News

Jens Hannemann has been teaching, performing, recording, writing, and endlessly talking about his complicated drumming technique for over 30 years. He has performed in over 60 bands, and has written and recorded the drum parts for over 500 songs. As of late, he’s been conducting drum clinics at his current residence in his mother’s garden apartment. With his fluid schedule, Jens has been able to accept an invitation from Joanna Newsom, a longtime supporter of his technique (and on-again-off-again supporter of its creator) to... (read more)

I saw you riding in your red Sunbird and I knew that I had to have you. You were stopped on the corner of Brook and Breckenridge looking so cool. I was the girl with a 12-pack of “D” batteries and a bag of (recycled!) facial tissues, I asked you for a smoke and you smiled and said that the one you were smoking was your last, but I knew it wasn’t, that’s ok. Well if by any chance you read this I hope that... (read more)

The little duo that could (and did) (and have) (and will) (and really should) are now a trio again! As they prepare to embark on a fornight (I say!) of shows looping around in the Northeast, near-Northeast and Canada, Magik Markers Elisa Ambrogio & Pete Nolan are joined by bassist John Shaw — all the better to sludge you in electrical post-blues till yer socks fall back up again! Come witness the shearing power of the new trilogy that is Magik Markers. Go ahead... (read more)

For a full month, she'll be rewiring the highways and binary ways across the cosmos we call America. She's warming the room for Beach House, mostly - which should provide a solid jolt to their fans from east to west. There's some solo Bachelorette shows as well, which'll allow for a few more songs from her Drag City release My Electric Family, as well as her two previous releases. You'll have to call loudly for your favorites though - Ms. Bachelorette's a shy and humble... (read more)

Bill Callahan will be galloping all over Europe for the next couple weeks. In other exciting Callahan news, I'm sure all of you know by now that Gil Scott-Heron has a new record (first in 16 years) and the title track is a Smog cover! That's right, "I'm New Here" can be found on 2005's A River Ain't Too Much To Love. I'd say home is where the love is!

2/13/10 @ Theatre Garonne - Toulouse, France
2/15/10 @ Sala Apolo - Barcelona, Spain... (read more)

In a vale of tears, Joanna Newsom leaves one set of Pacific Islands for another! After a very pleasant affair in Australia and New Zealand, she is now starting over in Japan - a mini-tour for an ultra-country. Ohayo, Nippon!

2/6/10 @ Sunsui - Osaka, Japan
2/7/10 @ Unit - Tokyo, Japan
2/8/10 @ Hoshien Scotthall - Tokyo, Japan

Galactic Zoo Dossier drifted innocuously but seductively into the world in 1995 - and nothing ever looked the same again! After four underground issues, distributed when and where those who would appreciate it congregate, word on the street was, this is the coolest hand-written-and-drawn psychedelic fanzine around! No offense to Ptolemaic Terrascope...they had their day.

It was the momentous year of 2001 that Drag City decided to take the "GZD" under its large feathery wing of production and distribution. And since then, nothing's ever looked... (read more)

TWO THOUSAND AND WHATEVER

Did somebody say something about a new decade? Nah! We were in a new decade already – the first goddam decade of the new millennium! And we’re still there. There won’t be any moving on until we say so – no matter what the calendar tells us. So what if the calendar and the clock on the wall say we’re lost in time! Fuck it people – obviously you haven’t heard our theory? We’re in a interim period between decades here... (read more)

STILL DRAINING, STILL REAMING

Happy Next Year! There’s nothing really new about a new year, you know – we have a randomness with these sorts of delineations in our human world, with borders and time zones drawn over the face of the planet and a calendar grid superimposed over the endless and unknowable march of time. And yet – and this is the magic of our all-pervasive human way of life – these seemingly meaningless designations do eventually create a “vibe,” if you will; a... (read more)

Lights are back out on the road again for another go round of raucous and wild live shows. Now a triumvirate of mystical ladies, Lights recently welcomed the addition of Alana Amram on bass. Have you heard their latest, Rites? Any band that mutates the powers of Jimi Hendrix, unicorns, Stevie Nicks, glowsticks, Prince, Indians and cowboys, Yoko Ono, red wine, Jem and Beyonce into their own smoothly flowing sound, has to be acting from the heart. They were born in rhythm, chanting their... (read more)