As you may or may not have been previously aware, Sub Pop’s years of consecutive business operations without going out of business reached the 25 year milestone on April 1st, 2013, and to celebrate ourselves, we are throwing an altogether free event on Saturday, July 13th in Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood featuring live music from the Sub Pop universe as well as other types of attractions to attract you, the potential free concert goer, to the aforementioned date and time to celebrate us with us.

In an effort to familiarize/refamiliarize you with the bands that make up our truly magnificent lineup for the event, each week, we will bring to you Getting to Know Us, a column highlighting a Sub Pop artist or two playing our Jubilee. This week, we’re starting with Endino’s Earthworm featuring legendary producer, Jack Endino, and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, featuring Tad Doyle.

Jack Endino and Sub Pop go way back, him having produced many Sub Pop releases, including Nirvana’s culture-shifting record, Bleach, and us having released many of those records. Endino’s Earthworm are not surprisingly from Seattle, WA, and as an a proper sonic introduction, take a listen to “Count Me Out” from Endino’s 2005 record, Permanent Fatal Error, recorded live at The Tractor Tavern in Seattle. Now, imagine that same wonderful thing, but set outside on a beautiful sunny Seattle day in July—now that’s good livin’.

Also playing the Silver Jubilee are Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, featuring the one and only, Tad Doyle. Tad was a key figure in the early days of the Sub Pop roster, and we couldn’t be happier to have Brothers of the Sonic Cloth playing their brand of heavy dirge on one of our stages. Listen to the epic 12-minute track “Fires Burn Dim in the Shadows of the Mountain” to see what we’re talking about.

Tune in next week for another issue of Getting to Know Us. The complete lineup and additional information for the Sub Pop Silver Jubilee can be found here.

Still Corners’ follow up to their 2011 debut record, Creatures of an Hour, came out today. It’s called Strange Pleasures, and the lushness and warmth of the sound that emanates from the record make for the perfect sonic companion for the seasonal transition into what we in these parts call “the good living” months.

We have a small handful of the limited, colored-vinyl LOSER Editions left for people who order the LP from us. This will also be available in select independent music retailers (call yours for availability).

Listen to the entirety of Strange Pleasures in the handy player accompanying this post.

Order Strange Pleasures here.

Tonight at MIDNIGHT is the deadline for the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship, and so far we have received quite a few applications! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write an essay! We’ll be combing through each and every one of these over the next couple of weeks and will have a winner announced by May 20th! In the meantime, we figured you might want to know what some of our past Loser Winners are doing with their lives:

Marguerite Brown – 3rd Place Winner, 2009 (Writes and records her own music. Plays guitar, drums, and piano. Submitted a CD with killer original songs.)

“I recently gathered up my financial information for college and realized that all of my scholarships combined (including the Loser scholarship of course) paid for an entire year of my college education. I was able to graduate in three and a half years so I really only paid for two and a half years of schooling. Isn’t that nice!?
Artistically I just finished putting on a senior recital of all original music compositions. I teach at Meter Music School and accompany a dance class at ExitSpace dance out on Greenlake. Through my college years I have toured playing live music for a theatre production to L.A., Portland, Vancouver, and Miami, and have created some original music for a film that just went to the SXSW Film Festival. I applied for a fellowship to study in Indonesia for a year and find out in April if I have received the fellowship. I would be studying music over there which I think would be pretty dope.

Words of wisdom? Follow your heart. Life is really scary and it’s going to be scary no matter what you do with your time so you may as well try and fill your time with activities you value. Also don’t let other people run your life. There have been far too many scenarios where I have let other people’s opinions or judgements determine my behavior and decisions. I think being yourself always turns out for the best, especially in an artistic sense. It’s totally cool to be a Loser to anyone else as long as you are a Winner to yourself! Thanks again for the scholarship, it was a really lovely contribution. Peace!"

Stephanie Cristol – 2nd Place Winner, 2008 (Sent us a rad essay as well as a compilation of her music, show flyers that she drew, an interview with Ian McKaye for her zine Shaken Baby, and Teenage Trash, a documentary she made about the Seattle punk scene.)

