Sub Pop Records, The Big Bag of Beans

New Father John Misty Video & Tour Dates

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:21:48 -0700

Here for you, is the latest video from Father John Misty, “This Is Sally Hatchet”, off the album, Fear Fun.

If you missed his previously released videos, you can find them all on Sub Pop’s Father John Misty Playlist on Youtube or, perhaps more conveniently if you happen to be reading this, you can also locate them in the handy individual links provided below.

Video Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Video Nancy From Now On
Video Father John Misty’s Acoustic Session from SXSW 2012

Father John Misty on Tour
May 14 – Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, Canada
May 15 – Petit Campus, Montreal, Canada
May 16 – Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA
May 18 – Mercury Lounge, New York City, NY
May 19 – Knitting Factory (BK), Brooklyn, NY
May 20 – Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
May 22 – Masquerade Music Park, Atlanta, GA
May 23 – One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans, LA
May 24 – Fitzgeralds (TX), Houston, TX
May 25 – Sons of Hermann Hall, Dallas, TX
May 26 – Mohawk, Austin, TX
Jun 02 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Jun 03 – Privatclub, Berlin, Germany
Jun 04 – Ekko, Utrecht, Netherlands
Jun 06 – Shacklewell Arms, London, United Kingdom
Jun 07 – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
Jun 08 – Fleche D’Or, Paris, France
Jun 10 – No Direction Home Festival, Welbeck Abbey , United Kingdom
Jul 11 – Ottawa Blues Fest, Ottawa, Canada
Jul 20 – Capitol Hill Block Party, Seattle, WA
Jul 27 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
Jul 28 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, Australia
Jul 29 – Splendour in the Grass Festival, Byron Bay, Australia

Beach House's Bloom out May 15th!

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:49:05 -0700

Beach House’s long-awaited follow up to their Sub Pop debut, Teen Dream, is called Bloom, and it comes out next week! For fans of Teen Dream, Bloom will absolutely not disappoint.

Pre-order Bloom on CD or 2xLP here.

Niki & The Dove to release Instinct on August 7th in North America

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:12:58 -0700

Today we are finally able to provide more album information on the long-awaited debut album, Instinct, from Stockholm, Sweden’s Niki & The Dove.
The album will be available in North America on August 7th on CD and 2xLP on Sub Pop and will feature the standout tracks “Tomorrow”, “DJ Ease My My Mind”, “The Fox” and “The Drummer”.

The CD version of Instinct will feature 14 tracks, including the unreleased songs “The Beach” and “All This Youth.” The vinyl version of Instinct features 12 tracks, and includes an extended version of the song “Under The Bridges.”

The tracklisting for the digital version of Instinct will mirror the vinyl release, however with the edit of “Under The Bridges.” It will be available June 12 as an iTunes exclusive. Full track listings for all formats below.

Niki & The Dove will support the release of Instinct with a massive tour this fall. Preceding the tour, the band has scheduled a few festival dates: June 14th at Brooklyn, NY’s Northside (at Glasslands) and September 2nd in Seattle, WA at Bumbershoot.

What people are saying about Niki + The Dove:
“…It’s a beautiful, emotive celebration of the power of pop when it’s been made for the love of the art.” – BBC

“They deserve to have the whole word hear these songs. Heck they deserve some sort of Nobel Pop Prize.” [8/10] – NME

“The greatest thing about “Tomorrow” is that even though the end of days may be nigh and this may be the last moment of these lovers’ lives, that cry of intent is delivered like a knockout punch." [Best New Track] – Pitchfork

Niki & The Dove
Instinct
August 7th (CD + 2XLP)
June 12th (iTunes exclusive)

CD tracklisting:
Tomorrow
The Drummer
In Our Eyes
The Gentle Roar
Mother Protect
Last Night
Somebody
Love to the Test
DJ, Ease My Mind
Winterheart
The Fox
Under the Bridges
The Beach (bonus)
All This Youth (bonus)

2xLP tracklisting:
Tomorrow
The Drummer
In Our Eyes
The Gentle Roar
Mother Protect
Last Night
Somebody
Love to the Test
DJ, Ease My Mind
Winterheart
The Fox
Under the Bridges (extended version)

Digital Tracklisting:
Tomorrow
The Drummer
In Our Eyes
The Gentle Roar
Mother Protect
Last Night
Somebody
Love to the Test
DJ, Ease My Mind
Winterheart
The Fox
Under the Bridges (edit)

Tour Dates
Jun. 14 – Brooklyn, NY – Northside Fest (Glasslands)
Sep. 02 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot

Beach House Events and Rarities on May 15th!

nickt@subpop.com (Nick Turner) — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:15:07 -0700

Beach House’s new album, Bloom, comes out next Tuesday, and we are celebrating with events in record stores across these great United States of ours!

Pop into any of the below stores on May 15th to get the record, and experience the magic of our extra-special, new-and-improved, release-day-only initiatives, including:
- A chance to win a copy of Bloom on glow-in-the-dark vinyl! No shit, it really glows in the dark. There are only 250 of these, and they are only available at release-day events and the band’s concert at New York, New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 15th.
- More prizes, including a copy of Beach House’s now-rare Record Store Day 7", and assorted other Sub Pop treats.

- Posters featuring exclusive art by Victoria of Beach House, given away with purchase of the new record (while supplies last!).

Check with your local store for details. Participating retailers include:
1-2-3-4 Go! Records (Oakland, CA)
Amoeba (Los Angeles, CA)
Beacon Sound (Portland, OR)
Bull City Records (Durham, NC)
Bull Moose (Portland, ME)
Cactus Music (Houston, TX)
CD Cellar (Anniston, AL)
Central Square (Seaside, FL)
CFBG (Greensboro, NC)
Co-Op 87 (Brooklyn, NY)
Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)
Darkside Records (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Dearborn Music (Dearborn, MI)
Disc Exchange (Knoxville, TN)
Electric Fetus (Minneapolis, MN)
End of An Ear (Austin, TX)
Euclid Records (St. Louis, MO)
Everybody’s Records (Cincinnati, OH)
Everyday Musc (Bellingham, WA)
Finders (Bowling Green, OH)
Fingerprints (Long Beach, CA)
Going Underground Records (Bakersfield, CA)
Good Records (Dallas, TX)
Green Light Music (Kalamazoo, MI)
Grimey’s (Nashville, TN)
Guestroom (Norman/Oklahoma City, OK)
Harvest Records (Asheville, NC)
Hear Again CD’s & DVD’s (Gainesville, FL)
Homers (Omaha, NE)
Horizon Records (Greenville, CA)
Independent (Denver, CO)
Jackpot Records – 9th (Portland, OR)
Jackpot Records (Portland, OR)
Ka-Chunk Records (Annapolis, MD)
Landlocked Music (Bloomington, IN)
Lou’s Records (Encinitas, CA)
Love Garden (Lawrence, KS)
Luna Music (Indianapolis, IN)
Lunchbox Records (Charlotte, NC)
Magnolia ThunderPussy (Columbus, OH)
Melody Supreme (Charlottesville, VA)
Monster (Charleston, SC)
Music Millennium (Portland, OR)
Music Saves (Cleveland, OH)
Neat Neat Neat (Fort Wayne, OH)
Needle Drop Records (Rochester, NY)
Olympic Records (Providence, RI)
Origami Music (Los Angeles, CA)
Other Music (New York, NY)
Oz Records (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Park Ave CDs (Orlando, FL)
Permanent Records (Chicago, IL)
Permanent Records (Los Angeles, CA)
Plan 9 Music (Charlottesville/Richmond, VA)
Radio-Active Records (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Reckless Records (Chicago – all three locations)
Record Archive (Rochester, NY)
Record Exchange (Boise, ID)
Red Onion Records (Washington, DC)
Repo Records (Philadelphia, PA)
Rhino Records (Claremont, CA)
Salzer’s (Ventura, CA)
School Kids (Raleigh, NC)
Shangri-La (Memphis, TN)
Siren Records (Doylestown, PA)
Sonic Boom (Seattle, WA)
Sound Cat Records (Pittsburgh, PA)
Sound Fix (Brooklyn, NY)
Speaker Tree Records (Lynchburg, VA)
Square Records (Akron, OH)
Steady Sounds (Richmond, VA)
Stormy Records (Dearborn, MI)
Streetlight Records (San Jose, CA)
Sweat Records (Miami, FL)
T-Bones (Hattiesburg, MS)
The Business (Anacortes, WA)
The Culture Clash (Toledo, OH)
The Sound Garden (Baltimore, MD)
Twist and Shout (Denver, CO)
Uncle Sam’s (Miami Beach, FL)
Underground Sounds (Ann Arbor, MI)
Vacation Vinyl (Los Angeles, CA)
Vertigo Music (Grand Rapids, MI)
Village Green (Muncie, IN)
Vintage Vinyl (St. Louis, MO)
Waiting Room Records (Normal, IL)
Wall Of Sound (Seattle, WA)
Waterloo Records (Austin, TX)
Waterloo Records (Austin, TX)
Wax Trax (Denver, CO)
Wuxtry Records (Athens, GA)
Young Ones Records (Kutztown, PA)
ZZZ Records (Des Moines, IA)

Father John Misty on KCRW

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:33:45 -0700

Father John Misty’s Fear Fun release week was filled with tears of joy and laughter, thrills, and chills. An amazing David Letterman performance was followed by an equally amazing KCRW in-studio session.

We here at Sub Pop believe you should take a moment to check out the session if you didn’t tune in live last week. It’s that good, folks! The songs sound incredible, and the in-between song banter and interview with Jason Bentley are top quality.

Listen and enjoy!

King Tuff Out May 29th

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:11:02 -0700

Pre-order King Tuff now

Father John Misty Releases Fear Fun Today, on Letterman Tonight

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:00:47 -0700

Today marks the Fear Fun record release and it just happens to also mark Father John Misty’s late night television debut as tonight, Tuesday, May 1st, (at 11:35pm ET/10:35pm CT) Father John Misty will perform “Only Son Of A Ladies Man” on The Late Show with David Letterman. Later this week, you’ll be able to find Father John Misty back on TV during a spotlight segment on Last Call with Carson Daly. Tune in to Carson’s show this Thursday, May 3 (@1:35am ET/ 12:35am CT) for performances of Fear Fun tracks, “Everyman Needs A Companion” and “I’m Writing a Novel”.

