Aquarium Drunkard - Sidecar (transmissions) - Podcast

This week on Transmissions: the magnificent Neko Case. She’s recently launched Entering the Lung, a newsletter of nature writing. We don't need to tell you that Neko Case is a great writer—her work with the New Pornographers, Case/Lang/Veirs and her solo albums demonstrate that evidently—but it is deeply nice to be able to appreciate her on prose terms via the newsletter. She joined us this week to discuss the mores of the Victorian age, listening to Jane's Addiction, and getting into punk rock. Benefitting her sense of humor, we let this talk roam where she willed.

Today on Transmissions, author, artist, guitarist, and creator Alan Licht. He's the author of Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020. It features some incredible talks with ANOHNI, Tony Conrad, Greg Tate, Yo La Tengo, Kelly Reichardt, Lou Reed, and many more. Licht seemingly never rests—in addition to this fantastic book, he’s part of the new Threshing Floor album—which pairs him with Nate Young and John Olson of Wolf Eyes, Rebecca Odes, and Gretchen Gonzales—produced by El Studio 444 and Transmissions guest Warren Defever. Licht is an artist/writer/and curator, and we touch on all of that in this revelatory talk. 

Today on the show, returning Transmissions guest Nick Lowe. 20 years ago, he released The Convincer, which many folks argue is his best album. It's reissued by Yep Roc Records this week. Following his rough and rowdy start at Stiff, his work producing Elvis Costello in the '70s & '80s, and a stint as a genuine pop star following the massive hit “Cruel to Be Kind,” Lowe found himself interested in reinventing the way he made records. The Convincer is part of a long line of albums that embrace subtle pop, R&B, and country tones, with Lowe’s gentle voice leaning into the crooner side of things. Originally released on September 11, 2001, The Convincer helped to establish Lowe’s reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter.

Welcome to Transmissions. Today on the show: Chris Swanson, co-founder of Secretly Group. This year marks 25 years of two of the flagship labels in the group, Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, and to celebrate they’ve got tons going on—including SC25 Editions, which features titles by Damien Jurado, Anohni, Richard Swift, and more, as well as Merch, with net proceeds benefiting Bloomington’s New Hope For Families. Also of note: Jagjaguwar’s Join the Ritual, a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired release featuring Angel Olsen, Bruce Hornsby, Cut Worms, Jamila Woods, and many more. As a young person exploring record stores, Secretly and Jagjaguwar served as hallmarks of quality—it was a great time getting to settle in with Swanson to discuss the labels’ roots, artists like Anohni, Richard Swift, Jason Molina, Bon Iver, and more. 

Thanks for joining us on Transmissions. Our guest this week is Bela Koe-Krompecher, who’s written a terrific book called Love, Death, & Photosynthesis, about his time in the ‘80s rock & roll underground of Columbus, Ohio, and the tumultuous lives—and far too early deaths—of his friends Jerry Wick of the punk band Gaunt and Jenny Mae Leffel, a talented but tortured singer songwriter. Deeply felt and alternately moving and hilarious (as well as moments that encompass both zones), it's a great read, and Bela proved as charming, open, and human as readers might expect in this special conversation about music, its place in our lives, friends lost, and memories held.

This week on Transmissions, Jon Wurster, the drummer of Mountain Goats, Bob Mould Band, and Superchunk and one-half of Scharpling and Wurster, the long running radio comedy duo as featured on The Best Show. In his wide-ranging talk with Jason Woodbury, he discusses growing up in Philadelphia during the birth of punk and alternative rock, working with Replacements producer Jim Dickinson in the mid-'80s, his experiences at Sun Records, getting the call to join Superchunk, and much more.

