Giant Drag

by Robin Hilton

When I first fell madly in love with Giant Drag's 2005 album Hearts and Unicorns, I never could have imagined I'd one day play a role in producing the band's much-anticipated follow-up. But today, I took a critical first step by forking over some money to make it happen.

Giant Drag is essentially the music of Annie Hardy. Kickball Records (part of Interscope and thereby part of the behemoth Universal Music Group) released Hardy's album three years ago, and critics loved it. So did a lot of listeners. But it wasn't enough. Interscope dropped Giant Drag, leaving Hardy without a label.

But who needs a label? Hardy recently decided to turn to her fans for support. She's soliciting donations on her MySpace page, asking people to give a few dollars to help fund the recording of her next album. Considering how eager I am to hear it, I felt obliged to send some sweet coin her way.

In her post, Hardy says, "If you feel like giving up a buck or a million of them I'd be very grateful! Even if it's just because you are riddled with guilt from illegally downloading the first album and you feel the need to repent, any reason will do and every penny counts."

Annie Hardy with Micah Calabrese

Soon, you may be able to buy some of Hardy's personal effects. If she doesn't get some money soon, she says she'll start selling everything, because she won't have a place to keep it.

In the meantime, you can hear one of the standout tracks from Hearts and Unicorns from this All Songs Considered episode. (Scroll down the page.)

4:34 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink

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