Name: Several Shades Of Why
Brand: J Mascis

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

sp859

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2011-03-28

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

SPCD859

2011-03-14

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

J Mascis

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Sub Pop

Best known as the remote frontman of the influential indie trio Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis was also an occasional producer and film composer. Born December 10, 1965 in Amherst, Massachusetts, he first emerged as a member of the hardcore unit Deep Wound, founding Dinosaur in 1984. Over the course of acclaimed LPs like 1987's You're Living All Over Me and 1988's Bug, the group emerged among the most highly regarded in alternative rock, with J Mascis' creaky Neil Young-like vocals and monolithic guitar leads becoming primary influences on the burgeoning grunge movement.

The group temporarily disbanded in 1989 to allow J Mascis to dismiss bassist Lou Barlow who went on to form Sebadoh. In this time period, J Mascis sat in on drums with a series of bands including Upsidedown Cross and GobbleHoof while also producing albums for other artists such as GobbleHoof's self-titled LP released in 1990.

J Mascis re-formed Dinosaur Jr. in 1991 and later scored Allison Anders' independent film Gas Food Lodging a year later. He made a cameo appearance in the movie itself and continued collaborating with Anders on her feature Grace of My Heart. Alongside his work with Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis produced records for fIREHOSE (Mr. Machinery Operator) and Tad (In

Short for "Subterranean Pop" 

The label was an outgrowth of [a=Bruce Pavitt]'s Olympia, WA based (print) fanzine, which became the well respected cassettezine of the same name. 

After his move to Seattle he ran a music column in the Seattle Rocket also called Sub Pop.

After initial forays into the record label world with a [a=Green River] 7" (not officially on Sub Pop) and the Sub Pop 100 LP, the label exploded onto the indie scene with four influential colored vinyl 7"s which included [a=Mudhoney]'s "Touch Me I'm Sick" which made the year-end top 10 playlist of nearly every music journalist in the world.

Subsequent hyping of the label in the English music press put them on the map, and grunge was born.

Label-Code is 03159; rarely found printed on releases (basically only on releases manufactured/licensed by Warner/WEA Germany)

Back In Stock

In the quarter century since he founded Dinosaur (Jr), J Mascis has created some of the era's signature songs, albums and styles. The laconically-based roar of his guitar, drums and vocals have driven a long string of bands - Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr, Gobblehoof, Velvet Monkeys, the Fog, Witch, Sweet Apple - and he has guested on innumerable sessions. But Several Shades of Why, recorded at Amherst, Massachusetts' Bisquiteen studios, is J's first solo studio record, and it is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a delicacy not always associated with his work. Nearly all acoustic, Several Shades of Why was created with the help of a few friends. notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (long-time collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (the Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees). Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from english-tinged folk to drifty, west coast-style singer / songwriterism. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct mascis watermark, both in the shape of the tunes and the glorious rasp of the vocals. Ten brilliant tunes that quietly grow and expand until they fill your brain with the purest pleasure.

Several Shades Of Why

Music GB