News from 2/2019

NEWS : TUE, FEB 26, 2019 at 7:00 AM

Trupa Trupa signs to Sub Pop to release new music in 2019, shares official video for “Dream About”

Sub Pop has signed Trupa Trupa from Gdańsk, Poland for a worldwide deal, and will release new music from the group in 2019. While we await details of that release, the band have delivered an official video for “Dream About”  a new song that features a honeyed falsetto that totters over a menacing bassline, and the frisson between them so hypnotic it renders the title phrase as an existential mantra, a lifeline.

Director Benjamin Finger had this to say of the “Dream About” visual: “The video was shot on Super 8, a format I am strongly connected to, and I think it fits the music of Trupa Trupa. There is something poetic about the music, and I think it matches the images in a good way. The “Dream About” video is also about seeing the world through the eyes of the child. The video features footage shot on location in Vancouver, Paris and Buenos Aires.”

Trupa Trupa will tour the world in 2019, beginning with appearances at SXSW in Austin, Texas (March 14th-16th), and Slovakia and Poland (April 25th-27th). Additional shows will be announced soon.

Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Hotel Vegas / LEVITATION SXSW presented by CREEM Magazine (12:20 am)
Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Austin Convention Center / Flatstock Stage (3:30 pm)
Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Venue TBC
Apr. 25 -  Gdańsk, PL - Ziemia
Apr. 26 - Poznań, PL - Spring Break Festival
Apr. 27 - Bratislava, SK - Sharpe Festival


MICHAL SZLAGA

About Trupa Trupa:

The music that Polish quartet Trupa Trupa creates lands like anthems, with barbed hooks driven deep by an italicized rhythm section or turned into a fantasy by crisscrossing harmonies. During “Dream About,” honeyed falsetto totters over a menacing bassline, the frisson between them so hypnotic it renders the title phrase as an existential mantra, a lifeline. Their music is an embarrassment of riches, a string of hits in Trupa Trupa’s idiosyncratic, self-made universe.

But just beneath the surface of Trupa Trupa’s bright and indelible songs, there is a world teeming with nihilistic considerations, slyly dark humor, and survivalist self-assurances, all subtly nestled into these refrains and reflected back by secretly complex textures.

The setting of Gdańsk is a crucial philosophical and aesthetic touchstone for Trupa Trupa. A city with a convoluted history of German and Polish rule and self-sovereignty, it is itself a living testament to the turnover of human toil. It’s also the homeland of Arthur Schopenhauer, a philosopher whose system of metaphysical will inspired Nietzsche and, in turn, Trupa Trupa. Klaus Kinski was born nearby, too; Kwiatkowski considers his Werner Herzog-directed film, Fitzcarraldo, one of the best movies ever made. Kinski tries in vain to amass a fortune by piloting a steamship over a mountain into the rubber bonanza of the Amazon. It is a portrait of great effort and pathetic failure, of strain sublimating into nothing. Along with the notions of Beckett, hints of the Beatles, and the knotty complications of Radiohead, these emotions ripple through Trupa Trupa’s music.  

Trupa Trupa is the second Polish band to sign to Sub Pop this year, following the February release of Perfect Son’s debut, Cast. As with Perfect Son, Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman, who has long taken a personal interest in the culture and history of Poland, has been following Trupa Trupa for years. In a 2013 interview with Pitchfork, he even mistook their second album, ++, for a set of demos when explaining that he was trying to decide whether or not he liked it. Apparently, he did.

But Trupa Trupa has grown inordinately in both confidence and execution during the last half-decade. Spurred on by a democratic process, where no one is the real leader and all ideas and influences are funneled into the same rich sound, Trupa Trupa channel a multiverse of feelings into its captivating music. They stare into the dark and summon a light of their own, making all our tedium and toil feel not just tolerable but deceptively triumphant.


Posted by Jason Baxter

NEWS : WED, FEB 27, 2019 at 7:57 AM

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever to Release “In the Capital” b/w “Read My Mind” on Friday, April 26th

2019 International tour schedule includes North American headlining shows and appearances at Boston Calling, Governors Ball, and Bonnaroo (May 24th-June 13th)

After a landmark 12 months for Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, who released their debut album Hope Downs to worldwide critical acclaim in June 2018 – Sub Pop is excited to reveal new music from the Melbourne band in the form of single, “In the Capital.” The track (which is now live on all digital platforms) will also feature on a limited edition 7-inch alongside a B-side titled “Read My Mind.” The vinyl will be released on Friday, April 26th and is available to pre-order here from Sub Pop
 
Rolling Blackouts C.F.’s Fran Keaney describes how “In the Capital” came together: “I first had the idea for the melody and some of the lyrics when I was swimming. It’s taken a while to finish the song, to make it feel like the initial feeling. I can’t neatly describe it, but something like connection despite distance. I was thinking about transience and water and death and big cities and fishing towns and moon river.”