“Thanks for checkin’ in! This past summer I graduated from the Evergreen State College with an emphasis on creative writing and literature. My college experience took me far and wide, from making ethnographic studies of the Washington peninsula to hanging out with punk rockers in Lyon, France. In my second year of school I started a new band, Hysterics, which has since toured all over the country and is preparing for an east coast tour beginning in a couple of weeks. My advice to scholarship Losers—who tend to be involved of lots of cool projects—would be to not stop doing those projects once you get to college. You’ll be busy, but don’t let anyone tell ya it can’t be done, not even your parents! Get to know the creative community in the town you’re living in and carve out a space for yourself to participate. I am still so inspired by the outpouring of creativity here in Olympia, where I can still be found slinging records at our…

Led by songwriter Chris Flemmons, The Baptist Generals of Denton, TX last released a full-length album in 2003 (about which and at the time, Pitchfork had the following to say… “The music is fragile and spiritual, sodden and boisterous. It’s as if the players are seeking out loosely sewn faultlines while trying to balance decay and redemption and to escape a permanent rupture in either direction”). Due out May 21st, Jackleg Devotional to the Heart, the Generals’ return to active duty is nothing short of triumphal. The Mountain Goats’ (with whom The Baptist Generals are touring in June) John Darnielle received the news “…like on an ‘unheard post-Marquee Moon pre-Adventure Television album discovered’ level…” Take “Dog That Bit You” as supporting evidence, or the very excellent “Broken Glass,” and now the video for the non-album track “Fly Candy Harvest.” And, though “Fly Candy Harvest” (featured here) did not suit the album thematically and is therefore not to be found there, we have made and are giving away a limited-edition, 7" flexi single of the song with pre-orders of the CD or LP from SubPop.com (the flexi comes with a high-fidelity download of the track, too!). More from the Sub Pop Limited-Edition Department: people who pre-order the LP will receive the limited, colored-vinyl Loser Edition of Jackleg Devotional to the Heart. But act quickly, because as soon as those are gone, we’re back to standard black vinyl. With your pre-order, you’ll also get instant access to a stream of the entire record. Because, you know what? It’s already been too g-d long since we’ve heard from The Baptist Generals.

Pre-order Jackleg Devotional to the Heart on CD or Loser Edition LP here.

Rose Windows’ The Sun Dogs, their debut record, comes out June 25th on Sub Pop, and if ‘Natvie Dreams’, the lead off track from the record, is any indication (it is), this is going to be a very memorable debut record. Watch the mystical album trailer that accompanies the blog post to get a stylistic preview of what The Sun Dogs and Rose Windows are all about.

If you pre-order The Sun Dogs on CD or LP from SubPop.com, you’ll receive a Rose Windows patch with your order! Also worth noting, pre-orders of the LP will receive the limited, colored-vinyl Loser Edition of the record. These things are governed by a while supplies last type of law, so order soon to ensure your obtainment of such wonderful things.

Pre-order The Sun Dogs here.

Hey there!

Sub Pop Records in Seattle, WA is offering a grand total of $13,000 worth of college scholarship money to three eligible high school seniors. There are three scholarships—one for $6,000, one for $4,000 and one for $3,000. To apply for these scholarships you must be a resident of Washington or Oregon, and a graduating senior on your way to full-time enrollment at an accredited university or college. We are looking for an applicant who is involved and/or interested in music and/or the creative arts in some way.

To apply for these scholarships we would like you to submit an essay, no longer than one page, letting us know about one or more of the following topics:

What are you doing in the arts/music field in your community?
How and/or why did you become interested in artistic outlets?
How would this scholarship money help you to progress in your chosen field?

What are your influences and/or who inspires you? Who are some of your favorite bands or artists?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to send digital links and/or provide hard copies of their artwork along with their essay (we have never had a winner who submitted only an essay). However, please be aware that Sub Pop will not return any of this material, so please don’t send originals. Sub Pop will give equal opportunity to all applicants who fit the criteria outlined above. The deadline for applications is May 6th.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com by May 6th, 2013. We will announce the scholarship winners on May 20th.

All physical submissions should be sent to:

Sub Pop Records
Attn: Scholarship
2013 4th Ave, 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98121

Amount: $6,000 / $4,000 / $3,000 — checks will be made payable to the university or college of the winning applicants’ choice and applied to winning applicants tuition.

Good luck losers.

Sincerely,

Sub Pop

The first peek into Daughn Gibson’s forthcoming Me Moan, his first full-length with our somewhat venerable Seattle label, Sub Pop Records, is the huge album-opener, “The Sound Of Law”, which opens the record like a huge, but somehow cordially invited, punch to the gut (listen in the player above).

