Jeffrey Silverstein: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Country musician Jeffrey Silverstein recorded four covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Chip Taylor's (I Want)The Real Thing (MP3), Steely Dan's Do It Again (MP3), Jim Ford's I'm Ahead If I Can Quit While I'm Behind (Jim Ford) ( (MP3), and Tom T. Hall's That’s How I Got to Memphis (MP3). About the latter:

We’ve been covering “Memphis” for the past year and change. Figured it was time to have a go at recording it. Natural Child put me onto this song around 2012 via For Love of The Game. Been obsessed ever since. Lots of great memories associated with one. A damn near perfect song and one I never tire of hearing or playing.

» jeffreylewissilverstein.com

En Attendant Ana: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

French pop quartet En Attendant Ana recorded three covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: McCarthy's Red Sleeping Beauty (MP3), Dubstar's Just a Girl She Said (MP3), and Sacha Distel's Ces Mots Stupides (MP3). About the latter:

Camille and I’ve always wanted to cover Somethin’ Stupid and that was the perfect occasion. I knew I wanted to have something in French for this session but I could only think of 60s ye-ye songs so we checked if a French version of Somethin’ Stupid existed as it was really common to have French versions of American hits back at the time. And it did! We are starting to work on our next album that will be based on the ideas of luck, chance and random both on the form and content. For Ces Mots Stupides, we tried to follow the concept of serendipity by keeping mistakes, unexpected sound artifacts created by digital processes and even exaggerating it which gives us many ideas for the future.

» En Attendant Ana on Instagram

Cactus Lee: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Cactus Lee leader Kevin Dehan recorded three covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Christine McVie's Got A Hold On Me (MP3), Butthole Surfers's TV Star (MP3) and Grateful Dead's West LA Fadeaway (MP3). About the latter:

I can talk about Lee Baggett here because he jumps in on lead guitar on this version. He’s from Olympia, I think, or somewhere in the woods out there, but he’s a magical motherfucker. We played two shows together on tour and Lee came up to hit licks on this one, so it only seemed right to get him on the version. Big shout out to Lee and his crew, what a great honest genuine group. This song is long.

» Cactus Lee on Instagram

Jeffrey Alexander: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Philadelphia based musician Jeffrey Alexander recorded three covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: The Fall's Repetition with his band Dire Wolves (MP3), Top Drawers's Song Of A Sinner (MP3) and International Harvester's Sommarlåten with his band The Heavy Lidders (MP3). About the latter:

For this live cover, recorded at Milwaukee Psych Fest VIII on May 6, 2023, I’m playing electric guitar (left), Drew Gardner (of Elkhorn) is playing guitar (right), Jesse Sheppard (also of Elkhorn) is on bass, and Scott Verrastro (from Kohoutek) plays drums. We had never performed this before (or since)—we simply chatted about it over a group text. I was lucky enough to play a few shows with Träd Gräs in 2003, in the US and Europe as well, and I tried to remember what Torbjorn always said: “fuck it, don’t think, just let your freak flag fly.” For this boot, the soundboard feed was recorded by Richard Hayes and I mixed it with an audience recording that I made on a handheld sitting on the front of the stage.

» jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com

Hollow Hand + Aoife Nessa Frances: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Irish singer-songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances and Max Kinghorn-Mills (Hollow Hand) recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Robert Wyatt's Shipbuilding (MP3) and Yo La Tengo's Always Something (MP3). Aoife about the latter:

I’m a big fan of Yo La Tengo, we listened to a bunch of their songs leading up to our recording sessions and decided to record “Always Something”. It was important to us that we felt free when it came to making this music and I think we were able to explore new musical territories, something more abstract than both of our projects, drawing inspiration from bands like MBV & Suicide.

» hollowhand.com
» aoifenessafrances.com

Emergency Group: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Brooklyn based eclectic avant-garde band Emergency Group recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 1st Movement (MP3) and Last Exit' Prayer (MP3). About the latter:

We’re huge fans of Last Exit, the 1980s free-jazz/metal “supergroup” composed of Peter Brötzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Bill Laswell. They’re easily one of the most aggressive and unfriendly-sounding bands of all time. “Prayer” is the opening piece from their sole studio album, Iron Path. That record is still in print courtesy of ESP-Disk, though Last Exit’s live albums are also worth seeking out wherever you can find them. We kept our version of “Prayer” fairly loose and tried to bring our own atmospherics and textures into the interpretation. RIP Peter Brötzmann.

» emergencygroup.bandcamp.com

John Andrews & The Yawns: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Alternative indie band John Andrews & The Yawns recorded four covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Vashti Bunyan's Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (MP3), Arthur Russell's Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart, (MP3), Little Wings' The Shredder (MP3) and The Alessi Brothers' Seabird (MP3). About the latter:

This is another lo-fi, sloppy, 4 track, live recording of Max Clarke, Michael Stasiak and I just messing around in a practice space. No overdubs and first take. I mess up the lyrics right away but whatever. “Seabird” is such a good song. The Alessi brothers are hot and have great hair.

