Episodios

  • All One Song :: James Jackson Toth on "Thrasher"

    All One Song :: James Jackson Toth on "Thrasher"
    Apr 15 2026
    Hello and welcome back to season two of All One Song, a Neil Young podcast presented by Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions with your host Tyler Wilcox, a longtime Aquarium Drunkard contributor and Neil Young fanatic. We’re spending some time this spring traveling deep into the Shakey-verse, talking with some great artists about their favorite Neil Young songs. On a recent episode, Brigid Mae Power and Wilcox went deep into Neil’s classic lament “Albuquerque”—both agreeing Neil nailed the stark, lonesome vibe of the American southwest in that song. If you’re going to try to evoke those kinds of landscapes, you don’t need to use a lot of words, right? Right. But also … wrong? A few years after Neil wrote “Albuquerque,” he found himself on a long road trip from Taos, New Mexico, back to the west coast. And as he rolled through the desert, he wrote “Thrasher.” In contrast to “Albuquerque,” the lyrics of this song are rich and poetic, as images of ancient rivers, timeless gorges, crystal canyons and dinosaurs in shrines all float before the listener’s eyes. “Thrasher” unfolds like a stoned, rapturous daydream as Neil muses on lost friendships, the specter of mortality, and of course, that great Grand Canyon Rescue episode. First appearing on Rust Never Sleeps in 1979, it’s one of Young’s most satisfying songs. And here to talk with us about “Thrasher” is James Jackson Toth, a terrific songwriter whose career matches Neil in terms of eclectic, exploratory and highly personalized vibes. He’s been a man of many monikers over the years; there are records under his own name, there are records under the ever-morphing Wooden Wand designation; there’s DUNZA, there’s James and the Giants, there’s One Eleven Heavy and more. Whatever you end up checking out, you’re guaranteed to be transported to strange, funny and powerful places. Toth has carved out his own singular niche over the years; like Neil, you can’t put him in one particular box. And that similarity is no accident! As we talk about in our “Thrasher” ramble, James has a tattoo that asks that all-important question: “What would Neil Young do?” Always a good thing to ponder, whether you’re writing a song or buying groceries. So! Without further ado, here’s James Jackson Toth on All One Song.
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    1 h y 10 m
  • All One Song :: Brigid Mae Power on "Albuquerque"

    All One Song :: Brigid Mae Power on "Albuquerque"
    Apr 8 2026
    Neil Young's "Albuquerque." A Ditch Era classic, it was recorded with the Santa Monica Flyers in 1973 and released on 1975's Tonight's the Night. Like the Southwestern town its named for, "Albuquerque" is stark, beautiful, and lonesome—leaving in its wake melancholy and a craving for fried eggs and country ham. Joining us to discuss the various landscapes of "Albuquerque" is Brigid Mae Power. Since her debut a little over a decade ago, the Galway-based singer songwriter has built up a visionary and cosmic discography. Tune in as we explore the contours of yet another number in the ever-rolling "All One Song" saga.
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    53 m
  • All One Song :: Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) on "Big Crime"

    All One Song :: Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) on "Big Crime"
    Apr 1 2026
    Hello again! Welcome back to All One Song, a Neil Young podcast presented by Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions. Last summer, we spent a couple months talking to some of our favorite musicians, writers, and artists about their favorite Neil Young songs … and it was so much fun that we’re doing it all over again with a bunch more great guests. Put on your Rust-o-Vision glasses, Neil freaks … we’re going deep into the Shakey-verse one more time. Our guest today selected what is the newest Neil Young song—as of this recording—that has made it out into the world: “Big Crime.” This angry, brutal and unsparing attack on ICE, Trump and the MAGAsphere was debuted last summer on the US leg of Neil’s tour with the Chrome Hearts. And he’s played it at every one of his shows since. “Big Crime” pulls no punches. Last year, the long-running trio Yo La Tengo kicked off their epic eight-night Hanukkah run at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City with a blistering version of “Big Crime,” likely becoming the first band to cover it. So of course, we’re honored to have Yo La Tengo guitarist and vocalist Ira Kaplan on All One Song today to talk about this new Neil song. Yo La Tengo — do they need an introduction? In our opinion, they are simply the best American rock band of the last four decades. Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew have built up a consistently wonderful body of work. Like Neil, it’s a career filled with twists and turns, side quests and sideways moves. But it’s all purely Yo La Tengo, whether they’re breaking your heart with hushed ballads or stretching out on feedback-fueled jams. Their latest album, 2023’s This Stupid World, is yet another masterpiece. And of course, they have a long history with Neil Young … the b-side of their second single was a sweet cover of “For The Turnstiles.”
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    53 m
  • Transmissions at Big Ears: Thurston Moore & Kramer

