Welcome to the first installment of “A Form of Paying Attention”—a monthly column by me, for you, containing information about Sub Pop and Sub Pop related goings-on, which will be remarkably similar to the column that was here before but with a new and improved title. I’d like to congratulate Matt ‘Epsonality’ Olsen of Los Angeles, CA for coming up with the winning entry in my “name this column” contest!* As the winner he will receive many fabulous prizes, all of which come from the very nearly warehouse-sized Sub Pop warehouse and do not include cash, Turtle Wax, the Ts in Q, or, regrettably, Ski-doos or personal watercrafts of any type.

February is here, and it’s a LEAP YEAR! This is exciting as it only happens once every 72 years or something. And we are celebrating this rare and marvelous 29-day anomaly by releasing two incredible records this month—"Kelley Stoltz’s Circular Sounds_":http://www.subpop.com/artists/kelley_stoltz and "_The Grand Archives by Grand Archives.":http://www.subpop.com/artists/grand_archives Kelley’s record comes out February 5th and I vigorously suggest that you purchase it as it’s his best to date. If you buy it from us directly we’ll throw in a bonus disc with four songs that you can’t get anywhere else and some buttons and stickers. If you live in Australia, the US, or Canada make sure to go see Kelley on tour. You won’t be sorry. Go here for more Kelley business.

The Grand Archives is the highly anticipated first release from Grand Archives, the new project of Mat Brooke of Carissa’s Wierd and Band of Horses fame. These dudes went from opening some local mid-week show to opening for Modest Mouse in a single bound, so I suggest you check this out immediately. The LP version of the album comes with a bonus 7” single, but we’ll include said 7” single with ALL orders if you pre-order before February 19th. If you order the vinyl version you’ll get free mp3s of the album as well as buttons and stickers. Woah! Grand Archives will be touring the US—click here to see if they’re coming to your town.

Sub Pop turns 20 this year and I’ve heard rumors of lots of surprises this year including, but not limited to, a crazy huge show in the summer sometime and a limited-time-only rebirth of the somewhat legendary Singles Club. Stay tuned for more.

• Honorable Mention goes to Chris Jacobs for his entry “Going Through Your Purse”.