WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY?
What with all the great new releases we’ve had here in 2005 — from Bonny Billy and Matt Sweeney to Six Organs of Admittance to The Howling Hex to the new ones from Alasdair Roberts and Ghost (OUT NOW!), this year has been great — for you, that is. But what about us? In our rush to get these records out and get them out right, we’re pressed flat to the ground and cursed at to be more productive. The Drag City bunker has been transformed into a death camp — and then we answer the phone and John Q Musicfan’s asking what new bands we’ve signed and what new music we’ve got planned for you? Give us a break! To paraphrase the man, ask not what more we can do for you — ask what more you can do for us? F’rinstance, have you bought both formats of all the latest releases? And one of each for your friends? Have you mail ordered a poster or two lately? Or gone down to the club to catch one of the many live acts we’ve got on tap? Stopped buying that mediocre Arcade Fire & Interpol shit? Let even the thought of a little religion enter your lives? We ask so little!
There’s more you can do — and some of it’s free — but mostly, it’ll require a little folding money, an open social calendar and travel plans that take you all around the world…no problem? Read on.
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NEW AND NEWER
Sure, with Alasdair Roberts and Ghost we’ve got new releases, but if you want to be really up on the tip, download the new Weird War song currently on the front-page. Their album, Illuminated by the Light, doesn’t come out until late April, but the preview is yours for the bootlegging right now! Also up there is a film clip excerpting a couple performances found on the brand-new, out-right-now Ghost DVD, Metamorphosis — more on which below!
That’s all the free stuff we’ve got for you until next month — when we post a preview of Smog’s new album, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love.
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ALASDAIR ROBERTS MURDERS EIGHT
...actually, in addition to the seven people killed dead in seven songs on his new album No Earthly Man, another songs features the death of a whole boatload of poor souls, bringing the death toll to nearly four-hundred fifty! Before you gasp, “Alasdair, you fiend!” let us reassure you that it’s quite beautiful really, all the death. The songs on the record are what’s called ‘death ballads’ in some quarters, and Alasdair’s got an unparalleled feeling for them — along with Will Oldham, who produced, played and sang; former Belle and Sebastian belle Isobel Campbell, who played and sang; and fiddle playing virtuoso John McCusker, who added Celtic fire to Alasdair’s north-country blues. No Earthly Man is a collection of sad songs, but transcendently so; death ballads that create new life. If you’ve never checked out any of Alasdair’s previous records, either under his own name or with his original band, Appendix Out, you’re missing something — and since No Earthly Man may be the best thing on earth he’s done yet, perhaps you run right out and buy it. Who knows, maybe your life depends on it. Or maybe it's ours?
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GHOST’S METAMORPHOSIS WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY…
It’s been a long, busy year for Ghost — one involving four releases and that extremely rare occurrence, a Ghost US tour. It’s hard to believe it was just last January that Hypnotic Underworld broke into our world — but that’s what started it all. The first Ghost album in five years created a firestorm of press, buzz, and most importantly, intensive music listening. Like all the best records, Hypnotic Underworld rewarded the searching listener with a dense palette of sounds and layers of multi-linguistic meanings. More than just a great psychedelic pop record, Hypnotic Underworld is a pan-cultural experience.
With ears opening all around the world, it was decided to reissue a pair of Ghost-related pieces that saw the light of day in the mid-90s Sweet & Honey, Live at Your Cosmic Mind and Masaki Batoh Collected Works. These pieces were two kinds of heavy — heavy like the rock and heavy like the mind. This kept folk rocking out and mind expanding until the promised Ghost tour went down last fall. Even then, plans were being laid for the next phase — a Ghost sighting in your own home! You see, the current digital revolution allows for total musical/visual immersion via DVD. With a machete, Batoh hacked deep into the jungles of central Japan in order to claim the oldest footage, stored in an abandoned (and nearly overgrown) temple where some of the performances were taped over a decade ago. Once all the far-flung media had been collected, it was carefully reviewed, edited and meditated upon in order to provide fans with a wide expanse of Ghost footage from a twenty-year period — the earliest part of which found Ghost more a concept than a band. Running the gamut from street busking to street civil disobedience to guerilla concerts (the aforementioned abandoned temple) to the psychedelic concert circuit, Metamorphosis does indeed trace the growth and blooming of a band, a way of life, a state of mind, and most of all, a music.
