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Yves Jarvis : All Cylinders : Aquarium Drunkard
For All Cylinders, Montreal-based Yves Jarvis (fka Un Blonde) placed bedroom auteurism behind him and went for simpler tunes. The result is a multi-genre odyssey. Where once was a loose attempt at art gospel or chopped-up soul, now there is a conscious, sincere engagement with the classics Jarvis clearly adores—Paul McCartney, Love, Stevie Wonder, and Prince.
Fela Kuti : First European Tour (1981) : Aquarium Drunkard
Check out a fantastic documentary that follows Fela Anikulapo Kuti and his huge band/entourage (70+ people!) on their first trip across the European continent in 1981. Things look gray and grimy outside, but once Africa 80 is onstage the world snaps into full, vibrant color, a radical sight/sound the likes of which most of the world had never seen nor heard before.
Eric Dolphy : Last Date (Documentary, 1991) : Aquarium Drunkard
The documentary’s title Last Date is lifted from an album of posthumous live recordings from a Netherlands radio session in the summer of 1964 (the Dutch trio from the session feature prominently in the film). Just a few weeks later, Eric Dolphy tragically passed after slipping into a diabetic coma during a performance in Berlin.
Harold Budd : Abandoned Cities : Aquarium Drunkard
Composer Harold Budd always resented the term "ambient," with which his music had been saddled since his pioneering collaborations in late 70s and early 80s with Brian Eno. One can imagine the thoughtful, genial Budd being positively exasperated with the even more niche tag "dark ambient." And yet, Budd's haunting and uncharacteristically bleak 1984 album Abandoned Cities was dark ambient before the term existed. One of the lesser-known works in Budd's discography, its synthesizer drones and blighted landscapes seem to speak prophetically to the crisis of our present moment.
Sam Moss : Swimming : Aquarium Drunkard
Sam Moss's new LP boasts an exceptional backing band — Joe Westerlund on earthy percussion; Isa Burke on deeply felt lead guitar, violin and banjo; Sinclair Palmer on rich double bass; and Molly Sarlé on haunting harmonies. Jake Xerxes Fussell also pops up to lend a hand on a few tracks. Together, this group creates an extraordinarily intimate sound to surround Moss’s voice and acoustic fingerpicking, whether it’s the steady thump of the title track, the slow way of “Dance” or the somewhat sinister groove of “Lost.” You could slot Swimming into the so-called Americana genre, but it really rises above that easy categorization.
Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard : February 2025 : Aquarium Drunkard
Freeform transmissions from Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard on dublab. Airing every third Sunday of the month, RFAD on dublab features the pairing of Tyler Wilcox’s Doom and Gloom from the Tomb and Chad DePasquale’s New Happy Gathering. This month, Chad kicks it off with an hour of broken valentines, with Tyler following it up with some melancholy psych-folk situations. Sunday, 4-6pm PT.
The Lagniappe Sessions : Ezra Feinberg : Aquarium Drunkard
Since Ezra Feinberg’s return to making and releasing music at the close of the last decade, he’s been on an unbelievable run. Feinberg’s contributions to our ongoing series of Lagniappe Sessions square the circle of his sound, offering up covers of the shimmering folk-pop vocal group The Roches, on the one hand, and minimalist composer and Philip Glass Ensemble stalwart Jon Gibson, on the other. Feinberg’s gift has always been to endow minimalist process and ambient expansion with a real emotional weight, so the balance here between lovelorn romanticism and new music abstraction seems particularly on point. Feinberg’s covers are alternately heartbreaking and harrowing.
Transmissions : Bonnie "Prince" Billy : Aquarium Drunkard
Welcome back to Transmissions from Aquarium Drunkard, we're kicking off our 10th season with host Jason Woodbury in conversation with Will Oldham, the man behind Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who appeared on the very first Transmissions interview back in 2016. He returns to Transmissions to unpack and discuss his new country album, The Purple Bird, uploading souls to the Metaverse, guns, and why he'd work with Phil Spector.
