News

The date was March 6, 2023. Bill Callahan strode onto the stage at Chicago’s Thalia Hall, flanked by Matt Kinsey on guitar, Dustin Laurenzi on alto sax and Jim White on the kit. They all were feeling good, and it seemed like the crowd was also. But that wasn’t all. They had some special surprises planned… Take it away, Bill…

“This is a live album that was taken from the tour for YTI⅃AƎЯ. Songs tend to mutate after they’ve... (read more)

Spiraling into the ether, Wand turns ‘round with a new single off their clouded Vertigo album ahead of its July 26 wide release. Today, march to the premiere of “JJ” with a multichromatic, animated music video from the minds of Vernon Chatman and lilfuchs!

In another realm from last month’s single, “Smile”, Wand drip and pulse with pulpy fascination on “JJ”, making their bed with upright bass, brushed drums, and tremolo’d keyboard and guitar. When the walls fall away and... (read more)

On August 30, Drag City presents the first official reissue of Dorothy Carter’s 1976 debut album, her folk-music exegesis: Troubadour. It’s been 20 years since Dorothy’s passing — but thanks to last year’s reissue of her second album, Waillee Waillee (1978), and this edition of Troubadour, her music is surging forward ever more powerfully. Today’s announcement comes with a visualizer for the first single, “The King of Glory”, a hypnotic hymn hammered by Dorothy evoking western medieval music.

Playing guitar on most of Tim Buckley’s rambling folk-rock numbers, Lee Underwood’s former rock career typically manifested outside jazz influences. After a decade and more had elapsed, though, Lee embarked on a more cleansing, spiritual venture — an acoustic one, that is! — with his 1988 solo work, California Sigh. Drag City has unearthed this magnificent Lee Underwood/Steve Roach co-production for a first-ever reissue due out June 28; the second single, “Quietude Oasis”, arrives today with a... (read more)

Three marimbas, three voices, three psyches: This summer, Whitney Johnson’s long standing experimental project Matchess will deal sonic doubles across the U.S. with the amplified groupthink of a trio formation each night!

In June, Whitney will be joined onstage by Haley Fohr (AKA Circuit des Yeux) and Lula Asplund; in July, it’ll be Matchess, Haley, and Jenny Pulse. Their individual practices in experimental music, sound art, and performance will invoke the “two against three” principle to alchemize a... (read more)

Jettisoned through the atmosphere to pulverize our beckoning eardrums, The Key (Became The Important Thing [& Then Just Faded Away]) is Chris Corsano operating past every dimension. The upcoming album (out June 28) sees Chris in rare solo form, performing every part himself and overdubbing each frenzied instrument into six explosive tracks. Today, the important thing is experiencing the second single from the album, “The Full-Measure Wash Down”, with a new music video by Kim Alpert.

Gnawa-esque string drum acoustics... (read more)

Pulling out of a furious current, Dirty Three have planted their sea legs on dry land (Melbourne, Australia to be exact) to track their first album in over a decade: Love Changes Everything, out June 28 on Drag City. Our tried-and-true crew, Mick Turner, Warren Ellis and Jim White, are shipping out the second single today: “Love changes everything II”.

“Love changes everything II” is Dirty Three at midday: already in elegiac reverie, glancing pensively back at the waters of... (read more)

Following their collaboration on 2021’s Oscar winning Drive My Car, Eiko Ishibashi & filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi have returned with a deeply inspired synergistic exchange: Evil Does Not Exist, a feature film that evolved from Eiko’s absorbing new soundtrack of the same name (out June 28). Today, Eiko releases the film’s melancholy love theme and title track: “Evil Does Not Exist”.

In full orchestral flower, “Evil Does Not Exist” scores the passage of a thousand leaves and streams, places in time that,... (read more)

Arriving July 26 on Drag City, Are Possible is a spark-throwing, undulating fusion of styles spiraling from the Nathan Bowles Trio. Played (mainly) on banjo, upright bass and drums, these are songs made possible by the individual perspectives of virtuosic banjo player Nathan, double-bassist Casey Toll (Jake Xerxes Fussell, Mt. Moriah) and drummer Rex McMurry (CAVE) — working together in an easy-rolling manner, but one that contains an expansive, ass-shaking confabulation of ideas. Hear the first single off... (read more)

Lee Underwood’s syncretic blend of jazz, folk, and blues was a tremendous force behind Tim Buckley’s genre-stretching late 60s/early 70s music — but his 1988 acoustic guitar opus, California Sigh, has remained a unsung footnote to his story. Until now! On June 28, Drag City is excited to present California Sigh, fully remastered for vinyl and digital platforms. With today’s announcement is the title track, “California Sigh”.

Lee Underwood is usually mentioned first as Tim Buckley’s stalwart and lead... (read more)