UPDATE: WE DID IT! 10,000 new and re-engaged blood donors!
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Join Sub Pop, KEXP and Bloodworks NW for the Music’s In Our Blood campaign. With blood supply levels at a critical all-time low, we are using our collective voices this fall to share the need for volunteer blood donors.
We, as the music community, are committing to getting 10,000 new blood donors by the end of the year. Get involved to save lives by making an appointment today to give blood. Find your nearest donation location and make an appointment at bloodworksnw.org/music.
On the heels of their latest album, Cooler Returns,Kiwi Jr. cooly announces their first series of live dates, kicking off with River & Sky Festival in Sudbury, Ontario on July 17. Fall and Winter dates include support with TUNS, Surfer Blood, Tobin Sprout, Trace Mountains and Nap Eyes, as well as a hometown Toronto headline show at the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday, Oct 15. Want a taste of what to expect at the band’s upcoming live shows? You can watch the group’s performance on famed Seattle radio station KEXP by clicking here. See below for a full list of dates.
Kiwi Jr. has partnered with cartoonist Dmitry Bondarenko on a 24-page booklet of illustrated lyrics, which is available at Bandcamp and on tour. Jeremy Gaudet, Kiwi Jr singer/lyricist says “To see all of the insanity of our lyrics represented visually is wild. There’s stuff I saw in here that surprised even me, and I wrote the damned thing.” For more information on Cooler Returns Comic, visit the group’s merch table or Bandcamp page.
Due to continued uncertainty about international travel restrictions, Kiwi Jr. are unfortunately postponing their September UK & Europe tour dates to February (& September) 2022. Tickets for their London show at Dalston Victoria will be honored on Saturday February 12, 2022. The band will also be supporting fellow Sub Pop artist Chad VanGaalen on several UK dates that week, as well as announcing headline dates in Scandinavia. More information will be forthcoming at www.KiwiJr.com/live
Tour Dates:
Fri. Jan. 14 - Washington DC, Songbyrd ++ @
Sat. Jan. 22 - Montreal, Bar le Ritz &
Fri.. Feb. 11 - London, UK - Dalston Victoria
Sun. Feb. 13 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club ~
Mon. Feb. 14 - Manchester, UK - Night & Day ~
Tues. Feb. 15 - Bristol, UK - Louisiana ~
Thur. Feb. 17 - Copenhagen DK - Ideal Bar
Fri. Feb. 18 - Stockholm, SE - ObarenNew tour dates:
Sat. Jul. 17 - Sudbury, ONT - River & Sky Festival
Fri. Oct. 1 - Los Angeles, CA - Gold Diggers
Fri. Oct. 15 - Toronto, Horseshoe Tavern !
Thur. Nov. 11 - New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine %
Fri. Nov. 12 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Made % $
Fri. Nov 19 - Columbus OH - Ace Of Cups $
Fri. Dec. 3 - London, ON - Rum Runners *
Sat. Dec. 4 - St. Catharine’s, ON - Warehouse *
Fri. Dec. 17 - Hamilton, ON - Bridgeworks *
Sat. Dec. 18 - Ottawa, ON - Club Saw *
Mon. Dec. 28 - Charlottetown, PEI - Trailside Music Hall &
Tues. Dec. 29 - Halifax, NS - Seahorse Tavern &
2022:
Fri. Jan. 7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe &
Sat. Jan. 8 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s & @
Sat. Feb. 19 - Oslo, NO - Blaa
! w/ Sahara and Dorothea Paas
% w/ Surfer Blood
$ w/ Tobin Sprout
* w/ TUNS
& w/ Nap Eyes
++ w/ Trace Mountains
@ w/ Gladie
~ w/ Chad VanGaalen
The returns on Kiwi Jr’s Cooler Returns: “…The accomplished successor to this band’s promising 2019 debut finds Kiwi Jr having their cake and eating it.” - ★★★★ The Observer/TheGuardian
“Sustaining momentum near-flawlessly across 13 songs… Kiwi Jr. have the skills to match their smarts” - ★★★★ MOJO
“Canadian absurdists’ return is a lyrical delight” - Uncut
“Kiwi Jr. songs unfold like the aisles of a cluttered curio shop, their retro-rock melodies overflowing with non sequiturs and hyper-specific scraps of story.” - The AV Club
“The band rattle through a seemingly inexhaustible supply of hooks and melodies” - ★★★★ DIY
“Packed with golden hooks and subtle weirdness” - [8/10] Exclaim
“Crammed full of wry, observational wit and pop smarts in taut fashion” - [8/10] CLASH
