Season 3 Episode 2 Jun 6, 2017

The One About Hardly Art

Here we have a love letter / mixtape to Hardly Art, the sibling label to Sub Pop. Hear stories from Hardly Art employees past and present.

This episode is brought to you from the Sub Pop Podcast Studio by host/producer Arwen Nicks.

The One About Hardly Art by John Atkins — Illustration by John Atkins

Illustration by John Atkins

Show Notes

Welcome to the episode about Hardly Art, Sub Pop’s younger sister / brother / cousin / niece / nephew / sibling / neighbor label. Hardly Art turned ten this year (i.e., 2017), and to celebrate, besides getting a feature on the Sub Pop-branded podcast, they released themselves a little compilation of seldom heard rarities, curiosities, and “widely ignored” material. (A portion of proceeds will be donated to the ACLU.)

Cast of characters.

Here are the players in this episode: the voices of Hardly Art.

Sarah Moody: label head honcho (first heard from in Season One!)

Nick Heliotis: Hardly Art employee emeritus #1

Ruben Mendez: Hardly Art employee emeritus #2

Jason Baxter: employee #MichaelMcDonald (read: “number Michael McDonald”, not “hashtag”)

Matt Kolhede: employee #moustache (ditto) (probably temporary) (the moustache not the employment… but nothing lasts forever, right?) (sorry, Matt)

Tony Kiewel: Sub Pop’s Vice President Charged With A&R and A&R Svengali to Hardly Art, Neighbor Label (we’ve heard from Tony before)

We also heard from Megan Jasper, CEO of Sub Pop Records, Matthew from the Walgreens parking lot, and of course Arwen.

Who talked about who?

(Person) - (Artist) - (Song) - (Album)
Sarah - Tacocat - FDP - Lost Time
Tony - The Duchess & the Duke - Mary - She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke
Jason - Black Marble - A Great Design - A Different Arrangement
Ruben - Jacuzzi Boys - Heavy Horse - Jacuzzi Boys
Matt - Unnatural Helpers - Sunshine / Pretty Girls - Cracked Love & Other Drugs
Nick - Carissa’s Wierd - Drunk w/ the Only Saints I Know - Ugly But Honest
Sarah - Gazebos - Boys I Like - Die Alone
Jason - IAN SWEET - Cactus Couch - Shapeshifter
Tony - Protomartyr - I Stare at Floors - Under Color of Official Right
Sarah - The Julie Ruin - Mr. So and So - Hit Reset
Ruben - Circle Pit - Slave - Slave
Nick - Talbot Tagora - Hidden Note - Lessons in the Woods or a City
Matt - Hunx & His Punx - Too Young To Be In Love - Too Young To Be In Love
Sarah - Colleen Green - Deeper Than Love - I Want to Grow Up
Mini Mart ad (“Matthew”) - Dude York - Tonight - Sincerely
Jason - S - Tell Me - Cool Choices
Tony - Arthur & Yu - Lion’s Mouth - In Camera
Sarah - Shannon and the Clams - Rip Van Winkle - Dreams in the Rat House
Matt - Chastity Belt - Time to Go Home - Time to Go Home
Sarah - Deep Time - Homebody - Deep Time
Tony - Lost Animal - Lose the Baby - Ex Tropical
Sarah - La Luz - Call Me in the Day - It’s Alive
Jason - Hausu - Chrysanthemum - Total
Nick - The Moondoggies - Old Hound - Don’t Be A Stranger
Tony - Gem Club - Braid - In Roses

And what you probably wanted all along, even if you didn’t know it: a Spotify™ playlist of the songs from the episode, and only those songs:

(Maybe the embedded player won’t work for you. If so: click me, click me.)

And that’s it

Unfortunately there wasn’t (isn’t!) time enough to talk about EVERY artist who has released their music on Hardly Art. Even our little sibling nephew label has 46+ artists on their roster! You can – and should – browse their entire roster and delve into the dusty corners that we left cluttered and undusted. You will be amply rewarded!

Happy Birthday to Hardly Art!