of-the-month topics. Whatever appears here is part of that very basic ethos: Only the good shit. Transmissions will remain free for all and available in your podcast feed, but as Aquarium Drunkard nears its 20th anniversary, we are proud to embark on this next chapter. With your support, we can keep this remarkable project rolling along. Tune in for more detail. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on Transmissions? Reissue producer, author, and experimental musician Pat Thomas. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by our members. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by subscribing to our online music magazine.

Incoming transmission from Roger Eno. This week on the show, he joins us for a freewheeling, friendly chat about art, place, and Dune (1984). Eno began his recording life in 1983, when he joined his brother Brian and Daniel Lanois at the latter?s studio in Hamilton, Ontario, to cut one of our favorite albums of all-time, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Imbued with country and western ambiance, it suggests the vastness of space and man?s ventures into it. Not only that, but it serves as one of the foundational documents of the "ambient country" subgenre that practically forms its own corner of the Aquarium Drunkard sonic universe.  Eno got started on solo work after that, with Voices, and he?s continued to record ever since, both in collaboration with his brother Brian, like on 2020?s Mixing Colours, on his own, and with a diverse cast of artists including David Gilmore, The Orb, Jah Wobble, Youth, and Channel Light Vessel, his group with Bill Nelson, Kate St. John, and previous Transmissions guest Laraaji. His latest and second album for Deutsche Grammophon is The Skies, They Shift Like Chords. Eno joined host Jason P. Woodbury early this year to discuss that record, and a lot more: psycho-geography, space travel, and what he can recall about his work on the soundtrack with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on the soundtrack for David Lynch?s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert?s Dune. The sleeper has awakened. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on Transmissions? An interview with Aquarium Drunkard founder Justin Gage. 

This week we're welcoming Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style to the show for a conversation about music, writing, ZZ Top, and her new album, The Interrogator. Packed with pub rock charm, punk verve, and rootsy, wide-eyed songwriting, the album finds Nelson and her collaborators, including partner Timothy Bracy and Peter Holsapple of The dB's, cranking the amps in service of sharp, literary rock & roll. Sitting down with host Jason P. Woodbury, Nelson explores her dual roles as a writer and artist, details her unique and optimistic approach to posting on X (formerly Twitter), and generally indulges in music geek back-and-forth. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with Roger Eno. This episode is brought to you by DistroKid. DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keep 100% of their royalties and earnings. To learn more and get 30% off your first year's membership, visit: distrokid.com/vip/aquariumdrunkard

This week on the show, we?re so pleased to welcome John Lurie. Perhaps you know him from his work in films like Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law, Paris Texas, or The Last Temptation of Christ; or maybe you know him better for his music?groups like The Lounge Lizards, his trailblazing avant-garde jazz unit, or his fictional bluesman persona Marvin Pontiac, or the John Lurie National Orchestra. Or maybe you know him from his pioneering and singular television shows, 1991?s surreal nature program Fishing With John, or the more recent Painting With John, which ran on HBO from 2021-2023.  This week, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a freewheeling chat, his book, The History of Bones: A Memoir, his Hollywood adventures, and Music From Painting With John, which drops via Royal Potato Family on March 15th. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style.

This week on the show, a conversation with pianist, composer, bandleader, and writer, Vijay Iyer. He?s been at it since 1995, recording for labels like Savoy, Pi, and ECM, and he?s collaborated with a diverse and inspiring roster along the way including Amiri Baraka, Matana Roberts, Das Racist, previous Transmissions guest Wadada Leo Smith, and many more. His records have incorporated electronic music and spoken word, chamber jazz reverence and loose, free falling blues.  Last year, in collaboration with vocalist Arooj Aftab and bassist Shazhad Ismaily, he released Love in Exile on the Verve label. Writing about the album for our 2023 Year in Review, we called it ?A spectral meeting of the minds. This haunting and luminous se?locates a nexus between ambient, jazz, and classical, all while feeling entirely conjured in the moment?because it was.?  Now he?s back with a new ECM release, Compassion, and in another trio, reuniting with his bandmates on 2021?s stirring Uneasy, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. Produced by Manfred Eicher, it?s a stunning listen start to finish, from its meditative and expansive title track to the dug down groove of ?Ghostrumental,? a startling showcase for may Han Oh?s thoughtful melodicism, to the thoughtfully chosen covers of Roscoe Mitchell?s ?Nonaah? and Stevie Wonder?s ?Overjoyed,? everything about Compassion demonstrates the intentional focus of Iyer and his collaborators. He joins host Jason P. Woodbury to speak about it, reflect on the post-pandemic nebulousness in the air, discuss his mentors Greg Tate and Baraka, and much more.  For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with John Lurie.

This week on the show: a conversation with Laetitia Sadier. As the main vocalist of Stereolab, her spacey voice shines as the human core in that project?s motorik and dense avant-pop, a blend of electronic music, krautrock, space age lounge sounds, and much more.  Outside of that legendary band, Sadier has been an active force on her own. She?s appeared in a variety of contexts on albums by Common, Tyler the Creator, Atlas Sound, and Deerhoof. In 1996, she formed Monade, a solo vehicle, and in 2010, she released her debut under her own name, The Trip, on Drag City. Her latest is called Rooting for Love and it?s out now. Joined by members of the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble and a multiple voice choir, these minimalist tapestries, Brazilian glide, and propulsive ambient funk yearn for a kind of gnosis?sacred knowing. We don?t often make a habit of quoting directly from album descriptions, but we can?t resist sharing this bit: On Rooting for Love, ?Laetitia issues a call to the traumatized civilizations of Earth: we?re urged to finally evolve past our countless millennia of suffering and alienation.? Sadier joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss, among other things, discussion about taking care of our collective body; the planet itself, the radical potentiality of ?love,? what it felt like to reunite Stereolab in 2019, her engagement with hip-hop, and reflections on working with The Trip producer Richard Swift. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with pianist Vijay Iyer.

Incoming transmission from Hopeton Overton Brown, better known as Scientist. As a protege of dub pioneer King Tubby, Scientist represents dub?s third generation?at least that?s how his 1981 collaboration with Tubby and Prince Jammy, First Second, and Third Generation, puts it. Originating in Kingston, Hopeton earned his nickname from Bunny Lee due to his highly complex mixing skills, who famously opined, "Damn, this little boy must be a scientist.?  These days he?s living in Los Angeles, where he joined host Jason P. Woodbury for this all-new episode. Prepare to cover a lot of ground, as we move from his origins at Channel One and Tuff Gong to divine messages, run-ins with Lee "Scratch" Perry, aliens and angels, simulation theory, his suspicions about modern cannabis strains, the digital vs analog debate, and much more. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab.

