Aquarium Drunkard

Upon hearing Meg Baird’s Drag City solo debut, Dear Companion, I was immediately reminded of the first time I listened to the Numero Group’s January release of Catherine Howe’s What A Beautiful Place. Both albums initially come across so delicately that you have to really stretch out to fully grasp their artistry. Folkies, […]

My face is sunburned from drinking tequila in Mexico this past weekend during the wife’s b-day. Thankfully we had this album with us.
I recently replaced my old copy of Maggot Brain with the 2005 reissue that cleaned up the sound (considerably) and tacked on a couple of bonus tracks. It goes without saying […]

This podcast is culled from my meeting with Internet phenomenon Clutchy Hopkins representatives this past Wednesday on my Little Radio show. The reps, who went by the names “Dino” and “Seth” came into the studio (wearing masks), sat down, said very little in terms of their involvement with Clutchy, and played some incredible old […]

Never one to be associated with bright and/or “cheery” music, J. Tillman returns with the appropriately entitled Cancer and Delirium, his first LP for Virginia based Yer Bird Records.
Since I first began listening to Tillman’s brand of folk in 2005, his releases (often near impossible to get ahold of) have embraced and retained the intimacy […]

San Francisco’s Ray’s Vast Basements new release, Starvation Under Orange Trees, may be the best little album to hit my mailbox this week. Actually, no, upon further absorption it is the best album I have received this week. M. Ward vocal comparisons aside, the Jon Bernson conceived project got its start when the […]

Pitchfork Media recently reported that Drunkard hero, Portland inhabitant, and indie rock guru, Stephen Malkmus is two-thirds done with his next LP (to be released by longtime label home, Matador).
According to his website: “Basic trax for album committed to tape. 67.4685% completed. Looks to be done sometime in Late June.” “Tj Doherty, fresh from […]

“Sign On The Window” has long been a favorite track off Dylan’s New Morning. A friend just shared this Melanie cover of the tune off of the UK compilation The Songs of Bob Dylan, Vol. 2: May Your Song Always Be Sung.
Download:
MP3: Melanie :: Sign On The Window
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Amazon: Bob Dylan - New Morning
Amazon: The […]

Per the DJ Spooky curated Trojan compilation post, I was recently having a discussion with a friend about the importance of Lee “Scratch” Perry in the evolution and prominence of reggae and dub over the past forty years, both as a producer as well as a performer (not to mention just a righteous character).
It was […]

The Parson Red Heads debut LP, King Giraffe, capitalizes on the best attributes of past 35 years of Golden Coast musical heritage. Like The Broken West, The Parsons are doing their part to re-usher in the laid back retro-vibe that has been sorely missing from the L.A. scene since canyon rockers The Beachwood Sparks […]

I was pretty jazzed to see Cymande’s “Bra” featured on the music insider website Idolator this afternoon, as their wayback machine posts are by far my favorite feature. Heavily sampled over the years, “Bra” thankfully retains it’s original badassness. Yes, it’s badassness.
Cymande, the short-lived West Indies/Jamaican, eight person, outfit was pretty versatile, […]

Clutchy Hopkins, the mysterious purveyor of beats, soul, jazz and funk, will be featured on the Aquarium Drunkard show Wednesday afternoon via a couple of his representatives at Little Radio. Details are scarce — tune in 2-4pm to see what goes down.
Expect to hear unreleased material, flim flam, and an old long forgotten […]

I can’t even begin to answer that question, as 1997’s Maverick A Strike is the only album I have owned; though a quick perusal of Amazon shows Quaye has released a number of albums over the past ten years, including a collaboration with William Orbit. Innarestin.
Somewhat surprisingly, this album has aged pretty well, not […]

May 8th will see the release of Numero Group # 14, entitled, Cult Cargo - Grand Bahama Goombay. Like release #6, Belize City Boil Up, this new edition again finds the label exploring the long ignored pan-American funk, soul and R&B sub-genres between the years 1969 and 1976.
Reading the accompanying notes for the release […]

I tend to listen to old dub and reggae, intensively, in spurts. This typically happens every two years, and the past few months have found me back in a place where I am actively seeking new material out. Roughly, the pattern tends to be: I’ll gather a bunch of albums/comps, and it […]