Sub Pop Records, The Big Bag of Beans

A Form of Paying Attention July 2009

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:41:25 -0700

July is jam packed with all sorts of happenings, both on the internet and in real life. Real life is the actual bummer that we deal with every day—the place where bills are due and you are not attractive enough to get laid. Let’s talk about the good stuff that might ease that pain, especially now that scientists have discovered that pain pills are bad for you. First up is the new album from Tiny Vipers called Life on Earth that comes out July 7th. If you pre-order Life on Earth from us at subpop.com anytime before July 7th, you’ll also receive a truly limited Tiny Vipers home-recorded ambient piece on CDR called Blades of Grass. Sweet. On July 21st we’re releasing a 7” by Zak Sally of Low fame called “Why We Hide”. This single is one song from a full length album (to be released this summer by La Mano 21 as a handmade and signed, limited-edition CD) and another that’s not. And they’re both great. On the 21st our buddies at Hardly Art are also releasing the debut album from Seattle’s own Talbot Tagora called Lessons in the Woods or a City on CD and LP. Get ‘em all—you won’t be sorry.

Sub Pop will be headed out to Chicago July 17th – 19th for our 4th annual trip to the Pitchfork Music Festival. We’ll be manning a booth at the CHiRP Record Fair with all sorts of Sub Pop merch and a new limited tee. Stop by and meet Sam, Richard, and Alissa and make sure to get right up front for Blitzen Trapper and The Dutchess & the Duke and be sure to yell “Free bird” as much as possible. Bands live for that.

Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes will be headlining the grand finale of the VERA Project’s annual Drink for the Kids benefit this year on July 11th at Neumo’s. This fundraiser is a local favorite because it mostly involves buying booze in the name of the city’s coolest all ages venue, and it takes place at many bars all over Seattle from July 5th – 11th. Click here for participating bars and more info, and click here to get tickets for the Grand Finale show at Neumo’s.

Last year Seattle’s beloved roots-music magazine No Depression had to shut its doors, an all too common trend in print publications over the last few years. This year they’re saying fuck it and partying their asses off at Marymoor Park (the same place and same date as the SP20 Fest, coincidentally) with the first ever No Depression Festival featuring our very own Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. Get thee to the Eastside, y’all. Tickets and info available here.

So, last month I pointed out some of our new web junk, including our new blog format and our widely beloved Cybersex Sampler, which is still available for download btw; and I promised that we’d become more interesting and post more content. Well, we only lie sometimes around here, and this time we’ve really stuck to our word. Behold the new Tuesday Sales Program, invented by our very own Welshy dreamboat Dick Laing and his trusty Aryan sidekick Sam Sawyer! It’s kinda hard to explain, but basically we’re running little sales on t-shirts and staff picks on most Tuesdays when we do not have a new release, which, if you’ve been paying attention, has been most of the time in 2009. Just click here and here to see what I’m talking about, and make sure to check back often to see what we’re doing next.

And finally, we’d like to give a big congratulations to Spencer Moody and Coco Howard who will be gettin’ hitched on July 12th! You guys are the best!

Dinky Turns 13 (91 in dog years)

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:26:55 -0700

If you’ve been to the office anytime over the past six or so years you’re sure to have met Dinky Hudson—Border Collie, friend, and overall good dude. He spends most of his working hours trying to herd people together in the warehouse, playing fetch, napping, and avoiding other dogs like the plague. After work he can be found roaming the streets with Dean and hanging out in front of whatever bar or restaurant Dean is frequenting. He won’t run into the street, he knows how to high five and shake, he doesn’t need a leash, but he will take a dump right in the middle of the sidewalk, especially when you’ve just run out of bags. Here’s to you, Dinkman, a prince among men and the king of dogs.

T-Shirt Sale Part II: The Reckoning, or whatever

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:34:59 -0700

So, in keeping true to our vague oath to put more t-shirts up for sale in the near future, I present to you another limited-time t-shirt sale. Now through Thursday, July 2nd, we’ve got Pissed Jeans, Sub Pop, Band of Horses, and Handsome Furs shirts on sale for $10! It’s summer dudes, treat yourself to a t-shirt.

Sunny Day Real Estate Presale/Ticket info

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:19:11 -0700

Password: SUNNYDAY

September 17th Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

September 18th Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom (Musicfest NW) Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 20th Salt Lake City, UT Murray Theater Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 21st Denver, CO Ogden Theater Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 23rd Minneapolis, MN First Avenue Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 24th Chicago, IL Metro Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at Noon here

September 25th Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 27th New York, NY Terminal 5 Presale happening now here Tickets go on sale to the public Friday at Noon here

September 28th Boston, MA House of Blues Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

September 30th Washington, DC 930 Club Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

October 1st Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

October 3rd Atlanta, GA CW Center Stage Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

October 5th Dallas, TX Granada Theater Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

October 6th Houston, TX Warehouse Live Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

October 7th Austin, TX La Zona Rosa Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

October 9th Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

October 10th Anaheim, CA House of Blues Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday at 10am here

October 11th Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theater Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

October 13th San Francisco, CA Fillmore Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale to the public Sunday at 10am here

October 15th Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Tickets go on sale Friday at 10am here

October 16th Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre Presale starts Friday at 10am here Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am here

Vera Project Spring Fund Drive

katej@subpop.com (Kate Jackson) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:41:43 -0700

Wondering how one of Sub Pop’s favorite non-profits, the Vera Project, has been holding up? Well, despite the dreary economy, swine flu and all the other downers out there today, the Vera Project is thriving with amazing shows including a solo show by none other than Robin Pecknold of that one band, what are they called…Fleet Foxes, as part of the annual A Drink for the Kids fundraiser! Last year alone over 37,000 people came through Vera’s doors, and over 1,000 people volunteered and took classes at Vera. Vera exists because of the people who support it, be they volunteers, contributing artists or donors. Music and art help all of us get through doldrums, economic or otherwise, and Vera continues to keep music and art accessible and affordable to people of all ages in the city of Seattle.

Nonetheless, Vera is seeing the effects of the weak economy. Vera relies on donations from individuals, businesses and private foundations for over 63% of our annual income. With foundation and corporate giving down due to a hurting stock market and rough economy, Vera needs your support right now.

You can be part of the Vera Project’s 2009 Spring Fund Drive! This month we are asking you, as true and sincere friends of all-ages music and youth-driven art, to help raise $20,000 for Vera. To countless people in the Seattle area Vera is a stable place for awesome all-ages shows, a place to meet friends and like-minded artists, a place to learn skills in music and arts production and a place to launch careers in the music, arts and non-profit industries. By supporting Vera you will help keep Seattle’s music and arts community strong and contribute to the lives of tens of thousands of young people. Please donate now!

Sunny Day Real Estate reunion tour plus Sub Pop reissues of Diary and LP2

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:01:43 -0700

Following a more than 10 year hiatus, all four original members of pioneering Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate will regroup for a 20-date US tour starting Sept. 17th, 2009. In addition, Sub Pop Records will re-issue both Diary and the band’s second full-length album, commonly known as LP2 (or The Pink Album for its entirely pink cover). Both re-mastered albums will include rare bonus tracks as well as newly written liner notes and will be released on both CD and LP Sept. 15, 2009, just prior to the start of the tour. Tour dates can be found here.

Originally formed in Seattle in 1992, Sunny Day Real Estate featured Nate Mendel (bass), William Goldsmith (drums), Dan Hoerner (guitar,vocals) and Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar). Diary, the band’s first full-length album, was released in 1994 on Sub Pop, going on to become the seventh-best selling record in the label’s history with more than 231,000 copies scanned in the US alone. Diary was recorded at Chicago’s Idful Studios with producer Brad Wood and released to critical acclaim. Following the completion of a US Tour to support the debut release, the group headed back into the studio with Wood to record the follow-up.

But during the recording sessions, internal tensions splintered Sunny Day Real Estate, resulting in a sudden break-up and the finished album being turned in to Sub Pop without a title or artwork. LP2 was released in November 1995, by which time both Goldsmith and Mendel had joined Foo Fighters and Enigk had begun a solo career. Without Mendel, Sunny Day Real Estate reunited in 1997 and released two more studio albums (the 1998 Sub Pop release How It Feels to Be Something On and in 2000 The Rising Tide on Time Bomb) before disbanding again in 2001. Sunny Day Real Estate’s influence has grown exponentially since the band’s initial split.