The initial pressing of Metamorphosis is completely shipped out from the Drag City bunker, so if you want one of your very own, you’ll have to run down to your faithful local record shop and order it up! Once they’re all gone, we’ll see about making some more. If you check out OK on the I Ching, that is.
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BONNIE INSTORE REPORT
At this point, it’s been well-established among the movers and shakers out there that our Bonny Billy is a prince among men. It may please you true believers out there to hear that he got a raise! For a day at least, Bonny was a king in New York. The first Saturday in March, he and Matt Sweeney held sway over the indie record shops all over town that day with a record-setting five instore appearances spanning Brooklyn, Manhattan and…well, that’s it. No Long Island shows — this time! The day started at Sound Fix on Brooklyn’s legendary Bedford Avenue. Shortly after noon, the crowd descended upon the café in back of the shop. As Matt and Bonnie unrolled their guitar leads, customers drank coffee, tea and things of a stronger nature (like liquid cocaine). This show, needless to say, was a roaring success. Then it was off to Harlem, to play in Kim’s Mediapolis, where another crowd packed in to see some free entertainment (both literally and figuratively). The Superwolf instore tour t-shirt enjoyed it’s most plentiful sales after this appearance. With what remained of this rare item in hand, the touring party was transported downtown in the Kim’s van (except for Bonny, who took the Kim’s helicopter — top that, Other Music!). On the outskirts of Soho a sight to rival Beatlemania was situated outside of Built By Wendy's wonderful clothing boutique — an overspill of fans, punters and the usual gang of homeless idiot freaks. It was hard to tell who the biggest Bonny fans were among them. With the shop packed out, the rest were left to rubberneck.
A quick sandwich and it was time to rush up to St. Mark’s Place and Mondo Kim’s. By this time, the good, liquor-enhanced feelings were flowing freely from performers to roadies to the audience themselves, who filled every bit of space from the front to the back and onto the street. This didn’t prevent sour-faced consumers from attempting to negotiate the hordes in order to secure the latest hot indie release — only in New York!
The day ended up at Other Music, where the line once again stretched around the block and the late-arriving were forced to press their adulatory noses up against Other’s five-inch-thick front windows — a blurred view, but a view nonetheless. As the final notes of Bonnie and Matt’s excellent final set rang out, dancers broke into frenzied motion around the store. The parties continued into the night, as victory over New York was celebrated in a number of grimy little dives. Groupies talked themselves silly — or were silly to begin with! — as Matt and Bonnie raised the glass to another triumph! Thank you, New York — and thanks to you, Superwolf.
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DC ROCKS ATP
New York wasn’t the only section of our global village that got rocked by Drag City — no, a formidable invasion on the UK was mounted by the combined forces of Neil Hamburger, Faun Fables, White Magic and King Kong. Specifically, they rocked ‘em in Camber Sands, the site of the fabled All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, where giants such as Shellac, Autechre and Tortoise walked the earth in year’s past. Unintimidated by these names, our kids responded to the royal invitation of Slint and stood tall of their own volition. King Kong’s funky rhythms made the masses dance, Faun Fables twisted them on the end of their folk, and White Magic hypnotized with their muse! Oh, and Neil Hamburger? He had the most successful show of his career in front of them traditionally po-faced Slint fans. All in all, those pussies didn’t know what hit 'em!