“…still light and agile, basking in the sunlight as their vivid guitar work and straightforward vocals do the talking. They love a good hook as much as they love a charismatic, illuminating one-liner.” - PASTE
“The band’s knack for simple but sticky melody is in even clearer view on Cooler Returns.” - ★★★★ All Music
[“Cooler Returns” is] “a jangly, indie rock earworm that’ll lodge itself in your brain” -NME
“Shambolic yet catchy songs are loaded with fractured riffs and lyrical non-sequiturs” - Uproxx
“Ook de referenties zijn dik in orde: the Chills, The Strokes, The Kinks, Pavement en de vroege R.E.M. ‘Fonkelende gitaarplaat die refereert aan heden en verleden.” - [Best Albums of the Month”] OOR
“…Another mighty fine record.” - Under the Radar
“An impressive set of ‘90s-influenced slacker-rock with jangly guitars, rollicking piano and occasional organ, harmonica, and other instrumentation, along with observational, often-sardonic lyrics and an abundance of catchy song hooks. - KEXP
“Cooler Returns is all hits, a baker’s dozen of ridiculously catchy three-minute pop nuggets that deliver massive sing-along-choruses…” - Brooklyn Vegan
“A bloody good album full of vivid charm” - ★★★★ NARC
“They understand sarcasm, can write clever, funny lyrics and don’t take themselves completely seriously.” [9/10] - God Is In The TV
“Perfect pop-songs” - Louder Than War
“Cooler Returns is everything you might expect from a band like Kiwi Jr., and so much more.” - [4/5] Stereoboard
“Angular, catchy as hell, revved up power-pop racket” ★★★★ Shindig
“What sets Kiwi Jr. apart from their peers though is their madcap view of the world and Cooler Returns establishes them as a band too confident to conform; a band who have all the skills to match their lyrical smarts” - [8/10] Line Of Best Fit
“L’année 2021 ne pouvait mieux commencer qu’avec cet excellent disque a l’entrain communicatif, d’une inspiration jubilatoire, veritable rayon de soleil au cour de l’hiver”- [4/5] Rock & Folk (France)
“Les quatre musiciens de Toronto ne changent pas leur formule gagnante et livrent une guitare jangly élégante et efficace.” - Les Inrocks (France)
“…Timeless, memorable, beautifully crafted pop songs” - Echoes and Dust
”Cooler Returns is an impressive achievement” -Our Culture
“…A jangle-pop delight filled with tight hooks and creative tales” - The Revue
Kiwi Jr. Cooler Returns
Tracklisting 1. Tyler 2. Undecided Voters 3. Maid Marian’s Toast 4. Highlights of 100 5. Only Here for a Haircut 6. Cooler Returns 7. Guilty Party 8. Omaha 9. Domino 10. Nashville Wedding 11. Dodger 12. Norma Jean’s Jacket 13. Waiting in Line
On September 14th, Sub Pop will release 1 Time Mirage, the otherworldly debut long-player from the hermetic duo Knife Knights. The 11-track album features standouts “My Dreams Never Sleep,” and “Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage),” along with the previously released introductory single (+ official video) for “Give You Game [see here].” 1 Time Mirage features guest appearances from labelmates Shabazz Palaces and Porter Ray, along with Stas Thee Boss, OCnotes, Thaddillac, El Mizell, Marquetta Miller, Gerald Turner, and Darrius Willrich. The album was produced by Ishmael Butler and Erik Blood at Protect and Exalt: A Black Space in Seattle.
In further exciting news, Knife Knights make their live debut on KEXP in Seattle today. Watch now [see interview & live stream July 19th; noon PST]!
Knife Knights 1 Time Mirage will be available on CD/LP/DL/CS worldwide from Sub Pop. Preorders of the album through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition pressed on blue and white marbled vinyl.
Knife Knights 1 Time Mirage Tracklisting
1. Bionic Chords (feat. OCnotes & Darrius Willrich) 2. Drag Race Legend 3. Give You Game (feat. Marquetta Miller & Stas Thee Boss) 4. Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage) [feat. Porter Ray, Gerald Turner, Darrius Willrich, OCnotes & Shabazz Palaces] 5. Seven Wheel Motion 6. Low Key (feat. Shabazz Palaces) 7. My Dreams Never Sleep (feat. OCnotes, Marquetta Miller & Shabazz Palaces) 8. Light Work (feat. El Mizell) 9. Can’t Draw the Line (feat. OCnotes) 10. Come On Let’s Go (feat. OCnotes & Marquetta Miller) 11. Mr. President
[Photo Credit: Justin Henning]
Knife Knights were born of the love of mystery.
