Transmissions

Our guest this week is author Adam Voith, whose new novel, RIYL, short for "Recommended If You Like," is an at times thinly veiled memoir of the '90s Christian punk and indie scene. With echoes of Get in the Van and Freaks and Geeks, RIYL threads that delicate needle of looking back at earnest teenage corn doggery with warts and all embarrassment, tempered by the type of affection that only time and distance allow all of us. It's also frequently flat out hilarious. Just as the bands in RIYL became the improbable secret history of mainstream mainline indie music—Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty, and Pedro the Lion, just to name a few—Adam went on to become a lifer in both the literary and music scenes between his influential zine, Little Engines, and decades spent as a top booking agent. Jason Woodbury and Andrew Horton caught up with Adam mid-book tour to talk about the novel, our shared history as "Christian music dorks," and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with your host Jason P. Woodbury. We've entered the holidays, aka the official "Vince Guaraldi Season." This week on the show, we're digging into the work of Guaraldi with Peanuts historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano, Derrick Bang. He first published the book in 2012, but in 2024 released an updated edition. We discuss it all: Guaraldi's fascination with the bossa nova sound in the late '50s, his status as a composer who didn't write or read music—writing from a purely melodic standpoint, his work with Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete; his groundbreaking Grace Cathedral Jazz Mass; and of course, his work on the animated Peanuts specials. Plus, we explore that lingering mystery: did Vince Guaraldi ever play with the Grateful Dead? Did they jam? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the pet theories we've nursed on this show is that music allows the right listener to do something like travel through time. Or, maybe, a better way to say it would be: music allows us a way to step briefly outside of the experience linear time. Our guest this week on the show, Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets, is used to swimming in waters where science fiction weirdness and musical expression mingle. Shabazz Palaces' new album, It’s a Style Sport, represents a new high water mark for the Seattle-based rapper; at once memoiristic and mystical, it’s a strange and beguiling listen. This week, he joins Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss basketball, his "Afro-fractal" artistic approach, the influence of artists like the Cocteau Twins, and of course, that goofy old standby: what's it like being a middle aged guy in rap? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media is a strange thing. Not long ago, Transmissions host Jason P. Woodbury was ⁠retweeted by famed MTV News legend Kurt Loder⁠. Loder was sharing a repost of a viral video featuring Detroit band Protomartyr, performing their song “Jumbo’s” at a BBQ in 2011. In the video, frontman Joe Casey smokes a cigarette and sips whiskey, alternating between deadpan ambivalence and dark menace as he prowls the stage and the band churns behind him. Loder noted, "Apparently [rock & roll] actually will never die…"This week on Transmissions, I’m speaking with return guest Casey of Protomartyr, a band that, perhaps all on their lonesome, is indeed keeping something like rock & roll alive—whatever we really mean by that—on their new Protomartyr album is called Hotel Usona.Since 2012’s debut No Passion All Technique, the band has taken leaps forward with each album, and Hotel Usona, recorded with producer Dave Friedman, incorporates elements of mid-century exotica, musique concrète, and jazzy noir.Yet, there are moments on the album that radiate heaviness too—the band’s post-punk informed take on indie rock has never sounded more bracing. And it all sets a groundwork for Casey to create his most fully realized lyrical concept to date. Set around the loose concept of a hotel in which each room contained a character and a story, it's both a timely meditation on an empire in decline and a genuine work of defiance and hope.In this conversation, we discuss Detroit’s cinematic glories, Catholicism, JD Vance, and much more. It was a blast to catch up with Joe and a pleasure to share this conversation with you on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hippies, Thugs, and Heroes finds guitarist Richard Thompson sounding as savage, lyrical, and eloquent as ever. This week on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, we're pleased to welcome Thompson back to the show. If you dig this show, there’s a pretty solid chance that you already know that he's one of the founding fathers of British folk rock, known for his work with Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, his former wife Linda Thompson, Nick Drake and others. Writing about Thompson, Aquarium Drunkard’s own Tyler Wilcox praised his “unparalleled instrumental prowess, his superhumanly sensitive tone, and his singular melodies.” Thompson last joined us in 2021 to discuss his memoir, Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice (1967-1975). Since then, he’s released Ship to Shore in 2024, and now Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, which was produced by Thompson and James Frazee in Weehawken, New Jersey. In this conversation, Thompson guides us into the crime-ridden world of the new album, discusses the jangling influence of Tom Petty and The Byrds, his own prowess on the drum kit, working quickly and without much worry, and some of his past collaborators, including Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake. From outlaw ballads to the wilds of social media, from Buddy Holly to Johnny Cash, Thompson is a well seasoned guide through this conversation, so let’s get into it. Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions drops weekly on Wednesdays in partnership with the Talkhouse Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.