Tag Archive: Sub Pop


Yeah, we’re posting them, too….

Filed Under: New Music
Jul.20, 2011

It's absolutely impossible to dislike, and while this new M83 track has hit or will hit every internet music blog from here to Thailand today, everything is as it should be.  In 2009, as a wee little blogger, starry-eyed at my first Pitchfork festival, I remember sitting about ten thousand people back from the central stage and being awestruck at the conglomeration of the lowering sunset and M83 absolutely tearing the house down at the festival.  Ironically, Citizen James and I were actually watching the show with a current Mute Records employee, and our discussions about bands, including M83, took up a good chunk of that evening.  M83's album will probably be the biggest, most buzzed of the year, and that holds water, easily apparent with one spin of "Midnight City."  Addictive beats, rhythms, and energy hasn't sounded as fresh as this anywhere on the web in 2011. Just like everyone else, we're stoked to listen to the entire album. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is out on October, 18th.

M83 – Midnight City

Dum Dum Girls is also tap dancing all over the blogosphere dance floor over the last 24 hours, with the offering of the first track of their upcoming Sub Pop release, Only In Dreams.  Jarring me awake this morning, the track is the real deal, a slow-burning opus that sees the band step completely outside of past work.  We also caught Dum Dum Girls in NXNE and they gave one of the finest performances we saw that the festival.  Fans that have spun the grooves off of the He Gets Me High EP can stretch and get limber – the LP is coming soon.  "Coming Down" moves into the emotional territory that folks have alluded to with the upcoming album, and the lyrical tilt of the song is inspired by the loss of Dee Dee's father during the album's creation.  There are over six minutes of emotion on aural canvas with this track and the sincerity will blow your speakers. Let the Mazzy Star "Fade into You" references come, but this track is hitting me just as hard as that one did back in high school.  The album drops on September 27th.

Dum Dum Girls – Coming Down

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Vacation hangover and a little catching up….

Filed Under: New Music
Jul.12, 2011

I'm not sure if it's my aging bones or that I've been restless in Cleveland, but spending time this past week with my family was fabulous.  Each year that goes by I feel a slight tug back toward the town of my childhood, and any time spent in Cincinnati is usually restful and fulfilling.  After a quick visit in Porkopolis and a jaunt down to the rolling hills of Tennessee, I'm officially back in Cleveland and enjoying the sauna….sort of.  This post is to serve as a quick catch-up with some things I've missed over the last few days.  These are some of the obligatory, "larger" MP3s that have made their way around the blogosphere.  Snag these to stay up to speed if you haven't already.

The first act, JEFF the Brotherhood, oddly enough, is getting a healthy dose of repeating over at XMU, and I must have heard cuts from their recent release at least fifteen times during my travels.  The band has just released "Health and Strength (Heavy Version)," which is featured on a sold-out limited tour 7', and offers a speedier version of the We Are the Champions LP track. It's a powerhouse 3 minutes of sludgy guitar pounding.  The jet engine swirls in the track's epicenter are enough to start a good, bloody fist fight.  If you are in Cleveland, the band is playing Peabody's (weird, I know) on August 19th.

JEFF the Brotherhood – Health and Strength (Heavy Version)

Blitzen Trapper goes way back with this website, and as long as Eric Earley and clan are putting out relevant tunes, we'll continue to tout their records.  The last album was not a critical success, but the title cut from American Goldwing finds a little more wind pushed into the sails.  The burnt-to-a-crisp cliches are not as charred, and the entire band is allowed to get in the sandbox and play with this one.  More instrumentation and experimental overtones are what flew out the window the instant that girls liked "Furr."  I'm still a fan, but ambivalent to those types of tunes.  When the band jams and hits full octane, however, there may not be a better band in the blogosphere.  The subtle synth work and intelligent guitar arrangements make this track more full than anything on the last album.  This is good news.  The album will be released via Sub Pop on September 13.

Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing

The next segment covers two solo acts that are generating plenty of buzz over the last few days due to the Stereogum bump.  Teen Daze is a band we posted quite awhile ago, a DIY dude named Jamison, who is basing his upcoming EP, A Silent Planet, off of C.S. Lewis' novel Out of the Silent Planet.  It hits the shelves August 9th via Waaga Records. "The Harvest" is dreamy, expansive, and calming to the point of drowsiness (in the most complimentary way).  It is a pop tune at heart, melted down and simmered into a slow and melodic track.  The ambient movement is in full swing this summer, and this one soars beautifully.  Pre-order the EP through Lefse Records.

Teen Daze – The Harvest

The second buzzy act is Youth Lagoon, which hit the webs like a freight train while I was on vacation. Trevor Powers is a 22 year-old Idaho native spinning straw into gold in our great northwest. Youth Lagoon has just been signed to Fat Possum, and the first proper release, The Year of Hibernation, is set for September 27th.  The first track I'm posting is one we hit quite awhile ago, "July" and the most recently leaked track, "Montana," is available to stream below.  Hollow and echoed vocals, quirky yet melodic synth flourishes, and a gorgeous piano arrangement all blend "Montana" into something intriguingly more mature than a 22 year-old should be putting together. A slow burn into unbridled cinematic emotion.  This is an amazing tune.  Stay tuned for information on the pre-order, as this one will be a biggie.

Youth Lagoon – July

Montana by Youth Lagoon

 

 

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MP3 – Shabazz Palaces – An Echo… – Black Up out today

Filed Under: New Music
Jun.28, 2011

Sub Pop's little curveball this year comes by way of Shabazz Palaces and, Black Up, out today.  You can read a stellar review of the album from Zach at We Listen For You -  HERE.  You can also stream the entire record HERE to get a feel before you click 'buy.'  Although, this is probably one should just go ahead and take the gamble on.  If you haven't been in the loop, this album is probably going to top many year-end lists with its excellently rendered blend of hip hop, intelligent production, and varietal shifts into genre-bending waters.  The downloadable track,"An Echo from the Hosts that Profess Infinitum," works as an advertisement to the overall nature of what the album emits.  However, it's a microcosm of the entire sound that leaps through the speakers with each spin.  Zach's review above does the trick with regards to discussing where this whole album fits categorically and buzz-wise.  Enjoy the MP3 and snag the album via Sub Pop HERE.

Shabazz Palaces – An Echo from the Hosts that Profess Infinitum

 

 

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C.D. Singles Club 4.1 – Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

Filed Under: General Interest
May.29, 2011

Thoughts (mostly random):

1.) Mrs. Citizen enjoys the television program Criminal Minds.  I cannot share that enjoyment for two reasons: (a) the dude from Dharma and Greg is completely unconvincing as a cop.  I keep waiting for him to make a bad joke about yoga and/or vegetarianism.  (b) The Simpsons ruined Joe Mantegna for me.  I can't hear him talk without hearing Fat Tony in my head, which makes him really difficult to take seriously when he's talking about serial killers.

2.) I no longer understand the numbering convention for the Citizen Dick Singles Club.  It's a little bit like when Upper Deck started making baseball cards; I have no idea what the best Ken Griffey rookie card is, cause there are like a dozen.  I look back through the archives and we're somehow on the fourth iteration of the Singles Club.  I'm just rolling with the punches.

3.) Happy Memorial Day.

4.) There are several things that I was excited about on January 1.  One of them (perhaps the biggest) was Circuital.  We'll talk more about that later, but it is really, really good.  "Victory Dance" is the song that I am most excited to hear for the first time live since (roughly) "Off the Record."  So, that's good news.

I'm also stupid excited for the upcoming Washed Out full player from Sub Pop.  Long time readers will know that my fondness for Atlanta's favorite purveyor of glo-fi stems (largely) from the fact that my kid loved it when he was a newborn.  I'd throw on Life of Leisure and the littlest Dick would stop fussing and let the womb-like, glazed over dance beats pour over his little noggin.  The first single from Within and Without does all of the things that we all love about this stuff.  I'll be standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the doors to open at Music Saves bright and early on July 12.

Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

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C.D. Singles Club #3.9 – Vetiver – Can’t You Tell

Filed Under: New Music
Mar.30, 2011

It may as well be Christmas morning here in Cleveland.  There's 3/4 of an inch of the white stuff falling on March 29th and Vetiver is dropping tracks from their forthcoming June 14th release, The Errant Charm.  Sub Pop and the band have released the initial track, which you can get by entering in your email addy below, and it marks the movement towards another spectacular album that will join the staunch back catalog the band has amassed through the years.  Unlike most bands of Vetiver's ilk and style, the band has actually improved with time and exposure, while still staying true to the hushed and melodic underpinnings that have dominated since day one.  We're excited for June, and "Can't You Tell" is the warm arrangement I needed today to melt some of the icy air surrounding me.  Use the embed link below to sign up at the band's website and snag the track.  I've also included "Strictly Rule, a Neighbors remix of "More of This," and a video of "Everyday" from Vetiver's last performance at The Grog Shop, all because today's news is a wonderful delight. Cheers.

Vetiver – Strictly Rule

Vetiver – More of This (Neighbors RMX)

 

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Street Dicks – J. Mascis/Kurt Vile Tonight at Music Saves and Grog Shop

Filed Under: Concert Venues, Live Shows, New Music
Mar.30, 2011

All of our Dicks are coming out tonight.  This is a quick update to our local readership to get your spurs on tonight and join us as we travel the eastern portions of Cleveland and brave the sub 40 degree temperatures to see one of the more anticipated shows of early Spring.  At 7:30, Kurt Vile is hitting an in-store at Music Saves (get there promptly for a good spot), and then the train rolls over to The Grog for the J. Mascis and Vile show afterward.  Several Shades of Why is exactly what I thought it would be when Mascis began dropping a few tracks into the ether at the beginning of the year.  Mascis peppers the "acoustic" album with plenty of drizzly plugged-in solos, and for my money, it'll be one of the best shows you see in Coventry this year.  The best part os that Kurt Vile's Smoke Ring for My Halo is on even par, as well.  A hardened rock-icon and a sidekick worthy of some torch-passing.  The in-store is BYOB, and, as always, first round at The Grog is on John Petkovic….Enjoy Mascis' "Is it Done" and "In My Time" from Vile's stellar new album.

J. Mascis – Is it Done

Kurt Vile – In My Time

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C.D. Singles Club 3.1 – J Mascis – Is It Done

Filed Under: New Music
Feb.10, 2011

As the first released MP3 of the album, "Not Enough" suggested, Mascis is planning on moving his first official solo studio album, Several Shades of Why, into acoustic waters.  That's completely fine by me, and in fact, both tracks I've heard are fabulous.  Brian, our resident Dino Jr. analyst, hasn't weighed in yet on our site, which surprises me.  Nonetheless, "Is it Done" is stewed best at the 2:15 mark, when the lazy guitar soloing awakens out of the acoustic lull into the warm blanket of sound people expect to hear.  The lazy vocals are endearing.  Sincere.  This is going to be a haymaker of an album.   The Ides of March was a festive ocassion in antiquity, usually reserved for the honoring of Mars, where war-torn military soldiers would parade through the city.  As the catalog of Mascis gets a wee bit bigger on March 15th, folks are getting excited.  We are too over here.

Pre-order the album at Sub Pop

J Mascis – Is It Done

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Avi Buffalo Performs for Incase’s Room 205 – Video for “Coaxed”

Filed Under: General Interest, Live Shows
Feb.08, 2011

Incase has just released Episode 5 of its regular feature, Room 205, which showcases Californian act, Avi Buffalo.  I've embedded the video below, but step over to the "Room 205" website to check out the other episodes available.  Avi Buffalo is one of the more underrated bands touring coast to coast.  As the band takes a brief hiatus before marching southward to SXSW, this video serves as a nice nibble to tide fans over.  The first installment with the band is for the track "Coaxed" which will be followed by two more installments on Feb 14 and 21.  The Room 205 feature is pretty unique in that it brings in professional producers and audio peeps to all work together with the artists to bring the live music to life. The Avi Buffalo set sees Otto Arsenault in the director's chair and Butchy Fuego as the audio engineer. The video below pretty much attests to what you'll get with the next two installments.  Additionally, enjoy an acoustic MP3 of the same track.