For the last decade-and-a-half, Ty Segall has reliably cranked out records that show off his range, ping-ponging from scuzzed out glam rock to chiming folk ballads. With his latest, Three Bells, he dips his toes into prog territory, tapping into King Crimson-like zones while detailing the exploration of inner zones. It's a personal record, but in typical Ty fashion, it evokes grandiose and grotesque drama to accompany its revelatory insights. This week on Transmissions, he joins us to discuss creating projects with his wife, Den?é?e Segall, his dogs, the influence of T Rex, how to maintain collaborative relationships, and his songwriting practice. Plus, Aquarium Drunkard contributor Jennifer Kelly stops by to riff on Ty's discography and wide-ranging scope. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with dub legend Scientist.

This week on the show, return guests Jason Stern and Don Fleming of the Lou Reed Archive join us to discuss Lou's 2007 ambient album Hudson River Wind Meditations, recently reissued by Light in the Attic, and share a bevy of Lou stories and insights. Plus, resident Lou fanatic Tyler Wilcox of Doom and Gloom from the Tomb drops by to discuss Lou's kung fu fascinations, love of comics, mindfulness, and a few of his favorite Lou pieces at Aquarium Drunkard, including: Lou Reed: The King of New York (In Conversation With Will Hermes) Sad Song :: Lou Reed?s Berlin At 50 Lou Reed :: Transformer | Transformed For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Join us next week for a conversation with Ty Segall.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. We're kicking off our 2024 season with two very special guests: Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy, discussing their love of and tribute to R.E.M.?s Murmur, which they are taking on tour in February. You no doubt know Shannon from his movies and shows, including some of our favorites like Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Midnight Special, The Shape of Water, and Boardwalk Empire. In his essential read Every Man For Himself and God Against All, director Werner Herzog calls Shannon ?the most gifted actor of his generation.?  As for Narducy, you?ve heard him with Superchunk, Bob Mould, Split Single, and many other projects. Together, they?ve staged tributes to T. Rex, The Smiths, Lou Reed, and Neil Young and more, and now, they turn their attention to R.E.M. It was a pleasure to speak with these two about the Athens, Georgia legends, along with detours into topics like Lou Reed, Sunny Day Real Estate, and best of all, Michael?s run in with Bob Dylan.  If you dig Transmissions and want to chip in so we can make it check out Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. We rely on your support to pay contributors and keep bringing you independent music journalism, mixtapes, reviews, and podcasts. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. 

Welcome back to Transmissions. This week on the show, which brings our 2023 season to a close, we are joined by Matt Werth of RVNG to discuss the life and multi-dimensional sound worlds of Pauline Anna Strom. This month, the label released Echoes, Spaces, Lines, which collects the first three albums from the Bay Area synthesist and composer, including Trans-Millenia Consort, Plot Zero, and Spectre, as well as Oceans of Time, an unreleased record included in the box set for the first time.  An energy worker, reptile enthusiast, and imagination specialist, Anna Strom?s work continues to gleam after her passing in 2020. Home to releases by Sensations Fix, Craig Leon, Holly Herndon, K Leimer, just to name a few favorites, among many more, RVNG is one of the most exciting reissue slash new music labels going, and it was a real treat to connect with Werth to discuss his time with Pauline and her unique and singular musical path.  Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. This episode concludes our 2023 season, but never fear, we?ll be back early in the new year with more strange conversations for our strange times. Only the good shit. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. 

This week on the show, Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury joins Penelope Spheeris, director of The Decline of Western Civilization trilogy, The Beverly Hillbillies, Little Rascals, Suburbia, and Wayne?s World. Spheeris is the host of Peter and the Acid King, a true crime podcast set in the Los Angeles punk scene of the early ?80s concerning the unsolved murder of Peter Ivers. A pop culture wunderkind, Ivers was many things at once: an all-star harmonica player who played alongside Little Walter, a pal of Van Dyke Parks who opened for Fleetwood Mac, and a songwriter who wrote music for David Lynch's Eraserhead and artists like Diana Ross and The Pointer Sisters. In the early '80s, he found found notoriety as host of New Wave Theatre, which showcased Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, 45 Grave and the Angry Samoans. Peter and the Acid King explores that epochal cultural era and its violent end. Working with investigator and co-creator Alan Sacks, Spheeris narrates with 10-part series, which is just about to finish its run, with world weary charm and sly understatement, as well as her signature attitude. If you dig our show and want to support the work we do at Aquarium Drunkard, pledge your support on Patreon and help keep the servers humming.  Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on Transmissions? Matt Werth of RVNG joins us to discuss the music of Pauline Anna Strom. 

This week on Transmissions: Conner Habib. He's the author of the Pen/Faulkner award longlisted horror novel, Hawk Mountain, and the host of the weekly podcast Against Everyone with Conner Habib. Informed by his practice of Anthroposophy and Christian mysticism, AEWCH focuses on the esoteric and ventures into strange and unusual places, touching frequently on Habib's spiritual views while also exploring his views on sex work, his interest in art and literature, punk rock ethos, and his singular conversational style.  This last September, Habib devoted a whole month to exploring the mystic possibilities of music with guests like Bonnie Prince Billy and Nina Persson of the Cardigans, and he?s featured guests like Ian McKaye, Stephen Malkmus, and Ted Leo, so we pick up where that series left off and dive into the musical, occult, and conversational deep end. Next week on Transmissions? Penelope Sheeris?director of The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization series, Wayne?s World, and host of Peter and the Acid King, a podcast dedicated to the mysterious life and death of Peter Ivers.

Make yourself comfortable and relax, on this all-new episode of Transmissions, we?re focusing on the fantastic tunes crafted by John Caroll Kirby. You?ve heard a lot about him in our previous episode with Eddie Chacon. John?s music exemplifies the current zone where jazz, fusion, new age, soul, R&B, and electronic composition all mingle; in addition to Eddie, he?s worked with artists like Blood Orange, Solange, Frank Ocean, and many more. But it?s his own records, including this year?s Blowout, that demonstrate his compositional chops. Like many of his records, the native Angeleno recorded it far from home, in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Travel is a constant for him?see his incredible web series Kirby?s Gold, a travelouge that finds him trying on his best Huell Howser with musicians all around the globe. This week on the show we discuss getting out into the world and much more. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Conner Habib of the essential culture and philosophy podcast Against Everyone joins us for a rollicking conversation. We hope you?ll join?until then, this Transmission is concluded. 

