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Transmissions

Aquarium Drunkard

Weekly interviews with musicians, artists, authors, and filmmakers presented by Aquarium Drunkard.

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  • 296 episodes
  • Updated Wednesday

Episodes296

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  • Mar 6, 2024 · 54 min

    Transmissions :: Vijay Iyer

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Feb 28, 2024 · 1 hr 8 min

    Transmissions :: Laetitia Sadier

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Feb 21, 2024 · 1 hr 7 min

    Transmissions :: Scientist

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Feb 14, 2024 · 1 hr

    Transmissions :: Ty Segall

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Feb 7, 2024 · 1 hr 17 min

    Transmissions :: Lou Reed Archive (2024)

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Jan 31, 2024 · 1 hr 7 min

    Transmissions :: Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy on R.E.M.

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Nov 29, 2023 · 1 hr 5 min

    Transmissions :: On Pauline Anna Strom

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Nov 22, 2023 · 40 min

    Transmissions :: Penelope Spheeris

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Nov 15, 2023 · 1 hr 34 min

    Transmissions :: Conner Habib

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Nov 8, 2023 · 54 min

    Transmissions :: John Carroll Kirby

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Nov 1, 2023 · 1 hr 14 min

    Transmissions :: Moby and Lindsay Hicks (Moby Pod)

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Oct 25, 2023 · 53 min

    Transmissions :: Buck Meek (Big Thief)

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Oct 18, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min

    Transmissions :: Mitch Horowitz

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Oct 11, 2023 · 1 hr

    Transmissions :: Maria Elena Silva

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Oct 4, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min

    Transmissions :: Matt Marble on Arthur Russell (Live at PRS)

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Sep 27, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min

    Transmissions :: Colleen

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Sep 20, 2023 · 1 hr 4 min

    Transmissions :: Jarvis Taveniere (Woods)

    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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Sep 18, 2023 · 1 hr 7 min

    Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 6: Heavy Rescue

    This week, we shift from the band’s chronological narrative to consider the many factors that bind this chaotic mass of people together in this creative yet uncommercial experience.