    Transmissions at Big Ears: Thurston Moore & Kramer
    Mar 26 2026
    Transmissions is back with a special episode: Tyler Wilcox in conversation with underground music lifers Thurston Moore and Kramer. On May 1, the duo release their new album together, They Came Like Swallows - Seven Requiems for the Children of Gaza, out on Ethan Miller’s Silver Current Records, and ahead of their appearance this week at Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville, Wilcox caught up with them to discuss the new collaboration, their storied history together, and that time the Butthole Surfers freaked out Alex Chilton. Speaking of Big Ears, Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions will be there too, with our Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions morning show livestream. Broadcasting March 27, 28, and 29 from Old City Java and Wild Love Bakery 9-11 AM EST, we'll be discussing highlights from the previous evening, acts we plan on catching that day, as well as drop-ins from special guests. We hope you will tune in via Instagram and YouTube in collaboration between Aquarium Drunkard, Big Ears, and Talkhouse.
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    1 h y 5 m
  • Transmissions :: Cochemea

    Transmissions :: Cochemea
    Dec 17 2025
    This week’s conversation with Cochemea Gastelum brings our season to a close. The saxophonist and bandleader joins us to discuss his beautiful LP Ancestros Futuros, out now on Daptone Records. Mining his Indigenous roots, soul jazz, and funk, it's a fantastic album, and it completes a trilogy that began with 2019’s All My Relations, continued with 2021’s Baca Sewa, and now concludes. Cochemea’s resume is lengthy. He worked extensively with the late soul singer Sharon Jones as part of her Dap Kings ensemble and has played with the Budos Band, Antibalas, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Archie Shepp, Public Enemy, the Roots, David Byrne, and more. Genre-hopping comes naturally to the San Diego-raised saxophonist, but the cultural conversation that occurs on these records is especially unique, and it was a pleasure to have him join us to discuss it. Transmissions is created in partnership with the Talkhouse Podcast Network. We’re brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquarium Drunkard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an independent music media crew headed by Justin Gage. Over at Aquarium Drunkard, you’ll gain access to 20 years of music writing, playlist, essays, mixtapes, radio special, podcasts, videos and more.
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    1 h y 3 m
  • Transmissions :: Mike Ayers (The Untold Story of '90s Jam Bands)

    Transmissions :: Mike Ayers (The Untold Story of '90s Jam Bands)
    Dec 10 2025
    The '90s were a strange time. From Gregorian chants to swing bands, you never knew what would make it onto the radio. But some of the strangest groups to improbably infiltrate the mainstream came from the post-Grateful Dead jam band scene. Our guest today is Mike Ayers, author of ⁠Sharing in the Groove: The Untold Story of the '90s Jam Band Explosion and the Scene that Followed. ⁠ The book, an oral history, is really a blast. It covers all the big players of the era: Phish, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, but Ayers takes it to the next level by expanding the definition of "jam band" to include Medeski, Martin and Wood, Greyboy and the acid jazz scene, New Orleans funk band Galactic, and John Zorn and the Knitting Factory downtown NYC scene, and much more. This episode, guest host (and Transmissions audio editor) Andrew Horton, Jason P. Woodbury, and Ayers sit down to hash out the era in which even Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo embraced their jammiest free improv tendencies. What are the limits of the whole "jam band" thing really? Come along with us as we dig into Sharing in the Groove. Transmissions is created in partnership with the Talkhouse Podcast Network. We’re brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquarium Drunkard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an independent music media crew headed by Justin Gage. Over at Aquarium Drunkard, you’ll gain access to 20 years of music writing, playlist, essays, mixtapes, radio special, podcasts, videos and more.
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    1 h y 15 m
  • Transmissions :: Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate)