You’ll also get your chance to see a live Father John Misty show later this spring, with the North American tour beginning May 2nd. A full list of tour dates are listed below and can also be found on Father John Misty’s subpop.com artist page.

DOWNLOAD
Nancy From Now On
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

WATCH
Nancy From Now On
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

Order Fear Fun
iTunes / Amazon / Sub Pop

Father John Misty on Tour
May 02 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
May 04 Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum
May 05 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
May 07 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
May 08 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir
May 11 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
May 12 – Chicago, IL – Schubas
May 14 – Toronto, ON – Horsehoe Tavern
May 15 – Montreal, QE – Petit Campus
May 16 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
May 18 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
May 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
May 20 – Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
May 22 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Music Park
May 23 – New Orleans, LA – One-Eyed Jacks
May 24 – Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds
May 25 – Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall
May 26 – Austin, TX – Mohawk

Next Ambience/Sub Pop will release Debo Band's self-titled debut on July 10th, 2012

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:08:03 -0700

Debo Band have announced their spring and summer tour schedule in support of their self-titled debut, out July 10th via Next Ambience / Sub Pop. Highlights include June 9 in Manchester, TN at Bonnaroo, June 10 in Toronto, ON at Luminato Festival and June 30 in Cleveland, OH at Solstice Festival at Cleveland’s Museum of Art. Debo Band will also embark on a short northeast US tour Grupo Fantasmo, which kicks-off July 11 in Allston, MA at Brighton Music Hall and wraps up on July 13 in Brooklyn, NY at Bell House. Full list of tour dates are listed below and can also be found on subpop.com’s tour page.

Debo Band’s live shows at SXSW festival won praise from the likes of SPIN, NPR, Boston Globe, San Francisco Bay Guardian and more. SPIN called their show one of the best of the fest, and said “The Boston-based crew rumbled through Ethiopian wedding songs and mighty, constantly evolving originals. Every hot blast of brass or well-placed outburst of strangled guitar combined to resemble a smartly tweaked, off-kilter version of what you might find in the Ethiopiques series. Tonight it all felt like a celebration: wild, unabashed dancing during every song, and hugging between friends and strangers alike in between.” And NPR raved, “I gushed about this Boston group enough at GlobalFest 2012, but here I’ll just say that even though their music is steeped in 1960s Ethiopian music, to me, they’re a rock band first. That means the beat is hard, the guitar is blistering, the horns are lyrical and you don’t have to understand what is being said to understand the emotions behind the voice. Their appeal is universal.”

For more on Debo Band, please look to their artist page right here on subpop.com.

Debo Band On Tour
May 06 North Adams, MA – Rock the Block
Jun. 09 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester TN
Jun. 10 Toronto, ON – Luminato Festival
Jun. 30 Cleveland, OH – Solstice Festival / The Cleveland Museum of Art ^
Jul. 11 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall (record release show) ^{^

Jul. 12 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse ^}
Jul. 13 Brooklyn, NY – Bell House ^^
Aug. 18 Portland, ME – Space Gallery

^ w/ Gang Gang Dance, Nortec Collective & more
^^ w/ Grupo Fantasma

Mixed Nuts on Record Store Day

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:23:11 -0700

Record Store Day 2012, the one day that independently owned record stores all come together with artists to celebrate the art of music, is almost upon us fellow music fans.

In preparation for this grand event, today we are offering up a streaming version of our free 2012 Sub Pop sampler, Terminal Sales Vol. 5: Mixed Nuts (see player above). This 16-track collection of new, rare, and, in some cases, previously released tracks, will be available, in CD form and in all of its elaborate and glorious packaging beauty, at a record store near you this weekend, while supplies last.

To find out just which record stores near you will be participating in RSD 2012, you can head over to recordstoreday.com and get a list of the local brick and mortars you’ll need to hit on Saturday for the rare and exclusive offers from your favorite bands.

While you’re doing your research, you may also want to refer back to our previous Record Store Day blog post which details the specific and impressive Record Store Day offerings from Sub Pop artists Beach House, Blitzen Trapper and Shabazz Palaces. Relatedly, Pitchfork highlighted the Beach House and Shabazz Palaces RSD releases in their Top Record Store Day Releases coverage, read more of their list here.

See you at the stores this Saturday!

WATCH: THEESatisfaction -"QueenS"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:56:25 -0700

“QueenS” from the 3/27/12 album, awE naturalE

Poor Moon Playing a Cool Thing For Charity In Seattle on Friday

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:04:31 -0700

Three notable Seattle groups, KEXP, Seattle Theatre Group, and a lesser-known organization called Starbucks Coffee, have gotten together to put on a concert series they’re calling ‘Little Big Show’, created to benefit Seattle’s arts organizations. This Friday, April 20th, our own Poor Moon are playing with Real Estate at the Neptune. 100% of ticket sales benefit Coyote Central. What we’re saying is, buy tickets, Seattle.

Tickets to the show are available here.

Pick up Poor Moon’s debut EP from us here, it’s nothing short of awesome.

New Music from Husky's Upcoming Release, Forever So

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:03:26 -0700

The debut album, Forever So, from Melbourne, Australia’s Husky is officially going to be released digitally as well as on CD and LP right here in North America on July 10th, 2012 (and May 28th for UK/Europe). We are celebrating this news by offering up a new Forever So track, “History’s Door,” which you might notice is available for your streaming and downloading needs right in that very widget above.

We are also going to take this moment to announce that some of you, depending on where you might happen to be this summer, will be fortunate enough to have an opportunity to catch a live Husky performance on one of their support tours for label-mates The Head and The Heart (May 31st – June 10th) and Shearwater (July 13th-21st). We’ve listed the full tour dates below for you to compare against your schedules this summer.

And, one more thing before we go: Huksy’s video for “The Woods” has been added to this week’s episode of MTVu’s “The Freshmen,” which is a show that spotlights emerging artists on air & online and offers fans a chance to vote for their favorite video to get an automatic add into rotation on the channel the following week. This means that you can vote for your favorite video, like say, Husky’s “The Woods”, on MTVU right now. Official voting runs through Friday, the 20th, at 2:00 PM (EST). Watch the video for “The Woods” below and place your MTVU votes here!

HUSKY ON TOUR

May 10 Brighton, UK – Great Escape Festival
May 11 Brighton, UK – Great Escape Festival
May 12 Brighton, UK – Great Escape Festival
May 19 Hamburg, DE – Beatlemania
May 20 Berlin, DE – Privatclub
May 21 Koln, DE – Blue Shell
May 23 Munster, DE – Gleiss 22
May 31 Reno, NV – Knitting Factory +
Jun 01 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore +
Jun 02 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore +
Jun 05 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom +
Jun 08 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live +
Jun 09 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Waller Creek +
Jun 10 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Waller Creek +
Jun 12 Chicago, IL – Schubas
Jun 15 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl ^
Jul 13 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom x
Jul 14 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar x
Jul 15 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo x
Jul 17 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill x
Jul 19 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios x
Jul 20 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile x
Jul 21 Vancouver, BC – Media Club x

+ w/ The Head and The Heart
x w/ Shearwater
^ w/ Felice Brothers

Attn Toronto: This Is for a Good Cause

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:44:21 -0700

Our friends from Three Gut Records have organized a benefit for next Friday, April 20th at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. The line-up looks great and the cause is a very good one. If you have the opportunity, you should please attend. Should you not have the opportunity, you should please suggest this event to anyone you know who might.

Here are the details:

Newman Boys Benefit
April 20th at Lee’s Palace

Featuring:
Basia Bulat
Andre Ethier
Jim Guthrie
Nathan Lawr
Light Fires
Casey Mecija
Owen Pallett
Sandra Perri
Bry Webb (this is Bry from the Constantines)

Tickets are available for $15 at the Horseshoe Tavern, Soundscapes, Rotate This and at the door.

Beachwood Sparks return with The Tarnished Gold on June 26

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:27:09 -0700

With the June 26 release of The Tarnished Gold, Los Angeles, CA’s much-beloved Beachwood Sparks return with their first new album in 11 years. Available digitally and on such popular formats as CD and LP (double-LP at 45 rpm), the album features the track “Forget The Song” which you can stream and download via the widget above.

The Tarnished Gold is the work of the classic Beachwood Sparks lineup: singer/guitarist Chris Gunst, singer/bassist Brent Rademaker, singer/multi-instrumentalist Farmer Dave Scher, and singer/drummer Aaron Sperske, with invaluable support from guitarist and longtime friend Ben Knight (The Tyde). For the sessions, the band expanded to seven pieces, with guitarists Knight and Neal Casal (solo artist and former member of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals), with Dan Horne on pedal steel in place of Scher, who opted to play organ, key, flying V guitar and electrified melodica. Also lending a hand were Gunst’s wife Jen Cohen, Sparks’ very first drummer Jimi Hey, Brent’s brother Darren (leader of The Tyde) and L.A. indie-rock maestro Ariel Pink. Producer Thom Monahan returned to his familiar spot behind the console.

Beachwood Sparks also have two scheduled live appearances to mention: June 2nd, the band will precede the album release with a headline appearance at the Huichica Festival in Sonoma, CA; And July 21st the band will visit at the infamous desert venue Pappy’s and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA. Additional shows will be announced soon.