A decade ago, Ishmael Butler—the architect of the groundbreaking but long-disbanded hip-hop group Digable Planets—was preparing at last to emerge from years of near-complete silence. He unveiled his new outlet, Shabazz Palaces, in the summer of 2009 through a pair of self-released EPs, surrounding his hyperlinked verses with webs of psychedelic textures and refracted rhythms. From the start, confidentiality seemed essential: Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de plume for himself.
As the project’s network expanded, though, he needed new monikers for his partnerships. Knife Knights is the name he gave to his work with Seattle engineer, producer, songwriter, and film composer Erik Blood, a vital force in the Shabazz Palaces universe. Now, after more than a decade of collaboration and the development into of a rich friendship, Butler and Blood have made a proper full-length record together as Knife Knights: 1 Time Mirage, an eleven-track odyssey that finds the pair and a cast of their friends weaving together a singular world of soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam. 1 Time Mirage represents a playground for Butler and Blood, a free space for unfettered exploration, and a radically adventurous start to something much more than a mere production duo or side project.
Butler and Blood met in 2003 at a Spiritualized show in Seattle, introduced by a mutual friend who was soon set to record Butler in his studio. A Digable Planets zealot, Blood was floored, passing a bootleg copy of Blowout Comb to his friend for an autograph (which Butler dutifully provided). For the next few years, they’d run into one another by chance and sometimes make small talk about working together. When Butler finally sent him a few tunes to mix, the kinship seemed obvious and immediate. Though Butler had grown up as a hip-hop student, he’d started absorbing shoegaze rock and ambient soundscapes, too. Blood, meanwhile, was an ardent hip-hop fan who had always been an inclusive listener. On every Shabazz Palaces album, Butler and Blood have delighted at that artistic intersection, constantly indoctrinating hip-hop in new worlds of sound. “He takes my ideas and clarifies and pronounces them, helps me realize them,” explains Butler. “He helps me get to the essence.”
Recorded in three fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, 1 Time Mirage is a profound fulfilment of that partnership, realized at the crossroads of Butler’s and Blood’s mutual enthusiasms. Their shared interests have been split into pieces and fused together with enviable imagination. Take “Give You Game,” where Butler and Blood weave their distant voices through a landscape of synthesizers and drums that bubble up sporadically, like geysers. Marquetta Miller and THEESatisfaction’s Stasia Irons soon join, their round tones lacing around those sounds and giving them shape. It is an abstract anthem to astral love.
“Low Key” suggests a radiant daydream, with kaleidoscopic synthesizers and faded harmonies pirouetting over puzzle pieces of dizzying percussion and understated funk. “Can’t Draw the Line” rushes headlong like some narcotized disco fantasy, with its four planted firmly on the floor but Butler’s breathy voice and an armada of synthesizers stretching skyward. They splice doo-wop harmonies to scattered dub rhythms during “Light Up Ahead (Time Mirage),” hard-edged verses to industrial din during “ Mr. President.” Colossal drums puncture walls of labyrinthine noise sculpted from deranged synthesizers and mutated guitars during “Seven Wheel Motion,” an absolute powerhouse. Butler seems to rap in dialogue with himself, detailing a threatening streetscape and shaping the experience into personal realizations. “Smooth landings, queens in tandems, cash in grand sums,” he declares at one point. “Life is random/I roll the dice and bet on me.”
In the decade since Butler launched Shabazz Palaces and first christened his partnership with Blood as Knife Knights, much of that project’s external mystery has, of course, fallen away. And 1 Time Mirage is a very public step forward for the pair. That early sense of secrecy has given way to a spirit of friendship and creative candor, to the doors of experimentation being thrown open by old pals thrilled by the prospect of testing new ideas.
Still, these eleven songs retain a core of intrigue and, indeed, mystery; each listen reveals yet another connection between infinite and interlocking pieces. To wit, Robert Beatty’s brilliant cover for 1 Time Mirage depicts a futuristic vehicle, being coolly steered with one hand into some great, mildly ominous unknown. That’s how these songs feel, too—confident conquests of the dark that unlock sounds and spaces you have yet to imagine.
SPF30: Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary Festival with Beach House, Clipping, Kyle Craft, Fastbacks, Jo Passed, Loma, LVL UP, METZ, Moaning, Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, plus Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its and The School of Rock West Seattle House Band along Alki Beach in West Seattle.
We are delighted to announce lineup details for SPF30 and Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary weekend, happening Friday, August 10th and Saturday, August 11th, 2018 in beautiful Seattle, Washington.
The festivities kick-off the evening of Friday, August 10th at 5pm, with The Afghan Whigs, Mass Gothic and Yuno playing a free, all-ages outdoor concert at the Mural Amphitheatre, presented by KEXP and Seattle Center.
