Liz Lamere and Jared Artuad join us this week on Aquarium Drunkard's weekly talk show podcast Transmissions to discuss the life, work, and creative philosophies of the late Alan Vega. As one-half of Suicide, alongside his partner Martin Rev, Vega blazed a trail of provocative, synth-driven art rock that was often too punk for the punks. From there, his solo career found him making forays into pop music with producer Ric Ocasek, painting, and constantly creating, rarely working on any terms other...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Writer, musician, and prolific TikToker Sasha Frere-Jones joins us on Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard's weekly talk show podcast to discuss music criticism, listening habits, and self forgiveness. As a player, he's known for his work with the fantastic post-rock band Ui, whose funky rhythms dipped into dub and electronica, the avant-rock band Body Meπa, where he plays alongside Greg Fox, Grey McMurray, and previous Transmissions guest Melvin Gibbs , and the ambient project Calvanist . As a writ...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Today on Transmissions, guest Owen Ashworth of Advance Base/Casiotone For the Painfully Alone and Orindal Records joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a conversation covering life as an indie artist/label head, the merits of "gloss era" Bruce Springsteen, the influence of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and Joe Pera, CCR, working primarily as a solo artist, and diving into the heartland country music of KT Oslin and Nancy Griffith. Also covered? The importance of cool uncles and raiding your parents' ...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Today on an all-new episode of Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard's weekly interview podcast, we're joined by artist and creator Meredith Graves. She’s best known for her work with the punk band Perfect Pussy, her label Honor Press, and as the director of music at Kickstarter, where she’s also the Head Witch in Charge, responsible for the Magic and Divination section of the crowdfunding site. Graves joined host Jason P. Woodbury to speak about magic and arcana, about the “purgative ritual” that is...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Roll up/that's an invitation ...Today on the show, we're joined by a return guest, Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills . He’s appeared here on the show previously to discuss his great Van Morrison book, Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 and now he joins host Jason P. Woodbury for a conversation about Van Morrison, the paranormal, and mystic corners of The Beatles' universe. On April 1st, you're going to want to head over to ESPeatles.com, to discover a truly freaky Beatles project, related t...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Right from the top of LABYRINTHITIS, the 13th album from our guest today, new wave art rock master Dan Bejar of Destroyer , you get an example of what makes him such a compelling artist. “It’s in Your Heart Now” starts, and then its real beat stutters in, interrupting a briefly established groove. But rather than feeling like an intrusion, this feels like blooming, and from there the song builds in layers of Cure-esque guitar and cascading synthesizers, with Bejar doing his signature vocal and l...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Our guests this week are Chad Clark and Erin Nelson of DC post-punk band Beauty Pill . Clark emerged from the DC/Dischord punk scene with his band Smart Went Crazy, and he worked on records by Fugazi, Dismemberment Plan, Lungfish, Q & Not U, and many more. He formed Beauty Pill in the early 2000s and it's proved a musically restless unit ever since. He's allowed the band to shift and morph in public and in 2012 the group was commissioned to craft the album Beauty Pill Describes Things As The...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Though Sonic Youth ended a decade ago, the band's archives have continued to surprise. The latest from the SY vault is In/Out/In (Three Lobed Recordings) , a collection of instrumentals recorded during the band's final era, including some with Jim O'Rourke and contributions from The Eternal bassist Mark Ibold. Ahead of the album's release, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth join host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss The Simpsons , the band's Geffen years, stolen (and recovered) guitars, th...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 10 min
"Anything that knocks ya out, hits you harder than you planned," sings Matthew E. White on "Genuine Hesitation," which opens K Bay, the third solo album from the Spacebomb founder. And it's a knockout of a record, to be sure. A spirited producer and collaborator known for his efforts with Natalie Prass, Mountain Goats, Flo Morrissey, Sharon Van Etten and many more, the album finds him situating his traditional song craft in a future funk and avant-pop setting. On today's episode of Aquarium Drun...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 12 min
This week on the show, we’re joined by Ade Blackburn of Clinic. The Liverpool-based duo of Blackburn and Jonathan Hartley released a great record last year called Fantasy Island, full of skittering drum machines, cavernous sounds, and fuzzed out melodies, and this week sees the 20th anniversary of their sophomore album, Walking With Thee. The band’s trademark strangeness draws the listener in, and our talk with Blackburn focuses a lot on the allure of leaving room for mystery in music. We also g...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 7 min
This week on the show, we're joined by world renowned whistler Molly Lewis. Last year, she released a great EP called The Forgotten Edge via Jagjaguwar. With its exotica and spaghetti western motifs, the EP is a supremely playful and lovely listen. And Lewis is a charming conversationalist too. We got into her roots in competitive whistling, being in the studio with Dr. Dre, working with John C. Reilly and whistling for the late, great Harry Dean Stanton....
