Sub Pop Blog

ATP NY 2010: Whoa!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:54:22 -0800

So, this really very amazing bit of news just in…

The first day of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in NY, September 2010 will feature the following “Don’t Look Back” performances:

Iggy and The Stooges performing Raw Power
The Scientists performing Blood Red River (in their first-ever US show!)
Sleep performing Holy Mountain
Mudhoney performing Superfuzz Bigmuff

This is all on the Friday of ATPNY, on September 3, 2010. And, there’s lots more still to be confirmed. You can read the full press release here. And there’s more info on all things ATP here.

We can only hope (with apologies to Motorbooty) that the concession stands at Kutsher’s next year will be offering commemorative fare for this event. Prepare to dig in to such delicacies as Strawberry Shake Appeal, Set It on Fire Flamin’ Hot Chili, Superfudge Bigmuffins, and Sleep’s Holy Mountain Oysters.

Pitchfork at ATP with No Age!

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:29:47 -0800

No Age was asked to perform with one of their heroes, Bob Mould of Husker Du, at this years ATP at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, NY. Pitchfork TV just put up a fantastic 3 part series that encompasses their entire journey from the drive up, to meeting Jim Jarmusch in the lobby (who is a fan…whoa!!!!), their performance as No DU (No Age/Husker Du and Randy performing a cover of Cortez the Killer with Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Jim Jarmusch in a hotel room. Check out all the fun and games here

Photos borrowed from Ryan Muir.

Obits on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Thursday, Nov. 19th!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:58:56 -0800

Our very close, personal friends in Obits will be appearing on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon television show this Thursday, November 19th! And, what’s more, the code OBT at http://www.fallonbandbench.com/ can win you a seat on the “band bench” to watch their performance. The celebrity guests for this episode (in addition to the Obits dudes, we mean) will be: Taylor Lautner (from those sexy Dracula teenager movies) and also Katey Sagal (who, among a great many other things, performed the voice of Leela on Futurama).

Obits will, we are really crossing our fingers, perform one of the many peppy numbers on their 2009 debut album, I Blame You.

You should really watch!

GIVE

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:13:37 -0800

GIVE-ing season arrives in Seattle

GIVE music and video compilation to benefit Arts Corps and food banks goes on sale Tuesday, Nov. 17; GIVE concert with Grand Archives and D. Black to rock the Crocodile Dec. 3

SEATTLE, WA – Coffee Roaster Caffé Vita will launch GIVE on Tuesday, November 17th with 30 downloadable tracks from a wide variety of Seattle artists, all of whom have donated songs to benefit Arts Corps and local area food banks. The complete list of artists involved will reach nearly 40 by mid-December.

A companion benefit concert featuring Grand Archives, D. Black and other artists will be held at the Crocodile Dec. 3. Tickets for the show are on sale now atwww.thecrocodile.com.

The $7 compilation – conceived and initiated by Seattle coffee roaster Caffé Vita, which is producing, curating and funding the project – will be available online atwww.giveseattle.org, as well as in Caffé Vita shops, Easy Street Records, Sonic Boom Records, University Book Store, The Crocodile, EMP, Neumos and Sorrento Hotel. These outlets will carry GIVE packages, including physical cards with a redemption code for the download, as ready-to-give presents.

A full 100 percent of sales will go directly to GIVE beneficiaries: Arts Corps, Seattle’s largest nonprofit arts educator, along with Ballard Food Bank, Rainier Valley Food Bank, University District Food Bank and West Seattle Food Bank.

Among the many highlights of GIVE are unreleased cuts from The Cave Singers, Grand Archives, Champagne Champagne featuring Fences, The Maldives, Mad Rad, and The Moondoggies. Nearly all of the 36 tracks on GIVE are exclusive to the compilation.

The GIVE tracks available immediately on Tuesday, Nov. 17 include:

1. Arthur & Yu: Magic Mountain
2. The Blakes: Parking Lot
3. Sera Cahoone: Love’s Gonna Live Here
4. The Cave Singers: Growing Palm
5. Champagne Champagne featuring Fences: Victim of the Modern Age
6. Common Market: The Picture of My DeLorean Gray
7. D. Black: On the Go
8. Fatal Lucciauno: Gangsta
9. Fences: Sadie
10. Fleet Foxes: Mykonos
11. Fresh Espresso: Gettin Money
12. Grand Archives: Wake Up
13. Head Like a Kite: Director’s Cut
14. Hey Marseilles: From a Terrace
15. Kinski: Whatever Happened to Madeleine Stowe
16. Le Loup: Forgive Me
17. The Lonely Forest: I Don’t Wanna Live There
18. Mad Rad: Love in a Strange World
19. The Maldives: In the End
20. Gabriel Mintz: Safeway
21. The Moondoggies: Side of the Road
22. Joshua Morrison: Mammoth Cave
23. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band: Bitter Cold
24. Pearly Gate Music: Big Escape
25. The Pica Beats: Durian Shakes
26. The Saturday Knights: Go!
27. Talbot Tagora: Ichthus Hop
28. Tea Cozies: Corner Store Girls
29. J. Tillman: Earthly Bodies
30. Visqueen: Hand Me Down

Several GIVE artists are still finishing their exclusive GIVE tracks, including The Long Winters, Ben Gibbard, David Bazan, Throw Me The Statue, The Dutchess and The Duke, and Unnatural Helpers. Fans who purchase GIVE in November will be notified by email when these fresh tracks are available for download. The digital model allows patrons to pick and choose tracks they would like to download or simply download the entire album. Included with each sale of the physical GIVE card is a complimentary cup of Caffé Vita Farm Direct coffee, redeemable at any Vita location.

Stay tuned for several GIVE videos that bring together GIVE artists and leading filmmakers and creative firms, including Chase Jarvis, Wexley School for Girls, Creature, Steve Viehmann and City Arts Magazine.

Also appearing at the Dec. 3 benefit show will be Grant Olsen of Arthur & Yu; Kinski; Gabriel Mintz; Tea Cozies; and M.C. Tilson from The Saturday Knights. Tickets are $15.

GIVE truly is a city-wide community campaign. Nearly every facet of the project is being undertaken pro bono. Money for any expenses not donated will be raised at the Dec. 3 benefit concert.

The full list of partners for GIVE includes: 206 Inc. (strategy and publicity), Barsuk Records (music and website support), Caffé Vita (production, curation, funding), CD Forge (redemption operation), City Arts Magazine (video production and media), Creature (video production), The Crocodile (retail and concert hosting), Easy Street Records (retail), Expanding Brooklyn (publicity), Hardly Art (music and website support), Chase Jarvis (video production and promotion), KEXP (media), Lighthouse (webhosting), Robert Mercer (design), MMPUNION/Minuteman Press On Union (printing), Neumos (retail), RFI/CD (mastering), SEATTLE CITY OF MUSIC (promotion), Sonic Boom Records (retail), The Stranger (media and promotion), Sub Pop (music and website support), Superfad (animation), Tap Plastics (point of sale), Steve Viehmann (video production), Wexley School for Girls (video production) and Megan Woo Web Design (website development).

For more information, please visit GIVE online at www.giveseattle.org, and become a fan on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/pages/GIVE-SEATTLE/167527428045?ref=ts.

For the Record #9 The Baptist Generals – No Silver/No Gold

ericjohnsonthefirst@gmail.com (Eric Johnson) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:57:04 -0800

For the Record #9 comes to you courtesy of Fruit Bats’ front man, Eric Johnson.

Eric Johnson is a good dude and a great musician (currently splitting his time fronting his band Fruit Bats and playing in The Shins). He drinks fine wine and plays in fine wineries and has a great appreciation for film and, of course, music. He’s an easy one to talk to but if you ever wanna talk about The Baptist Generals in particular then he’s really your guy. Keep reading for Eric’s thoughts on No Silver/No Gold.

Band: The Baptist Generals
Record: No Silver/No Gold
When we told you the first time: February 4th 2003

This album came out right around the same time as The Fruit Bats’ Sub Pop debut, so we ended up hanging with these guys a bunch at showcases and such. I think this record is brilliant, and to call it “underrated” would be an understatement.

The opening track, “Ay Distress”, is a sparse little heart breaker that ends abruptly with a cell phone going off in the studio, followed by pandemonium. Its a moment that caught me way off guard the first time I heard it and kind of blew my mind in the process. I can’t really think of any other album that starts you off this way; its a really cinematic moment, raw and weird. Then track two, “Alcohol” kicks in almost immediately, up-tempo and sounding more like a traditional album opener. This is the kind of sweet-ass, emotionally manipulative one-two punch that I’m a sucker for.

You’ve got really heavily strummed nylon-string guitars, a guitarron (a huge plucked guitar used in Mariachi bands) in lieu of a traditional bass, and Chris Flemmons’ insanely powerful lungs singing like his life depends on it. The real hit tune is “Going Back Song,” which is a pop beauty put through the freaky dark Tex-Mex filter of this record.

I’ll stop talking about it. You should just listen.

Love,

EDJ

For the next 48 hours, you can go HERE to get No Silver/No Gold at our FTR sale price of $6 CD/$4 Mp3.

Eric’s band, Fruit Bats, recently released a fine record of their own, The Ruminant Band and it is conveniently located HERE for your listening pleasure. for you to check out!

Look to our semi-regular feature, For the Record, for reflections from staff and Sub Pop artists on some of our favorite records from the Sub Pop catalog; each featured title is deeply discounted for the 48 hours following the posted review.

No Age Download at Death & Taxes

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:36:12 -0800

No Age recorded an exclusive 30 second track for the fine folks at Death & Taxes Magazine! Death & Taxes issue 22 is full of interactive content and we’re stoked to be part of it. You can download “In Peril” here

New No Age T's & Limited Edition Losing Feeling Poster Set

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:29:52 -0800

Just in time for you to be that guy when No Age plays some upcoming dates with the Pixies we have some super fancy new t shirts! We’ve also got a new No Age racerback tank top in stock! But wait! There’s more! The Losing Feeling EP cover was designed by No Age and Brian Roettinger (who received a Grammy nomination for his work on Nouns) and we like it so much we’ve turned it into a four poster set. Each poster represents a song on the album and they are pretty fancy if I do say so myself. This poster set is limited edition so get ‘em while the gettin’ is good.