    Transmissions :: Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate)
    Dec 3 2025
    Welcome back to Transmissions with Jason P. Woodbury. This week on the show, a return guest: Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate and solo fame. He last joined the show part of a trio: in 2018, we taped with him, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, and Robyn Hitchcock live at the KXCI studio at Hotel Congress in Tucson Arizona. That talk also made it into the Transmissions feed again in 2020. This time, Steve is with us to discuss the 40th anniversary reissue of The Dream Syndicate’s second album, 1984’s Medicine Show, which has been reissued in expanded form by Fire Records. Produced by Blue Öyster Cult and Clash associate Sandy Pearlman, the album found the Syndicate jumping from the smaller Slash indie label to A&M. But it also found Wynn shifting his songwriting approach into darker territory, embracing a kind of pulp fiction, hardboiled crime aesthetic that paired well with the group’s rangy, intense sound, which had been amplified and solidified during the tours that followed the band’s debut, 1982’s The Days of Wine and Roses. Wynn is a tremendous conversationalist, and this convo opened us up to plenty of fascinating terrain, from record store lore to interactions with bands like R.E.M. and U2, as well as lots of behind the scenes info on Medicine Show. Transmissions is created in partnership with the Talkhouse Podcast Network. We’re brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquarium Drunkard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an independent music media crew headed by Justin Gage. Over at Aquarium Drunkard, you’ll gain access to 20 years of music writing, playlist, essays, mixtapes, radio special, podcasts, videos and more.
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    1 h y 11 m
  • Transmissions :: Steve Von Till

    Transmissions :: Steve Von Till
    Nov 26 2025
    Welcome back to Transmissions. This week: Steve Von Till, of sludge legends Neurosis, the tribal ambient spin-off Tribes of Neurot, solo albums under this own name, and the psych folk project Harvestman. He runs the independent label, Neurot Recordings. And as if all that isn’t enough, he’s also a poet, and an educator—when he’s not playing music, he’s bringing knowledge to the next generation, working as a fourth grade teacher in North Idaho. If you’ve been listening to Transmissions for awhile, you know that we’re hardly dogmatic when it comes to genres, but we don’t often feature artists who could be classified as metal. But that’s part of what makes Von Till such an interesting guest—his own music certainly qualifies as “heavy,” but it’s shot through with influences from very much within the AD canon: krautrock, ambient, folk, haunted country rock. His latest is a solo LP, the piano and synth drenched Alone in a World of Wounds. It is full of songs that, to hear Von Till put it, work as expressions of his soul, his heart, mind, his “earthly being and the whatever unearthly bits…connect with it all.” In addition to his work with Neurosis and Harvestman, this talk focuses in on the connection between humans and their natural surroundings, his work with the indigenous suicide prevention campaign Firekeeper Alliance, and some reflections on how his early punk days made him peers with Green Day and Operation Ivy—not often bands you hear mentioned in relation to Von Till. We are pleased to share this conversation as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, a time to reflect on our place in relation to each other and to the land itself. We hope you enjoy it. Transmissions is created in partnership with the Talkhouse Podcast Network. We’re brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquarium Drunkard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an independent music media crew headed by Justin Gage. Over at Aquarium Drunkard, you’ll gain access to 20 years of music writing, playlist, essays, mixtapes, radio special, podcasts, videos and more.
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    1 h y 33 m