Daughn Gibson’s Carnation
is available now on CD / LP / DL in North America from your friends in the music business, Sub Pop Records. Conveniently enough for fans and newcomers alike, a brand-new Daughn Gibson official video for “Daddy I Cut My Hair” is also available as of today and was directed by the talented Matt
Amato.
Carnation, featuring the highlights “Shatter You Through,”
“Bled to Death,” “It Wants Everything,” and “Daddy I Cut My Hair,” was
co-produced by Gibson and Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Tim Hecker),
recorded at Avast Studios in Seattle, Washington and mastered by Jason
Ward at Chicago Mastering.
The new albumalso features guest appearances from
composer/violinist to Eyvind Kang (string arrangements), renowned studio
drummer Matt Chamberlain, as well as Gibson’s long-standing musical
conspirator, Jim Elkington. Additional contributions include: Steve
Moore (Piano, Trombone, Keyboards and Synths); Milky Burgess, Paul
Wegman, and Jer Rouse (Guitars); Skerik (Saxophone); and Jay Kardong
(Pedal Steel). Carnation is the follow up to Me Moan, Daughn Gibson’s Sub Pop debut.
North American purchases of Carnation are available through Sub
Pop Mega Mart,iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp. Fans who purchase the album
from us at our MegaMart store will receive the Loser Edition on white, black
and blue swirl colored vinyl (while supplies last only).
What people are saying about Daughn Gibson:
“Singular and unsettlingly sophisticated.” [8/10] - Uncut
“Carnation,
with hindsight in its favor, gives Gibson the ability to keep on
stretching his narratives, but it also wisely pomades some of his
wildest hairs. The country urges are tamped down to the occasional
guitar line and qualities of Gibson’s singing voice, giving the music a
chance to open up to breezier vistas. These are mostly pitched between
Tangerine Dream’s ’80s material and soundtracks, Sylvian/Japan, Danny
Elfman and ’80s radio pop groups like a-ha, a mixture of influences and
ideas that’s remarkably compelling when set against such visceral
tales…Across all three records, and on this one in particular, there’s
a reach of ambition that never gets mired in artifice or
inconsistencies; this is surprising, complex music that deals with
stories difficult to tell outside the printed page. Gibson leads
listeners through them on the rumble seat, without so much as a lap belt
or handhold to keep us steady.” [“First Listen”] - NPR Music
“Another weirdly fitting edition to Gibson’s sonic smorgasboard.” - Time Out London
“Carnation hears Gibson veering away from his earlier country
influences and embracing “ambient textures,” creating an elegant, dark,
and cinematic collection of songs…In addition to delivering brooding
beats and eerie soundscapes, Gibson uses his deep, theatrical style of
singing to explore serious themes like mental health (“Daddy I Cut My
Hair”) and masculinity (“A Rope Ain’t Enough”), as well as the simpler
things in life, like the moment an alarm clock wakes you from the peace
of sleep on lead single “Shatter You Through” - Exclaim!
“Gibson finally sounds the part.” [4/5] - MOJO
“Its brisk metropolitan midnight pop accented by eerie violin and
honky-tonk guitar and topped off with Gibson’s death bellow. He spins a
story about being jarred from peaceful sleep into dreadful waking life;
it’s as odd as anything he’s committed to tape, but it’s also his most
instantly appealing single yet.” [“Shatter You Through”, Carnation] - Stereogum
“Quite possibly his catchiest work to date, the titillating track is
marked by groovy bass, twangy guitar, and Gibson’s rich baritone.”
[“Shatter You Through”, Carnation] - Consequence of Sound
“A brisk, impressive new track with swift strings, tinkling piano keys,
and a quick-paced Gibson demonstrating a keen grasp on pop’s best
offerings…The future is here and now, and it’s on repeat.”
[“Shatter You Through”, Carnation] - FLOOD
The Helio Sequence is out now on CD/LP/DL worldwide and can be purcahsed in fine record stores near you as well as online retailers such as Sub Pop Mega Mart,
iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp. Worth noting, however, is that while supplies last, customers who purchase the LP version
of the album from megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited “Loser Edition” on yellow-colored vinyl.