SUB POP RECORDS AND HOST OF KEXP’S THE BEST AMBIANCE RADIO SHOW TEAM UP TO CREATE NEW WORLD MUSIC IMPRINT: NEXT AMBIANCE

katej@subpop.com (Kate Jackson) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:50:11 -0800

Next Ambiance’s Debut Album, Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba’s I Speak Fula, Scheduled for Digital Release in North America on December 1st, 2009

SEATTLE, WA – Sub Pop Records and KEXP radio host Jon Kertzer have come together to form Next Ambiance, a world music imprint. Malian band Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba’s I Speak Fula will be the first album out on Next Ambiance, and is scheduled for digital release on iTunes, December 1st, 2009 and for CD release on February 2nd, 2009. The band will embark on their first US tour, opening for nine-time Grammy winner Bela Fleck, in early 2010 in support of the record. Tour dates and more information provided below.

Next Ambiance:
Founded by Jon Kertzer, the host of KEXP’s “The Best Ambiance” radio show, a long-running weekly program that focuses on both pop and traditional music from the African continent, Next Ambiance continues the musical exploration, with an emphasis on mind-blowing and life-changing artists with no particular regional or cultural bias.

“I’ve listened and learned so much from Jon’s show (”The Best Ambiance") for half of my life. It just seemed natural to put his knowledge, resources and remarkable taste to further use. It’ll certainly be a boon to listeners everywhere," commented Sub Pop Records co-founder, Jonathan Poneman. “Our first release with Bassekou Kouyate and his incredible band Ngoni ba from Mali in West Africa, is the perfect way to begin this new adventure. Their album I Speak Fula captures this truly original music, like nothing you have heard before.”

Don’t expect many releases from Sub Pop/Next Ambiance initially. After all, it’s going to take a particularly brave artist or artists to follow Bassekou. Sub Pop/Next Ambiance will release I Speak Fula throughout North America, Australia and New Zealand.

“I am very excited to be working with Sub Pop on the Next Ambiance imprint to release the best of the world’s music, innovative and ground-breaking sounds that follow new paths,” stated Kertzer.

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba:
Malian Bassekou Kouyate made his international debut with the 2007 album Segu Blue. Released by Out Here Records, the album received critical acclaim and won the band the coveted honor of performing on the Jools Holland Show, as well as 2008 BBC 3 nomination for Best Newcomer , going on to win in both the Album of the Year category as well as Best African Act.

Their sophomore effort, I Speak Fula, was released on September 21, 2009 in the UK and, unsurprisingly, received widespread critical acclaim. Known for their riveting live performances, I Speak Fula more effectively conveys the energy and infectious intensity of that experience than the band’s first album. In October 2009 Bassekou once again performed on The Jools Holland Show alongside the likes of Yoko Ono and The Dead Weather.

“This is a cracker.”**** Mojo
“A contender for African album of the year” * Uncut
“…the best rock’n’roll band in the world.” The Independent

Beginning in early February 2010, Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba will share the bill with Bela Fleck for their inaugural tour through the United States.

http://www.myspace.com/bassekoukouyate

Click for 2010 Tour Dates

More about Sub Pop Records:
Sub Pop Records was founded in 1988 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. The Seattle-based label was the original home to such legendary bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, and has enjoyed more recent successes with such artists as The Postal Service, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Band of Horses, Flight of the Conchords, and Fleet Foxes.

In 2002, Sub Pop came into contact with Minneapolis’ De Stijl Records when trying to track down Michael Yonkers, whose Microminiature Love was spinning constantly on office stereos. They entered into a production and distribution agreement with De Stijl that has spawned reissues from Ju Suk Reet Meate (of Smegma,) Ed Askew and 39 Clocks as well as original material from Pens, Jacob Olaussen, King Darves and more.

Sub Pop founded subsidiary label Hardly Art in early 2007. With a smaller staff but no less immodest goals, Hardly Art is able to focus its energies on emerging talent from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Since its inception, Hardly Art has ushered in acclaimed debuts from The Moondoggies, The Dutchess & the Duke, Le Loup, and more.

Sub Pop is pleased to welcome Next Ambiance to its family of labels.

For more information on Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba tour dates, contact Jenifer Shepherd jenifer@rockpaperscissors.biz.

For more information on Sub Pop Records contact Kate Jackson katej@subpop.com.

GRUNGE!

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:52:51 -0700

On November 13th Mudhoney will be playing at Neumos in Seattle with Brothers of the Sonic Cloth (Tad Doyle’s band) and Unnatural Helpers. The show is a celebration of Michael Lavine’s new book titled, Grunge. Michael has taken numerous photos of Sub Pop’s artists over the years and many of them go way, way back. The book is pretty frickin’ amazing. You can see some of them in this video. Check it out and come join us. It’ll be fun!

If you’d like to have a copy of the book autographed by Michael, you can catch him at the following locations:

Friday, November 13 there will be a signing at noon at:
Orca Books
509 East 4th Ave
Olympia, WA
360-352-0123

Saturday, November 14 at 4pm there will be a signing at:
Easy Street Records & Cafe
4559 California Ave SW # 200, Seattle, WA
(206) 938-EASY

Avi Buffalo: now with a whole lot more Sub Pop!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:12:51 -0700

Introductions are in order…

Avi Buffalo is the adopted name of Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, an 18 year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist from Long Beach , CA. Avi Buffalo is also the name of the band he formed with friends and like-minded collaborators Sheridan Riley (drums), Arin Fazio (bass) and Rebecca Coleman (keyboards and vocals). Though Avi started recording songs 3 years ago, during his sophomore year in high school, amidst the dissolution of his previous band Monogram, it wasn’t until Bill Cutts of Outsider Folk asked Avi to play a show in 2007 that Avi Buffalo the band came to be. This first show was an acoustic set at the Zephyr Café in Long Beach. Through the following summer and a local music festival that fall, the band became an altogether more electric thing. And soon they were asked to play shows in Los Angeles. They did and then kept on doing it. A year later Avi and Aaron Embry (who has played with folks like Elliott Smith, Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Beth Orton, and a whole slew of others) began recording the songs that will become the band’s first record. At the prompting of early fan and Sub Pop A&R Head Tony Kiewel, the band toured up to Seattle, played a show, met folks at the label, and began what we all hope will be a very long and happy relationship.

Since then, Avi, Sheridan, Arin, and Rebecca have toured with and made fans of new label-mates Beach House, played the FYF Festival and the Monolith Festival, found unexpected, glowing response and airplay from Steve Lamacq at BBC1, and closer to home from KCRW and KXLU, and have received a whole lot of unsolicited press attention. All before putting out a record.

Because we at Sub Pop are (still…) in the increasingly anachronistic business of putting out records, we plan to change that. And so! On Dec. 8th, 2009 we will be releasing “What’s in It For?” b/w “Jessica” as a 7" vinyl single, recorded by the aforementioned and comprehensively associated Aaron Embry. You can pre-order this single now right here. One or both of these songs will also be found on the debut Avi Buffalo full-length that we are just ridiculously puffed-up about releasing in the spring of 2010.

Meet Avi Buffalo! We think you’re going to like them an awful lot. We sure do.

For the Record #8 Wolf Eyes - Burned Mind

carrotwound@hotmail.com (Dean Spunt) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:37:03 -0700

For the Record is here again, (Our 8th installment! That’s 7 more than we wagered!), and this time out we have none other than Dean Spunt from No Age helping us out with a record recommendation. Dean’s a busy guy these days (with things like this, this and this to name a few) so we surely appreciate him takin’ some time out for FTR (thanks again, Dean!).

And just to re-cap, for those of you unfamiliar with For the Record, this is our semi-regular web feature wherein we (or a generous artist like Dean, Mat, Marty or Scott) reflect on one of our favorite records from the Sub Pop catalog and in turn, said record is dramatically discount for the following 48 hours.

Make Sense? Yes? Good. Now let’s hear about Wolf Eyes!

Band: Wolf Eyes
Record: Burned Mind
When we told you the first time: September 28th, 2004

This record is fantastic! It’s not for the weak though, it starts and ends with a harsh noise ear assault courtesy of the the Wolf Eyes.

Parts remind me of Throbbing Gristle if they were pissed, other parts are like Man is the Bastard if they had no instruments, or Negative Approach with the guitars effected and the drums taken out of the mix and replaced with broken oscillators. Sound good? Then you should check it out – it may cause you to pick up a Behringer mixing board and some pedals and make a limited cassette.

-Dean

For the next 48 hours, you can get Burned Mind at our FTR sale price of $6 CD/$4 Mp3 here!

Dean’s band, No Age, just released their fantastic EP, Losing Feeling, this month. We think you might enjoy it and heartily recommend you go HERE to check it out.

That's What She Said--An Interview With Eugene Mirman

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:21:55 -0700

Eugene Mirman just released a new comedy record on Sub Pop called God is a Twelve-Year-Old-Boy With Asperger’s and it’s funny stuff. One of the problems with being a funny guy is that people always want you to do funny things. No one wants to just sit down with you and ask you mundane questions, but that’s totally my bag, so, a few days ago I interviewed Eugene Mirman over email. Here it is:

LS: Hi! So, how are those plates selling? If you are willing to sell a plate, what would you not sell with your face on it? While we’re at it, tell me about the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, please. Was it a success?

EM: The plates are sold out maybe, unless there are still some through my site. There might be. I would sell lots of things with my face on it, including — hats, a school bus, high-end instant soup, and an artists imagining of Zeus’ penis. And yes, the festival was a success. It was very fun. We had a whole roast pig the opening night, rented a limo to shuttle the audience [One limo! Sounds like quite a crowd! –ed.] from the venue to the subway and had lots of great comedians who shined a light onto societies ills and also joked around about sex and drinking.

LS: Sometimes you say hi to me and sometimes you don’t—what’s the deal with that?

EM: I can be spacey sometimes. Or maybe I’m trying to be mysterious and doing it wrong. Either way, sorry about that.

LS: I figure people ask you about comedy all the time, and I will later probably, but what interests me more right now is that you are Russian. That’s interesting. Tell me about it. I had a Russian boyfriend who moved here in the ‘80s and he had no friends and was stuffed in the trophy cases at school and stuff. Did that happen to you? Do you speak Russian? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does being Russian affect your everyday life? Is it affect or effect? I’m pretty sure it’s affect but now I am doubting myself.

