News

Time stands stunningly still on The Final Painting, the dreamy, elegiac final album from legendary underground singer-songwriter/poet/painter Ed Askew. Out July 31, his posthumous album is a bracing meditation on gay romance and the slow shuffle off our mortal coil, made in the last years of his life with producer Jerry David DeCicca (who worked with Ed on 2013’s For the World). The first single, “Gray Air-o-Plane,” releases today with a music video; the song features guest vocals by Sharon Van Etten... (read more)

Totality! Automaginary! The in-studio convergence of Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas: two albums made over a decade of time, brought ye now together on CD (both for the first time). Congenial and organic, individual and ensemble inclinations incline in crafting new rhythm ‘n gravity pieces. Invisible force meets ancient object: unique passages in time by two ensembles in shared & separate forever arcs.

Automaginary + Totality 2xCDs are available to order now! This July, Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas will... (read more)

Following a slew of sold out dates this Spring, Glyders profess their undying devotion to the UK and Europe in the only love language they know, by rocking these shores once more with their hi-voltage, low-slung boogie rock.

New album Forever’s spirit is high and tight, and the road-tested live show certainly delivers that slab o' wax's goods with communal joy as the power-trio formation grooves deep into their signature hi-octane jams.

Come choogle with 'em again or check out... (read more)

Are y’all ready for some Hillbilly Erotica? Sir Richard Bishop returns for a new spontaneous six-string meshing of people’s music, recollections and psychic intentions with a new album out in the wild on July 31. Hear the first single “Finger, Tennessee” today, released with a music video by Sir Rick himself.

“Finger, Tennessee” is an acoustic improvisation that feels inexplicably miraculous. Extruding LOUD, Sir Richard's “hillbilly” playing is downright reckless, flying up and down the neck with a melodic, anthemic light. The music... (read more)

This summer, citizens west of the Missouri River are advised to stay alert! Come late August, there's gonna be Dead Rider sightings along the I-80 corridor as far west as Colorado. Since there's no telling what they might do outside their natural habitat, you are further advised to BE THERE, WHAT MATTER NO: in Iowa City, for their first local show since 2018, in Omaha, unplayed since 2014, and — this can't be correct — Des Moines, for the first time ever? Dead Rider should... (read more)

Drag City is pleased to announce reissues of the first two OM records, out May 29. Variations on a Theme and Conference of the Birds are available to pre-order now on vinyl, CD and cassette.

The first OM album, Variations on a Theme, features Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius. It was produced by OM, and was originally released in 2005 on Holy Mountain.

The second OM-ing, Conference of the Birds, also features Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius,... (read more)

Songwriter, guitar innovator, private press legend and man Michael Yonkers has passed away at the age of 78. We join his fans to send our condolences to his other friends and family. He will be missed, but more importantly, Michael’s music, his DIY musical experimentation and his singular approach to conveying his songs over several dozen independently released recordings throughout his life, will be remembered.
 
Inspired as a teenager by the hair-raising freedom rock of The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” and the degraded... (read more)

Los Angeles guitarist Cole Berliner dives into the world of his solo material with his first album, The Black Door, out May 29. Known for his shape-shifting pop compositions as one half of Sharpie Smile (formerly Kamikaze Palm Tree), his debut LP features acoustic-electric arrangements and lineups ranging from stripped down folk, to chamber ensemble, to jazz combo. The second single, "Bongo Syndicate," is out today with a new music video by Brian Bartus.

Guitar and bass lines push and pull... (read more)

The Stars are aligned! Major Stars, that is, and aligned to roll out of their greater Boston fiefdom, come May. A six-strong, triple-guitar rock behemoth in the autumn of their years, Major Stars have energies in reserve at all times for live performance; that's where the Major magic happens! As they're still in proximity to last year's blinding More Colors of Sound, they've arranged a New England run for the first time since 2020, with stops in Hartford, Brattleboro and Providence, as well as another big... (read more)

Songs Album II is LA musician Aaron MF Olson’s Country Thyme Records debut, the second “sung songs” album from the L.A. Takedown architect in just over a decade of releasing music. Mixing satiric, confessional and experimental lyric modes in his songs, Songs Album II is an overwhelming show of Aaron’s compositional gifts and pop sensibilities, cut from a fine cloth of head-informed, classically sweet and soft pop/rock modes. The first single, “Nobody Can Tell,” releases today with a music video by Matt Hewitt... (read more)