Additionally, The Helio Sequence’s US tour will resume on June 3rd in Boise, ID at Neurolux and will run through October 1st in Spokane, WA at INB Performing Arts Center. The Helio Sequence will be direct support for Death Cab For Cutie on Sep. 30th & Oct. 1st . Get the complete list of tour dates below.
What people are saying about The Helio Sequence:
“The Helio Sequence has created a euphoric, career-defining album.” [9.2 / 10] - PASTE
“…The duo’s latest is an ambitious, smart, and memorable collection of crisply produced clean-channel rock that shows all the newcomers how it’s done.” [8/10] - FLOOD
“”Stoic Resemblance” matches harmonious psychedelic chorus with a brisk krautrock pulse.” - Stereogum
“”Stoic Resemblance” is among the most pop-friendly things the duo have put to tape. Of course, “pop-friendly” to The Helio Sequence takes the shape of more direct song structures and vocal hooks. Naturally, it’s all filtered through their signature kaleidoscopic filter, hitting a chord somewhere between gauzy and taut. At a tight three minutes, “Stoic Resemblance” shows The Helio Sequence at their most spontaneous and their most playful, which is not only a surprise turn from the studio-intense direction that’s long defined them with surprisingly fun results.” [Song of the Day] - KEXP
“It’s a hit of catchy goodness with a funky bassline with a chorus of “oh na na nas.” It’s a bonafide jam.” [“Stoic Resemblance”] - KCRW
“A rager by comparison, rhythmically reminiscent of Beck…It’s great to find the Helio Sequence upping their game, and being a little less stoic.” [“Stoic Resemblance”] - Buzzbands
Tour Dates Jun. 03 - Boise, ID - Neurolux Jun. 04 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge Jun. 05 - Denver, CO- Larimer Lounge Jun. 06 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar Jun. 08 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Jun 09 - Austin, TX - RED 7 Jun. 10 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald’s Jun. 11 - New Orleans, LA - Gassa Gassa Jun. 12 - Birmingham, AL - The Saturn Jun. 13 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn Jun. 14 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle Jun. 16 - Washington DC - Black Cat Jun. 17 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade Jun. 18 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge Jun. 19 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle Jun. 20 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall Jun. 21 - Hamden, CT - Outerspace Ballroom Jun. 23 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern Jun. 24 - Columbus, OH - The Basement Jun. 25 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle Jun. 26 - Madison, WI - The Frequency Jun. 27- St. Paul, MN - Turf Club Jun. 28th - Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jul. 09 - Vancouver, BC - Venue July 11 - Seattle, WA - The Neptune Jul. 14 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent Jul. 15 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy Jul. 16 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Jul. 17 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah Jul. 18 - Visalia, CA - Cellar Door Aug. 23 - Portland, OR- MusicFestNW Sep. 30 - Missoula, MT - Adams Event Center* Oct. 01 - Spokane, WA - INB Performing Arts Center* * w/ Death Cab For Cutie
No Fly List: Notes from Sub Pop’s Airport Store, May 2015
What I Haven’t Learned After One Year at the Airport Store
After reading the general manager’s write-up of the airport store on our 1 year anniversary, I was naturally revolted by all of the praise and felt compelled to undercut any inflated expectations about our humble retail operation. Despite the label’s best efforts to indoctrinate me in all-things Sub Pop, and foster excellent customer-service skills amongst the retail staff, I still feel like I’m mostly fumbling my way around. So, without further ado, here are some things I still haven’t mastered after working for a year at the Sub Pop Airport store*:
Snappy comebacks to any of the following FAQs:
I. What is SUB POP?
II. What does SUB POP stand for?
III. Is that VINYL back there?
My best answers:
I. Sub Pop is a record label that started in 1988, in Seattle, Washington. Fast forward 26 years, and many illicit ingested substances later, they got the harebrained idea to open a store in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
II. Sub Pop is an initialism for Superior Unique Bro-fessionals Pursuing Overwhelming Profits.
III. No, those are wall calendars. All for the year 2015, but reusable in 2026!
Coherent music recommendations: Working at a record store in an airport means interacting with people from all over the world, with all different kinds of music tastes. On occasion, I am asked to help someone find music in our store that sounds like “viola-fusion,” “cabaret,” or “Dire Straits.” My answer for any and all requests is usually Goat. All roads in music lead to Goat.
