Transmissions

Transmissions episodes:

• 05.01.2024

  Transmissions :: Shabaka Hutchings

  Though he’s known for his fiery, raging performances with groups like Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka and The Ancestors, Shabaka Hutchings eases into a contemplative zone with his debut solo album, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its...

  
• 04.24.2024

  Transmissions :: Sean Howe (Live at PRS)

  Hello, welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.  On Saturday, April 20th, Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions returned to the esoteric grounds of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles for a living taping with guest host Will Sheff (Okkervil River) in conversation author...

  
• 04.17.2024

  Transmissions :: Moor Mother

  This week on Transmissions: Camae Ayewa, better known as Moor Mother. As one-half of the Black Quantum Futurism collective, a creative project she founded with Rasheedah Philips, Ayewa has focused her considerable energies on “the manipulation of space-time in order...

  
• 04.10.2024

  Transmissions :: Pat Thomas

  This week on Transmissions, author, producer, archivist, and musician Pat Thomas. In the late '80s, he helped take the Paisley Underground overground with his label Heyday Records. Later, he helped bring out reissues by artists like Judee Sill, Sandy Bull,...

  
• 04.03.2024

  Transmissions :: Justin Gage

  This week on Transmissions, Aquarium Drunkard founder Justin Gage joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss big changes coming to Aquarium Drunkard: AD is transitioning to a membership-based model subscription model on April 8th.  Transmissions has a very smart audience and one...

  
• 03.27.2024

  Transmissions :: Roger Eno

  Incoming transmission from Roger Eno. This week on the show, he joins us for a freewheeling, friendly chat about art, place, and Dune (1984). Eno began his recording life in 1983, when he joined his brother Brian and Daniel Lanois...

  
• 03.20.2024

  Transmissions :: The Paranoid Style

  This week we're welcoming Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style to the show for a conversation about music, writing, ZZ Top, and her new album, The Interrogator. Packed with pub rock charm, punk verve, and rootsy, wide-eyed songwriting, the album...

  
• 03.13.2024

  Transmissions :: John Lurie

  This week on the show, we’re so pleased to welcome John Lurie. Perhaps you know him from his work in films like Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law, Paris Texas, or The Last Temptation of Christ; or maybe you...

  
• 03.06.2024

  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...

  
• 02.28.2024

  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...

  
• 02.21.2024

  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...

  
• 02.14.2024

  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...

  
• 02.07.2024

  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...

  
• 01.31.2024

  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...

  
• 11.29.2023

  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...

  
• 11.22.2023

  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...

  
• 11.15.2023

  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...

  
• 11.08.2023

  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...

  
• 11.01.2023

  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...

  
• 10.25.2023

  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...

  
• 10.18.2023

  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...

  
• 10.11.2023

  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...

  
• 10.04.2023

  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...

  
• 10.02.2023

  No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man: Time Goes Way Back

  This is the last episode of the podcast! We start with comments from Sunburned members reflecting on the impact of press coverage and ensuing exposure on the band. This shifts to general comments about how they’ve navigated – and oftentimes...

  
• 09.27.2023

  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...

  
• 09.25.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 7: Flex

  This episode is about how Sunburned Hand of the Man makes their free-form music. Through the episode, we consider the semantics of improvisation and practice in the context of this free form entity. In that context, we learn how the...

  
• 09.20.2023

  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...

  
• 09.18.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 6: Heavy Rescue

  We open with our focus on the role that music has played in the band members’ individual lives and how a shared love of music brought them all together. This morphs into a consideration of the band’s many artistic influences,...

  
• 09.13.2023

  Transmissions :: Floating Points

  This week on the show, we’re joined by Sam Shepherd, AKA Floating Points. His discography is full of beautiful and strange electronic music—bubbling Buchalas, skittering beats, washes of synthesized sound, and even moody, spacious post-rock. But underneath it all, his love...

  
• 09.11.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 5: Loft at Sea

  We hear about the personal impact of the band’s non-stop touring and the eventual burnout that ground things to a halt. Moloney and Thomas then describe how this was followed by several “wilderness years” where the band was just there...

  
• 09.06.2023

  Tranmissions :: Emil Amos (Drifter's Sympathy)

  Welcome back, thanks for being here with us. Emil Amos of the Drifter's Sympathy podcast is with us today on Transmissions. Perhaps you know his work with OM, Grails, Holy Sons, or the records he releases under his own name, like...

  
• 09.04.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 4: Tent City Roller

  At this point in our story, Sunburned Hand of the Man morphs into a many-headed hydra with varying manifestations in the loft and on each tour. To get through this vague period of 5-8 years, we focus on the band’s...

  
• 08.30.2023

  Transmissions :: Will Sheff (Okkervil River)

  Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you here once again. Our guest this week is Will Sheff, known for his solo work and years with the indie rock band Okkervil River. In this conversation, Sheff and...

