Sometimes the stars align and beam a molten beam of light towards one destination; such is the case when Drag City descends onto the Big Ears Festival next month in Koxville, TN! Let's examine: in one weekend, the field is stacked with talent for all the punters to enjoy - Six Organs of Admittance, Laetitia Sadier,Sir Richard Bishop, and Rangda all suit up for musical pleasantries. And what perfect timing, with new records by Six Organs of Admittance (Burning The Threshold) and... (read more)

As Piero Scaruffi puts it, "Royal Trux established themselves during the 90's as one of the greatest rock groups of all time. Not only did they give us the masterpiece of extraordinary scope Twin Infinitives (one of the albums that required decades to be completely assimilated) but they also reinvented the concept of a rock group, a concept that was born with the Rolling Stones (a group that had inspired the duo but just as importantly provided them with a definitive example on which to... (read more)

Alasdair Roberts' high-spirited new album, Pangs, is in stores on Friday - and in commemoration with this forthcoming moment of uplift, we share with one and all the newly-minted video for the title track. Throughout Pangs, Alasdair's leads a band on electric guitar, offering an evocation of the 60s and 70s folk-rockers of the British Isles - the electric warriors of Fairport Convention, the Battlefield Band, Planxty, Richard Thompson and so many others. Of course, these sounds travel... (read more)

Bill MacKay is a musician and a musician's friend - a genial guitarist/composer/improviser based in Chicago who has energized the experimental folk, rock and avant scenes around town with his polyglot approach to the guitar, combining the folk of Appalachia, the blues and gospel with rock, jazz, western-country and an array of eastern modes. Mackay's interest in this tactic - essentially, a personal blending of roots elements - has evidence itself throughout his discography. On Esker, his third solo work and his Drag City debut,... (read more)

Now that the dust has settled on Wand's first crazy year as a band - three albums between August 2014 and September 2015, they seem to have settled into a long winter's nap, allowing us the time to finally catch up on all three of those fantastic releases (as well as spending some time with singer Cory Hanson's solo debut, The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo). But no sooner do they settle in, when suddenly everybody wants to pull them back out again!... (read more)

Good morning, you ragers! Last night Ty Segall blew up the soundstage at Late Night with Seth Meyers so hard, in front of a national TV audience no less, if you witnessed it your Roku surely melted! If you're the type that was safely tucked in bed by then, well, this is dankest explanation for the tremor you felt in the earliest moments of the morning! And thanks to the lovely, free (for now!) passageways of the internet, there's ample archived documentation of Ty and... (read more)

Just what you've always wanted but never knew how to ask for over these long and challenging past six month: Neil Michael Hagerty & The Howling Hex's Denveron CD! But it's not SIMPLY Denver, you dolt! What would  be the point in even announcing that? No, this CD contains BOTH the original LP mix of Denver and the Denver: Approved for Indica Mix plus a couple of mixes exclusive to this release only, all on one CD in one specially-hand-printed-package made... (read more)

 Burning the Threshold brings a wealth of Six Organs-styled lightness into one of his sweetest musical meditations yet. A head-full of ideas were driving Ben Chasny to think and speak music as a spirituality superimposed onto a reality, with the ghosts of both whispering at each other. In the end, what sits in our listening ears is the sound of communion. And with a brain that at times seems to throb with such intensity as to possibly burst the seems of his skull, Chasny... (read more)

It's a time of ideas upon the table and out the window alike! For all citizens, it's a time to don our pince-nez and consider both the fine print and the long view on all that we are offered and all that we're ordered to leave behind. This isn't an endeavor simply for the socio-political sector, either! Our singers are tasked as well with expressions of the same that represent for the thoughts and feelings of the nations. Fortunately, Drag City don't lack for any... (read more)

Bill Callahan is one bad mother –father, child! Like a villain he hides out with his fam, carefully crafting his next move. Captivating! A splendid device for the man who long since stuck his head out of the Smog – his music spellbinds, and his performances leave us drinking from his lovin’ cup.  Watch out now, that cup’s ready to pour some out for the lonely ears of London, England!

Bill Callahan does prefer shows of the intimate variety, OK? So within the... (read more)