★Drag City
The Hexadic System
Introducing a new approach to playing and composing music - The Hexadic System doesn’t require the use of a computer or an internet hookup. All that the interested player will need is a copy of ‘The Hexadic System’ book and a regular deck of playing cards. The struggle of habit is a problem in all walks of life, particularly creative work. We don’t always have an instinct to question the systems we are taught but consider the old adage about history being written by the winners. What does that i…
Voices in a rented room
The voices are two, spinning harmonies both heavenly and salt-pickled. Picking their direction and floating along on a pair of acoustics, New Bums are the sound of old drunk America, dancing out of the shadows, coming forth again to stand in the light, in the hopes of repopulating those sad old single-occupancy hotels before they're all torn down. New Bums is the grudging match-up of Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards) and Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance, Comets on Fire, 200 Years, Rangda and…
Don't tell the driver
Finally, after 15 years, Big Mick Turner has turned in the big rock record we always knew he had in him. Yeah, Don't Tell the Driver is a different kind of record from all the Mick Turner records -- not just his own, but the ones he's done with Dirty Three, Bonny Billy, Cat Power, Fungus Brains, and Venom P. Stinger put together. So, what's so different about Don't Tell the Driver anyway? Well, Mick grew a mustache for this one. That must mean it's his Sgt. Pepper; a consolidation and developmen…
Imitation of Life
Drag City presents the first domestic release of any kind from the Japanese singer-songwriter Eiko Ishibashi -- and the first vinyl release of any kind on this already accomplished performer. And what a release! Imitation of Life isn't just another pop record from another part of the world -- it's got a sci-fi theme and is produced by none other than Drag City's old friend, Jim O'Rourke. With an understanding of band dynamics developed through her many live shows and recordings, Eiko's delicate,…
Surrender to the Fantasy
Stop right there, hands in the air! If you want to know what Magik Markers think is good for you, you'll Surrender to the Fantasy. For this long-desired alpus, they've been working in threes and stuff. Triangles. The hermetic trifecta of knowledge, Christ and the two thieves, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and the original tagline of the Markers' symbol: '3 down, no to go.' Meaning, these three get it and literally no one else needs to, 'cept the record-buying public, tra la la, ha ha ha ha. STTF (nev…
The Collected Fanzines
Reproduces all the original pages, mostly hand-written or featuring primitive xerox art, that were published in small editions, 1992 thru 1999. You're excused if you've never seen or heard of these "fanzines". Influential line: "Janet Jackson thinks Christ is a Hoax." There are many other pages with similar sentiment, but dude, the vibe is a little scurrilous... "Going back through the years...it's so hard to remember, I was always tripping and falling over myself. These 'zines were written over…
An emotional memoir of Martha Quinn
A thoughtful and entertaining look at how music and culture infect ('cross-pollinate?') each other, Alan Licht's An emotional memoir of Martha Quinn succeeds by being real. Paper, ink, binding -- it's all there -- but Licht, a long-time musician -- and writer of music-inspired commentary -- has brought the lessons learned, the high and low-lights of the last few decades in the realms of popular music, back home again. In his own words, Licht's book 'is a highly subjective survey of the last two …
Veterans of disorder
Back in play just to celebrate 14 years, 2 months and 12 days since its original release is Royal Trux's penultimate album, Veterans of Disorder. Coming off the fan-favorite Accelerator LP, it was clearly time to build on expectations, right? Uh... listen, maybe this isn't the band for you. Neil and Jennifer were fans of rock n roll to the finish, sure -- but in that, Royal Trux was a dyed-in-the-wool contrarian enterprise, rebels to the core, and everything they endeavored to was viewed from th…
Mirror repair
Gastr Del Sol emerged from the remains of Bastro in 1992 with the brooding, mostly drumless album, ‘The Serpentine Similar’. This represented an unlikely evolution from the fury of Bastro, but evolution was only getting started - and ‘unlikely’ was one of the ongoing principles in Gastr Del Sol’s approach. Before the sessions for the second album, Bundy Brown left the group and David Grubbs asked Jim O’Rourke to come play. 1994’s ‘Crookt, Crackt Or Fly’ tangled the clean lines of the original ba…
Ark Procession / Jericho
