We’re shocked and heartbroken at the news about Chris Cornell. Our thoughts are with his family and the Soundgarden team.

[Photo by Lance Mercer]

The time has come for us to celebrate another revolution around this flaming coil of molten garbage for our number one favorite corporate sell-out, the Sub Pop Airport Store. This May marks 3 years in Sea-Tac’s heavily populated Central Terminal. Come for the Qdoba, stay for the moderately priced vinyl records (sorry, they’re not calendars).

In simultaneous celebration of our anniversary and this month’s obscure internet holiday, World Goth Day, I’ve created a Special Bonus Zine Page highlighting some of the “Dark Music” of Sub Pop. As a dedicated night shift worker and self-deprecating-20-something-nightcrawler (using this in place of “goth” to avoid hate mail), I’ve forever been a fan of all things Sub Pop. However, I wanted to specifically bring forth some of the label’s dark music of present and past. 

From Sub Pop 100’s track list including Skinny Puppy’s “Church in Hell” and Scratch Acid’s “Greatest Gift” (drummer Rey Washam went on to play with Ministry and Jello Biafra and Al Jourgensen’s Lard) to Birthday Party-influenced bands like The U-Men (infamous for setting the moat surrounding Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheater on fire during a concert), there is a clear lineage of darker influences spanning genres from post-punk to industrial and dark wave. There is still a vein of significant contemporaries in bands like Hardly Art’s Grave Babies, Sub Pop alums A Frames, Italian band His Electro Blue Voice, and dark electronic duo Handsome Furs. 

If you see me at the airport store, please do ask me to discuss your favorite Clock DVA album, please don’t lecture me on the bands I didn’t include in this blog post (I know, I wasn’t born when you saw Nirvana play in your friend’s basement).
 
Also, in lieu of apologizing profusely for not selling bottled water or newspapers, please accept some Top 3 lists from the Airport Staff:

Top 3 Albums to Clear Out the Store
1. Earth, Earth 2

2. Eugene Mirman, I’m Sorry You’re Welcome

3. Comets on Fire, Blue Cathedral

Top 3 Albums to Lure Hippie Moms from Vashon Island

1. Rose Windows, Rose Windows

2. Jesca Hoop, Memories Are Now

3. Beachwood Sparks (any)

Top 3 Instant Play-n-Sell Albums
1. Chad Vangaalen, Shrink Dust

2. Handsome Furs, Plague Park

3. Shabazz Palaces, Lese Majesty

Top 3 Free Things in the Airport

1. Classic Logo stickers at Sub Pop Records (Central Terminal)

2. Cheese samples at Beecher’s (C Gates)

3. A “massage” from TSA (Security Checkpoint of Your Choice)

I’m Not Your Man will be available June 2nd in North & South America via Sub Pop, and in Europe via AMF Records.

[Photo Credit: Steve Gullick]

FINALLY! Marika Hackman has North American dates for you in support of her highly anticipated album I’m Not Your Man, her forthcoming Sub Pop debut available June 2nd.  

Tour begins July 29th in Los Angeles at the Bootleg Theatre and ends August 16th in Brooklyn at Baby’s All Right.  Marika will co-headline these shows with fellow UK artists The Big Moon, who will act as her backing band for this trek (and are the studio musicians with whom she recorded I’m Not Your Man).  The 14-city tour will also visit Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Denver, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, and more.  The Big Moon are currently supporting Love in the 4th Dimension, out now on Columbia Records. Tickets for these shows go on sale Friday, May 5th at 10am (local time). Dates + Links are below.

Marika Hackman’s I’m Not Your Man includes the highlights “Boyfriend,” [watch here], “My Lover Cindy” [listen here / watch live here], “Violet” and “Cigarette,” and will be released on CD / LP / DL / CS and is now available to preorder in North and South America from Sub Pop and Marika Hackman’s official website over here. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the Loser edition on green and orange swirled vinyl with a bonus 7” (while supplies last). There’s also a nifty new t-shirt design available to bundle with this release. 

I’m Not Your Man is available in rest of the world via AMF Records.