EM: I do speak Russian. I talk to my parents a few times a week. It affects me 2.5 on that scale. In the 80s it probably affected me 4.2. I wasn’t stuffed in a trophy case (I was never good enough), but in elementary school people called me a commie and blamed me when the Russians shot down a Korean airliner. Eventually what started as a youthful disdain of Ruskies transformed into a much broader disdain for me throughout my adolescence. I also was probably [most likely –ed.] annoying. It was most likely a destructive cycle that ended sometime around 11th grade. On a side note, a friend of mine recently told me that in third grade our teacher told her to stop being friends with me because I was a loser and as proof showed her my standardized test scores. They were indeed very low. [You can’t be a loser in third grade. It just doesn’t work that way. –ed.]

LS: You played a rapist in some schmaltzy TV crime drama. Do you still go audition for parts like that or do you have enough work to not do that anymore? I noticed that you have a night of crime drama comedians at your upcoming fest—that’s funny stuff!

EM: I was not a rapist — I was only a suspected arsonist. [I’m going to have to fire my fact checker. –ed.] I don’t really audition for stuff like that very much, and in general don’t really like auditions and try to avoid them (with good success). [So, you pay your bills solely with plate sales? That is amazing! –ed.]

LS: Tell me a funny story about each of these people: David Cross, Zach Galifianakis, and Bret and Jemaine? Which one of these is your favorite? Which of these people gets the most dates do you think?

EM: All those people are in relationships (or married!!!!), so they don’t date. However, I bet they’ve each had sex with at least eight people, which is awesome. It would take too long to tell stories about all of them, but once I know that David Cross, Jon Benjamin and Morgan Murphy got a hotel to let them into Zach Galifianakis’ room by convincing the hotel that Zach was a danger to himself. They were drunk and the convincing took about an hour. [He totally looks like a cutter. I’m surprised it took it them an hour. -ed.]

LS: I emailed Todd Barry to see if he had any dirt/info on you that I could use for this interview but he never got back to me. What do you think he was doing instead?

EM: He was probably making love to a wonderful woman with a beautiful tattoo. [Doubt it. –ed.]

LS: Tell me about the comedy scene in New York. Do you guys hang out a lot and do non-comedy stuff or is it all comedy all the time? Is there somewhere where you guys can be found regularly, like George and Jerry and Elaine at that diner?

EM: We all live in an eight-story brownstone (called a “Double Brownstone”) in Brooklyn and go to see movies, watch each others kids and write television shows and movies. It’s where most of the major alt-comedy decisions are made. [I think you’re pulling my leg. –ed.]

LS: Have you ever played Giggles here in Seattle? If so, did you try the Rita Rudner nachos?

EM: No. And as a result, sadly, no I haven’t tried the nachos. I can’t imagine I’m missing out on much, or are Seattle comedy clubs known for their amazing Mexican food? [Seattle, in general, is known for its Mexican food. HAR HAR HAR!!! –ed.]

LS: What is an average day for you, Eugene? Tell me what it’s like to wake up and be you.

EM: I wake up, finish the second half of a vodka-infused watermelon, give my cat a shot of insulin (he has diabetes), write for an hour, make breakfast, do an interview, and then meet up with friends to work on weird projects. Sometimes I go to a birthday party at the end of the day. [That sounds really nice, except the part about the diabetic cat. That part sounds like a pain. –ed.]

LS: VERY IMPORTANT! What kind of shoes do you wear? What kind of ladies’ shoes are a deal breaker for you?

EM: Shoe shoes. Not sure. [You are trying to tell me that you don’t know what kind of shoes you wear?! For real? What if you wore these?] I don’t have a kind of ladies’ shoe that I outright have disdain for and wouldn’t feel comfortable making one up. I guess if a woman had shoes with anti-semetic stuff written all over them I wouldn’t date her. [Bingo! –ed.]

LS: Were you cool in high school? Did you have a lot of friends? Did you “party”? Did you do drugs? Do you do drugs now?

EM: I wasn’t cool, sorry. I was accepted eventually and had a nice time and friends. I don’t do drugs. I do get a lot of emails from people telling me I must have been really high when I made some video or something and I tell them that I wasn’t, that I’m just a bit of a weirdo. [What about all the cocaine that comedians do? Do the other guys from the double brownstone just take your portion? –ed.]

LS: Did you go to college? Where? What was your major? (If you did not go to college you can make up whatever you want here…)

EM: I went to Hampshire College in western Mass. You can design your own major there, so I majored in comedy. [That’s kind of like going to college, I guess. –ed] I did a one-hour standup act as my thesis. It was actually quite practical since I’m a comedian now, but at the time grownups thought what I was doing was birdbrained and frivolous.

LS: If you had to live in another American city other than New York where would it be?

EM: It would be in Seattle, Austin, Cape Cod, Boston, or maybe Northampton. Maybe Chicago too?

LS: What kind of candy do you like? Chocolate or fruity stuff? Are you a fan of sour patch candies?

EM: I am more of a savory person [Me too! –ed], but yes, I like all those things. I guess Reese’s Pieces, Butterfingers and Whoppers are some of my favorites. [Butterfingers suck, but otherwise I am right there with you. –ed.]

LS: If you had to get a 9-5 job what do you think it would be? What’s your skill set? Are you good at computers?

EM: I would be a weird professor or discredited scientist. Would it count if I worked at a company where I made weird stuff and put it on the Internet or is that too close to what I already do? [No. –ed.] What if I gave myself more formal hours? [Okay. –ed.]

LS: Do you look at the internet a lot? What are some things you look at?

EM: I like Zach Galfianakis’ show Between Two Ferns. I also love Michael Showalter’s show, The Michael Showalter Showalter. I look at some stuff, but not as much as when I temped at an office. I just watched a video Jon Benjamin made called Tech Talk. You can see it here.

LS: What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year?
EM: I forget.

LS: Do you watch Mad Men?  

EM: I do. I love it. I am delighted they named a character after me (probably not). [Are you talking about Grandpa/Baby? I had no idea he was named Eugene Mirman! –ed]

LS: Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met? Tell me how it all went down.

EM: I think the most famous person I ever met was Robin Williams when he came to the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary comedy show with Bob Goldthwait, and my friend Tony V, because they were shooting a movie in Seattle at the time. [I saw that movie. It’s pretty good. –ed.] But speaking of meeting famous people and Mad Men, I was once outside of the Knitting Factory in New York (after a benefit I did for homeless people — because I’m a really good person) and a guy came up to me and said, “Hey my name is Jon and I’m a friend of David Wain’s and I’m a big fan.” And I was like, “Wait? Jon? Jon Hamm?!” And he was like, “Yes.” And I was like, “I’m a REALLY big fan of yours! I LOVE your show.” It might have spooked him a little. [OH.MY.GOD. Is he as good looking in real life? Do you think he’d let me interview him? If you invited him over do you think he’d come? Did you know there is a Knitting Factory in Spokane??! -ed.] But he was very nice and we talked for a few minutes.

LS: I’m sure you are working on some new material. Please give me a sneak peek and we can work on it here, together.

EM: I am going to be in Copenhagen in December covering the UN Climate Change Conference for a Seattle-based non-profit called Grist. So I’m working on that. I’m trying to come up with titles for the series, so feel free to give me some ideas. [How about ‘Gettin’ Green with Eugene’? Or ‘Eugreen Mirman Reports Live from the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen’? Or ‘Reduce, Reuse, Eugene’? -ed.]

LS: And finally, tell me a story about Megan Jasper, preferably something embarrassing. If you don’t have something you can sub in a dirty or weird dream you’ve had about her or something.

EM: I have a great story about her, but make sure you run this by her, so that people don’t believe she is any less professional because of this. Probably five or so years ago Megan, Robin Taylor, me and a few other friends went to see Wilco and Flaming Lips at Madison Square Garden for New Years. Periodically, as people around us would shout out requests at the bands, and Megan, with an equally enthusiastic voice, would yell, “Shit in my pussy!” It’s still one of the funnier things I’ve seen at a concert. I think the next day she ran into some friends of hers that happened to be behind us at the show and had a eleven or twelve year old child with them. I think they thought it was funny, but Megan might have been a little embarrassed. [Megan does this at baby showers, marketing meetings, sporting events, and funerals. It’s her ‘thing’. –ed.]

New Flight of the Conchords October 20th!

sams@subpop.com (Sam Sawyer) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:29:19 -0700

There is so much that could be said regarding Flight of the Conchords. How they hail from New Zealand, the island nation with multiple postal services. Or that, after winning a Best Comedy Album Grammy for The Distant Future in 2007, they were nominated for a second Best Comedy Album Grammy in 2008, but were actually relieved not to win again—because meaningless trophies really do seem important when you only have one, and have to fight over who gets to keep it. Or that this same popular HBO television series (conveniently also called Flight of the Conchords) was recently nominated for what-sure-seems-like-a-record-breaking 6 Emmys, but won none. Or, and most importantly, that Flight of the Conchords second full-length album, I Told You I Was Freaky is now available for pre-order on CD or deluxe-ish LP (limited-edition purple vinyl here at subpop.com, gatefold jacket, digital download code). AND, if you pre-order by October, 20th, you’ll automatically received $2 off and Flight of the Conchords stickers and buttons.

Pre-order the new Flight of the Conchords record here

For a couple free Flight of the Conchords MP3 downloads, click here

No Age shoes!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:03:46 -0700

In collaboration with master artist, veteran skateboarding legend and Emerica Pro Ed Templeton, Randy Randall and Dean Spunt, the industrious art-punkers behind No Age have designed a shoe for Emerica! Take a look! And, theses are not just another pretty pair of shoes. Since Ed, Randall and Spunt are all vegan, the shoe is made up of entirely organic and synthetic materials, but designed to weather the abuse of skateboarding.

And, no big surprise, they are a whole lot better-looking than the admittedly somewhat garish Nikes that we helped design last summer, and have recently been trying to sell to you.

Also, the new No Age EP, Losing Feeling is out now!

JP is Half a Hundred Years Old!