“I wasn’t around for the second version of the band that recorded the 3rd and 4th albums, so I’ve always had a feeling of unfinished business there,” Mendel explains. “We had all these out-sized ideas back then, ‘Everyone’s going to learn a new instrument,’ and ‘Let’s do a rock opera,’ but before we could get anywhere with them, the band broke up. We left behind all these weird and beautiful songs, though, and they’ve stuck with me all this time. I’m really happy that we get a chance to play them together again.”

These new editions of both Diary and LP2 will be available everywhere including sunnydayrealestate.fm and here at subpop.com.

For the Record #1: Foals - Antidotes

richardl@subpop.com (Richard Laing) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:35:25 -0700

Welcome to a new feature of the internet (and more specifically subpop.com): “For the Record”. It’s going to work something like this: one of us picks a record we are fond of, writes a few lines about why we like it and then we put it on sale for 48 hours. You, enticed by the the review and overcome by feelings of inadequacy for not having listened the first time we told you it was great, buy the record. Deal?

Band: Foals Record: Antidotes When we told you the first time: April 8th 2008

Antidotes is unlike any other record Sub Pop has put out. Talking Heads, Steve Reich, Arthur Russell, Fugazi, the Kompakt label, The Cure and “dance rock” (ugh) aren’t reference points for many bands we work with. What Foals do have in common with many of the best loved Sub Pop records is the spirit of outsiders playing their own distorted vision of pop music. Descriptions of the band’s “taught rhythm section” and “insect like guitar lines” litter the internet, so I won’t bore you with those (try the mp3s and video links to hear for yourself or Bing Foals). My favorite track is Heavy Water, or to be precise the second half of it, so look out for that when you buy it. Foals themselves will be the first to tell you that they didn’t pull off everything they attempted on Antidotes, but it’s cruel to be too critical of a band for having too many ideas. The band is currently working on their second record back in Oxford, England. Until LP2, please satisfy yourself with Antidotes, the first Foals record.

For the next 48 hours you can pick up Antidotes for $6 on CD and LP and for $4 digital. The CD contains UK singles “Hummer” and “Mathletics” as bonus tracks, those tracks are included on a 7” in the sleeve with the vinyl.

Click here to buy!

Watch the video for Olympic Airways here

Listen to Balloons here (right click to save or left click to listen now)

Oxford Collapse Say Goodbye

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:44:18 -0700

It’s with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to Oxford Collapse. The band has announced that their last two shows will be July 17 and 18 in Hoboken and NYC respectively. After releasing two albums on Kanine (Some WIlderness in 2004 and A Good Ground in 2005), the boys from Brooklyn released their first album on Sub Pop, Remember The Night Parties, in 2006 and followed it up in 2008 with Bits. I will particularly miss their fondness for road food (especially hot wings) and their tendency to only refer to each other as “asshole” on stage. Thanks for the good times, boyz.

Official band statement:

Hej friends, After eight years, 450 shows, and four albums, we’ve decided that we’ve reached the end of the line. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, “what a long, strange, eye-opening, stomach-bursting, heart-breaking, bittersweet, educational, enlightening, mind-numbing, ‘why-are-we-doing-this-shit?’ / ‘who-gets-to-do-this-shit?,’ absurd, amazing trip it’s been.” To paraphrase another sage poet, “you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.”

Thanks go out to a million friends—all the awesome, talented people who helped us make records and put them out, everyone who put together tours for us, our families (who are still wondering when we will get real jobs), all the other wonderful and terrible bands we’ve loved touring, playing, hanging and eating with over the years. And of course a heartfelt thanks to everyone who ever came to see us play, bought something we were selling, said something nice, or let us sleep on their diarrhea-encrusted floors. (Except you, Branson, Missouri!)

To have one final go of it, the three of us are meeting up for a pair of shows in and around the city we called home in our time. Come out and party with us! Seriously, do not miss!!! Friday July 17th we are very psyched to be playing with old and dear friends Frightened Rabbit at Maxwell’s, and Saturday July 18th, for our last show ever, we’ll share the stage with best buds CaUSE Co-MOTION!, under-age phenoms The Beets, and our beloved Rape Excape, freshly reformed from the rubble of Princeton ‘04; plus a bunch of special guests! If you missed the original Last Waltz in ‘76, now’s your chance!

Friday, July 17th Maxwell’s (early show) (SOLD OUT) Hoboken, NJ w/Frightened Rabbit

Saturday, July 18th Under the Tracks 508 W. 25th Street New York, NY w/CaUSE co-MOTION!, The Beets, Rape Excape Starts at 9pm, won’t cost too much (Don’t worry about advance tix—this place is huge!)

New Tiny Vipers July 7th! Bonus CD with Pre-order!

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:05:34 -0700

After a couple months of reissues and ultra-deluxely packaged b-side comps (see: Iron & Wine and The Vaselines), Tiny Vipers brings us our first new full-length release of the summer. Life on Earth, Tiny Vipers’ second album is available on CD and MP3 July 7th, and as per usual, we’re going to sweeten the metaphorical pot with some proverbial sugar. If you pre-order Life on Earth from us at subpop.com anytime before July 7th, you’ll also receive a truly limited Tiny Vipers home-recorded ambient piece on CDR called Blades of Grass. This Blades of Grass CDR is only available only to online pre-orderers only! So become one of those pre-orderers! By pre-orderering! To show you we aren’t fooling around with this incentivizing business, we’ll also throw in a button and a couple stickers.

Pre-order Life on Earth here.

Download “Dreamer” from Life on Earth here.

Sub Pop on Jeopardy!

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:41:08 -0700

Last night Hardly Art General Employee Nick “My Big Fat Greek” Heliotis was sitting around the fire with his mom and grandmamma watching Jeopardy!, discussing the origins of democracy and butt sex just like they always do, when Nick nearly choked on his baklava. That’s right—the $1,000 answer was this: This Seattle label, the first to release Nirvana & Soundgarden albums, turned 20 in 2008. … Crickets. NO ONE got the question! Host Mark E. Trebek was obliged to answer with, “What is Sub-uh Pop-uh Records-uh” (Finally, definitive proof that absolutely everyone likes The Fall?). COME ON, MOTHERFUCKERS! We need to get more Jeopardy fans signed up for our Twitter feed, I guess.

No one answered the Atlantic and/or Capitol ones correctly, either, so we’re not really sweatin’ it. Other labels mentioned include Apple and Motown, and as our own Andy Kotowicz says, that’s pretty good fucking company to be in.

LOSER SCHOLARSHIP: UPDATE

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:48:35 -0700

Thanks so much to all of the kids who applied for the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship 2009! We didn’t get as many applications this year because we dropped the ball and announced it pretty late, but you get to be totally stoked on account of less competition! We’ll announce the lucky losers on July 2nd, so check back to read more about who we’ve selected for our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes of $6,000 / $4,000 / $3,000! Also, that picture is of my cousin Michael just because he’s a high school senior. I’m trying to turn him on to the good stuff.

FLEET FOXES win a MOJO AWARD!

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:31:24 -0700

Fleet Foxes were up against some stiff competition (LEONARD COHEN!, Seasick Steve, RADIOHEAD!, and PAUL WELLER!) for the MOJO awards Best Live Act category, and lo and behold they’ve won! According to a Reuter’s article, the organizers of the MOJO awards called Fleet Foxes “one of the greatest live bands in the world.” Woah. If that’s not crazy enough, check out this photo of Robin Pecknold sandwiched between photos of YOKO ONO and Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP. Congrats boys!

Jesse Sandoval's Nuevo Mexico

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:59:52 -0700

Jesse Sandoval, ex-drummer of the Shins recently opened a New Mexican themed taco cart in downtown Portland called Nuevo Mexico and Vendr.tv did an interview with him that you can watch here. Jesse’s food looks delicious, and there’s a surprise visit from Marty Crandall in the video. Read more about Nuevo Mexico here and on the official website. (The official one doesn’t have anything on it yet, presumably because Jesse’s too busy making sopapillas.)

