Posts Tagged ‘Sub Pop Records’

LOMA – ” Don’t Shy Away “

Posted: October 10, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Loma are releasing a new album, “Don’t Shy Away”, on October 23rd via Sub Pop Records. This week they shared another song from it, “Elliptical Days,” via a video. Loma consists of Shearwater singer Jonathan Meiburg, alongside Emily Cross (of Cross Record) and Dan Duszynski. Cross and Duszynski directed the video (filming it in Dripping Springs, Texas). Cross had this to say about the song in a press release: “‘Elliptical Days’ was one of those songs that was pretty well fleshed out by Dan and Jonathan by the time I heard it. I loved how different it sounded from what we usually make together, but it was somehow still in the Loma realm and the horn arrangement made it really special for me.

Meiburg adds: “The horn session for Don’t Shy Away was one of the most exciting moments in making the record. They drove out to the studio one evening and blew their hearts out for three hours, without hearing any of the songs beforehand. I think they left feeling a bit confused about what kind of record this was, but they were really good sports about it.”

Duszynski also adds: “I started ‘Elliptical Days’ as a sketch in Ableton- an exercise to learn the software and dig through some synth sounds. Jonathan heard me messing with it and walked into the control room asking, ‘Can we use this?’ The song really came to life as he and our good friend (and touring Loman) Emily Lee started overdubbing piano and koto parts—and as usual, our collaboration transcended what any of us could do alone.”

Don’t Shy Away is the follow-up to the band’s self-titled debut album, released back in February 2018 via Sub Pop. One song from Don’t Shy Away, “Homing,” was produced by Brian Eno. The album features “Half Silences,” a new song the band shared in April 2019 via a music video. When the album was announced they shared another song from it, “Ocotillo,” via a lyric video. Then in September they shared two new songs from it, title track “Don’t Shy Away” and “I Fix My Gaze,”

“Don’t Shy Away” Release Date: 10/23/2020 on Sub Pop Records.

L7 – ” Smell the Magic ” 30th Anniversary Edition

Posted: September 22, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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On Friday, September 18th, 2020, Sub Pop will release L7’s “Smell the Magic:” 30th Anniversary Edition, the fiery, American grunge pioneers’ second album. L7 were formed by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner in 1985 Of their meeting and on hearing Gardner play a tape of her songs in progress, Sparks described it as “one of the happiest days of my life” with a clear synchronicity in the music they were each interested in creating. At the time, Gardner was also active as a poet. The punk rock duo brought Jennifer Finch on board as bass guitarist and Anne Anderson on drums.

This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in 1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal, to name a few. L7 fit into none of them, creating their own unique blend of punk and hard, hooky rock loaded with humour and cultural commentary. Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.

But making a mark on the LA underground rock scene was more challenging than it seemed.
Originating out of art punk circles in 1985, L7 played countless poetry readings, drag shows, art happenings and punk rock dive bars. They were nothing short of perseverant.

Having already released one album, eponymously titled, L7, the band was touring up the West Coast when they began to meet like minded artists affiliated with Sub Pop Records. The band managed to score a phone number for the imprint, and convinced label founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman to come see them live.

That show would take place a couple of weeks later in 1989 at an arts center in Seattle. The stage was finagled out of folding tables, and friends recruited to work a smoke machine (members of the group Cat Butt) decided to drop acid before attending to their duties. This led to a thick fog filling the entire venue and the band’s performance could hardly even be seen. L7 were convinced they blew it. Instead, they got signed: Sub Pop may not have been able to see them, yet, but they could hear them and asked if L7 would do a recording for their monthly Singles Club.

Later in the year, the band went into the label’s go-to studio in Seattle, Reciprocal Recording and in one day recorded “Shove,” “Packin’ a Rod,” and “Fast and Frightening.”

Released in January, the single’s A-side “Shove” would kick off the 1990’s with a bang and L7 would have an underground hit on their hands.

The band was then given the go ahead to record a full EP. The buzz from their Sub Pop’s Singles Club release was almost immediately palpable.

A few months after “Shove,” L7 continued with recording the EP—later expanded into a full-length album with three cover songs (“Packin’ a Rod,” “Just Like Me,” and “American Society”). They recorded again with Reciprocal’s producer, Jack Endino, and later Michael James and Ramones-producer Daniel Rey in Los Angeles.

This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic Smell the Magic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.

