Magik Markers Fall Out of Their Box, Find New Home on Drag City With Balf Quarry, Tour with Ghost

A lot has changed for Magik Markers over these past few years. Leah Quimby left the band in May of 2006, turning the Markers into a duo of Elisa Ambrogio and Pete Nolan. The duo then continued on with a much more focused, song-oriented record with the Lee Renaldo-produced Boss (TMT Review). Meanwhile, Ambrogio moved to San Francisco and then later Seattle, while Nolan moved to Brooklyn. Still unsettled, Magik Markers are now making a label change, jumping from Ecstatic Peace! to Drag City with their new record Balf Quarry.

Despite these changes, Balf Quarry ironically sees the two taking a jump back, with references to the city that used to be their ground turf: Hartford, Connecticut. Indeed, the title Balf Quarry is a reference to "an old stone pit just outside of Hartford, Connecticut."

Produced by Scott Colburn (Sun City Girls, Animal Collective, Sir Richard Bishop), Balf Quarry sees the Markers in a much darker setting. According to Drag City, the new album "is like immersing yourself in a great horror film, complete with mental dissipation, catharsis for the ears, and the most satisfying psychotic listening experience you'll have this year."

Look out for Balf Quarry May 5. Here's the tracklist:

1. Risperdal
2. Don't Take in Your Sleep
3. Jerks
4. Psychosomatic
5. 7/23
6. State Numbers
7. The Ricecar of Dr. Clara Haber
8. The Lighter Side of... Hippies
9. Ohio R./Live/Hoosier
10. Shells
05.09.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
05.10.09 - Washington, DC - Velvet Lounge *
05.11.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
05.12.09 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern & Music *
05.13.09 - Athens, GA - Tasty World *
06.26.09 - Ithaca, NY - Lost Dog Lounge
06.28.09 - Montreal, QC - Casa Del Popolo

* Ghost

[Photo: John Ruscher]

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