  
• 08.28.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 3: Leaving the Nest

  We learn that, after jamming namelessly for a year and a half, the band finally started using the Sunburned moniker. Then we tune in to learn about their earliest excursions playing outside the Charlestown loft, including their first show as...

  
• 08.23.2023

  Transmissions :: Laura Snapes

  Today's guest is writer Laura Snapes. Her work has been published by the BBC, Pitchfork, and NME, and she's the deputy music editor of The Guardian. We’ve been aiming to have her for Transmissions for some time now, and now...

  
• 08.21.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 2: Loveletter to Complicated Dreams

  We rewind way back to before the band started and hear how some of the founding members first met one another. We learn how Sunburned’s precursor band – Shit Spangled Banner – formed, released a tape, and broke up. Thurston...

  
• 08.16.2023

  Transmissions :: Darren Jessee

  Our guest this week is Darren Jessee, a singer/songwriter and drummer. In the '90s, he played drums in Ben Folds Five, and he’s worked with a number of previous Transmissions guests, including Sharon Van Etten and Hiss Golden Messenger, as...

  
• 08.14.2023

  Sunburned Hand of the Man Episode 1: Headdress

  We hear about the origins and goals of the podcast – grappling with the complexities of Sunburned’s chaotic narrative. Music journalist Allison Hussey joins us to provide an outsider’s perspective of the band. Byron Coley describes Sunburned’s impact on the...

  
• 08.09.2023

  Transmissions :: Lincoln Barr

  Back in 2022, songwriter Lincoln Barr got in touch, writing a personal note in which he expressed an appreciation for what we do here at Aquarium Drunkard. "Listening to the topics that come up in your conversations, I can't help but...

  
• 08.07.2023

  No Way Out: An Oral History of Sunburned Hand of the Man

  Sunburned Hand of the Man is a long-running, free-form band from Massachusetts. They record everything, and their discography has over 200 entries. Membership is fluid, at times determined simply by whoever joins in the jam. One time they started to...

  
• 08.02.2023

  Transmissions :: Hataałii

  Hataaliinez Wheeler grew up in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. And though he’s just recently released his Dangerbird Records debut,  Singing Into Darkness, he’s spent the last few years creating as much art as he can—recording...

  
• 07.26.2023

  Transmissions :: Andy Zax on Mort Garson's Journey to the Moon

  Welcome back to another episode of Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, so glad to have you with us. A major inspiration for us in the podcast zone is media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, host of the Team Human podcast. As our digital age gets stranger, more...

  
• 07.19.2023

  Transmissions :: Gia Margaret

  It's the thick of the summer, which means your Transmissions correspondents are spending as much time in cool dark spaces as possible. One record that particularly suits the mood in our summer bunker hideaway is Gia Margaret's Romantic Piano. Though...

  
• 07.12.2023

  Transmissions :: Marc Ribot

  In “Lies and Distortion,” the opening essay of his book Unstrung: Rants And Stories Of a Noise Guitarist, Marc Ribot writes: “We seem to love broken voices in general: vocal cords eroded by whiskey and screaming, the junked-out weakness of certain...

  
• 07.05.2023

  Transmissions :: Jared Swilley (Black Lips)

  While Black Lips have matured and grown since forming in 1999, the Atlanta-based garage band haven’t "settled down." Case in point is Apocalypse Love, the group’s 10th album, released last year on Fire Records. Incorporating gospel and country influences, it’s...

  
• 06.28.2023

  Transmissions :: David John Morris (Red River Dialect)

  This week on the show, we’re joined by London-based singer/songwriter David John Morris. Perhaps you know him for his work with folk rock band Red River Dialect, but for this talk, we mostly speak about his latest two solo albums,...

  
• 06.21.2023

  Transmissions :: The Modern Folk

  Writing about The Modern Folk’s Modern Folk One in our AD 2022 Year in Review, we called it, “A blend of field recordings, astral zones, freak outs, leisurely jams, and rustique concrète from the ever-prolific Josh Moss.” That gives you...

  
• 06.14.2023

  Transmissions :: Bruce Licher (Independent Project)

  Welcome to Transmissions. The name Bruce Licher commands respect in the underground world of independent rock. As musician and letterpress artist with Independent Project Press, he’s created art and bespoke album packaging for artists like R.E.M., Stereolab, Camper Van Beethoven,...

  
• 06.07.2023

  Transmissions :: Suss

  This week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions: ambient country trio Suss. On their own, Suss members Jonathan Gregg, Bob Holmes, and Pat Irwin have been involved in musical projects, with artists like k.d. Lang, the B-52s, John Cale, David Bowie, Norah...

  
• 05.31.2023

  Transmissions :: Allyson McCabe on Sinéad O'Connor

  Today on the show, we’re joined by Allyson McCabe, author of the new book: Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters. McCabe is a writer, broadcaster and producer, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, BBC Culture, Wired and on NPR.  Writing...