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This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic Smell The Magic (which originally came out as a six-track 12″/nine-track CD) includes all nine songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time. A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in 1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal, to name a few. L7 fit into none of them, creating their own unique blend of punk and hard, hooky rock loaded with humor and cultural commentary. Originally released in 1990, Smell The Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.

“Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition” is now available from Sub Pop. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with high melt orange, blue, and grey vinyl.

Releases September 18th, 2020 Sub Pop Records

MARIKA HACKMAN – ” Covers “

Posted: September 15, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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During the extended stay-at-home order of the last few months, Marika Hackman felt that creating a covers record was a way of exploring new sound ideas and expressing herself without having the pressure of the blank page. She recorded and produced “Covers” between home and her parents’ house, then got the legendary David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, Let’s Eat Grandma) to mix it. David also co-produced her excellent 2019 record Any Human Friend. In contrast to her last two albums (including 2017’s I’m Not Your Man), this collection of songs is more akin in tone and feel to her debut We Slept At Last, with a darker and more introspective sound. On Covers, we hear Marika’s emotive voice set against sparse arrangements of guitars and strings with the occasional synth or scattered drum groove.

Breathing new life into the songs she’s chosen, Marika reimagines work by some of the world’s most beloved artists such as Radiohead, Grimes and Elliott Smith. It’s a suitably varied collection, but Marika’s intimate delivery and soft, nuanced and atmospheric touch to production, thread them all together effortlessly.

Marika explains how she came to choose the material: “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.”

First single “Realiti” is a stripped back piano and guitar based version of the Grimes classic from her most celebrated album Art Angels. Marika’s take is a total reinvention and yet it feels wholly her own. Muna’s “Pink Light” from their 2019 record Saves The World is a slice of dark pop, reminiscent of The Cure. In Marika’s hands, it’s a remarkably seamless switch-up to convert these into slower, brooding soft jams. Marika’s version of Air’s “Playground Love” is one of the highlights, taken from the soundtrack the group composed for Sofia Coppola’s coming of age The Virgin Suicides, the result being a moodier, disorientating reworking of a classic modern moment.

Final track “All Night” sees Marika tackling one of the standouts from Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated Lemonade. Again, Marika flips the song on its head. Joined by a choir of stacked vocal harmonies, Marika’s voice transcends to conjure a deep emotional resonance.

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Adventurous and versatile, Covers continues Marika’s lineage in turning each body of work into a new take and perspective on her creative vision. She twists and turns, always surprises, and is never afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve. It remains anyone’s guess to imagine where she will head next.

Releases November 13th, 2020

2020 Sub Pop Records

METZ – ” Atlas Vending “

Posted: August 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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METZ

Metz shared the video for the second single off Atlas Vending, “Hail Taxi.” If Metz’s current mission is to mirror the inevitable struggles of adulthood, they’ve successfully managed to tap into the conflicted relationship between rebellion and revelry with the song’s tactics of offsetting their signature bombast with anthemic melodic resolutions. “‘Hail Taxi’ is about looking back. The lyrics deal with the idea of reconciling or coming to terms with who you were and who you’ve become,” shares frontman Alex Edkins. The stunning video, directed by A.F. Cortes, heightens these themes and expertly captures the same intensity as the alternately brutal verses and beguiling choruses of “Hail Taxi.” Of the video, Cortes says, “I wanted to tell a simple story that captures the song’s overarching theme. The idea of longing for the past creates many visual motifs and I wanted to create a piece that feels timeless and conveys a sense of isolation, highlighting that while we can hide our feelings, we can’t run from them.”

Check out the stunning video for “Blind Youth Industrial Park,” the latest track from Atlas Vending. The beautifully dystopian video depicts a woman dragging an injured companion on a stretcher through an alien landscape as the pair are tracked by a squad of armed soldiers, and provides sharp contrast to the song, which is an ode to the naivety of youth and the freedom of being unburdened by the world around you.

Shot in Queenstown, on the South Island of New Zealand, “Blind Youth Industrial Park” was directed by Dylan Pharazyn. Here’s Pharazyn on his inspiration for the video: “I started thinking of the feeling of war or samurai films, beautiful but dark and violent… but then I had this idea to work up a more unique world… I started to think of a more futuristic setting — more unusual and dream-like with the story set on a distant planet where there is future technology and some kind of alien magic… like a futuristic fable. I loved the idea of the hero Ayeth on this nomadic walk through an epic landscape… I loved the strength in her and the pairing of her with a wounded companion, something really human and vulnerable… I wanted that emotive warmth countering the cold military images.”

