Sub Pop Ltd.

SP20 Sunday: Comets on Fire, Beachwood Sparks, Green River, and Wolf Parade

CNN Money Profiles Sub Pop Records

I just came across an article released this morning over on cnnmoney.com profiling the business strategy of our own Sub Pop. It's a fairly interesting read and discusses how Sub Pop has managed to survive over 20 years in the music business and looks at some of the strategies they used to do so. Sub ... More >>

Hardly Art Signs Talbot Tagora

If you haven't heard them, Talbot Tagora is an awesome local art rock-type institution, and after signing to Hardly Art, they'll be going on a national tour in July. Not sure when, but there's new music forthcoming from them on Sub Pop's friendly little offshoot label as well. We'll keep you posted ... More >>

The Supersuckers

If you haven't heard them, Talbot Tagora is an awesome local art rock-type institution, and after signing to Hardly Art, they'll be going on a national tour in July. Not sure when, but there's new music forthcoming from them on Sub Pop's friendly little offshoot label as well. We'll keep you posted ... More >>

Pissed Jeans at SP20

Saturday, July 12

Sub Pop’s Hardly Art Is Hardly Starving

The label’s second attempt at an offshoot isn’t about to lie down and die pretty.

Sub Pop Signs Buzzed-About Avi Buffalo

Sub Pop Records has inked a deal to release a 7-inch and full-length LP with Avi Buffalo.​It was just last month that I caught Avi Buffalo perform at MusicFest NW, and I predicted that the young singer-songwriter would be playing to packed houses within the year. ("Avi Buffalo" is both the sta ... More >>

Jack Endino on Early Nirvana, and the Portland Show Being Released With the Bleach Re-Issue ( Free MP3s)

Courtesy of Sub PopSub Pop's got free MP3s of "About a Girl" and a live version of "Scoff". Download away, and check out a few more pics and Nirvana goodies over here.​Couple things Jack Endino -- the producer/engineer who recorded Nirvana's debut, Bleach -- told me recently. On the early Nir ... More >>

Krist Novoselic's DW Column Will Return Next Tuesday. Look For Him On Reverb

Courtesy of Sub Pop​Krist Novoselic's regular column will return next Tuesday. If you can't wait a week to get your Krist fix -- and who can't!?! -- be sure to check out his regular posts over on Reverb. He's got a special post coming up on Friday that I think y'all are going to enjoy over a g ... More >>

Sub Pop and KEXP DJ Jon Kertzer Generate New World Music Imprint, Next Ambiance

New Ambiance signees Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba play The Triple Door on March 16, 2010.​Recession or no recession, things must be going well for Sub Pop: first they spawned Hardly Art, and now they've added a new member to the family, Next Ambiance, a new label imprint which Sub Pop formed in ... More >>

A.M. Music News: REM's In the Studio, Velvet Underground's Taking Questions a Beach House MP3

-- NME: REM's in the studio with Accelerate producer Jacknife Lee. Above is a shaky-camera video Stipe made that includes a couple notes the band's kicking around. -- Billboard: This is what happens when you get Rivers Cuomo and Jermaine Dupri in a room together. -- Sub Pop: Beach House has a new ... More >>

Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman On Next Ambiance, The Shins, and Why the Label Doesn't Put Out Hip Hop

Sarah JuradoSub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman, left, with Soundgarden's Kim Thayil at the label's 20th birthday party at Hattie's Hat.​Partnering with KEXP's Best Ambiance DJ Jon Kertzer, Sub Pop records is launching Next Ambiance, a world music label, with the digital release of Bassekou Ko ... More >>

Q&A: Next Ambiance Is Hardly Pop

Sub Pop’s latest challenge is bringing world music to the masses.

Sub Pop Signs Jaill, Another Non-Local Band

Christmas in Jaill​Which is awesome for Milwaukee-based band Jaill, but uh, it's hard not to notice that Sub Pop hasn't signed a Seattle band all year, something Jonathan Poneman addressed when Chris Kornelis asked him about it. Actually, there is AFCGT, but I am not 100% sure exactly when t ... More >>

Tonight: AFCGT

AFCGT, hiding their identities​You can go check out a song from their upcoming Sub Pop debut, "Two-Legged Dog," over here, and read Brian Barr's take on the band below (from this week's Short List): So you know that whole "softening of Sub Pop" stuff was/is baloney, right? Sure, several hyphe ... More >>

Sub Pop's Cybersex Sampler: Kittens, Psych Rock and Rainbows

Ah, the .gifs of yesteryear​That's right, kids: it's time for Sub Pop's cybersex sampler, which comes complete with silly .gifs (kitties, rainbows and puppies, oh my!) that'll take you back to the '90s and what a pain it was to use your grandparents' AOL account. The main attraction, of course ... More >>

Tonight: Unnatural Helpers at the Funhouse

​Unnatural Helpers, with Thee Oh Sees, Urinals. Funhouse, 206 Fifth Ave. N., 374-8400. 9:30 p.m. $12. When Sub Pop sales manager Dean Whitmore isn't helping Jonathan Poneman's stable of bands proliferate, he holds down dual duties as drummer and frontman for the Unnatural Helpers, a delightf ... More >>

No Cigar: Sub Pop's Cuban Coulda-Been

How the local label almost signed the Buena Vista Social Club.

