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On October 2, 2008, on tour, in Seattle, with Silver Jews, in between songs, David Berman addressed the crowd:

“This is our 86th show! You know, I'll tell ya.... I have some pretty jaded musician friends, who've heard me say this kind of thing before, and asked ‘Why are you always counting your shows? Nobody cares about that!’ And I was like, ‘Oh gee, I don’t know... maybe because they’re important?  Because they actually mean something to me?’"

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2020! Now it can be told: the charade of a world without new Magik Markers records (six-plus years!) has finally ended. In these times of contagion fables and hacky blockbuster n95 disaster imagery IRL, Markers emerge again like three Lazarus from their three individual firmaments, just in the nick of the end of time.

What Magik Markers do best is listening, and as John Shaw, Pete Nolan and Elisa Ambrogio worked with the tunes, they heard something taking shape. Less a style than... (read more)

In the years of this new century (AY2K) guitarist Tashi Dorji has stood out in the field of improvised music with an incisive way of playing in and out of moments, tremendous conviction alongside the mercurial touch needed to ride the changing wind. Tashi's debut for Drag City is the work of a seasoned player, delving fearlessly forward and finding new places in the present moment with every stroke and pick. Stateless is about more than just playing your way into somewhere. This is music... (read more)

A Smog cover from the artist formerly known as Smog! Maintaining the original bounce but eschewing the star-crossed semi-tragic implications of his late-90s version,  Bill Callahan's new rendition finds fresh life, flexibility and freedom in the promise of the next chapter played out in the hinterland - but is it prequel or sequel? Heaven knows.
 

Listen to "Let's Move to the Country" on the DSP of your choice and remember, Gold Record... (read more)

With their one and only early-90s release, Fearful Symmetry, ad-hoc art freaks Box of Chocolate's secretly showcased music from a young Will Oldham, a figment of early Phish marination, an enthomusicologist, a 2019 Tony Award Winner, and more (weirdos)!
So consider Fearful Symmetry a time capsule bridging the gap between funky, post-punk 80s sounds and freewheeling, 90s college rock experimentation, and one its best songs, "The Writhe," a high energy track glimmering with new wave, tight grooves, layered guitars, and a heavy... (read more)

Summer 2020 keeps ragin' full on, and No Age keep firing on all cylinders. As our world descends into a perilous, unknown state, Dean and Randy have been channeling their live show energies into some extraordinary videos instead, wrapping as many Goons Be Gone (DC767) songs as possible with warm, comforting visuals, full of the action and color of the outside world - like deja vu, sunshine recollected from a dream. "Turned To String" is the latest case in point, with Jonn Herschend (who previously collaborated on ... (read more)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Of course, that's just not quite the reality for most of us right now, but Bill Callahan's folksy meditation on belonging not only assuages fears, but conjures what's needed most right now: a cross-the-driveway embrace of simple family values and connection.   
 
With "The Mackenzies," a broken-down car leads a man to adopt a new family next door. Shedding his trademark DIY bon mots with ease, Bill floats, alongside guitars and bass, through a dreamscape of deep... (read more)

After the shutdown and accompanying production delays at COVID-challenged pressing plants, the long-promised deluxe vinyl edition of John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch will soon be ready to ship. This was a project founded to spread the wisdom of the youth to all ages, but with the advent of the contagion, we've seen a world more challenged to receive wisdom than we ever wished to guess. To more adequately serve the people in this current climate, we're marking down the limited autographed LP edition of ... (read more)

Compassion is a cycle of music born of the need for healing.

Jim Becker has been playing music for several decades, in Chicago and around the world, with lengthy tenures in Califone and Iron & Wine and many additional production and playing credits to his name. Lama Lobsang Palden is a gifted energy healer, teaching Yantra Yoga and Buddhist meditation. As a young boy, he was recognized as a tulku - a reincarnation of a Nyingma guru yoga master. Following the path, he studied all... (read more)

We know how you feel right about now, over midway through this tumultuous year: another week, another.... oh hold up, wait - it's another Bill Callahan song! With 2020 chock-full of unprecedented, fundamental shifts, it's only fitting that modern day Bill C would tackle the Gold Record reveal with a similarly conceptual yet seriously positive approach!
 

So, here we meet again. Bill's latest offering, "Protest Song" details a singer-songwriter aghast at the unreality of the... (read more)