In the Capital / Read My Mind
Tracklisting:

A. In The Capital
B. Read My Mind

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Tour Dates + Ticket Links

To celebrate the arrival of new music, Rolling Blackouts C.F. has extended their 2019 international tour schedule with newly added North American, UK, and European headlining shows and festival appearances.

Rolling Blackouts C.F’s North American shows begin May 24th in Boston for Boston Calling and end June 13th in Manchester, TN at Bonnaroo. The group’s European and the UK run begins July 3rd at in Roskilde, DK’s Roskilde Festival and ends July 27th in Thirsk, UK at the Deer Shed Festival. Additional international festival highlights for the May-July timeframe include Governors Ball (May 31st), Lattitude Festival (May 31st), Down the Rabbit Hole (July 5th), and Mad Cool Festival (July 12th). 
 
Mar. 10 - Tasmania, AU - Panama Fest
Mar. 16 - Adelaide, AU - Adelaide Fest
Apr. 24 - Brisbane, AU - Triffid
May 03 - Castlemaine, AU - Theatre Royal
May 04 - Melbourne, AU - Croxton
May 10 - Sydney, AU - Manning Bar
May 24 - Boston, MA - Boston Calling
May 25 - Boston, MA - Boston Calling
May 26 - Boston, MA - Boston Calling
May 28 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
May 29 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall
May 31 - New York, NY - Governors Ball 
Jun. 02 - Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
Jun. 04 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Jun. 06 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile 
Jun. 07 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
Jun. 08 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
Jun. 10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Jun. 11 - Los Angeles, CA - The Lodge Room
Jun. 13 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo 
Jul. 03 - Roskilde, DK - Roskilde Festival
Jul. 05 - Ewijk, NL - Down the Rabbit Hole Festival
Jul. 07 - Paris, FR - Le Point Ephémère
Jul. 09 - Liverpool, UK - Invisible Wind Factory
Jul. 11 - Dublin, IE - The Iveagh Gardens
Jul. 12 - Madrid, ES - Mad Cool Festival
Jul. 13 - Lisbon, PT - NOS Alive
Jul. 15 - Glasgow, UK - St. Luke’s
Jul. 16 - Sheffield, UK - The Leadmill
Jul. 18 - Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach
Jul. 19 - Bedford, UK - Esquires
Jul. 21 - Suffolk, UK - Latitude Festival
Jul. 22 - Birmingham, UK - Mama Roux’s
Jul. 23 - Reading, UK - Sub89
Jul. 27 - Thirsk, UK - Deer Shed Festival

[Photo Credit: Pooneh Ghana]

To say 2018 was a big year for Rolling Blackouts C.F. is an understatement. The release of the band’s lauded debut album Hope Downs– which featured singles “Mainland,” “Talking Straight,”  “An Air Conditioned Man,” “Time In Common,” and “Sister’s Jeans” – was embraced by lovers of their early EPs, Talk Tight and The French Press, and new fans alike. The record quickly became one of the most internationally acclaimed Australian albums of the year, appearing in many sought after Best of 2018 lists, coming in at #5 on Rough Trade’s Albums of the Year list, #3 on MOJO’s Album of the Year List (+ was named MOJO’s “Debut Album of the Year”), #2 on UNCUT’s Albums of the Year & many more. The band kicked off 2019 by being shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Music Prize Award. 
 
Rolling Blackouts C.F. also enjoyed tremendous support from the likes of KCRW, KCSN, KEXP, WXPNSirius XMU, The Current, WFPK, WNRN, KJAC, OpenAirtriple jDouble JFBi RadioPBSTriple R,PitchforkThe GuardianPASTE,NMERolling Stone,BBC 6 MusicStereogumDIY, and countless others. 

Meanwhile, the band’s renowned live show led to selling-out their mammoth Hope Downs Australian tour, as well as sold-out performances in London, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Philadelphia, New York City and more.  The huge touring schedule also included shows at the world’s biggest music festivals, from Coachella, The Great Escape, Primavera, and Shaky Knees to Lowlands, Pukklepop, Green Man and Splendour in the Grass.


Posted by Rachel White

NEWS : WED, FEB 13, 2019 at 8:57 AM

Listen to Flight of the Conchords Fan Favorite “Carol Brown” from ‘Live in London’

Live in London was taped before a live audience at the Eventim Apollo. The album features the Conchords performing new songs from the sold-out UK and Ireland edition of “Flight of the Conchords Sing Flight of the Conchords Tour.”

You can now hear Flight of the Conchords’ live version of fan favorite “Carol Brown” from Live in London, their forthcoming album. The song first appeared in the “Unnatural Love” episode of their hit HBO series and is also available in its original form on I Told You I Was Freaky, the duo’s second studio album on Sub Pop. 


[Album Art Photo credit: Colin Hutton/HBO]

Live in London will be available on 2xCD/3xLP/DL/CS worldwide via Sub Pop on March 8th, 2019. This past October and ten years after the launch of their hit HBO series, musical comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement returned to the network for an all-new comedy special.

