Al Cisneros
Ark Procession
Drag City (2013)
If the name Al Cisneros doesn't ring an immediate bell, his impressive résumé no doubt will. In addition to fronting the godliest (and highest) of all stoner metal bands Sleep, Cisneros has gained even more popularity fronting the offshoot stoner/drone rock band Om, as well as appearing in the recent doom metal supergroup Shrinebuilder. If none of that seems impressive to you, just … Read more
Ambarchi, O'Malley, Dunn
Shade Themes from Kairos
Drag City (2014)
The idea for Shade Themes From Kairos started when Belgian filmmaker Alexis Destoop asked Ambarchi and O’Malley to provide the score for his short film Kairos. The two musicians travelled to Belgium and started working on the score for the film, and after they finished with the soundtrack they returned to Randall Dunn’s Aleph Studios in Seattle to further explore … Read more
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Greatest Palace Music
Drag City (2004)
I will admit, I read a few reviews of this record before buying it and I still had no idea what it was. Even by the time I picked it up I was clueless as to what this record held in store. Was it other people covering Will Oldham songs? Was it Will Oldham Covering other artist's songs? Was it … Read more
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Master and Everyone
Drag City (2003)
I am not one who can sit down and listen to a record that is just acoustic guitar and vocals. Call me shallow but, playing in Symphony Orchestras and the such has made me a sucker for instrumentation. The closest I come to such minimalistic music is Songs: Ohia's Didn't It Rain and some of the older Against Me! stuff. … Read more
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Master and Everyone
Drag City (2003)
Four years ago to the present, record players everywhere have played the last note of "Raining in Darling," the final song on Will Oldham's Bonnie "Prince" Billy record, I See a Darkness. As his record burped and scratched to its end, newly-anointed or long-time fans of Will Oldham have eagerly awaited his return which would once again, hopefully, take us … Read more
Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney
Superwolf
Drag City (2005)
What an album cover! It's the kind that would fit perfectly with the whole music sounding like album cover mantra that makes for a great last resort when you can't really come up with a good description of the music within on your own. With enough embellishing, it can work for almost every album ever created. But alas, Will Oldham … Read more
Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie Prince Billy
What The Brothers Sang
Drag City (2013)
The Everly Brothers were a staple in my house musically when I was growing up back in the early ‘60s; they were one of the biggest duos around and were known for their soaring harmonies and fusion of the current country sound with rock and roll. They toured and recorded from the late ‘50s through the early ‘80s and amassed a … Read more
Dirty Three
Toward The Low Sun
Drag City (2012)
The things I like about this album start with the art itself; guitarist Mick Turner's beautiful artwork perfectly captures his music's mood and sound. In fact, it's the best visual summary I can give of Dirty Three's newest album, Toward the Low Sun.Primarily, the album seeks to obtain this extremely casual, laid-back atmosphere, as if just a collection of rough … Read more
Dope Body
Lifer
Drag City (2014)
On a long enough timeline, all genre descriptors start to lose meaning. Spend enough time hopping through the tags on Bandcamp, and you'll discover that "hardcore" and "post-hardcore" are mired down with mostly those bands who are championed as "emo revival" on the internet. Despite whatever evidence there is to the contrary, give it enough thought and it starts to … Read more
Ensemble Pearl
Self Titled
Drag City (2013)
It's genuinely hard for me to get excited about supergroups in general--they're almost never as good as the sum of their parts. And unfortunately, despite the calibre of the musicians involved, that seems to be exactly what has happened to post-everything supergroup Ensemble Pearl on their eponymous 2013 debut.Anchoring this band of notably crazy musicians is Stephen O'Malley, known best … Read more
Ensemble Pearl
Self Titled
Drag City (2013)
There's soundtracks to the apocalypse and then there's soundtracks to everything afterward. Ensemble Pearl provides the latter. The din and drone as your mind takes in the ruins of its surroundings, the dissonant fear of realization and finally the despair of acceptance. Stephen O'Malley has provided many a piss shiver in his work with Sunn O))) - a deliberate, almost predatory … Read more
Joanna Newsom
The Milk-Eyed Mender
Drag City (2004)
The Milk-Eyed Mender came out in March and has been gathering press clips like a two-ton goliath going berzerk at a post-bar mitzvah shindig. It's freaking December and I haven't written anything about this record! So, what's a distraught proto-writer to do when 'best of 04' lists start trickling in? Easy! For you lovely readers, wherever you are, check the … Read more
Joanna Newsom
Ys
Drag City (2006)
It's no great feat to experiment sonically and stretch musical taxonomy into another "-core" (clarinet-core, pots-and-pans-core, sit-on-a-synth-and-fiddle-core). We aren't afraid of strange, so long as it's strange enough to earn a fucking modifier - fucking out there, fucking bizarre, fucking genius, man. However, the moment we can't rationalize an artist's eccentricity into concrete, tangible terms - political, intellectual, or conceptual … Read more
Om
Addis Dubplate
Drag City (2013)
Everyone's favourite stoner rock band with a flair for the religious Om has been on a roll lately, releasing the incredible Advaitic Songs just last year. But they aren't stopping anytime soon--in addition to a planned single from frontman Al Cisneros to hit later this year, two of the band's tracks from their latest release have been handled by British reggae/dub act Alpha … Read more
Om
Advaitic Songs
Drag City (2012)
Om is one of those offshoot bands that wound up better than it had any right to be. Borne from the ashes of stoner metal giant Sleep, Om managed to create a two-piece band whose hypnotic tunes were much more powerful than they would appear on the surface. What could a band really do with just a rhythm section? Yet, … Read more
Om
Gethsemane Dubplate
Drag City (2013)
Everyone's favourite stoner rock band with a flair for the religious Om has been on a roll lately, releasing the incredible Advaitic Songs just last year. But they aren't stopping anytime soon--in addition to a planned single from frontman Al Cisneros to hit later this year, two of the band's tracks from their latest release have been handled by British reggae/dub act Alpha … Read more
Ty Segall
Twins
Drag City (2012)
Ty Segall is in constant motion. This year alone, he’s released a collection LP, a collaboration with White Fence, and now a solo record—all while maintaining a steady string of tour dates. While he’s been releasing records since 2008, Twins is the first I’ve sat down and given listen. Billed as a garage rocker, Segall’s music pulls from varied sources. … Read more
