SP20, Saturday

Saturday was a beautiful day to take in a concert, and even though it was hot, we scoped out a great spot that we knew would be in the shade in no time and kept our cool. We heard Seaweed walking in, and from our perch, watched Helio Sequence, a great Pissed Jeans set, Fleet Foxes, and Fluid. Fleet Foxes sounded amazing in that setting, with their 3-part harmonies soaring over the park. They weren't much to see, though, so we wandered about getting food and picking up a free 18 song Sub Pop CD takeaway from the event, which is worth a bit to me for it's inclusion of "Brett, You Got it Going On," which somehow didn't make Flight of the Conchords' debut CD.

Playlist: Happy Birthday to Me: SP20 Takeaway CD (Sampling tracklist)

After Eli courageously braved a foul Honey Bucket, the Fluid set (and the ice cream reward for bravery) got Eli charged up to move closer to the action, so we went down to the floor for Low, Mudhoney, The Vaselines and Iron & Wine (pictured up top). While Low inspired some HotWheel action (pictured right,) Mudhoney's primal sounds spoke to Eli's id and he started creating his own version of crowd surfing -- running through the creases in the audience to "Touch Me I'm Sick" (the next day, he came up to me and asked "Daddy, play the I'm Sick song" -- a proud moment). Below is a much tamer excursion (done to "In n' Out of Grace") where Eli coerced his younger friend Lincoln into joining in on the game:



Following around during his crowd surfing we ran into Martin Cranston (The Shins,) who Eli sort of knows from Yo Gabba Gabba, David Cross (who was slow dancing with someone to The Vaselines' "Rory Rides Me Raw,") Chris Marin from Kinski (an old friend,) and Daddy Sub Pop himself, Jonathan Poneman. If he weren't so tiny, Eli would've been thrown out by bouncers by then. We packed up for Flight of the Conchords, prepared to leave at any sign of wavering from the kiddies. Eli was into the show, though, even though most the jokes were way over his head, hearing people laughing made it funny enough. He snapped a couple shots from the top of my head before the show ended and I was left in the dark to try and find our car and not lose Eli in the throngs of the masses doing the same. After finding the car, we waited there 20 minutes unable to move, and Eli had to make do with peeing behind the car. Doing that, though, made it easier for me to draw some sympathy from the other exiting festivalistas and we were able to push our way out and on to home (of course the 520 bridge was closed all weekend, so it made for a much longer trip).

All told, Eli was in the mix for 10 hours -- we left for the event at 1:30PM and I carried him passed out to his bed at 11:30PM. What a guy.

Saturday in the park

My day tomorrow looks like this:

Playlist: Sub Pop 20th Anniversary - Day 1

1:00 - 1:40 -- Constantines
2:00 - 2:40 -- Eric's Trip (Reunited for show)
2:40 - 3:20 -- Seaweed (Reunited for show)
3:20 - 4:00 -- The Helio Sequence
4:00 - 4:40 -- Pissed Jeans
4:40 - 5:20 -- Fleet Foxes
5:20 - 6:00 -- The Fluid (Reunited for show)
6:00 - 6:40 -- Low
6:40 - 7:20 -- Mudhoney
7:20 - 8:00 -- The Vaselines (Reunited for show)
8:20 - 9:00 -- Iron & Wine
9:20 - 10:00 -- Flight of the Conchords

Since I last reported, they added two more reunions, Canada's Eric's Trip and Glasgow's the Vaselines, both of which I'm pumped to see. I'll probably skip the Constantines and take a break during the Helio Sequence/Pissed Jeans sets, not that I don't like those bands, just that I got a three-year old with me and sacrifices will be made in the name of sanity. I sure hope Eli is can make it to FOTC. Yeah, you were jealous until I brought up having a 3-year old with me, right?

Celebrate Sub Pop's Anniversary on the small screen

Twenty years ago in Seattle, the flannel was plentiful and the music was loud, and at the center of it all was the record label Sub Pop. This weekend, the label celebrates its 20th anniversary and so the story of the Seattle music scene is being retold all over again in the media. Probably the best and surprisingly accurate description of what happened is the Doug Pray documentary Hype!, which was five years in the making.

Hype! is told from the perspective of the people swept up in the middle of the grunge scene, with Sub Pop at the epicenter of both the scene and the film's voice. Not only are there amazing live performances captured, but the film is pretty hilarious, poking many holes in the mythology of the so-called genre. Sub Pop employee Megan Jasper famously sold The New York Times on bogus grunge slang, making up phrases like 'swingin' on the flippity-flop' (hanging out) and harsh realm (a bummer) which the Times printed verbatim ("Grunge: A Success Story," November 15, 1992). Between that and seeing models on the runway wearing flannel at Fashion Week it was inevitable that the anti-market scene was being over-marketed and would phase out soon enough (and in its wake, a chorus of "good riddance"). The film also features footage of the first time Nirvana played "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which has a special place in my heart -- because I was there!