Playing along when a customer decides to “stump the millennial sales clerk”: No, I don’t know the location of the Sub Pop recording studio, nor do I know the name of your best friend’s cousin’s neighbor who totally played bass in Soundgarden back in the day. Take your Mudhoney shirt and leave me alone!
Knowing what size t-shirt your child/spouse/sibling wears: It’s probably for the best that I don’t know intimate details about your family members who I’ve never met before. Just sayin’.
Reacting to all the enthusiasm in the store: The majority of people who visit the store (and are at least somewhat familiar with Sub Pop) are usually blown away and ecstatic to find our outpost at the airport. It is super gratifying/humbling/inspiring to see this response, and it often makes my face hurt.
*Let me reiterate that I’m speaking entirely about myself here. The rest of my colleagues are professionals who routinely show their expertise in the store, and I hope you interact with any one of them during your next visit.
WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING RESUMES FOR THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR POSITION.
Sub Pop Records: Digital Communications Coordinator
Overview Sub
Pop Records is currently looking for a new Digital Communications
Coordinator, working here in the label’s Seattle headquarters. This is
an important role within the company with responsibility for maintaining
and growing our social media presence and managing direct-to-fan
communications. This person will work closely with marketing and sales
staff and the Director of the Digital Communications department.
Our
ideal candidate for our growing Digital Communications department is an
enthusiastic, creative and skilled social media manager and content
producer who has a solid understanding of social media marketing and
online communities, the artists and music represented by Sub Pop and how
best to serve them and their fans in this digital environment. This
person must have excellent written and overall communication skills and
an appreciation for how to continue to develop and expand the Sub Pop
voice within each unique social platform. A thorough understanding of
social media campaigns and a drive for creating and sharing engaging
content and recognizing new opportunities is essential. The ability to
work well as a member of the Digital Communications and larger marketing
and sales teams, representing the priorities of each is crucial as
well.
The closing date to apply for this position is Monday, May 25th.
Summary Social Media and direct-to-fan communications Communication & Reporting
Responsibilities Social media and direct-to-fan communications
Manage
the social media efforts on behalf of Sub Pop Records to increase
awareness of our releases, bands and the Sub Pop brand, and maintain
regular communication on social channels for customer service
opportunities, general fan interaction and identifying trends.
Develop
our growing email list and in coordination with Sub Pop’s Mega Mart
(ecommerce) priorities write and deliver a bi-weekly newsletter to this
list, with the goal of growing direct-to-consumer sales as well as
artist and brand awareness.
Schedule, organize and
execute direct-to-fan communications, and create and distribute
marketing assets on behalf of the label and its bands within a shared
Digital Communications editorial calendar.
Monitor and
effectively leverage ever-changing social media tools; stay current with
best practices and tools and evolve different strategies as
appropriate.
Address social media challenges and suggest solutions.
Communication and reporting
Work in partnership with the Director of Digital Communications and marketing staff as a whole.
Attend weekly marketing and departmental meetings to evaluate emerging opportunities and report on current projects.
Track
and and report on digital analytics and effectively convey these
findings in department and marketing staff weekly meetings, and at
semiannual meetings.
Responsible for all updating and maintenance of project reports; identify new needs for additional reporting and stats.
Work
with Director to help evolve strategies and determine best metrics to
measure and report the results of social media initiatives for Sub Pop
and our bands.
Attend relevant conferences and maintain
and develop contacts with all relative platforms and services, such as
Facebook and Twitter.
Work with and help educate marketing staff on emerging social media technologies and industry best practices.
Skills & Experience
3-5 years experience overseeing and developing content for a lifestyle or entertainment brand.
