It’s that time of year where we thank you for being the best customers imaginable in the world of music-buying peoples far and wide.
In an effort to show our unending appreciation of you, we’ll now attempt to coerce you into spending even more of your hard earned shekels with us this holiday season… by offering 20% off on all*Sub Pop Mega Mart orders over $25 starting today and going all the way ‘til 11:59 pm on January 2nd. Believe us when we say that we’ve got some of the best midsize-indie-record-label-branded merchandise your heart can handle, and we’d really love to sell it to you and your loved ones this holiday season. Knit hats, gloves, and sweaters? We’ve got ‘em. Things designed to make you sweat (like sweatshirts and sweatpants, gutterbrain)? We’ve got those too. Trinkets and trash? Enough for everyone! We’ve also got a slew of really exciting 2017 releases that you might have missed out on from bands like Sleater-Kinney, Bully, Downtown Boys, Shabazz Palaces, Beach House, The Afghan Whigs, Porter Ray, Iron & Wine and so much more.
All orders placed by December 18th are guaranteed to ship out before we close up shop for the year, so get your orders in early and often. Related to this impending warehouse closure, any orders placed between December 19th and January 2nd will not ship out until after we are back in the office on January 3rd.
Thank you in advance for your impending (wildly overzealous, we hope) gift buying spree.
Love, Sub Pop.
*All Current and future pre-orders from excellent artists like Mudhoney, Hot Snakes, Kyle Craft and Lomaare excluded from this 20% off sale. These items do, however, count towards reaching your $25 qualifying order total, so definitely pick those up too!
Now hear a live version of “Judgement, Rage, Retribution and Thyme”.
Recorded live during their 2016 European tour at shows in Germany, Croatia, Sweden, Austria, Norway, and Slovenia LiE is the first unlimited-edition, non-bootleg live Mudhoney album to date.
2018 marks Mudhoney’s 30th anniversary, and this release is a fitting start to a year that will also see the release of a new Mudhoney full-length. (!!!) This album’s 11 tracks span the band’s storied career, and include their live cover of Roxy Music’s “Editions of You.”
[Photo Credit: Vincent van Nes]
Mudhoney’s LiE will be available on vinyl LP and through digital service providers worldwide on January 19th, 2018 [preorder now here]. And, in lieu of a Sub Pop Loser Edition of LiE, a 500-piece, limited-edition of the LP, on heavy, milky clear vinyl with a bonus 7” single included (“Touch Me I’m Sick” b/w “Where the Flavor Is”), and different packaging will be available for pre-order right here, while supplies last. There will also be new Mudhoney t-shirts available at megamart.subpop.com and mudhoneyonline.com.
Side A 1. Fuzz Gun ‘91 (Primosten, Croatia - from Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) 2. Get Into Yours (Berlin, Germany - from Mudhoney) 3. Poisoned Water (Primosten, Croatia - from Tomorrow Hit Today) 4. The Final Course (Malmo, Sweden - from Vanishing Point) 5. What to Do With the Neutral (Malmo, Sweden - from Vanishing Point) 6. I’m Now (Malmo, Sweden - from The Lucky Ones)
Side B 7. Judgement, Rage,Retribution and Thyme (Vienna, Austria - fromMy Brother the Cow) 8. I Like It Small (Oslo, Norway - from Vanishing Point) 9. Suck You Dry (Malmo, Sweden - from Piece of Cake) 10. Editions of You (Ljubljana, Slovenia - from the “Butterfly Stroke” 7” and the March to Fuzz comp) 11. Broken Hands (Ljubljana, Slovenia - from Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge)
Walt Wagner’s Reworks – an album of renditions popularized by the likes of Band of Horses, DJ Shadow, My Bloody Valentine, Prince, Fleet Foxes, Phoenix, and more – is available now on CD / LP / DL worldwide from Sub Pop. The veteran pianist recorded the songs live on October 9th, 2016 at the famed Canlis Restaurant in Seattle, Washington [purchase here].
Charles Darwin said it best: adapt or die. Okay, maybe that’s not an exact quote, but the great English scientist was definitely on to something. Organisms that respond over time to the ever-changing environment are more likely to survive and thrive.