Al Cisneros is no stranger to the deep meditations of a minimalist, sub-sonic song. We've all been totally faced by the ritual low-end thunder his band, OM, bestow as gospel both live and on record on the regular, a sound source which can hardly be described as minimal yet never needs more than a smattering of accompaniment beyond its usual, steady drumming. Perhaps a bit of guitar here, some keys there, or maybe just some extra tambo to provide color, but first and foremost, you get full…
Bitchitronics
Bitchin Bajas are back... Bitchitronics, is ready with the quickness we expect from the Chi-based duo -- which is funny, since their area of expertise and mastery is in the area of synthetic ephemeral sonic languid-ity known more instinctively, inclusively (and let's face it, irresponsibly) as drone music. They make slow music at a fast pace is what we're saying. Now these guys are paying attention to this on the micro-level because that's where their fun is, so how will you react when we…
The Source Family
"Awareness of The Source Family, YaHoWa13 and Father Yod has been growing since their early 1970s heyday. A spiritual commune dedicated to a wide-ranging blend of eastern and western mysticism, The Source Family were very much a part of the infamous era of tuning in, turning on and dropping out in the late 1960s and '70s. The Source Family's celebrity-hang-out vegetarian restaurant, rock band, utopian commune, and beautiful women made them darlings of Hollywood's Sunset Strip; but their outsider…
The Source Family Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
LP version. "For the soundtrack to The Source Family documentary, a selection of material was chosen to include the widest variety of Source Family members, showcasing the talents of many not previously showcased. And so, in addition to Ya Ho Wa 13 members Djin, Sunflower and Octavius, we also hear the contributions of Cinderella, Ahom, Aquariana, Anastasia, Rhythm, Horn, Electron, Zoroaster, Vibration, Pythias, Damian, and Zinaru -- as well as the omnipotent Yahowa himself, Father Yod. Their mu…
The Plain Where The Palace Stood
Drag City drops the sixth and latest David Grubbs pop album, The Plain Where the Palace Stood, which finds David once again twining together the diverse strands of his vast interests. Working with Andrea Belfi (drums, electronics) and Stefano Pilia (guitar) - plus Attila Faravelli on electronics - creates a sympathetic groupthink that David expects more and greater from in the years to come. The welcome return of his distinctive overdriven guitar tone is a highlight of the record. And C. S…
Solemns
The 'Prince' & the Marquis (Mick Turner of DIRTY THREE) unfurled the scroll together, with Tren Brother Jim White (DIRTY THREE, CAT POWER) rumbling & banging things & playing drums, & the Bonny gang crew of Van Campbell, Emmett Kelly & Angel Olsen added invaluable dimensions to the moments herein.
Ensemble Pearl
Double LP edition. Cosmic, heavy amplified rock drops and ripples, auras radiate and expand into cloud forms, through which lightning bolts. Tides rise, the moons wax upon a place somewhere between Link Wray, Hex-era Earth and early Tangerine Dream. The echoes return, leaving a trail that blows and drifts, creating a separate piece. Ensemble Pearl are Atsuo, William Herzog, Michio Kurihara and Stephen O'Malley. Their debut album also features the elemental forces of Eyvind Kang and Timba H…
Farewell Sorrow
VINYL VERSION! NOTE NEW PRICING! Alasdair Roberts is bidding farewell to his nom-de-musique, APPENDIX OUT. What once was Appendix Out is now & forever Alasdair Roberts. The broadest work in young Roberts' canon so far. Heavily steeped in the lineage of European folk, the words & music of "Farewell Sorrow" evoke a spirit of youth, an air of reckless abandon, a passion not meant to stay in this world.
A Crack-Up at the Race Riots
"'It's about a race war and it happens in Florida. And the Jewish people sit in trees. And the black people are run by M.C. Hammer. And the whites are run by Vanilla Ice. I wanted to write the Great American Choose Your Own Adventure novel.' -- Harmony Korine, addressing a national television audience, 10/17/97. Back in print from Harmony Korine, A Crack-Up at the Race Riots was originally published by Mainstreet/Doubleday in 1998. Korine's first novel presents fragments of a portrait in …
Trash Humpers
In the Summer of 2010, the underground trend of 'trash-humping' JUMPED the NASHVILLE CITY LIMITS as the film Trash Humpers spread across the nation, screening in movie theaters, galleries, bars and grills and anyplace, really, indoors or out, that could draw a crowd to see the thing. Filmmaker Harmony Korine often accompanied the film, standing around and answering questions when he wasn't doing something else. It was something to see, but the only problem was, all you could do once you'd …
Blue Clouds
Some cream for your acid-folk tea - hitherto unreleased sides from the two and a half bards (well, two bards and a maiden - forsooth!) who self-released All On the First Day back in '72. These include studio recordings from later in the 70s, a couple live songs and an outtake from the legendary album itself! Well, the first legendary album anyway - for Blue Clouds is clearly another.