Me Moan is now available for pre-order through this very website right here. If you pre-order Me Moan from your good friends here at Sub Pop, you’ll receive, at no extra charge, a limited-edition Daughn Gibson seven inch featuring the songs “Every Night I Fall in Love” b/w “Brandy and Daughn”. Daughn himself describes the single this way: "Way back in the year 2002, I produced two R&B singles for a teenage sister group caled “No Option” out of a small recording booth located in a ballerina studio. As payment I received a Korg D1600, and these two songs were among the first solo things I ever recorded on it." As you can surmise, this is likely going to be a rare piece in future record collections. We’re also going to be giving people who pre-order Me Moan on LP the limited, colored-vinyl Loser Edition. Such is the nature of limited-edition things, when they’re gone, they’re gone, so get your order in quickly!

Pre-order Me Moan here.

Note: If you pre-order Me Moan with other releases, your entire order won’t arrive until July 9th, so plan accordingly, please!

The Baptist Generals’ long-awaited return to active status has thus far been very easy on the ears, and we’re still over a month out until Jackleg Devotional to the Heart is officially on the street. It all started with the release of the decade-long silence-breaking track, “Dog That Bit You” and it continues today with the very excellent “Broken Glass”, which is available for your listening pleasure in the player above.

Both of these notable sonic gems are on the band’s aforementioned forthcoming full-length record, Jackleg Devotional to the Heart, out May 21st on Sub Pop Records (wait, that’s us).

Pre-ordering Jackleg on CD or LP from SubPop.com gets you some limited-edition perks. The first of which is a 7" flexi-disc single featuring the non-album track, “Fly Candy Harvest”, currently available exactly no where else. The second totally limited thing is the colored-vinyl, Loser Edition of the LP. As we mentioned, ad nauseum, these things are limited, and such as the nature of limited things, they will run out, so order quickly.

Pre-order Jackleg Devotional to the Heart on CD or LP here.

Baptist Generals on the road:
May 21 – Dallas, TX @ Good Records (in-store)
June 1 – Denton, TX @ Dan’s Silverleaf
June 3 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club*
June 4 – York, PA @ Strand Capitol Performing Arts*
June 5 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s*
June 7 – New Haven, CT @ Center Church on the Green*
June 8 – Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall*
June 9 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom*
June 11 – Munhall, PA @ Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead*
June 12 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre*
June 14 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Ballroom*
June 15 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk Chumley Theatre*
June 16 – Evanston, IL @ Space*
June 17 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
June 19 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar*
June 20 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House*
June 22 – Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree*
June 23 – Gainesville, FL @ High Dive*
June 24 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room*
June 26 – Charleston, SC @ The Charleston Pourhouse*
June 27 – West Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern*
June 28 – Wilmington, NC @ The Soapbox Laundrolounge*
July 13 – Seattle, WA @ Sub Pop’s Silver Jubilee Festival

• = w/ Mountain Goats

Today is only the second day in the entire history of the world that The Postal Service’s now classic debut/only record, Give Up has been released—only the second! Just two days in history dedicated to a release with such notable import? It seems tragically unfair, but such is the way release dates work—upon second thought, I guess that most records only see one release day, and only the very special ones get two. Well, today is one of those special days, a day in which The Postal Service and Sub Pop renew our vows, so to speak. What makes the Give Up: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition special? I’m glad that I presumed you asked. This triple LP/double CD version of the album has 15 bonus tracks, including two brand new Postal Service songs.

*Watch the short documentary about the genesis of The Postal Service from Ben and Jimmy themselves in the player above. *

Pick your copy Give Up: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition up here.

Catch The Postal Service on tour!