There’s an open-ended nature to I’m Not Your Man: the discussions within, conversations on femininity, sex and sexual identity, millennial ennui, the pressures of living in a social media bubble and the perils of being young in a fast-paced industry. Says Marika, “The record’s all about female relationships, romance and breakdowns, but there’s also a dim worldview going on. I’m Not Your Man can either mean, ‘I’m not your man, I’m your woman’, or it can mean, ‘I’m not a part of this…’,” explains Marika. It’s a fiery statement from a songwriter who no longer wants to be shackled to limiting descriptions…To help channel this fervid female energy, Hackman recruited her best mates – London quartet The Big Moon - to play as her backing band. They all met at a gig once and an immediate friend crush ensued. “They really captured the soul of what it all meant to me and brought a lot of fun and creativity,” says Hackman. “A lot of messing about and cuddling.” There was no concern that bringing in a much-hyped band to play on a number of tracks would take the shine off her own project. “I just wanna make the right record and if that’s involving people who can fucking smash it then that’s what I’m gonna do. Bands coming together is so important, particularly for women [read more at Sub Pop].”

Pro Tip: Now is the time to begin following Marika Hackman via The Internets:  Facebook  | Twitter  | Instagram

Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Jul. 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg*
Jul. 31 -  Oakland, CA - Starline Social Club*
Aug. 02 -  Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios*
Aug. 03 -  Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret*
Aug. 04 -  Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern*
Aug. 06 -  Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court*
Aug. 07  Denver, CO  -  Lost Lake*
Aug. 09 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry*
Aug. 10 -  Milwaukee, WI  - Back Room atCollectivo*
Aug. 11 -  Chicago, IL - Schubas*
Aug. 13 -  Toronto, ON - The Drake*
Aug. 14 -  Montreal, QC - Casa del Popolo*
Aug. 15 - Boston, MA -  Great Scott*
Aug. 16 -  Brooklyn, NY -  Baby’s All Right*
*w/ The Big Moon

Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will be available worldwide July 14th.

Shabazz Palaces have another track to share: “Since C.A.Y.A.” is an elastic and transportive selection from the group’s forthcoming Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star – the extra-spatial twin to Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines – available July 14th worldwide from Sub Pop.
 
“Since C.A.Y.A.” features dazzlingly funky bass licks by the magnificent Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner and was produced by Knife Knights (aka Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood), recorded and mixed by Blood at Protect and Exalt Labs: A Black Space in Seattle.
 
In this newly discovered excerpt from the renowned underground publication Purple Cliffs Quarterly,* The Palaceer reminisces to singer/writer Lou Monk about the epiphany he had at the C.A.Y.A. community center:
 
“In the era of Quazarz youth, The Central District of Seattle, Washington shone wildly vibrant and pulsed strong like the muscles of the heart. Brave Forerunners, from warm points south, had arrived settled and soon began to born and unleash dazzle of all sorts from this green remote. It was here on a sunny, July day over a free lunch at the C.A.Y.A. baseball field watching the Frontiersman smash an east side club to dust, that Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star – with confused terror then resolute determination – first looked his dreams in the eye. Thee rest as they say,  is mystery. The Heritage House, Lowe’s Grocery and One Stop Burgers are gone;  fact is, from that glorious epoch there remain few vestiges… I’m one of them.”

 
Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will be released on July 14th on CD / LP / DL / CS and are now available for preorder from Sub Pop right over here.  LP pre-orders for each album from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers, will receive the limited “Loser” edition on colored vinyl (…Jealous Machines on mashed-up purple; …Born on a Gangster Star on aluminum). Both albums can be purchased together as a special bundle, and there are also new T-shirt designs associated with each release (one for …Born on a Gangster Star and two for …vs. The Jealous Machines) (read more at Sub Pop).

[Photo Credit: Victoria Kovios]
 
Shabazz Palaces will support both Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines with North American tour dates that resumes July 13th-16th at Cascadia Festival in Granite Falls, Washington and run through September 15th-17th for Chicago’s Riot Fest.  Additionally, support for these shows (August 16th-September 9th) will come from labelmate Porter Ray.
 