Live in London is now available for preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders in North America through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on clear w/blue and yellow high melt vinyl (while supplies last). 

This Loser right here:


Additionally, LP preorders of Live in London in Europe and the UK from select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on clear vinyl (while supplies last).
 
The Live in London album features 7 new songs including the “Iain and Deanna,”“Father and Son,”“Summer of 1353,” “Stana,” “Seagull,” “Back on the Road,” and “Bus Driver.” The album also features performances of fan favorites “Inner City Pressure,” “Bowie,” “Foux du Fafa,” “Mutha’uckas - Hurt Feelings,” “Robots,” and “The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)’ (the latter two bonus tracks edited out of the broadcast due to time constraints).


Posted by Rachel White

NEWS : TUE, FEB 19, 2019 at 8:57 AM

Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 4 Subscriptions Close Sunday, March 3rd. Julien Baker just added!

The current and fourth edition of the Sub Pop Singles Club will close at 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, March 3rd. 

The series of 12 limited-edition 7” singles will now include a single by the almost-unspeakably good singer-songwriter Julien Baker, along with records including previously announced artists OCnotes, HIDE, Pallbearer, Uranium Club, Kikagaku Moyo, Man Man, Shannon Lay, Omni, Dream Decay, and more.

Subscribe here now - or at least by March 3rd - to ensure you don’t miss out!

And, if you need evidence of past glory to convince you to hit that buy button, you can now see the entire discography of Sub Pop’s prior Singles Clubs here.
 
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Singles Club Vol. 4 Overview
ATTENTION RECORD NERDS AND MUSIC FANS! We are now taking subscriptions for the fourth – and, who knows, perhaps the best! –
incarnation of the legendary Sub Pop Singles Club. Are you desperate to hear new and exciting music? Do you pine for exquisitely packaged, colored-vinyl artifacts? Do you break into a sweat at the thought of missing out on limited-edition tchotchkes to hold over your friends’ heads? Well, subscribe by March 3rd, 2019 to feed your need!
 
The forthcoming edition of Sub Pop’s legendary will include the following artists:
Just added: Julien Baker!
Seattle visionary OCnotes
Chicago industrialists HIDE
Arkansas merchants of doom Pallbearer
The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band
Japanese psychedelic explorers Kikagaku Moyo
Philadelphia pop experimentalists Man Man
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Shannon Lay
Angular Atlantans Omni
Seattle noise-rock/art-punk/uncategorizable Dream Decay
 
Attentive oldsters may recall the first edition of the Singles Club, which coincided with the launch of Sub Pop as a semi-functioning (and we do mean semi) record label, and featured Nirvana, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, L7, and countless (ok, around 75, to be more precise) other era-defining artists from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Fans of a more youthful age may remember the second and third editions, which ran from 1998-2002 and 2008-2009, respectively, and together included hitmakers like Iron and Wine, Bright Eyes, The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Get Up Kids, The Dutchess and the Duke, Om, Thee Oh Sees, and many more.
 
Dive into the full discography of past Sub Pop Singles Clubs here.
 
All of this ancient history is to say:
1. WE INVENTED THIS SHIT!
2. We’ll get you lots of great music, and there’s a good chance you’ll wind up with some highly sought-after rarities.
And, 3. We’re seasoned pros at this and we’ll definitely probably get all your records delivered to the correct address right on time.
 
For the eminently reasonable postpaid (meaning shipping is included in the price; tax is not) price of $130 for the U.S., $170 for Canada, $185 for Mexico, and $195 for the rest of the world, you will receive twelve (12) 7” singles, shipped directly from Sub Pop HQ in Seattle to you, starting in April of 2019. These singles will feature exclusive tracks by artists from all over the map, both literally and figuratively, but tied together by the common thread of being great at what they do and inspiring to us. We hope you’ll feel the same. This offer is valid until
11:59 pm PST, Sunday, March 3rd, 2019.
 
Things to know:
  • Subscribing by March 3rd, 2019 is the only way to get the physical 7”s. They will not be available in stores.
  • You can subscribe from anywhere in the world.
  • You can purchase a subscription as a gift – simply enter the recipient’s name and address in the delivery address fields for your order.
  • Each single will be available for streaming and digital purchase two weeks after that single ships. But by then you will not be able to go back in time, subscribe, and get that single. So sign up now if you want vinyl!
  • Subscriptions are exempt from any Mega Mart sale discounts.
  • You can buy a subscription in the same order as other items you wish to purchase from us. We will ship the rest of your order as soon as possible, but no Singles Club 7”s will ship until April 2019, when you’ll get the first two, with successive singles to follow in pairs every other month thereafter. (We are shipping two singles at a time, every other month, because shipping is expensive and we want this subscription to be relatively affordable.)
  • Singles Club subscriptions cannot be sent to your local store and are not part of the Sub Pop Local program. As such, there is no free-shipping option for the Singles Club.
  • If you need to change your address at any point during your subscription, please email websales@subpop.com.

Posted by Rachel White