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:04:49 -0700

This week marks the passing of the 50th birthday of our own dear Jonathan Poneman: our boss, the co-founder of Sub Pop Records, filth-anthropist, countryman, liberal loudmouth, etc. Sometimes the best way to show someone how much you care is by totally destroying their office. And, because we do care, that’s what we did today. We got him pretty good a few years back when we filled his office with balloons, and since then he’s done an amazing job of making himself scarce this time of year. This year we organized a Polish lunch for him here at the office (his (much) better half is Polish, and it’s fun to watch him squirm around the meat…) but not before we plastered his office with his own lovely mug. Happy Birthday, JP—you’re the beast! Best. Sorry.

Retribution Gospel Choir Sign to Sub Pop!

katej@subpop.com (Kate Jackson) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:03:37 -0700

Sometimes, it just needs to be loud. For the members of Retribution Gospel Choir, that time is now. The group features Alan Sparhawk on guitar and vocals, Steve Garrington on bass and Eric Pollard on drums and vocals. Alan also fronts the band Low with his wife, Mimi Parker, and Steve also plays bass in Low. Retribution Gospel Choir will release their second full-length, the band’s Sub Pop debut, 2, on Jan. 26, 2010. The rough heft, aggressive dynamics and emotional release found on the 10 tracks on 2 will surprise fans of Low’s gorgeously restrained, spartan rock ’n’ roll.

The band’s self-titled debut was released in March 2008 on Mark Kozelek’s Caldo Verde Records. Kozelek (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon) also produced the debut album and played shows with the band early on. An extensive North American tour is in the works for Retribution Gospel Choir beginning in late January, preceded by some shows and festivals in the UK and Spain in December. A New York appearance at The Mercury Lounge is scheduled for December 15.

By the way, you can listen to Retribution Gospel Choir on their MySpace page.

Approve Ref. 71!

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:12:07 -0700

Many of us at Sub Pop are hoping to preserve the domestic partnership law and are asking that you join us by approving Ref. 71. This is an equal rights issue and we need to make sure that we continue to take steps towards ensuring a high quality of life for everyone. As our head honcho Jonathan Poneman says, “All issues of human rights and human dignity need to be embraced and championed.” Please help us get the word out to approve ref. 71. Below is a note from our friend, Stuart Wilber:

On October 11th there is a march for equal rights in DC. This march has been poorly publicized, mainly because the local and national organizations like PFLAG, GLAAD, HRC and The Gay and Lesbian Task Force who have endorsed it have only paid lip service and have refused to publicize it, probably because they are afraid if people spend money going to DC they will not donate to their causes. John and I marched in ’93 and just the opposite occurred, we and others came back feeling empowered and energized.

I have been very active in promoting the national and local solidarity marches as well as Approve ref.71, a WA state ballot measure to take away the recent domestic partnership rights granted us by the WA legislators. Being 10 years older than John and 71, all other things being equal, I will pre-decease him. The financial consequences are enormous, social security benefits and taxes are among the significant ways in which we are discriminated against at the federal level. Many of the protections that ref.71 IF approved confer can be protected contractually; others cannot. That is why I am marching in DC.

I need your advice and your help. I need help publicizing the National March and the local march and I need ideas on how to get the word out nationally and locally. I know you must have friends across the country and the world (there are marches planned in Copenhagen and Canada) who could help promote this march. Won’t you please help me and use them as a way of publicizing the national march. I am so tired of being a second class citizen – call it marriage, call it a union, I don’t care what it is called as long as state-sanctioned relationships are called the same thing for and available for all our citizens.

So please help me publicize this march and won’t you grab a hundred of your closest friends and come to DC. If you can’t get to DC march locally. My mother fought for women’s rights in the ‘20s. Both my parents fought for civil rights for Afro-Americans in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. And I have marched for women’s and people’s of color and LGBT rights since the ’50s. Won’t you please march with me? —Stuart

You can march here in Seattle on October 11th. The march/rally will begin in Volunteer Park at 2:00pm. If you don’t live in Seattle, you can join the national march in Washington D.C. or you can possibly march in your local area. There are numerous events being set up in many different cities. Get out there and join us!

Pissed Jeans Do WFMU Fest, Friday!

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:40:10 -0700

WFMU, one of our favorite independent free form online radio stations, is throwing the first (hopefully annual) WFMU Fest at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this weekend (Oct. 1-3)! I haven’t heard of anything as amazing going on in NYC this weekend, so there’s no excuse to miss it! The coolest part of the festival—Pissed Jeans are headlining Friday night!

Check out the other bands playing in the sweet line-up:

Thursday October 1st (Doors 8PM, $20 advance or night of show): Krautrock pioneers Faust, with Cold Cave and Aluk Todolo opening

Friday, October 2nd (Doors 8PM, tickets $12 advance/$15 night of show): a home run punk fest featuring Pissed Jeans, TV Ghost, Vee Dee, and Guinea Worms

Saturday, October 3rd (Doors 8PM, $20 advance or night of show): the return of No Wave legends Teenage Jesus and the Jerks plus a triple attack setup of NYC noisemongers Sightings, Drunkdriver, and Talk Normal

If you aren’t familiar with WFMU, make yourself acquainted with it here.

*Tickets are available in advance via the Music Hall of Williamsburg’s site

Fleet Foxes Play Bridge School & Receive Award From the City of Seattle

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:09:56 -0700

Seattle’s Fleet Foxes have been chosen to play the 2009 Bridge School Benefit on Oct 24th and 25th. Each year Neil Young and his wife Pegi organize a stellar show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA with all proceeds going to the Bridge School. This years performers include Monsters of Folk, Chris Martin of Coldplay, No Doubt and Adam Sandler just to name a few. I am holding out hope for an all star rendition of the Hanukkah song. Make it happen Sandler.You can learn more about the show here.

In other Fleet Foxes news the dudes will be honored along with Quincy Jones and KEXP at the 2009 Seattle City of Music Awards at the Showbox on Oct. 14th. This event is open to the public and you can pick up tickets at Easy St, Everyday Music, Silver Platters and Sonic Boom.

Hardly News, September 2009

nick@hardlyart.com (Nicolas Heliotis) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:22:43 -0700

Hello all and welcome to this month’s edition of Hardly News.

Well, the big big news at Hardly Art is that today is the day the new Le Loup record, Family, is released into the wild (so to speak). You can read a little more about the record (and snag a couple of free mp3s) right over here. If you are interested in hearing the whole record, it is streaming (for one week only) over at Spinner. Family was also featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered yesterday, which we think is the bees knees. Le Loup is heading out on tour in a couple of weeks (with Portland’s Nurses) and will likely be playing in your town — you can find out for sure at our tour page.

You may not believe it, but the releases don’t stop with Le Loup. In just two weeks (October 6th to be precise) Sunset / Sunrise_, the new record from Seattle’s beloved Dutchess & the Duke, will be available far and wide. We know you are excited about this record, and we recently made lead track “Hands” available for you, for free — find it hereduke.html. Like Le Loup, the Dutchess & the Duke are heading out for some extensive touring following the release of their record. For details on that, I once more refer you to the tour page.

Every bit as exciting as these releases, say I, is the recent expansion of the Hardly Art team to include the one and only Ruben Mendez (please see above photo of Ruben and new Hardly Art mascot Chuy). Seattle music fans will likely recognize him from his days spent working at Sonic Boom records and his nights spent partying with the Coconut Coolouts. Ruben is now working full time here at Hardly Art, and we couldn’t be happier to have him.

Lastly, you likely saw a post earlier today on this very blog regarding the Sub Pop/Hardly Art showcase at this year’s CMJ festival? Yes? Okay? Then I trust there is no need for me to bore you with the details.

That is it for now, friends. Until next time.
xoxo
Nick/Hardly Art

No Age Get Rad

susanb@subpop.com (Susan Busch) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:34:07 -0700

Dean and Randy from No Age teamed up again with the Altamont Apparel crew and The Goat for a tour out to SXSW. The tour was filmed and edited by Patrick O’Dell of Epicly Later’d and it’s now up on the Altamont site in 10 installments! Check it out at the altamont blog.

No Age will also appear at the Moma on Thursday, Oct 15th as part of the MoMA fim retrospective Spike Jonze, The First 80 Years. This Pop Rally event features a special compilation of seminal skateboard videos from the 1980s to today, including some of Jonze’s contributions to the genre, chosen by producer and photographer Patrick O’Dell. The screening is followed by a discussion featuring Jonze, Lance Mountain, Jake Phelps, Greg Hunt, Ty Evans, and other surprise guests.

No Age plays directly after the discussion. Sounds like an epic evening indeed.

WHEN:

Thursday, October 15, 2009
7:30–11:00 p.m.
The program begins promptly at 7:30.

WHERE:

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater

HARDLY POP: Sub Pop and Hardly Art Will Team Up For CMJ

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:01:07 -0700

It’s the first day of AUTUMN! What better way to celebrate than to announce our CMJ lineup?!

Sat. Oct. 24, 2009 at The Mercury Lounge (217 E. Houston)

Doors at 6:30 PM

with.

7 PM Unnatural Helpers

8 PM Dum Dum Girls

9 PM Moondoggies

10 PM Dutchess & The Duke

11 PM Golden Triangle

12 PM Pissed Jeans

1 AM Obits

2 AM Male Bonding

No Advanced tickets. CMJ badges or $12 at the door.

Happy Birthday to Us

deanh@subpop.com (Harry Dean Hudson) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:55:49 -0700

No, we’re not getting back into the self-congratulatory, aggrandization of last year’s birthday revelry but referring to the band who’s name sounds like the time-tested affirmation of aging. We’re as happy as a bucket of clams to announce that we’ll be putting out Happy Birthday’s first record on Sub Pop Records.

We learned about Happy Birthday by way of our obsession with one of 2008’s best records, King Tuff’s Was Dead. After meeting Kyle (aka King Tuff) early this year, we spent the better part of 2009 trying to squeeze Happy Birthday and/or King Tuff songs out of him—an effort that’s finally paid off in a record of near-perfectly constructed comic-book-pop gems. (We’re not quite sure what that means either, but we’re rolling with it.)