As a curator at the Alan Lomax Archive, Nathan Salsburg is no stranger to reaching deep into the past to bring forth music that speaks to us in the present moment. As a guitarist and songwriter, he's primarily focused on instrumental sounds, but on his new album, Psalms, he offers forth new folk arrangements of Hebrew psalms, singing himself and gathering together other vocalists, like Joan Shelley and Will Oldham, and contributors like James Elkington and Spencer Tweedy, to animate and explore these scriptures. This week on Transmissions, Salsburg joins host Jason Woodbury from his place in rural Kentucky to discuss the album, conceptions of the divine, life as a new parent, and much more.

“Music shapes us and fundamentally changes us. Once we have listened we do not stop. We do not ever recover from music. We will return again and again to the radio, the record store, the bedroom where girls listen to records all day.” That’s a quote from Rickie Lee Jones’ new book, Last Chance Texaco. She joins us today on Transmissions from New Orleans to discuss the book and her experiences in California and Arizona in the ‘70s, when she became a huge star. From her youthful and rebellious days in Phoenix to scoring a massive hit with "Chuck E.'s In Love," Jones joins us to discuss it all and more.

A sprawling talk with record maker John Leckie. As a tape operator at Abbey Road, he oversaw the All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band sessions and rolled tape on Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Fela Kuti, and more. Soon he began producing records, and he's gone on to work with Radiohead on The Bends, plus Dr. John, Spiritualized, My Morning Jacket, and many more. He joins host Jason Woodbury this week on Transmissions to discuss his extensive history and much more. 

A sit down with bassist and composer Melvin Gibbs. Emerging from the fertile New York art scene of the early '80s where he played with Defunkt, Gibbs has brought grace and heaviness to work with Arto Lindsey, John Zorn, Caetano Veloso, Bill Frisell, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock, and dozens more jazz luminaries, in rock bands like Rollins Band and Harriet Tubman, and on records by dead prez and David Byrne. His latest project is an EP, 4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25. which reflects on the murder of George Floyd and the spirit of the protests that arose in its wake. He also teams with visionary drummer Greg Fox and guitarists Sahsa-Frere Jones and Grey McMurray in Body Meπa, which recently released The Work Is Slow, a mind-melter of rock abstraction. Gibbs joined host Jason P. Woodbury for a wide-ranging discussion this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

This week on Transmissions: Anika. Best known for her work with Geoff Barrow and Mexico City's Exploded View, she returns with Change, an album of subtle electronic pop, driving bass lines, and lyrics that veer from quixotic to inspiring. Anika joined us for a discussion about her time as a journalist, the shifting state of reality, and crafting an album amidst a global pandemic. 

Today on the show, Brazilian singer/songwriter Rodrigo Amarante joins us to discuss his new album, Drama. A lush and enveloping listen, it blends gentle pop with cinematic flourishes. Reflecting on the confines of masculinity, his artistic relationships with Noah Georgeson, Devendra Banhart, Little Joy, Los Hermanos, and much more, this conversation presents Amarante in a reflective, riffy, and casual mode. "Art is supposed to pull the rug, do something to you," Amarante says. Join us for a little creative rug pulling, this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.

It’s a bonus episode for you as we head into the weekend. Today on the show we're joined by Ripley Johnson of Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips, and most recently, Rose City Band. Reviewing the latter’s excellent Earth Trip, an album of rural psychedelia, Aquarium Drunkard’s Tyler Wilcox praised Johnson’s zoned out guitar work, noting that his guitar “solos are always on point, often drifting into Garcia-like zones without ever slipping into pointless idolatry. He’s developed into a guitarist who rarely takes a wrong step, minimal, moody, and lovely.” Johnson joined us for a conversation about coming up in the punk and counter culture scene, his multiple bands, the influence of the Dead, and “the ultimate rock & roll statement” of ? and the Mysterians' “96 Tears.” 