Also Tonight: Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba at The Triple Door

Malian ngoni master Bassekou Kouyaté is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting and dynamic artists on the Sub Pop lineup right now. Born into a family of musicians, he's been playing the ngoni (a stringed predecessor of the banjo) since he was a child in his native West African village, an ... More >>

Q&A: Daniel Martin Moore on Dear Companion, Hazardous Coal Mining, and How The Shins Led Him to Sub Pop

Jonathan WillisDaniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee will play the Crocodile on Tuesday, March 30.​Folk singer Daniel Martin Moore had grown up in Kentucky, served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon, and relocated to Minnesota before he decided to focus on songwriting full time. In 2008, Sub Pop rele ... More >>

Free MP3: Blitzen Trapper's "Heaven and Earth," Off Their Forthcoming Record

Jade Harris​Portland's Blitzen Trapper will release their fifth full-length, Destroyer of the Void, on June 8 on Sub Pop. Right now you can download the record's first single, "Heaven and Earth," on Sub Pop's website - and I really urge you to do so. It's a beautifully clear and focused piano ... More >>

Sub Pop Records Wants You to Go to School! (And They're Willing to Help)

Sub Pop: A bunch of regular do-gooders​Our friends at Sub Pop Records are giving away a total of $13,000 in their annual scholarship prizes to three high school seniors on their way to college. Three scholarships, worth $6K, $4K, and $3K each will be awarded to three winners from Washington or ... More >>

Now Streaming: Listen to Eight Songs from Sub Pop's Record Store Day Releases

​ In honor of Rex Manning Day Record Store Day (that's tomorrow, by the way), Sub Pop has released a playlist featuring songs from the label's limited-edition releases. Start listening now, because it's only available until April 19. I'm thinking Male Bonding's "Before It's Gone" is the best ... More >>

Year of the Buffalo

Ten months and one Sub Pop deal later, a teenage band learns to handle the hype.

Q&A: Unnatural Helpers' Dean Whitmore Is Seattle's Answer to Don Henley

Laura MusselmanUnnatural Helpers play an album-release show on Friday, May 7, at The Funhouse, with TacocaT, Spurm, and Butts. Tickets to the 9 p.m. show are $7.​When Dean Whitmore was singing a very rough demo of what would eventually become the song "Sunshine/Pretty Girls" off Unnatural Help ... More >>

Blitzen Trapper Disappoints With a Host of Unfinished Ideas On Destroyer of the Void

Todd Roeth​Artist: Blitzen Trapper Album: Destroyer of the Void Label: Sub Pop Release Date: Today, June 8 Rating (Skip, Stream, Buy): Skip Download: "Heaven and Earth" Blitzen Trapper scores the "experimental" tag with regularity and with good reason: the Portland, Ore. crew are a torrent of ... More >>

The Thermals' Hutch Harris On Leaving Sub Pop, Hummer, Optimism, and His Personal Life

The Thermals -- featuring frontman Hutch Harris -- plays Bumbershoot on Sept. 6, the day before their new album, Personal Life, hits shelves via Kill Rock Stars.​A few weeks ago I interviewed Hutch Harris of The Thermals -- the Portland trio who famously turned down Hummer's $50,000 offer to l ... More >>

Sub Pop's Considering Giving the Music Away for Free

But you gotta buy the T-shirt first.

Listen to the New Vaselines Song "Sex With an X" Pre-Order the New Record

Wattie Cheung​ In some of fall's more exciting news, Kurt Cobain's favorite band, The Vaselines, will release their first album in a decade on September 14. Sex With an X (on Sub Pop) is actually the Scottish duo's -- Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee -- second only proper studio album, the firs ... More >>

Jaill's Vinnie Kircher on Prison Fights, Poker Robberies, and Lucky Streaks

Vinnie Kircher (third from left) and Jaill support their newly-released Sub Pop debut (That's How We Burn) on Wednesday, August 18 at the Showbox at the Market, opening up for the Hold Steady.​ I called Vinnie Kircher (singer/songwriter of garage-y jangle-smiths Jaill) at his home in Milwaukee ... More >>

Sub Pop Records Signs Seattle's Shabazz Palaces, Gets Into the Hip-Hop Business

Renee McMahonShabazz Palaces at Sasquatch!​Two EPs and just a pair of local shows into their existence, Shabazz Palaces -- the Seattle hip-hop duo featuring Digable Planets' Ishmael Butler -- have inked a deal with Sub Pop Records. Their full-length debut is due via the label sometime next yea ... More >>

Little Big Bands

How the Northwest's premier summer music festivals reflect the redefinition of "indie."