Apr 09 Grand Sierra Theater, Reno, NV
Apr 10 Mondavi Center, Davis, CA
Apr 12 Madonna Expo Center, San Luis Obispo, CA
Apr 13 Coachella Valley Music & Arts, Indio, CA
Apr 15 Fox Theater (CA), Pomona, CA
Apr 18 Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Apr 19 Chelsea Ballroom , Las Vegas, NV
Apr 20 Coachella Valley Music & Arts, Indio, CA
May 18 Manchester Academy (Academy 1), Manchester, United Kingdom
May 19 Brixton Academy, London, United Kingdom
May 20 Brixton Academy, London, United Kingdom
May 21 Le Trianon, Paris, France
May 23 Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
May 27 Sasquatch! Festival, Gorge, WA
May 28 Knitting Factory (ID), Boise, ID
May 29 Salt Air, Magna, UT
May 30 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO
Jun 01 Free Press Summer Fest, Houston, TX
Jun 02 Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX
Jun 03 Verizon Theater (GP), Grand Prairie, TX
Jun 05 Hard Rock Live (FL), Orlando, FL
Jun 06 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
Jun 07 Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC
Jun 08 LC Pavillion, Columbus, OH
Jun 10 Fillmore (MI), Detroit, MI
Jun 11 Air Canada Centre ON, Toronto, Canada
Jun 12 Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA
Jun 14 Barclays Center, New York, NY
Jun 15 Barclays Center, New York, NY
Jun 17 Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Jun 18 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
Jul 16 Rogers Arena, Vancouver , Canada
Jul 17 Rose Garden Arena, Portland, OR
Jul 26 The Greek Theatre (Berkeley), Berkeley, CA
Jul 27 The Greek Theatre (Berkeley), Berkeley, CA
Jul 30 Midland Theatre (MO), Kansas City, MO
Jul 31 Midland Theatre (MO), Kansas City, MO
Aug 02 Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN
Aug 03 Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL

…we sincerely apologize. The accompanying photo to this post is a stack of orders for The Postal Service’s 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Give Up, and if you are at all familiar with the thickness of a piece of paper, you’ll no doubt understand that that is a lot of pieces of paper! If you are one of the many people who placed an order with us recently, what this means is that there is a good chance that it’s going to take a few extra days to arrive at your designated arrival zone. We apologize for any and all inconveniences associated with this recent glut of orders. Rest assured, we have many extra hands in the warehouse working toward getting our shipping times back to their mostly satisfactory to remarkable times. Thanks so much for your (ongoing) patience with us.

There’s a new documentary film about Low and it is debuting next Friday night (April 12th) at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival!

In short: Low Movie (How To Quit Smoking) follows the entire career of the iconic band Low and their relationship with director Philip Harder.

And there are many more details available here!

All of this hot on the metaphorical heels of the release of the new and very good album from Low called The Invisible Way.

Things are really coming up Low this spring.

It’s been a full decade since we released The Baptist Generals’ amazing debut, No Silver/No Gold, and as time passed, the promise of a sophomore release from this great band from Denton, became stuff of legend or myth with little stock put into rumors surrounding a return. On May 21st, The Baptist Generals fulfill the promise shown with their debut record with the long-awaited but seemingly unlikely Jackleg Devotional to the Heart. It’s been a long, long time, but like many wonderful things, absolutely worth the wait. Listen to “Dog That Bit You” in the player above, and help us to welcome The Baptist Generals back.

If you pre-order Jackleg Devotional to the Heart on CD or LP, you’ll receive a limited-edition flexi 7" single featuring “Fly Candy Harvest”, a song non-album track currently unavailable elsewhere. Also, if you pre-order the record on LP, you’ll receive the limited, colored-vinyl Loser Edition of the record. And such is the nature of limited things, these are both a while-supplies-last type of thing.

Pre-order Jackleg Devotional to the Heart here.

Alright, we are smack-dab in the middle of a good news/good news situation regarding Sub Pop recording artists Still Corners. Let’s splurge the best news for first: Still Corners have a brand new record (and t-shirt!) called Strange Pleasures coming out on this very record label on May 7th! If you pre-order Strange Pleasures, you’ll receive a limited-edition scrap book featuring pages taken directly from Still Corners’ lyric book as they were writing the record as well as images from the recording process. People who pre-order the record on LP will receive the colored-vinyl, limited Loser Edition version of Strange Pleasures. And as is the nature of limited things, the sooner you order, the better, as they will run out!

The second bit of good news regarding Still Corners is…wait for it…there’s a wonderfully ethereal music video almost rivaling the remarkable quality of the somehow more wonderfully ethereal album track “Berlin Lovers”. Enjoy that in the player above.

Pre-order Strange Pleasures on CD or LP here.

Vanishing Point, Mudhoney’s latest in a long (and getting longer…), illustrious (and getting illustriouser…) “career” comes out today on Sub Pop Records. This is their ninth full-length record in 25 years, and these guys continue to write, record and perform music with unflagging passion, intensity, incisive humor and real g-d charm. It has always been and continues to be our great good fortune to work with Mudhoney. Happy release day, you guys!

