The Downtown Boys have contributed their arrangement of communist anthem “L’Internationale” to the Italian film Miss Marx. Directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli, Miss Marx is a biopic about Karl Marx’s daughter, who was an important but often overlooked organizer and writer. She led many women to take up their/our rightful power in socialism. The band recorded this version of “L’Internationale,” as an ode to the global struggle and passion for a freedom bigger than themselves.
Miss Marx recently premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where Downtown Boys and Gatto Ciliegia contro il Grande Freddo won the Soundtrack Stars Award for their work on the film.
About the song and film, Downtown Boys said:
“This year, we saw people throughout the globe come together amidst the pain of and struggle against police brutality, and the loss of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. We have lost over 200k people in our country from a global pandemic exacerbated by greed. And, throughout this all, we have seen people collectively fight back. We hope this video is a reminder of the vessel that brings us together to scream, shout, cry, or rest. Miss Marx would rally women socialists against patriarchy and global capital, and this video shows outtakes of Miss Marx and her comrades singing. The upcoming election and these continuing moments of collective power need to be vessels for our voices. In the spirit of Eleanor Marx and the current moment, please please go anywhere you can to sign up to vote or support others in voting, both by the ballot box in a few weeks and by all the ways we see people picking the side of freedom.”
Go here to register to vote, find out how/where/when to vote, and to support free and fair elections in the US this November.
On October 23rd, Clipping will release their new album Visions of Bodies Being Burned, the follow up to their 2019 horrorcore-inspired album There Existed an Addiction to Blood. Each track on the group’s new album pairs a different expression of horror with one of Clipping’s signature metamorphic takes on a hip-hop subgenre.
Featuring Michael Esposito, “Pain Everyday” uses real EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) recordings—said to be the voices of restless spirits—atop a cinematic breakcore collage, as a call-to-arms for the ghosts of lynching victims to haunt the white descendants of their murderers.
About the song, lyricist Daveed Diggs says, “This song was one of the most challenging to write because it’s the first time we’ve done a track entirely in ⅞, which, it turns out, is kind of a mind fuck. I love how it came out because it’s in this odd time signature but the flow still feels natural, like rap is supposed to.” You can watch the group’s new lyric video for “Pain Everyday” right here, which was directed by Clipping’s own Jonathan Snipes and longtime collaborator Cristina Bercovitz.
Visions of Bodies Being Burned is available to preorder through Sub Pop Mega Mart. Preorders of the LP through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited, Loser edition on mixed red/orange/yellow colored vinyl (while supplies last). Meanwhile, LP preorders of Visions of Bodies Being Burned throughout the UK and Europe from select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on gold vinyl (while supplies last).
Sub Pop has just released new singles by Julia Jacklin, Le Ren, and Ohmme as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5. The three singles are available to Singles Club subscribers as limited-edition 7” singles (subscriptions are nearly sold-out!), and are available now at all digital music services.
[Cover Art photography by @nick_mckk] Julia Jacklin: [Listen Here] On “to Perth, before the border closes,” Australian singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin copes with an extended period of transience. In her words: “I’ve moved around a lot the last 5 years; chasing things, love, work, something new, whatever and there’s always this fear that I’m leaving good things behind just to go somewhere else and be lonely. Whispering “everything changes” to myself helps get me to sleep at night.” B-side “Cry” is a Dolly Parton-inspired stream-of-consciousness, featuring Perth musicians Jennifer Aslett, Chris Wright, and Jacob Diamond; it was recorded by her old friend and housemate Ryan Brennan, who nine years ago was the first person to record her music. You can watch the video for “to Perth, before the border closes” which was directed by Julia Jacklin here.
[Cover Art photography by @coteypope] Le Ren: [Listen Here] Represented by the prestigious record label Secretly Canadian, Le Ren (moniker of Montreal-based artist Lauren Spear) was introduced to US audiences last year when she opened for Orville Peck on his national tour. This summer she released her debut EP Morning & Melancholia. Lauren has studied folk and bluegrass going back to her early teens, partaking in workshops all over North America. Growing up on Nexwlélexm/Bowen Island, she was raised on the holy trinity of John Prine, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. Their curious, deadpan and cosmic approach to life’s most brutal swipes feed Le Ren’s sensibilities, and her own lyrical couplets are as simply put as they are devastating.
[Cover Art by @lord_birthday] Ohmme: [Listen Here] There’s obvious chemistry emanating throughout Ohmme’s music that’s so tangible it can only come from a decades-spanning friendship. Songwriters Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart formed their unbreakable bond performing throughout the fringes of Chicago’s many interlocking communities, collaborating with titans from the city’s indie rock, hip-hop, and improvised worlds. The two formed Ohmme in 2014 as an outlet to explore an unconventional approach to their instruments. “That’s the whole genesis of the band: us walking up to our guitars and saying, ‘how can we make this noisemaker do something different?’” says Cunningham. Their 2016 self-titled debut EP took these experiments live and showcased the band’s vocal interplay that is another key to their songs. The full-length follow up, Parts, found the duo adding a drummer, Matt Carroll, and expanding their sound; Spin wrote: “Ohmme’s aesthetic universe has the cramped intimacy of a small rehearsal space, and they are its masters. Anything they can squeeze inside—swirling baroque vocal melodies, punchy punk power chords, three-minute rockers and dreamlike chamber-pop suites—ends up sounding like Ohmme.” Their latest album, Fantasize Your Ghost, was released in June of 2020 and found the band featured in outlets such as Premier Guitar and Uncut with songs that capture more closely the band’s live show
Plus: METZ Live at the Opera House streams Oct. 15th and 17th.