Jairus Sharif : Mawu : Aquarium Drunkard
The Calgary-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Jairus Sharif returns with Basis of Unity, his third album under his own name, later this month via Telephone Explosion Records. With the one exception of some freestyle spoken word courtesy of original CAN vocalist Malcolm Mooney on the track “We Be,” Sharif handles all the instrumentation and production himself on this droning symphony of ambient noise and free jazz – armed with a cadre that includes alto saxophone, electronics, percussion, drums, bass, keyboard, samplers, and “small instruments.”
Unearthed, Vol. 19 : Valentine’s Day : Aquarium Drunkard
It’s been a few years, but we’re rebooting the Unearthed mix series in 2025 — further trips into the murky bootleg world! To get things going, a mix made up entirely of live recordings from various Valentines Days from over the decades. It’d certainly be a stretch to call everything included here a love song, but hey, we’re all mature enough to recognize that the emotions of February 14 run the gamut, right? The moony, swoony vibes of the holiday can just as easily slip into feelings of loneliness, regret and heartbreak. Or just plain weirdness! All aboard the mystery train of love …
Barbara Keith : S/T : Aquarium Drunkard
Barbara Keith’s 1970 self-titled record began making its rounds of the archival labels (both legitimate and not) at the turn of the century. It was hailed – like so many of the now-resurfaced formerly-shelved records of the seventies – as a lost masterpiece du jour. Perhaps it was the studio lineup which included the likes of Lowell George and Spooner Oldham, or maybe Keith’s retreat from the limelight following its release, or the fact that the material ended up being covered by Patty Loveless, Delaney & Bonnie, Barbara Streisand, and Melanie. Whatever the reason, it was this record that brought her name into the collective discussion of forgotten songwriters.
Ofir Ganon : Same Air : Aquarium Drunkard
Sometimes an instrument is played exactly as it should be played. And for the last 20 years, Ofir Ganon seems to have been building toward the crux of the electric guitar. His Same Air acts as a snapshot of his current trajectory—simultaneously reflective and flourishing.
Greg Foat : The Rituals of Infinity : Aquarium Drunkard
Prolific UK keyboard impresario and composer Greg Foat is back to nicking his album titles from classic English sci-fi paperbacks. This time, he's borrowing from Michael Moorcock's 1971 novel, The Rituals of Infinity. Foat likes to mine sci-fi not so much for its brooding cosmology as for its air of zippy, intergalactic pulpiness. And here, once again teaming up with British jazz legend Art Themen on saxophones, Foat and company lay down another funky, lush album of library grooves and jazz futurism.
Horsegirl : Phoenetics On And On : Aquarium Drunkard
Horsegirl’s three members were hardly out of high school when they emerged from Chicago’s raucous post-punk scene, a boisterous but cerebral gaggle of youth and precocity unafraid to play with amp feedback and dual guitar tone. Now college age, the trio of Nora Cheng (guitar/voice), Penelope Lowenstein (guitar/voice) and Gigi Reece (drums) whip a bit of air and lightness into their sophomore LP, tapping indie phenom producer Cate LeBon’s way with tipsy agitated sweetness.
Ron Geesin : The Aquarium Drunkard Interview : Aquarium Drunkard
In the creative act, is the interaction with others or solitude in a private space more important? While in the past, genius was often described as a solitary artist, distant from society, today more importance is placed on the “creative ecosystem” from which they emerge. The story of Ron Geesin might help to rebalance the issue, highlighting both the collaborative phase and the more secluded one. But could his choice to follow his own path, away from the well-trodden routes, have worked against him in terms of critical reception?
Roedelius : The Aquarium Drunkard Interview : Aquarium Drunkard
Featuring 50 tracks from his vast recorded archives, 90 presents kosmische pioneer Roedelius at his most intimate. The result is a collection that feels as meditative as it does personal. "Everything came to me as a gift of the moment," he explains, opening up about the genesis of his creative practice and how his songs function like prayers.
Sean Thompson's Weird Ears : Head In The Sand : Aquarium Drunkard
Not unlike many sophomore efforts, Head In The Sand conjures a level of lyrical maturity and focus that differentiates it from its predecessor, almost confidently so. Make no mistake, however: a frantic ripper like "Storm's Comin' Tonight" reminds the listener to embrace the Dead-inspired choogle once again.