Today on the program: Tom Scharpling of The Best Show and Double Threat. He’s written a deeply funny and moving new book called It Never Ends, available now wherever you get books. It documents his early days writing and producing a DIY fanzine, working his way into TV writing with Monk, and establishing a lifelong friendship and comedy partnership with drummer Jon Wurster. It’s also a candid look at his struggles with mental health, and while some moments are harrowing, it’s ultimately an inspirational read—an underdog story from a guy who’s especially good at giving voice to the underdog. And again, very funny. Scharpling joined us to discuss the book, his incredible sound collages, Lou Reed, CSNY, Brian Eno, King Crimson, and more.

This week on Transmissions, a heady conversation with Carlos Niño about spontaneous composition, the influence of hip-hop culture, his radio roots, and his latest, More Energy Fields, Current. "...Frequently, I would say I'm doing some version of supercomputing, where I'm completely free in the moment and I'm also bookmarking sections I know I want to get back to." From his days at dublab to his partnerships with artists like Laraaji and Iasos and much more, we're glad to have Niño on.

This week on the show, Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance. His new album is called The Veiled Sea, out this week via Three Lobed Records. Six Organs records can often sound very different from each other—think quiet acoustic sketches or long, blown out psych epics—but this one is a whole new thing entirely, with wild glam inspired solos over wild riffs—plus there’s a Faust cover. Chasny stopped by to discuss the new album, his work with Comets on Fire, his trio with Sir Richard Bishop and Chris Corsano, Rangda, the dubious “freak folk” term and much more.

Welcome to a special bonus episode of Transmissions. Our guest this episode is musician and writer Jeffrey Silverstein. His new EP of gently cosmic guitar music is called Torii Gates, and he's the head the wonderful It’s So Easy (When You Know What You’re Doing), a tribute to the late cult folk musician Ted Lucas, featuring AD favorites like John Andrews & the Yawns, Julianna Barwick and William Tyler, Barry Walker Jr., Amelia Courthouse, and more. He’s also a teacher and a runner, and we get into it all on this special bonus episode of Transmissions. Please rate and review the podcast. Share it on your social media pages, share it via whatever platform you have. We count on word of mouth, so if you like the program, help us out. If you want to take your support a little deeper, check us out on Patreon. 

Our guest this week on the show is singer/songwriter John Grant. You might know him from his work with Midlake, the Czars, Sinéad O'Connor or Hercules and Love Affair. His new album is called Boy From Michigan. It's produced by Cate Le Bon and fascinating, Blade Runner synths pulsing underneath incredible melodies and vocal performances. Grant joined Jason P. Woodbury for a freewheeling and candid talk, this week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. 

Our guest this week is Cécile Schott, who records under the name Colleen. Since the early 2000s, she's generated soulful electronic and ambient music, utilizing vintage synths, drum machines, music boxes, and acoustic instruments. Her latest is called The Tunnel and the Clearing. It was recorded in Barcelona during the lockdown and followed a long period of illness and heartbreak for Schott. The resulting album is indeed melancholy, but also hopeful and staggeringly beautiful. She joined us from her home studio for a discussion about her discography, the circumstances that led to the new album, the influence of dub and reggae, and how the studio process influences her bold and original work. 

Music is never incidental in a movie made by our guest this week: director, collage artist, and music maker Jim Jarmusch. Music is part of his films’ DNA, a through line running through his characters’ black comedy gags and existential wanderings. There’s no stylistic template—everything from crazed blues to ambient drones have soundtracked Jarmusch’s films—but the director ties songs together with an unmatched patience and style. The soundtrack to one of those motion pictures—2014’s vampire yarn Only Lovers Left Alive—was recently reissued by Sacred Bones. It features Jim’s band, SQÜRL, his frequent collaborator lutenist Jozef Van Wissem, and guest appearances by Madeline Follin of Cults, Zola Jesus, and Yasmine Hamdan. Jim joined us from his place in upstate New York to discuss the pastoralism that defines his creative practice these days, his early days, collaborators like John Lurie and Steve Buscemi, and of course music—Neil Young, Tom Waits, Iggy, Wu-Tang Clan, and beyond.