Transmissions

Welcome back to Transmissions. Today on the show we’re joined by Sarah Martin of Glasgow's Belle and Sebastian. The legendary Scottish indie band has a new album out now on Matador, A Bit Of Previous. Offering sunshine pop, disco-inflected groovers, and plenty of jangle, it's a record that finds Belle and Sebastian sounding very much refreshed. Martin joined the band just after it started, linking...

"It's funny, I was working up to it for so long...it's been my dream." This week on an all-new episode of our weekly Transmissions podcast, return guest Kurt Vile joins us from his basement studio Overnight KV to discuss his great new album (watch my moves). Loose, sprawling, and filled with spacey but intimate jams that couple drum machines, smoke-curled guitars, and off the cuff vocals, the reco...

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...

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 McM...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 publi...

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 Jaso...

"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 hi...

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...

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. R...

"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 spiri...

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 about 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 under...

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,...

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 relat...

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...

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, bu...

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—...

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 ba...

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 s...

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 co...

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 t...

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—w...