Beachwood Sparks on Tour
June 02 Sonoma, CA Gundlach-Bundschu Winery
July 21 Pioneertown, CA Pappy and Harriet’s

Father John Misty's Fear Fun Out May 1st

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:06:27 -0700

Father John Misty’s debut album, Fear Fun, comes out on May 1st, and we’ve got some important business to discuss with you regarding related, free, limited-edition stuff. No doubt you have seen the very great music videos for the very great songs “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings,” and “Nancy From Now On,” and are justifiably very excited about Fear Fun as a result. In a gesture intended to heighten this excitement and, it’s true, also encourage sales, we will be giving away, to the good people who pre-order this album from SubPop.com, a bonus CDR featuring five demo versions of songs from the album! And, as we like to think we’re becoming increasingly well-known for, when you pre-order the vinyl LP through SubPop.com, you’ll receive the Loser Edition version of the record, which is a limited-edition colored (in this case, pink) vinyl edition. This is only available to early adopters, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. So, if you pre-order now, you’ll get the bonus CDR, the Loser Edition pink vinyl, and as always, stickers! All of this is a while-supplies-last situation.

Pre-order Fear Fun here.

Bundle Fear Fun with a handsome Father John Misty t-shirt here.

Dale Yarger Was One of the Very Good Ones

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:47:11 -0700

Today, The Stranger’s Mike Nipper posted a heartfelt, thoughtful and moving memorial for his friend Dale Yarger, who passed away a few weeks back. I can’t see how we can add much more to what Mike posted and you should read it. Dale will be greatly missed.

Among a great many other things, and one of the reasons it makes sense to post about this here, Dale designed the Sub Pop logo while working at The Rocket with Bruce Pavitt.

I will add one very small thing, though. I worked with Dale at Fantagraphics Books for a brief time sometime right around 1994. I won’t pretend that we were super close friends but we took the same bus home after work and I liked him a lot. From the start, he was always incredibly friendly and generous and just obviously a very good guy. This was maybe a small thing, but it seemed very big to me at the time. Still does. And, I am grateful. Thanks, Dale.

There is also a memorial page for Dale Yarger on Facebook.

New Music From Jaill! "Waste A Lot Of Things"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:42:28 -0700

We’d like to let you know that you can listen to the newest track from Jaill by simply pressing the play button in the widget above (did we really need to explain that? perhaps not.) and if you happen to like what you hear, you can get the download of the track by entering in your email in that very same widget above and the new Jaill tune, “Waste A Lot Of Things”, off their upcoming June 12th record, Traps, will be sent to you.

What else can we share with you that may be fairly self-explanatory? How about, if you’d like more information on Jaill you can help yourself to the copious amounts of Jaill-related information we have waiting for you over on their subpop.com artist page. Band bio, album information, photos, music, useful links.

That there is some pretty informative stuff here, we think!

Tomorrow Night's the Night: Low Live in London at the Royal Festival Hall

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:55:32 -0700

Bands play shows all the time, and though we often try to convince you otherwise (and will, let’s just go ahead and admit, continue to do so), almost any one of these shows is not really “news,” exactly.

Tomorrow night’s Low performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall strikes us as an exception, despite our many biases, both personal and professional.

Added on to the fact that Low will be playing a venue typically occupied by groups with the word “Philharmonic” in their name, the band has invited the artist Peter Liversidge to produce backdrops for their performance. Here’s some more info on Peter and his plans with Low…

Peter Liversidge has begun a year-long collaboration with the band Low from Duluth, Minnesota. The partnership will culminate in a new set of proposals written for the musicians.

To inaugurate this partnership, Liversidge was invited to produce a backdrop for Low’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall of the Southbank Centre in London on April 3, 2012 at 7:30 pm. As detailed in a proposal from Liversidge, the backdrop will consist of three video projections, lighting, mirror balls, festoon lighting and shadows. The work designed for the show is born of a fascination with the relationship between the audience and performer as it has evolved with the technological innovations of the past century, as well as Liversidge’s personal relationship with the band and appreciation of their music.

The first 500 people to arrive at the concert will receive an embossed facsimile of Liversidge’s proposal related to the performance.

In the parlance of our times, it looks like this show will really be “something else.”

New Video from Dum Dum Girls - "Coming Down"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:59:39 -0700

Dum Dum Girls are back with a brand new video for “Coming Down”, directed by their new bass player, Malia James. We sure hope you like this one as much as we do. View above or find on YouTube (where it premiered today!) or on Sub Pop’s Vimeo channel as well.

The ladies are presently on tour in Europe with a few stateside shows to follow, including a performance at Sasquatch music festival in May. See below for their full list of tour dates.

Dum Dum Girls on Tour
March 28 – Grenoble, France – Le Ciel
March 29 – Firenze , Italy – Flog
March 30 – Venice, Italy – Moon Club
March 31 – Ravenna, Italy – Bronson
April 01 – Rome, Italy – Traffic
April 03 – Turin, Italy – Astoria Club
April 05 – Barcelona, Spain – La ² del Apolo
April 06 – Bilbao, Spain – Kafe Antzokia
April 07 – Madrid , Spain – Ocho y Medio
April 08 – Zaragoza, Spain – Arena Rock
April 09 – Bordeaux, France – L’IBoat
April 11 – London, United Kingdom – Islington Academy
April 28 – Richmond, VA – Brown’s Island Park
May 15 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
May 16 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
May 17 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriets Pioneertown
May 18 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
May 21 – San Jose, CA – Blank Club
May 22 – San Francisco, CA – Slims
May 25 – Vancouver, Canada – Biltmore Cabaret
May 26 – Gorge, WA – Sasquatch! Festival
May 27 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Jul 13 – Lisbon, Portugal – Optimus Alive Festival
Aug 03 – Montreal, Canada – Osheaga Music Festival

For more information on Dum Dum Girls please look to their subpop.com artist page or find them on Facebook and Twitter or the on wearedumdumgirls.com.

Shearwater's "You As You Were" Video

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:26:28 -0700

Today we are happy to share with you a brand new video off Shearwater’s Animal Joy for “You As You Were,” (directed by Alix Lambert). You can check out the video located conveniently above or the next time you are looking around Youtube or Vimeo, you’ll be able to find it on Sub Pop’s YouTube and Vimeo channels as well.

Shearwater is also going to heading out on tour starting in May in support of St. Vincent and we have the full list of tour dates copied below for you.

Shearwater on Tour

March 28 Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet
March 29 Brussels, BE – Botanique
March 30 Brighton, UK – Haunt
March 31 Manchester, UK – Deaf Institute
April 01 Glasgow, UK – Stereo
April 02 Oxford, UK – The Cellar
April 03 London, UK – Scala
April 04 Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix
April 05 Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
April 06 Düdingen, CH – Bad Bonn
April 07 Annecy, FR – Le Brise Glace
April 08 Gallen, CH – Palace
April 09 Milano, IT – Bloom
April 10 Rome, IT – Circolo Degli Artisti
April 11 Ravenna, IT – Bronson
April 12 Lubijana, SI – Menza pri koritu
April 16 Dresden, DE – GrooveStation
April 17 Hamburg, DE – Prinzenbar
April 18 Berlin, DE – Comet
April 19 Istanbul, TR – Babylon
April 21 Athen, GR – AN Club
May 03 Providence, RI – Lupo’s +
May 05 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom +
May 06 New York City, NY – Le Poisson Rouge +
May 07 Pittsburgh, PA – Altar +
May 08 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall +
May 09 Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s +
May 10 Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre +
May 11 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre +
May 12 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +
May 14 Omaha, NE – Slowdown +
May 15 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom +
May 17 Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall +
May 18 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree +
May 19 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse +
May 21 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom +
May 22 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre +
May 23 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle +
May 24 Richmond, VA – The National +
May 28 Gorge, WA – Sasquatch! Festival

+ w/ St. Vincent

For more information on Shearwater please look to their subpop.com artist page and/or find the band on Facebook and Twitter or even on their very own website.

New Video from Retribution Gospel Choir "The Stone (Revolution!)"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:38:04 -0700

This track, “The Stone (Revolution!)”, can be found on the just-released-today “the revolution” EP. And that EP can be found for purchase right here on subpop.com, incidentally. Enjoy!

THEESatifaction, Poor Moon and Retribution Gospel Choir all have new music out today, March 27th!

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:11:56 -0700

Today brings us the following brand-new releases: awE naturalE from THEESatisfaction, “Illusion” EP from Poor Moon and “the revolution” EP Retribution Gospel. Below you will find some exciting things that are going on for all 3 groups, for more information please visit our artist pages for each band!

Stream awE naturalE by THEESatisfaction

THEESatisfaction are Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White. Stas was born and raised in Tacoma, Cat in Seattle and Hawaii. The pair live/laugh/love/dance and create right here in Seattle. They write, produce and perform their own material, funk-psychedelic feminist sci-fi epics with the warmth and depth of Black Jazz and Sunday morning soul, frosted with icy raps that evoke equal parts Elaine Brown, Ursula Rucker and Q-Tip. They met by what was clearly cosmic happenstance at the University of Washington and haven’t stopped the flow since. The group have a few upcoming shows including a hometown in-store, today, March 27th, at Easystreet Records in Seattle WA and at Nuemos on March 29. See below for a full list of dates.