Later that same evening, we are presenting A Night of Comedy From the Cast of Bob’s Burgers at The Moore Theatre, featuring H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, Larry Murphy and John Roberts. This is a ticketed event with proceeds to benefit Seattle’s YouthCare.
YouthCare works to end youth homelessness and to ensure that young people are valued for who they are and empowered to achieve their potential. Founded in 1974, YouthCare was one of the first programs to serve runaway and homeless youth on the West Coast. The goal was to help young people find safety today and build a future for tomorrow. Over the past four decades, YouthCare has defined best practices and developed programs that are a national standard for excellence. Using a youth-centered approach, they ensure that young people experiencing homelessness ages 12-24 have the hope, skills, and confidence to gain long-term stability.
Tickets for A Night of Comedy From the Cast of Bob’s Burgers will be $30 (plus fees). A special presale begins Wednesday, May 30th at 10am PT (presale code LOSER30), with tickets on sale to the general public Friday, June 1st at 10am PT. Tickets are available here. Doors are at 7pm, and the show is all-ages.
Then on Saturday, August 11th from noon-10pm, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society welcomes Sub Pop for SPF30, our 30th anniversary festival at West Seattle’s Alki Beach. SPF30 is an entirely free event featuring Beach House, Clipping, Kyle Craft, Fastbacks, Jo Passed, Loma, LVL UP, METZ, Moaning, Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, and a family stage featuring Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its and The School of Rock West Seattle House Band. The festival will feature four stages along incredibly scenic Alki Ave. in the Alki Beach neighborhood of West Seattle.
Seattle’s Alki Beach boasts some of the most awesome territorial (city/water/mountain) views the city has to offer, along with the occasional whale sighting, a somewhat diminutive replica of the Statue of Liberty, and some of the best local businesses to boot. We are stoked (and not a little surprised) that the city cleared the permits.
SPF30 will also have…A record fair-type event! A host of local nonprofit organizations! Food trucks! Beer gardens! (The food and beer and wine and soda or whatever, you will have to pay for! These parts are not free!) Good times and opportunities to embarrass yourself and those who’d always hoped for better for you! Plus, bands!
And closing out the weekend is a late show celebrating the unbelievably “coincidental” 15th anniversary of Pissed Jeans held at the Crocodile in Seattle. This show is 21 +, and doors are at 8pm. Tickets are $16 and available here.
It is our hope that SPF30 and Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary Weekend will serve as a super fun and sincere “thank you” to our local and global music community for supporting Sub Pop and our artists for the past 30 years (and the next 30!).
In addition to celebrating a dynamic, inspirational roster spanning three decades, we also wish to create a sense of uplifting togetherness where we not only listen to great music but we become better at listening to each other as well.
JULY 26 / AUGUST 2ND / AUGUST 9TH SUB POP TURNTABLE SESSIONS KEXP Gathering Space • FREE • 6-8pm • ALL-AGES The Sub Pop Turntable Sessions are three distinct panel discussions highlighting multiple facets of Sub Pop’s history in celebration of the label’s 30th anniversary. Each session will review snippets of past label happenings and works while discussing how they relate to the label and our society’s future. The first session will be on July 26th, featuring Sub Pop LOSER Scholarship winners. The next will be on August 2nd and will feature Seattle-based collective Black Constellation. And for the third session we’ll be bringing in the Sub Pop’s own Mudhoney, as they also celebrate their 30th anniversary this year as well. Session 1: Sub Pop Loser Scholarship Winners. Session 2: Black Constellation. Session 3: Mudhoney’s 30th.
AUGUST 10TH SUB POP’S BIG 30TH ANNIVERSARY KICK-OFF SHOWCASE THE MURAL AMPHITHEATRE • FREE!!! • 5PM • ALL-AGES A special concert at the Mural presented by KEXP and Seattle Center with The Afghan Whigs, Mass Gothic, Yuno
A NIGHT OF COMEDY FROM THE CAST OF BOB’S BURGERS THE MOORE THEATRE • $30 • 7PM DOOR • ALL-AGES Featuring H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, Larry Murphy, John Roberts
AUGUST 11TH SPF30: SUB POP’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL• ALKI BEACH, WEST SEATTLE • FREE!!! • NOON - 10PM • ALL-AGES On four stages… with Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, Kyle Craft, Moaning, Beach House, Clipping, Fastbacks, METZ, LVL UP, Loma, Jo Passed, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its, The School of Rock West Seattle House Band, and Special Guests.