But enough of my blather, here’s what the band has to say about themselves:

Happy Birthday is Kyle Thomas (aka King Tuff), Chris Weisman, and Ruth Garbus. They formed in November 2008 to play one show at the punk-space “Tinderbox” (RIP), in their hometown Brattleboro, Vermont. Kyle needed a band to play his new pop songs because he was too scared to play by himself. They enjoyed playing with each other so much that they decided to keep doing it. They have now played a total of 5 shows.
Kyle sings and plays lead guitar. The songs are mostly his, but the band arranges and finishes them together. He is also a painter and drawer and loves top 40, shoes, texting, comic books, etc. Ruth Garbus plays drums and sings. She also makes her own music and art. Chris Weisman plays “inverted-tuning” guitar, bass, and sings. He makes 4-track songs, enjoys reading and writing, and is a guitar teacher.

We look forward to releasing Happy Birthday’s full length in early spring of next year.

Hardly Art in the Seattle Weekly!

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:18:34 -0700

Little Buddies got a nice write up in the Seattle Weekly! Click here learn more about our friends at Hardly Art!

For the Record #7 Chad VanGaalen - Infiniheart

matbrooke@gmail.com (Mat Brooke) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:48:04 -0700

Please help us in welcoming our friend, Mat Brooke, lead singer from Seattle’s own Grand Archives, who has graciously agreed to guest edit our 7th installment of “For the Record”! “For the Record”, as you may recall, is our semi-regular web feature wherein we (or the kind people who we can convince to do so) reflect on a favorite record from the Sub Pop catalog and in turn we then drastically discount said record for the following 48 hours.

So now that you know how this all works, let’s get into it and see what Mat has to say about Chad VanGaalen’s Infiniheart!

Band: Chad VanGaalen
Record:Infiniheart
When we told you the first time: August 23rd, 2005

Even though I’ve never lived in Canada, Chad VanGaalen’s Infiniheart has the comfort of home to me. The urgency of the jangly guitar intro in the opening track, “Clinically Dead”, starts the whole album with an immediate hook. From that point on the songs continue to ebb and flow with a perfect cinematic-like cohesion. The tales, narrated in a flawless wavering falsetto, create Infiniheart’s timeless sound. When Sub Pop re-released this album in 2005, the CD stayed in my player on repeat for days. So much, that now when re-visited, it’s almost like catching up on old times. “1000 Pound Eyelids” is the song that really sticks. The lyrics vaguely depict the terror of a car accident, with an innocent, almost calming charm. That is where Chad really prevails. His humble charm, blended with his style of hauntingly honest music. It just sounds like “home”. But don’t take my word for it, what the hell do I know? I’m not a record reviewer. Try buying it.

yours truly -mat

For the next 48 hours, you can get Infiniheart at our FTR sale price of $6 CD/$4 Mp3 here!

Mat’s band, Grand Archives, just released their second record, Keep in Mind Frankenstein this week. We think you should check that record out too. Here, we’ll help you: go HERE for more on Grand Archives.

Sub Pop + Beach House = TRUE LOVE!

katej@subpop.com (Kate Jackson) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:57:41 -0700

There is no denying true love. Especially bi-coastal love between us and the Baltimore City based Beach House. The super talented duo, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand, first fused their respective musical creativity in 2005, releasing their self-titled debut in February of 2006 and the second, Devotion, in August of 2007.

In July the band took a break from touring to head to upstate New York to record with Chris Coady at Dreamland Studios in Woodstock. They spent a solid month in solitude writing and recording in the church-converted-to-studio compound. What they emerged with is their greatest work to date! Beach House’s third album will be released on Sup Pop (and Bella Union overseas) in early 2010…WE CAN’T WAIT. Based on some of the reactions to previous works that are noted below, we think some other people might be pretty excited about it too.

Beach House never rests and soon will be on tour with Grizzly Bear this fall all over the USA (dates listed below). The band will be unveiling new tracks from their upcoming album at these shows, so please come visit.

“Slide guitars and steel drums seduce the listener into a world of gentle pain, making for a sophomore album that is, like its predecessor, a beautiful collection of songs and images seemingly constructed upon repulsion and ennui.”—Filter

“The melodies and arrangements take center stage, and they’re consistently stunning.”—Magnet

“These are crisper, brighter, bolder songs, retaining Beach House’s sense of elegant decay while sweeping up the debris.”—Pitchfork 8.5 Best New Music

Beach House Fall 2009 Tour Dates:

9/6 – Dublin at the Electric Picnic
9/19 – Portland at the Berbati’s Pan-MUSICFEST NW
9/20 – Seattleat Nuemos
9/22 – Anacortes, WA at the Department of Safety
9/23 – Bellingham at The Nightlight
9/24 – Victoria BC at Rifflandia Festival
9/26 – Ann Arbor at Michigan Theatre w/ Grizzly Bear
9/27 – Chicago at the Metro w/ Grizzly Bear
9/28 – Chicago at the Metro w/ Grizzly Bear
9/30 – Minneapolis at First Avenue w/ Grizzly Bear
10/1 – Columbia, Missouri at Blue Note w/ Grizzly Bear
10/2 – Norman at the opolis
10/3 – Austin at EMOS
10/5 – Atlanta at Variety Playhouse w/ Grizzly Bear
10/6 – Norfolk at Norva w/ Grizzly Bear
10/7 – Philadelphia at Electric Factory w/ Grizzly Bear
10/8 – Boston at Orpheum Theatre w/ Grizzly Bear
10/9 – Poughkeepsie at Vassar College
10/19 – San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill
10/20 – LA at Hollywood Palladium w/Grizzly Bear
10/21 – San Diego Belly Up Tavern w/ Grizzly Bear

For the Record #6 Pond - S/T

scottgursky@hotmail.com (Scott Gursky) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:29:37 -0700

Obits are a 4-piece rock band from Brooklyn, NY who released their debut full-length album earlier this year. It’s called I Blame You and if it doesn’t wind up on your personal list of this year’s best albums, well, your list could use some fixin’. Scott Gursky is the band’s drummer and he’s also an amazing visual artist. He’s the one responsible for this and also this. Mr. Gursky is herewith also our second guest editor for an installment of our increasingly less unknown feature: “For the Record”! “For the Record,” of course, is our semi-regular web feature wherein we (or people who we convince to do so) rhapsodize on something from the (let’s be honest) checkered Sub Pop catalog and then, in a not even thinly veiled attempt to persuade you to take a chance and purchase the thing in question, deeply discount that album for a brief period of time.

And with that, we proudly present, Obits’ Scott Gursky on Pond…

Band: Pond
Record: Pond
When we told you the first time: February 1st, 1993

I first heard Pond around 1993 on MTV’s 120 minutes, a show I regularly relied on as a teenager to pick up hints of any “cool music” that would otherwise never find its way to my suburb. The video was for the song “Agatha”, and although the video wasn’t particularly interesting, the song definitely scared me. Guitarist Charlie Cambell drones on and on with one eerie chord, everything sparse and stripped down, with mantra-like vocal harmonies. To this day, I don’t have any idea what they are singing about, but I like to imagine this song is about a haunted house.

I bought their album Pond on cassette and wore it thin. I came to really appreciate (and even tried to emulate) Dave Triebwasser’s strong and steady drumming, and I was fascinated by bassist Chris Brady ‘s pop sensibilities butting up against the darker moods that Cambell and his guitar seemed to contribute. When at their best, during songs like “Gone” and “Spots”, they came across really murky and drone-y, a bit unhinged and heavy, but never without a strong hook to keep the foot tapping. It was distorted, heavy pop-rock music, lots of bands were doing it. But this trio had a certain way mixing the minor key with just enough melody and energy to keep it fun, and this separated them from the pack. When I was lucky enough to catch them live in Philadelphia, they had small amps, and Dave pounded a frankenstein of old drum kit orphans, very cool. There was something scrappy about this band, something that told you they didn’t have lots of money, they practiced in a damp basement, that they made weird, spooky power-pop because they really loved doing it and that was enough. The cynics will say Pond never made exceptional music, left no superstar legacy and that this record is (mostly) forgotten on the shelf, just another product of its time. Yet for me this time is a nostalgic one, one of cassettes and self-discovery, when against the odds you found special records, and special records found you.

You get Pond’s S/T release at our FTR sale price of $6 CD/$4 Mp3 here for the next 48 hours!

All You Ever Needed to Know about Shoes

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:21:55 -0700

Ah, the internet! Once again we’ve been scooped on our biz — we get it, you win! — but I am here to set the record straight: We’ll tell you more on Wednesday.

Kinski celebrates their 10-year anniversary

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:18:05 -0700

This Saturday night, Aug. 29, our friends in Kinski will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary! Details about the show are in the note below and you should certainly attend!

Hey Everyone,

We’re celebrating Kinski’s 10th anniversary as a band. Can you believe that?

We’re going to do it at a little bar in Seattle that has meant a lot to us over the years, the Monkey Pub.

The show is this Saturday, August 29th and it’s part of the N.U.D.E. festival. Also on the bill are our pals the Peripherals and Fortress of Victory.

There’s a bunch of other shows happening in the U. District that night as part of the festival too. We’ll be going on later, so swing on by.

And Kinski’s original drummer, Dave Weeks, will be sitting in with us on a couple of our older numbers from the early days.

We’ll also continue the celebration Sept 11th at Chop Suey with Lesbian.

Thanks

XOXOXO
Kinski

More from No Age's Losing Feeling

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:43:32 -0700

Not only are we still offering a full EP stream of the upcoming No Age release, Losing Feeling_, (more information on that great deal is available here8) but starting today, we are also giving away a free download of their Losing Feeling track, “You’re A Target”.

You can find this free download of “You’re A Target” under LISTEN on our front page, or on No Age’s artist page or right here if you please. Any which way you wanna choose, you still are gonna get yourself some free No Age music.

Yes!

For the Record #5 Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet

marty.marquis@gmail.com (Marty Marquis) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:30:43 -0700

For the Record #5 welcomes our very first guest writer and it’s none other than Blitzen Trapper’s Marty Marquis!

We asked Marty to tell us about one of his favorite Sub Pop releases and Marty, being the good guy he is, took the time to write a little bit about how Mark Lanegan’s The Winding Sheet came into his favor. Accordingly, we are going to continue our practice of drastically discounting our writer’s selected title for the next 48 hours. For the Record is in full swing now, and it’s all for you dear Sub Pop fans, all for you.

All right, let’s hear from Marty!