Aquarium Drunkard Book Club : Chapter 32 : Aquarium Drunkard
Welcome back to the stacks. It’s Aquarium Drunkard’s Book Club, our monthly gathering of recent (or not so recent) recommended reading. In this month’s stack: a brief but powerful chronicle of the spiritual awakening, initiation, and transformation Alice Coltrane underwent between 1968 and 1970, the 1923 book that forever changed the course of David Lynch's artistic life, Rosecrans Baldwin’s meditation on Los Angeles, from self-help cults and psychics to migrant workers and Octavia Butler, and Mark Swartz's "what if" exploration of artists who died before their time
Ted Lucas : Nobody Loves Me Like My Baby Does : Aquarium Drunkard
On February 21, psychedelic folkie Ted Lucas' self-titled 1975 cult classic rides again, this time thanks to the folks at Third Man Records. This go-round, an expanded vision of Lucas' visions is offered, with the digital release including four previously-unreleased songs, including the swooning, flute-heavy “Nobody Loves Me Like My Baby Does.”
Freckle : S/T : Aquarium Drunkard
Blink and you’ll miss another one of Ty Segall’s bands. The LA-psych-rock linchpin fronts an eponymous guitar army, the even louder Fuzz, an ongoing collaboration with Tim Presley, the unhinged Wasted Shirt with the Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale, C.I.A. with his wife Denée and likely another dozen that escape me just now. This one, Freckle, pairs the fuzz king of Topanga Canyon with Corey Madden of Color Green, a cosmic-country slanted psychedelic outfit that might remind you of the Sadies at their most lysergic.
Yatha Sidhra : A Meditation Mass : Aquarium Drunkard
Yatha Sidhra only recorded a single record, but A Meditation Mass is often spoken of in hushed tones as a secret gem in the canon of 1970s krautrock. Its ritualistic sound and Buddhist iconography (not to mention the eye-watering prices it fetches) have turned into something of a holy relic. It may not quite be that, but it is still a stupendous piece of German psychedelia. If you don't know it, we invite you to get initiated.
Sun Swept : Germinations : Aquarium Drunkard
Denver multi-instrumentalist Sarah Christiansen is cautious about labeling the processed flute music she makes as Sun Swept "new age." She's probably right to be. Sun Swept's beautiful debut album Germinations takes the formula of an old new age cassette tape and comes up with something altogether more haunting.
Paul Desmond : Glad To Be Unhappy (1965) : Aquarium Drunkard
Our Midnite Jazz series returns. Intended by RCA Victor to plug into the jazzy side of the budding mood music market of the 1960s, Glad To Be Unhappy is at its best when Desmond's light, melodic tone on the alto sax takes the lead line — a signature tone that Desmond once described as "trying to sound like a dry martini."
Jakob Bro : Taking Turns : Aquarium Drunkard
Recorded in 2014 but somehow only released late last year, this multi-generational session delivers ensemble playing and collective improvisation at an extraordinarily high level. Danish guitarist Jakob Bro is joined on Taking Turns by a murderer’s row of talents — Lee Konitz (alto/soprano sax), Andrew Cyrille (drums), Bill Frisell (guitar), Jason Moran (piano) and Thomas Morgan (double bass) — for seven marvelously moody pieces.
The Power of Zeus : Uncertain Destination : Aquarium Drunkard
Another gem from the heavy rock underground brought to light by the fuzz lords at Ancient Grease Records, Uncertain Destination unearths a batch of previously unheard demo recordings that revisits, reframes, and rewrites the legend of Motor City heavy psych quartet Power of Zeus. These recordings got the group signed to Motown’s fledgling Rare Earth imprint in 1970, and led to their lone album the same year, The Gospel According to Zeus, which soon became a cut-out bin mainstay.
Bert Jansch : Nicola : Aquarium Drunkard
Tis the season. As those chilly winds pick up, the sonic migration toward the isles is near unavoidable. While any Bert Jansch LP is certainly fitting this time of the year (and any time of the year, mind you), one in particular deserves its time in the limelight during the shorter days. It may be the most overlooked of Bert’s early run of classic records, but Nicola is certainly worthy of a bit of reappraisal. Maybe it was the strings? The electric guitar? The horns? Whatever, the reason, the record rarely comes up in the Jansch conversation.
