That’s the Drag City ivory bunker in a nutshell — jaws clamped shut, neck cords bulging as we sweat and strain our way to year’s end. Our mission is the same as always: to entertain and satisfy you fuckers — I mean, wonderful fuckers — in addition to ourselves. We’re not insane, you know. But this shit isn’t as simple as you might think. No, read about the wheres and whyfores that we encounter every few inches down the path...

Imagine a world in which you’d never heard of Drag City. Idiotic, isn’t it? Well, if you truly had to start all over again in your mental development, the first thing you’d notice would be the music, of course. I mean, we’re a record label. But after a bong-hit or two, and after you’d finished washing down your pills with your tequila, you’d begin to find a significance in the album artwork that bordered on the supreme. You’d want more like this right away, so you’d rush to the record store and heave a brick through the window (you happen to be getting lit at night, for a change). There, glittering in the midnight sun would be the Drag City titles, glowing in a fashion that separated them from all other offerings. It wouldn’t matter if they were Silver Jews, Royal Trux, Palace Brothers or Smog records a unique look to the records would keep you coming back (hopefully for all of us minus the brick). As the years would pass, you’d grow and change in unconscious accordance with the Drag City release schedule. As new artists came along, you’d find yourself moving easily with their unique inspirations, buying the vinyl to have the artwork that much bigger and seeing the shows when you could remember. And thus, your life would pass slowly but very sweetly.

Ah, there’s no punch line just more great releases, many of which will inspire your laughter, which will be mostly comprised of the laughter of joy and admiration. These releases are the sounds that great lives are filled with!

The little kids of all the little countries around the world are rejoicing this year — the word is out about the new White Magic and Joanna Newsom releases hitting the streets in just a little minute here. And joy of all joys, they’re both hitting hand in hand, on November 14th, which may need some retitling in order to be celebrated in the future. Something snappy like VE or VJ Day... let us know if you can come up with anything.

As of this writing, two new Drag City titles are debuting in the best record stores in the world The White Swan by Bert Jansch and Blow It Up, Burn It Down, Kick It 'Til It Bleeds by Imitation Electric Piano. Both these records are deep takes on life, love and loss that manage to invert the predictability of such topics and have fun with them in their effort to explore them. And oddly enough, both acknowledge the kinds of traditional sounds that have been so in vogue with the young’uns over the past dozen moons. With Bert Jansch, that’s not a surprise he’s been at the vanguard of such expression for decades but Imitation Electric Piano are more known for their streamlined space-age instrumentals sounds. However, who says they can’t change and be who they want to whenever they wanted? Not us. That’s why we released these records on October 19th and that’s why they’re out there now. So go buy them and do some growing up.

Our boy Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s break breaking thru a lot of glass ceilings lately — playing on television, selling records in unprecedented numbers (his new release The Letting Go went gold quicker than all the others) and in front of his biggest crowds ever! And he keeps doing it his way, and as always, we dig it. What we dig the most is that he keeps doing it and never stops. Take the tour he’s on right now — starting in Chicago and rolling swiftly west over the plains and the Rockies and through the Mojave all the way to sweet Los Angeles, where he commences an exhaustive trip north along the coast four shows around Los Angeles, two in Big Sur, one in Santa Cruz, two more in San Francisco, a stop in Eureka, three in Portland, two in Seattle, one in Anacortes and three more in Vancouver, thus bringing the tour to a stop — and just in time, for the snow’ll be flying up north by then.

But save some coin for Alasdair Roberts! He’s en route in more than one realm. First is the purely physical realm, when he comes over to open shows all over the country for The Decemberists and Joanna Newsom (see all the dates here). With The Decemberists, he’ll have a band, but with Joanna, he’ll be performing solo — pick your poison! And then comes the more ephemeral realm of recorded music. In January, Alasdair will be all over the world with his new record, The Amber Gatherers. For those of you who went classic-goth after hearing his last, No Earthly Man, The Amber Gatherers will have you washing the black from your hair and your eyes and reacquainting yourself with the sun. It’s just that fresh and poppy!

That’s right, Joanna Newsom has a new album and she’s got an extensive tour of the US, both of which are happening in November — and December — and forever after. This is a moment that might freeze in time — but for the moment, we’re feeling the heat. The world’s so anxious for Joanna that journalists have been bribed to “leak” the record on websites specially designed for such unsavory tactics. What can we say? We want everyone to hear the new record too. And trust us, Ys is worth the wait. Joanna’s vision for this new record involved orchestrations to go along with her timeless harp playing and fortunately for your ears, the orchestrations turned out to be timely as well. Captured in pristine analog audio by Steve Albini, arranged like a country-club place-setting by Van Dyke Parks and mixed in the same by Jim O’Rourke, Ys is a big record that comes off intimate-sounding. Truly awesome, in the many underrated senses of the word.

Since the release of the mini-album “Through the Sun Door,” the ever-growing legions of White Magic fans have had far less new music from White Magic than they would have liked. But what they couldn’t have realized is what makes the new White Magic album what it is stockpiling inspiration allowed Mira Billotte to render an epic journey when it finally came time to make a new White Magic album. Which she did. It’s called Dat Rosa Mel Apibus — time to brush up on your Latin, kids! — and is four sides strong with explorations into the heart of White Magic. Two songs from it have been released already — on the “Katie Cruel” CD single but there’s lots more where they came from. Whether playing with Sleepy Doug Shaw or a larger ensemble, Mira’s peerless vocal powers and delicate-to-emphatic keyboards make Magic new again. On November 14th, go to the counter and ask ‘em for Dat Rosa Mel Apibus — and tell them Drag City sent you.

...again, right? The Red Krayola have struck gold before — always by staking a claim where no one else dared go. Their new EP has more of the rare wit and wisdom of Mayo Thompson, interspersed with instrumental prowess from The Red Krayola 2006: Noel Kupersmith, John McEntire, Stephen Prina and Tom Watson, in addition to Mayo himself, of course. The result is a zig-zag through the pop universe, several black holes included. For all of you who cursed us for not releasing “Greasy Street” as a 12” single, we’re glad to say we’ve got a version here that’ll rock your socks. Fans of Introduction will find more glints of gold from The Red Crayola on the new EP, “Red Gold.” And you lucky ducks in Japan and Europe, don’t miss them on their tours happening now or very soon. Look around you!

Back for seconds is Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy — a man whose insatiable appetities need no introduction. This time, he’s slinging something “Cold & Wet” at us, and ultimately, at you. The new 12” has a live version of “The Way” and a BBC take of Kenny Loggins’ great “Buried Treasure” (written by the brothers Gibb!). If you can’t stuff your holiday turkey with this great release or anything else that I’ve described above, then you’re just fucked.

Rian Murphy
Drag City Inc.
October 2006