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WHITE MAGIC ROCKS INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
Here at Drag City, we love the movies, but…fuck the Oscars! It’s not even that they don’t appreciate the indie movie scene (with which we sympathize) — they’re just totally fucking lame. Nah, give us an awards show in a tent — now that’s a proper setting to give actors and directors and shit their due. Like this Independent Spirit Awards does. This year, with his film Chain, Jem Cohen took home the ISA Maple Leaf Someone To Watch award, which sounds pretty nebulous to us, but which means five figures for him to work on another piece of experimental genius for the foreseeable future (at least as foreseeable as twenty grand’ll get him). Why are we talking about this? Well, it’s like we said, we love the movies. Especially those movies that feature up-and-coming Drag Cityites such as White Magic’s Mira Billote, star of the aforementioned Chain:
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Photo © Antidote Internation Films
If Chain ain’t playing in independent theaters near you soon, you’ll probably be able to buy or rent on DVD, the way things are going with that format — why, I heard there’s even a Ghost DVD on the market!
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THE RED KRAYOLA COLOURS OUR WOURLD
Since their career-spanning compilation, Singles, we’ve been hearing more and more from The Red Krayola — a CD of (relatively) new instrumental music called Japan In Paris in L.A., live shows in Chicago, New York and LA. And now The Red Krayola are international! Even as we speak, Mayo Thompson and his merry men are wrapping up a Japanese tour that has featured fan hysteria and sold-out shows…in other words, a typical tour of Japan. But a typically GREAT tour of Japan! What could possibly be next, you ask? A tour of Europe — the first of it’s kind in over twenty years! For three weeks in late April and early Mayo (hyuk!), citizens of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and maybe even London UK will get a chance to see The Red Krayola play. People of Europe, don’t miss it!
Finally, Mayo is working feverishly to get back in the lab and make some new music. The drawing board is stuffed full of ideas and studio time is scheduled for this summer. It might just be before the end of 2005 that we hear once again from Mayo & Co.
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THE HEX CHECK
One of the most unusual records in history is most certainly The Howling Hex's debut CD, All-Night Fox. Their new record is as freaky a set of pop songs as we've heard...well, like I said, ever! However, if you think their album is freaky, check out these websites where the album is advertised!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/
http://www.agonist.org/
...so buy The Howling Hex All-Night Fox, even if you don't buy all the rest of that stuff, hear? And don't take any wooden nickles either!
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WEIRD WAR GETS ILLUMINATED
What if there was a Weird War show and nobody came? We’ll never know the answer to that one —because Weird War not only put on a killer show but host a great party every time they come to town. In essence, that is — as fans and friends of rock and roll, they want their fans and friends to come out and shake some action as participants in a shared experience that includes music, rock and a bit of chit-chat before during and after. See, Weird War are wandering this world on a crusade to wise us all up — and how can they learn from us without our input? So the next time they’re in town, join the party.
© www.underexposed.org.uk
The next time they’re in town won’t be long from now, as a matter of fact — because Weird War are coming straight at us on April 19th with a new album entitled Illuminated by the Light, and new albums mean tour dates galore for the people’s party known as Weird War. They’re going to Europe first to execute their unique form of diplomacy in the form of three solid weeks in the UK and various territories of the EU. Then they’ll be back to the USSA for a lengthy summer jam. We can’t wait, because the music on Illuminated by the Light is the best we’ve ever heard from Weird War. It’s more on the foot-shuffling dance tip, but infused with a bright pop vibe not found on their previous album, If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Bite ‘Em. Lotsa hits here — one or two of which will be dressed up and sent to market in video format! The word is coming to the people - they're bringing the war back home!
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NEIL HAMBURGER PIZZA PARTY!
If you can’t hear the laughter, it’s probably because you haven’t had a hamburger in awhile. Neil Hamburger, that is — he’s been laying low, playing in the off-market towns around the country. Still, 2005 has been earmarked for a reemergence into the public’s eye — a process that started with a righteous return to ATP! When Neil played there several years back, sullen silence greeted the most hilarious of his comedy routines — but that was back when that humorless, bloodless “post-rock” shite was still the going thing. Now, we live in a brave new world — a world seemingly unafraid to laugh again. Such was the case at ATP. But rich kids aren’t the only ones allowed to have fun — Neil’s road that never ends is winding through America in March, April and May, allowing all his fans everywhere the chance to hear what’s on his mind this time.