Live dates:

• 06/18 PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA
• 06/20 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
• 06/21 Tubby's Kingston, Kingston, NY
• 06/22 Comet Ping Pong, Washington, DC
• 06/23 Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
• 06/24 Cat's Cradle Back Room, Carrboro, NC

» jonmckiel.bandcamp.com

Jon McKiel: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Canadian singer-songwriter Jon McKiel recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Terry Jacks' Concrete Sea (MP3) and the Dirty Projectors' Swing Lo Magellan (MP3). About the latter:

My friend Vinny sent me this tune in a dm one day a few months ago and I became obsessed with it. I quickly checked but found no similar sounding song in the band’s discography. It could appear on John Wesley Harding—it’s production is stark, the playing has a disgusting groove and it’s panned just right. Lyrically it’s as poetic as anything I can think of.

Live dates:

• 05/27 Calgary, AB @ East Town Get Down
• 05/29 Edmonton, AB @ The Aviary
• 05/31 Penticton, BC @ The Dream Cafe
• 06/02 Nanaimo, BC @ Beacon House
• 06/04 Los Angeles, CA @ Golddiggers
• 06/06 Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
• 08/13 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
• 08/31 Sixpenny Handley, UK @ Larmer Tree Gardens

» johnandrewsyawns.bandcamp.com

Takuro Okada: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Japanese experimental guitarist Takuro Okada recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Don Cherry's Brown Rice (MP3) and Haruomi Hosono's Kadoma (MP3). He played prepared guitar and synths, and was accompanied by Junya Ohkubo (alto sax), Shun Ishiwaka (drums), and Kazuhiko Masumura (percussion). About the importance of Don Cherry:

You can feel the beat of the African drums, hear the oriental scales and moods of Southeast Asia, and the original ensemble is very American jazz-like, so many musical contexts can be heard in this piece. Putting that aside, despite the experimental nature of the piece, the magic melody is somehow familiar.

» Takuro Okada on Instagram

Sagittaire: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Sagittaire, the project of San Fransisco based singer-songwriter Ivan Mairesse, recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: The Necessaries's More Real (MP3) and Leslie Winer's John Says (MP3). About that last track:

The tone of the voice and how it blended into the backing track surprised me, and the combination of her delivery, on-screen look, and production choices defied categorization. Like Arthur Russell, her output was not widely embraced immediately, possibly because it was so forward-looking. I continue to revisit her work and share it with others whenever I get the chance.

» Sagittaire on Facebook

of Montreal: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Kevin Barnes, the singer and multi-instrumentalist of indie band of Montreal, recorded two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Syd Barrett's Dark Globe (MP3) and T.Rex's Cosmic Dancer (MP3). About that last track:

Marc Bolan, the sexy elfin poet of the eternally glamned. He saunters across our brains like a Jupiterian gypsy of the immediate now. I chose “Cosmic Dancer” because it embodies all that I love about T-Rex, it’s hooky and salacious and dreamy and groovy as fuck.

» ofmontreal.net

Al Riggs: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

North Carolina singer-songwriter and producer Al Riggs recorded three covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Liz Phair's Johnny Sunshine (MP3), Hidden Cameras' High Above The Church Grounds (MP3) and The Who's Eminence Front (MP3). About that last track:

Might be saying something that my two favorite songs by The Who (a band I love very much) are from their later post-Keith period; “You Better You Bet” and “Eminence Front.” I had been threatening my friends, followers, and family members with a ten-minute cover of this song for years now, and now that I’m putting Al Riggs to bed it felt time to finally deliver. Proud of my synth jamming at the beginning and the combination of multiple drum loops and live drumming. Also that grimy guitar solo and the vocoded backing vocals. Had a blast with this one.

» Al Riggs on Facebook

Philip Frobos: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Philip Frobos, member of Atlanta based post-punk band Omni, laid down two covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Lou Reed's Berlin (MP3) and Iggy Pop's Tonight (MP3):

Real Estate: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Brooklyn indie rock quintet Real Estate laid down five covers for Aquarium Drunkard's The Lagniappe Sessions: Parsley Sound's Ocean House (MP3), My Bloody Valentine's You Never Should (MP3), John Cale's Please (MP3), Roger Miller's Little Green Apples (MP3), and Jawbone's Java Jelly (MP3).

Marco Benevento: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Marco Benevento stepped by the Aquarium Drunkard offices to record three covers for The Lagniappe Sessions: The Crystals' Little Girl (MP3), Jackson Browne's These Days (MP3), and The Band's This Wheel’s On Fire (MP3).

He is op the road to promote his new album Let It Slide.

Jacco Gardner: The Lagniappe Sessions @ Aquarium Drunkard

Jacco Gardner stepped by the Aquarium Drunkard offices to record two instrumental covers for The Lagniappe Sessions: Paul McCartney's Junk (MP3) and Traffic's Paper Sun (MP3). Both tracks got his signature baroque pop touch.

» jaccogardner.com