Welcome back to Transmissions. This week on the program, we?re joined by electronic musician Moby and Lindsay Hicks. Together, they run Little Walnut, a production company responsible for documentaries like Punk Rock Vegan, music videos, and Moby Pod?a podcast dedicated to offering unique perspectives on music, animal activism, climate change, and beyond.  This conversation with host Jason P. Woodbury demonstrates the way Moby and Hicks are brave and open in ways that aren?t common in our culture, rejecting the easy cynicism and guardedness that seems to rule the day. And while this talk does get a little bleak at times, it?s also a very funny conversation concerning our changing landscape, science fiction, music, and full of quips and jokes. We hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for spending time with us on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. We know you have a lot of listening options out there on the world wide web, so we are honored you?d carve out the space for us. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? John Carroll Kirby. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded.  For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by our patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. 

You know Buck from Big Thief and his solo albums, like this year?s Haunted Mountain. Full of near-death experiences and tender but insistent roots-inspired songwriting, it?s an album that finds inspiration in the mysterious Mount Shasta, long a site of high strangeness?and a place that plays a pivotal role in Buck's own origin story. Cut live to 2?-inch tape, it?s a personal and open-hearted record and we're so glad to have Buck here with us, hanging out and discussing Judee Sill, Bob Dylan?but not his work with Bob Dylan, thanks to one of those pesky NDAs, the autonomy preserving creative practices of Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief, working with fellow Texan Jolie Holland?who?s also got her own Haunted Mountain album?and the power of reciprocity.  Speaking of reciprocity, Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions is brought to you by Aquarium Drunkard?s Patreon community. Join us over there and help support independent media.  Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts.  Next week on Transmissions: electronic musician Moby and his podcast co-host Lindsay Hicks. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. Here's hoping your autumnal drift toward Halloween is rolling along nicely. This week on the show, we?re chatting once again with Mitch Horowitz, occult scholar, practitioner, and historian. We?ve had Mitch on a number of times?once a year or so for the last few years. What can we say? We just love listening to the guy riff. His latest is book is Modern Occultism: History, Theory, and Practice. A sprawling secret history in the same vein as his 2009 book Occult America (The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped our Nation), the book explores how wisdom and philosophies gleaned from the Hermetica, gnostic gospels, Kabbalah, and other esoteric systems made its way from ancient and often fragmented pasts to profoundly inform the modern age, illuminating how it fueled secret societies and motivated renegade thinkers.  Our talk? Well, it?s all over the place. We discuss many of the figures who appear in the book, like the dubious but charming Carlos Castaneda, Anthroposophy founder Rudolph Steiner, and Theosophy?s grand dame H.P. Blavatsky, featured here alongside figures like Aleister Crowley, Carl Jung, Anton LaVey, and Jack Parsons, the pioneering father of modern rocketry?who was also a practicing magician, one-time Marxist, and famously died at 37 in a fiery explosion. Beyond that, we get into notions of radical self-reliance via Ayn Rand and comics artist Steve Ditko, UFOs, and the necessary path of following one's own innate proclivities. Arthur Miller once said something along the lines of, ?An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.? Perhaps that's at the core of this chat: in our hyper-individualized moment, with so many of the old ways breaking down around us, how we can think about the communal and the individual in less binary or dualistic terms? Horowitz is a frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM, so think of this as one of those Transmissions episodes that leans into that feel. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts.  Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, Buck Meek. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by our patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. 

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. Writing about Eros, AD stalwart Tyler Wilcox said: ?Maria Elena Silva?s voice rarely rises above a whisper on the remarkable EROS ? but don?t mistake this one for a lullaby-type album. The intensity level is kept at a superhumanly high level throughout. Whether Silva is singing in English or Spanish, whether she?s floating ghostlike through a jazz standard or delivering her own spellbinding originals, you?ll be hanging on every syllable?" 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. At the core of the record are the drums of Scott Dean Taylor, who matches Maria?s humanistic phrasing with nuance and a palpable charge. You might think of PJ Harvey when you listen to a number like ?Love, If It Is So,? but it equally brings to mind Mark Hollis of Talk Talk or Mary Margaret O'Hara at her most free. This conversation focuses on that notion?freedom?and we're glad to share it with you today.  For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by our patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. 

Welcome back to Transmissions. We're still buzzing from this last weekend, which saw a live taping of Transmissions at The Philosophical Research Society, the Los Angeles campus founded in 1934 by esoteric scholar Manly Palmer Hall, featuring Jason P. Woodbury's talk with Matt Marble, an artist, author, audio producer and director of the American Museum of Paramusicology, best known for his podcasts, including Secret Sound, an exploration of the metaphysical history of American music, and the interview show The Hidden Present. He?s the author of Buddhist Bubblegum: Esotericism in the Creative Process of Arthur Russell, and that?s what we gathered at PRS to discuss. Hall founded PRS with a dedication ?to the ensoulment of all arts, sciences, and crafts,? and we hope you find this talk as ensouling as we did.  Special thanks to our friends and PRS, especially Alex McDonald and AV director Sara Alessandrini, who you?ll hear us refer to throughout the episode, for their help making this happen. And we want to thank Steve Knutson of Audika Records for getting the word out, and of course a warm thanks to everyone who turned up for the show, both in person and via Zoom, to be a part of this special presentation.   Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on the show, Maria Elena Silva on her remarkable new album, Dulce. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by our patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page. 

This is the last episode of the podcast! We start with comments from Sunburned members reflecting on the impact of press coverage and ensuing exposure on the band. This shifts to general comments about how they?ve navigated ? and oftentimes defied ? external expectations. This section closes on the role humor has played in the band. Then we shift to comments and stories shared by friends, collaborators, and fans of Sunburned Hand of the Man, including thoughts from Thurston Moore, Ethan Miller, Neal Campbell, and more! We close out the episode and the podcast with a final thought from each of the band members interviewed for this project.  The ?pocket documentary? created by Troels Mads is called Behind a Hill. You can watch the section focused on Sunburned here. The full documentary is here and features chapters devoted to the wider Western Mass music scene, including Dredd Foole, MV&EE, JowJow (also feat. Shannon Ketch), Tarp (feat. Conrad Capistran), Feathers, Asa Irons, and Big Blood. This is the the Dredd Foole Archival Series Kris Prince is working on for Corbett Vs. Dempsey (promo film here). Here?s a short video of the dynamite action described by Ethan Miller. For some modern content, here?s a recent interview with Rob Thomas over at Primitive Man Soundz. And for more John Moloney, you can check out his conversation with Lou & Adelle Barlow on second episode of the Raw Impressions podcast.  We hope to add a couple of bonus episodes down the road, so be sure to subscribe for updates. Thanks for listening! Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode:  Time Goes Way Back - Wallpaper Blues Exploding Head Flick - That Which Is One Dimensional Man - That Which Is Prism Mirror Lens - Headless Born Clever - Headless Virgin Swirl - Chinese Perfume Chiseled - April 4, 2006 - 1 - Chiseled ?Music - Hypnotape End of the Endless - Headdress Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