Dorothea Paas : Think Of Mist : Aquarium Drunkard
A constant figure in the Toronto music scene, it's a bit surprising that Think of Mist is only Dorothea Paas' second solo record following 2021's post-folk odyssey, Anything Can Happen. As an album, its 10 tracks present as wholly mature, fully-formed and intentional---a dense but highly replayable, bubblegum baroque record. She calls it "choral freak folk," with reference to Judee Sill and Linda Perhacs, but one could describe it as a Weyes Blood for that fertile group of Canadian pop experimentalists that includes Joseph Shabason, Thom Gill, Sandro Perri, and many others.
Julie Beth Napolin : The Aquarium Drunkard Interview : Aquarium Drunkard
At its best, art develops its own associations as it moves through the world. With Only the Void Stands Between Us on Silver Current Records, Julie Beth Napolin delivers a singular debut, one that cuts new trail through the cosmic and the colloquial wilds while adding to the amorphous canon of psych-folk.
Grooves Outside The Academy: An Interview with Peter Gordon from Love of Life Orchestra (Part 2) : Aquarium Drunkard
An almost Zelig-like figure whose life and career has seen him careen from postmodern rock and jittery Downtown dance music ensembles, to opera and theater pieces, orchestral works, contemporary DJ culture, and so much more, Peter Gordon is the type of multifaceted artist whose wide range of interests have made him something of a cornerstone of underground music culture in New York City for well over four decades now. Even if few people outside of New York know who he is. And even there he’s not a household name. But that hasn’t stopped him from casting a wide net of influence over present-day sonic exploration, in all of its various forms.
Agharta Deluxe: Live Miles in Japan, 1975 : Aquarium Drunkard
The Miles Davis septet’s 1975 tour of Japan produced the bandleader’s final definitive statements of his electric era with the Agatha and Pangaea double live LPs. Until a Bootleg Series entry celebrates the tour with a much-deserved box set, unofficial tapes of the 3-week run remain our deepest look into this expanded universe. Here’s a primer on the best of the lot. The shows that burned the hottest and those that explored the furthest reaches of terrain to which no artist has returned.
Jantar : Background Moods : Aquarium Drunkard
“Moly Snowdrop” is not so much a musical composition as an ecosystem, a shimmering, vibrating garden teeming with sonic life. The 19-minute centerpiece of this latest album from the ambient ensemble Jantar ripples still surfaces of liquid sound, with musical tones like bells and vibraphones and soothing but indefinite textures that mimic the rush of surf, the chittering hum of insect life. The track evokes Jon Hassell’s fourth world sound, Laraaji’s ecstatic meditations, and, of course, the motherlode, the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno.
Lynch People: Remembering David Lynch : Aquarium Drunkard
In tribute to David Lynch, we reached out to a variety of musicians, writers, directors, and artists within the AD orbit to share their thoughts on working with Lynch, watching his films, and the many ways he influenced their own art and life.
Dialup Ghost : May You Live Forever in Cowboy Heaven : Aquarium Drunkard
Nashville’s Dialup Ghost have an uneasy relationship with their hometown, celebrating country music while gleefully corrupting its wellsprings. Adding orchestral flourishes and old-timey touches to eccentric indie rock ballads, Dialup Ghost investigates the idea of the South as both a metaphor and a sound, finding potent new territory amid a tangle of old paths and forgotten byways.
Neil Young : Honey Slides V : Aquarium Drunkard
Somehow, Neil Young turns 80 this year, and we're getting the celebration started early with the fifth edition of Honey Slides, our annual Shakey rarities roundup — this one focused on the acoustic side of things. Even with the outrageously expansive Archives Vol. III being released just a few months back, there are plenty of dusty cabinets of the man's discography (both official and semi-official) to rummage through. From live oddities to unusual arrangements, from solo performances to full band renditions, Honey Slides V covers plenty of ground, despite its generally stripped down vibes.
Sam Amidon : Salt River : Aquarium Drunkard
The big news about Salt River is the collaboration with Sam Gendel, a celebrated jazz saxophonist who has worked with Amidon in various roles since 2017. However, aside from an extended reedy flight of fancy in “Tavern,” Gendel’s role as producer is primarily to get out of the way, and let Amidon be Amidon, his folky experiments haloed by an aura of extraordinary clarity.