Majordomo Justin Gage celebrates AD's 21st anniversary by highlighting the site's long-running series and major editorial milestones. It's a thrill for me to be an AD contributor, but it's still the place I go to discover new music and read the best in music writing for nearly 21 years

Happy 21st to the best music website ever. Only the good shit.

To mark AD’s 21st anniversary, I put together a field guide to some of the features, broadcasts, interviews, mixtapes, columns, and recurring obsessions that became part of the site's fabric along the way. A good place to start if you're curious about 21 years of Aquarium Drunkard. - JG

21 years of @aquariumdrunkard.com aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/30/y...

I was a huge fan of @aquariumdrunkard.com long before I wrote for the site. Let's raise a glass to AD's 21st birthday and Justin Gage's commitment to creating a space where deep listening & curation are prized above all else. aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/30/y...

“Aquarium Drunkard finally reaches legal minimum drinking age, celebrates accordingly.” Happy 21st, @aquariumdrunkard.com! 🥂

Yesternow: Editor’s Note Volume Seven aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/30/y... 21 years ago, Aquarium Drunkard began in a Venice Beach apartment with little more than a stack of records and an internet connection. Looking back at some of the sounds, broadcasts, and detours that shaped the project.

The Beach Boys at Big Sur Folk Festival (1970) aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/27/t... On the heels of Sunflower and a visual rehabilitation campaign, an appearance at 1970's Big Sur Folk Festival was a calculated effort for The Beach Boys to endear themselves with broader counterculture appeal.

SML two-night LA residency. Aquarium Drunkard 21. Tickets ~~ teragramballroom.com/tm-attractio... Performance IN-THE-ROUND @ the Teragram Ballroom. Also on deck: Reverberation Radio DJs, Fabiano do Nascimento, Genevieve June 26th // June 27th

Dust-to-Digital :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/29/d... April and Lance Ledbetter of Atlanta’s Dust-to-Digital join us for a discussion about the label’s new radio app, Dust-to-Digital Radio, and the art of sharing archival music in the digital age.

Wax Machine :: The Sky Unfurls, The Dance Goes On aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/29/w... Music that invites immersion rather than insistence, Wax Machine drifts between jazz, funk, bossa nova, rock and folk traditions, wrapped in a soft psychedelic sheen.

SML two-night LA residency. Aquarium Drunkard 21. Tickets ~~ teragramballroom.com/tm-attractio... Performance IN-THE-ROUND @ the Teragram Ballroom. Also on deck: Reverberation Radio DJs, Fabiano do Nascimento, Genevieve June 26th // June 27th

Boris with Michio Kurihara: Rainbow 2 aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/28/b... Originally released in 2006, Rainbow remains one of Boris’ most transportive records: heavy, unforced psychedelia. Rainbow 2 expands its world with two side-long dives into drone, pulse, and hazy guitar textures.

Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears :: Inner Principles aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/28/s... ... on the new instrumental LP Thompson pulls those threads into a fluid, atmospheric set that moves between ECM-style spaciousness, late-night boogie, and warmly exploratory ensemble interplay.

*on-air* aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/27/t... Sodium-vapor dusk. Via satellite, transmuting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays. 34.1090° N, 118.2334° W

Stolen Moments From A Life Well-Lived :: Sonny Rollins, 1930-2026 aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/27/s... Following his passing at 95, we revisit Sonny Rollins through Birdland broadcasts, bridge-side practice sessions, and films tracing a life spent chasing the unknown through improvisation.

I love this podcast, yet most of the episodes feature hyper-obscure Neil songs that make me question if I’m even a real fan. Excited to dive into this episode of Ambulance Blues - which I used to think was a deep cut, but idk anymore!

Today: Neil Young’s “Ambulance Blues” — a dark, sprawling masterpiece from On the Beach. Joining us to unpack it: NYC songwriter Zachary Cale. aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/27/a... All One Song :: Zachary Cale on “Ambulance Blues”

The Beach Boys at Big Sur Folk Festival (1970) aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/27/t... On the heels of Sunflower and a visual rehabilitation campaign, an appearance at 1970's Big Sur Folk Festival was a calculated effort for The Beach Boys to endear themselves with broader counterculture appeal.

aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/26/m... Set against South Carolina’s Savannah River watershed, Heavy Water threads Appalachian forms through drone, field recordings and Southern psychic residue. Haunted fiddle laments and free-form string dissonance drift through the trio’s ninth LP.

Pink Floyd: Live in Saint Tropez, France 1970 aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/26/p... Shot for French TV this broadcast captures Pink Floyd before the myth calcified: no pigs, no circular screens, no stadium spectacle - just four guys on a small stage dragging enormous sound through the Riviera night

Basic / Chris Forsyth’s WHAT IS NOW :: Both/And aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/26/b... Forsyth stretches outward in different directions, moving from hypnotic groove and motorik interplay to thornier, open-ended collective improvisation that rewards patience, curiosity, and total immersion.

Lifetones: For A Reason aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/25/l... South London, early 1983. On For a Reason, the tightly wound tension of This Heat begins to loosen into dub space, patient repetition, and basslines that move at their own pace. 40 years later, the record still feels uncannily present.

Rest easy, Colossus

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: Happy Today aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/21/j... Over two meditative, grooving and restless long improvisations, Parker and the ETA IVtet hone their connection, deepen their focus, loose their restraints and continue their determined yet serendipitous transformation.