Band: Mark Lanegan
Record: The Winding Sheet
When we told you the first time: May 1st, 1990

When I was 17 I worked on a Scout camp at Goose prairie in the middle Cascades. With my first paycheck I bought a discman and some cheap speakers and a copy of Mark Lanegan’s The Winding Sheet, and for the next nine weeks my tent was haunted by it. A spooky, forlorn record perfectly pitched to the sound of rain on canvas, the smell of splintered cedar, the dawn fogs on the prairie. The songs, sinister and melancholy, seemed to resonate with the night forest, the swift seething of the Bumping river, the silent spirals off my cigarette.

I had known and admired Lanegan from his work with Screaming Trees, but this music was bewitching in a new way; dueling with heavy wah-guitar and feedback his voice had been impressive, but the dark folk blues concocted by he and Mike Johnson here were a brilliant change of venue. I had never heard anything like it, and to this day believe it to be a first step toward a distinctively Northwestern pastoral. This from the grunge lab of Jack Endino, with performances by Fisk, Novoselic, Cobain! And is that cover art by Charles Peterson?

-MM

You get The Winding Sheet at our FTR sale price of $6 CD/$4 Mp3 here for the next 48 hours!

You can also go here to get Blitzen Trapper’s newly released (as of 8/25/09) Black River Killer EP!

Intern Blog: Fruit Bats & The Moondoggies at The Mural

lamplighterphotography@gmail.com (Katy McCourt-Basham) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:10:09 -0700

Hey Everybody!

Katy McCourt-Basham here for another round of intern photo blogging.

Last Friday, I took a break from mailing CDs to your favorite radio stations to check out another free show at the Mural Amphitheater in Seattle Center (Sponsored by KEXP).

The first band to hit the stage was British Columbia’s Johnny And The Moon. They played a pretty rad set, starting the night off right for those who got there early to drink some PBRs and enjoy the sunshine.

Next up were Sub Pop’s Hardly Art buddies The Moondoggies. They played an awesome set, including songs like “Ain’t No Lord” and “Bogachiel Rain Blues” (see a video here). The Crowd closest to the stage definitely represented the diversity of The Moondoggies’ fanbase—from little kids, to trendy twenty-somethings, to people who may or may not have been homeless, to guys that look like my dad. Everyone was diggin’ it!

Last up was Sub Pop’s own Fruit Bats. I’ve been a big fan of theirs since my early high school years, so it’s always thrilling to see them play live! The show was stellar as usual. They mostly played songs from their new album “The Ruminant Band” (out now!), such as “Tegucigalpa” (see a video here) and “My Unusual Friend”. Fruit Bats closed the set with some older songs like “When U Love Somebody” (classic!).

Though this was the last of KEXP’s free concerts at The Mural this summer, Seattleites can check out Sub Pop Bands like Eugene Mirman, No Age, The Helio Sequence, and Sera Cahoone at Bumbershoot, September 5th-7th.

If you’re interested in checking out more of my photos, click here.

HOLY JESUS, THERE ARE A LOT OF SHOWS IN SEATTLE THIS WEEKEND

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:25:42 -0700

The title says it all. If you happen to to be a Seattle resident, or if you’re just visiting, you have a multitude of Sub Pop & Family partying options this weekend. Thank goodness Lacey made a complete weekend guide or else we’d all be totally lost, wandering and partyless.

FRIDAY

-KEXP’s Mural Concert Series w/ Moondoggies and Fruit Bats 6 PM

-Newly signed Dum Dum Girls at Kia Soul Collective 6 PM, RSVP here

-Hardly Art’s own Nick Heliotis Happy Birthday Show at The Funhouse w/ Le Sang Song, Wallpaper, and The Familiars 10 PM

-The Sea Navy at The Sunset (Stuart Fletcher’s band! He works here!) at The Sunset 10:30 PM

-Pissed Jeans at Chop Suey MIDNIGHT

SATURDAY

-No Age at Kia Soul Collective 6:45 PM, see RSVP link above

-Newly signed Hardly Art band Unnatural Helpers (featuring Sub Pop’s favorite IT guy, Mandrew on the boom stick) at The Funhouse MIDNIGHT

-PENS at Chop Suey, UNKNOWN TIME (PENS are on De Stijl, a rad label that we distribute)

-Pissed Jeans in-studio on KEXP at 10 PM, Listen here!

-Also of note, but not open to the public: Our General Manager Chris Jacobs’ birthday!

Get out there folks!

Dum Dum Girls play Seattle

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:28:31 -0700

HEY! The Dum Dum Girls are playing in south Seattle on Friday August 21, 2009!

Dum Dum Girls at 6pm
Wavves at 7pm
Pacific Industrial Center
2960 4th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134

Someone else that we like a lot is playing on Saturday.
Check here for more info.

How Many Sub Poppers Does it Take to Screw In a Light Bulb?

andyk@subpop.com (Andy Kotowicz) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:13:59 -0700

In this case 3! From August 6-9, Sub Pop’s President (Jonathan Poneman), Art Director (Jeff Kleinsmith) and Resident Meathead (Andy Kotowicz) took to the streets of Myslowice, Poland, a town of 75,000 in the southwestern , industrial region of Silesia. Their purpose: apart from downing dozens upon dozens of pierogies and swallerin’ copious vodka shots, was to attend the Off Festival and install a Sub Pop art exhibit at a gallery at the Miejeskie Centrum Kultury (Town Culture Center). The festival lineup was pretty amazing. In addition to Sub Pop’s own Handsome Furs and Tiny Vipers, alums The Thermals also graced the stages, along with Wire, Fucked Up, Health, Wooden Shjips, The Field, Crystal Antlers AND Stilts, Pains of Being Pure at Heart and headliners Spiritualized and The National. Lots of Polish bands played as well: Pustki, Cool Kids of Death, Lech Janerka and Maria Peszek, to name a few. Great big thank yous to festival organizer, Artur Rojek, Lenka Panak, Ola, Ricky, Ania, Pawel and everyone else we met or who helped out. We owe you in a way we may never have the opportunity to fully acknowledge, but I certainly hope that one day, we do.

Photos of our exploits are here.

Choice video bits are here and here.

Rosie Torrance Knows My Name

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:01:03 -0700

Holy shit, look who’s back from the grave! That’s right, PWWH has come off hiatus, and out of hiding, to bring you an insider’s look into the secret life of Rosie T, our receptionist at Sub Pop HQ. I was super frustrated with Rosie for a long while, at least a year even, because she didn’t know the difference between me and Carly and she would always call us by the wrong name. She put a labeled picture of me up at her desk, though, and now she knows the difference, so we’re all cool. Let’s see…Rosie eats garden burgers for breakfast and pretends they’re hashbrowns, she has a super cool dog named Willie who bit the mailman, she bought a house recently, and she always adds extra condiments to her sandwiches at lunch. Let’s meet Rosie!

L: So, your dad owns a lot of stuff, including, at one point, Muzak. Did you have to listen to a lot of elevator music when you were growing up? Tell me about how the whole Muzak process works. Also, since Jonathan Poneman used to work there and your dad used to be his boss, can you please find out some good stories about him and his time there? Mark and Bruce, too! Tell him to spill the beans!

R: You’re right, he does. He owns two dogs, Toba and Pheobe. A parrot named Buzz. Lots of socks and sandals and belts. He also owns a lot of window squeegees for some reason… he really like those. [Don’t be shy…he also owns an ISLAND! AN ISLAND!! –Ed.] As for Muzak, I was really young, but I’ll tell you what I know. It’s funny how everything’s come full circle. My dad ran a company called Yesco Foreground Music, [I see what he’s doing there with the “foreground” thing—nice strategy, Mr. Torrance. –ed.] that’s where JP worked in the tape duplication department. Yesco pioneered licensing and programming of original artist pop music for commercial establishments. Before Yesco the only “Rock and Roll” available in a store or bar (well, legally, I guess) was from a Juke Box playing 45’s. I’m told most the tapes JP duplicated at Yesco went into bars, nightclubs and retails stores. As far as I know he didn’t touch any “elevator music” let alone listen to it. I guess when Muzak wanted to get more “rock” in their catalog they contracted that work with Yesco. And later Yesco (my dad and his partners) bought Muzak with some other investors. As for bean spillage… I asked Mark for some dirt on Bruce from when he worked at Muzak. He told me Bruce used to mail out Sub Pop 100 LPs and Green River promo from the warehouse on Muzak’s dime, which I think is pretty ironic and awesome. [Super ironic, considering Mark is a mail nazi now. –ed] I also heard JP wore the same pair of underwear every day. I guess he was superstitious in those days and didn’t want to lose his touch. He never once went to the bathroom in that office either, which I find kind of suspect…. [Hmmm, so he’s been like that for years, huh? Now I don’t have to take him going home to pee so personally. –ed] There definitely wasn’t any “elevator music” happening during my formative years. There was a period in the late 80’s when there was too much Phil Collins happening for my taste, but luckily that was temporary. My parents came of age in the 60’s, and both listened to what you would expect. I remember a lot of Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd and Joni Mitchell growing up. Stories of Dad setting up light shows for the Grateful Dead, Jimmy Hendrix shows at Seattle Center, and Altamont. [You mean “who’s fighting and what for” Altamont?! –ed.] Not what you would expect coming from Muzak Man.

L: You went to boarding school—what was that like? I’ve seen a lot of movies…is there really that much making out?

R: I didn’t go to boarding school. [Fuck. –ed.] My sister did, and she says, “Yes there really is that much making out.” [Yes! –ed.]

L: I heard you ran a marathon once without ever training. Why? How’d that work out for you?

R: Ya, that was really stupid of me. Let’s just say it was about 5 hours of pure hell. I guess I signed up for it because I was sort of in a rut and wanted to do something positive. I went through with the run having not trained because I had raised a bunch of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society through Team in Training. I had to hold up my end of the bargain. My sister mailed me a Percocet from New York which I popped at about mile 17, maybe that’s why I was able to finish. [Give your sister my address, please. –ed.] Altruistically saving face for 26.2 miles. I don’t recommend it. I walked like a penguin for a full week and a half after that bright idea.

L: Let’s talk about music. What was your favorite band in high school? College? Now? What’s the first show you ever saw? What’s the last show you saw?

