DRAWING A BLANK

...yeah, a new year! AT LAST. It got heavy, carrying that old one around after awhile. So...like we do, we step over a drawn line in the sand to proclaim, Happy New Year! And renew our vows as a means of starting over. This act has value, sure; frankly, we're glad to have the slate cleaned this way. But if you think that doing so actually resets time or creates anything else miraculous to make our lives easier - well,... (read more)

Pond Scum is an integral piece in the evolution of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's progressive and prolific catalog. A collection of sessions recorded for John Peel's influential BBC sessions that spans eight years of Bonnie's career, Pond Scum is essential for longtime fans and first-time listeners alike. Will Oldham's songwriting is powerful and compelling, accompanied only by a single guitar and a few subtle, yet captivating harmonies.

Recorded in 2001, "When Thy Song Flows Through Me" is one of the finest paradigms... (read more)

Are you bound by a frozen tundra here in the norther hemisphere, like we, the people of Drag City's, ivory bunker? Then you'll be glad to know there are those of us with the foresight to switch hemispheres this time of year - it's just that kind of preparedness amongst other things that makes your heroes (and ours) so damn likeable! What we're getting at here is, there's virtually a Drag City carnival happening down under all month long! Things kicked off last night with... (read more)

Cock your ears! The sound of the Emotional Mugger is beaming down to you. If you need connection, get it! NPR is streaming Ty Segall's newest RIGHT freakin' NOW.

A delirious, deranged and SKETCHED OUT east-west ride through LA's mirror-laden city of night, Emotional Mugger is the first new Ty Segall album since summer 2014, almost two years man! Tumbling nice, with bite-size bangers in funk 'n' smut jam sandwiches. Emotional Mugger gots Ty exploring a new palette of exploding studio... (read more)

With the release of Pond Scum imminent, floating back in time and fixating on distinguishing periods of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's career seems only natural! Recorded in the spring of 1994, "The Cross" is a frozen moment, showcasing the prodigious talent of a burgeoning Will Oldham in the early years of his career as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. A fearless interpretation of the Prince Rogers Nelson song, "The Cross" is breezy and auspicious whilst firmly commanding the surrounding air with just a voice... (read more)

The almighty, all-seeing and all-encompassing power band that is Rangda return with The Heretic's Bargain on February 19th, but that's just the beginning of their glorious journey in 2016! With a potent new release rising, Rangda claw forth from the depths of some hellish abyss to satisfy all y'alls insatiable desire for the schismatic with a hair-tingling tour following in March! Getting up close and personal with Rangda might seem like a dangerous stunt, but we promise you- it is!  The Heretic's Bargain is the... (read more)

Husband and wife team Johnima and Kalassu Wintergate are Lightstorm: globetrotting musical collaborators retransmitting messages of love from their teacher and Avatar, Sathya Sai Baba.

Since 1973, the Lightstorm discography has been issued under a variety of aliases (Creation Earth, 331/3, Teeth) unknown to all but the most obsessed vinyl casualties. Insofar as the irrepressible J&K are known at all, it's for their twisted, ridiculously entertaining 1982 shot-on-video horror-comedy cult classic, Boardinghouse. (See this movie!)

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There are no Peel sessions anymore - that tradition was buried in the pyramids with John Peel himself upon the great man's passing. Of the thousands left in the wake, six are ascribed to Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - and of those six, three have been combined to form the deeply congruous experience of Pond Scum. A span of eight years is covered, in reverse, and many chestnuts are rolled out, freed of former contexts with sparse arrangements. "(I Was Drunk at the) Pulpit" feels,... (read more)

They said this could never happen; they said it never would, goddamn! But they are Royal Trux - they do what they want, see? Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema, the most notorious and confounding duos in rock and roll, a group that leaves you excited, inspired and bewildered-all within the same song, were GONE FOREVER - recoiled back into whatever radical xanadu they emerged from, into whatever fever dream they'd inhabited. The future was cancelled. They promised!

Well, we say it again... (read more)

Fresh off their longest European tour to date, including their first trip to the UK where they soundly enveloped full houses of blissed-out punters, Bitchin Bajas continue chasing sonics through space and time, living their days in a forward thinking flow motion. For these dudes, rhythms come and go: keys, flutes, and guitars make sound as a means to a greater end. Recorded or live, their music regularly emerges wafting a tranquil essence, engaging a shared experience with their listeners. As the world turns, the... (read more)