Atlas Vending, the band’s most dynamic, dimensional, and compelling work of their career will be released on October 9th. Bolstered by the co-production of Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and the engineering and mixing skills of Seth Manchester (Daughters, Lingua Ignota, The Body) at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Atlas Vending, the band’s fourth full-length album, sounds massive, articulate, and earnest.

Preorders of Atlas Vending are now available from Sub Pop Records.

“Hail Taxi” by METZ from their album Atlas Vending (Release Date: 10/09/2020)

“Change is inevitable if you’re lucky,” according to Metz frontman and principal songwriter Alex Edkins. And there’s no doubt that the music composed by the Toronto trio is difficult to pin to a specific genre, constantly moving, growing and changing with each album.

“I think what I was trying to say is when you’ve been working with the same people for as long as we have and you’ve been doing music together, it’s easy to get stuck in conventions and ruts and not progress,” he reveals. “I think this record, more than any for us, is something that feels like a really nice progression into new territory. It’s still very much us. We didn’t intentionally set out to change who we are or what we sound like, but I think the production and the songwriting have taken it to a new spot that we’re really proud of.”

Despite being written and recorded prior to the global pandemic, Atlas Vending feels immediate in its response to 2020, clearly poised to attack its themes of social anxiety, isolation and paranoia caused by modern media head on. “Songs like Pulse, and songs like The Mirror, are just so connected to how I’m feeling right now,” Edkins admits, coyly. “It’s [COVID-19] truly shifting the meaning of a lot of the songs for me at least, and I don’t know how people will perceive it. But that’s kind of all you hope, that people take it in, they work it through their situation and maybe it will connect to where they’re at.”

FATHER JOHN MISTY – ” To S. b/w To R. “

Posted: August 17, 2020 in MUSIC
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Father John Misty’s “To S.” b/w “To R.” is the singer’s double A-side contribution to Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5, and his first new, original, studio material since his acclaimed 4th album, 2018’s “God’s Favorite Customer”. These gorgeous, meticulously rendered tunes were recorded at Fivestar Studios and Funky Monkey Soundhaus NoHo in Los Angeles, produced by Dave Cerminara and The Haxan Cloak, mixed by Cerminara, and mastered by Adan Ayan at Gateway Mastering.

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“To S.” and “To R.” follows Father John Misty’s “Off-Key In Hamburg”, his first live album, released in March of 2020, and Anthem +3, a collection of covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, and Link Wray was released July 2020. Combined, Off-Key In Hamburg and Anthem +3 raised over $100,000 for multiple causes including The Recording Academy’s MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, CARE Action and Ground Game LA. Father John Misty is also selling his infamous “Poem Zone” t-shirt via his official webstore, with August proceeds from the store benefitting his touring crew.

Released August 17th, 2020

2020 Sub Pop Records

LOMA – ” Don’t Shy Away “

Posted: August 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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LOMA is Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski and Jonathan Meiburg. We met on tour and made a secret pact to start a band together. Then we made an eerie and beautiful album way out in the country in Texas. Then, we made another. Don’t Shy Away comes out 10/23/20.

There was never meant to be a second Loma record. The collaboration between Cross Record’s Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg released their challenging and brilliant debut album back in 2018, which topped our list of our the year’s best albums, and drew near universal acclaim. The gruelling tour that followed culminated at Sub Pop’s SPF 30 Festival and ended with Emily leaping from the stage, and heading straight for the sea. That was originally meant to be that – no more records, no more Loma. As Emily recalls, “it was the biggest audience we’d ever had. We thought, why not stop here?”. As you can probably guess from the fact you’re reading this, that wasn’t quite how the story ended. Courtesy of Brian Eno loving their music, the members pursuing their own projects, and a return to Texas, Loma were inspired to keep going, and the result is Don’t Shy Away, the band’s second album, out in October through Sub Pop.

Ahead of the release, this week Loma have shared “Ocotillo”, the first single to be lifted from “Don’t Shy Away”. Lifting its name from a cactus-like plant native to the deserts around the border of Mexico and the USA, the band were inspired by the somewhat precocious nature of the plant.

