With a handful of dark and rainy months still ahead of us, now’s
the time to curl up in front of the fire with a good book. Thanks to its
fruitful history and multi-talented roster, there is an abundance of books closely
tied to the Sub Pop family that rocks just as hard as your favorite TAD album.
Here are just a few of our preferred picks from here at the Sub Pop Airport Store!
Bruce Pavitt’s Sub
Pop USA: The Subterranean Pop Music
Anthology, 1980-1988 is a one-stop shop for everything you’d ever want
to know about the formation of Sub Pop, Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger
Makes Me a Modern Girl is a thoughtful and inspiring memoir
highlighting her experiences in Sleater-Kinney, while the graphic novel Black Hole by Charles Burns heavily
influenced La Luz’s most recent album Weirdo
Shine. (Additionally, Charles Burns contributed illustrations for Sub Pop
in our early days and is most visible on our Sub
Pop 200 compilation!)
To make your book reading experience even richer, we’ve
compiled the accompanying list of some of our favorite book and record pairings that will surely satisfy even the most ferocious appetite…
REAL NEWS: Sub Pop has signed the politically charged Downtown Boys to a universe-wide record deal! The Providence, RI-based band is currently at work on their label debut, which will be released later this year. While we wait for details on the new album, the band will play a series of U.S. tour dates beginning March 6th in Baltimore at Ottobar and ending March 24th in Brooklyn at Baby’s All Right.
Highlights for the tour include a series of shows at SXSW March 14-17. These dates are bookended by two stand-alone performances: February 3rd in Washington, DC at the Black Cat and a sold-out April 20th show at Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church. (Current tour dates listed below.
About Downtown Boys: Now that the United States has a despot instead of a president, Downtown Boys are that much more driven to use their anger and their joy to drill away at the walls of white supremacy’s brain. Based in Providence, RI, the band released their acclaimed debut album, Full Communism, in 2015, and they have been touring their powerful live show throughout North America and Europe since 2012. They bring an aggressive dissonance to make a harmonious message against the erasure of people of color, queer people, femmes, and those of us who have always been in the center of the pit whether you knew it or not.
The band is currently working with Greg Norman and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto on their second LP, and they join the countless people filling streets and airports around the country to loudly proclaim #NoBan, #NoRegistry, #FuckWhiteSupremacy.
“Those who still defend the supremacy of white male hetero-patriarchy had better watch out.” – Angela Davis, inauguration day speech, 2017.
Feb. 03 - Washington, DC - The Freedom Fair @ Black Cat* Mar. 06 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar** Mar. 07 - Raleigh, NC - Duke Coffeehouse** Mar. 08 - Nashville, TN - Third Man Records** Mar. 09 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia** Mar. 10 - Houston, TX - Walter’s** Mar. 11 - McAllen, TX - Yerberia Cultura** Mar. 13 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger** Mar. 14-17 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 18 - Dallas, TX - Not So Fun Weekend @ Club Dada # Mar. 19 - Hot Springs, AR - Valley of Vapors** Mar. 20 - Chattanooga, TN - JJ’s Bohemia** Mar. 21 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight** Mar. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Everybody Hits** Mar. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right** Apr. 20 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church [SOLD OUT]^
* w/ Two Inch Astronaut, Loi Loi, and Kosi & Free Thyme ** w/ Sneaks # w/ Chastity Belt, Weaves, and Flasher ^ w/ Paint It Black, Praise, Gouge Away, and Soul Glo
Father John Misty’s “Ballad of the Dying Man” is the gorgeous new single and standout from Pure Comedy, his forthcoming third album.
As it also happens, Beats 1’s Zane Lowe just named “Ballad of the Dying Man” his “World Record” on today’s show. Tune in later this morning (10amPST) to hear the track, as well as the first installment of Tillman’s two-part interview with Lowe, where they discuss the making of the album [link here].
“Ballad of the Dying Man” follows the release of “Pure Comedy,” the prescient title track released late last month, a surreal, 30-minute film about the making of the album, and the thought provoking “Two Wildly Different Perspectives”, earlier this week.
Pure Comedy’s front/back covers and gatefold feature a gargantuan original piece (his first ever commission of its kind) by Ed Steed (The New Yorker) and cover variations for the standard LP and CD will be randomly distributed. Collect them all! Please!
A Deluxe 2xLP version on aluminum & copper vinyl, a die-cut customizable jacket with 4 interactive “background” sleeves (so you can have whatever sky you damn well feel like as the cover), all encased in a clear slipcase. Includes a fold-out poster and an exclusive holographic tarot card by Ed Steed.
A 2xLP gatefold version also available in 4 cover variations on black vinyl
A CD gatefold digipak with slipcase available in 4 cover variations
Digital
Cassette
TAKE NOTE: LP orders through Father John Misty’s Official Store, megamart.subpop.com, Bella Union and select independent retailers will receive a limited 7” single featuring the first physical release of fan favorite “Real Love Baby” on the A-side and the as yet unreleased track, “Rejected Generic Pop Song, March ‘15 #3” on the B-side (while supplies last). A new t-shirt design will be available from Sub Pop (white or black) and Bella Union, in addition to a new line of merch from Father John Misty’s online store.
[Photo Credit: Guy Lowndes]
Read some (well, a veritable fuck ton) words from Josh over here, then follow him just about everywhere in the universe via Facebook.