Shabazz Palaces Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Jul. 13-16 - Granite Falls, WA - Cascadia Festival
Aug. 16 - Portland, OR - The Star Theater*
Aug. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
Aug. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theatre*
Aug. 20 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom*
Aug. 21 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow*
Aug. 23 - Austin, TX - Mohawk (Outdoor Stage)*
Aug. 24 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada*
Aug. 25 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon*
Aug. 26 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West*
Aug. 27 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm*
Aug. 28 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle*
Aug. 30 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups*
Aug. 31 - Detroit, MI - El Club*
Sep. 01 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace*
Sep. 02 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount*
Sep. 03 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle
Sep. 05 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair*
Sep. 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw*
Sep. 07 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer*
Sep. 08 - Washington, DC - Black Cat*
Sep. 09 - Baltimore, DC - Ottobar*
Sep. 11 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
Sep. 15 - 17 - Chicago, IL - Riot Fest at Douglas Park
*w/ Porter Ray
 
*Excerpt taken from the essay “The Diamond Skinned Don: Reconstructing Quazarz and the Seven Proofs of Flight” by Lou “Loud Eyes” Monk published in the Purple Cliffs Quarterly from Moon Whip Press © 2064.

The Bob’s Burgers Music Album is now available for pre-order, worldwide from Sub Pop right here.

Next Friday, May 12th, Sub Pop will release The Bob’s Burgers Music Album: a massive collection of 107 songs from the first 107 episodes of 20th Century Fox Television’s Emmy-award winning hit comedy.  The album features music performed by the main cast members – Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts) and their children Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) – singing original songs that build on the show’s unique sense of humor.

Speaking of humor… watch the actual cast of Bob’s Burgers​ see, feel and evaluate the actual Bob’s Burgers Music Album, in this very high quality cell phone video.

In celebration (and in the hope of triggering a pavlovian-esque consumer response) we’ve released a selection of our favorite tracks from The Bob’s Burgers Music Album over the last few weeks, including two of the Bob’s Buskers collaborations. They are now collected here in a playlist and individually for your continued enjoyment as follows:
 
“Bad Girls” (Bob’s Buskers performed by St.Vincent) [link]
“Snake Song” [link]
“Taffy Butt” [link]
“Work Hard or Die Trying” [link]
“I Wanna Hear Your Secrets” [link]
“The Diarrhea Song” [link]
“Electric Love” [link]
“Fart Song” [link]
“Weekend at Morts” [link]
“Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom” (Bob’s Buskers performed by The National & Lapsley) [link]
“Bob’s Theme Song” [link]
“The Bob’s Burgers Unboxing Video” [link]

In even further exciting news, a two-night Bob’s Burgers Live event will be held in Los Angeles Orpheum Theatre on June 17th [Sold Out] and 18th. The line-up will feature standup performances and a table read from the cast, as well as musical performances from El Vy and more! For more information on the live event (tickets, etc), please visit https://www.bobsburgerslive.com.

The Bob’s Burgers Music Album is produced by the series creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard’s Wilo Productions in partnership with Bento Box Entertainment, with Sub Pop licensing the rights from Twentieth Century Fox Television.  See more images of the album in this place.

 
The album includes many of the show’s recurring and special guests, from comedians like Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Kline, Bill Hader, Zack Galifianakis and Fred Armisen, to musical guests Cyndi Lauper and Carly Simon. The album also includes an additional five “Bob’s Buskers” cover versions of songs from the show performed by St. Vincent, The National, Låpsley, and Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields.

 
The standard version of The Bob’s Burgers Music Album will be available in three formats: 2xCD, 3xLP+7,” and digital. Meanwhile, the deluxe, limited-edition box set version of the album includes the 3xLP+7” on “condiment-colored” vinyl (ketchup red, mustard yellow & relish green), plus a hardbound lyrics book with exclusive Bob’s Burgers artwork, a soft cover sheet-music songbook, three original posters, a six-piece sticker pack, and a patch. Both the standard and deluxe LP editions include the five “Bob’s Buskers” tracks on a white 7” single.