Last night (the night popularly known as “Vanishing Point Eve”), these same Mudhonies played a really entirely excellent and altogether FREE set at Easy Street Records in West Seattle, WA. It was a super fun event and you can read more about it here.

You can also, and we would go so far as to suggest “should,” order Vanishing Point from Sub Pop.

At the stroke of midnight last night, Sub Pop turned 25 years old. Though the exact dates of our inception may be a little muddled (Wikipedia says we’re 27, Poneman says we’re 31), the crew in the Sup Pop fun fact dept. have concluded that we’re a quarter of a century old. Who knew?

Really though, what has changed in that time? Richard Nixon was president then, a loaf of bread cost 19c. Our first vinyl LP, the Sub Pop 100 compilation, was introduced in a limited edition of 5,000. Remember vinyl? Do they even still make that anymore? Man, it would be great if somebody brought that stuff back!

All joshin’ aside, we’re glad that you’re still here with us. There’s no way we’d all be able to wade through the thick muck of the daily grind without a brilliant soundtrack, and we’re thankful that you allow us to continue to provide that. As your gift to us, we ask that you treat yourself to a little something extra today. Have a cupcake if you’re on a diet. Go home sick from work and take a long nap. Spend the evening rollerskating. Put yourself in credit card debt at our online store. We deserve it!

XO,
Sub Pop

Well, well, wellington: aren’t you the lucky ones? Since they’ve become translucent, things from tomorrow in the Mudhoney camp are really hitting today. Okay, I’ll quit with the album title puns, I’m doing a really bad job.

BUT Mudhoney is doing a really good job with a tidal wave of activity in the near future! First off there’s going to be a stellar live show at Nuemos on March 30th. The very next day (the 31st, right?), tune your radio (or compu-radio) to KEXP.org (90.3 FM) for a radio session at 2pm PT. AND THEN the very next day after that (no foolin’, April 1st) the lads will appear at Easy Street Records at 8pm (which we just happen to have Limited-Edition screen-printed posters by Ed Fotheringham for this instore event on sale now in the Megamart. There are only fifty for sale, so get to it if you want one). Then these guys will jet on over to KNDD (107.7 FM) for yet another radio appearance. Will this flurry of activity wear Mudhoney down? They’ve assured us that it’ll all be a piece of cake. (whoops, sorry!)

Adding insult to injury, Mudhoney’s brilliant new LP, Vanishing Point, will wash onto the shore of the world on April 2nd, which will be the same day of their video premiere for “I Like it Small” on Spin.com! So grab your brother the cow (OOF) and head for higher ground! The Mudhoney is coming!

With each passing year, Record Store Day increases in popularity, bringing more and more people out to stand in longer and longer lines during the tedious, cold hours of an April morning in front of their beloved independent record stores. And why? Is it the promise of very cool, very limited-edition records from their favorite bands and/or labels? Perhaps it’s the opportunity to buy very limited, very valuable things and flip them on eBay for five times the price paid (read: the opportunity to be something of an asshole)? Or could it be the weird and wonderful camaraderie that only other record collectors can offer one another? Happily, ALL of these are completely valid reasons to participate in Record Store Day! Each in their own way, they all support local independent record stores and this is the very spirit behind this (ahem) holiday. And, it’s something we can (and really do) get behind.

And so! On April 20, Record Store Day 2013, we the hunched, toiling working stiffs of The Sub Music Rendering Factory (and T-Shirt Shop!) offer what we believe to be three fairly undeniable reasons to rise from blissful slumber in the predawn hours to stand in a overlong line with a bunch of like-minded geeks in Stooges t-shirts. Here are those three reasons:

1) Sub Pop 1000, a limited-edition, 10-track compilation featuring what we feel are some of the most vital and unsung artists from around the world. This compilation is very much in the tradition of our relatively classic Sub Pop 100 and Sub Pop 200. releases.

2) A split seven-inch single from Shearwater & Sharon Van Etten featuring the songs “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” b/w “A Wake for the Minotaur.”