If Only Sub Pop Had As Much Faith In Beer Cozies As They Do In eMusic

Sub Pop has sold more than 129,000 digital copies of Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut LP, but not a single Fleet Foxes key chain.​"I'm not an innovation freak on the delivery side," Sub Pop chief Jonathan Poneman told me recently via email. "Content remains my principle interest." The problems afflict ... More >>

Belief in Nothing, Key Chains, and eMusic

An online music retailer changes its system.

How Mister Heavenly Landed a Deal With Sub Pop Without Even Playing a Show

​Update: It can't possibly hurt to have actor Michael Cera on bass. When Sub Pop announced on Monday that they had signed the band Mister Heavenly, we admit to being caught somewhat off guard. The players are familiar: Nick Diamonds has played with Islands and Unicorns; Joe Plummer with Modes ... More >>

Ben Bridwell's No Longer with Sub Pop Records, But He's Still Pitching in For the Family

​Ben Bridwell and Band of Horses may have split from Sub Pop Records earlier this year, but they haven't forgotten their former label home -- especially in light of Sub Pop's recent tragic loss of Andy Kotowicz. Next Friday, December 10, Band of Horses Bridwell and members of Band of Horses wi ... More >>

Sure, the Grammys Love Grunge, But They Also Dig the First-Ever Release From Sub Pop's World Music Imprint, Next Ambiance

​Though Seattle's '90s-era hitmakers Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice In Chains all picked up Grammy nods in last night's announcements (local list after the jump), Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba's I Speak Fula., the first release from Sub Pop's world music imprint, Next Ambiance, picked up a no ... More >>

An Incomplete History of Seattle Music in 2010

From major-label moves to major festival bummers.

Sub Pop Splits With Grand Archives, Seattle's Most Buzzed About Band of 2007

Renee McMahonArchives, at show number one -- March 21, 2007, Neumos -- before they were Grand Archives,​When Band of Horses co-founder Mat Brooke announced Archives, his post-BOH project in 2007, he sent the Interwebs and Seattle-music watchers into a tizzy. The band's four-song demo immediat ... More >>

With Fleet Foxes' Contract Almost Up, Can Sub Pop's Support for Helplessness Blues Keep the Band on the Label?

Sean Pecknold​When Sub Pop vice president Megan Jasper was working in the label's sales department in 1991, she got an early listen to an album from some expats who were about to release their major-label debut. Jasper told her bosses that she thought the record was going to be huge. Twenty ye ... More >>

Industrial Noise: Sub Pop's Fleet Fox Moment

How the independent label plans to attack the biggest release date in its history.

Today Reverb Recommends Stopping By the Crocodile to See THEESatisfaction and Some Equally Exciting Opening Acts

​In this week's Short List, Brian Barr shared his thoughts on Seattle's self-appointed weirdos, female hip-hop duo THEESatisfaction: No matter your opinion of hip-hop duo THEESatisfaction, there's no denying they've carved quite the unique niche for themselves. Thee Stasia and Cat Satisfacti ... More >>

Sub Pop Co-Founder On File-Sharing: "It Hurts the Artists' Earnings as Well -- Big Time"

Laura MusselmanRobin Pecknold's Fleet Foxes release their sophomore LP, Helplessness Blues, Tuesday via Seattle's Sub Pop Records.​"Why is it news that I'm OK with file-sharing? To not be is to waste energy on something you can't do anything about." -- Robin Pecknold After Fleet Foxes' Robin ... More >>

Today Reverb Is Listening To THEESatisfaction's "Do You Have Time"

Released Saturday on Sub Pop's website, the Seattle duo's new track "Do You Have Time" is a smoke-buoyed crooner with the same flat drum-and-bass sounds from their past material that really make their voices pop out of the recording. While the lyrics to, and the con ... More >>

Looting In London Gets Drastic, Hits Home Locally

​ The riots in London this week have become increasingly violent, and early this morning, Pitchfork sadly reported that a massive Sony distribution warehouse in the northern part of the city had burned entirely to the ground, and that there was Sub Pop inventory included in the huge amount of ... More >>

The Spotify Effect

The U.S. launch of Spotify is enticing listeners--and labels--to give subscription services another look.

Today Reverb Recommends Tuning Into KEXP to Hear Sub Pop Signees Still Corners

Cat StevensSub Pop band Still Corners plays the Sunset tonight at 9:30 with Ganglians and Witch Gardens. ​ Still Corners are a four-piece out of London whose debut LP, Creatures of an Hour, was released by Sub Pop in early October. The record is a collection of hazy, abstract pop songs anchor ... More >>

Full Toilet's Self-Titled 7" is Just As Punk and Sludgy As You'd Expect

​Full Toilet Full Toilet 7" LP 11/22, Sub Pop It's impossible to avoid Full Toilet front man Don Sheets' scatological leanings, yet few band names so succinctly nail a sound as Full Toilet does with their 7" Sub Pop debut, a 13-song long primordial, sludge filled honey bucket churning with ir ... More >>

DIY: The Luxury of the Rich

Doing it yourself is great, if you can afford it.

Blouse

Doing it yourself is great, if you can afford it.