 
A 20th Century Fox Television production, Bob’s Burgers was created by Bouchard (Home Movies).  Bouchard and Jim Dauterive (King of the Hill) serve as executive producers and writers, with animation produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Fans can “like”Bob’s Burgers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BobsBurgers, follow the series on Twitter and Instagram @BobsBurgersFOX and join the discussion using #bobsburgers.
 
The seventh season of Bob’s Burgers airs Sundays at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on FOX.   For more information, visit behindbobsburgers.com.

Read more on the Bob’s Burgers Music Album here.

Tracklisting
1. The Bob’s Burgers Theme Song
2. Lifting Up the Skirt of the Night
3. Butts, Butts, Butts
4. Theme from Banjo
5. Da Ding Ding
6. Pirates of Panache
7. Weekend at Mort’s
8. Sex Music
9. Wing Man
10. Taffy Butt
11. Getting Out of P.E.
12. Groping for Glory
13. Oil Spill
14. One Way or Another
15. The Prince of Persuasia
16. Bad Girls
17. You Got Beefsquatched
18. Milkin’ the Cow
19. Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!
20. Parakeet in Your Hat
21. Kill the Turkey
22. The Diarrhea Song
23. Silent Love
24. Silent Muffler
25. The Harry Truman Song
26. Daddy / The Itsy Bitsy Stripper
27. Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex
28. You’re the Best
29. Mad Pooper
30. Buckle It Up
31. Love Mission
32. Two People
33. Can’t Get Enough (Of Your Woman Stuff)
34. Funky Finger
35. This Is Working
36. Baby Hold On
37. Electric Love
38. T-I-N-A
39. The Snake Song
40. Fracas Foam
41. The Kids Run the Restaurant
42. Coal Mine
43. Whisper in Your Eyes
44. I Wanna Hear Your Secrets
45. I’ve Got a Yum Yum
46. Rain, Rain, Flash, Flash
47. We’re Coming for Ya
48.Quicky Kiss It
49. Prankin’
50. Sneaky Pete
51. Gravy Boat
52. We Won the Talent Show
53. DerekDematopolis
54. Not Bad for Havin’ Three Kids
55. Jingle in the Jungle
56. Slumber Party Fashion Show
57. It’s Not Magic It’s Tragic
58. The Fart Song
59. Hava Nagila
60. Equestranauts Theme
61. Nice Things Are Nice
62. Wharf of Wonder
63. Bad Things Are Bad
64. Die Hard / Working Girl Musical Medley
65. Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl
66. Jeff (Il Est Mort)
67. Your Best Friend
68. Finger on the Trigger (cover song)
69. Christmas Magic
70. Happy Crappy Place
71. Darryl’s Slow Jam
72. I’m Jimmy Jr. Pesto
73. The Sheriff Had a Piggy
74. Lipstick on His Pickup
75. I’ll Trade You These Tears / I Won’t Go Solo on You
76. Shimmy Tap
77. Date Night
78. Don’t You Love Cotton Candy
79. Jam with Darryl
80. His Name Is Lenny
81. I Don’t Need Music
82. I Want Some Burgers and Fries
83. BM in the PM
84. I’m Falling for Helen
85. 99 Red Balloons
86. It’s Called Fate (And It’s Great)
87. I Love You So Much (It’s Scary)
88. It’s Thanksgiving for Everybody
89. The Spirits of Christmas
90. The Nice-Capades
91. Amorpor Favor (Me Llamo Tina)
92. It’s Valentine’s Day
93. Hot Ham and Cheese Day
94. Cease and Desist
95. Muse Dance
96. If You Love Something
97. Fart Stools (for the Gifted)
98. Do the Dirty Pigeon
99. Two Butted Goat
100. Butt Phone
101. Breaking Out
102. Mononucleosis
103. Just What I Needed
104. I Love Charades
105. I’m Tall Enough
106. Yat Dat Dat Da
107. Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom
108. Bad Girls (Bob’s Buskers)
109. Electric Love (Bob’s Buskers)
110. Sailors in Your Mouth (Bob’s Buskers)
111. Christmas Magic (Bob’s Buskers)
112. Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom (Bob’s Buskers)

Now Listen to lead single “30 Clip Extension” off newly revealed album ‘Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines’. [Lyric video directed by Cristina T. Bercovitz and Jonathan Snipes of Clipping.]