Feb 16, 2022•59 min
"Transmissions is a lovely name; I think that's a very crucial name for this age." So says mystic musician Laraaji, our guest this week on the show. Sitting down with host Jason P. Woodbury , His Orangeness (AKA Edward Larry Gordon) discusses his new collaboration with NOUS and Arji OceAnanda, Circle of Celebration , plus his upbringing in the Baptist church, initial entry into meditation, the spiritual qualities of laughter, and much more. Introduced to the world by Brian Eno, who heard him pla...
Feb 09, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Today on Transmissions: Cate Le Bon, who, for the last decade plus, has made some of our favorite modern records, as well as producing great work for other artists, like Deerhunter and John Grant, who joined us last year on the podcast to talk abou t their collaboration The Boy From Michigan. Her new album is called Pompeii , an art pop gem out this week on Mexican Summer records. "I think the underlying theme of the record is we will forever be connected to everything," she says, joining host J...
Feb 02, 2022•59 min
Welcome back to our weekly podcast Transmissions. Today on the show, occult scholar Mitch Horowitz . He’s the author of a staggering number of metaphysical books and the tremendous historical project, Occult America , a deeply researched book that examines how America’s alternative spiritualities and esoteric scenes—from freemasonry to Spiritualism and beyond—have influenced the country’s politics, social movements, and general character. Traveling along the ins and outs of the Psychic Highway, ...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Welcome to a bonus edition of Transmissions with David Bazan of Pedro The Lion joining host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss the release of the band's surprise album Havasu . Like 2019's Phoenix , the record focuses on Bazan's youth in Arizona. In this loose conversation, Bazan describes how he approached writing about his early teenage years, the enduring artistic influence of Fugazi, his initial relationship with Christian rock, and the work of Tom Petty....
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 21 min
Our guest today is Haley Fohr, better known as Circuit des Yeux and Jackie Lynn. Her latest is called iO , and it’s a stunning work of art rock bravado. In our 2021 Year in Review contributor Tyler Wilcox wrote: “On the new Circuit des Yeux album, Haley Fohr has pulled off quite a magic trick. She’s crafted her most accessible (occasionally even poppy) effort yet without sacrificing one iota of her strange, fearless musical vision. Fohr’s inimitable vocals here are bolstered at various times by ...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr
This week on Transmissions, the final episode of the season: Steve Berlin. Steve plays saxophone in Los Lobos, whose new album is called, Native Sons . It features Los Angeles-centric covers by the likes of WAR, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and Thee Midniters. But Steve’s a fascinating figure on his own. He came up in the punk scenes of LA, playing with The Blasters and the Flesh Eaters, but since then he’s gone on to work with everyone from Rickie Lee Jones to The Replacements, The Go-G...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 16 min
This week on Transmissions, our weekly series of strange conversations: Roberto Carlos Lange of Helado Negro. His new album of electronic bliss pop, psychedelic ambient, and soulful love songs is called Far In. Lange joined host Jason P. Woodbury for a talk about Marfa, his journey through the world of independent music, expansive views of consciousness, and the early days of his musical practice—as well as much more....
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 10 min
This week on Transmissions, our weekly series of strange conversations: Scott Hirsch. Perhaps you know his name from the credits of albums by William Tyler or Alice Gerrard. Or perhaps you're into his solo records: the nocturnally grooving Windless Day is the latest. He's a long time collaborator of M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger , and their relationship stretches back to the post-hardcore band Ex-Ignota. Hirsch joins host Jason Woodbury from his Ojai studio Echo Magic. On this episode, we...
Oct 20, 2021•58 min
This week on the Transmissions, Jeffrey Alexander of The Heavy Lidders and Dire Wolves. For decades now, he's been a fixture in the psychedelic mutant underground. He's got a great new self-titled record out now on Arrowhawk with his song-oriented project the Heavy Lidders, a vast catalog with Dire Wolves , and a forthcoming split cassette with Rhyton. Alexander joined us for a conversation about science fiction and fantasy, the Dead, improv, and his life in independent music. And as a bonus, we...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Hey, welcome back to Transmissions, we're so glad to have you here tuning in. Today on the show, I’m joined by two lifers of independent rock, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang. Their latest is a tremendous album called A Sky Record . Reviewing the record for Aquarium Drunkard, Tyler Wilcox called it “one of Damon & Naomi’s most purely gorgeous sounding records—and considering the glories of what’s come before, that’s a real accomplishment.” It features the guitar work of Michio Kurihara of Gho...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 6 min
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...
Sep 29, 2021•59 min
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—pr...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr
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 embrac...
Sep 15, 2021•58 min
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 relea...
Sep 08, 2021•1 hr 4 min
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 g...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 8 min
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....
Aug 25, 2021•1 hr 12 min
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...
Aug 18, 2021•57 min
“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 da...
Aug 11, 2021•56 min
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....
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 11 min