While you may not find this crazy idea in Junior’s textbooks these days, it’s audible in every facet of Walt Wagner’s Reworks. With its distinctive renditions of songs popularized by DJ Shadow, My Bloody Valentine, Fleet Foxes, and more, this live recording of the beloved pianist’s farewell performance shows how three Seattle institutions – Wagner, Canlis restaurant, and Sub Pop Records – have evolved over the years.
When veteran pianist Wagner first landed at Canlis in 1996, the Emerald City’s premiere destination for fine dining was in the midst of significant changes: a new chef, new uniforms, modifications to its iconic building overlooking Lake Union. That required a fresh approach to dinner music, too. “I knew what the status quo was, but the owners wanted new energy,” recalls Wagner.
Although he started out with a set heavy on the Great American Songbook and the occasional pop tune, that gradually gave way to more adaptations of modern fare. “Increasingly I kept working in more new, edgier music. In the beginning my sets were 90 percent standards. In the last few years, I was mostly playing very contemporary music.”
As young staff members recommended new artists and songs, Wagner’s repertoire grew deeper and more varied – especially after the next generation of the Canlis family took over in 2003. Yet whether the source material was Pink Floyd, Prince, Metallica, or the Weeknd, the challenge remained the same: “To distill the vibe on a record, the very essence of a song, into solo piano playing.” Performances as memorable yet tasteful as the cuisine, interiors, and views of Canlis [read more at Sub Pop].
Reworks
Tracklisting
1. Building Steam With a Grain of Salt (DJ Shadow) 2. I Only Said (My Bloody Valentine) 3. Desiree (The Left Banke) 4. Mykonos (Fleet Foxes) 5. 1901 (Phoenix) 6. Bondye (Goat) 7. No One’s Gonna Love You (Band of Horses) 8. Purple Rain (Prince) 9. The Funeral (Band of Horses) 10. Ever Fallen In Love (Buzzcocks)
Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop. A product of a joint pilgrimage around the globe by fellow touring musicians, it’s a beautifully detailed and emotionally rich album that reveals a band obsessed with songs as sound. Today, the trio presents the video for the album’s final song and lead single, “Black Willow.”
[Photo Credit: Bryan C. Parker]
Meiburg, Duszynski and Cross became friends when Cross Record, on their first-ever tour, supported Shearwater throughout America and Europe in 2016. “I couldn’t believe all that sound was coming out of two people,” he says. “They were mesmerizing.” In the van or at soundchecks, they shared their musical knowledge and love of nature and animals, and after an especially memorable show in Belgium, Meiburg approached Cross and Duszynski about working together. “I fell in love with their music,” he admits, “and I wanted to know how they did it.”
The trio convened in a house in the Texas hill country to see what would happen, and quickly realized an album was imminent. “There was something powerful about the combination of the three of us,” Meiburg says, “and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it.” For the next few months, Loma met for two weeks at a time, shaping and revising new songs and casting others away.
It was also a strangely charged time. When the album began, Cross and Duszynski were a married couple, but their relationship ended during the sessions—an atmosphere Meiburg found both challenging and inspiring—and the isolated house became the album’s muse. Dogs wander by the microphones; the sounds of birds and wind in junipers and live oaks hover at the borders of the songs, and a close listen reveals cicadas and frogs from a nearby stream. Except for Cross’s translucent voice in the foreground, there were no assigned roles on the album; each member of the trio played every instrument as needed.
This feeling of freedom let buried energies find expression. Cross wrung catharsis from Meiburg’s lyrics and melodies, while Duszynski immersed himself in the sonic details of engineering and mixing. In the end, the record became a document of an urgent and ephemeral place and time, and the strength that comes with letting go of something precious. It closes, fittingly, with the subtly defiant marching anthem of “Black Willow,” in which Cross’s voice, backed by a hypnotic bass and drums, offers a lesson in survival. “When I walk,” she sings, “I carry a diamond blade.” She means it.
The time is now to follow Loma everywhere in the known universe, on subpop.com and also Instagram | Twitter | Facebook.
Loma is now available for preorder from Sub Pop and select independent retailers right here. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last), and a lovely new t-shirt design will also be available.