This week on Transmissions, we welcome returning guest Cécile Schott, aka Colleen. Her latest album, Le Jour Et La Nuit Du Réel?the day and night of reality?was tracked using a minimalistic setup, a Moog Grandmother and two delays: a Roland RE-201 Space Echo and a Moogerfooger Analog Delay. But for Schott, this assemblage allows for near infinite synthesis, and a genuine multitude of expression. As the world gets stranger and more difficult to understand, the record wordlessly questions what is real?and the times of day and night when the line between real and imaginary blurs. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS: On September 30th, we?re hosting a live taping of Transmissions at Manly P. Hall?s Philosophical Research Society with Matt Marble, discussing his fantastic book about Arthur Russell, Buddhist Bubblegum. Get more info and tickets here. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on the show, Matt Marble.

This episode is about how Sunburned Hand of the Man makes their free-form music. Through the episode, we consider the semantics of improvisation and practice in the context of this free form entity. In that context, we learn how the open nature of the band manifests in unspoken rules of not telling each other what to do. This, in turn, allows the band members to enter and commit to the jam in a way that is more authentically connected and elevated. While each player is actively doing their own thing, they are listening intently to the others, and the resulting ebb and flow of the group results in something greater than the individual parts. We hear how this creative practice of listening and responding has resulted in Sunburned?s oddly consistent and unique sound. Finally, we close this episode by tuning in closely to consider the impact of founders Rob Thomas and John Moloney on the band. After listening to this episode, we recommend going back to some of the live shows linked in the previous show notes. It could be interesting to re-watch the band?s playing while keeping in mind everything we now know about their creative practice.  Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Flex - Pick a Day to Die Hot Lickety Lazy Days - Covered in Mud The Middle Ages -> Sexmap - Secret in Disguise Pick a Day to Die - Pick a Day to Die Air Support / Tantrum / Wicked Passenger / The Easy Way Out - A Taste of Never Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Welcome to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions; this week on the show, we're joined by Jarvis Taveniere of Woods. You know his long running Woods band with Jeremy Earl of course?and Woodsist, their record label and Woodsist Festival, which returns September 23-24 upstate with Kevin Morby, Avey Tare, Cochemea, Tapers Choice, Ana Saint Louis, Natural Information Society, Kurt Vile, Scientist, DJ Aquarium Drunkard?that?s our own Justin Gage?plus many more. The band also just released a glowing new album, Perennial, which finds the band in a gentle, rambling mode.  Jarvis and host Jason P. Woodbury, alongside Willian Tyler and Sadie Sartini Garner, were all members of a book club through much of the pandemic, reading selections of authors like JG Ballard, Kiese Laymon, Eve Babitz and others. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS: On September 30th, we?re hosting a live taping of Transmissions at Manly P. Hall?s Philosophical Research Society with Matt Marble, discussing his fantastic book about Arthur Russell, Buddhist Bubblegum. Get more info here. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts. Next week on the show, Coleen joins us to discuss her tremendous new album.

We open with our focus on the role that music has played in the band members? individual lives and how a shared love of music brought them all together. This morphs into a consideration of the band?s many artistic influences, with a close look at the impact of the Wu-Tang Clan on Sunburned. We hear about the complicated and often difficult backgrounds of many of the Sunburned musicians and how jamming with the band can often serve as a type of group therapy. This is the Quietus interview where Rob Thomas talks about the influence of the Wu-Tang Clan on Sunburned. Here?s a mid-period live set from Sunburned at the Abbey Lounge in (I think) Somerville, MA. The set is interspersed with clips from a conversation with Rob Thomas reflecting on the band. Sarah mentioned the People of God?s Love, we did some digging and found this WaybackMachine archived page for a group with that name founded (like Sarah said) in Ohio.  Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: No Magic Man - No Magic Man Take 5 - Mylar Tantrum Part II Take 6 - Mylar Tantrum Part II Yer Own Eyes and the Number None - No Magic Man Serpent?s Wish - No Magic Man Heavy Rescue - When the Shit Hits the Jazz Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

This week on the show, we?re joined by Sam Shepherd, AKA Floating Points. His discography is full of beautiful and strange electronic music?bubbling Buchalas, skittering beats, washes of synthesized sound, and even moody, spacious post-rock. But underneath it all, his love of jazz is clear. In 2021, he teamed with an actual jazz legend: the late Pharoah Sanders, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra for Promises, a single 46-minute composition broken into nine movements.  Though the artists were separated by decades in age, their approach is simpatico. Just as Shepherd has moved between genres and styles, so did Pharoah. His early work with John and Alice Coltrane established him as a dynamic, sometimes frighteningly intense sideman, and his first run of records, including 1969?s Karma, featuring ?The Creator Has a Master Plan,? helped set the stage for what we now call ?spiritual jazz.?  But Sanders, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 81, cared very little about what genre you filed his records under. ?I just play whatever I feel like playing,? he told The New Yorker. Sanders stayed restless and creative?listen to his playing on Sonny Sharrock?s masterful Ask the Ages or his works with Bill Laswell, and you?ll hear what we mean. In 1977, he waded into deeply personal waters with the self-titled Pharoah, which will be reissued by Luaka Bop on September 15th. Exploring new age adjacent sounds, funk, and passionate ballads, it?s a radical departure from his early work, but perfectly in keeping with Sanders? unpredictable ethos.  Likewise, Promises is hardly the ?back to basics? late career album you might expect an 80-year-old artist to make. It?s its own thing, a meditative sojourn that relies on silence as much as sound. And next week, on September 20th, Floating Points will be joined by past Transmissions guest Shabaka Hutchings, as well as Caribou, Four Tet, the Sun Ra Arkestra, and others for the first-ever staging of Promises live at the Hollywood Bowl. Ahead of that show, Shepherd joined us from his studio to discuss his his years collecting records, making Promises?and we even got him to reveal Pharoah?s favorite place to eat in LA.  Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts, like Drifter?s Sympathy, with Emil Amos of Grails, Om, Holy Sons, who will be our guest next week on Transmissions. And of course No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man, curated and produced by J Kelly Davis and presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Talkhouse. Back soon. Next week on the show, Jarvis Taveniere of Woods.

