The Aquarian Weekly » Chris Castro

Interview with Eon Sinclair from Bedouin Soundclash: A New Light on the Mountain Top

Chris Castro — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:04:43 +0000

The past few years have been a bit hectic for Juno Award-winning reggae act Bedouin Soundclash. Rife with change, restructuring and progression, the band has undergone some dramatic developments, including the departure of the group’s original drummer Pat Pengelly, the solo debut from singer Jay Malinowski, and the founding of the groups own record label, Pirates Blend records, through which the band released their latest album, Light On The Horizon, in Canada last year to rave reviews. The album will be released in the United States on June 7 through Nat Geo Music.

Produced by King Britt (formerly of…

Interview with Ryan Kattner from Man Man: There And Back Again

Chris Castro — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:55:12 +0000

On the surface, the music of Man Man appears wild and unreserved; frantic drumbeats and fire-cracker guitar work square off against the grizzly, deep huff of vocalist Ryan Kattner, aka Honus Honus, in an unabashed display of musical abandon. Though after look deeper through the sifting layers, what at first appears to be the result of reckless abandon and mad scientist creativity becomes shockingly clear and perceptive. The headspinning musicianship and obtuse confessions of the lyrical imagery suggest a band well-aware of the direction they’re headed on their fourth album, Life Fantastic, even though their audience may feel as…

John Brown’s Body: Future Roots

Chris Castro — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:11:11 +0000

Originally formed in 2003, progressive reggae octet John Brown’s Body was originally a traditional roots reggae act. As years passed, the band’s sound began to morph and modify, sifting through dub, drum and bass, dancehall, hip-hop and other styles to create a sound that drips intrigue and intelligence. The group’s latest album Amplify reached number one on Billboard’s Reggae Chart, solidifying John Brown’s Body as a major player and innovator in modern American reggae music.

Charged with the pioneering spirit of their dub forefathers, John Brown’s Body will be performing at The Stony Pony of Asbury Park on Feb. 25…

Interview With Dana Janssen Of Akron/Family: Eruption

Chris Castro — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:44:27 +0000

Brooklyn’s Akron/Family first came to notoriety in 2005 with their self-titled debut. A mass of field recordings, Cherokee inspired chants, delicate pastoral meanderings and drippy psychedelia, the album introduced the band as a collection of individuals well aware of the versatility and malleability of recorded sound. The group continued to hone their project through the next few years, recording with Michael Gira’s Angels of Light project and developing a raucous, energetic live show that could be described at once as chaotic, ethereal and complete conscious absorbing.

For their fifth studio album (and only the second without founding member Ryan…

The Disco Biscuits: Baking Through The Night

Chris Castro — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:45:11 +0000

The Disco Biscuits, like all groups with life spans longer than five years, have gone through numerous changes their career—some for the better, some for the worse. Sure, some ideas could have been constructed a bit better, sometimes the execution wasn’t exactly what you would call flawless, but you have to give credit to a group willing to change not only themselves but also those around them musically, socially and commercially.

Since the group formed, fifteen years ago, as students at the University of Pennsylvania, things have gone up, down and all-around for the quartet, who will be appearing at…

Interview with Tim & Eric: Bizarre, But Beautiful, Right?

Chris Castro — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:18:48 +0000

After premiering in February of 2007, Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job! has far surpassed the expectations of most, becoming a cult hit on Adult Swim’s late night run with five seasons of barely-11 minute long episodes consisting of absurdist sketches, at times bordering on surreal. The show’s quirky musical performances, cameos from Hollywood’s finest (including Michael Cera, John C. Reilly, David Cross and many more) and The Office-style awkwardness meets David Lynch freakiness has cast the show as one of the strangest, yet most enjoyable alternatives to watching late night infomercials while plowing through a gallon of…

Interview with Dax Riggs: The Ghost & His Guitar

Chris Castro — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:37:24 +0000

I recall a little while ago, while venturing down the streets of San Salvador, El Salvador, a friend of mine told me that she didn’t put all that much faith in science or how science explains our universe. “I feel like it’s just the way of explaining things that has the most support, right now,” she said. “At one point in time it was religion or myths…now it’s science. In one thousands years from now, who knows how we’ll explain the world around us or what we’ll think of as real or not real.”

I hadn’t thought about this discussion…

Interview with Spiritualized: From Space Into The Spirit

Chris Castro — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:52:49 +0000

About 20 years ago, J. Spaceman a.k.a. Jason Pierce split from Spacemen 3 to from Spiritualized. While the two groups were equally matched in creativity and experimentation, Spiritualized’s sound over the course of time began to explore the roughly hewn edges of American Gospel and Blues music, leading to the creation of numerous critically acclaimed albums, most notably 1997’s stellar Ladies And Gentleman We Are Floating In Space. The “wall of sound”-style production of the album, much akin to that of 1960s producers such as Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, combined with Pierce’s penchant for sounds from all ranges of…

Interview with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: Up From The Desert, Into The Waves

Chris Castro — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:08:15 +0000

I find myself quite often guilty of nostalgia for times which I myself never experienced, especially the 1960s. Love beads and rainbows and the days when rock and roll was young and fresh-faced—certainly, I’m romanticizing, but that’s the beauty of trying to remember things that never actually happened to you—you can remember them however you’d like.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, a 10-13-piece band (the lineup is constantly expanding or shrinking) whose debut album, Up From Below, reeks of analogue-tracked mysticism and hippie-drippy love vibes, showers listeners in their own brand of choral pop, which as retro and sunshine…

Interview with Widespread Panic: Shut Up And Drive

Chris Castro — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:56:28 +0000

Trucks have always fascinated me. I remember when I was a little boy, I loved playing with toy trucks (I had a huge collection). And now as I’ve gotten older and my mind has somewhat matured through various means of education and experience, the truck still fascinates me, not so much as a mere plaything, but as a symbol of freedom, of distance, of adventure. While I know that a trucker’s life probably isn’t all that cushy, well sometimes my cushy New Jersey suburbanite life is pretty boring, and my mind begins to wander to the West, where who knows…