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alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:08:05 -0700

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Sub Pop T-Shirt Sale #1 (implying future t-shirt sales)

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:05:37 -0700

Recently, I was at a high-end boutique where I saw a plain white shirt with a bunch of holes in it for $260 (not a lie made up for the sake of this posting). What a crazy and very fashionable world we live in! In protest of high fashion and what I would consider high prices, for the next two days, we’re having the first of future limited-time t-shirt sales. We’ve selected a few favorites among our collection and priced them at a mere $10. This low-price, low-fashion sale goes through Thursday, so I would suggest not delaying, just a thought.

Sick to Death of LOW here Helio Sequence here Spanning the Globe for Profit here Flight of the Conchords right here

EUGENE MIRMAN SPEAKS TO SENIORS (not citizens)

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:17:47 -0700

The only thing that I remember from my high school graduation is what I wore. I had a hand painted Misfits t-shirt, torn jeans and combat boots. And I refused to smile when I got my graduation certificate—not because I wanted to look like a bad ass, I just didn’t want people to see that I was a punk rocker with braces. I remember thinking that my parents wouldn’t be too pleased with any of it and that was a good thing.

If I had graduated with the seniors at Lexington High School this year, I think I would have remembered a whole lot more. They asked Eugene Mirman to give the commencement speech at their graduation. Check it out!

He includes such invaluable advice as: “Don’t get too excited when you read The Fountainhead.”

Seriously.

HANDSOME FURS' KEXP IN-STUDIO

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:50:30 -0700

Ya’ll Seattle folks see those thongs thrown on stage at Handsome Furs? That was me and Hardly Art’s own Nick Heliotis having a grand ol’ time at Neumos on Friday! What a show! If you haven’t been able to catch the duo on their current tour, you should check out their fabulous in-studio with KEXP tomorrow at NOON PST right here.

Randy Randall & Co direct Mika Miko video

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:34:08 -0700

No Age’s Randy Randall partnered with the Director’s Bureau to create a new video for Mika Miko’s “I Got A Lot” and it’s pretty killer. Check here to see it, and make sure to post more comments about there not being enough, ahem, “titties” in the video. God, I hate the internet.

I stole this photo from Mika Miko’s blog

Video from Vetiver's In-store at Sonic Boom in Toronto

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:28:02 -0700

Vetiver is on tour now and they played an in-store at Toronto’s Sonic Boom Records. Check it.

Portlandesque on the new Blitzen Trapper "Black River Killer" video

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:37:22 -0700

The remarkably industrious lads in Blitzen Trapper just recently wrapped up work on a video for the song “Black River Killer” from their album Furr. We’ve seen this video and it’s really great. In the very near future, we’ll be doing all we can to try to show this video to you as well. But, in the meantime, you can read some behind-the-scenes stuff from someone down in Portland who has also seen it, and evidently both helped to make some props for the video and appears in the thing as an extra! There’s a Portlandesque post on the making of Blitzen Trapper’s “Black River Killer” video here. Read it!

In related news, we have plans to release a 7-song “Black River Killer” EP this summer. More on that shortly…

Credit for the photo here goes to Betsy Cross and was taken, wholly without permission, from where it appears on the aforementioned Portlandesque blog.

A Form of Paying Attention June 2009

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:01:21 -0700

Hello, Friends of Sub Pop on the Internet! We’d like to take this opportunity to give back a little something to you, the Sub Pop fan and lover of music. We’ve just recently put together a little sampler of our upcoming releases and we’re giving them away for free in the hopes that you might like what you hear and then buy these releases for actual dollars. Click this sexy link to see what we’ve got for you. And, since you’re here on the internet already we thought you might want to check out our other web goings-on on wildly popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We give away free tickets and post dumb videos on these sites sometimes so it might be worth your while to friend and/or follow us. Plus, this way you can stay on top of all our new releases and other important mumbo jumbo. Come on, do it. We have a Youtube channel, too, with all our videos and a Myspace, too, but who uses that anymore? Also, Dean and Stuart just restructured our blog so that it looks more like a blog and less like whatever it looked like before. It’s easier to read now, and we’ll promise to update it more often with good stuff if you promise to read it.

Speaking of reading, the deadline for the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship is rapidly approaching. We’re giving away $13,000 in scholarship money to eligible high school seniors in the Pacific Northwest who are interested in the arts, so make sure to get in on this action or to spread the word, whichever applies. Look here for a more info about the great folks that won last year. Come to think of it, maybe we should check in with them and make sure they haven’t squandered their winnings on Ramen and mini-thins….

Every June Seattle is host to the world’s longest film festival, aka the Seattle International Film Festival. This year our boys No Age are performing an original live score in accompaniment to Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Césár winning film, The Bear (France, 1988). The debut of this never before seen or heard work takes place on Friday, June 12, at the Triple Door at 7:00pm (all-ages) and 9:30pm (21+). Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 day of show. Tickets available here. These things are always a good time—I highly recommend checking this out if you’re in Seattle that day. Have a lovely June, dudes.

WSBF TALKS TO HELIO SEQUENCE

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:38:10 -0700

Nichole Bennett from WSBF interviewed The Helio Sequence at their show at The Earl in Atlanta, GA last weekend. What follows is everything you’ll ever want to know about Brandon and Benjamin. Venice is Sinking even makes a guest appearance (Athens pride)! If you want to listen to the audio of the interview visit Nichole’s blog.