R: I was a skater chick for the first couple years of high school (the poser kind). I listened to a lot of Sublime and Beastie Boys. Then I started listening to older stuff—Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys (I love their stuff from when it seems like they were taking a little too much acid. Think “Feel Flows”). I was in Europe the first year of college and embraced the euro-dance top 40 somehow, and then wound up obsessing over String Cheese Incident. [Holy hell. Is that really even a band? Is there some sort of element of performance art involved or am I making that up? –ed.] Go figure. I’m bad at “favorites”, but lately I’ve been listening to Metric, The Dirty Projectors, and Miike Snow. I heard some of the new The Dutchess and The Duke record that’s being released in October, which I’m really looking forward to. [Nice plug—that’s almost as good as “foreground music”! –ed.] The first show I ever saw was Willie Nelson with my sister Allie and my Grandpa Kirby. I can’t remember if the last show I saw was Handsome Furs or Beach House @ Sasquatch.

L: You travel a lot. Where all have you been? Is there anywhere you’d like to go that you’ve not been yet?

R: I do love to travel. Living in Switzerland (see below) allowed me to go all over Europe—Italy, France, Luxemburg (quickly), Austria, Turkey, Spain. I just got back from Croatia, Montenegro and Greece. I’ve been really lucky. I love South America. Chile’s one of my favorite places. [Do you say chili or chee-lay? –ed.] I love traveling to places during times of local celebration; like watching the oldest horse race in the world (Il Palio) amidst crazed sweaty Italians in Sienna. I really enjoy being around salt of the earth [you mean poor, don’t you? –ed.] people in another country, watching them celebrate something completely foreign to me. Those are my favorite times abroad. There are so many places I hope to see some day—Paris, Prague, Salzburg, any of Norway, Russia, Thailand, I could go on forever.

L: What’s in store for 40 year old Rosie Torrance? What are your plans for the future?

R: Hmm… I’ll either be crazy aunt Rosie wearing neon spandex inappropriately yelling profanities during one of my sister’s kids’ soccer games while holding one of my many cats, or, I guess I’ve always wanted a couple little tater tots of my own. [It’s been recently proven that tater tots make lousy children. Mold, decomposition, you know, the usual. –ed.] Ideally I’d love to work for myself, make enough money to travel and feed my kids whatever they want, and eat dinner with my family on Sunday nights.

L: Were you ever in therapy? What’d you talk about?

R: Can you call a lobotomy therapy? [Yes, I think that’s exactly what they call it. –ed.]

L: What are your feelings about working here at Sub Pop? How do you find your co-workers? Tell me a crazy story about something that has happened during your time here.

R: Sub Pop’s a great company to work for, but I’d probably quit if Alissa took the beer out of the vending machine. No, really, everyone I work with is really quite amazing. The two people I work with the most closely are JP and Megan. I kid you not; they’re probably the two nicest people I’ve ever met. [You should get out more. –ed.] They also have seriously sick senses of humor. When Megan first asked me if I wanted to be her assistant she said, “Rosie, I just want you to know that there’s a lot of crude humor that goes around. We say “fuck” and “shit” and stuff like that around the office. I just want to make sure that’s okay with you.” The first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Megan, I will “fuck” and “shit” right next to you!” I didn’t know what I was saying at the time, but it was clear that we were going to get along. There have been a few crazy things that have happened. The phone calls up front are pretty consistently wacky. Like when this really creepy dude called and told me he needed Courtney Love’s number because he’s Kurt reincarnate. [Hey, speaking of, buy this! –ed.] Stuff like that happens a lot. David Cross almost got me in some trouble during the SP20 festival. He stole my walkie-talkie and started saying the grossest shit on the “official channel” I was supposed to be using to communicate with Will Call and back stage. That was funny. [Funnier than his set at the comedy show, I hope. Zing. –ed.]

L: Have you lived other places besides Seattle? How were they? Where would you move if you could?

R: I lived in Lugano, Switzerland for a little while during college. What I remember of it was amazing. Certain things [Weed. –ed] are legal in Switzerland if sold as “potpourri” [Weed. –ed], and I had two lovely little potpourri [Weed. –ed] shops very close to my apartment. Luckily my roommate, Kirsten was super organized and she would just tell me what [Weed. –ed] train to get on after class on Fridays and we would go [Smoke weed. –ed] explore. Then I lived in San Francisco for a year before moving back to Seattle. I like living in Seattle [Weed. –ed].

What's Instore for the Fruit Bats?

richardl@subpop.com (Richard Laing) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:26:40 -0700

Fruit Bats start a long tour national tonight (full dates here) in Vancouver BC in support of their killer new record The Ruminant Band. Aside from their unmissable club shows, the band is going to stop at some of the nation’s finest record stores to play some special stripped down sets. In Eric’s words “we’re gonna put together a super ripping sit on the floor acoustic hoedown jam for these instores, complete with dobros and banjos and stuff…”. These shows are free and all ages, so bring some minors and enough coin to pick up a record or two. Grimey’s in Nashville is hosting a special Labor Day cookout with Fruit Bats at 4pm – I wish I could be there. Big thanks to Fruit Bats for making time to do these and the stores for hosting.

Fruit Bats Instores
Aug 22 Music Millennium Portland, OR at 7pm
Aug 25 Amoeba Music San Francisco, California at 6pm
Aug 31 Guestroom Records – OKC, OKC, OK at 6pm
Sep 01 Good Records Dallas, TX at 7pm
Sep 02 Waterloo Records Austin, TX at 6pm
Sep 07 Grimeys Nashville, TN at 4pm
Sep 20 Reckless Records Chicago, IL at 3pm

Follow Fruit Bats on the Road

Twitter
Fruit Bats Blog
Facebook

20 Year Old Bleach

alissag@subpop.com (Alissa Gallivan) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:29:47 -0700

BLEACH WILL BE RE-ISSUED, RE-MASTERED WITH ADDED UNRELEASED LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM 1990

Marking the 20th Anniversary of Nirvana’s debut album, Sub Pop will re-issue the Platinum Certified Bleach on November 3, 2009. This expanded CD/double-LP will include a never-before-released live performance, special packaging and the first run of the double-LP will be on 180g white vinyl (the first run of the original LP was also on white vinyl). Both formats will be available for pre-order here at subpop.com leading up to this edition’s release.

Originally recorded over three sessions with producer Jack Endino at Seattle’s Reciprocal Recording Studios in December 1988 and January 1989, Bleach was released in June of ’89 and remains unequivocally/unsurprisingly Sub Pop’s very favorite Nirvana full-length. The album initially sold 40,000 copies, but was brought into the international spotlight following the release and worldwide success of their 1991sophomore effort, Nevermind. Subsequently Bleach went on to sell 1.7 million copies in the US alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This 20th Anniversary Edition has been re-mastered from the original tapes at Sterling Sound in a session overseen by producer Jack Endino.

This edition will include an unreleased live recording of a complete February 9th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The show features performances of “Love Buzz,” “About a Girl” and a cover of The Vaselines’ song “Molly’s Lips” and has been re-mixed from the original tapes by Endino (complete track listing below). A 48-page CD /16-page LP booklet which includes candid photos of the band not previously released to the public will also be included in this deluxe edition.

Bleach: Deluxe Edition
1. Blew
2. Floyd the Barber
3. About a Girl
4. School
5. Love Buzz
6. Paper Cuts
7. Negative Creep
8. Scoff
9. Swap Meet
10. Mr. Moustache
11. Sifting
12. Big Cheese
13. Downer

Live at Pine Street Theatre
1. Intro
2. School
3. Floyd the Barber
4. Dive
5. Love Buzz
6. Spank Thru
7. Molly’s Lips
8. Sappy
9. Scoff
10. About a Girl
11. Been a Son
12. Blew

No, Karma You

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:11:33 -0700

Earlier this week, Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy’s home in Austin burned completely to the ground. We’re fans of an awful lot of Matador bands and records and people, and long-time fans of Gerard’s writing, including what he describes as his “good old fashioned ribbing” of Victory Records head-motherfucking-honcho Tony something or other on the Matablog.

It’s worth repeating: Cosloy’s house and all (or maybe just most) of his belongings were very recently destroyed in a fire.

This is plainly just fucking awful and we’re very sorry for his loss.

All of this has been covered, posted and otherwise disseminated in a more timely fashion by people (sometimes actual professional writers) at far more widely-read sites and publications. What’s really worth telling you guys about here and now is this.

In this post on the aforementioned Matablog, Cosloy shares a recent un-fucking-believable email he received from the also aforementioned dude who runs Victory Records (to be fair, it could be from someone pretending to be the dude who runs Victory Records, though why anyone would do that, we can’t fathom). In its entirety, it reads: “KARMA” (there’s also a little picture of what appears to be a couple of bulldogs in flagrante, but we’re not sure what that’s all about).

But, seriously? “KARMA”?

You, sir, are an asshole.

Here it is again: the world’s worst sympathy card.

HARDLY NEWS, August 2009

nick@hardlyart.com (Nicolas Heliotis) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:53:34 -0700

Hello all and welcome to this month’s edition of Hardly News.

As always, there is a lot happening in the world of Hardly Art. As readers of fashionable music blogs will know, just yesterday we made available the first mp3 from the new Le Loup record (Family_, due September 22nd), a lovely little jam we like to call “Beach Town”. Please, listenBeachTown.mp3.

It’s good, right? We thought you might think so, and we have accordingly made the new record available for pre-order over at our website. In addition to releasing this wonderful new record, Le Loup will be crisscrossing this great nation of ours in October—check out tour dates right over here and find the one closest to your house/apartment.

In Hardly Art Bands Touring with Someone Massive News (pt 1), the Dutchess & the Duke will be heading out on a brief tour of Canada and the Midwest next week with none other than indie institution (ind-stitution?) Modest Mouse. Check out details on that mind-blowing tour right here. In addition to spreading their campfire punk to the masses, this tour will be an early chance for loyal Dutchess & the Duke fans to hear some material from their upcoming record Sunset / Sunrise, due October 6th on (of course) Hardly Art.

In Hardly Art Bands Touring with Someone Massive News (pt 2), Boston spazz-punks Pretty & Nice will be hitting the road in September with recently reunited emo-stalwarts the Get Up Kids. Check out that sweet sweet action over here.