3) The entirely FREE Terminal Sales, Vol. 6: The Silver Ticket 2013 label sampler—a 19-track CD sampler featuring a heaping helping of new, and in some cases somewhat rare, tracks from the likes of Low, Shabazz Palaces, Mudhoney, Father John Misty, Still Corners, Pissed Jeans, and 13 others. In keeping with Sub Pop tradition, the sampler is extravagantly packaged and will likely conjure thoughts like, “Wow!” and, “What were they thinking, giving this away for free?”

Visit Record Store Day online for more information.

Today is finally the day in which Low’s brand new and true-to-form, very excellent 10th full-length record, The Invisible Way, is available in record bins, virtual or otherwise! We’re all celebrating at Sub Pop HQ by blasting it loudly from our individual cubicles. Join us.

Pick up your copy of The Invisible Way on CD, LP, or digitally here.

Dear customers: We sincerely regret the earlier post of our brand new (he started today) receptionist’s response to a letter criticizing the artwork on the Father John Misty CD. The only course of action we could reasonably take was to terminate the employee immediately. Though he’ll have the distinction of being the shortest (in more ways than one! (he’s tiny)) Sub Pop employee, he’s also aware of what he’s done wrong and that he shouldn’t be proud of himself. To avoid a situation like this in the future, we’re currently taking steps to make sure we don’t hire this type of person again.

Here’s his exit interview:

In your cover letter, you mentioned “numerous” positions in your employment history where you dealt firsthand with customer service. You failed to mention you were such a dick. Why?

Honestly, I wasn’t actually trying to be a dick, I was just trying to be helpful. How is it my fault that this person has such poor penmanship? The solution I offered her seemed like a good one to me. I swear I wasn’t being trying to be a dick.

We were all really excited that you were starting with us here at Sub Pop, none of us thought that this was how our relationship with you would end. How did you see today ending? I mean, were you looking to get fired?

No, I was ecstatic to start this week. Everyone was so proud of me for finally finding a job—even my mother called to wish me a good first day. I have no idea how I’m going to tell everybody that I didn’t even last a full day.

How do you think that this will cause you to treat real people’s concerns in the future? I mean, I hope you’ve learned that a shit attitude covered with a coward’s mask of lackluster sarcasm isn’t going to cut it with your next employer. Are you planning on treating people better moving forward?

Yeah, probably. I guess. I dunno. I can’t even make sense of what happened. I mean, I want to defend myself, but people seem really angry over this. I got a person email from a person claiming that I “ruined the integrity of Sub Pop.” I feel just awful about this.

What’s next for Derek?

I have to get a job like, tomorrow. I’ll probably go home and update my resume and start the hunt for another job tomorrow. Between myself and my guinea pig, I have two mouths to feed. I don’t know otherwise. I’m approaching feelings akin to distress. A combination of shame and hate.

It’s probably a good idea for you to look for work where you don’t have a public-facing role of any sort, don’t you think?

Yeah, probably. I’m sorry that I ruined Sub Pop. I’m sorry for being so pain-in-the-neck-ful.

Guys,

I bought Fear Fun by Father John Misty but I think you went overboard with the art design for the CD. Not putting any name on the CD is lame. My friend unloaded the player, it got mixed up + then the CD sat out getting dusty.

Trying for “artful” (“artsy”?) you got cutesy. And a pain-in-the-neck-ful.

Think about it. I had to write the name in my sloppy handwriting.

More cutesy were the inserts; rambling on and on. I read books. I listen to music CDs. I do not read stuff inside CD packages.

Helen

PS. I enjoyed listening to the CD.

Dear Helen,

Thanks a lot for your letter! We here at Sub Pop strive for 105% customer satisfaction, and we have no idea how we’re doing until somebody lets us know. Trust me, we’re disappointed that you’re disappointed.

We thought long and hard about your dilemma and couldn’t come up with a better solution than yours. Writing on the CD is the most efficient way to discern it from others, we applaud your ingenuity! We were hoping that you wouldn’t mind if we suggested this idea to others who are having the same problem. If you’ve patented the idea, we’ll be happy to forward the proper paperwork to pay you for our use of the idea. Let us know what fee you’re comfortable with.

In regards to all of the pesky, unwanted information on the CD sleeve, we’ve included a handy cover sheet to place over any words that you don’t want to look at while listening. It might seem that it’s just a piece of paper, but it’s rather opaque and should serve as a soothing emotional blanket. In fact, I’m using one right now.

Thanks for writing and we’ll see you in court!
Derek Erdman / Sub Pop