Nichole Bennett: Alright, I’m Nichole, and I am lucky enough to be here at the EARL in Atlanta with members of The Helio Sequence. Would you guys mind introducing yourselves? Brandon Summers: I’m Brandon. Benjamin Weikel: And I’m Benjamin. NB: So, there’s a lot of information online about the story of you guys, and most people who are literate and have an internet connection can look that up. If they were to reenact your story, would they use marionette puppets or sock puppets? BS: Finger puppets probably. BW: I was thinking we might as well go all the way with marionettes. Or Jim Henson, you know? NB: We’re going with muppets? BW: Yeah, totally muppets, dark crystal, that would be cool. BS: Lo-fi or big budget. BW: I think we would get more realistic drumming action with like the Animal thing. BS: Animal, yeah. Animal could play you. NB: That’s a good one. So, we settled on muppets? And you guys used to work at a record store together? BS: We did. It was actually a music store. It was more like a band instrument rental store with some guitars. So we were renting instruments to kids who were beginning band. NB: Any stories from that? Any funny…or scary stories? BS: Oh jeez, too many to remember. We used to practice there, which is sort of a story in and of itself. BW: We actually recorded our first records there. I was a band instrument repo guy for a while. NB: I didn’t know that existed! BW: I became responsible for all of the accounts. And there had been people who basically had never paid for years, and I’d have to track them down. BS: It got to be where you knew these people. It was like “Oh, that woman would come in and say she paid it off and would actually drop twenty five dollars on us.” BW: Some people would be alright, but some people would be really weird. They’d bring their kid to the front door and be like “This is what happens!” Yelling at the kid because he can’t fifteen dollars a month for a clarinet. NB: The drama of a music store! BS: Like “He could have been the next Jon Bon Jovi, but you took that chance away from him” BW: I have a pretty bitter taste from all that repo business. It’s not my kind of thing. NB: Yeah, I played saxophone, so that was kind of expensive. But that’s another story. BS: But you paid for it? NB: Yeah…upfront. That was not very fun. So, again anybody who is literate and has an internet connection can learn about how you lost your voice and how you gained it back. BS: Right. NB: But I was curious about something most others had skimmed over and that is the Bob Dylan connection. You got to read a lot during that time, and his was the first book. And there are some of my favorite Bob Dylan covers on this album. And I read that you gained your voice back by playing a lot of Bob Dylan. Is that true, or am I just making this up? BS: Yeah, in a way. That’s kind of a gloss over. You know how records come to you at a time when you really need them? I don’t know if that makes any sense. You just happen to hear a record at a certain point in your life, and it means a lot to you. For some reason when I lost my voice…it’s not like I didn’t know who Bob Dylan was before I lost my voice, but I happened to be at the record store, and I happened to come across a copy of The Times, They Are a Changin’ And I was like, I’ve never really listened to this record. I just bought it on a whim, and it really meant a lot to me, particularly the song “Boots of Spanish Leather.” That was the first song that I decided to learn. And then from there, I thought it was interesting to actually put the chords under my fingers and actually learn a song, so I should do more of that. NB: I really like that. I think that one of the big things music does for people. It’s kind of a soundtrack, in a way. Yeah, I was actually going to ask you what your soundtrack album was from that time, and you just answered that for me. BS: And other things come along. What else were we listening to during that time? BW: I don’t know. That was such a long time ago. BS: I remember listening to a lot of Dark Side of the Moon during that time. You can infer a lot from that, I’m sure. NB: Oh yeah, I get that in the album. BS: So we decided to put some extended guitar solos in, and then we cut them all out. NB: Speaking of the latest record, there’s kind of an almost a paradox between a more polished sound, but you still have that “off the cuff” sound. I heard that “The Captive Mind,” you just recorded. BS: Yeah, a lot of the vocal stuff was just first take. We would be working on something in the studio, and I would be able to take it home and work on the vocals. BW: The demos. BS: Yeah, the demo stuff, really rough. And bring it back and record the real version of it. And when I went to lay down the real track, something was missing from it. Something about the energy or the feeling of it or the meaning. And it was kind of “Well, what if we just redo some of the instruments around it. Lay down the drums again and the guitar and the bass, all kinds of stuff, and just use those vocal takes.” A lot of it ended up like that. A lot of it was first take stuff. It’s almost better that way. NB: Yeah, you get a combination, almost a paradox between…it’s definitely very polished, like you tweaked it, but at the same time it’s very organic. BS: That’s probably a lot of the mixing process. We spend a lot of time working it out. We record our own records and mix them. NB: I think it’s neat when a band takes things from start to finish. BS: I can’t imagine doing it any other way. It amazes me when a band is like, “Yeah, when we recorded the record we went in for about a week, and then we handed it off to a bunch of people and they finished it for us.” I don’t understand it. NB: I imagine you would get handed back something totally different than you had actually put out. But you guys have control over that side of things. BF: Maybe we’re just control freaks. NB: This record is also more lyrically focused. And I say that, but at the same time, if you took the lyrics out, the songs would be able to stand by themselves. And it’s a little less cluttery. I hate the word cluttery because I do like the older stuff too because it is that way. BW: Yeah, but when you compare them, that sums it up in a way. We approached the record thinking that way. Bob Dylan is a great example of somebody that makes songs that to us that are really really meaningful. And it’s not so much about the music as the lyrics or the story. And so we thought, we love music with orchestration and all of the crazy sounds, but let’s try to see if we can make more of a lyrical connection. So when we were doing all the orchestration, instead of just throwing it all together and being like “Here’s everything!”. BS: And having to work the vocals in after that. BW: It would be like “That’s kind of just getting in the way of it.” It’s really all about the vibe. It had a feeling from the beginning. Whenever we did something that felt like it was changing it too much or it was losing that feeling, we just cut it out. So then it ended up being…compared to the average band there are still more parts and more orchestrated, but for us, it was a little more sparse. NB: Yeah, I think you can get that. I discovered you guys after you opened for Minus the Bear, and I immediately picked up Love and Distance there. And I never buy albums from opening bands. Matt Crisler [taking photographs of interview]: Band snob! NB: That is not what I meant at all. I meant I never buy an album from a band that I don’t even know, like right there, and I did. And I listened to it. And then the new one came out, and I was blown away by how different it was, but it was still you guys. But you guys put it much better than I could. Obviously, I’m very terrible with words. BW: It’s a good thing you’re a writer. NB: Yeah, it’s a good thing. I actually really wanted to ask you guys. You did something on this latest album that is sometimes scary for smaller bands, scary for indie bands. I think this was a lot more universal than most bands would go. BW: Yeah, it’s totally out of fashion. NB: It’s not very fashionable to appeal to a lot of people. BW: I don’t know if it’s a question of appealing to a lot of people. I think it’s more a question of meaning. BS: Well, I think it’s a question of just saying what you want to say. Like, when I’m writing lyrics, I’m thinking something to myself, and I’m just writing. I’m not thinking of something being universal or trying to get to a large amount of people. But I know what you’re saying, I think that a lot of lyrics, especially in the indie world come off as impressionistic. Like, a little image here, a little image here. Don’t do something that is too specific because then you’re going to have to take responsibility for having said that. BW: Some people do it so well that they are creating a mood, and the only way to keep it that was is by not saying something, by having it be almost sort of more background. Almost commercial. And I don’t mean commercial in the sense of sellable, but commercial as literally in a sense of in the background. Like background when you’re driving, background when you’re hanging out in a bar. Nothing that is really going to get that close to you. Something that is going to be off. You can push it away, and it’s there and it sounds great, feels great, you know. But the moment somebody starts saying something that are personal, that means something, and I don’t think that’s the fad of music right now. NB: It’s almost dangerous. BS: Yeah I guess it could be. But more and more, the older I get, the music I am listening to, I’m actually listening to what people say. I’m listening to what is going on behind the sound of something or just “I like how that part sounds” or “That’s a catchy part.” That’s one level of music, and I don’t think you should discount that, especially if you’re making pop music, in essence. But if you’re able to make a song on that level, and then think to yourself “Well, what are they saying. What is that guy saying?” And it may be that I’m not getting anything from that. It doesn’t make any sense, or it’s all mixed up. That, to me, it actually brings the value of the song down. BW: There are a lot of records, and I’m definitely not naming any names, but there are a lot of records on the surface that I’m really immediately excited about. But the more I listen to the music, I’m like “What is he saying?” It’s kind of killing it for me. The lyrics are either really horrible, or you can’t hear them. Everyone’s hiding behind the lo-fi. BS: What you are saying is that if you’re saying something, you have to take responsibility for it. And you’re saying there’s something dangerous about it. And I’ve thought about it—that you somehow risk not being cool anymore by not agreeing with somebody. So it’s interesting that more and more, you get less of that. NB: It’s very fashionable, I think, especially in a lot of hyped bands…We were just talking about the internet mentality earlier with Venice [is Sinking]. To not make sense, to be esoteric, and “Oh you guys, you just don’t get me.” BW: It’s all very impressionistic. NB: Impressionistic is a perfect way to put that. So if you were to describe your sound to a five-year-old, what would you say? BS: I wouldn’t describe it, I would just put the CD on. NB: I don’t talk to five-year-olds. BS: No, I talk to five year olds very often. I have a nine month old. I’ll just put on music for her. NB: So, no need for description…just put it on. BW: I have a three year old nephew, and he came out to our show in Los Angeles, his first rock and roll show. The first time he’s seen me playing. My sister, his mom, she plays him the songs, and he knows that this is uncle Benjamin’s band. And we were playing the set. We stopped playing after the second song, and everything kind of died down for a second, and I just heard this “That’s Uncle Benjamin!” BS: And mind you, this is in a three or four thousand person venue. NB: Do you guys read press about yourselves? BW: No. BS: No, not anymore. I used to. BW: It just bums me out. NB: Yeah, it would be something that would just tear me apart. BW: Yeah, it’s really depressing… NB: I’m already self-critical enough. I don’t need any help. BW: It would be dumb to say there is no point to music journalism, and I’m definitely not making a judgment of music writing. It’s more of just that I have an understanding that a journalist is a writer, and they have to do something interesting. If you write a bunch of reviews, that don’t say anything, then your job is boring. It’s a realization that somebody writing about music—you can’t take it personally because there’s always agendas just beyond the music. I don’t want to read it. BS: And at the same time, you can’t truly get away from it. Someone’s actually going to come up to you and say “I read your review in Rolling Stone or blahblahblah.” And then you don’t have to read it. NB: Since music journalism is so much more accessible with blogs and the internet, do you feel that it is affecting you guys in anyway, even though you aren’t reading it? BS: I’m sure it helps just general awareness. And the way that people find out about music is all over the map these days. I’ve had people come up to me on this tour and tell me that they found out about us because we have one song on the Google phone. They came to us and asked us if they could include our song, for free, so it comes with the phone when people buy it. I’ve had people come up to me and say that they didn’t know who we were, and I heard you guys on my new phone. I love you guys. I went out and bought your records, and I’m a fan now. You can find music in so many ways. It’s just crazy. NB: That’s another thing. When bands talk about commercials, they say that people heard their song on a commercial. BS: I want to find someone who became a fan because of a ringtone. BW: I think we did! There was a myspace comment once that they had downloaded “Don’t Look Away” ringtone. BS: They probably meant to download The Chili Peppers. BW: And then he went and looked at our myspace page. NB: You guys have been around for quite a while. What advice would you give to a band that is just starting out? BS: Keep going. I don’t know. BW: Stop if you’re not good. We usually don’t take support bands on the road with us. So we get tons of local openers. Sometimes people are really excited, and they ask us “How do you hook up with Sub Pop” or “What do you do?” And I think some people want to try to skip steps. They just want to jump up ahead. And all that I can say is some people win the lottery, and some people don’t. Start thinking one step at a time. Book your small show, and get some friends there. Do one thing at a time. Don’t think about this big thing far off in the future. Enjoy making music. BS: And keep sight of that as you keep going because there are going to be people coming along saying “We want to sign you and throw all this money at you.” That kind of stuff happens. We had that happen to us especially early in our career. BW: We said no. BS: And we said no. For us, anyways, it was the right thing to do. Some bands can sign some gigantic contract and have a bunch of people throw money at them and get paid. But, I think you really run the risk of falling on your face. NB: Definitely. Which fictional character is most like you guys? BS: One character? Or is it a duo? BW: The Three Musketeers. NB: It can be one. You don’t have to pick a duo. You can pick separate ones. BS: Probably Animal for Benjamin. BW: Why? Why would that me be? I’m thinking the geeky guy in Real Genius. BS: I’m trying to think of a fictional character. NB: It can be cartoon. BS: Yosemite Sam? BW: What? How are you like Yosemite Sam? BS: I don’t know. He’s fictional. James Sewall [of Venice is Sinking]: Droopy’s good. BS: I’m down with that. NB: Okay, if you guys could break any world record, what would you break? BW: Richest dude in the world. NB: Richest dude in the world! BS: Longest touring band in the world. We’ll be 90. NB: Never stop touring. Do you guys prefer studio or stage? BW: Both, in their own ways. BS: Yeah, they are totally different worlds. NB: As a duo, with a keyboardist/drummer, I’m sure it totally different both ways. And we talked earlier about how you go back in and tweak things. BS: Yeah, it’s a totally different. A lot of bands come back from touring and record an album, but for us, I feel like the studio process is a lot slower, much more methodic kind of a process. NB: And at the same time, your live sound is very similar to your studio so. So, whatever magic you guys are working… BS: That’s what it is. NB: And if you could turn in your tour van for a dinosaur, which one would you choose? BS: What’s the fastest dinosaur? NB: I’ve never seen a dinosaur race. BS: Because that’s all you need out of a tour van—get to that next city. BW: You’re thinking you want the dinosaur to be a vehicle? BS: Well, if we didn’t have a tour van, we’d need something to get from show to show. BW: I mean, I don’t think a dinosaur is going to work. BS: We have to trade it in for a dinosaur, though. BW: If we had a dinosaur, we could open a zoo… BS: And then from the revenue of that, okay. BW: We could totally buy a new van. I’m thinking we should go for a big one, like T. Rex. BS: Okay. BW: Well, maybe a brontosaurus, though. It doesn’t eat meat. It would be more indie. It would be more cool. A vegan dinosaur. And less likely to eat anyone. NB: We would like to request a vegan dinosaur, please. BS: Okay, I’m down with that. BW: We would have to buy some land. BS: We could get a loan from the bank. NB: With the brontosaurus as collateral. BW: But where would we put the dinosaur while we are waiting for the loan? BS: This is really tricky. NB: This question is a lot more complicated that I had originally thought it would be. BW: Or transportation too. We’d probably have to hire a construction company for it. Matt Crisler: You could walk it. NB: Dinosaur rollerskates. BW: I wonder if you could lease a brontosaurus. Like if we had a huge, a really heavy truck, that we could chain it to. BS: Or a van…oh damn, we gave it up for the dinosaur. NB: On that note, we’ll end on if you were any animal, what would you be? BS: A panda. BW: I don’t know. A brontosaurus. NB: Thank you very much for being with me. NB: Dinosaur rollerskates. BW: I wonder if you could lease a brontosaurus. Like if we had a huge, a really heavy truck, that we could chain it to. BS: Or a van…oh damn, we gave it up for the dinosaur. NB: On that note, we’ll end on if you were any animal, what would you be? BS: A panda. BW: I don’t know. A brontosaurus. NB: Thank you very much for being with me.