Antoine Dougbé et L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou 1977-1982 aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/25/a... Benin-born songwriter Antoine Dougbé fused Cuban rumba, son, Congolese guitar music, and Vodún ceremonial rhythms into a singular strain of trance-inducing West African funk.

Lifetones: For A Reason aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/25/l... South London, early 1983. On For a Reason, the tightly wound tension of This Heat begins to loosen into dub space, patient repetition, and basslines that move at their own pace. 40 years later, the record still feels uncannily present.

Stix Hooper :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/21/s... As a member of The Crusaders, drummer “Stix” Hooper’s life in music is a testament to the power of the groove. With his rhythms at the foundation, the band blended R&B, jazz, funk, and eventually fusion.

The Lagniappe Sessions :: Resavoir & Matt Gold aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/t... On the one year anniversary of their LP, Miller and Gold are offering up a pair of bonus tracks for their debut Lagniappe Session together — gorgeous covers of MPB icons Mario Adnet and Caetano Veloso.

Luiz Bonfá :: Introspection (1972) aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/21/l... Long framed abroad as a translator of Brazilian music for international audiences, Luiz Bonfá reveals a far stranger and more intimate dimension on Introspection (1972), a hushed solo-acoustic meditation ...

Juni Habel :: Evergreen In Your Mind aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/22/j... Norwegian songwriter Juni Habel drifts through haunted folk terrain on Evergreen In Your Mind, her third album and perhaps her most transportive yet.

Ed Askew :: For The World aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/22/e... Jerry David DeCicca looks back on the making of Ed Askew’s late-period masterpiece For the World — a record assembled through borrowed rooms, broke musicians, chance encounters, and the quiet force of Askew’s songs themselves.

Somehow we're already eight episodes deep into season two of All One Song! Still a few more great ones coming up. aquariumdrunkard.com/category/all...

Road to Ruin: A Decade of John Martyn – Bless the Weather aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/r... “Glistening Glyndebourne” feels like the moment John Martyn realized folk music could dissolve into atmosphere, echo, and motion. A look at the track that cracked open a decade of restless invention.

Luiz Bonfá :: Introspection (1972) aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/21/l... Long framed abroad as a translator of Brazilian music for international audiences, Luiz Bonfá reveals a far stranger and more intimate dimension on Introspection (1972), a hushed solo-acoustic meditation ...

this record rips

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: Happy Today aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/21/j... Over two meditative, grooving and restless long improvisations, Parker and the ETA IVtet hone their connection, deepen their focus, loose their restraints and continue their determined yet serendipitous transformation.

A terrific conversation with @jerrydaviddecicca.bsky.social about how a song can serve as a reflection of the songwriter and also how the listener can track their own response to the song over the years.

The Sun Ra Day Festival :: 2026 aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/20/l... Everyone knows he came from Saturn. But his earthly form, that of a young jazz prodigy Sonny Blount, was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. And Birmingham is where the the Sun Ra Day Festival rooted.

Beefheart & McGuinn :: Midtown Downtime aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/20/b... The new pairing of UK/Melbourne musicians William Murray and Winter McGuinn...

All One Song :: Jerry David DeCicca on “From Hank To Hendrix” aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/20/a... Here to plumb the depths of “From Hank To Hendrix” today is Texas-based singer-songwriter Jerry David DeCicca ...

What’s There That Isn’t There: Avey Tare & Geologist on “Croz Boyce” aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/19/w... Recently, we sat down with Portner and Weitz to unpack where Croz Boyce came from, who Janis is, how Animal Collective was never even supposed to be a band, and much more.

The DIY Multiverse of Charles Joseph Smith aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/19/t... A classically trained pianist, electronic composer, uninhibited dancer, avant-garde experimentalist and Chicago underground scene fixture, Dr. Charles Joseph Smith lives and works in many worlds.

What’s There That Isn’t There: Avey Tare & Geologist on “Croz Boyce” aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/19/w... Recently, we sat down with Portner and Weitz to unpack where Croz Boyce came from, who Janis is, how Animal Collective was never even supposed to be a band, and much more.

The Lagniappe Sessions :: Resavoir & Matt Gold aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/t... On the one year anniversary of their LP, Miller and Gold are offering up a pair of bonus tracks for their debut Lagniappe Session together — gorgeous covers of MPB icons Mario Adnet and Caetano Veloso.

I interviewed percussionist Joe Westerlund of the improvisational band Setting. We discussed the recording of Setting's fantastic new album, how they communicate around live performances, the band's impact on his own solo work, and more. ashevillestages.com/music/interv...

Road to Ruin: A Decade of John Martyn – Bless the Weather aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/r... ... the experiment is embellished in supposed chaos, but close listening finds that Martyn is in control the entire time—the ever-looping echoplex serving as anchor.

The Lagniappe Sessions :: Resavoir & Matt Gold aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/t... On the one year anniversary of their LP, Miller and Gold are offering up a pair of bonus tracks for their debut Lagniappe Session together — gorgeous covers of MPB icons Mario Adnet and Caetano Veloso.

Road to Ruin: A Decade of John Martyn – Bless the Weather aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/05/18/r... ... the experiment is embellished in supposed chaos, but close listening finds that Martyn is in control the entire time—the ever-looping echoplex serving as anchor.

Rolling Stones :: Jah Is Not Dead (1979) aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/09/05/r...