Band Members
Emily Cross, Jonathan Meiburg, Dan Duszynski

“Ocotillo” by Loma from their album “Don’t Shy Away” Release Date: 23rd October 2020 on Sub Pop Records.

WASHED OUT – ” Purple Noon “

Posted: August 7, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Purple Noon” is Atlanta-based producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ernest Greene’s fourth full-length album, and it doesn’t disappoint. Mixed by long time collaborator, Ben H. Allen, “Purple Noon” delivers a lush, cinematic soundscape. There is a strong hint of Sade’s influence on this album both sonically and vocally. Not a bad thing.

Washed Out’s air conditioning still works, if “Purple Noon” is any indication. Vaporous and immersive, the airy new album from songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Ernest Greene’s pet project is a cool, ultra-modern cave of powdery Chillwave luxury and leisure that harkens back to Washed Out’s debut EP, Life of Leisure. That record established the artistically restless Greene as one of the genre’s up-and-coming visionaries, before he started experimenting with stylish synth-pop, full-band psychedelia and hip-hop and samples, not to mention his creative adventures in audio/visual splendor and animation.

To see him assume the role of Bryan Ferry is an unexpected twist, as the young man’s fancy turns from escapism to widescreen romance on Purple Noon. “Too Late” is suave and seductive, with breathy vocals, gentle finger snaps and soft throbs setting the mood, as “Face Up” commits the sweetest taboo of slow dancing with Sade. Drinking in the breezy island grooves and languid beats of Ibiza, “Paralyzed” and “Time to Walk Away” lay around poolside, while the lush and dreamy “Hide” is pure ‘80s pop pleasure that tastes like New Order. Have a fruity cocktail. It’s Purple Noon somewhere.

Almost a week out from the release of Purple Noon, so I thought I’d share another snippet. This song is called “Hide” and its another one of the slightly darker moments on the album. While I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Purple Noon is a concept album, it does focus solely on one major theme. It basically examines the various stages of a love-affair – from an initial meeting, to early infatuation, all the way through the heartbreak of when things start to fall apart. “Hide” is about that place in a relationship where its unclear whether its best to just try harder to make it work or to just completely cut ties and move on…

Washed Out  the album “Purple Noon” (Release Date: 8/07/2020 on Sub Pop Records

BULLY – ” Sugaregg “

Posted: August 5, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Bully are one of the most exciting punk bands of the past decade. 2015’s Feels Like and 2017’s Losing didn’t necessarily reinvent anything, but its fuzzy, melodic rock songs were consistently invigorating, with Alicia Bognanno’s raspy voice packing a major punch. Bognanno is behind the boards again for her new record “Sugaregg”, but this time she’s joined by a producer for the first time, John Congleton—not the worst choice for your first co-producer! Even after just one spin, it’s clear that Bognanno hasn’t taken her foot off the punk gas pedal. Her third album and second for Sub Pop is empowering, unrelenting and utterly gripping, with a chance of raw explosiveness at any moment. Even the more subtle numbers like “What I Wanted” and “Prism” will leave a cloud of exhaust smoke and tread marks.

Bully thrives in discomfort. The disconnect between “normal,” actualized and idealized ideas of life rages through their music. The pull toward a spiritually-dead life as a milkman, emotional stasis in the face of outward turmoil, trying and failing to even understand your own mind; these spectres haunt and propel Bully’s music. On the band’s new single, “Every Tradition,” the second off of their forthcoming album, “Sugaregg” (out on August. 21st via Sub Pop Records), Bully leans into the underlying conflict of their music. With incendiary guitars and Alicia Bognanno’s sneering delivery, the band unleashes an anthem for anyone finding themselves out of step with the expectations that are placed on them

“Every Tradition” by Bully from their album “SUGAREGG” (Release Date: 21st August 2020 on Sub Pop Records)

Bully’s “Hours and Hours” is the latest standout from Sugaregg, her incredible new album.

Alicia Bognanno offers this about the song, “‘Hours and Hours’ is about my mother and I finally figuring out our relationship. She and I had a really hard time connecting growing up and at times felt like it would never happen. Over the past five years we have become best friends, she is now the very first person I call when I am at my absolute lowest and has saved my life. I realize now how similar we are and how that probably had everything to do with why we had a difficult time with each other growing up. I wish I knew sooner how much we could relate but am eternally grateful that we have figured it out now and I’m just so thankful to be on good terms, I love her dearly.”

