International Tour Dates September 21st-November 29th, 2022
Today, Friday, July 22nd marks the release of Clipping’s CLBBNG Vol. 1, the first collection of remixes produced by the group, which is available worldwide on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
CLBBNG features four remixes including “Nothing Is Safe,” from There Existed An Addiction To Blood, the group’s horrorcore album of 2019, which has a dance remix, and an instrumental rework (titled “Drop Low”); Meanwhile, remixes of “Get Up” (titled “Get Mine”), and “Dominoes” (titled “Drop That”) from CLPPNG, the group’s Sub Pop debut of 2014, round out the tracklisting.
Clipping has wanted to make a record of dance remixes for some time, and inspiration struck when they performed what has to be the all time tiniest desk concert (see for yourself!) for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert. Jonathan Snipes elaborated further, “I had come up with the name CLBBNG mostly as a joke when we made the first album for Sub Pop (titled CLPPNG). I made a couple of remixes back then (none of the tracks released in this volume), but some combination of losing interest and getting distracted by other projects meant that we didn’t release them at the time. When we recorded drums with Chukwudi Hodge for “Say the Name” in 2019, we also had him play a four-on-the-floor disco beat over the top of the “Nothing is Safe” instrumental with the idea that someday we’d make a sprawling dark-disco Moroder-esque version of the song. When we were asked to do “Tiny Desk” I thought maybe it was the time to finally make that track. Soon after we were asked to do another virtual performance inside Minecraft, and I thought it would be fun to make more dance remixes and create an entire “CLBBNG” club/rave set. It’s versions of these edits and remixes that have made it on to this, the first CLBBNG EP. I have a deep love and appreciation for dance music, and I relish any excuse to make it myself. It’s a lot of fun to bring those sensibilities to clipping songs, and I’m excited to continue making CLBBNG releases in the future.”
Additionally, four of Clipping’s songs, including the “Nothing Is Safe” remix, are being featured on a new app developed with Modify Music which also launches today on iOS and Android app stores. This is a real time mixing app, that has each song separated into four “stems” that can be mixed on the fly. Alongside the original stems, the listener will have the option to switch out and mix in alternative stems that Jonathan Snipes produced just for the app. The app can be found here: https://modifymusic.com/artists/clipping/
Clipping will kick-off its first round of international touring for the fall of 2022, with a short run of shows in the UK and EU beginning on Wednesday, September 21st in Glasgow at SWG3 Warehouse and ending Sunday, September 25th in Brussels at Atelier. Following those shows, Clipping will return to the states for an appearance at Southern California’s Desert Daze Festival Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd (performance date TBA)
Then from Thursday, November 10th through November 29th, 2022, Clipping will tour the UK and EU again for a 14-date run. Highlights include a performance and curation duties at the Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands (Nov. 11th), a performance at Fabric London (Nov. 17th), and shows in France (Paris, Lille, Lyon, Rennes, Nantes), Poland (Warsaw), Czech Republic (Prague), Belgium (Brussels), UK (Leeds), Switzerland (La Chaux-de-Fonds), and Denmark (Copenhagen, Aarhus). Please find a current list of dates below.
Wed. Sep. 21 - Glasgow, UK - SWG3 Warehouse
Thu. Sep. 22 - Helsinki, FI - Kudos Ninja
Sat. Sep. 24 - Riga, LV - Skaņu Mežs Festival (@Hanzas Perons)
Sun. Sep. 25 - Brussels, BE - Atelier
Fri. Sep. 30 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Sat. Oct. 01 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Sun. Oct. 02 - Perris, CA - Desert Days
Fri. Nov. 11 - Utrecht, NL - Le Guess Who? Festival
Sat. Nov. 12 - La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH - Bikini Test
On Friday, September 23rd, 2022, Damien Jurado’s Waters Ave S, his beloved debut, will be available on vinyl for the first time in years from Sub Pop. To celebrate today’s news, Damien has scheduled an interview and performance with 90.3 KEXP today, which airs at 4:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm ET.
2022 promises to be a banner year for Damien Jurado. Not only does the year mark the songwriter’s 50th birthday, but it also sees the summer release of his 18th studio album, the impressionistic and tuneful Reggae Film Star. And hang on, there’s more: on September 23rd, 2022 Sub Pop Records reissues Jurado’s debut full-length, 1997’s Waters Ave S. The work of a young artist driven by complex inner visions, the LP offers a fresh chance to examine how far Jurado has come in the 25 years since its release—but also demonstrates how much of his point of view and vivid scenecraft was firmly in place from the very start.