If you (like us) are local to Seattle you very probably (like us) love both the Moondoggies and KEXP. Well Seattle friends, you are in luck! On Friday August 21st the Moondoggies will be playing a free show at the Seattle Center, the final installment of KEXP’s Concerts at the Mural Series. Also playing are Sub Pop’s Fruit Bats and Johnny & the Moon —good stuff all around.

And finally, Tony and I wore the exact same shirt today (see above).

That’s it for now! Tune in next month!
xoxo
Nick/Hardly Art

Blitzen Trapper's "Black River Killer" on the Worm

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:47:04 -0700

Fuse TV is featuring Blitzen Trapper’s magnificent fucking video for “Black River Killer” on the Worm. Check it out and make sure to pick up the new ep out in a couple weeks here as well.

For the Record(s) #4: Constantines

carlys@subpop.com (carly starr) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:09:55 -0700

Here we are: our fourth installment of “For the Record,” wherein we highlight some of the staff’s personal favorites from the Sub Pop catalog, wax hyperbolic on same, and then deeply discount the title(s) in question for 48 hours. And this time Carly Starr is making this feature her own by choosing not one, but two Constantines records. So perhaps this is our first “For the Record(s)”? Let’s get into it!

Band: Constantines
Record(s): Shine A Light and Constantines
When we told you the first time: August 19th, 2003 (Shine a Light) and August 10th, 2004 (Constantines)

The Constantines are one of my favorite bands in the entire world.

Everything about Shine a Light and Constantines is perfect. How do I know? Because right now I’m listening to them (no, not at the same time) for the one billionth time and I still turned my speakers all the way up–which is what you do when you’re listening to a great fucking rock album. And that is what Shine a Light and Constantines are. Amazing rock albums filled with sweet bass lines (yes, I sure did just say that!) and handclaps all fronted by undeniable voices that you cannot resist singing along with.

I started to list my favorite songs but then I ended up with more than half of the album tracks. But really–“Arizona,” “Shine a Light,” “Young Offenders,” “Nighttime / Anytime (It’s Alright),” “Justice,” “Young Lions,” “Little Instruments,” “On to You”… SO MANY JAMS!

At the old (and what now seems really small) Sub Pop office we used to blare Shine a Light simultaneously on three stereos around 4 PM on Friday afternoons. Those were good days (who even has a stereo, besides me, at their desk anymore?).

If you ever get a chance to see this band play live you have to. No BS excuses. YOU MUST SEE THIS BAND PLAY LIVE. They might even throw you an instrument to play.

I’m not going to choose which album is my favorite so I’m picking both. I would suggest you do the same and just buy both. Play these albums really effing loud and don’t be afraid to let it out (not that).

Click here to buy Shine A Light.
And here for Constantines.

Obits on Vice TV's "Practice Space"

laceys@subpop.com (Lacey Swain) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:53:52 -0700

Vice Magazine has their own online TV network called VBS and they do this thing called “Practice Space” where they tape bands playing at their practice space (duh) and interview them for a bit. Anyhoo, VBS just recently shot a Practice Space with Obits and it’s a really great piece—the songs are great and the interview is hilarious. Check it out here. While you’re there, check out these other episodes of Practice Space with No Age and Handsome Furs.

Intern Blog: Blitzen Trapper at The Mural

lamplighterphotography@gmail.com (Katy McCourt-Basham) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:46:20 -0700

Hello Sub Pop fans. I’m Katy McCourt-Basham, Radio Intern. This is my first Sub Pop photo blog.

Not all too long ago, Sub Pop gave me a break from stuffing envelopes to bandage my papercuts, get some sun, and check out Blitzen Trapper’s free show at The Mural Amphitheater in Seattle Center (presented by KEXP).

I got there a half hour or so before the show started and spots on the lawn were already hard to come by. Folks of all ages had already claimed their seats (or beer-drinkin’ spots behind the fence) and were eagerly waiting for the show to start.

Throw Me The Statue opened with a killer set, playing well-loved songs like “Lolita” as well as material from their new album Creaturesque.

Next, Blitzen Trapper hit the stage, and the crowd got some dancing going right away. They played a pretty long set, including older material (such as “Furr”, one of my favorite songs) and newer material (like songs from their Black River Killer EP, out 8/25). It was a great time, and by the end almost everyone was in on the dance party.

Be sure to check out more shows at The Mural in the next few weeks (Especially the one on 8/21, featuring Fruit Bats and Hardly Art friends The Moondoggies).

If you feel like checking out more of my photos, you can find them here.

Beach Blanket Bingo with Rick from Obits

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:22:23 -0700

Though we are (okay, somewhat typically…) a little slow in announcing it and the actual opening reception was last night, it is worth mentioning here that Rick Froberg from the band Obits (whose excellent debut I Blame You we released in March of this year) has a couple of pieces up in the “Beach Blanket Bingo” group exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery right now! The show runs through August 22nd, Rick’s contributions are (predictably) fantastic, and if you are able to get yourself there, you should really go check it out.

Full details available here!

northwest film forum needs your help!

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:09:09 -0700

Seattle is home to so many great organizations. We’ve blabbed about how much we love The Vera Project, Pasado’s Safe Haven, FareStart and so many others but I don’t think we’ve ever really shared our enthusiasm for the Northwest Film Forum. The Northwest Film Forum is Seattle’s premiere film arts organization, screening over 200 independently made and classic films annually, offering a year-round schedule of filmmaking classes for all ages, and supporting filmmakers at all stages of their careers.

These guys have been around since the mid-nineties and they are second to none. They desperately need everyone’s help in raising $70,000 before August 15th. They’ve made a dent in their goal but they still have a long way to go. Please join us in supporting the Northwest Film Forum. Seattle can’t afford to lose such a great joint. You can donate here.

You can now hear the No Age Losing Feeling EP for free! You can also buy it for $8!

chrisj@subpop.com (Chris Jacobs) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:19:03 -0700

Hear a full stream of the new No Age EP Losing Feeling here at subpop.com now!

Here is the Losing Feeling stream!

Losing Feeling is a new 4-song EP from our Southern Californian friends No Age. All four songs were written in the band’s practice space. “Genie” was even recorded there; the other three were recorded at Infrasonic Sound. All of it took place in Los Angeles. The Losing Feeling EP will be available on October 6, 2009 as a 12" vinyl EP and as magical, invisible, digital files, but not as a compact disc. And, because we are forever trying to engage the future in a clumsy, overly familiar embrace, we are right now offering users of the Sub Pop website (conveniently located at www.subpop.com) access to a free stream of the full EP. We’re also doing this because we like you guys, and we really like No Age and this new EP of theirs. So, right g-d now, you can go here and, for free, listen to all of Losing Feeling! You may also, right now, pre-order the 12-inch vinyl version of Losing Feeling for the incredibly reasonable price of $8. We strongly encourage you to do so. On October 6th, this price will go up to a still very reasonable $10 and the mp3s will be available for $4.

You will, it is worth mentioning, need to log in to the Sub Pop website to access this stream of Losing Feeling. Please do not complain about this. It is very easy and takes no time at all—all that’s required is a name and email address. And then, if you’re willing, we will very, very occasionally (we too are busy people with lives of our own to live) send you new news about No Age.

No Age’s Losing Feeling EP comes out October 6th but you can hear it now and pre-order a copy on vinyl for $8!

Doughnut Eating Contest Video

richardl@subpop.com (Richard Laing) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:23:17 -0700

Here’s some shaky video of Saturday’s Doughnut Eating Contest. Big thanks to Light in the Attic for dreaming it all up and making it happen. Thanks for everyone who came out. Next year seems like a long, long time away…..

Watch it here

KEXP Mural Concert Series: Featuring Blitzen Trapper and Fruit Bats!

sasham@subpop.com (Sasha Morgan) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:06:28 -0700

Yesterday the temperature rose to a sweltering 102 degrees in Seattle. Just last summer, we were calling June “Junuary” and cursing the gods/goddesses for our cold, rainy existence. Although most have been complaining of the excessive heat (me included), it’s not incredibly bad. We actually get to indulge in a few rare opportunities because of this weather. We can go night swimming! We can eat at the few restaurants here that have outdoor patios! We can leave our sweaters/jackets at home when we go out at night! We can drink iced coffee!

We can also go to outdoor festivals and shows without fear of rain, which brings me to the topic at hand. Seattlites, I urge you to embrace this South Georgia weather, and celebrate by attending the KEXP Mural Concert Series this weekend! Our boys, Blitzen Trapper will be performing on Friday 7/31 along with Throw Me the Statue and DJ EL Toro.

Fruit Bats (new album out on 8/4!) will be playing Friday 8/21, with our good friends The Moondoggies (Hardly Art!), Johnny and the Moon, and DJ Hannah Levin.

This concert is the first in a series curated by KEXP, all of which are FREE and all ages. There will be a concert every Friday from July 31 to August 21, from 5 PM to 8 PM on the lawn of the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre. The annual KEXP Barbeque is part of the series, and will take place on Saturday August 8, 2 PM to 9 PM.

Mural Concert Series and KEXP BBQ Lineup:

Friday 7/31, 5-8pm
KEXP DJ El Toro
Blitzen Trapper
Throw Me the Statue

Friday 8/7, 5-8pm
KEXP DJ Chilly
Dyme Def
Fresh Espresso

Saturday 8/8, 7th Annual KEXP BBQ! 2-9pm
KEXP DJ John Richards
Dinosaur Jr
Viva Voce
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Japandroids
Born Anchors
Champagne Champagne
Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

Friday 8/14, 5-8pm
KEXP DJ Troy Nelson
The Dodos
Army Navy

Friday 8/21, 5-8pm
KEXP DJ Hannah Levin
Fruit Bats
The Moondoggies
Johnny and the Moon

Location
305 Harrison Street
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 684-7200

Ben Bridwell and Tyler Ramsey help Pete Seeger turn 90

meganj@subpop.com (megan jasper) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:45:45 -0700

This Thursday, PBS will begin to air the Pete Seeger 90th Birthday Concert which took place earlier this year at Madison Square Garden as part of the Great Performances series. The broadcast will feature Ben and Tyler performing the classic Turn! Turn! Turn! alongside Roger McGuinn, and many other unique and amazing collaborations amongst the artists who came together to celebrate the life and music of Pete Seeger. Be sure to tune in! Check your local PBS listing for air times.