Still Time to Apply for The Sub Pop Scholarship

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:46:31 -0700

In case you didn’t know, we are quickly approaching the application deadline for the 2009 Sub Pop Scholarship, so get those essays in now!

No Age: Blog in Japan

deanh@subpop.com (Harry Dean Hudson) — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:08:37 -0700

On their recent trip to Japan, our friends in No Age found many things to blog about. Not only that, but they took pictures. Check it out over at their blog.

Vaselines + WFMU + PRIMAVERA FEST = COOL

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:48:50 -0700

Since not all of us are lucky enough to go to the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, WFMU is bringing the music to us with live broadcasts of a handful of performances! They’ll be doing three days of broadcasts from May 28 through 30. Listen from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. PST here on Thursday May 28 and somewhere in that block of time, you can catch Vaselines’ set. Wahoo! You can keep better abreast of the broadcasting schedule at the WFMU Twitter page. (Other bands you can hear during the WFMU broadcasts are Sunn o))), the Bats, Jay Reatard, Wooden Shjips, th’ Faith Healers, Spiritualized, Fucked Up, the Vivian Girls, the Jesus Lizard, Spectrum, Oneida, and more TBA.)

Vaselines photo copyright, Jim Bennett

Blitzen Trapper Does KALX (heh heh)

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:37:10 -0700

The lovely singin’ lads of Blitzen Trapper stopped by KALX in Berkeley a couple of weeks ago to play a few songs! You can listen to the songs here as well as view some more amusing photos from the session.

Fucking Wasted and Fucking Crazy

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:26:57 -0700

Wolf Eyes are beginning a US/Canada tour, so now is a relevant time as any to revisit a highly entertaining interview conducted by CITR Music Director Luke Meat circa 2005! Hopefully you can read this with all of the notes. For Wolf Eyes tour dates, go here. And without further adieu:

Fucking Wasted and Fucking Crazy, A Conversation With Wolf Eyes By Luke Meat

Wolf Eyes have more in common with a house full of Old Stock than Stockhausen. Their live show should leave any sane person regressing back to the state a four–year–old child, where all you want is your mommy and for all these evil men to stop making all the loud noise. I got to talk to them after an accidentally double–booked night at The Media Club. Wolf Eyes went on at 7:30. They were pretty drunk. I was pretty drunk. The problem with drunk noise nerds is that when we get together, we can talk for hours about lame esoteric stuff that no one gives a shit about. Hence the notes.

Discorder: True or false: Wolf Eyes is a noise band. John Olsen: True.

How does Wolf Eyes define “noise”? Mike Connelly: Nowadays it’s weird. We come from the old school—y’know, like noise that people do NOT want to hear.

True or False: Wolf Eyes have released over 300 albums. John Olsen: True, about 250–300 now…

True or False: Wolf Eyes are the next coming of Throbbing Grissle. John Olsen [loudly]: Ahhhhhhh! No way, man! Their reunion gig was the best thing I’ve ever seen—it made me retarded—but the dumbest thing is when people see no drums and only electronics, people think we’re like a TG thing. It’s like comparing The Shaggs to The Allman Brothers. It’s retarded to just look at instrumentation, because the actual instrumentation is totally different with us. Of course we all love ’em and stuff, but we are not the second coming of TG. They were all about this social art manifesto thing.

Is there a Wolf Eyes manifesto? John Olsen: Yeah, get wasted and have fun! We got the alliance with the fuckin’ bands like the Allies, and fuckin’ Negative Approach, and fuckin’ y’know…just get fuckin’ crazy! Technology is retarded. Y’know we’re just doin’ it and getting’ crazy… and fuckin’ wasted.

