OUT WITH THE NEW OLD
...in with the old new! The last year here at Drag City has seen an utter turnover (and turnaround) in the staff. As the New Year dawned, our people were dealing with burnout, overwork, and all manner of medical trauma. Not to mention the business of selling and promoting records for Drag City – how could they forget? You have no idea how easy it actually was. So, what have we done in the face of these assorted crises? We've gone with the flow of course – and one by one, the hangers-on, criminals, dropouts, and terminally ill have fallen away from the tree. As predicted, they let it all hang out before they rolled on, and we’re still picking up the pieces – with our usual high standards, of course. Shed no tears for Drag City though - we’re still standing. In the remainder of the 2000 year, expect a new-look organization to knock you back, not only with new records, but with a fresh new sense of paranoia, power games and cop-outs, the likes of which the industry hasn’t seen in at least the last week or so.
In the meantime, if there’s an experienced press publicist in the house who’d be willing to take a pay cut to promote the best damn cutting edge popular music releases in America today, drop us a line, eh? The interviewing process has already begun.
POUNDING ON
With an LP in the chute and a high-flying world tour lined up for June, July, August and September, Royal Trux are now completely ready to get it on, to get it all together one more time, to take it to the people and to do it to you like you knew they could. The North American Tour starts in Baltimore on June the 14th and ends up in Vancouver on August 2nd. After that, it’s off to the UK and greater Europe, then the countries of the Pacific Rim. And after that, it's back to the US for a series of special dates in the Gulf Coast states, where some of the biggest Trux fans are lurking. Yes, all stops will be pulled out this time, and to that end, true believers will be pumped to hear that Pound for Pound will feature a television commercial among its many promotions. Late night faithful unite! We’ll have your local listings for you as soon as they are available.
SOMETHING ABOUT JIM
The cult of O’Rourke is growing. And so are their questions and complaints. Damn those cultists! They’re the same as all the cultists before them – never satisfied with high quality electroshock therapy and the best damn group sex in the country! Seriously, though – the problem with the O’Rourke cult is that they want a new record from their hero, and he’s just not ready to satisfy them yet. He’s just too busy helping out his friends to hunker down and deliver the full-length follow-up to 1999’s Eureka album and "Halfway to a Threeway" EP. 2000 has gone by quickly for our Mr. Jim - first, he was sequestered in a studio, sworn to secrecy and put to work getting the Sonic Youth comeback album up and running. Once the results were in, the group was so pleased with "their" work, they signed Jim up to be a fifth Beatle (to their four Wings) on their forthcoming comeback tour with Stereolab. So he’s locked in to the full-time job of making them look good. It’s rough, but he can do almost anything he wants on this tour (including his inevitable "playing naked" and "playing dead" routines) and those moldy old fucks will declare it post-art. And if he and his legions of fans get lucky, the Youth will give him a little "unplugged" section to blow them all away with. Plus, they’re paying him but good. So fear not, O’Rourkians your hero is in good stead. And come 2001, you should hear all about it – in song, of course.
IN THE WORKS
We've got our summer lineup almost all the way lined up! Records that are winding their way to a senses-shattering conclusion include the Will Oldham/Rian Murphy EP ("All Most Heaven," due in June), the artwork for which we imagine you’ll find hilarious. There’s also the mysterious Movietone record, which we imagine we’re going to think looks great. Plus, the long-awaited Plush album (no title yet, nor artwork, but a light at the end of the tunnel, anyway), and the Chestnut Station party album, which is almost done and almost great. Elsewhere, our favorite band from Manitoba, The Sundowners, have broken with tradition and sent us an EPs worth of material. It’s going to be a whole new side of The Sundowners, and we’re gonna put it out on Sea Note later this year. Finally, The Fucking Champs have completed IV and we’re frantically fitting it into the schedule. Look for that by the end of the summer. |