Bully will release “Sugaregg” on August 21st, 2020 worldwide through Sub Pop Records.

LOMA – ” Ocotillo “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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There was never meant to be a second Loma record. The collaboration between Cross Record’s Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski, and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg released their challenging and brilliant debut album back in 2018, which topped our list of our the year’s best albums, and drew near universal acclaim. The gruelling tour that followed culminated at Sub Pop Record’s SPF 30 Festival and ended with Emily leaping from the stage, and heading straight for the sea. That was originally meant to be that – no more records, no more Loma. As Emily recalls, “it was the biggest audience we’d ever had. We thought, why not stop here?”. As you can probably guess from the fact you’re reading this, that wasn’t quite how the story ended. Courtesy of Brian Eno loving their music, On December 26th, 2018, Emily Cross received an excited email from a friend: Brian Eno was talking about her band on BBC radio. “At first I didn’t think it was real,” she admits. But then she heard a recording: Eno was praising “Black Willow” from Loma’s self-titled debut, a song whose minimal groove and hypnotic refrain seem as much farewell as a manifesto: I make my bed beside the road / I carry a diamond blade / I will not serve you. He said he’d had it on repeat.  The members pursuing their own projects, and a return to Texas, Loma were inspired to keep going, and the result is “Don’t Shy Away”, the band’s second album, out in October through Sub Pop.

Ahead of the release, this week Loma have shared “Ocotillo”, the first single to be lifted from Don’t Shy Away. Lifting its name from a cactus-like plant native to the deserts around the border of Mexico and the USA, the band were inspired by the somewhat precocious nature of the plant. As the band explain, “Ocotillo is a graceful, spindly plant that flowers extravagantly after rain—but it lives in places where it doesn’t rain for months, even years. It’s not hard to identify with it“. The track is instantly intriguing, the band continuing their collaborative approach to writing, and shaping their creativity into something that’s both dense and dextrous; even as it gets loud and jarring it always seems to maintain it’s propulsion, always flowing, always moving, never standing still. The track seems to build around the prominent bass, as flourishes of brass, woodwind, percussion, and vocals drift in and out of earshot. Lyrically, it seems to channel the freedom that often comes with moments of chaos, “lead me to another life. All my ties are broken, I’m in wonderful disarray”.

The return of Loma feels like a second chance, a band who could so easily have slipped between the cracks, returning to give us the chance to make them realise just how loved they are, cherish their return, it’s a triumph.

Don’t Shy Away is out October 23rd via Sub Pop Records

BEACH HOUSE – ” Teen Dream “

Posted: July 29, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Baltimore duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally had established themselves as effortlessly sublime dream-pop adepts by the time of their third album, but they hadn’t yet embraced the production values that might convince people who weren’t reading mp3 blogs. Teen Dream, Beach House’s Sub Pop debut, was the sound of a band going for broke at that exciting moment before they know what they’re really capable of achieving. Recording in a converted church with producer/engineer Chris Coady, whose credits span Amen Dunes to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the pair demonstrated a rare balance of preaching to the choir and pulling in new converts. The spidery guitar lines, dimly lit organ tones, and sparse drum machines remain.

But there’s also much more attempted: crystalline Fleetwood Mac–style harmonies, shoegaze-teetering crescendos, even kitchen-sink piano balladry. Each of the 10 songs could’ve been a single, and the physical edition’s accompanying DVD offers pleasantly warped videos for all of them. It was still dream pop, all right, right down to the “Twin Peaks”-echoing lyrical hook of the bleakly glamorous “Silver Soul.” But it was dream pop that could entice Jay-Z and Beyoncé out to a gig. Beach House have a well-earned reputation for not changing much, but on Teen Dream, they came into their own, and ushered the languid reveries of Galaxie 500, Mazzy Star, and Cocteau Twins into the current Instagram decade.

Beach House’s bleary-eyed dream pop is a soothing after-sun for the mind. The cymbals crash like waves on a deserted beach in late-summer, when the shadows are longer, the air is cooler and the carefree excitement of the previous months is replaced with a sedated satisfaction. Victoria Legrand’s contralto voice feels more shadowy than anything peak season would have allowed, whilst Alex Scally provides the flickers of brilliance that keep the whole record warm and alight, like a campfire under the starry skies.

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