I love the Cannibal Holocaust t–shirt you’ve got on. Have visuals ever been a part of a live Wolf Eyes experience? John Olsen: Nahhh, not really. We used a Valley Export movie where a girl chews her fingernails off, but that’s the only thing. You handle your business with sound, you don’t do fuckin’ Jedi Starbucks Shit. We played with DJ Spooky last night and he had some Japanimation behind him and it’s like, “dude, whatever.”

Did you and Spooky talk last night? John Olsen: No, nah… He’s an intellectual, man… [Another Wolf Eyes member, Nathan Young, enters dressing room]

You’re wearing a Mayhem t–shirt! You’re wearing a Mayhem t–shirt! Is Varg Vikernes innocent or guilty? Nathan Young: Oh, guilty man! [laughs] We like Burzum and Mayhem.

Does he deserve to rot in prison? John Olsen: NO WAY MAN! No one does!

Did the Norwegian black metal scene go too far, do you think? What with the burning down churches and eating sheep’s brains… John Olsen: Nahhh, I think that if anybody feels that strongly about something, [they] should do that. I’m not endorsing it, but I think all these lazy fuckers with their computers, if they actually went out and did something that they believed in…then that’s fuckin’ cool.

Is “Wolf” the new “Super”? John Olsen: What?

Never mind. I noticed you were selling hand–cut, individually numbered 7–inch singles for 50 bucks a pop. Is that a tip of the hat to Zoviet France or the Hafler Trio at all? Nathan Young: Yeah, their packaging was cool. That’s different from what we’re doing, theirs was an actual product. We have an old lathe–cutter, so we’re cutting vinyl constantly. We like doing kind of a one–of–a–kind thing, like a hand–cut record of a jam that we’ll never hear again, as opposed to a nice package. Each one of ours is totally unique, one–of–a–kind—both the music and the record itself.

Does that attitude cross over to the live performance as well? John Olsen: Totally! The problem with motherfuckers today is they can’t do it on the spot. Y’know, motherfuckers show up with their CDs and shit like that. Everything we do onstage is on the spot: our releases, everything. If we’re not feelin’ it or it’s not happening onstage, we’ll like just hang out and talk; y’know what I’m sayin’? But all these other motherfuckers, they got it all planned and stuff like that. But since we’re so dumb and fun, we’ll just do what the fuck ever. Our live shit is like B.C.—y’know, stones and draggin’ chicks back to our caves by their hair and shit.

Does Wolf Eyes get any groupies? Nathan Young: There’s a lot of girls at a Wolf Eyes show. There’s a lot of criticism of our shows being male–dominated, but tonight the audience was like half–and–half. John Olsen: We’re not into being male and all this domination shit; we’re into bein’ ourselves and ladies who are into havin’ a good time. Aaron Dilloway: I once fell into a mosh pit at one of our shows that was all breasts.

Okay. Wrapping up: do you feel lucky? Aaron Dilloway: [loud laughter] Every fuckin’ day! John Olsen: Dude, I’m hangin’ out with my best friends, drinkin’ beer, actin’ a fool onstage, and goin’ to Brazil and seein’ the world. We are the luckiest pieces of shit ever. Seriously.

Fleet Foxes Nominated for Three (3!) Mojo Honours List Awards!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:45:51 -0700

The fine foulks over at MOJO Magazine recently announced the nominees for their 2009 MOJO Honours List and Fleet Foxes received three nominations! Were we to be keeping track, that would come out to… MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE.

As anyone with the good sense to read MOJO would be able to tell you, Fleet Foxes are in remarkably good company here. Further proof to be found in this bit of pudding from the MOJO Honours List announcement itself:

Now in its sixth year, the Honours List has seen the likes of James Brown, Arthur Lee, The Who, Noel Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, Lemmy, Morrissey, Marianne Faithfull, Judy Collins, The Clash and The Stooges (to name but a few) join forces to celebrate great music in all its grand forms.

WHOA!

Fleet Foxes have been nominated in the “Album of the Year,” “Best Live Act” and “Song of the Year” (for “White Winter Hymnal”) categories, alongside the likes of PJ Harvey and John Parish, Paul Weller, Leonard Cohen, Radiohead, and a whole raft of other amazing artists. And, though we did not put out the Fleet Foxes record in the UK (Bella Union did) we are just incredibly proud of these guys for all that they have accomplished.

Congratulations, Fleet Foxes, here’s hoping you sweep all three categories!

For an insightful (and funny) glimpse of (two of) the MEN OF FLEET FOXES, please refer yourself to this entertaining, freewheeling interview Robin and Josh did with the inimitable Nardwuar the Human Serviette a while back!

Sub Pop's Facebook Page

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:28:34 -0700

Ok, we’ve finally decided to create an official Sub Pop Facebook page . We’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of Sub Pop fan pages on that site, but this one is the only one that will be updated solely by us! And a page updated by us means that our lucky fans will not only get band news and label updates but also staff arm wrestling videos and random office photos! Any real fan of Sub Pop would be a fan of a page like that.

Obits LIVE on KEXP Saturday !

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:14:28 -0700

What a lucky gal, I am. I get to head over to KEXP for the second time this week! Wednesday, the Vaselines played a fabulous live set of all their hits. Go here for some really cute pictures of Frances and Eugene.

On Saturday, Obits will be performing a live in-studio at 3 PM PST before their show at Neumos. If for some reason you won’t be able to come to the show or if you’re just a super fan (and that’s alright!), tune in here.

No Age to perform a Live Score at SIFF

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:05:07 -0700

No Age will perform an original live score in accompaniment to Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Césár winning film, The Bear (France, 1988). The debut of this never before seen or heard work takes place on Friday, June 12, at the Triple Door at 7:00pm (all-ages) and 9:30pm (21+). Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 day of show. Tickets go on sale May 8 and will be available online here and here, and by phone at 206.324.9996.

No Age inspires its audience with live shows that are an exploration of possibilities: a guitar laid over a resonating drum head, effect loops woven together like beautiful harmonies, pop songs as performance art, a duo that sounds like the gale force of rock history delivered through a wind tunnel. Their original score to The Bear has been created and crafted specifically for this one-night only experience at SIFF.

Kate hearts Jack, but you know deep down she's a Sawyer girl

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:44:09 -0700

This photo was taken this morning and is 100% real. Trust.

Vaselines LIVE on KEXP 5/13!

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:05:00 -0700

The Vaselines are heading to our neck of the woods and will be playing Neumos TONIGHT! If the performance is anything like it was at SP20 , Eugene and Francis will be super cute of course and talk a lot about dry humping in between songs. Get stoked!

On their way out on Wednesday, the Vaselines will be stopping by the wonderful KEXP to do an in-studio at 12 p.m. I highly recommend checking it out! Maybe they’ll even talk about dry-humping on KEXP too!

Listen here.

Someone in the office is REALLY excited about this new Star Trek movie...

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:45:21 -0700

The photo says it all, really…

Vetiver on NPR's World Cafe Tuesday, May 12th!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:44:42 -0700

Our pals in Vetiver recently recorded a performance and interview for NPR’s World Cafe and this session will be broadcast on Tuesday, May 12th! You should listen!

Here are the details as we know them…

National Public Radio’s World Cafe with host David Dye can be heard on nearly 200 stations nationwide. Fans can find their local station by scrolling to the bottom & choosing their state under “Find a Program Broadcast Time” at the following link:

www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/?prgId=39

…or worldwide they can listen online to the WXPN/Philadelphia stream Monday through Friday, 2pm to 4pm Eastern Standard Time by going to:

www.xpn.org/listen-live/listen-live

Late in the day of broadcast, the audio will be available on the National Public Radio website: www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=39&agg=1

The following things are also worth mentioning!

Vetiver is currently on tour, very possibly somewhere near you! We, your close, personal friends here at Sub Pop Records have managed to procure a stash of Vetiver’s Record Store Day 7” single, the really very excellent and also quite limited and collectible “Wishing Well” b/w “Pay No Mind” on magnificent, light-blue marble-y vinyl. Get one while they last!

