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Twenty years of Babes, Girls, and Sleater-KinneySeattle-based record label Sub Pop Records is throwing a party for its 20th birthday. Unfortunately, some of its best acts from over the years will be missing. While Sub Pop has been female friendly in the past, it seems as if many of their great girl artists have left the business (at least for now.)
But since its an anniversary, now is a perfect time to look back and appreciate the wonderful music they have given us (you know, outside of the other great trailblazing stuff like Nirvana, Mudhoney, Flight of the Conchords and the Postal Service.) Babes in Toyland While never officially signed to the label, BIT released the single "House" on The Grunge Years album in 1991. Though Kat Bjelland, Lori Barbero and Michelle Leon are frequently thought of as part of the riot grrrl scene of the 1990s Pacific Northwest, they were more like their male counterparts in Minneapolis at the time, as they were ahead of ladies Kathleen Hanna and Corin Tucker who name frontwoman Kat as an influence. Velocity Girl In the early '90s, the east coast band released their debut album, Copacetic, on Sub Pop. At the time, it was something a little lighter than the label had been putting out, with Sarah Shannon's vocals and harmonies with bandmate Archie Moore providing more a little pop to the rock songs. L7 L7's second album, Smell the Magic, came out on Sub Pop in 1990 but was later reissued in 1991 with three extra songs. The band came to be known for their on stage antics as well as their music, with singer Donita Sparks tossing a used tampon into an unruly crowd during the 1992 Reading Music Festival. Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney released consistently awesome indie-rock albums that proved women were just as good (if not better) on the guitar, drums, and mic than any other man who has ever called himself a musician. Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss put out their last album in 2005 on Sub Pop, but I'm still hoping The Woods won't be the last we hear from them. Rosie Thomas Sub Pop signed singer/songwriter Rosie Thomas in 2000 after hearing her on the Damien Jurado track, "Ghost of David." She's since released four albums on the label, including 2006's These New Friends of Mine featuring Sufjan Stevens. CSS CSS (short for Cansei de Ser Sexy) is a Brazillian quartet that illustrates where Sub Pop is going in the future. Leaving behind an era of grunge and continuing on past indie rock, the label is being less strict and signing on bands with keyboards, drum machines and all-around electronic beats. With the success of CSS, it's likely they will continue to experiment with up and comers like they have, which is what seems to keep them ahead of the game. Happy birthday, Sub Pop! Submitted by on July 11, 2008 - 1:00pm. |
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Among them all, it's Sleater-Kinney that breaks my heart
I want them back making music together. I hope their hiatus is only temporary. A girl can dream.
I love Sleater-Kinney - always challenging themselves, trying to make the best music they can, not just generic sounds that make money.
Sorry to be a bit anal, but
Quote:Carrie Brownstein,
Also, why isn't Corin's name bold and why is it spelled wrong?
:)
Because I already mentioned
:-)
Happy 20th!
I miss Sleater-Kinney :(
Great post!
Nice to see some indie rock action here at After Ellen! As far as Sub Pop females, let's not forget:
Hazel: featured openly lesbian drummer Jody Bleyle, also a member of dyke supergroup Team Dresch
The Fastbacks: one of the best bands ever, IMO, and 2/3rds female (bassist/singer Kim Warnick and guitarist/singer Lulu Gargiulo). Ex-Guns'n'Roses bassist Duff McKagen was one of their many, many drummers. Especially check out 1994's "Answer the Phone, Dummy."
Beat Happening: these indie rock legends who inspired Kurt Cobain and riot grrrl featured drummer/vocalist Heather Lewis.
The Vaselines: this Scottish duo featured singer/guitarist Frances McKee. Kurt Cobain was such a fan he supposedly named his daughter partially in honor of McKee, and Nirvana famously covered 3 Vaselines tunes: "Molly's Lips," "Son of a Gun," and "Jesus Don't Want Me for A Sunbeam."
Dead Moon: Bassist Toody Cole and her husband Fred proved that one needn't stop rocking when they hit middle age. Pearl Jam have covered their song "It's O.K." Check out the documentary "Unknown Passage" for more on the career of this punk grandma.
The Spinanes: singer Rebecca Gates was the heartthrob of many a young hipster back in the 90's.
The Thermals: more recent Sub Pop band has female bassist, Kathy Foster. They opened up the last 2 Sleater Kinney concerts (sob)
the vaselines!
... they sang this great cover of Stock, Aitken & Waterman's "you think youre a man." talk about catchy!
Exactly
Exactly what I was thinking.
Whenever I read one of these music posts, I feel like someone went through my CD collection from when I was in college.
Used to love most of these bands, even though I always thought Babes in Toyland sucked big time. I own one of their live CDs which is so bad it is painful to listen to.
- - - - - - - - - -
-Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.
For the Roses
I've seen CSS live. They
I've seen CSS live. They were awesome :)
and S-K are amazing too.
Go here for my view on all things lesbian: http://allthingslesbeau.blogspot.com
CSS
Let's make love, and listen to death from above.
I've always wondered if they ment Death From Above 1979, or just Death From Above... hmmm.
-----
The 4 winged dear with the metal tongue knows what it takes to get things done.
to answer my own question
it's Death From Above 1979.
Which is great because I love MSTRKRFT
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The 4 winged dear with the metal tongue knows what it takes to get things done.
I really miss Sleater-Kinney
i miss the 90s
i would be nothing without subpop. i miss sleater-kinney (the best live band i've ever seen), velocity girl (my first indie rock show) and the spinanes (the most perfect simple guitar and drum songs)!
http://blowinyourcover.blogspot.com
Now we're talking!
Sub Pop is one of my favourite labels, along with Kill Rock Stars, K Records and Matador.
SK rocks obviously, and I saw The Thermals a couple of years ago and they were ace too. And of course, Babes in Toyland - Kat was my role model when I was learning how to play the guitar, back in the early 90s :-)
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