We hear about the personal impact of the band?s non-stop touring and the eventual burnout that ground things to a halt. Moloney and Thomas then describe how this was followed by several ?wilderness years? where the band was just there but they weren?t really doing anything with it. Overlapping with this period there was a migration from Boston out to western Massachusetts. This brings us up to the modern era and ends the chronological review of the band?s history. In the second half of this episode, we explore some of the band?s many artistic collaborators, including NNCK, Ira Cohen, Circle, and Four Tet. Finally, we hear about the visual arts aspects of the band ? both cover artists and a bit about the individual practice of Phil Franklin. If you want to see some of the cover art discussed in this episode, check out the songs linked below. Several of the songs used in this episode came from these same albums. More live Sunburned:  Heavy ?performance? set - France 2007 (part 2) Recent show in Amsterdam Live in Austin TX (maybe at SXSW) Philly show during tour with Fourtet Sunburned with Ira Cohen - 2006 Playing live in late 2022 Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Loft at Sea - A Smokescreen - Weekend at Burnie?s The Parakeet Beat - Fire Escape Clowns in Jail - Clowns in Jail Three Lobed Festival 2022 (excerpt) - Archive Dive Variksenpelatin - Sunburned Circle Untitled 2 - The Tingle of Casual Danger Defacing the Facts - Complexion Gather ?Round - No Magic Man Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Welcome back, thanks for being here with us. Emil Amos of the Drifter's Sympathy podcast is with us today on Transmissions. Perhaps you know his work with OM, Grails, Holy Sons, or the records he releases under his own name, like Zone Black, his latest record of library style sounds, synthy 80s soundtracks, hip-hop beats, and ambient music. It evokes a mythic ?70s?an area we linger in this conversation. You might also know Emil from his many appearances on The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, a podcast I really enjoy and listen to often. We lean a little into that spacey, open format in this episode. On September 22, Emil?s band Grails releases their brand new album, Anches En Maat. Ahead of the album?s release, we caught up to discuss a life in music, the virtue of doing it your own way, and much more in this conversation. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts, like Drifter?s Sympathy, with Emil Amos of Grails, Om, Holy Sons, who will be our guest next week on Transmissions. And of course No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man, curated and produced by J Kelly Davis and presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Talkhouse. Back soon. Next week on the show, Jarvis Taveniere of Woods.

At this point in our story, Sunburned Hand of the Man morphs into a many-headed hydra with varying manifestations in the loft and on each tour. To get through this vague period of 5-8 years, we focus on the band?s tour stories. We learn how a years-long period of heavy touring was kicked off with a family-band excursion to play a wedding in Alaska. After a conjunction of high-profile press coverage, Sunburned suddenly found themselves in high demand on the international festival circuit. So we focus on stories of their extended tour of Europe and the UK in 2003. Our story gets blurry after that first European tour, so we step back and focus first on stories of Sunburned?s many North American tours ? including the 2004 cross-country trek out to Arthur Fest and back where they picked up the ?no way out? rallying cry. Finally, we hear a conglomeration of stories from the band?s later European tours. So many links to share for this episode! We?ll start with the New Weird America cover story on The Wire. Here?s the Pitchfork reviews for the Trickle Down Theory of Lord Knows What and some Arthur Magazine pieces about Sunburned. This is a digital brochure and schedule of the 2003 Kill Your Timid Notion Festival. Check out this wild poster and these photos from Arthurfest. This was an announcement for a No Way Out tour posted by Arthur Magazine (which is different from the tour out to Arthurfest, where the band picked up the No Way Out motto). Some video evidence of Sunburned playing live: Sunburned live in Newcastle - 2006 (shot by van driver Gozzy) (and another set in Cambridge) No Way Out tour (to Arthurfest) - Live in Missoula, MT - 2005 An ecstatic moment from Sunburned?s Arthurfest set Live in Lisbon - 2006 Playlist for live Paris set - 2006 (this might be where Rob got hit by a kumquat) Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Tent City Roller - Wedlock Salmon Sez - Wedlock Blow the Whistle ? Earth Do Eagles Do Rivershine ? Trickle Down Theory of Lord Knows What Fly Me Home - A Taste of Never (from the VPRO show in Amsterdam) Vaguely Aware - London Zero (from their O2 Arena show opening for Fourtet/Burial) Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you here once again. Our guest this week is Will Sheff, known for his solo work and years with the indie rock band Okkervil River. In this conversation, Sheff and host Jason P. Woodbury cover a wide stretch, examining how the indie rock landscape has changed and evolved over decades, exploring the spiritual core at the heart of his music, and hearing stories about his interactions with luminaries like Roky Erickson and Jason Molina. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts, like Drifter?s Sympathy, with Emil Amos of Grails, Om, Holy Sons, who will be our guest next week on Transmissions, and of course, No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man, curated and produced by J Kelly Davis and presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Talkhouse.  Support Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions on Patreon.

We learn that, after jamming namelessly for a year and a half, the band finally started using the Sunburned moniker. Then we tune in to learn about their earliest excursions playing outside the Charlestown loft, including their first show as Sunburned as part of an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. We hear how the interplay between these new locations and contexts provoked new modes of performance and artistic connections. They describe how an invitation to join a tour opening for No-Neck Blues Band (who were opening for John Fahey) prompted them to assemble their first CD ? Mind of a Brother. After this tour story, we meet the rest of the band members interviewed for this podcast. Finally, we examine the chain of events that ultimately catapulted the band onto the international stage. This is Julian Cope?s Album of the Month write up of Sunburned Hand of the Man. You can read the full liner notes that Rob Thomas wrote for the Mind of a Brother reissue. If you want to know more about The No-Neck Blues Band, then check out the (More) Letters from the Earth feature on Aquarium Drunkard. Here?s the band playing a set at P.A.?s Lounge. Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Jaybird - Jaybird Franklin?s Mint - Show Me the Way - Tir Na Nog Too High To Fly No More - Jaybird Buried Pleasure - Rare Wood Wild Animal 3 - Wild Animal Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Today's guest is writer Laura Snapes. Her work has been published by the BBC, Pitchfork, and NME, and she's the deputy music editor of The Guardian. We?ve been aiming to have her for Transmissions for some time now, and now we're so glad we?ve got this episode to share with you listeners, covering the psycho-geology of songs, the climate, varied definitions of the term ?Americana,? and her recent listening: Julie Byrne, Be Your Own Pet, Róisín Murphy, and Jesse Lanza. Plus, the occult roots of Aphex Twin and what it means to "name" a nascent music genre. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Visit the Talkhouse for more interviews, fascinating reads, and podcasts.  Next week on Transmissions? Will Sheff of Okkervil River on Roky Erickson, Jason Molina, Bill Fay, and much, much more. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded. 

