Last week I posted about Green River’s reunion show at Sub Pop’s 20th anniversary bash in Seattle, WA. Now Billboard has a full review up for those not lucky enough to attend the event.

“This seemed to be a firm consensus. Some rock’n'roll reunions fall flat when musicians can’t regain the spark of youthful energy and DIY not-quite-incompetence. But Green River’s anthems sounded better with a touch of polish and precision. The 1985 classic “Swallow My Pride” (re-cut by the band in 1988, and also covered by Soundgarden, Fastbacks and Pearl Jam) sounded almost pop.”

Billboard also notes that they heard a fan say “If they were that good back then, they never would have broken up.”

This is a good thing in my opinion, most reunions fall short because the band isn’t as good as they once were, in this case its the opposite.

The article also has coverage of a lot of the other bands playing the Sub Pop anniversary festival.

Source.

Being the year of Sub Pop Records 20th anniversary a lot of press is coming out surrounding the label that launched Nirvana, and as a result, Seattle into the international spotlight.

Blender Magazine, (of all places), has put up a pretty cool piece on the label, with quotes from some of the main people involved in the scene, including founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathon Poneman. They also have a pretty big image gallery with photos of the bands with their Fender Mustangs, beer and flannel, performing live.

Its definitely worth checking out if you’re into Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney or even newer bands on the label like The Shins and The Postal Service as well.

Sub Pop: Oral History @ Blender.com

One of Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands, Edinburgh Scotlands The Vaselines have reunited. It seems that the recent trend of bands reuniting will never end. I wonder if bands will now form just to break up and then reunite soon after to get more press.

Anyway, The Vaselines were covered by Nirvana 3 times. Most famously on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged CD/TV Show and on, (Nirvana’s collection of b-sides/covers) “Incesticide” album.

The band will play Sub Pop’s 20th anniversary concert/party in Seattle. Maybe they’ll tour, I would definitely catch one of their shows if they did.

Source. 

I’ve been listening to the new Earth album, “The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull” a lot, and it is pretty amazing. If you haven’t heard of Earth, they could arguably be credited with starting a sub-genre called “Drone”, (really long, simple passages usually played slowly with a lot of effects). They formed in Olympia, WA, in the late 80’s and were signed to Sub Pop, they put out a bunch of records and took a fairly long hiatus. After which, they started to release records on Southern Lord, starting with Hex in 2005 and then Hibernaculum in 2007.

This new record though, builds on the themes and sonic ideas featured on their last two releases, but features a very different overall sound. It sounds like a weird mixture of slow gospel, yet its also psychedelic, very uplifting, and features heavily multi-layered and effected guitar tracks. It achieves this sound with the help of accomplished jazz/guitar effects wizard - Bill Frissell (featured on tracks 1, 4 & 5). It also features slow, yet soft, brooding drums, (played with brushes), and piano. The songs at their core are somewhat simplistic, but thats not what is important on a recording like this, all the little details add up to create an intense and airy atmosphere, where you can totally get lost in the music. It is interesting to see how the songs evolve and flow together seamlessly. This is definitely my favorite album by Earth. I highly recommend picking this up when it comes out.

Earth: “The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull”

1. Omens And Portents I : The Driver (mp3)
2. Rise To Glory
3. Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)
4. Engine Of Ruin
5. Omens And Portents II: Carrion Crow
6. Hung From The Moon
7. The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull

Earth @ Southern Lord Records