What people are saying about THEESatisfaction:

“With their soulful take on contemporary R&B, Seattle-based THEESatisfaction proves that women rappers have strengths all their own.” [Album Review] – BUST

“THEESatisfaction’s Stas and Cat are conjoined, beat-made MCs, producers, partners, and lovers with nothing in this world or the next to hide. Their collective brain lobes contain hiphop acumen and insight. When their voices harmonize, it sounds like a human Moog synth rendition of keys Stevie himself would have played. Rangewise, Stas and Cat graze tonally into Ella Fitzgerald and Tina Turner. On the beat, rapped side of the equation, the Seattle duo spreads into Quasimoto’s refined and raw oddness.” [Feature]- The Stranger

“THEESatisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White and Stasia Irons sing-rap with confidence over a breezy vocal loop. It’s a soulful, bouncy, promising glimpse of what’s to come.” [Track Review]- The FADER

Tour Dates
Mar. 27 – Seattle, WA – Easy Street in-store (Queen Anne)
Mar. 29 – Seattle, WA – Neumos CD release
Apr. 04 – Nantes, FR – Stereolux
Apr. 05 – Amiens, FR – La Lune Des Pirates
Apr. 06 – Lille, FR – Aeronef
Apr. 10 – Lyon, FR – La Marquise
Apr. 11 – Angers, FR – Chabada
Apr. 12 – Tours, FR – Temps Machine
Apr. 13 – Poitiers, FR – Confort Moderne
Apr. 15 – Madird, SP – La Casa Encendid
Apr. 17 – Lisbon, PO – ZDB Gallery
Apr. 19 – Dublin, IR – Twisted Pepper
Apr. 20 – Bristol, UK – Start the Bus
Apr. 21 – Glasgow, UK – Arches
Apr. 23 – Brighton, UK – Hope
Apr. 24 – London, UK – White Heat
May. 26 – George, WA – Sasquatch! Festival

Stream “Illusion” EP From Poor Moon

Poor Moon is Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls) Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes) and brothers Ian and Peter Murray (The Christmas Cards). The band, named for frontman and primary songwriter Christian Wargo’s favorite Canned Heat song, began four years ago as a long distance project with demos being created and sent back and forth while Wargo and Wescott were touring in support of the Fleet Foxes 2008 self-titled debut and Ian and Peter living in the Bay area. Their first shows were at intimate Seattle house parties where they used playful throwaway monikers like Rabbit Kingdom and Cookie Mask. It wasn’t until the band opened up for Daekon at Seattle’s Neumos (under the name Peppermint Majesty) that things began to really take form. Recording began and the four longtime friends became a band and Sub Pop didn’t hesitate to pursue them with unabashed enthusiasm. And it worked.

“Illusion” was recorded in a variety of bedrooms, practice spaces, the Murray residence, as well as AVAST! and Fastback studios in Seattle, Washington with the help of engineer Jared Hankins with guest performances by many a musician friend.

What people are saying about Poor Moon:

“…sun-bleached mix of folk-rock and pop is truly lovely, and the hazy vocal melodies come into sharp relief when the harmonizing kicks in.”- Chicago Reader (Show Preview)

“…dreamy pop and echo-heavy acoustic shuffles.”- Portland Mercury (Show Preview)

Tour Dates
Mar. 27 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
Mar 28 Boise, ID – Neurolux
Mar 29 Salt Lake City , UT – State Room
Mar 30 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
Mar 31 Omaha, NE – Slowdown
Apr 02 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Centre
Apr 03 Chicago, IL – Schubas
Apr 04 Evanston, IL – SPACE (IL)
Apr 05 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center
Apr 06 Toronto, Canada – Drake Hotel
Apr 07 Montreal, QC – Il Motore
Apr 09 Burlington, VT – Burlington City Arts Center
Apr 10 Portland, ME – SPACE
Apr 11 New York City , NY – Le Poisson Rouge
Apr 13 Boston, MA – Museum of Fine Arts
Apr 14 Washington, DC – Black Cat
Apr 15 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
Apr 16 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
May 28 Gorge, WA – Sasquatch! Festival
Jun 02Sonoma, CA – Gundlach-Bundschu Winery

Stream “the revolution EP” from Retribution Gospel Choir

“the revolution EP” is the first new music from Retribution Gospel Choir since the band’s 2010 album 2. These four incredibly anthemic tracks were co-produced with Matt Beckley, and they show the band moving in an exciting, new direction, at speed.

The band will be hitting the road in the beginning of April playing a handful of UK shows, with 7 US dates to follow. See below for a full list of shows.

About 2
“For the past few years, Low leader Alan Sparhawk has fronted another band, Retribution Gospel Choir, whose psychedelic scrawl seems a more natural fit for the label that brought Soundgarden into the world. And now Retribution Gospel Choir have signed with Sub Pop, so everything is as it should be.” – Pitchfork

“You’ll get no wisecracks from us; the combination of shiny Top 40 production and Sparhawk’s grungy, visceral guitars is intriguing to say the least.” – The Onion (AV Club)

“Sparhawk generally seems re-energized, channeling Crazy Horse and crafting the sort of genuinely rousing chorus that Low never would’ve indulged.” –Spin

Tour Dates:
Apr 04 Sheffield, United Kingdom – The Harley Hotel & Bar
Apr 05 London, United Kingdom – Old Blue Last
Apr 07 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Apr 27 Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool
Apr 28 Washington , DC – Red Palace
Apr 30 Nashville, TN – Basement (TN)
May 01 Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone
May 02 Bloomington, IN – Bishop Bar (IN)
May 03 Chicago, IL – Schubas

The 2012 Sub Pop Records Loser Scholarship is on

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:05:53 -0700

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 15th.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com by May 15th, 2012. We will announce the scholarship winners on May 28th.

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.

JAILL'S NEW ALBUM TRAPS OUT JUNE 12, 2012

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:14:57 -0700

Jaill is a lot like other bands; they’ve slept on your floor, you’ve made fun of their pillow cases, they’re not nearly as good at Excitebike as they said they were and although they all say they’re cool with cats, no one’s excited about sleeping at the cat house. So it should come as no surprise that, as bands sometimes do, they’ve made a new record. And that record is Traps, their second for Sub Pop, but first to adopt the bold new marketing strategy of giving away a free pair of Nike cross-trainers to anyone who steals it on the internet. Take that, Radiohead. So, but, what is Traps? And what about it can best fill five paragraphs? Traps is pretty, it’s moody, it pops. It has the scrappy, vengeful enthusiasm of a puppy stuck under a blanket. It’s an adorably grumpy bear just awoken from his long winter’s slumber, with a mangy heart rarely found outside of the stuffed animal bin of a Salvation Army. It’s an album that expects to be taken seriously goddammit, even though it just puked on the bar.

Traps is also, and confidently, a Jaill record. It’s an acerbic exercise in both humility and aggression. Lyrically and melodically it portrays the malfunctioning universe inside a home, taking into account the myriad ways in which relationships and responsibilities can destroy a person’s mind. “Gave myself a good grade on barely losing my shit,” sings Vinnie Kircher on “While You Reload.” His resignation to the failed road ahead is all over Traps, from the sarcastic slap of the drum-machine snare in “Horrible Things (Make Pretty Songs),” to the recurring, sounding-like-a-broken-Slinky riff of album opener “Waste a Lot of Things.” In “House with Haunting” Kircher waxes philosophical on the pains of getting older, with a home still overrun with friends and houseguests. Yet on “I’m Home,” Kircher laments, “I have clown hands now, bowtie spins around,” whatever philosophies he had giving way to sardonic acquiescence.

But for Traps to sound like its subject matter was in a way inescapable, recorded as it was in Kircher’s crummy, poorly lit basement. Sacrificing most of 2011 to the album’s completion, with minimal gear and a control room of thrift store afghans, Jaill set out to create a record they thought would be worthy of appreciation, without much of a plan beyond that. This was a return to the in-home manufacturing process they honed back in the day, before big labels came along and started throwing their comically large bankrolls around. They started tracking in January, combing through well over a dozen songs, rerecording some, judiciously discarding others. The process became about self-awareness, scrutiny and a strong desire for inventiveness. By October, the band was in agreement: tracking for the lean, eleven-song album was finished. November brought them out to New York briefly, where Brooklyn’s most hilarious jokester, Nicolas Vernhes of Rare Book Room, mixed the band’s mangled masterpiece. He brought the ideas in line, keeping the sentiment true to its basement origins. Clownishly huge stacks of money were again thrown at various problems. High-fives were given, and deserved. Soon the album was mastered and aptly titled, Traps.

When Jaill nonchalantly stepped into the room with 2010’s That’s How We Burn, the group had already turned out a small catalog of self-recorded/released albums and EPs. Sub Pop first heard the band on an LP bought through the mail, the cover still hot from the Kinko’s copier. When it arrived covered in dog hair and finger smears they knew they were on to something. Here was a group of guys so focused on their metier; they couldn’t be bothered with the bullshit details like where not to set the can of La Croix. And as 2009’s There’s No Sky (Oh My My) (the above-mentioned, mail-ordered LP) demonstrated, Kircher is equally comfortable crafting songs that either amble up slyly, or tumble out pell mell, with lyrics that betray his English major background. That’s How We Burn only reinforced this. SPIN said of the album, “What elevates their debut beyond your average twee-punk rager is the gentle psych dabblings: extra delay on a guitar solo, an errant ‘ooh-ahh-ooh,’ a dubby Panda Bear flourish, and the swirling noise that murmurs through the background of the cheerful ‘Snake Shakes’.”

So in conclusion, even though you said you were ready to go like fifteen minutes ago, here is Jaill still ambling around the stage having loaded out barely any of their gear, and the merch is still sitting out everywhere. And although it would be great if they could just move it along a bit faster because, as you’ve mentioned more than a couple times already, you have to work in the morning, perhaps have work to do even now, you wait because you know deep down that you love these guys. It might take until three in the afternoon, and every last clean dish in the kitchen, but they will totally get you back the next day with some breakfast tacos and perhaps an LP. (At cost.) And besides, what else truly makes a house a home but having five vibrantly unwashed men sleeping on the floor of your living room? Traps comes out June 12th, 2012, on Sub Pop Records, not coincidentally six days following National Gardening Exercise Day. So cop a disc, get out there this summer and exercise with your plants!

Jail is:
Vincent Kircher
Austin Dutmer
Andrew Harris

Pre-orders for the new Beach House Album Bloom Available Now

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:49:54 -0700

Just in case you missed the big Beach House news yesterday, we’re gonna give it to you again! Fans can now pre-order the band’s May 15, 2012 release Bloom from iTunes (Pre-order Bloom from iTunes and get a download of the song “Myth” instantly), Amazon, Insound, (Pre-order from Insound and get a free Beach House poster) and Sub Pop. Fans who pre-order the vinyl LP format of the new record directly from Sub Pop will receive the limited, white vinyl Loser Edition. All pre-orders (CD and LP) will receive a bonus poster. A new Bloom t-shirt design is also available for pre-order from subpop.com.

Pre-order Bloom: iTunes / Amazon / Insound / Sub Pop

Sub Pop Makes Record Store Day 2012 Worth Living with Releases from Beach House, Blitzen Trapper, and Shabazz Palaces

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:39:56 -0700

Pre-orders for the new Beach House Album Bloom start today, March 20th!