Friends don’t let friends miss out on Beach House news, so here’s something you can (and really should) shout from your figurative and/or literal rooftops: Beach House has scheduled a series of 2017 international headlining and festival tour dates which span March 29th through August 18th - tickets for US headlining dates go on sale Friday at 10am EST. Eastern US dates will include stops in Wilmington, Lancaster, Charlotte, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Athens, and Knoxville. European cities currently include stops in Copenhagen and Parades de Coura, Portugal. (List of dates is below.)
Beach House will also appear at the Ceremonia Festival near Mexico City on April 1st and New York’s Governors Ball on June 2nd.
You might also be delighted to know that Beach House is currently at work on a rarities and B-sides compilation that will be released during the first half of 2017. So stay tuned, dear reader…
Mar. 29 - Wilmington, DE - World Cafe Live Mar. 30 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club Apr. 01 - Mexico City, MX - Ceremonia Festival May 24 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre May 26 - Orlando, FL - Beacham Theatre May 27 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - The Revolution May 28 - Ponte Vedra, FL - Ponte Vedra Concert Hall May 30 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre May 31 - Knoxville, TN - Mill & Mine Jun. 02 - New York, NY - Governor’s Ball Aug. 11 - Copenhagen, DK - Haven Aug. 18 - Parades de Coura, PT - Parades de Coura Festival
Collective hearts here at Sub Pop HQ swell with pride today, as we’re thrilled to announce Father John Misty’s Pure Comedy - the highly anticipated follow-up to his internationally acclaimed album, I Love You, Honeybear - will hit store shelves the world over on Friday, April 7th.
Since 2012, Father John Misty aka Josh Tillman has unexpectedly emerged as a singular (if not undeniably, um, idiosyncratic) voice. Whether by virtue of his lyrics, which routinely defy the presumed polarities of wit and empathy; his live performances which may perhaps be described best as “intimately berzerk,” or the infuriating line he seems to occupy between canny and total fraud online or in interviews, Father John Misty has cultivated a rare space for himself in the musical landscape - that of a real enigma. Pure Comedy sees Tillman at the height of these powers: as a lyricist, and equally so a cultural observer - at times bordering on freakishly prescient. Tillman’s bent critiques, bared humanity and gently warped classic songwriting are all here in equal measure and - at 75 minutes - there’s a veritable fuck ton of it. The album navigates themes of progress, technology, fame, the environment, politics, aging, social media, human nature, human connection and his own role in it all with his usual candor, and in terms as timely as they are timeless.
Tillman wrote the majority of Pure Comedy throughout 2015 and recorded all the basic tracking and vocals live to tape (in no more than two takes each) at United Studios (fka the legendary Ocean Way Studios, favored by Frank Sinatra and The Beach Boys) in Los Angeles March 2016. Album highlights include the title track alongside standouts “Leaving LA,” “Total Entertainment Forever,” “Ballad of the Dying Man,” “When The God Of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell To Pay” and “Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before The Revolution”.
Pure Comedy was co-produced once again by Josh Tillman and long-time producer Jonathan Wilson; mixed by Tillman, Wilson and Trevor Spencer, and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios. The album features string, horn and choral arrangements from classical iconoclast Gavin Bryars (Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet, Sinking Of The Titanic), with additional contributions from Nico Muhly and Thomas Bartlett.
Pure Comedy’s front/back covers and gatefold feature a gargantuan original piece (his first ever commission of its kind) by Ed Steed (The New Yorker) and cover variations for the standard LP and CD will be randomly distributed. Collect them all! Please!
A Deluxe 2xLP version on aluminum & copper vinyl, a die-cut customizable jacket with 4 interactive “background” sleeves (so you can have whatever sky you damn well feel like as the cover), all encased in a clear slipcase. Includes a fold-out poster and an exclusive holographic tarot card by Ed Steed.
A 2xLP gatefold version also available in 4 cover variations on black vinyl
A CD gatefold digipak with slipcase available in 4 cover variations
Digital
Cassette
TAKE NOTE: LP orders through Father John Misty’s Official Store, megamart.subpop.com, Bella Union and select independent retailers will receive a limited 7” single featuring the first physical release of fan favorite “Real Love Baby” on the A-side and the as yet unreleased track, “Rejected Generic Pop Song, March ‘15 #3” on the B-side (while supplies last). A new t-shirt design will be available from Sub Pop and Bella Union, in addition to a new line of merch from Father John Misty’s online store.
Pure Comedy Tracklisting: 1. Pure Comedy 2. Total Entertainment Forever 3. Things it Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution 4. Ballad of the Dying Man 5. Birdie 6. Leaving LA 7. A Bigger Paper Bag 8. When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay 9. Smoochie 10. Two Wildly Different Perspectives 11. The Memo 12. So I’m Growing Old on Magic Mountain 13. In Twenty Years or So
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Tillman and Grant James (“Funtimes in Babylon,” “I Love You, Honeybear”) also co-directed Pure Comedy: The Film. Pure Comedy is a gorgeously rendered black & white document of the live tracking, as well as a surreal look into Tillman’s writing process. A six-person crew, complete with cranes in the tracking rooms, captured every moment of the recording, giving the viewer intimate audience to actual album takes, including the one and only 2:00am performance of the 13-minute “Leaving LA.” It also features the only known recording of Tillman’s love ballad to his sound engineer Trevor Spencer. The 30-minute film is available for viewing now at Father John Misty’s new website.
Father John Misty’s first live appearance in support of Pure Comedy will be on the Coachella mainstage, Fridays April 14th, and 21st.
[Photo Credit: Guy Lowndes]
Read some (well, a veritable fuck ton) words from Josh over here, then follow him just about everywhere in the universe via Facebook.
