"LITTLE JOYA"

There was a song left out of the sessions for JOYA, called “Joya”.  The idea for the title of the song and the record was to pay tribute to the Minutemen’s 7” Ep “Joy” as well as to, well, just JOY, and then to augment both and all with an extra vowel.  After the JOYA recording, Will Oldham and Bob Arellano went to Mexico.  They landed in Monterrey and discovered that there was a soft drink factory there which... (read more)

Back at the end of last year, we were frankly excited and ready to take you back down the years to the first two Rafael Toral records, Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field, remastered and repackaged to appear on vinyl for the first time ever! They were scheduled for February release, and then the unexpected happened - goblins, not of freedom so much as production, got in the way. The test pressings sounded wack, which is always a drag, but is especially distressing... (read more)

 Haley Fohr, of experimental folk project Circuit des Yeux, performs an original soundtrack for one of the first art films ever made---Salomé, the 1923 silent film adaptation of a play by Oscar Wilde.

The plot of Salomé has long been an inspiration for moving musical work, most notably for Strauss's opera of the same name, which reflects the shock of modernity in Wilde's text. Like Strauss, Fohr finds contemporary resonance in Salomé's sensuality and violence, scoring the film with extended... (read more)

LOST BLUES AND OTHER SONGS

The 1990s were a time of transition in the music business; but then, what decade isn’t?  Vinyl was on its way out and compact discs were embraced by most buyers.  The 7” single already had a limited audience: a potential buyer needed to have access to a store that carried singles; the buyer had to have a functioning record player; the buyer needed the energy and dedication required to perform the act of putting a single onto her... (read more)

Oooh-ooh that smell, can't you smell that smell? The smell of Wand surrounds you! Yes - "Perfume" is on the wind, and time is inching closer and closer to the much-anticipated May 25th EP drop, but how about another snoot-ful to carry you through until then? A bit of "Pure Romance," perhaps, with chimes of guitars, crisp and fresh melodies and a core-shattering thump that takes hold with an iron grip, drawing you tight into a dangerous liaison of pop and rock, as both long... (read more)

Freedom's Goblin is FREE! And honkin' down the highway as we speak. With axes, electric keys, vocal cords and full batterie, natch (plus saxophone), Ty Segall and the gang on the Freedom's Goblin World Freedom Tour (with the Europe legs kicking in late May) are lifting up our people one city at a time, with music played in exchange for a slice of OUR LIVES (and a measly few bux)! What better a time for a new single! It's a different take on the album-opener... (read more)

"LITTLE BLUE EYES"

John Peel, you may know, was a brilliant music curator under the employ of the BBC for many many years.  As part of his duties, he commissioned recording sessions from musicians traveling through London.  On the first Palace Brothers trip through the UK and Europe, they were invited by Peel to record four songs at he BBC’s Maida Vale studios to be broadcast later on Peel’s show.  In 1996, Drag City released two of these four songs on a 7”... (read more)

The more we look it over, the new video fromDrinksconfirms our suspicion that that Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley are two extremely everyday people - it's just the world around them that's insane! Even mundane images of them standing idly about seem to wash through a technicolor prism in this video, mixed with what appear to be home movie-type shots from a tropical vacation. In this context, whether regarding groups of dancing teenagers, bathing adults or penguins milling on a beach, it... (read more)

During the making of the Wolf of The Cosmos record, Will Oldham was immersed in Susanna's music.  Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales asked Oldham if he was down for another collaboration (the previous one got Bonny and Louisville jammers Watter together for a demonic dirge "The Devil is People").  They started talking Norway, and fortitude, and mysticism; then they retreated to their respective corners to roll up their sleeves and do their own dirty worx.  Oldham found Susanna's original for "Wild is the... (read more)

A NEW TOMORROW

Turn the page....and here we are. Wake up, it's today! Sure, it's not the way today used to be - that's called science, folks, and it can explain a lot to us, if we only listen (and more crucially, comprehend)! But what are you gonna do - some equations won't make sense no matter how long we study them. So if you feel in the grip of something you don't understand, that may just be the first step into... (read more)