A Form of Paying Attention May 2009

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:49:13 -0700

Well, here we are, back in action after a highly successful second annual Record Store Day! Thanks to all of you who purchased our limited edition goods at your finer local independent record shoppes. Your patronage means that we can keep paying the rent on the Sub Pop flag that flies continuously on the Space Needle and that my husband can continue bringing home his share of the proverbial bacon.

We’re releasing several great records this month, starting May 5 with Enter the Vaselines – the new and improved and deluxed version of The Way of the Vaselines. This new guy contains remixed and remastered versions of all the old songs, a new title, new cover art from the band, and a whole lot of new material (the entirety of the 17-song second CD/third LP has been added + never-before-heard demos, and live recordings from 1986 in Bristol and 1988 in London.). The Vaselines are Kurt Cobain’s favorite band so you should definitely check this out; unless of course you don’t like K. Cobain, in which case you might want to steer clear of the newly remodeled McDonald’s in Aberdeen which, rumor has it, features a huge portrait of the man himself inside the dining area. The Vaselines are doing some US touring as well, and it would behoof you to go see them if’n they’re in your area.

May 5 is also the day we release the Mykonos 7” by Fleet Foxes. You know them—they were on SNL, for chrissakes. Sheesh. This li’l record comes in a gatefold sleeve and is backed with a previously unreleased (here in the US) cover of the traditional folk ballad “False Knight on the Road” made popular by Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson. Oh, Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson—I LOVE those guys. (No, I don’t know who they are either, but the song is killer.)

On May 19th we’re releasing Around the Well by Iron and Wine. This is essentially a collection of never before released tracks, b sides, and covers. It’s got those jams from the movie In Good Company, and it’s a must for any serious Iron and Wine fan. (I have always wanted to say that!) Order before street date to get $2 off. That’s a deal, man!

And finally, we are all fucking ecstatic to have new mom/online publicist Alissa Gallivan back in the office after her maternity leave. The office has been deadly boring (sorry, other co-workers!) since she’s been away and the Rainier beer in the soda machine is in desperate need of re-stocking. Please leave Alissa a congratulatory comment of some sort—she’d love to hear from you.

Vaselines CD/LP out May 5th!

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:52:09 -0700

First and foremost, if you don’t already own The Way of The Vaselines, your record collection should most certainly be considered incomplete. As proof, consider the fact that Kurt Cobain (he was in Nirvana!) called The Vaselines “(his) favorite songwriters in the world.” Second and secondmost, if you do already own The Way of The Vaselines, please congratulate yourself on your unassailable good taste! Unfortunately, we’re about to make that collection obsolete with this new, much more complete Vaselines compilation, Enter The Vaselines. Sorry! But, finally and finalmost, if you pre-order the double-CD or triple-LP (complete with digital download code) by May 5th, you’ll automatically receive $2 off (so, $13 for the CDs and $19 for the LPs) plus altogether F-R-E-E Vaselines-related stickers and a button! And, arguably more importantly, you’ll have earned an enhanced feeling of smugness about your record collection. We will, of course, have earned your money. And that’s thanks enough for us.

Order Enter The Vaselines here

Listen to The Vaselines here

The Sub Pop "Loser" Scholarship: 2009

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:30:42 -0700

It’s back! We’re a little late in letting the tens of you good people who regularly visit our website know about it, but we’re exceptionally pleased with ourselves to announce the return of The Sub Pop Scholarship! We’ve done this for the past few years (2007 announcement and winning loser, the 2008 announcement and last year’s crop of losers) and are really just ridiculously happy to be able to do so again this year (you know, what with the virtual collapse of the record industry, the generally crappy state of the economy, this swine flu business, etc.).

So! The details!

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 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 encouraged to send digital links and provide hard copies of their artwork along with their 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 June 15th.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com

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.

Obits on FMU

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:16:33 -0700

Obits played live on the Evan “Funk” Davies show on WFMU last night (Apr. 21st). And, because we live in the future now, you can listen to this performance by programming the internet for here.

They play nine songs off their fantastic debut record album I Blame You.

Go listen!

You can (and should) also listen to this performance, as well as Obits’ first show back in Jan. ‘08 at the Cake Shop in NYC, and in the near future (we’re guessing) more Obits live recordings in the Obits-curated section of the Free Music Archive. By the way, the Free Music Archive is totally worth checking out for all sorts of other cool stuff.

Blitzen Trapper A Capella

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:12:27 -0700

Here is that thing Blitzen Trapper shot for mtvU. Check it out—it’s cool. LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!

GRUNGE IS DEAD? (Don't tell Sasha!)

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:24:20 -0700

According to Greg Prato, grunge has officially died. You can read all about it in his new oral history, Grunge Is Dead. He spoke with a bunch of old grungey hipsters (some of them are famous rock stars and one of them is our boss) and put their stories together to create his new book.

Prato will sign copies of his new book at Easy Street Records & Cafe in West Seattle on Saturday, 25-April at 6pm (4559 California Ave SW). This event is free and open to public (for more information, visit Easy Street.

Still Shreddin'

carlys@subpop.com (carly starr) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:45:52 -0700

Still Shreddin’

No Age T-Shirt Giveaway

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:19:17 -0700

Dean and Randy from No Age recently teamed up with the folks at Altamont Apparel to commission a series of t-shirts by some of their favorite artists based on the theme “Get Well Soon.” And, right now through next Friday, you can enter a contest on the Altamont site to win these shirts, plus a bunch of No Age stuff we gave them. The Altamont folks gave us a handful of the Get Well Soon shirts and we are, as of now, giving them away to the first 5 people to buy No Age stuff from us. There are 3 larges and 2 mediums. Write “No Age Get Well Large” in the comments section of your order if you want the large shirt and “No Age Get Well Medium” in the comments section if you want the medium shirt. First come, first served, while supplies last, et cetera.

A Form Of Paying Attention April 2009

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:42:49 -0700

Hey, guess what? We’re putting out nothing but singles this month, none of which you can purchase here at subpop.com! This month is nothing but Singles Club (it’s a good one) and Record Store Day singles, so we’re going to check in with the Sub Pop staff on their feelings about RSD in its second year. Check back next month when we actually put out full lengths again. I would also like to point out that Dean W, our mom & pop record store sales guy, refused to answer these questions because “they’re dumb”.

What’s your take on Record Store Day?

Tony Kiewel: I’m for it. then again I’m also for Roadside Attraction Day, Exotic Animal Day, and No Pants Friday.

Andy Kotowicz: Record Store Day is a made up holiday like Valentine’s Day and Christmas, in order to sell crap. Hopefully RSD will really take off like the other two.

Chris Jacobs: I prefer it to Fabric Store Day, but it’s a little less fun than Liquor Store Day.

Sarah Moody: I think it’s great! I’ve participated for the past two years and it’s always been a really encouraging experience to see tons of people out at local stores instead of plopped in front of their computers. Plus all of the bonus CDs, 7”s, in-store performances, and store discounts are typically pretty rad.

Sasha Morgan: I have a very unoriginal answer for that: I think Record Store Day is a great way to get people out to their local record stores. WOOOooowoOOOo!

Richard Laing: I’m into it. It’s a great opportunity for stores to connect with their community and remind people of their value. Next year, they should try and convince people that they need to buy their friends gifts and cards for Record Store Day

Rosie Torrance: I think RSD rules, unless you’re a Sub Pop intern.

Would you participate in a RSD dunking booth? Pie eating contest?

TK:It doesn’t take much to get me to participate in any eating contest.

AK: Hot Dog eating contest? I’m listenin’…

CJ: Yes dunking booth, no competitive eating of any sort. Streaking, napping, snacking, loafing – I’d do any of those things for a good cause like this.

SM: Dunking booth no. Pie eating yes!

SMor: Yes I’d participate in a RSD dunking booth or pie eating contest.

RL: Absolutely not, this shit is serious.

RT: Dunk Tank= Fuck Ya! I’ve always wanted to do that!

If you could go to any record store anywhere in the world which one you go to on RSD?

TK: I would probably pick Joe’s Garage in Kyoto. I have no idea if it’s actually that great of a shop but who the fuck cares!? It’s in Kyoto!