October 9, 2020 - Atlas Vending, the new METZ album and the band’s most dynamic, dimensional, and compelling work of their career, is out today on Sub Pop.
“Atlas Vending is the sound of a band fully confident in itself and delivering their biggest and best work yet.” - Upset Magazine (UK)
In the hopes of capturing some of the inimitable spirit and connection offered by their unrivaled, high-energy live shows, METZ will livestream a performance of Atlas Vending in its entirety from The Opera House in Toronto. These livestreams will air in North & South America at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on October 15th, and on Oct 17th at 8 pm BST / 9 pm CEST / 8 pm AEST for those in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. You can purchase tickets and ticket bundles with LPs and merch for these shows by clicking here. METZ have also announced a 21-date European tour starting September 15, 2021. See below for a full list of dates, which are all on sale now.
After the stunning video for “A Boat to Drown In” that plays more like a short film, the gorgeous black & white cinematic clip for “Hail Taxi” and the ulterior universe created in the video for “Blind Youth Industrial Park”, today METZ unveil a quirky and light-hearted video for the next single from Atlas Vending, “No Ceiling.”
Vinyl LP orders through megamart.subpop.com, METZ’s merch store, and select independent retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser Edition on pearlescent grey and silver vinyl while supplies last. Vinyl preorders in the UK and Europe from select independent retailers will receive the Loser Edition on light rose-colored vinyl. A new Atlas Vending t-shirt design is available as well. And in Canada, Atlas Vending will be available from Royal Mountain Records.
METZ 2021 Tour Dates:
Sep. 15 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece Sep. 16 - Manchester, UK - YES Sep. 17 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo Sep. 18 - Blackpool, UK - Bootleg Social Sep. 19 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club Sep. 21 - Leicester, UK - 02 Academy Sep. 22 - London, UK - Scala Sep. 23 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store Sep. 24 - Paris, FR - Petit Bain Sep. 25 - Dudingen, CH - Bad Bonn Sep. 26 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F Sep. 27 - Lausanne, CH - Le Romandie at Les Docks Sep. 29 - Berlin, DE - Lido Sep. 30 - Leipzig, DE - UT Connewitz Oct. 01 - Hannover, DE - Glocksee Oct. 02 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen Oct. 04 - Hamburg, DE - Hafenklang Oct. 05 - Cologne, DE - Gebäude 9 Oct. 06 - Utrecht, NL - Tivoli Oct. 07 - Groningen, NL - Vera Oct. 08 - Antwerp, BE - Trix
Featuring Anne Hathaway, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Rick Springfield, Huey Lewis, Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), Vanessa Bayer, Tim Robinson, Susanna Hoffs, Patton Oswalt, Martha Kelly, and more.
Watch The Postal Service’s Benjamin Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis (with assistance from Sub Pop’s own “Dave”*) hold Zoom auditions for band members in this hilarious longform PSA for HeadCount’s “Make Your Vote Count” campaign from director Tom Scharpling (who directed 2013’s The Postal Service Auditions).
The cast of Postal Service hopefuls features: Anne Hathaway, Kenny G, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Rick Springfield, Huey Lewis, Frank Schøttendt (aka Tim Robinson), Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords), IRL Rosie, Vanessa Bayer, Susanna Hoffs, Patton Oswalt, Aparna Nancherla, Caroline Polachek, Michelle Zauner (of Japanese Breakfast), Tunde Adebimpe (of TV On The Radio), Ishmael Butler (of Shabazz Palaces), Denny Rock (aka Jon Wurster), Big Freedia, J Mascis, Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe, Walter Harris, and Ronnell Johnson, Kim Thayil, and Joe Wong.
*Please note: ”Dave” (aka Jon Daly, THE ACTOR) is not currently an employee of Sub Pop, has never been an employee of Sub Pop, and will never be an employee of Sub Pop (mostly because he won’t return our calls). Also many thanks to the wonderful actress Martha Kelly (and her cats) for her role as “Sheila, the HeadCount Representative”).
HeadCount has registered almost 400,000 voters for the 2020 election and ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. National Voter Registration Day 2020 was the most successful day in the history of the organization in terms of voters registered. This is the last week to register to vote in most states, and you can check your status and register to vote at https://www.headcount.org/make-your-vote-count/.
About HeadCount and the “Make Your Vote Count” campaign HeadCount is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes participation in democracy through music, culture, and digital media. The organization has registered over 350,000 voters for the 2020 election and worked with a long list of musicians and partners including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Dave Matthews Band, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, March for Our Lives, RuPaul’s DragCon, MTV, and Dead & Company. With 40,000 volunteers, street teams in most major U.S. cities, and presence at more than 1,000 events each year, HeadCount ranks as one of the most active grassroots civic participation organizations in the United States. Following COVID-19 restrictions, the organization quickly pivoted to an all-digital approach that led to innovation and online initiatives to fill the needs of the public in using their voices in democracy. For more information, visit HeadCount.org.
