Stereogum » The Helio Sequence

Islands And Annuals And Jicks: Siren Fest 2008 In Photos

Scott — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:58:12 +0000

I couldn’t make Siren Festival this year and Amrit and Brandon were at Pitchfork, so … how was it? Based on the photographic display from Kyle Dean Reinford I guess sweaty? How was the sound? Did you shoot the freak? After the jump, pics of every act who played the festival, along with some scenery snapshots to set the mood. Stephen Malkmus and Joanna Bolme have the same haircut.

SP20: Sub Pop’s 20th Anniversary Benefit Festival Partial Lineup Announced

brandon — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:36:55 +0000

We mentioned Sub Pop’s 20th Anniversary a ways back — well, it’s officially time to party (especially if you live in the Pacific Northwest). The rumors have been circling the web, and now we have official details about SP20, a two-day benefit festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA (7/12 & 7/13). There’s also the SP20 Comedy Show, 7/11 at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. How’d they arrive at the anniversary date?

Though Bruce Pavitt had been using the title Subterranean Pop since sometime in ’79 for fanzines, cassette compilations, radio shows, and the like, somewhere along the line he and co-founder Jonathan Poneman decided that April 1, 1988 — the day they quit their jobs and rented a tiny office in the Terminal Sales Building in Seattle — was the day Sub Pop Records was born. To celebrate the label’s twentieth birthday, Sub Pop will release a series of re-issues starting with Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (May 22, 2008), launch a limited run of the Sub Pop Singles Club, and throw a series of over-the-top birthday parties for itself this summer.

Enough background info, let’s see who’s playing…

New Helio Sequence Video – “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”

brandon — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:44:42 +0000

We once spoke about the jogging potential of “Keep Your Eyes Ahead,” but admittedly hadn’t thought about what it would be like to play the song outdoors as well. In the colorful, cold-seeming Whitey McConnaughy-directed video for the tune, the resilient PDX pop duo take their dreamy rocker to the late-night Portland streets on a custom cart built for two, providing us with our second trip to the city today. Hell, maybe we should move there.

New Helio Sequence – “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”

Stereogum — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:46:39 +0000

The new Helio Sequence makes us feel like running in the park against the wind: less shoegaze, more gazing at a distant finish line. 45:33 in 4:25? Actually, there is a story of inspiration behind it. Multi-instrumental singer Brandon Summer badly damaged his vocal chords after years of touring and recording, so he had to find another way to enunciate and breath on the Oregon-born duo’s fourth album Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Hence the added dreaminess. In honor of Brandon’s triumph, please take the title track with you on your next outdoor excursion: On your marks, get set, download. Dudes are obviously in training.

[photo by Pavlina Honcova-Summers]