We rewind way back to before the band started and hear how some of the founding members first met one another. We learn how Sunburned?s precursor band ? Shit Spangled Banner ? formed, released a tape, and broke up. Thurston Moore provides narrative exposition about the wider music scene that partially informed Sunburned?s formation. We get a third-eye tour of the band?s incubator ? an illegal loft space in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. Finally, we hear about several early band members and how all their eccentricities ultimately drove the band?s jamming. Here?s an amazing and extremely early glimpse of Sunburned playing live in late 1997. You can see many of the musicians described in this episode! You can check out Shit Spangled Banner?s Ass Run release here, and this is the discogs entry for the ?other? version. Click through the images to see the accompanying note from Byron Coley. Also, here?s Byron?s piece remembering Marc Orleans published in The Wire. And this is an album by Marc Orleans?s band Juneau. We were wondering if Lothlorien ? the Tolkein-themed space in southern Indiana was real. Here?s a fascinating article about it.  Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Loveletter to Complicated Dreams - Mind of a Brother (excerpts heard throughout the episode) Birth of Dearth - Mind of a Brother Shit Spangled Banner - Smallplant Fields - No Dolby/No DBX SSB - Heaven Often Manifests as Silence The If With the Golden Qualm - Mind of a Brother The Brother of All Shakes - Mind of a Brother Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this and previous week?s episodes! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Our guest this week is Darren Jessee, a singer/songwriter and drummer. In the '90s, he played drums in Ben Folds Five, and he?s worked with a number of previous Transmissions guests, including Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger, as well as others like The War on Drugs, Josh Rouse, and Chris Stamey. In 2004, he founded a band called Hotel Lights, and in 2018, he began releasing music under his own name. His latest is called Central Bridge, released earlier this year.  On this episode of Transmissions, Darren joins us for a freewheeling talk about influences, lyrics, creative process, and his time on the road with Ben Folds Five. We discuss a wide range of artists?Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Gordon Lightfoot, and spend a lot of time reflecting on Neil Young, who Ben Folds Five toured with in the 1990s. Along the way, we inspect the notion of how songs change and shape our views, the tenor of the culture wars back in the ?90s, and the value of occasionally overdoing it.  Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Music journalist and editor Laura Snapes joins us to discuss regionalism, transcendent moments listening to music, the value of names, varying definitions of ?Americana,? Aphex Twin, Cornwall, and much more. Join us then. Be well in the meantime, this Transmission is concluded. 

We hear about the origins and goals of the podcast ? grappling with the complexities of Sunburned?s chaotic narrative. Music journalist Allison Hussey joins us to provide an outsider?s perspective of the band. Byron Coley describes Sunburned?s impact on the wider music scene. Then we focus on one song in an attempt to discern a bit of what Sunburned does when they jam. Finally, we turn to Sunburned?s iconic 2002 release, Headdress, and that album?s recent 20th anniversary reissue. Here?s an image of the center label for the Headdress album. You can read both the original Pitchfork review of Headdress here and an expanded review of the reissue at Aquarium Drunkard. Check out Sunburned Hand of the Man?s Instagram profile for more pictures related to this episode! Sunburned?s Bandcamp  Sunburned?s Website Songs heard in this episode: Shitless - Headdress Don?t Get Burned - Earth Do Eagles Do The Illness - Headdress The Underground Press - Headdress The Most Relevant - Headless Or  Check out this Spotify playlist with all the songs heard in this week?s episode! You can email or go here for Kelly. Allison Hussey is here and on Twitter. Go here for more Aquarium Drunkard or Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Back in 2022, songwriter Lincoln Barr got in touch, writing a personal note in which he expressed an appreciation for what we do here at Aquarium Drunkard. "Listening to the topics that come up in your conversations, I can't help but recognize a kindred spirit out there in the desert.? Since then, Barr and Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury have gone back and forth via email, discussing spirituality, art, poetry, Ireland, Sinéad O'Connor, NRBQ, psychedelia, personal work, and much more. And now, they finally link up for a proper podcast discussion. Though their conversation was shaded by the passing of O'Connor, a shared favorite, they covered lots of ground additionally, waxing on mysticism, personal exploration, and Barr's incredible album, Forfeit the Prize. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Darren Jessee joins us to discuss songwriting, playing drums in groups like Ben Folds Five and Hiss Golden Messenger and more. Stay loose until then, this Transmissions is concluded. 

Sunburned Hand of the Man is a long-running, free-form band from Massachusetts. They record everything, and their discography has over 200 entries. Membership is fluid, at times determined simply by whoever joins in the jam. One time they started to design a deck of cards where each card had a band member? but there were so many people they would have ended up with a full hand of jokers. There are no rules other than the unspoken rule that nobody tells anyone else what to do.  Despite this swirling complexity (or perhaps because of it), media outlets typically only interview one or two of the founding members. With this podcast, we embrace the full force of Sunburned Hand of the Man. The final result is assembled from conversations and recordings with 15 current and past members as well as outside commentary from friends, fans, and collaborators. Across eight episodes, we unravel the band?s complex history and examine the hows and whys of this bizarre creative endeavor.

Hataaliinez Wheeler grew up in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. And though he?s just recently released his Dangerbird Records debut,  Singing Into Darkness, he?s spent the last few years creating as much art as he can?recording music, making lo-fi videos, and writing poetry.  Sunbaked and sly, the new album is full of strange grooves and quixotic lyrics, and a sound that borrows from country, surf, indie rock, and shoegaze. We first heard Hataa?ii through Michael Klausman, who wrote about him for Aquarium Drunkard in 2021, saying, "[I]t was probably predetermined that he?d make music, as Hataa?ii literally means 'to sing.' His songs are weirdly genreless and out-of-time, yet constantly reach for some sort of cosmic agency. You can frequently hear him experimenting and trying different personas on, but the force of his charisma unites all the disparate elements he puts together. He?s a master at conjuring a kind of Southwestern saudade," a feeling of longing melancholy that permeates Brazilian music.  Today, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss his run-in with and shout-out from Mac Demarco, discuss the influence of his father's record collection, and discuss what its felt like for his personal art project to find a life outside of his own head. Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? Lincoln Barr joins us to discuss the magic of music. For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page.