Terminal Sales Vol. 5: Mixed Nuts, Sub Pop’s FREE 16-track 2012 label sampler will also be available on Record Store Day.

We love few things more than Record Store Day. We’ll be demonstrating and celebrating this love on April 21, 2012 with an array of exclusive and limited-edition releases featuring new, rare and unreleased tracks from Beach House, Blitzen Trapper, and Shabazz Palaces. On this same day, we will also release our FREE 2012 label sampler, Terminal Sales Vol. 5: Mixed Nuts, a 16-track collection of new, rare, and, in some cases, previously released tracks from Beachwood Sparks, Jaill, Shearwater, THEESatisfaction, Spoek Mathambo, Debo Band, King Tuff, and 9 more. All Sub Pop Record Store Day releases come with exclusive and ridiculously handsome artwork. Full track lists and release details are below.

In further Beach House news: fans can now pre-order the band’s May 15, 2012 release Bloom from iTunes (Pre-order Bloom from iTunes and get a download of the song “Myth” instantly), Amazon, Insound, (Pre-order from Insound and get a free Beach House poster) and Sub Pop. Fans who pre-order the vinyl LP format of the new record directly from Sub Pop will receive the limited, white vinyl Loser Edition. All pre-orders (CD and LP) will receive a bonus poster. A new Bloom t-shirt design is also available for pre-order from subpop.com.

Beach House
“Lazuli” b/w “Equal Mind” 7" single
(Limited-edition of 2,400 copies on blue vinyl)
1. Lazuli
2. Equal Mind

Beach House
Bloom
Pre-order: iTunes / Amazon / Insound / Sub Pop

Blitzen Trapper
“Hey Joe” b/w “Skirts on Fire” 7" single
(Limited-edition of 1,800 on yellow vinyl)
1. Hey Joe
2. Skirts on Fire

Shabazz Palaces
Live at KEXP 12" EP
(From the band’s spectacular 2011 live session on KEXP, one of the station’s most popular live sessions, limited-edition of 2,000 copies on purple vinyl)
1. bop hard
2. An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum
3. a mess, the booth that soaks in palacian musk
4. free press and curl

Various Artists
Terminal Sales Vol. 5: Mixed Nuts
1. Shearwater “You as You Were” (demo version)
2. Memoryhouse “Walk With Me”
3. feedtime “rock n roll”
4. Spoek Mathambo “Kites”
5. THEESatisfaction “QueenS”
6. Poor Moon “People in Her Mind”
7. Retribution Gospel Choir “The Stone (Revolution!)”
8. Shabazz Palaces “bop hard”(From the Live at KEXP 12” EP)
9. Father John Misty “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
10. Beach House “Myth”
11. King Tuff “Bad Thing”
12. Jaill “Waste a Lot of Things”
13. Beachwood Sparks “Forget the Song”
14. Debo Band “Asha Gedawo”
15. Husky “History’s Door”
16. Niki & The Dove “DJ, Ease My Mind”

More About Record Store Day
This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet and greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April. In 2012, Record Store Day takes place April 21st.

Sharon Van Etten and Shearwater cover "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:04:44 -0700

No doubt you guys are all familiar with the very excellent “Undercover” series that the folks over at The A.V. Club put together. Of course you are. It is, after all, one of the 10 or 11 best things on the internet (somewhere just after this).

While on tour together not long ago, Sharon Van Etten (not on Sub Pop, still great) and Shearwater (Animal Joy very recently released on Sub Pop, also great) performed a cover of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty’s duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” for those guys under the very reasonable name of Shearon Van Ettenwater. We like it a whole lot and maybe you will, too.

So! Watch Shearon Van Ettenwater perform Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

Postscript:
We have done a not altogether awesome job of telling you guys about the Undercover performances our bands have done. There have been a bunch of them and all of them are really great. F’rinstance…

Fruit Bats did the Hall and Oates song One on One.
And, they came back later and did Loretta Lynn’s The Other Woman.
Dum Dum Girls did a terrific cover of Big Star’s terrific song September Gurls.
Here’s Low doing the Toto song Africa.
And then here Retribution Gospel Choir does Kokomo by the Beach Boys on what we’re going to go ahead and say was the very first installment of Undercover.

I’m sure there are more…

And there are!

Here’s Vetiver doing The Ramones’ Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).
Iron and Wine took a swing at George Michael’s One More Try and knocked it right out of the f’in park.

Sub Pop's 2012 SxSW Showcase Is Going to be Streaming All Over the Place

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:47:32 -0700

As you may or may not already be aware, right now the city of Austin, TX is in the midst of being utterly and quite happily engulfed by the South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Festival, Conference and Giant Branding Opportunity. And at this festival, we at the Sub Pop Recording Concern of Seattle, Wash, are hosting a showcase this coming Friday night, March 16th at Red 7. It will, we are very much hoping, be an exceptionally good time for everyone in attendance. We have already provided details on that, though.

The thing we have not yet provided details about is that even those of you NOT in actual, physical attendance can watch all of the performances on one of the two stages at our showcase online at TapIntoAustin2012.com! More specifically, you will be able to watch performances by these bands currently putting out records under the Sub Pop imprint of moderate-to-pretty-good quality: Spoek Mathambo, Niki & The Dove, THEESatisfaction. You will also be able to watch performances by Debo Band (who are putting out a record on Next Ambiance/Sub Pop in July) and Gashcat (whose records Sub Pop does not release, but who are playing the showcase just the same).

Also! There will be live events in five different cities where all manner of crazy and fun junk will be happening, along with the live streaming of the portion of Sub Pop’s 2012 South by Southwest showcase described at sufficient length in the previous paragraph. The full and complete details on all of this are here.

Plus, here’s further info about the events in each city…

NEW YORK
Sounds by Chances with Wolves
10:30 pm – 2:30 am EST
Santos Party House
96 Lafayette Street
RSVP HERE

WASHINGTON DC
Sounds by Stretch Armstrong
10:30 pm – 2:30 am EST
American Ice Co.
917 V Street NW
RSVP HERE

CHICAGO
Sounds by Boy Wonder & Jon Huang
9:30 – 1:30 am CST
Darkroom
2210 West Chicago Avenue
RSVP HERE

LOS ANGELES
Sounds by Chris Holmes + Brie Larson + Elijah Wood + TURQUOISE WISDOM
7:30 pm – 11:30 pm PST
Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
6000 Santa Monica Boulevard
RSVP HERE

SAN FRANCISCO
Sounds by Claude VonStroke
7:30 pm – 11:30 pm PST
Monarch
101 Sixth Street
RSVP HERE

You’re welcome!

New Spoek Mathambo and feedtime Box Set Available March 13

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:58:53 -0700

March 13th brings you, Sub Pop customer, an opportunity to expand your ever expanding record collection with two very good releases. The first one I’ll tell you about is called Father Creeper from South Africa’s Spoek Mathambo. It’s already generating a ton of effusive press (too much to list here), and it promises to be a 2012 favorite. The second release, the Aberrant years, is a box set from Australia’s feedtime, who, in a recent Pitchfork article, were deemed “the heavy Ramones.” Anyway, this 4xCD/4xLP box set is FULL of super cool, scuzzy tracks that we’re very proud to put our name on the back of.

So there you have it; now go, increase the size of your record collection.

New Video from Father John Misty - Nancy From Now On

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:37:32 -0800

“Nancy From Now On”, is a track off the upcoming debut record from Father John Misty, Fear Fun. Find out more on our Father John Misty artist page.

BEACH HOUSE TO RELEASE BLOOM

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:47:53 -0800

Beach House’s 4th studio album Bloom, will be available in the US and Canada May 15th on CD, double-LP, and digital formats. The album will also be available in the following territories: Europe via Bella Union on May 14th, Mexico via Arts and Crafts on May 15th, and Australia via Mistletone on May 18th.

Bloom, led by the single, “Myth,” was recorded in late 2011 at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX and mixed at Electric Lady in NYC. Bloom was co-produced by Beach House and Chris Coady.

The landscape of Bloom was largely designed on the road, between the countless sound checks and myriad experiences during two years of tour. Throughout this period, melodies, chords, rhythms, words, and textures surfaced in moments of their own choosing. These spontaneous ideas were later gathered and developed in Baltimore, where the band lives and works.

Like previous Beach House releases (Beach House in 2006, Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010), Bloom further develops their distinctive sound yet stands apart as a new piece of work.

Beach House have scheduled a month-long trans-Atlantic tour to support Bloom. The eastern US tour begins May 4 in Charlottesville, VA at Jefferson Theatre and ends on May 13 in Asheville, NC at The Orange Peel. The European tour begins May 23 in Brighton, UK at The Haunt and ends on June 9 in Porto, Portugal at Primavera Festival. And on July 23in New York, Beach House will headline a special night at Central Park’s SummerStage. Many, many more dates to follow!

Full album track list and tour dates below.

Beach House
Bloom
1. Myth
2. Wild
3. Lazuli
4. Other People
5. The Hours
6. Troublemaker
7. New Year
8. Wishes
9. On the Sea
10.Irene

Tour Dates
May 04 — Charlottesville, VA — Jefferson Theatre
May 05 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle
May 06 — Charleston, SC — Music Farm
May 08 — Miami Beach, FL — The Fillmore Miami Beach
May 09 — Orlando, FL — Beacham Theater
May 10 — Jacksonville, FL — Freebird Live
May 11 — Birmingham, AL — The Bottletree
May 12 — Athens, GA — The Georgia Theatre
May 13 — Asheville, NC — The Orange Peel
May 23 — Brighton, UK — The Haunt
May 24 — London, UK — Village Underground
May 25 — Belgium, BE — De Kreun
May 26 — Amsterdam, NL — Melkweg
May 27 — Berlin, DE – Volksbuhne
May 29 — Paris, FR — Maronguinerie
May 31 — Duedingen, CH — Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival
Jun. 02 — Barcelona, ES — Primavera Festival
Jun. 03 — Montpellier, FR — Le Rockstore
Jun. 04 — Bordeaux, FR — Theatre Barbey
Jun. 05 — Nantes, FR – Stereolux
Jun. 06 — Lyon, FR — Epicrerie Moderne
Jun. 07 — Blarritz, FR — L’Atabal
Jun. 08/09 — Porto, PT — Primavera Festival (evening)
Jul. 23 — New York, NY — Central Park SummerStage

King Tuff's new record is called King Tuff.

