The Breeders, U.S. Girls, Tune-Yards, Big Thief Team Up for 4AD Anniversary Comp

'Bills & Aches & Blues' features current 4AD artists covering 4AD classics by Pixies, Grimes, Bon Iver and more

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Mar 10, 2021

Long-running label 4AD turned 40 in 2020, and to celebrate the belated anniversary, the imprint is now releasing a comp that finds 18 current 4AD artists covering 18 4AD classics.

Among the artists contributing covers on Bills & Aches & Blues are the Breeders, U.S. Girls, Tune-Yards, Big Thief, Bradford Cox, Future Islands and more. They will all be taking on tunes by 4AD artists of old, such as Pixies, the Birthday Party, His Name Is Alive, Grimes, Bon Iver, Blonde Redhead, Lush, Deerhunter and others.

The first five songs from the compilation are out now, and you can check them out below.

They find the Breeders covering His Name Is Alive's "Dirt Eaters," U.S. Girls taking on the Birthday Party's "Junkyard," Tkay Maidza covering the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?", Aldous Harding doing Deerhunter's "Revival," and Maria Somerville presenting Air Miami's "Seabird."

Bills & Aches & Blues will arrive as a series of EPs on DSPs before being released in full digitally on April 2, with vinyl and CD versions following on July 23. A deluxe vinyl box set will also arrive later this year.

The first 12 months' profits from Bills & Aches & Blues will be donated to the Harmony Project a Los Angeles-based after-school program for children from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts or music.

As some 4AD stans may notice, the title Bills & Aches & Blues comes from the opening line of Cocteau Twins' "Cherry-Coloured Funk."



Bills & Aches & Blues:

1. Tkay Maidza — "Where Is My Mind?" (Pixies)
2. U.S. Girls — "Junkyard" (The Birthday Party)
3. Aldous Harding — "Revival" (Deerhunter)
4. The Breeders — "Dirt Eaters" (His Name Is Alive)
5. Maria Somerville — "Seabird" (Air Miami)
6. Tune-Yards — "Cannonball" (The Breeders)
7. Spencer. — "Genesis" (Grimes)
8. Helado Negro — "Futurism" (Deerhunter)
9. Efterklang — "Postal" (Piano Magic)
10. Bing and Ruth — "Gigantic" (Pixies)
11. Future Islands — "The Moon Is Blue" (Colourbox)
12. Jenny Hval — "Sunbathing" — (Lush)
13. Dry Cleaning — "Oblivion" (Grimes)
14. Bradford Cox — "Mountain Battles" (Breeders)
15. SOHN — "Song To The Siren" (Tim Buckley)
16. Becky and The Birds — "The Wolves Act I and II" (Bon Iver)
17. Ex:Re — "Misery Is a Butterfly" (Blonde Redhead)
18. Big Thief — "Off You" (The Breeders)

Pre-order Bills & Aches & Blues.

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