News

Whistle from Above, out February 28th, is David Grubbs’ first Drag City release in over a decade and his first-ever instrumental album for the label — and why shouldn’t it be? The suspiciously youthful Grubbs is now four decades into his career, with former bands including Gastr del Sol, Squirrel Bait and Bastro, along with a wild ride of collaborators over the years — lately, Tony Conrad, Taku Unami, Jan St. Werner, and Wendy Eisenberg. The list grows each year! If all... (read more)

After a near-total silence of twenty years, Edith Frost is back again with twelve new songs that revitalize the timeless luminescence of her voice and songcraft. In Space, out February 28 on Drag City, is her first new record since 2005’s It’s a Game, and it’s just in time — the world needs Edith’s voice back in the conversation. And her ineffable way with a tune...

It appears Edith needed something, too: from the notebooks of her long hiatus, a line... (read more)

Acoustics held high, Corey Madden (Color Green) and Ty Segall make their debut bow as Freckle and their self-titled LP reminds all of us that when the clouds are out, you can still get sunburned.

Lead single "Taraval" pulses with a heart-tugging progression, fluidly running the changes. This bristling, sunshiny tone offsets a moody vocal melody – Ty’s tenor voice paired with Corey’s baritone – lending the tune a searching feeling. In closing, piano, slide and lead guitars touch off a sweet... (read more)

A Shaw Deal, out January 31, is the first album by Geologist & D.S., an expanding sonic field built up by Animal Collective’s Brian “Geologist” Weitz that lovingly reorders and reconstructs a few minutes of Doug Shaw’s fine folk guitar chops and magic vibe. Utilizing a handful of pieces Doug posted online, Brian’s loops and edits take Doug’s playing on an affirmative trip through peaceful idylls and energizing spaces, melding their very different music into a singular intangible essence... (read more)

Ready to go back? Prison’s still out there, breaking rocks in the haze and rumbling in the heat, just waiting for you to come around. Downstate, the second official Prison stint, is out January 31, 2025, stretching to insane new places while pumping out some of the toughest jams around. Lead single “Eyes For Keys” is on the loose today!

Prison’s been active since 2015, but if you didn’t catch ’em live in NYC, then you didn’t know until the summer of ‘23... (read more)

Over the past two decades, Tashi Dorji’s distinguished approach to the guitar has unveiled sounds both materially unheard and eternally familiar. Striking upon the fuse of his 2020 record Stateless, Tashi’s follow-up is an acoustic statement: all improvised, always political, sounding sympathy for the opposition in the fabric of every experimental revelation. we will be wherever the fires are lit is out November 22; today, Tashi releases the album’s title track.

Strumming a march — countered by a deliriously fingered counter-riff... (read more)

The smoke has cleared: Papa M has finally reappeared! Ballads of Harry Houdini is David Pajo’s latest bag of dirty tricks, revved up n’ ready for the big reveal next month. We’ll shut up (yeesh!) and get to the shredding though: “People’s Free Food Program” is here for all today.

Over a swirling bed of circus-like synth lines, Papa M constructs a shred-for-the-hills, golden-age guitarismo workout on "People's Free Food Program" — burbling with notes of R’n’B, dub reggae and rich, Corinthian leather.... (read more)

Break loose, West Coast: Prison is doin’ hard tour time this November! Sarim Al-Rawi, Matt Lilly, Paul Major and Matt Leibowitz (who knows, maybe more!) make up the live band this time 'round, seeking the heat in Los Angeles, Oakland, Eureka, Portland and Seattle. There's some scorched new jams cooked up for this trip, best experienced in the flesh — just keep your head screwed on! More on the horizon, too. After all: what must go Upstate...

Full... (read more)

Jim Franks is not a professional baker, because there are no such things as professional bakers. He is also not your father and never will be, nor is this a cookbook full of stories and recipes. This is a book about bread, titled Existential Bread, fresh out of Drag City’s oven on January 31, 2025.

Jim Franks is a baker and a poet who’s written a love story about bread — which is to say he’s written a life story about listening, learning, trying,... (read more)

December 10, 2001, Maida Vale: Bill Callahan’s “Smog”, out on the Rain On Lens tour, made a stop at the BBC and performed with demonstrative zeal for their British witness, shimmering and hissing with a Lynchian vibe of U.S. darkness in the invariable shadows of the fallen towers. The Holy Grail is the mythical relic from that very Peel Session, with Callahan & band (Jessica Billey, Mike Saenz and Jim White) covering Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed and Smog with... (read more)