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:41:02 -0800

On May 29 Sub Pop will release the fantastic self-titled second album from King Tuff on CD, LP and all DSPs. The 12-track album features the lead single “Bad Thing,” (which you can download in the widget above) along with standout tracks “Keep On Movin’,” “Alone and Stoned,” and “Baby Just Break.”

King Tuff will hit the road for a short album preview tour in March. He will make multiple appearances at SXSW in Austin, TX, including March 15 at Scoot Inn for the Thrasher/Converse party and March 16 for the Sub Pop label showcase at Red 7. King Tuff will follow up with two California dates: March 23 in San Francisco at Thee Parkside and March 24 in Santa Ana at The Observatory.

Full tour dates and track list below.

About King Tuff:
A more charismatic, enigmatic nomad of a furioso frontman/artist/guitar legend could not be imagined. You can’t make this shit up.

Grinning gold teeth behind blonde shades, in black, skeletal denim, with a studded “KING TUFF” across the shoulders where feral locks fall around his infamous “Sun Medallion.” With an acoustic guitar slung over the shoulder, King Tuff slinks through the abandoned halls of Detroit’s Malcolm X Academy. His baseball hat reads “VERMONT.” It’s the 4th of July… read the full King Tuff bio…

King Tuff
King Tuff

1. Anthem
2. Alone & Stoned
3. Keep On Movin’
4. Unusual World
5. Bad Thing
6. Loser’s Wall
7. Stranger
8. Baby Just Break
9. Stupid Superstar
10. Evergreen
11. Swamp of Love
12. Hit & Run

The word on King Tuff:
“King Tuff drives home a full album of modern classics that evoke all the early pop prime movers, yet it still holds its own personality and creates an overwhelming feeling of excitement that’s virtually impossible to shake.” Was Dead review] – Victim of Time

“Thomas’ vocal delivery feels so young, brash, and snotty. He’s on the prowl for a good time, and his music brings the necessary mood. The verses have a really driving quality to them, and the chorus showcases the perfect amount of release. It’s a stellar piece of garage pop.” [“Wild Desire” track review] – The Needle Drop

“King Tuff is what you put on when it’s supposed to be winter time but you wake up to consistent sixty degree days because it’s the end of the world.” [“Hole In My Head” track review] – Vice

Tour Dates
Mar. 15 — Austin, TX — Scoot Inn / SXSW Thrasher/Converse showcase
Mar. 16 – Austin, TX – The Grand Pool Hall (early)
Mar. 16 — Austin, TX — Red 7 / Sub Pop showcase (outdoor stage)
Mar. 23 — San Francisco, CA — Thee Parkside
Mar. 24 — Santa Ana, CA — The Observatory

Memoryhouse's Debut Album Available Now

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:13:45 -0800

It’s official, Memoryhouse’s debut record, The Slideshow Effect, is now available on the literal, and less tangible, digital shelves. The fine folks at the Sub Pop Megamart (That’s us! We’re the fine folks I’m talking about.) have a small handful of the limited edition, Memoryhouse photo books we were offering to people who preoredered The Slideshow Effect, and we’ll be sending those out with orders while they last. Just a friendly reminder from us to you, re: Memoryhouse.

Order The Slideshow Effect here

Memoryhouse "The Kids Were Wrong" Video

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:38:13 -0800

Find “The Kids Were Wrong” track on Memoryhouse’s debut full-length The Slideshow Effect, out now!

New Video from Still Corners! "Endless Summer"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:53:18 -0800

More on Still Corners can be found on their subpop.com artist page.

SXSW 2012

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:20:29 -0800

~~Indie Rock Spring Break aka~~ The SXSW Music Festival is right around the corner, and we are thrilled to announce our 2012 showcase lineup, to be held on March 16 at Red 7.

This year’s lineup will feature performances from the likes of Shearwater, Niki & The Dove, Spoek Mathambo, Poor Moon, Father John Misty, THEESatisfaction, King Tuff, Blitzen Trapper, Poor Moon, Debo Band and Husky.

You can now stream tunes from each of the bands we have playing at this
year’s festival by clicking here. We have also included set times for the showcase below.

Stay tuned for a full list of Sub Pop related events & day parties at this year’s festival!

Outdoor Stage:
Blitzen Trapper- 1am
Father John Misty 12am
Shearwater 11pm
King Tuff 10pm
Poor Moon 9pm
Husky 8pm

Indoor Stage:
Niki & The Dove 1am
Spoek Mathambo 12am
THEESatisfaction11pm
Gashcat 10pm
Debo Band 9pm
Special Guest 8pm

Next Ambiance/Sub Pop welcomes Debo Band!

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:51:34 -0800

Next Ambiance / Sub Pop would like to welcome Debo Band to the family as we are releasing their forthcoming S/T album on July 10. The band has won raves for their groundbreaking take on Ethiopian pop music (think Ethiopiques), which incorporates traditional scales and vocal styles, alongside American soul and funk rhythms, and instrumentation reminiscent of Eastern European brass bands — accordion, violins, horns and drums. The album was produced by Thomas “Tommy T” Gobena of Gogol Bordello, recorded at Machines with Magnets (Battles, Deer Tick) and mastered by Grammy nominated engineer Joe LaPorta at The Lodge.

The band has a handful of festival performances, which include: March 16 at SXSW for both globalFEST and Sub Pop’s label showcase; April 26-28 in Lafayette, Louisiana at Festival International de Louisiane; and April 29 in New Orleans, LA at the Jazz & Heritage Festival. Full tour dates listed below.

More About Debo Band
Debo Band is a 11-member group led by Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by charismatic vocalist Bruck Tesfaye. Since their inception in 2006, the band have toured Ethiopia twice, having appeared at both the Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Ababa and Sauti Za Busara in Zanzibar, the largest music festival in East Africa. In North America, they’ve shared stages with Gogol Bordello, The Family Stone, Tilahun Gessesse (one of the great voices of Ethiopian pop since the 60’s), The Ex with Ethiopian sax legend Getatchew Mekuria, Group Doueh, and Khaira Arby and Her Band. They’ve also performed at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, The Kennedy Center, Montreal Jazz Fest, globalFEST 2012 at Webster Hall, Joe’s Pub, and World Music Festival: Chicago.

What people are saying about Debo Band
“What’s amazing about Debo Band is that they play that music (Ethiopian pop) without any sort of…precious reverence… They play it like it’s NOW, as music of right now, and they play it with incredible energy and passion and excellence. And it just totally rocks. It’s amazing.” – All Songs Considered, NPR

“A different archival impulse paid off for Debo Band, a Boston group devoted to the Ethiopian funk of the late 1960s and ’70s: fierce, jagged, complex and galvanizing music. With a beefy horn section, biting violins and a lead singer with a convincing Ethiopian quaver, the group brought back a live version of a style that was never recorded as vividly.” – The New York Times

“The Boston-based band Debo Band gives the psychedelic music heard on the Ethiopiques collections a high-spirited revamp.” – Village Voice

“Buda Musique opened a door to the strange, foreign-yet-familiar music of Ethiopia to world music fans across the world, delighted by the mixture of classic funk, Arabic-sounding scales, and trance-like African grooves. Boston’s excellent Debo Band has become standard bearers for the Ethiopian sound on our shores.” – WNYC

“If George Clinton had come from Ethiopia instead of outer space, the result might have been what Debo Band gives you.” – Boston Globe

Tour Dates
Mar. 16 – Austin, TX – Red 7 / Sub Pop SXSW showcase (early)
Mar. 16 – Austin, TX – Speakeasy / globalFEST SXSW showcase (late)
Apr. 26 – Lafayette, LA – Festival International de Louisiane
Apr. 28.- Lafayette, LA – Festival International de Louisiane
Apr. 29. – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

SUB POP GOES DOWN UNDER AND DISCOVERS HUSKY

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:31:40 -0800

Today we are happy to announce that Australian band Husky’s Debut Album, Forever So, will be released July 10th on this very record label. We’re also feeling good about the fact that we can share not only a music video from the band, but also a free download and newly confirmed tour dates. Let’s get into it!

Download mp3 “The Woods” here.
Watch “The Woods” video on our YouTube channel.

More about Husky
Husky Gawenda (vox, guitar), Gideon Preiss (keys, vox), Evan Tweedie (bass, vox) and Luke Collins (drums) make up Melbourne, -based Husky. Following the Australian release of their 2011 debut album, Forever So, Husky has decided to take their critically acclaimed music to the rest of the world with a July 10th release date.

“Sub Pop is enamored with the Melbourne quartet, Husky,” says President of Sub Pop Jonathan Poneman. “The band’s strength rests in its infectious, evocative songs and stirring live performances.”

Husky is hitting the international touring circuit throughout February and March. Following national appearances at Laneway Festival, the band will tour alongside German duo BOY throughout Germany and then perform at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Canadian Music Week and in New York City and LA. Complete list of dates below.

About “The Woods” Video
“The Woods” video created by visionary animator Brendan Cook (Gotye, Temper Trap) the video, full of striking images in other-worldly sequences, captures Husky’s lush orchestration and lyrical storytelling in this song of dreams, memories and exploration.