Welcome back to another episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you with us. A major inspiration for us in the podcast zone is media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, host of the Team Human podcast. As our digital age gets stranger, more fractured, and harder to parse, we find his humanist, consciousness-centered approach very helpful. One of the things he?s known for saying is ?Look for the others??the others who grok your worldview, whose enthusiasms and obsessions mirror your own. And no doubt about it, our guest this week, Andy Zax, feels very much like one of the others. Zax is a lifelong music devotee, and he?s worked on pretty much every side of the music business, writing copy and liner notes, producing records, working with labels like Rhino, and generally helping to shine a light on figures like Judee Sill, David Axelrod, Talking Heads, and many more. In 2019, he oversaw the massive Woodstock 50th anniversary project, restoring virtually all the audio associated with the historic concert. For Zax, all of this is something of a holy calling, and its led him to discoveries in unexpected places, like when he found an unreleased recording by electronic pioneer Mort Garson?known these days for the hippest ever music for plants to grow by LP Plantasia?nested in the archive of spoken word artist Rod McKuen. And not just any recording: we?re talking ?Journey to the Moon,? music Garson composed for the live CBS News broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. That recording sees release this week via Sacred Bones? Journey To the Moon and Beyond, released on Friday, July 21. Over the course of his long chat, we riff on the value of archived music, music streaming and music technology, audio quality, the merits of keeping your records unorganized, the haunting quality of Leonard Nimoy?s late ?60s studio albums, and much more.  Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on Transmissions? 20-year-old Navajo singer/songwriter Hataa?ii joins us to discuss his label debut and what music has meant to him growing up. Until then, this Transmission is concluded.  For heads, by heads. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it by pledging your support via our Patreon page

It's the thick of the summer, which means your Transmissions correspondents are spending as much time in cool dark spaces as possible. One record that particularly suits the mood in our summer bunker hideaway is Gia Margaret's Romantic Piano. Though Margaret's 2018 debut, There?s Always Glimmer, was the striking work of a singer/songwriter, when medical issues put a strain on her voice, she turned to instrumental music, first with her ambient leaning self-titled 2020 album, and now Romantic Piano, a collection of moving piano compositions, mostly instrumental, that feels at once meditative and comforting. It?s the kind of music that carves out more space for the listener?and it turns out, it?s the kind of music that did something similar for its creator.  In our talk, we discuss the intuitive roots of Gia?s music, working with previous Transmissions guest David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, and much more. It?s a thoughtful, spacey conversation for you as we weather the way out heat of summers in a changing world Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on the show, archivist Andy Zax shares the story of an unheard Mort Garson soundtrack and ponders alternate musical histories.

In ?Lies and Distortion,? the opening essay of his book Unstrung: Rants And Stories Of a Noise Guitarist, Marc Ribot writes: ?We seem to love broken voices in general: vocal cords eroded by whiskey and screaming, the junked-out weakness of certain horn players, distortion which signifies surpassing the capabilities of a tube or a speaker?voices that damage, but (at least in performance) don?t actually die?Was this always true? I don?t know.? In a way, that speaks to Ribot?s own playing, on his own and with many luminary collaborators. Though he can certainly play delicately, a frayed, beyond-the-limit quality informs Ribot?s sensibility. Since 2008, he?s released records with Ceramic Dog?a band featuring Ribott on vocals and guitar, previous Transmissions guest Shazhad Ismaily on bass and vocals, and Ches Smith on drums and vocals. On July 14th, the band releases another scalded and electrifying record with Connection.  Ribot is our guest this week on the show, and we?re pleased to present this rollicking, and at times charmingly contentious talk this on Transmissions. From his complicated relationship with his former Lounge Lizards collaborator John Lurie, to his views on how labor and capitalism inform his relationship with music, his history as a collaborator, Hal Willner?s Night Music, his recent embrace of the Gibson SG, and much more, this is a charged chat with a jazz-punk creative icon.  Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening. Next week on the show, Gia Margaret on her Romantic Piano.

While Black Lips have matured and grown since forming in 1999, the Atlanta-based garage band haven?t "settled down." Case in point is Apocalypse Love, the group?s 10th album, released last year on Fire Records. Incorporating gospel and country influences, it?s as strange and exciting as the band?s early work, but it also showcases a new depth to the band. Today on Transmissions, Black Lip Jared Swilley joins us to discuss his pentecostal roots, his minister father coming out of the closet, the importance of the Bomp Records catalog, his mentor The Mighty Hannibal, and much more.  Transmissions is part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network, check out Talkhouse for more great reading and listening, and support Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions by pledging on Patreon.  Next week on the show, guitarist Marc Ribot. 

This week on the show, we?re joined by London-based singer/songwriter David John Morris. Perhaps you know him for his work with folk rock band Red River Dialect, but for this talk, we mostly speak about his latest two solo albums, 2021?s Monastic Love Songs and 2022?s Wyld Love Songs, on which, to quote Aquarium Drunkard's Tyler Wilcox, balances "sacred and profane concerns, finding moments of welcome humor amidst more spiritual matters." He joined us to discuss his time in a Buddhist monastery, how it augmented his approach to music, his podcast listening habits, the consistent spiritual longing of the creative process and, truthfully, so much more.  Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, Jared Swilley of The Black Lips joins us to document the band's apocalyptic love story. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Writing about The Modern Folk?s Modern Folk One in our AD 2022 Year in Review, we called it, ?A blend of field recordings, astral zones, freak outs, leisurely jams, and rustique concrète from the ever-prolific Josh Moss.? That gives you a little sense of the kind of music Moss creates with his ultra-prolific recording project. Head over to his Bandcamp and you'll find dozens and dozens of releases. Moss is such an inspiring creator, completely beholden to doing his own thing explicitly, so naturally, this conversation wanders down strange paths?from Bigfoot to Bob Dylan?and stands as one of our most discursive episodes to date.  This episode originally aired exclusively for our Patreon supporters, and we?re sharing it in the main feed as a reminder that if you want to support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon, you?ll get access to bonus audio and more. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, David John Morris of Red River Dialect joins us to discuss monasticism and music.  This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Welcome to Transmissions. The name Bruce Licher commands respect in the underground world of independent rock. As musician and letterpress artist with Independent Project Press, he?s created art and bespoke album packaging for artists like R.E.M., Stereolab, Camper Van Beethoven, and more, and created music with post-punk combo Savage Republic, instrumental rock pioneers Scenic, and other projects. In 2020, he reactivated his Independent Project label, which he originally founded in 1980. On this episode, Bruce joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss his album art creations, his time in the Mojave Desert, the Southwestern dream-pop scene of the ?90s, his letterpress origins, his work with R.E.M. and much more. He?s a lifer and a true example of sticking to your vision?we're really honored to have him on the show this week, and of course honored to have you joining us for this conversation.  Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, The Modern Folk. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