AK: I’m gonna go with Shake It in fabulous Cincinatti Ohio since it is supposed to be awesome and I’ve never been there. Mississippi Records in Portland and Double Decker in Allentown for the same reason. Prior to last month, the answer would probably have been Grimey’s in Nashville, but I had the good fortune to pay them a visit recently. Lemme tell ya. Grimey’s is all it’s cracked up to be and more. I’d drop in on good ol’ Wazoo in Ann Arbor too. Can’t forget Used Kids. Great store that I haven’t been to in forever. If I could magically visit record stores that are no longer with us, my Hall of Fame All-Star tour would include the great Play It Again in Royal Oak, MI, Fallout of Seattle, and Lucy’s formerly of Nashville.

CJ: Is there a good one in Hawaii? ‘Cause, man, I am READY for some better weather right now. Or, maybe Tower Records in the University District here in Seattle, sometime in 1993, so I could visit myself, maybe take me out for a nice lunch.

SM: Outside of local stores it’d be a toss-up between Mississippi Records in Portland, Treehouse Records in Minneapolis, or Academy Records in New York. Or I would finally make the trek to Amoeba. But really just being able to get to the Seattle stores does enough damage to my paycheck.

SMor: If I could go to any record store in the world, I’d go to Mississippi Records in Portland, OR. It’s super close but I still haven’t made it down there for some reason. Apparently they have a bunch of rare vinyl AND they’re the dudes that run the Mississippi Records mostly vinyl label, which is fucking amazing. They just released Michael Hurley “Armchair Boogie” and I couldn’t be more stoked!

RL: Sounds of the Universe in London.

RT: Distortion Records in Amsterdam. Would love to have some morning coffee and happen upon this shop. ( I think this is a weed reference. –Ed.)

Photo by Jay Cox

RECORD STORE DAY -- SUB POP STYLE

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:50:12 -0700

It’s time again for Record Store Day (April 18), sometimes known as Record Store Day 2: The Reckoning. Last year we gave out free CD samplers of our astoundingly good bands, but this year we are doing something even better—SELLING stuff by our astoundingly good bands, but only in record stores, not even here on subpop.com.

We’re doing four limited-edition 7” singles with unreleased material by Flight of the Conchords (‘Pencils in the Wind’/’Albi the Racist Dragon’), Obits (‘I Can’t Lose/’Military Madness’), Vetiver (‘Wishing Well’/’Pay No Mind’), and Blitzen Trapper (‘War is Placebo’/’Booksmart Baby’). COLLECTOR NERD STATS: All of these are limited to 1500 copies, except Flight of the Conchords which is limited to 3000, but they’re on TV so….

We’re also releasing an 18-track live set from Iron & Wine’s Woman King tour in 2005, but this one’s on CD with extra cute packaging to make it look like a tiny 45. Adorable, and limited to 5000. Learn more about Record Store Day here. See you in the vinyl bins, bro!

Blitzen Trapper perform at Old Abandoned Warehouse--Scooby Doo nowhere in Sight

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:25:35 -0700

Last week during SXSW I had the pleasure of accompanying Blitzen Trapper to the Seaholm Power Plant in Austin, TX—a locale that has not been producing power for years and that will most certainly be turned into condos by the next time I’m in Austin. The place was awesome—the crew said they couldn’t shoot in the lower levels of the building because they were infested with snakes, and I heard a dead bat fell on someone’s head also. Anywho, we were there to shoot a promo piece for mtvU’s Ahead of the Curve—lots of Sub Pop bands have done these including No Age, Fleet Foxes, CSS, and Foals. (Okay, I guess not lots, just those ones.) So, here are some sneak peak photos of the band doing an a capella version of “Sleepytime in the Western World” a la Boyz 2 Men. I’ll post a link when they’re done movie-magicking the whole thing.

New Shade of Science Fiction

stuart.fletcher@gmail.com (Stuart Fletcher) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:20:31 -0700

I’m not south by southwesting, so let me entertain you with Don’t Touch My Marmalade #3, a/k/a “what I’ve listened to recently”. HowzaboutIIIT! I had to skip last week because I was too busy watching MI-5 (Spooks to anyone outside the USA). I’m all caught up now, thanks.

I did listen to Stereolab “Chemical Chords” one day this week & forgot to tweeeet it, but that’s a record I like quite a bit and it’s recent. I’m a fool for Stereolab, though. Playing while I write this is Don Ellis Orchestra “Electric Bath”. What a trip.

(The twitter.) (Past marmalades.)

Without further ado:

Tony Reedus: Incognito. I’m really digging this record. Steve Nelson on vibes is great. The songs are what get me, though. Fantastic songs! (Tony Reedus is a drummer. He tragically passed away in 2008.)

Bobby Hutcherson: Live at Montreux. 1973. Again! This is just great. “Anton’s Bail” is a great Bobby Hutcherson song.

Harold Land: A New Shade of Blue. 1971. Supposedly rare? I don’t know about that but it’s good. Bobby Hutcherson on vibes (they basically co-lead the group).

Mulgrew Miller: Hand in Hand. 1992. Some stars of ‘92. Steve Nelson on vibes which is sweet. Lewis Nash, Kenny Garrett. Overall great!

Ornette Coleman: Golden Circle, Stockholm Vol. 1. Love these. Would’ve been a quartet but Bobby Bradford had left the fold a bit prior. I think?

Miles Davis: Bags’ Groove. 1954. Timeless & beautiful, never gets old.

Ornette Coleman: Complete Science Fiction sessions, all of it. This is the stuff.

Ornette Coleman: Live in Belgrade 1971. Sound is a little rough (Haden is hard to hear) but otherwise it is on fire (not literally).

Obits Debut & Red Red Meat Reissue on March 24th

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:52:29 -0700

We’re gonna try something crazy here (but it’s not the first time, so we know it’ll work out in our favor). We’re going to put out two records in one day! First, we have I Blame You, the debut from Obits (CD/LP). Pre-ordering this will get you a very amazing, band-designed lenticular post-card and stickers and button. Also on March 24th, Bunny Gets Paid, Red Red Meat’s third album is getting the deluxe, double-disc reissue treatment. The only other Sub Pop release to get this honor so far has been Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Bigmuff, so Bunny Gets Paid is among good company.

Obits’ I Blame You here.

Red Red Meat’s Bunny Gets Paid here.

BABY TAKEOVER

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:26:15 -0700

Yesterday we had a visit from our other new baby friend, Paloma Hernandez, daughter of Sophia and Dave Hernandez, of the Shins. She’s a real beaut and it was so fun having her in the office! Oh god, my eggs are drying up—someone get me a puppy STAT!

SXSW Day Parties

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:34:33 -0700

And without further ado, and practically zero fanfare, here are the (mostly free!) SXSW parties with SUB POP bands! I was thinking about writing the addresses and all that jazz, but I thought that since these were free shows it’d be okay for you to do a small amount of work and figure out the location on your own. Plus, teach a man a fish and all that, you know? Anyway, enough with my constant ramblings…. HERE IS THE INFO YOU NEED! AND… AWAY… WE… GO…

See you in the pit, doodz.

WEDNESDAY 3/18

Vetiver : the Austinist.com Party at the Mohawk 4pm
Vetiver : Leafy Green Showcase at Emo’s Jr. 10pm

THURSDAY 3/19

Vetiver : Bay Bridged Party at Beauty Bar 2:30pm
Handsome Furs : Fader Fort Party 3:30pm
Blitzen Trapper : NPR Music Day Party at The Parish 4pm
No Age : Found Magazine Party at Red 7 4:30pm
Vetiver : Dog & Pony Party at Opal Divine’s 5pm

FRIDAY 3/20

Obits : Insound Party at Club Deville @ 12:30pm
Handsome Furs : Insound Party at Club Deville @ 1:20
Vetiver : Waterloo Records In-store 2pm
Vetiver : SFxSW Party at Wave on 6th Street 4pm
Handsome Furs : Waterloo Records In-store 6pm
Obits : WFMU/Aquarius Records Showcase at Spiro’s 11pm

SATURDAY 3/21

Vetiver : Mess With Texas Fest at 1:35pm
Obits : Filter Magazine Party at Cedar Street Courtyard 1:45pm
Tiny Vipers : End of an Ear In-Store 3pm
Obits : VICE Saves Texas party (311 E. 5th St., at Trinity) at 1:00 am