What People Are Saying About Husky
“Forever So is breathtaking in its ambition, a shimmering fog of kaleidoscopic storytelling, each a song a Nick Drake-esque fairytale delivered with full indie-orhestration.” **** [Band to Watch] – Rolling Stone

“With indie folks songs that are totally accessible and sweet while for the most part avoiding being predictable or twee, there is certainly enough about Forever So to suggest that everything is in place for Husky to make an impact. Don’t be surprised if 2012 is a big year for this likeable quartet.” – Drum

“A sweet, little gem” – Cream

“This outstanding debut album weaves understated sincerity into wintry introspectiveness forced upon anyone in the city of four-seasons-a-day. Husky’s mid-tempo folk reflects upon the world with genuine originality, too – the songs avoid the more obvious tricks in the composers playbook, leaving ample space for frontman Husky Gawanda’s lyrical confessions.” – Sydney Morning Herald

Click here for a full list of tour dates:

Father John Misty Announce May Tour & Album Artwork

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:52:49 -0800

Father John Misty’s Sub Pop debut, Fear Fun will drop on May 1st, but if patience is not a personal virtue, then here is a link to download the band’s debut single Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings. Additionally, you can watch the band’s new video for the song starring Aubrey Plaza of NBC’s Parks and Recreation by clicking here

Father John Misty has also announced a North American tour starting in early May, which will be preceded by a few West Coast shows later this month. See below for a full list of dates and for more information on Father John Misty please visit www.subpop.com/artists/father_john_misty.

Tour Dates for Father John Misty
Feb 29 The New Pariah, Oakland CA
Mar 3 The Center for the Arts, Grass Valley CA
Mar 4 Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA
May 2 The Casbah, San Diego CA
May 4 Natural History Museum – Mammal Gallery, Los Angeles CA
May 5 Bottom of The Hill, San Francisco CA
May 7 Neumos, Seattle WA
May 8 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR
May 11 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis MN
May 12, Schubas Tavern, Chicago IL
May 14 The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto ONT
May 15 Petit Campus, Montreal PQ
May 16 Brighton Music Hall, Allston MA
May 18 Mercury Lounge, New York NY
May 19 Knitting Factory, Brooklyn NY
May 20 The Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington D.C.
May 26 The Mohawk, Austin TX

Shearwater - Breaking the Yearlings

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:02:02 -0800

Click here to stream Animal Joy by Shearwater in it’s entirety.

February 14 is a day for love, and what better way to ring in the holiday then by picking up a copy of Shearwater’s new record Animal Joy, now available for your purchasing pleasure. The band also has a new video for the album’s lead single, “Breaking the Yearlings” which you can watch above. The video was directed Branan Edgens.

Jonathan Meiburg spoke with RollingStone.com, who premiered the video on their site yesterday, and had this to say:

Branan Edgens (the filmmaker) might be best known for his great ad for David Lynch Coffee, but in our college days he used to use me as a guinea pig for some of his experimental makeup effects. Did you know that movie-grade fake blood is made from strawberries? “You can eat this stuff,” he assured me, as he pumped gouts of it through artfully-concealed tubes around the edges of my mouth. " But it doesn’t taste as good as you’d like it to."

For the video for “Breaking the Yearlings”, I wanted to figure out a way to make use of some of the amazing footage Branan’s shot over the years from around the world – especially beautiful scenes of animals and landscapes from Namibia, Thailand, and Alaska – and we hit on the idea of using the American Museum of Natural History as a sort of gateway into these places, like the wood between the worlds in The Magician’s Nephew, my favorite of the Narnia books. But then Branan, with a gleam in his eye, suggested that by interacting with the (stuffed) animals, my character might enter more into their world than I’d bargained for. I think he might have just been looking for a reason to cover me in alginate and plaster again for old time’s sake. When I’ve described this video to my friends, they’ve invariably said the same thing – “So it’s like Night at the Museum”?" Yes. No.

Shearwater is currently on the road opening a slew of dates for Sharon Van Etten, with more shows to be announced soon. See below for a full list of dates, and for more information on Shearwater please visit: www.subpop.com/artists/shearwater

Tour Dates:
Feb 10 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 11 Black Cat, Washington, DC w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 12 Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 14 Wexner Center, Columbus, OH w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 15 Ladies Literary Club, Grand Rapids, MI w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 16 Lincoln Hall (IL), Chicago, IL w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 17 Lincoln Hall (IL), Chicago, IL w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 18 Cedar Cultural Centre, Minneapolis, MN w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 21 Lee’s Palace, Toronto, Canada w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 22 Il Motore, Montreal, QC w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 23 Paradise (MA), Boston, MA w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 24 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 25 Bowery Ballroom, The, New York City, NY w/Sharon Van Etten
Feb 26 Club Helsinki, Hudson, NY
Feb 28 Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
Feb 29 The Earl, Atlanta, GA
Mar 01 Bottle Tree, Birmingham, AL
Mar 02 Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA
Mar 03 Fitzgeralds (TX), Houston, TX
Mar 04 Antone’s, Austin, TX
Mar 28 Bitterzoet (NL), Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mar 29 Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
Mar 30 Haunt (UK), Brighton , United Kingdom
Mar 31 Deaf Institute, Manchester, United Kingdom
Apr 01 Stereo, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Apr 03 Scala, London, United Kingdom
Apr 04 Le Grand Mix (F), Tourcoing, France
Apr 05 La Maroquinerie, Paris, France
Apr 06 Bad Bonn, Duedingen, Switzerland
Apr 08 Palace (CH), Gallen, Switzerland
Apr 09 Bloom , Milano, Italy
Apr 10 Circolo Degli Artisti, Rome, Italy
Apr 11 Bronson, Ravenna, Italy
Apr 12 Menza pri koritu (SL), Lubijana, Slovenia
Apr 16 GrooveStation, Dresden, Germany
Apr 17 Prinzenbar, Hamburg, Germany
Apr 18 Comet (DE), Berlin, Germany
Apr 19 Babylon (TR), Istanbul , Turkey
Apr 21 AN Club, Athens , Greece

fingers crossed

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:48:48 -0800

The 53rd Grammys are taking place this coming Sunday, February 12 and we are geeking with excitement as Sub Pop’s own Fleet Foxes are up for “Best Folk Album.” Tune in to witness what we hope is a win for team Fleet Foxes. Click here for a full list of nominations.

Good luck guys!

Sub Pop

New Video from The Head and the Heart

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:12:38 -0800

For more on The Head and the Heart, including free downloads and tour dates please go to their subpop.com artist page.

Watch The Making of Father Creeper by Spoek Mathambo

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:17:32 -0800

On March 13 South African artist Spoek Mathambo is releasing his Sub Pop Debut Father Creeper. You can check the first offering entitled “Let Them Talk” by clicking on the track name. Spoek has announced a slew of US dates, kicking of in March around the release of his Sub Pop debut & SXSW. See below for a full list of shows. Because we learned the importance of sharing at an early age, see above for a look into the life of Spoek Mathambo, and making of Father Creeper.

Spoek Mathambo Tour Dates
Mar 22 SOB’S New York, NY
Mar 23 The Great Hall Toronto, ON
Mar 24 La Tulipe Montreal QC
Mar 25 TT the Bears Cambridge, MA

Watch Niki & The Doves New Video for "The Fox"

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:02:48 -0800

Stockholm’s Niki & The Dove, a/k/a Malin Dahlstroem and Gustaf Karloef, have announced a handful of US dates in early March surrounding SXSW. To support this batch of shows, we thought we would share with you a new video for the track “The Fox” which was directed by the folks at WINTR You can watch above. Like what you see & hear? Click here to download the MP3.

Niki & The Dove Tour Dates:
Mar 8 U Street Music Hall Washington, DC
Mar 10 Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY
Mar 20 Soda Bar San Diego, CA
Mar 21 Bootleg Theater Los Angeles, CA

What people have been saying about Niki & The Dove:

…the combinations of confident, drum machine-fused hooks and Dahlstoem’s mystical lyrics, similar to a Bjork-esque fairy tale, leave you an eerie sense of menace. (Vogue, track review “The Fox” 2011)

“The Fox” is the titular, earthquaking single from Swedish pop duo Niki & the Dove. (Pitchfork, track review “The Fox” 2011)

The band’s promising distinctive electronic pop overlays should be held accountable for the earworm syndrome with Niki & The Dove. Their songs are full of magic and light but with an unsettling darkness hidden beneath the surface. Take a listen for yourself, below. (Filter, “The Drummer” EP review 2012)

Click on this for more information on Niki & The Dove.

Download New THEESatisfaction track QueenS

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:19:12 -0800

awE naturalE, the debut full-length from Seattle’s THEESatisfaction comes out March 27th. You can download, listen to, own, and otherwise enjoy the track “QueenS” from that album through the clever media delivery device (“widget”) above.

THEESatisfaction will soon tour the U.S., Europe and the UK, with more stateside dates to be announced in the near-ish future. See below for a full list of confirmed shows.

Here is where you can find more information about THEESatisfaction.

THEESatisfaction Tour:
02-18 Seattle, WA – Town Hall
03-09 Brooklyn, NY – Cameo Gallery
03-27 Seattle, WA – Easy Street
03-29 Seattle, WA – Neumos
04-04 Nantes, France – Stereolux
04-05 Amiens, France – La Lune Des Pirates
04-06 Lille, France – Aeronef
04-09 Lyon, France – TBA
04-11 Angers, France – Chabada
04-12 Tours, France – Temps Machine
04-13 Poitiers, France – Confort Moderne
04-15 Madrid, Spain – Festival Electronica
04-17 Lisbon, Portugal – ZDB
04-20 Bristol, England – Start the Bus
04-21 Glasgow, Scotland – Arches
04-23 Brighton, England – Hope
04-24 London, England – White Heat

FATHER JOHN MISTY to Release FEAR FUN on May 1st 2012

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:46:13 -0800

On May 1st we are releasing the debut effort from Father John Misty. You can watch the new video for the track “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” starring Aubrey Plaza of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Sundance Film Festival Hit “Safety Not Guaranteed” and the upcoming “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” by clicking here. The video was directed by Noel Paul.

Like what you hear & see? You can chat with frontman Josh Tillman talk about his music, live today at 3 pm PST.

Click here to chat.

