Transmissions

Hello and welcome to Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury, presented by the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

We're kicking off our new season with a fantastic guest: Don Was.

Was' CV is stunning. In addition to his genre-bending work with Was (Not Was), Don has collaborated with some of the most respected artists in music history: Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, The B-52s, Ringo Starr, Roy Orbison…the list could go on.

These days, you can find Don with his band, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, whose latest album is called Groove in the Face of Adversity, and behind the desk at Blue Note Records—he’s been the president of the legendary jazz label since 2011. 

But Don has joined us today to talk about one of his very first recording projects: Ted Lucas' Impossible Love, an unheard album he cut with the cult Detroit songwriter in 1979. Impossible Love is part of Third Man Records’ new collection of Lucas gold, Images of Life. Following their reissue of his stoned folk classic 1975 LP, Third Man Records has unlocked the vault, offering a comprehensive look at one of the late ’60s and ’70s’ most dynamic Detroit talents. Spanning Lucas’ career, the set includes recordings by Lucas’ early regional sensations like The Spike Drivers, The Misty Wizards, and The Horny Toads, acoustic demos, and his long-lost second album, produced by Was. 

Don joined us to discuss his time with Ted–including a disastrous gig they played with Black Sabbath—and help us uncover this lost Motor City counter culture story. And that’s not all—Don also reflected on his work with the late bandmate Bob Weir, the legacy of the Dead, and of course, his work on Garth Brooks’ ill-fated 1999 Chris Gaines project. That's right: we went there.

So roll up your sleeves and let's get to it, Don Was on Transmissions.
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Tyler Wilcox has spent season two of All One Song conversing about Neil Young with musicians, writers, and artists. And now, we’ve reached the end of the road for this Neil journey, with a very special guest: Lee Ranaldo, dropping in to discuss “Down By The River.” Lee is a founding member of Sonic Youth. Along with Thurston Moore, Lee redefined how we hear the electric guitar in a rock setting. Sonic Youth is no more, but they just released a wild Plunderphonic collage from the archives: Diamond Seas. 

Ranaldo joins us to talk about a Neil classic, one that dips from muder ballad terror to cosmic life affirmation. When we had Micah Nelson on, we discussed how immense this song is. Lee offers a great ramble about, as well as hear about Lee’s own experiences on the road with Neil and Crazy Horse with Sonic Youth. 

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We’re coming dangerously close to the end of the road for this latest season of Neil Young deep dives. And the end of the road is the topic at hand when it comes to today’s song — “Berlin.” Now, we’ve covered some deep cuts over the course of the past two seasons. But “Berlin” has to be one of the deepest. It was passed over on the recent Archives Vol. III box and you can’t even stream it via Neil’s site; the only official way to experience this moody tune is to watch In Berlin, the concert film that captures the last performance of the semi-chaotic Trans tour of Europe in 1982.

With its doomy synths, piercing guitar, tortured vocals and synthetic handclaps, “Berlin” provides a fascinating glimpse of this short-lived band, which featured a grab-bag, rag-tag bunch of players from Neil’s past, all grappling with a new decade and new sounds. In Berlin itself is an amazing document, highlighted by Neil and Nils Lofgren performing bizarro dances and duets on such Vocoder-laced tracks as “Transformer Man” and “Sample and Hold.” You gotta see it to believe it. 

Here to talk about “Berlin” with us today is someone we've been fans of for a long time now—the mighty Matt Valentine. MV has been making beautiful noise for over three decades now, from Tower Recordings to MV & EE (with his partner Erika Elder) to various solo excursions and collabs. For the past decade, Matt’s primary focus has been Wet Tuna, which also features Erika and bassist Jim Bliss. The latest Tuna LP is called Vast — and you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a better title for this collection of strange and funky flights. Released on the venerable Three Lobed label, it’s a wide-open, far-flung album, deeply textured and ridiculously detailed, but somehow spacious and inviting. A psychedelic micro-galaxy/macro-dose that teems with life and imagination. You gotta hear it to believe it. 

You also gotta hear the recent Wet Tuna Lagniappe Session, which was posted up over on Aquarium Drunkard earlier this spring. One of its many highlights is an inspired medley of “Cortez the Killer” and Sonic Youth’s “Providence” that lasts close to 30 minutes. It’s outrageous. 
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Hello and welcome back to All One Song, a Neil Young podcast presented by Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with your host Tyler Wilcox.

We’ve covered a lot of Shakey ground so far during seasons one and two, leaping from decade to decade, from era to era, from album to album. It’s easy to do when you’re dealing with a body of work that is so vast, spanning 60 years now. But somehow, we’ve yet to talk about any songs from Zuma. Neil fanatics — like our hero — can be an ornery, contrarian bunch. It would be tough to get them to agree on anything. But I think I’m safe in saying that everyone loves Zuma. If you don’t … well, you’re crazier than Crazy Horse.  

Here to help us unpack "Barstool Blues," one of the album's high points, is Matt Sweeney. Sweeney is one of those guys who is impossible to sum up. He’s a musician who has been a part of so many great bands, projects and records over the years — Superwolf, Chavez, Guided by Voices, the Hard Quartet, Iggy Pop, Current 93, Cass McCombs, Andrew WK … the list goes on and on. He’s a consummate collaborator, perhaps the only person alive to have played with both Johnny Cash and Endless Boogie…with both the Dixie Chicks and Baby Dee … with both Adele and Six Organs of Admittance.

Matt also hosts the excellent Guitar Moves web series, which gets into fascinating discussions with a wide array of guitarists. Definitely dial it up when you get a chance; even if you don’t play, it is always a blast.

So pull up a stool and belly up, here's Matt Sweeney on "Barstool Blues."
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As the second season of All One Song rolls on, we’re talking to some of our favorite musicians and writers about their favorite Neil Young songs. And we have got a doozy of a Neil Young song to talk about today — “Ambulance Blues."

First appearing as the closing track on Neil’s 1974 masterpiece On the Beach, this is one of the man’s major works, a long, dark dirge that surveys the surreal mid-1970s landscape, from Patty Hearst to Richard Nixon, all accompanied by a brilliantly skeletal musical backdrop from Ben Keith, Rusty Kershaw, Ralph Molina and the mysterious Joe Yankee. It’s a towering tune, haunting and haunted, but also with a glimmer of hope shining through. 

Here to help us decode the mysteries and metaphors of “Ambulance Blues” today is NYC-based singer-songwriter Zachary Cale. Zach has been making terrific records for more than two decades now, all centered on his expert guitarwork, sweet vocals and piercing lyrics. His latest album, however, doesn’t feature any of the latter element. Love’s Work is a purely instrumental affair, with Cale joined by bassist Shahzad Ismaily, percussionist Jeremy Gustin, pedal steel-ist JR Bohannon and pianist Robert Boston for a collection of gorgeous pieces. But throw a dart anywhere in Zach’s growing discography and you’ll find great sounds, guaranteed. 

So! Without further ado, here’s Zachary Cale on All One Song … 
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