Loma Tracklisting:
1. Who Is Speaking? 2. Dark Oscillations 3. Joy 4. I Don’t Want Children 5. Relay Runner 6. White Glass 7. Sundogs 8. Jornada 9. Shadow Relief 10. Black Willow
Dinner Party Download performance at The Moore Theatre in Seattle on Thursday, November 16th
Kyle Craft’s Full Circle Nightmare [preorder here], his highly anticipated second album, will be released worldwide on February 2nd, 2018 from Sub Pop. The 10-track album was produced by Chris Funk (of the Decemberists), with mixing by Trevor Spencer and the Helio Sequence’s Benjamin Weikel and Brandon Summers. Full Circle Nightmare is the follow up to Dolls of Highland, his acclaimed debut.
Album highlight “Heartbreak Junky” is the first offering (and cinematic lyric video) from Full Circle Nightmare. Directed by the One Hundred/Swanson Studio team, the visual brings an already vivid album cover to life.
The Full Circle Nightmare front and inside gatefold images were shot by brothers Peter and Laki Karavias. The cover art concept was born from an idea Craft had that incorporated imagery from the lyricism found throughout the album. “Once everyone all piled into the room, it took a different turn,’ Craft says. “Some of the lyrical elements stuck around on the cover and on the inside fold, but for the most part it just turned into a small party and my pals Peter and Laki caught some perfect moments.”
The Louisiana-bred, Portland, Oregon-based Craft has earned notices for his observational storytelling talents, his incredible stage performances, and his uniquely compelling voice. Since the release of Dolls of Highland, he and his band have toured the US multiple times, both as headliners and supporting the likes of Fruit Bats and Drive-By Truckers, and Kyle has made repeat guest appearances at Newport Folk Fest.
Between the extensive touring and working on Full Circle Nightmare, he’s delivered both new material (the politically-charged “Before the Wall”) and beautifully earnest covers (the recently-released Girl Crazy covers series; Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2”).
Full Circle Nightmare is a straight-up, rollicking rock’n’roll album; it traverses all the different nuances of the genre; it’s a timeless piece that could exist in any of the past five decades. All the songs were written over a year, and eventually, Craft took them into a studio run by Chris Funk. It was the first time he worked with a proper set-up. He was used to making all his music in his room with the aid of a laptop. “I always wanted to go to a legitimate studio and do what my all my old heroes did,” Craft says. “We did it live with the band.” The joy of the experience is palpable. It evokes a never-ending night out in a sweaty saloon bar: bottomless rounds, endless packs of cigarettes and hours dancing to the jukebox (read full bio at Sub Pop).
Full Circle Nightmare is now available for preorder from Sub Pop and select independent retailers [see here], and will be available in the following formats:
LP gatefold jacket with custom dust sleeve
CD digipack with poster insert
Cassette
Digital
North American preorders of the limited Loser edition will be available on maroon vinyl with a black swirl (while supplies last), and we also have a new T-shirt design with this release.
Kyle Craft has scheduled his first appearance in support of Full Circle Nightmare at the Dinner Party Download’s live event at Seattle’s Moore Theatre on Thursday, November 16th, 2017. For more information on tickets, please visit STG Presents website [link here]. Craft has also scheduled two Pacific Northwest week of release shows for 2018: Seattle’s Tractor Tavern on February 1st and Portland’s Doug Fir on February 2nd.
Nov. 16 - Seattle, WA - The Moore Theatre Feb. 01 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern Feb. 02 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
What “The People” have said about Kyle Craft: “Sounds like: A swamp bar jukebox loaded with British glitter and Seventies Southern rock; a crawfish boil aboard ELO’s spacecraft…it’s Craft’s vocal intensity that outlasts all else” - Rolling Stone
“His voice carries southern cadences, and his songs revolve around distinct characters and situations that could only be from that town by the Mississippi. But you also hear the influences of David Bowie, under whose spell Craft fell at a young age, and of Craft’s adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon.” - World Cafe
“…Craft’s music is so full of its own weird singularity that he’s onto something far beyond idol worship. “- Billboard
“His songs illustrate how the intense religiosity and voodoo-infused mythology of the South make it fertile turf for the sort of colorful characterization and freak-scenery on which glam rock was founded.” - Pitchfork
Craft displays the full prowess of his vocal range, hitting high notes that hark back to glam rock vocals of the ’70s” - American Songwriter
“…a head-turning mix, a sort of pop-art take on Southern gothic, and highly infectious.” - Uncut
“One of the most distinctive new voices in rock.” - SPIN
