MOVING ON
Hoo boy! This Drag City thing just couldn't get any better. A few weeks back, we wrote to you in crisis - half our staff was down with the damnedest things! A tumor, pancreatic fever, raging apathy and just plain rage were a few of the excuses written on forged doctor's notes that we received over the past couple months. And naturally, we didn't believe a word of any of it. But then, the magic started to occur: with only a skeleton crew available to us, we managed to do a little bit more growing. It took a Smog album and a hit romantic comedy (+ soundtrack LP), but we actually did it again! And now that we have, everyone in the warehouse is fired! We're streamlining our shipping and receiving staff, stripping away the false modesty and the ego games that some would say have prevented us from competing with the big boys (they're wrong, of course). As we move into the future, expect more and better from our box packing division, as well as more and more better in the crucial areas of quality control and public relations (aka phone answering), as well. Our destination is unilateral success!
MEANWHILE, BACK IN HOLLYWOOD
We've read the latest issues of Variety and Billboard - and we know that High Fidelity is still putting the asses into the seats in theaters all around this country of ours. And the soundtrack is tearing it up, too! Good for them - but good for us too. As we've tried to explain in the recent past, the movie is an entertainment experience riddled with Drag City references and characters from our anti-empire of non-conformism. Hence, music from Brother JT, Edith Frost, Smog and Royal Trux, and acting appearances from Liam Hayes of Plush and Al Johnson from U.S. Maple. But what we haven't mentioned is that the band backing up Jack Black in his memorable rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," is a group of DC all-stars, with members of Papa M, Chestnut Station and Plush not only playing in the grooves, but also standing like a collection of wax dummies behind the hilarious Mr. Black during his shining moment. Hey, it's their moment too - except that the soundtrack doesn't even credit these hard-working individuals. So we thought we'd give credit where credit is due. You heard it here first!
HOW BLUEGRASS MUSIC ENRICHED OUR LIVES
After several years of struggle, we stand today on the verge of doubling the Drag City publishing empire - we're putting out another book! Not just any book either - this baby is a collection of facts and fiction from America's foremost fingerpicking guitar player, John Fahey. Previously the author of dozens of LPs, Fahey's life's work is now further illuminated by a dozen story-essay-memoir pieces. Prepare to be surprised, as some of the material explicates adult themes and racial stereotypes as well as both musical and non-musical topics. Having read the book, we're glad we did so, even if we're also glad we didn't have to live the life behind it!
NEW RELEASES
Last week, Dongs of Sevotion hit the stores, and hit big. But that was only the beginning. With Smog in place and the country aghast, we are on the verge of shipping more new releases to the world! As regular readers of this column may already know, we are reissuing two classic Half Japanese albums on CD, Sing No Evil and Our Solar System. They're both from 1984 and it's about time they were available on CD. A lot has happened since then. Additionally, we're taking extreme pleasure in two new Moikai releases: The World Shopping with Space Ponch by Space Ponch and Ongakushitsu by Aki Tsuyuko. These records are reissues from the cutting-edge Japanese market. There's also the aforementioned John Fahey paperback and another printwork, the latest hilarious issue of The Minus Times, which annually gathers some of the best stuff that didn't make the cut from some of the best new writers around these days! If you work in a record shop and you aren't getting these things, you should ask yourself (or someone near you) why not. In our not inconsiderable estimate, no record store will be complete without them.
SUBMISSION
There's no delicate way to put something like this, so we'll come right out and say what everyone else in the industry is saying: it doesn't seem like there's anything happening in the new music business these days. This isn't a criticism, mind you - we're just commenting based on some of the demos we've been getting. The imagination - it isn't there. We're not hearing it. The rhymes are wack. The cadence is all wrong. After listening to the various forms of rock, post-rock, country, alt-country and quiet storm submissions, we have decided that too many people have to pay the bills every month to really let go and make the kind of record we're all going to be talking about in another ten years. But don't ever change, people - keep buying the new Drag City records! Here's a couple things to look forward to this summer.
HAMBURGER TO GO
Fans of comedy, take heart! "America's Funnyman," Neil Hamburger will soon be issuing an all-new record. "Inside Neil Hamburger" is an EP of material worked up during his expatriate stay in Australia, where he has toured the countryside there opening for a number of top acts, including Smog. The time away hasn't dulled Neil's instincts at all, and Hamburger fans will find themselves wanting more after a listen to this delightful aperitif!
THE SPECTRUM AHEAD
Also preparing a new release is the inimitable David Grubbs, who just stepped in from New York a week ago to finalize plans for new records on Blue Chopsticks, in addition to his long-awaited followup to The Thicket. He calls the new one The Spectrum Between. We'll have more for you on this soon, including a detailed description of how the songs sound and what we think they mean. But before any of that, there's the new Royal Trux LP/CD, Pound for Pound, which is not only awesome but something we're really going to get into next week. AOR masterpiece that it is, it hasn't quite sunk all the way in yet, so we want to grow one week more before the science begins. |