This week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions: ambient country trio Suss. On their own, Suss members Jonathan Gregg, Bob Holmes, and Pat Irwin have been involved in musical projects, with artists like k.d. Lang, the B-52s, John Cale, David Bowie, Norah Jones, the War on Drugs and Wilco?Irwin even contributed music to Nickelodeon's Rocko?s Modern Life.  Since 2018, they?along with the their departed bandmate, the late cartoonist and musician Gary Lieb?have created spectral, moody soundscapes they?ve dubbed ?Ambient Country,? which is also the name of a podcast Holmes hosts, where he highlights ?the roots of the high and lonesome sound,? weaving together strands of instrumental folk, Americana, ambient, electronic, soundscapes and psychedelia. The group?s latest is Suss, a self-titled collection that assembles four EPs?Night Suite, Heat Haze, Winter Was Hard, and Across the Horizon?into a majestic double album, full of slow motion twang, suspended synth drones, and gorgeous swells of pedal steel. This is country music mutated and stretched along a vast horizon, open music for open souls. It was a pleasure to host these three for a loose hang-out episode.  Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, Bruce Licher of Independent Project Press and Records, who joins us to reflect on a life of indie rock letter pressing and much, much more. This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

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.  Writing about the book for an installment of Aquarium Drunkard Book Club, JJ Toth of Wooden Wand states, ?Though McCabe?s impassioned defense of O?Connor in the wake of her many controversies is both heartfelt and persuasive, Why Sinéad O?Connor Matters is no hagiography: O?Connor?s noble desire?some might say compulsion?to express herself authentically could be messy, and the author reckons with O?Connor?s own gaffes and errors in judgment??  Few artists have created a body of work as intense, as spiritually volatile, and as personal as O?Connor. In the book?s prologue, McCabe writes : ?Insofar as O?Connor?s talents are inseparable from her struggles and triumphs, so are mine and yours.? That's the spirit that fuels this conversation: one of personal honesty and a believe that truth and beauty are ideas to be prized. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Next week on the show, ambient country pioneers Suss.

We're pleased to welcome Alex Pappademas and artist Joan LeMay on today's episode. Together, they have created a tremendous and deeply entertaining new book about one of Aquarium Drunkard's favorite bands: Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors From The Songs of Steely Dan.  The Danaissance is in full swing, and in Quantum Criminals, Pappademas writes that Steely Dan is the most 2020s of ?70s bands. But what makes the book so great is its sidewise angle into the situation?this is no boring history or staid rock bio. With LeMay?s vivid illustrations leading the way, the duo welcomes us into the world of Becker and Fagen through their strange characters: Dr Wu, Napoleon, Peg, The Expanding Man. Like the band?s songs, it?s funny, wonky, and given over to wonderful digressions and detours. Ready your scotch whisky and fine Columbian, here?s Alex and Joan on Steely Dan. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Another University of Texas press author, Allyson McCabe, joins us to discuss Why Sinead O?Connor Matters.

Our guest this week is mystic poet, writer, publisher, and performance artist Janaka Stucky, who?s been hailed as ?extraordinary" and "riveting? by no less an occult authority than Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. We were first introduced to Stucky through his work with Third Man Books, the literary division of Jack White?s Third Man empire, which released his 2015 collection The Truth is We Are Perfect and 2019?s epic poem, Ascend, Ascend. Rooted in horrific imagery and Kabbalistic prose and written over the course of twenty days as its author came in and out of trance states, Ascend Ascend is beautiful and horrifying?a meditation on decay and transcendence. Now, Stucky is presenting a musical version of the text. Recorded at the All Pilgrims Church in Seattle as part of a 7-city tour in 2019, the album finds Stucky joined by cellist Lori Goldston, known for her work with Nirvana, Earth, and Cat Power. This week on Transmissions, he connects with host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the poem, his musical journey, and touch on the ineffable and dread-soaked nature of reality. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? Alex Pappademas and Joan LeMay join us to discuss their new book, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan.  ?This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

Today on Transmissions: Vashti Bunyan. Though her 1970 Joy Boyd-produced Just Another Diamond Day album was barely heard upon original release, its rediscovery by key members of the burgeoning freak folk scene in the mid-2000s helped make it a cult classic, a tender work of imagination and melody. Recently, Bunyan published her first book, Wayward: Just Another Life. It charts her youth in the orbit of the Rolling Stones, her musical and mental struggles, and details the horse-drawn cart journey across the countryside where the songs of Just Another Diamond Day came into shape. It is a vivid and touching read, sly, understated and emotionally expansive. Its quiet melancholy and endearing jokes feel a piece with her musical work. She joined us to discuss the book, that journey, and what it felt like to have her work rediscovered?and why she hates being called a ?folk? singer.  This episode of Transmissions is brought to you by Dad Grass. Go to Dadgrass.com/Transmissions to try it out.

This week on Transmissions, Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner, the psychedelic folk duo Elkhorn. Their new album, On the Universe In All Directions, finds Jesse once again at his familiar 12-string acoustic guitar, but instead of Drew joining with his trademark Telecaster, he?s moved over to vibraphone and drums for this outing. Have no fear: the familiar Elkhorn magic is here in spades, but in brand new ways. The songs were born out of collaboration with New York consciousness group Psychedelic Sangha, and as JJ Toth puts it in his excellent liner notes, the sounds traverse ?the valleys between fried cosmic psychedelia and American Primitive? splitting the difference between Popol Vuh?s devotional drift and the outer reaches of deep-cut classic rock while constantly keeping one foot in the river of the Ever-Weird America; call it Six Degrees of Uncle Dave Macon.?  From Buddhism to Fahey, from time slips to Aquarium Drunkard itself, this conversation unfolds and wanders, we hope you enjoy it. Support Aquarium Drunkard on Patreon. Transmissions is a part of the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Next week on Transmissions? The incredible Vashti Bunyan, who joins us to discuss her vivid and deep book Wayward.