And not only that, but Neil will be hawking a new record at the shows! It’s a different kind of release for Neil Hamburger — a documentary of sorts narrated by Neil examining one of his favorite venues over the years — DiPresa’s Pizza House! Great Moments at DiPresa’s Pizza House tells the whole story, with a few jokes thrown in for good measure.
And not only that, but we’re having a special display contest for Great Moments at DiPresa’s Pizza House! The balloon pictured at the right is one of several display pieces we’re going to be handing out to interested retailers, who are invited to add their own pizza-themed imagery in order to create a display to remember. The winner will receive…their very own pizza party! Shops should call us here at the Mothership for further details. And Hamburger fans, take note! This is a RETAIL contest — if you don’t have a store, don’t call us with tall tales about how you can dress up your front window real purty! This is about selling more Neil Hamburger records — please, God…let this be the year we finally sell more Neil Hamburger records!
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SMOGGING UP THE JOINT
May brings Smog in from the cold — on May 31th, the latest Smog release is A River Ain’t Too Much to Love on both LP and CD. It’s a warm, fuzzy Smog record, set in many natural settings — if you consider Bill “Smog” Callahan’s body a natural setting, that is! He’s got a full European tour set to start almost immediately after the record is released and a full American tour set to start almost immediately after that. So look for Smog in your town later this year.
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PAJO-M
My, it’s been awhile since we’ve heard from David “Papa M” Pajo. It was 2003 that his singles series started — but since last Spring, all has been quiet on his freaky front. Come June of this year, he’ll break radio silence with a bang — a bang called PAJO! He’s shedding the Papa M name, perhaps temporarily (but who knows?) to issue this new album which will feature all songs with singing! That’s what makes the difference, we figure — but what do we know? What we do know is that you’ll be able to file this release under ‘P’ along with the Papa M stuff — thank the sales gods for small favors!
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RTX OVER EUROPE
RTX completed their first-ever tour of Europe, and all reports indicate that it was a triumphant passage. Apparently, there’s plenty of balls-to-the-wall rock and roll fans in the EU (who knew?) with enough Euros in their pockets to go down the club and buy an RTX hoodie once the show was over. To that we say — good on ya, mates! If we could only translate that into all of your native tongues, then we might have world peace.
While passing through Sweden, Jennifer was informed that the kickoff track from Transmaniacon, “Joint Chief,” was being used in boxing arenas around the country to accompany the heavyweights into the ring. Her reaction? Well, no-one could tell if she heard or not — but she later told us she was stoked to hear the news, and pissed that someone hadn’t done something like this sooner. After all, she’s been writing heavyweight rock songs for ages now.
Meanwhile, the “Speed to Roam” single, issued in promotion of the European jaunt, sold out in a couple weeks! We’re extracting a limited quantity left over in some moribund distribution vaults and will soon be offering it again to the true fans out there — keep your eyes on the Special Offers page.
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ROYAL PLUSH
Speaking of Special Offers, let’s talk about Plush! You know, since we’ve put out Underfed, we’ve been hearing more about Plush. Well now, you can buy Fed from Drag City as well — your Plush one-stop shop. However, you’d probably want to bring a little extra dough, since the copies of Fed we bought are full-bore Japanese imports. Which means, $30 for a single CD, if you want to order it online. Still…we dare ya to find it cheaper!
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JOANNA AND CO.
And speaking of Europe, don’t forget about the ever-impending Joanna Newsom tour of the UK and Europe, featuring fellow Drag City-ers Six Organs of Admittance, Alasdair Roberts and White Magic. It's happening soon, it's happening now, it’s going to be three weeks worth of nights to remember!
And — whew — let’s leave it at that until next time. We promise to have more mind-blowing news, music and plans for you then. Until then, bulk up on Alasdair Roberts LPs and CDs and Ghost DVDs but leave room for Weird War LPs and CDs and Neil Hamburger CDs — in April, baby!
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