NEWS 11/13/2000

FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS STOCKING
Well! So it’s mid-November, 2000 already. In other words, it’s Christmas country. We’re still getting used to the idea of the end of the century come the New Year and now this! But that’s okay – in the long run, it doesn’t matter if we know what year it is. As long as we get a month right every once in awhile, we’ll be alright.

When last we spoke, you were listening to me talk about how happy we were about the new High Llamas release. And thank goodness I didn’t say something stupid like, We couldn’t be happier about it! Because, I mean, after all – isn’t there always room for more happiness? Particularly when it comes to High Llamas. They’ve just kept selling records – and for us, that just means more happiness. So we feel fulfilled.

And now it’s Christmas, country-time. That’s what we’re all about, you know – Christmas is our time of year. That’s why we put out all the records – so that they can be sold as gifts, and fill everyone’s stockings with joy. And ours with money. This summer and fall, we touched pedal to metal in an effort to provide more gifts to more people interested in music, culture and entertainment. Releases over this time included David Grubbs’ super The Spectrum Between album; an EP of great new jokes from Neil Hamburger (“Inside Neil Hamburger”); visionary long-playing records from Movietone and Kev Hopper (The Blossom Filled Streets and Whispering Foils, respectively); Rian Murphy & Will Oldham’s timeless ”All Most Heaven” EP; The Fucking Champs incendiary Drag City debut, IV; “Blues Hollers and Hellos”, a fantastically full meal of an EP from The Red Krayola; The High Llamas’ Buzzle Bee and new releases from Mats Gustafsson (on Blue Chopsticks) and Pita (on Moikai).

Lots of gifts there. Even Herr Claus is jealous. This year, you can cut out the middleman – mailorder your gifts directly from us.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL
Look for a release or two in the month of December. On the 11th of that mythical month, we’ll have an EP from Smog and an EP from David Grubbs (on Blue Chopsticks). “‘Neath the Puke Tree” is the Smog EP, and over the course of it’s 20 minutes or so, it adds a few more moments of pure Smog to the ones you’ve already got stored up in that place you call a “soul.” Plus there’s a couple of gut-wrenching revisitations of two Smog classics, one from long ago, the other from more recently. It’s quite moving, you’ll see. And the David Grubbs’ EP is called “The Coxcomb/Avocado Orange.” It features the previously LP-only French release (vinyl still available on our Special Orders page) of David’s adaptation of Stephen Crane’s short tale, “The Coxcomb.” Whew! Yeah, that mouthful hardly allows one to consider the “Avocado Orange” part of the disc, which is another mouthful in itself. This track is not only a remade piece from David’s solo debut, it’s also an additional piece of The Spectrum Between puzzle, featuring performances by all the stalwarts of that recording. And finally, for all you psychedelic music and classic comic book fans, Galactic Zoo Dossier #5 will be available for your stocking a hand-written tribute to the last age of innocence the world has ever known. GZD#5 contains over 65 pages of hand-scribed musicology: a veritable illuminated manuscript. This issue is the special Guitar God issue, and comes with a complete set of 50 Damaged Guitar God trading cards. And also a full-length CD of unreleased yet heavily related material – history in the making! What are you waiting for? Jump into the nearest time machine and set the controls for the heart of December 11th!

So, yeah! These pieces too are Christmas tree-bound.

Unfortunately, the Chestnut Station record has fallen off the schedule for 2000 – tiny little technical problems being the hurdle that couldn’t be cleared this time out. It’s a shame – we would have thrilled to the though of the whole family twistin’ round the old oak tree come Xmas am – but that’s the way the rock rolls. Better luck to you, Chestnut Station, in the new millennium!

SPRINGING FORWARD
This year has been a blast in so many ways – at times a hot one and at other moments, a chilly blast, as the cold hard truth rained down on us all. But this is a great moment to talk about what next year brings. We’ve told you that Appendix Out are a solid candidate to kick things off with their all-new, all-awesome new LP, The Night is Advancing. It was recorded in the dark and foreboding (yet beautiful) Scottish highlands with two of our finer staff producers, Rian Murphy and Sean O’Hagan just coincidentally happening by and helping see the thing through. But they almost didn’t have to, since Ali Roberts cooked up a corker of a new Appendix Out LP – a rougher, tougher, more penetrating look at the kinds of things that Appendix Out like to look at. And diverse musically, as well! You’re going to love it, and you’ll never feel the same way about Appendix Out again.

Some short period of time after this comes the release of the official Neil Hagerty solo LP, Neil Michael Hagerty. This record is sure to blow many minds out there, being the hand-crafted efforts of one of Drag City’s most enigmatic figures through the years. As always, Neil’s lyrical logic is confounding (the truth hurts, man) and the driving synthetic beats, cheap organ parts and unhinged guitar topping are strictly satisfying. There’s a lot of catchy melodies, too. We’ve only heard it here in the office once or twice, but Neil Michael Hagerty sounds like a hit to us. The excitement level around here is through the roof!

Meanwhile, Edith Frost and U.S. Maple are now in the studio – not together, fool! – each working on their official Next Album. We’ll have more to share with you on this as this year becomes...uh, this year I suppose. Look for new results from them in the Spring.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT JIM
People! Listen up – Jim O’Rourke has phoned in, telling us of the latest scandals and incidents in his recent adventures, as well as filling in a few of the blanks in his upcoming calendar. As far as scandals are concerned, the Winona Ryder thing is over...Jim moved on, and so did she – first to Beck and then to Beck’s dog-walker (who showed up after Beck went to the gym). Jim was unaffected by this, for as we failed to mention in our last excerpt, Winona wasn’t the only female in bed with Jim at the momentous moment of their coupling.

Yeah, Jim’s been “busy” for sure...but now he’s back in town, recording Stereolab for the next three months, basically. In between Lab sessions, he’s working on his collaborative effort with Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche, which continues to threaten to be a really cool record, once it comes out. And when all this is done, Sonic Youth is going to Japan which means Jim is going to Japan too! And in between all this, O’Rourke and Nobukazu Takemura will be working hard to complete their collaborative album.

There’ve been lots of collaborations in Jim’s life of late and the next we hear of one, be it live on stage in front of millions (or even thousands) or between the sheets with another spent (but kinky) Hollywood starlet, we’ll let you know!

LATE RETURNS
The Hamburger House of Blues appearance went great! Neil was nearly killed by hundreds of rabid fans – Tenacious D fans – but everyone backstage agreed that it was the funniest thing they'd seen in days! And the reviews were unbelievable. Yes, informal spoken word reviews from many celebrities (and other spectators) were overheard after the show – and they were all raves. He did it! He really pulled it off this time. And the week after the show, LA soundscan numbers on all Hamburger releases spiked big-time. We’re impressed by the power of the funny word.

Meanwhile, Movietone are winding up their vaunted, widely anticipated US tour of the eastern and near-eastern tour. Unfortunately, they missed their vaunted, widely anticipated Boston show, which was a real drag. What made it worse was that the cause of the problem had to do with Canada and the unhelpful Canadians at the van rental agency up there in Toronto! Once again, and with feeling , please: God Damn Them.

Oh, but the rest of the tour has been great – good music played before large crowds with decent merchandise sales wrapping up every evening. Fans have been able to hear their favorite classic Movietone numbers, and the band – they love seeing America from the window of a van! So it’s been a win-win situation – now be sure to pick up a vinyl copy of The Blossom Filled Streets from your local retailer as soon as possible. They’re not getting any younger.

NEXT WEEK
More from the retail display contest front! The truth about Smog! Other secrets!