Thorough
knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest
(and more) and integration of tools and third-party applications, such
as Hootsuite.
Advanced computer skills required; strong
technical skills preferred; aptitude with the usual suite of current
office software and tools are all expected.
Data, analytics, and metrics oriented; strong analytical and quantitative skills.
Ability
to create and manipulate images and video for use online &
familiarity with basic editing programs required; specific
experience/background in graphic design, multimedia, video production
and all relevant software (Adobe Creative Suite, Pro Tools, Final Cut,
etc) preferred.
Must be highly motivated and organized
self-starter with the ability to multitask and communicate clearly and
effectively to large and small groups alike and interpersonally as well.
A creative thinker with the ability to work well both independently and
as part of team to see tasks through to completion.
Supervisor: Director of Digital Communications
Please send all resumes and cover letters to jobs@subpop.com
Melbourne’s Deaf Wish will release Pain, their first full-length album for Sub Pop, on CD/LP/DL worldwide August 7th.
The album, featuring the highlights “Eyes Closed,” “On,” “Calypso,” and
the title track, was recorded & produced by the band at Reservoir,
Victoria, mixed by Mikey Young and mastered by April Golden at Golden
Mastering. Pain is the follow up to their label debut, the 4-song St. Vincent’s 7” single, released last October.
You can now listen to “Eyes Closed” via Stereogum, who say the track: ““Eyes
Closed” initiates with the sound of off-white noise, a fragile rumble
that opens the track’s seams and makes room for it to grow into
something much more sinister. The song is an exploration of various
tiers of dreaming consciousness: “I’m not awake, I’ve got my eyes
closed/ I’m sleepwalking, with my eyes closed.”…There’s a certain sense
of spontaneity to this debut single, suggesting that Deaf Wish formulate
their songs in short, sharp moments of inspiration (see song premiere May 12th).”
Pain is now available for preorder from Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com
will receive the limited Loser edition on clear, black marbled vinyl
(while supplies last). There will also be a new T-shirt design,
available individually and as part of a bundle with purchase of the new
record.
About Deaf Wish:
When Deaf Wish found themselves in a room together for the very first
time, they agreed on a guiding philosophy: “Let’s not make anything
that’s going to last. If we’re together for just two shows, then that’s
what it is.”
They’ve deviated some.
Over the course of eight years, the Melbourne foursome—bassist Nick
Pratt, drummer Daniel Twomey and guitarists Sarah Hardiman and Jensen
Tjhung, with each member contributing vocals—have instead amassed one of
rock’s most exhilarating bodies of work, a concise run of wooly
seven-inches and white-knuckle LPs whose legendary live translation has
been most accurately described as “unhinged.” All this despite their
being scattered across multiple continents, with no way of getting to
know one another outside of intermittent touring. “We didn’t really know
what this band was,” Tjhung says. “We had something, but it wasn’t
clear—we had to figure out what that was.”
This year marks the arrival of Pain, the first they’ve written
since coming together again semi-permanently in Melbourne, and their
appropriately titled first full-length for Sub Pop. (Last October’s St. Vincent
EP was their proper Sub Pop debut.) It is a miraculously dissonant,
wonderfully immediate display of Deaf Wish at their mightiest, alive
with the same wild chemistry and sense of possibility that made their
first recordings so vital. With more time together than they’ve ever had
before, they’re found themselves confronted with ideal (yet foreign)
conditions. Two-minute freakouts like “Eyes Closed” share airspace with
the meditate squall of “On” and the guitar-born majesty of “Calypso.”
Everything was captured in three takes or less, in a bleak, nondescript
studio on the lifeless outskirts of Melbourne.
“It’s a simple thing,” Tjhung says of their approach. “Simple takes the
worry out of it. If we try to step it up and go sideways, it just
doesn’t seem to work. But we’ve grown up and been through some shit. To
get to this point you have to bust through a few walls. It’s easy to be
new, and I think, in the end, this is what it is. When you put these
people in the room, it’s Deaf Wish (read bio at Sub Pop).”
