Qobuz Announces Exclusive Partnership with Drummer Steve Shelley and Vampire Blues

Partnership launches with three titles: Wylde Ratttz, Sonic Youth’s Live in Berlin 2009, and the previously unreleased Cat Casual and the Final Word album Mind The Program: The Chelsea Hotel Sessions, available on streaming for the first time

Qobuz, the independently owned high-quality music streaming and download platform, is partnering with Steve Shelley, the longtime drummer of Sonic Youth and founder of the independent labels Vampire Blues and Smells Like Records, and the caretaker of Sonic Youth’s SYR and goofin’ labels. The partnership brings a selection of rare, archival, and previously unreleased recordings from Shelley’s catalog (and beyond?) exclusively to Qobuz, beginning with three titles available now on streaming for the first time.

The first collection of releases includes the supergroup Wylde Ratttz’ 2020 self-titled LP, Sonic Youth’s Live in Berlin 2009, and the collective Cat Casual and the Final Word’s previously unreleased album Mind The Program: The Chelsea Hotel Sessions.

Originally formed in 1997, Wylde Ratttz brings together Shelley, The Stooges’ Ron Asheton, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Minutemen’s Mike Watt, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, musician and producer Don Fleming, and Sean Ono Lennon. Founded to record Stooges-inspired music for Todd Haynes’ film Velvet Goldmine, a second recording session produced a mix of original material, covers of songs by The Pretty Things, and an extended collection of instrumentals. Recorded and mixed at Sear Sound in New York City in 1997, the self-titled album was previously available only through Bandcamp and a limited bootleg-style edition run of 1,000 vinyl LPs in 2020.

Sonic Youth’s Live in Berlin 2009 captures the band at Columbiahalle in Berlin on October 21, 2009, shortly after the release of their final studio album, The Eternal. The expansive set draws heavily from The Eternal while revisiting songs including “Stereo Sanctity,” “Silver Rocket,” “Shadow of a Doubt,” and the closing “Death Valley ’69.” Recorded to digital multitrack and mixed by longtime SY engineer Aaron Mullan, the studio-quality live album was previously available through Bandcamp and as a handmade double CD.

The drop’s third title, Cat Casual and the Final Word’s Mind The Program, has never previously been released. Featuring singer/songwriter/guitarist William Benton, bassist Greg Eckelman, and pedal steel guitarist Rob Morrison, along w/ Shelley on drums. This EP was recorded and filmed live at New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel in 2025 for the Mind the Programvideo series, and includes performances of Lou Reed’s “Doin’ the Things That We Want To” with Bonnie “Prince” Billy; Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” with Kyp Malone and Shilpa Ray; and The Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” with Thalia Zedek, Rhett Miller, Shilpa Ray, and Eszter Balint.

On the partnership, Shelley said, “We're having a blast shining a light on some forgotten and sometimes hard-to-find recordings. Qobuz is making the streaming world a better place, and I'm enjoying exploring parts of that sound world with them!”

Dan Mackta, Managing Director for North America and Northern Europe at Qobuz, said: “Steve has played an essential role in independent music for decades, both as an artist and through his work uncovering and preserving remarkable recordings. This partnership gives listeners the opportunity to experience that work with the sound quality, context, and care it deserves.”