A veteran of the DIY punk and hardcore scenes, Jurado had begun taking steps into the world of lo-fi home recording. But with renowned indie rock producer Steve Fisk acting as producer, Waters Ave S introduced Jurado to the independent music world, presenting a set of 13 songs that encompass odes to remote desert outposts, late night conversations with Elvis, a purple anteater, and the great beyond. Though new to the studio, Jurado’s storytelling lens is well honed; these compositions are filled with characters wandering the psychic wilderness, flawed but nonetheless certain of themselves, or at least certain enough.
Those only familiar with Jurado’s ambient-tinged folk or AM gold psychedelia will find the album more punky than expected, replete with post-punk basslines, electric guitars, and a youthful tenor to Jurado’s voice. But what’s most striking about the record is how fully formed his world is, especially on songs like the lilting, drum looped “Angel of May,” the sci-fi “Space Age Mom,” and mournful simplicity of the title track. Jurado was just getting started, but the path he’d follow seems laid out by Waters Ave S. 25 years later, it’s clear that the creative spirit that fuels this idiosyncratic and exuberant record is one that still propels Jurado to this day.
Tracklisting 1. Wedding Cake 2. Angel of May 3. Treasures of Gold 4. Yuma, AZ 5. The Joke Is Over 6. Space Age Mom 7. Circus, Circus, Circus 8. Hell or Highwater 9. Independent 10. Purple Anteater 11. Sarah 12. Halo Friendly 13. Waters Ave S.
Earlier this year, Australia’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever released their new album, Endless Rooms, via Sub Pop. Today, they present a video for one of its tracks, “Blue Eye Lake,” which “demonstrates why new album Endless Rooms offers a strong mix of new ambitions and old fundamentals. The track expands outward with each passing second, reveling in its slightly out-of-focus harmonies and minor-chord riffs” (Billboard). Endless Rooms is a testament to the collaborative spirit and live power of the band, and the “Blue Eye Lake” video attests to this sentiment. It weaves together live footage of the band with clips of street scenes during their recent European tour. In addition to illustrating the power of the live shows, it also gives a glimpse of what to expect on their forthcoming North American tour. A full list can be found below and tickets for all dates are on sale now.
Today, Bret McKenzie is sharing two new tracks titled “If You Wanna Go” and “Tomorrow Today,” from Songs Without Jokes, his forthcoming new album. Uncut says of the album, “Baroque-pop delight. Evocative of Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman at their most extroverted. McKenzie’s songs provide great warmth (8/10).”
Written mostly during the quieter moments of 2019, with his life split between work in Los Angeles and his family in Wellington, the songs of Songs focus on themes of escape, the perpetual search for peace, and navigating a life being pulled in multiple directions at once. There are also simple meditations on driving through a city and the weather. McKenzie was inspired by the path his aforementioned idols like Newman and Nilsson had paved, where a silly or playful number could be sandwiched directly between a song about heartbreak or an earnest redemption and a scathing satire or character commentary. He threw a bit of everything into the mix, recording ideas on his phone at home in New Zealand after the kids had gone to sleep. Upon returning to LA, he would play the sketches for his longtime producer and collaborator, Mickey Petralia, who helped McKenzie identify the best moments, then together they would add parts and shape the songs. From there, longtime film collaborator Chris Caswell created charts for that same ensemble of session players with whom they’d recorded so many pieces for film. The majority of songs were then recorded at United Studio in Los Angeles in just a few takes.
Songs Without Jokes is available to preorder now from Sub Pop. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, UK and Europe will received the limited Loser Edition on blue vinyl (while supplies last).
Songs Without Jokes, which features the aforementioned “If You Wanna Go” and “Tomorrow Today” along with “Dave’s Place,” and “A Little Tune,” was produced by Mickey Petralia and McKenzie, mixed by Darrell Thorpe, with songs recorded at East West Studios and United Recordings, and mastered by Dave Ives at 101 Mastering in Los Angeles.
Bret McKenzie Songs Without Jokes
Tracklisting: 1. This World 2. If You Wanna Go 3. Dave’s Place 4. Here for You 5. That’s L.A. 6. Up in Smoke 7. Carry On 8. A Little Tune 9. America Goodbye 10. Tomorrow Today 11. Crazy Times