Another great film that indirectly documents Sub Pop's historical rise is the Sonic Youth concert film 1991: The Year Punk Broke. The NY band was one of the first to appear on a Sub Pop imprint (the compilation Sub Pop 100), and befriended several bands on the label, including Nirvana, who they took under their wing on tour in Europe just prior to their (and, in turn, Sub Pop's) breakthrough. Full of great concert footage and oddball humor (see Kurt Cobain mock Kevin Costner from Madonna's Truth or Dare concert film) it captures a moment in time before everything would change, for good and for bad.

Other DVD's that share a part of Sub Pop's history:
Acquired Taste - A collection of videos from more recent Sub Pop artists including The Shins, Iron & Wine, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney and Hot Hot Heat
The Murder City Devils: Rock & Roll Won't Wait - An all access, warts and all look at the once popular Seattle punk rock act. Full of drinking, punching, bleeding and of course rocking.
Mudhoney: Live at El Sol - Recent (2007) performance of the legendary Seattle rockers, which beautifully captures singer Mark Arm's lovably ornery humor.
David Cross: Let America Laugh - At the turn of the century, Sub Pop started branching out into comedy, starting with funnyman David Cross, who's albums on the label are a throwback to George Carlin's classics from the 1970's.
Garden State - The Zach Braff curated soundtrack promised to change your life, but it mostly changed Sub Pop's. It was nearly Nevermind: The Sequel as The Shins became huge, and allowed the label to expand it's stable of artists once again.
Flight of the Conchords: Season 1 - Considering they were doing both music and comedy, the label is the perfect fit for this comedic duo to release their music. The series is already a cult hit, and the music's not bad either.

Sub Pop: 001-100

This weekend is Sub Pop's big 20th anniversary celebration (and music festival,) and I've been trying to put together Rhapsody playlists of all the albums in the Seattle record label's catalogue, and it's quite an undertaking. So we're breaking it up... and we'll start with the first 100 releases (SP001-100).


Playlist: Sub Pop 001-100 (Link to launch client)
Tracklisting and corresponding catalogue #

The early years were very Northwest focused, with Denver's Fluid and France's Les Thugs taking SP out of their familiar confines. Both bands are reuniting for this weekend, along with the highly anticipated reunion of Sub Pop's first band, Green River. The other two acts playing this weekend who are part of the first 100 releases include the (still together and relevant) Mudhoney, and a reunited Love Battery (not billed as of yet, but I have it on good authority from the current bass player that they'll be there). It would've been nice to get either Tad or Afghan Whigs together for the show as well, but am I really going to complain about the lineup?

The first 100 releases have some fine album covers, thanks to a controlled look and feel that Poneman and Pavitt utilized for the label, but my favorite still has to be The Dwarves' Blood Guts and Pussy. It's disgusting, vile, degrading, sexy and sophomoric all at the same time -- which makes it all the more punk rock.

Here's some great recent pieces on Sub Pop relating to these first releases in relation to the anniversary:
Sub Pop 20 (Seattle Weekly)
Sub Pop turns 20: A brief history (Chicago Tribune)
Sub Pop Turns 20 (The Guardian UK)
What's this generation coming to? The Sub Pop Singles Club (Pitchfork)
Old Men River - Green River (Seattle Weekly)
Think Local, Sign Global - Les Thugs (Seattle Weekly)

Wincing the charts away

The Shins' Wincing the Night Away debuts this week at #2 with 118,000 copies sold (Billboard.) The album also opens at No. 1 on Top Independent Albums, Top Digital Albums, Top Internet Albums and the Top Tastemakers chart.

Still waiting to hear if it puts a dent in the Freshmakers chart.

I guess Sub Pop's gamble might pay off after all. It will be interesting to see now if The Shins stick with the indie label now that they've shown they can get them on the charts.

Album: The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

tags: music, the shins, billboard, charts, the shins, sub pop, indie rock, rhapsody

Dear in the Sub Pop headlights

Download: Loney Dear - "The City, The Airport" (SXSW)

Sub Pop does it again... it was recently announced that Sub Pop added Sweden's Loney, Dear to their roster. For anyone that look/click at all on my EARS: albums to the right, you'll know I've had Loney, Dear's album SOLOGNE up there for ages - since I brought it back from Europe with me in early July, to be more exact.

February 7, 2007 is the release date for a new album entitled LONEY NOIR, which begs the question, when/where does SOLOGNE see a release in the US?

And, in case you missed it, here's TV On The Radio setting Letterman on fire two nights ago:


Previously:
Between Soda Lake and Butter Bridge (TV On The Radio's RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN)
Lupus like me (Video/Single for "Wolf Like Me")
TV On The Radio On TV

tags: music, loney dear, sub pop, tv on the radio, letterman
, video