JAG403LP-C1

24/09/21

Limited edition 'Glowing Orb' coloured vinyl

Includes download code

Midway through his long, earnest and often very, very funny essay on the role playing game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ in the September 2006 issue of The Believer, writer Paul La Farge proposes that ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is not a game at all but rather a ritual. La Farge notes the marked difference between game and ritual. Whereas a game seeks to demonstrate how unequal or distinct players / teams are from one another, rituals seek to do the very opposite.

And so, across the 25-year history of Jagjaguwar - an independent record label curiously named using a ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ name generator - we find this idea of ritual as a conjoining practice. We see it early on when Jagjaguwar join forces with a midwestern label called Secretly Canadian for a powerful fusion. We see it in familial relationships and collaboration among Jagjaguwar artists and the ways those artists’ most treasured collaborators make their ways to the Jagjaguwar game board.

Join The Ritual’, a piece of Jagjaguwar’s 25th Anniversary celebrations, looks to pay homage to the labels and artists that, whether they know it or not, invited Jagjaguwar to the table, to this wild, dark magic ritual of music. We’re talking about independent titans like Drag City, Too Pure, K Records and Touch & Go. We’re talking about heroes like R.E.M., Slint, Stereolab and Tracy Chapman. These songs captured the imaginations of founders Darius Van Arman and Chris Swanson - and ultimately, opened up worlds to them.

‘Join The Ritual’ features covers of songs originally by Tracy Chapman, Stereolab, Dinosaur Jr., Smog and more, by the likes of Angel Olsen, Bruce Hornsby, Jamila Woods and other Jagjaguwar artists and friends.

Tracklisting:

Spencer Krug - Red Dress

The Besnard Lakes - Good Morning, Captain

They Hate Change - The Seeming and The Meaning

Angel Olsen - Cold Blooded Old Times

Bruce Hornsby - Feel The Pain

Jamila Woods - Fast Car

Nap Eyes - Car

S. Carey - Weight of Water

Pink Mountaintops - The Concept

Cut Worms - One For The Catholic Girls

Okay Kaya - Nightswimming