NEW RELEASES!
We've got two all-new items for your holiday agenda this season – and they'll both be on the street by December 11th plenty of time for John Q Public to scoop it in to his gift-sac before Christmas day. As we've mentioned before, "'Neath the Puke Tree" is a new Smog EP, with a few more pristine moments of Smog for his many faithful to take in. Another shot of fresh Smog is always a treat, isn't it?

We'll also happily flog to you another in the continuing series of Blue Chopsticks releases. It should come as no surprise that the label who offered you releases from Luc Ferrari, Van Oehlen, Mats Gustafsson and David Grubbs is now offering a David Grubbs' EP! It's called "The Coxcomb/Avocado Orange." It's a long story, frequently told, but to reiterate for those late arrivals, this EP features the previously LP-only French release of David's adaptation of Stephen Cranes' short tale, "The Coxcomb." The "Avocado Orange" part of the record is not only a remade piece from David's solo debut, it's also an additional taste of The Spectrum Between sound, being as it is an outtake from that session.

Unfortunately, the Galactic Zoo Dossier has fallen off the 2000 schedule – the production demands (nothing short of reprinting a dream in pen-and-ink drawings!) have forced it back to the relatively safe confines of January, 2001. It and the Chestnut Station release will occupy that position until further notice.

SPECIAL ORDERS
Mail order alert! Our special orders page has been undergoing some heavy changes in the last few weeks. If you haven't visited recently, we suggest that you make it there post-haste – as soon as you're done reading this immortal prose, of course. See, the thing is, mailorder has always been a staple of our business here at ol' Drag City, and we're always trying to give something back to the kids who have so thoughtfully sent us a check over the years. That's what the Special Orders page is all about. And the end of 2000 finds us with a smart set of mail-order only specials.

Fans of The Fucking Champs are advised to get their asses together and check this shit out – the fruit from the branches of The Fucking Champs family tree is all over the fucking place! Since the month before last, we've been offering the awe-inspiring double-LP (or CD) Dead as Dreams from the inappropriately-named Weakling. It's a death-metal collective featuring the string-bending of TFC's own Josh Smith. And as said above, it's fucking awe-inspiring, standing in a completely different field of awe than The Fucking Champs. Also from the fray is Concentrick. This is a Tim Green project, recorded through electronic channels only – there's no air at all on Music for Tunnels. The same may or may not be true of Tender Machines, the newest Concentrick release, which we just added to our special orders page last week.

Then there's the Hamburger. We've been among Neil's biggest fans as well as the label that went out on a limb and issued three albums of his priceless comedy over the years. We even put out an EP in this last year. But the one record we didn't put out is the one we get all the orders for. So in response to continued demand, we'll continue to offer Neil's brilliant tour souvenir CD, 50 States, 50 Laughs, to all interested Special Order-ers for the next time to come.

In a related area of the mail order department, we're pleased to announce that very soon in the very immediate future, we'll be accepting credit cards for mailorders through the services of Paypal! It's going to be great for all you impulse shoppers out there – add Drag City to your shopping basket!

HERE'S LOOKING AT LOU'S
Meanwhile, our Retail Poster Contest rages on! As the consumer-heavy holiday season heats up, we're pleased to report that more and more stores are emphasizing the Drag City section of their stock with gorgeous poster displays all over the store! Take a look at this:

Yes, for the Pacific Coast Highway shoppers out there, this should be a familiar sight – it's Lou's Records, of Encinitas California. Note their shredding technique to create additional excitement. Every submission we get is another lesson in display. It's awesome!

BACK IN THE PALACE
Preparations are still in the works, but it's worth mentioning now we're going to be manufacturing and distributing Palace Records titles in the year 2001. The first release will be the self-titled full-length release from The Anomoanon, which we've heard and are prepared to declare their best record yet! It's totally cool. We are also going to be releasing the all-new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy LP/CD Ease Down the Road. It's the follow up to the haunting, mysterious, fun (and critically acclaimed) I See A Darkness release which spawned a Johnny Cash cover of the same name, etc. It's featuring everybody and is absolutely amazing. And great. And it's all going to be happening sometime in February or March. More on it later!

THIS TIME NEXT YEAR
This time next year, you're going to be sick of hearing about the awesome new titles from Appendix Out, Neil Hagerty, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, U.S. Maple, Edith Frost, Papa M, and so on and so forth! We're confident of the future and happy these records are going to corner the markets on their own individual fascinations and the people are going to love them. But what will the x-factor be? What records aren't visible in the crystal ball as of yet?