THE CROCODILE • $16 • 8PM DOOR • 21 AND OVER The Unbelievably “Coincidental” 15th anniversary of Pissed Jeans
Our friends at KEXP came up with a pretty epic 30th birthday gift… and it starts today! KEXP will be honoring every Sub Pop catalog release, in chronological order, over the coming months.
Read on for details…
[Photo Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images, via Pitchfork]
via KEXP: SEATTLE, March 8, 2018 – Legendary independent record label Sub Pop will turn 30 years old this year, and Seattle-based public broadcaster and arts organization KEXP will pay tribute to the label with a four-month retrospective. With over 1,200 releases, the station is planning to honor every single catalog number in the history of the Seattle based label. The tribute will wrap up in time for Sub Pop’s 30th anniversary concert at Alki Beach in West Seattle this August.
“Sub Pop and KEXP go back a long way,” said KEXP Chief Content Officer Kevin Cole. “Our histories are intimately connected - we certainly wouldn’t be who we are without the amazing music and incredible community that Sub Pop has helped to create here in Seattle. Sub Pop is family to KEXP.”
Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman each had a show on KEXP’s predecessor, KCMU, prior to the formation of the label. Pavitt’s show - Sub Pop USA - focused on celebrating artists and releases on independent regional labels, while Poneman was one of the first hosts of Audioasis, the local music program that still airs weekly on KEXP. Mark Arm of Sub Pop bands Mudhoney and Green River, and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil had shows on KCMU, as did Charles Peterson, well-known for capturing iconic photographs of the nascent Seattle grunge scene on behalf of the label.
“Bruce Pavitt and I both had air shifts at the former KCMU. KEXP is sort of KCMU unchained, except that the present KEXP air staff have been trained, get paid and drink fancier coffee,” said Jonathan Poneman. “KCMU and Sub Pop Records both began as a pastime for music hobbyists who liked to stay indoors and play records. It’s been our good fortune to have successfully nurtured a reciprocal relationship with our hometown, Seattle: by providing great music to our community, people support it and listen.”
According to an account on HistoryLink, Poneman and Pavitt were first introduced to Nirvana as KCMU DJs, through a demo tape they received from producer Jack Endino. The tape was enough to get the band its first-ever radio airplay for demo versions of ‘Floyd the Barber’ and ‘Paper Cuts,’ songs which would show up over a year later on Bleach. After Sub Pop released Nirvana’s first official single, ‘Love Buzz’, in 1988, Kurt Cobain personally gave a copy to KCMU, and then sat in his car with the radio tuned to the station. When the DJ didn’t put the record on immediately, Cobain found a pay phone and called the station to request it himself.
“Bands were very aware of the role KCMU was playing in helping them out,” said Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil in an oral history of KCMU/KEXP published in CityArts Magazine in 2015. “KCMU was a networking hub for that seminal Seattle scene, Sub Pop and what came to be known as grunge, though I hate that word. It pivoted around KCMU.”
To this day, a strong connection remains. In 2013, KEXP helped celebrate Sub Pop’s 25th Anniversary with a live broadcast of Sub Pop artists performing on top of the Space Needle.
“We probably play more artists from Sub Pop than any other label,” said KEXP’s John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP. “And that’s not necessarily on purpose, or because we feel like we need to play their music - it’s just that good, and their catalog is that deep. Every DJ on KEXP picks their own music, and with Sub Pop, there’s an amazing breadth and variety of killer releases to choose from.”
“Over the past 30 years Sub Pop has been home to the era-defining rock of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney and the label has also had the privilege of releasing music from artists like Shabazz Palaces, whose art is endlessly expansive and whose creativity is unparalleled,” said Sub Pop CEO Megan Jasper. “We are so proud to work with so many musicians whose songs have changed our moods, our culture and us as individuals. And we can’t wait to learn what the next 30 years will bring!”
The Sub Pop Count-Up will begin on the first full weekday of KEXP’s 2018 Spring Fundraising Drive, on Monday March 12th. Throughout the following months, KEXP DJs will honor each Sub Pop catalog item in chronological order, including full albums, singles, EPs, compilations, early Sub Pop fan zines, and even a wedding soundtrack. KEXP.ORG will also feature online-exclusive content, interviews and more throughout the four-month tribute.
KEXP is a music-focused nonprofit arts organization serving music lovers and artists through in-person, broadcast, and online music programming. KEXP operates one of the most influential listener-supported music radio stations in the country, KEXP-FM, Seattle. More than 200,000 listeners from around the world tune in to the station each week over the air and online. On KEXP’s YouTube channel, videos of exclusive in-studio performances garner more than 2.4 million views per week. KEXP produces hundreds of live performances and music events each year, many of which are open to public audiences at no charge. More information at kexp.org.