Tour Dates
Feb 29 – new parish – oakland
March 3 grass valley – center for the arts
March 4 santa cruz – crepe place

Read About Fear Fun
When discussing ‘Father John Misty’, Tillman paraphrases Philip Roth: ’It’s all of me and none of me, if you can’t see that, you won’t get it’. What I call it is totally arbitrary, but I like the name. You’ve got to have a name. I never got to choose mine."

He goes on, “‘People who make records are afforded this assumption by the culture that their music is coming from an exclusively personal place, but more often than not what you hear are actually the affectations of an ’alter-ego’ or a cartoon of an emotionally heightened persona,” says Josh Tillman, who has been recording/releasing solo albums since 2003 and who recently left Seattle’s Fleet Foxes after playing drums from 2008-2011. “That kind of emotional quotient isn’t sustainable if your concern is portraying a human-being made up of more than just chest-beating pathos. I see a lot of rampant, sexless, male-fantasy everywhere in the music around me. I didn’t want any alter-egos, any vagaries, fantasy, escapism, any over-wrought sentimentality. I like humor and sex and mischief. So when you think about it, it’s kind of mischievous to write about yourself in a plain-spoken, kind of explicitly obvious way and call it something like ‘Misty’. I mean, I may as well have called it ‘Steve’”.

Musically, “Fear Fun” consists of such disparate elements as Waylon Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Arthur Russell, “All Things Must Pass,” and “Physical Graffiti,” often within the same song. Tillman’s voice has never been better and often sounds like Roy Orbison, “The Caruso of Rock”, at his most joyous, while the music maintains a dark, mysterious and yet conversely playful, almost Dionysian quality. Lyrically, his absurdist fever dreams of pain and pleasure elicit, in equal measures, the blunt descriptive power of Bukowski or Brautigan, the hedonist-philosophy of Oscar Wilde and the dried-out wit of Loudon Wainwright III.

The album began gestating during what Tillman describes as an “immobilizing period of depression”, in his former Seattle home. “Songwriting for me had always only been interesting and necessary because I saw it as this vehicle for truth, but I had this realization that all I had really done with it was lick my wounds for years and years, and become more and more isolated from people and experiences. I don’t even like wound-licking music, I want to listen to someone rip their arm off and beat themselves with it. I don’t believe that until now I’ve ever put anything at risk in my music. I was hell-bent on putting my preciousness at stake in order to find something worth singing about.”

He continues, "I lost all interest in writing music, or identifying as a ‘songwriter’. I got into my van with enough mushrooms to choke a horse and started driving down the coast with nowhere to go. After a few weeks, I was writing a novel, which is where I finally found my narrative voice. The voice that is actually useful.

“It was a while before that voice started manifesting in a musical way, but once I settled in the Laurel Canyon spider-shack where I’m living now, I spent months demoing all these weird-ass songs about weird-ass experiences almost in real-time, and kind of had this musical ‘Oh-there-I-am’ moment, identical to how I felt when I was writing the book. It was unbelievably liberating. I knew there was never any going back to the place I was writing from before, which was a huge relief. The monkey got banished off my back.”

Tillman brought the demos to LA producer/songwriter/pal Jonathan Wilson, and in February 2011 began recording at his home-studio in Echo Park. "Initially, the idea was to just kind of recreate the demos with me playing everything, since they were pretty fleshed out and sounded cool, but a place like LA affords you a different wealth of talent, potential, etc than just about anywhere else. I realized what was possible between Jonathan’s abilities, and the caliber of musicians that are just hanging around LA, pretty quickly. People were coming in and out of the studio all day sometimes, and other days, it would just be Jonathan and I holed up, getting stoned, and doing everything.

“I was honest with myself about what music actually excites my joy-glands when I was considering the arrangements and instrumentation,” says Tillman. “As opposed to what’s been enjoyable to me in the past – namely, alienating people or making choices based on what I think people won’t like or understand. Pretty narcissistic stuff.”

When asked about Laurel Canyon, where he eventually ended up living in the aforementioned tree-house with a family of spiders, Tillman says, “My attitude about it all is pretty explicit in the record. Given my fairly adversarial personal attitude about the music and aesthetic that comes from that place, it’s kind of a huge joke that I live in a former hippie-fantasy land. I have a really morbid sense of humor.”

Phil Ek (who everyone knows has worked with Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes) heard the rough versions of the album in May 2011 and offered his services to mix. “Phil and I have known each other for a while by virtue of Fleet Foxes, so he was familiar with my music, but we had never discussed working together. I think he immediately recognized the shift in my writing and singing from a producer and friend’s standpoint. His excitement is really evident in mixes, I think.”

Fear Fun is available May 1, 2012 from Sub Pop and Bella Union, in the US and UK/EU respectively.

Interviews by Richard Metzger and Casey Wescott
Written by Paula Zabrey, Jan. 2012

SHABAZZ PALACES ANNOUNCE NEW TOUR DATES & VIDEO FOR "ARE YOU...CAN YOU...WERE YOU...? (FELT)"

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:45:06 -0800

2011 was a stellar year for Shabazz Palaces, the sonic movement of Palaceer Lazaro (Ishmael Butler). The debut release, Black Up, was one of the most critically celebrated records of 2011, landing on the best of lists at SPIN, LA Times, The New Yorker, Pitchfork and more. Shabazz Palaces has no plans to slow down in 2012, announcing the group’s first official stateside touring, kicking off on April 3 in Minneapolis, with European dates preceding their North American tour.

To remind you how truly awesome Shabazz Palaces really is, we thought we would share with you the new video for the groups song “Are You… Can You… Were You…? (Felt)”, which was directed by Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes. You can watch the video above.

Shabazz Palaces Tour Dates:

Saturday, February 18, 2012 La Cave aux poetes, Roubaix France

Sunday, February 19, 2012 Stereolux, Nantes France

Monday February 20, 2012 Les Trinitaires, Metz France

Tuesday February 21, 2012 Strasbourg La Laiterie, France

Friday February 24, 2012 Palace, St Gallen Switzerland

Saturday, February 25, 2012 Stall 6, Zurich Switzerland

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Astoria, Turin Italy

Thursday, March 01, 2012 Circolo degli Artisti, Rome Italy

Friday, March 02, 2012 Bronson, Ravenna Italy

Saturday, March 03, 2012 Studio 2, Vigonovo (Venezia) Italy

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 The Whole, Minneapolis MN (All Ages Show)

Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Mad Planet, Milwaukee WI

Thursday, April 5, 2012 Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL

Friday, April 6, 2012 Magic Stick, Detroit MI

Saturday, April 7, 2012 The Horn Gallery, Gambier OH

Sunday, April 2012 The Shadow Lounge, East Liberty PA

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 II Motore, Montreal QC

Thursday, April 12, 2012 Iron Horse, Northampton MA

Friday, April 13 2012 SOB’s, New York NY

Saturday, April 14, 2012 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn NY

Download "Walk With Me" by Memoryhouse

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:54:04 -0800

On February 28th, Memoryhouse are releasing their debut record, The Slideshow Effect, and will be kicking off a 15-date North American tour, with a handful of European shows to follow. Because sharing is our middle name, you can listen to the new track “Walk With Me” by inserting your email in the widget above. Pre-order The Slideshow Effect by February 28th via subpop.com, and you’ll receive a limited edition photo scrapbook put together by the band! Click here to find more information on this release and pre-order.

Download "Let Them Talk" by Spoek Mathambo

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:46:03 -0800

On March 13, South African artist Spoek Mathambo will release his Sophomore effort & Sub Pop debut, Father Creeper. You can check out his first offering by inserting your email address into the widget above. Stay tuned for more goodies from Spoek Mathambo in the coming weeks, including videos, tour dates and more sonic jams.

LOW ANNOUNCE 12 DATE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

bekahz@subpop.com (Bekah Zietz) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:56:01 -0800

Beginning April 10th, Sub Pop recording artists Low will serve as main support for the first 12 dates of Death Cab for Cutie’s upcoming North American spring tour. These dates will bring the bands to intimate venues and historic theaters across much of the United States, as Death Cab for Cutie performs with San Francisco’s innovative Magik*Magik Orchestra. Low was specially selected by Death Cab for Cutie as main support for these dates.

Low are touring in support of their 2011 release, C’mon, which was recorded in an old church in Duluth, MN and mixed in Hollywood, CA with producer Matt Beckley working alongside the band. C’mon received warm accolades from such places as: SPIN, Blurt, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, and NPR, who had this to say about their latest release:

Lush and beautiful in its simplicity… Longtime fans who’ve lived with Low will no doubt appreciate the return to form, while newcomers ought to fall in love with these songs and want to dig into the rest of the band’s 18 years of passionate restraint.

Alan Sparhawk describes C’mon simply as: “Warm, pretty, large like Nashville without the country. Mim and I are talking to each other in the lyrics, sometimes it’s not pretty, but it’s as honest as love.”

See below for a full list of tour dates. Click here for more information on Low.

Low Tour Dates
Jan 27 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Mar 09 All Tomorrow’s Parties, Minehead, United Kingdom
Mar 26 Teatro Central, Sevilla, Spain
Mar 27 Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
Mar 28 Teatro Kapital, Madrid, Spain
Mar 29 Sala Capitol , Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Mar 30 Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain
Mar 31 Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain
Mar 31 Circulo de Arte de Toledo, Toledo, Spain
Apr 02 Glee Club (UK), Birmingham, United Kingdom
Apr 03 Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom

w/ Death Cab for Cutie

04/10/12 Denver CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
04/11/12 Omaha NE @ Omaha Music Hall
04/13/12 Louisville KY @ Louisville Palace
04/14/12 Grand Rapids MI @ Covenant Fine Arts Center / Calvin College
04/15/12 Milwaukee WI @ Riverside Theatre
04/16/12 Chicago IL @ Chicago Theatre
04/19/12 Toronto ON @ Massey Hall
04/20/12 Montreal QC @ St Jean Baptiste Church
04/21/12 Boston MA @ Citi Performing Arts Center / Wang Theatre
04/23/12 Providence RI @ Veterans Memorial Auditorium
04/24/12 Buffalo NY @ Kleinhan’s Music Hall
04/25/12 Philadelphia PA @ Tower Theatre