Shabazz Palaces will release Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines, the group’s fourth album and extra-spatial twin to Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star, worldwide July 14th through Sub Pop Records. The album, featuring highlights “30 Clip Extension,” “Julian’s Dream (odeto a bad)” and “Effeminence” includes guest appearances from Fly Guy Dai of Chimurenga Renaissance, Amir Yaghamai, John Carroll Kirby, Thaddillac, Morgan Henderson, The Shogun Shot, Laz, and Purple Tape Nate. 

Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines is a second, fully-realized album of new material that expands the Quazarz universe, and tells the tales of Quazarz, that sent sentient from some elsewhere. A wave warrior wielding his sonic sword. Posted to the turnt-up states of Amurderca here on the Gangster Star to chronicle, explore and enjoy as a musical emissary. He discovers a world where humankind’s relationship with their tech-devices has become weirdly sensual, seducing a sedentary seamlessness with humans, while capturing and incarcerating the results of their imagination. Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines finds our protagonist with his dazzling cohorts rising a collective Nah to the device and the guilds that proliferate them.

Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines was produced by the Palaceer Lazaro and Sunny Levine, recorded in Seattle at Protect and Exalt Labs: A Black Space and in Marina Del Rey at Dror Lord Studios, and mixed by Levine and Kamal Humphrey at Kamal’s House Studio.

Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines and …Born on a Gangster Star will be released on CD / LP / DL / CS and are now available for preorder from Sub Pop right here.  LP pre-orders for each album from megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers, will receive the limited “Loser” edition on colored vinyl (…Jealous Machines on mashed-up purple; …Born on a Gangster Star on aluminum). Both albums can be purchased together as a special bundle, and there are also new T-shirt designs associated with each release (one for …Born on a Gangster Star and two for …vs. The Jealous Machines).

Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will also be available as a special-edition illustrated album: illustrated by cartoonist Joshua Ray Stephens this full-color, hand-numbered, 32-page book includes a download code for the full album. Joshua Ray Stephens worked directly with Shabazz Palaces to interpret the album track-by-track, creating a cohesive whole that synchronizes music and image. Printed in a large 11” x 17” format, with saddle-stitch binding, this limited-edition art piece further expands the ambitious universe of Quazarz and Shabazz Palaces. The illustrated album version of Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines will be released in collaboration with Fantagraphics Books on Friday, August 18th.

Book Cover

“30 Clip Extension”

Read more about Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines and Quazarz: Born On a Gangster Star right over here.

[Photo Credit: Victoria Kovios]

Now’s the time to follow Shabazz Palaces everywhere in the known (and unknown) universe via subpop.com/artists/shabazz_palaces and Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Quazarz Vs. The Jealous Machines
Tracklisting:

1. Welcome to Quazarz
2. Gorgeous Sleeper Cell
3. Self-Made Follownaire
4. Atlaantis
5. Effeminence (feat. Fly Guy Dai of Chimurenga Renaissance)
6. Julian’s Dream (ode to a bad) (feat. The Shogun Shot)
7. 30 Clip Extension
8. Love in the time of Kanye (feat. Purple Tape Nate)
9. Sabonim in the Saab on ‘em
10. The SS Quintessence
11. Late night phone calls (feat. Laz)
12.Quazarz on 23rd 

Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star
Tracklisting:
1. Since C.A.Y.A
2. When Cats Claw
3. Shine a Light (feat. Thaddillac)
4. Dèesse Du Sang
5. Eel Dreams (feat. Loud Eyes Lou)
6. Parallax (feat. The Palaceer Lazaro)
7. Fine Ass Hairdresser
8. The Neurochem Mixalogue
9. That’s How City Life Goes
10. Moon Whip Quäz (feat. Darrius)
11. Federalist Papers

Shabazz Palaces Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Shabazz Palaces will support both Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines and Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star with North American tour dates that currently span May 13th through September 17th.  New cities for the the tour include El Paso, Toronto, Quebec City, and Baltimore. Additionally, for the dates from August 16th to September 9th, support will come from labelmate Porter Ray.