Transmissions

Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. This week on the show, guitarist and psychotherapist Matt Baldwin, who is here to teach you How To Play Guitar.

OK, not exactly. But Baldwin is the author of How To Play Guitar, a series of zines that have been collected into a handsome book edition. If you’re just picking up the instrument, well, Baldwin isn’t writing about how to play a C chord or run scales.

These aren’t “how to” guides so much as “why to” prompts, stressing intuition over technique, dismissal of music industry norms, and the imperative to hone a singular, personal philosophy regarding the instrument—think Captain Beefheart’s “Ten Commandments of Playing Guitar.”

Baldwin is just as likely to devote page space to warning about being on time to the gig, stressing moral and internal rectitude, and the exposing dangers of social media as he is to dispense tips like “stop using a flat pick” and “play banjo for a while”—both solid tactical suggestions he espouses.

When he’s not writing or exploring ketamine therapies, Baldwin makes music himself. His latest LP is called Welcome to Your Pool, a wonderfully languid set of instrumentals housed in a fully 3D lenticular cover sleeve—it’s a wonder to listen to, but also just a wonder to see.

On October 3rd, Baldwin will perform at one of my favorite Los Angeles places, the Philosophical Research Society, with fellow traveler Imaad Wasif. In this talk, we discuss his own guitar journey, the paranormal, John Fahey, Philip K Dick, and much more. Dive in: the water is fine.
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Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, comedian James Austin Johnson joins us to dive into the music nerd obsessions of his new comedy special, He'll Yeah.

You've likely seen JAJ on the TV. He's known for portraying Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and occasionally, Bob Dylan, on SNL. But He’ll Yeah’s vignettes and on-stage footage find Johnson creating a more "indie rock" styled special—something deeply specific to his own life and interests. In other words, if you're coming for Donald Trump impressions, you're out of luck. But if you're one of the, to quote the special, "seven other people who know who David Fricke is," it's tailor-made for you.

That signature blend of the genuine and the goofy is also on display in Johnson's music work. If you search him on your streaming service of choice, you’ll find some great Bob Dylan covers. Obviously, Johnson is a great impressionist, but he’s not so much aping Bob's signature vocal styles with these songs as much as he is genuinely inhabiting them.

It all lands somewhere between earnest sincerity and all-out goofs—as does this conversation. We want to thank our Talkhouse compatriots The Jokermen for connecting us after I listened to their great talk with James. Do support them on Patreon, they are in the midst of their new Leonard Cohen series.

James Austin Johnson’s He’ll Yeah is currently available exclusively on Gorilla Comedy+ before launching on 800 Pound Gorilla’s YouTube channel on September 22.

So press play and dive in as Johnson talks his comedy, dig into the filmography of Wes Anderson, and reveal what he said to Scarlett Johansson when he met her, is James Austin Johnson on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions.
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Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, writer and musician Sam Sodomsky, who records and releases music—a lot of it—under the name The Bird Calls.

His latest slice of literate folk rock and alt-country songcraft is called Take Leave, and it was released on August 28 via Ruination Record Co.

Inspired by songwriters like Dan Bejar of Destroyer, who’s appeared here on Transmissions and Bruce Springsteen, who has not appeared on the podcast—yet—Take Leave rattles with downcast charm. Its songs are sly and full of knowing. Take opening track “Some Bands” for instance, where Sodomsky sings, with poetic scope: “Some bands break up/Some stay together/Ice sculptures in the front yard/Melting in the sun.”

When he’s not making records, Sodomsky writing about them, primarily at Pitchfork. Here, he discusses his songwriting process, how he keeps hearing new things to love in the work of Springsteen, and where he thinks music journalism is headed.
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Welcome back to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week, we’ve got something extra special: a behind the scenes look at the forthcoming documentary, Sun Ra: Door of the Cosmos, a sonic cinema odyssey through the life, work and philosophy of the surrealist composer and musician.

In addition to a conversation with director Drew DeNicola, who you may know from the 2012 doc Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, this episode will present archival material gathered for the film, including interviews and statements from Ra himself, rare recordings of the Sun Ra Arkestra in action, and previous Transmissions guest Camae Ayewa, also known as Moor Mother, reading from Sun Ra’s book of poetry, The Immeasurable Equation.

The documentary has ⁠launched a Kickstarter campaign⁠ to raise finishing funds that will run for the month of September, offering unique array of premiums at all donation levels, including a selection of vinyl recordings from the Modern Harmonic label, and limited edition t-shirt and large format art prints from legendary jazz photographer, Veryl Oakland.

Now, settle in as we explore the Sun Ra's esoteric ideas, hear his singular voice, and explore the Arkestra's vast lore and history. Crack open this door of the cosmos and enter in.
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Since 1998, Jim James has led My Morning Jacket. In the early 2000s, the band's blend of Southern rock, psychedelia, dub, classic songcraft, loner country, and experimental folk put them on the forefront of festival stages.

Last year, MMJ released its 10th studio LP, the Brendan O’Brien-produced Is, and earlier this year, they dropped Peacelands, an anti-ICE collection of acoustic music. And now, James has a new solo album: Wowed Out. It’s his first solo music in eight years, and a killer return to form.

Inspired by the nonstop deluge of information we are all exposed to and the process of attaining a little peace in the midst of it all, many of the songs here first began as cues for a film project that never came to fruition. But when James returned to these snippets, he found them deeply inspiring, which caused fully formed songs to begin pouring out.

Touching on soul, psychedelic pop, folk, and ambient sounds, it’s some of the most spiritual music James has ever recorded, and tellingly, this conversation takes a heady, mystical turn.

In it, we focus on meditation, and the personal—and entirely personalized—ways that we come up with to navigate the world. Anyone who has listened to James’ songs understands the way he taps into the universal via the personal—Wowed Out is an example of him working in his highest capacity.
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