Dead Rider are up and rolling again, and Crew Licks is the latest job. After the thousand days and nights since Chills on Glass, Dead Rider had to overcome the creeping suggestion that they multitask themselves to sleep - or to premature brain death, whichever came first. Now they're ready to get into their Rolling Stones suit and thank you for letting them be themselves again; to extrude rude grooves, shattered r'n'b and mother's blues in a priapic triad. Tripped-out and overlaid, shedding the... (read more)

ALL YOU NEED IS REMIX  

What? You actually thought that all required of you had something to do with love? Think again, Romeo (/Einstein!) - because that's actually the only thing you're guaranteed in this life, the right to think again! IF you can. Reconsideration seems to be the ONLY consideration nowadays. For instance, take us and the state of our industry (please!). It was 50 years ago today (ish) that Sgt. Pepper’s band provided a new play... (read more)

Introducing the Crimsmen introduces The Peacers group coming into their own, marking territory established on their 2015 debut, and rubbing our noses in it. Among the many tracks on the new album, you slip and slide from peakings of keening bubblegum scuzz romp to gleaming melancholic nocturne with rips and bits of things flown in from other places amid the gentle settling of dust in the basement recording room. We've previewed a couple of songs already, flashing elements of jangle, wistful acoustic and punk/classic... (read more)

Lordy, John Mulaney has totally cleaned up on the late night TV circuit over the course of the last week! Fresh off a visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last Wednesday, John stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers last night to discuss, among other things, his forthcoming LP/CD on Drag City—The Comeback Kid! After being released on Netflix last year, Mulaney’s hilarious stand up special (recorded live at the Chicago Theatre) The Comeback Kid is officially set to arrive at record... (read more)

Mark Fosson has been playing guitar for almost fifty years and his mastery of the instrument is undeniable! Take "Once Was A Time" for instance -- his bristling, fluid action evokes an ebullient energy motoring down an endless, melodic highway. Fosson's playing conjures the sound of a string quartet, each strum and pluck harmoniously amalgamating to create a stunningly centripetal sound sure to explode even the heaviest heads out there. That golden, eternal promise of the guitar is exactly what Mark delivers: the air... (read more)

Somebody call the Junkie Nurse, it's about to get messy! Royal Trux's new "LIVE" album, Platinum Tips + Ice Cream, is now streaming on NPR's First Listen! Exploring the hidden corners and dark recesses of their influences and absolutely turning them on their head has always been the formula to Trux's success (sic), and with Platinum Tips + Ice Cream that bitches brew is on full display! Hear brand new versions of RTX favorites, deconstructed and split into a zillion pieces: Jennifer... (read more)

Call his new album The Comeback Kid if you will, but Chicago born John Mulaney is no kid! For the past decade, he's performed stand-up comedy on stages around the world, written for Saturday Night Live and Documentary, Now!, and starred in his very own cancelled sitcom! So our John's a man-ish boy, then! The Comeback Kid is an all-audio recording of his Netflix special of the same name - his third album overall and first ever on vinyl! That works good, since The... (read more)

A Drag City steamroom session serves to remind us of the raw emotive possibilities revealed by performances in simple settings. In this case, it's stark, solitary guitar bouncing off the white tiled walls of the steam room found deep within the DCHQ bunker! Yup, Chicago local Bill MacKay stopped by our steamy shower setting to lay down a refined take on a select cut from his fresh new solo album, Esker!

Bill performed "Twilight", a graceful exploration of harmonics and melodics executed... (read more)

AH, yes, it's a brand new month and another season on earth! Given today's climate, who knows how many more seasons we've got but that's all the more reason to ACT NOW and join Meg Baird for some upcoming shows! That's right, Meg's got a loaded six string on her back and is headed down the southeast corridor of these fine fifty states stopping in cities like Richmond and Atlanta before looping west towards Texas! Meg's carefully constructed ballads are brimming with vibrancy, taking... (read more)

Back from the dead again, Papa M has a new video for one of last fall's Highway Songs to remind us of the tumult and triumph found in those rare grooves. If you can recall all the way to last year (we can't),  Highway Songs heaved contradictions and curveballs right at our ears, exploding like  electric magma while exploring  intrinsic moments of existence via an audio-diary vérité. An episodic shot to the heart (through the best way to Papa M's heart, the guts), delivered with... (read more)