Avi Buffalo – Coaxed (Acoustic Version)

 

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Papercuts releases another track from Fading Parade

Filed Under: New Music
Feb.01, 2011

Sub Pop is off and running this year, and are priming the new Papercuts album, Fading Parade to be one of their gems of Spring.  Papercuts has a staunch repertoire and apparently the new effort is more expansive and dabbles into some new territory, but thankfully keeps the intensely crafted arrangements that we've all come to know and love.  Jason Robert Quever isn't shy when it comes to lofty ambitions, and the busy nature of his gazillion 'what-have-yous' always blend together into gorgeous audio.  The label and band have offered up the second track from the LP for download.  Enter your email addy below and get access to a three track zip file that includes the previously offered "Do What You Will," along with "Do You Really Wanna Know" and a bonus track, "UFO." Yahoo for killer marketing.  We're stoked for this release on March 1st.

 

Papercuts – Do You Really Wanna Know by subpop

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Dicks Talkin’ About … CocoRosie

Filed Under: Uncategorized
May.30, 2010

Hello friends. We Dicks are back with another round of Dick Talk for you. This time, the album we are putting under the microscope (or would stethoscope make for a better metaphor?) is CocoRosie's latest, Grey Oceans. The new release, which dropped May 11th on Sub Pop, blows my mind, simply put. I can't keep up with the stylistic changes from track to track, yet I don't find myself put off by the diversity, either.

One could plausibly describe the album as Jad Fair meets Pink doing a record equally inspired by Sneaker Pimps and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Or Scott Joplin and The Dresden Dolls. Or Timothy Leary, Nina Simone, and Karl Blau. Or nothing at all. It is one of those records. Which makes it, in my hardly humble opinion, both immediately engaging and a total goddamn grower.

Now, I'll admit, I'm not an impartial listener. I have a vested interest in this being good, since I'm promoting their upcoming show at the Beachland in June. That probably totally explains my interest in getting the sound out to other's ears. However, I am 100% sincere when I tell you that my thoughts on the record are not colored by any bias. Besides, I don't make a penny on these promotional adventures, so it certainly isn't a profit interest kind of thing.

But I digress. Here are my thoughts on the record – I'm looking to you, Brian and Kevin, for your own.

There are points at which this album verges on electronica, which in traditionally disdain. At the worst of these parts, most notably deep into "Fairy Paradise," I might be tempted to give up on the album, if it wasn't for the fact that it came after nine mostly pretty brilliant songs and preceded the album closer, "Here I Come," which is just a delicious tea cake of a truth, with its pompy southern spiritual groove and lugubrious spoken word overdubs; this is the soundtrack to the performance art piece you want to take that chick who is way to cool for you to on a date. The poem that fills most of the track is pretty killer, too. Kevin – I think you'll dig the oratorical syncopation, especially on phrases like "A rape on the meadow/ a fornicating fellow" or "Up from below her/ skirt and sunlit blouses/ kangaroo mommy/ rapunzel and a tomboy" but definitely "A banquet/ a hollycaust/ a pussy wussy willow/ marshmallow, a mantra/ a temper tantric tantrum."

My two favorite songs on the album so far are the first single ("Lemonade") and the sophomore track ("Smokey Taboo"). The former is too wonderful – check out the video for the visual counter-punch and you'll most definitely agree, methinks. The latter, though, while perhaps not as perfect, has a lot to recommend it. It is on this one when my earlier Sneaker Pimps reference comes into play (though maybe that's even more true for the first song on the album, "Trinity's Crying"). There's this simple rhythm and a childlike scat-rap with a delay-fuzz on the vox that just works.  It ends with intensity and mournfulness, but is followed by "Hopscotch's" ditty-like one moment, percussive, wavy-gravy-esque the next interlude.

The dynamics in just these few mentioned tracks present multiple mind-fucks. That, of course, is a good thing.

With that, as I subject you two to something you may completely love or totally fucking hate (but likely nothing in between), I'll end with a nicely worded statement from a recent prefix review of this record: So love or hate CocoRosie, you've got to admit that they go for it.

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