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Belgium’s Melanie De Biasio’s aesthetic is at a very bizarre intersection that has her drawing comparisons to jazz vocal legends, trip hop pioneers, and even the hyper-moody dream pop of This Mortal Coil. The singer/flautist’s sophomore effort, No Deal, has already gone gold in Belgium and silver in France,...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off May 19-May 24: Chromeo “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)” (Atlantic) – I can’t stop listening to this cool and funky/ danceable track from this neo-funk duo from Montreal. This album “White Woman” is catchy and an 80’s vibe going on. This song is tasty...
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There are a lot of great Americana acts out there in 2014, but North Carolina’s Mandolin Orange write tunes that strike me as especially existentially profound. The indie country duo seem to be honor students at the Townes Van Zandt school of balladry, and even when they veer toward...
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This past Tuesday English electropoppers Metronomy showed an unfortunately sparsely-packed Union Transfer the meaning of a “show.” However, it was openers, Cloud Control, who proved to be the evening’s highlight. PHILTHY MAG first met the Aussie indie rockers last summer, when we discussed their sophomore effort, Dream Cave, which...
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Like our recently profiled Haley Bonar, Jolie Holland recently side stepped slightly from the Americana she’s best known for. Jolie Holland’s latest, at times, puts a rambunctious, aggressively punk spin on country and the blues, and at others, a delectably primal and raw spin on soul. But it can...
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Haley Bonar is best known for her moody/atmospheric take on the Americana singer/songwriter genre, but her brand would seem to be more inspired by post-punk and shoegaze than the kind of artists who haunt dinner theater venues (When discussing the year’s best new music, she’s certainly kosher to mention...
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Amy Lynn & the Gunshow are a seven-piece neo-soul outfit, based out of NYC, led by Amy Lynn Hamlin, a chanteuse classically (and thoroughly) trained in sass. Last month saw the release of their debut LP, the brilliantly titled, Don’t Trip on the Glitter. I recently got a chance...
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1. The Horrors “So Now You Know” (XL) – Expansive, full, atmospheric, lots of chiming guitar and synths. What is not to like about this new song from The Horrors from their brand new album “Luminous”! It has a danceable spacey quality a full and satisfied feeling! This is...
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“I’ve always been an explorer, which translate to always leaving,” says Mirah. The indie pop singer/songwriter (best known for her work on K Records) is referring to one of the reasons for the five year gap in-between her fourth studio LP, 2009’s (a)spera, and her fifth, Changing Light, which...
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Philthy has seen a lot of noisy sonic revolutionaries in recent months, from the hardcore of Perfect Pussy to the avant-garde acid punk of Bo Ningen, but arguably the most prolific “sonic revolutionaries” of the twenty first century, Swans, are coming back next week with their new album, To...
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Built to Spill, indie guitar rock pioneers from Boise, Idaho, pour into The World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, May 16, 2014. This promises to be one of the hottest indie rock concerts coming to Wilmington this quarter. They will be with opening band, The Warm...
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I identify with Brighton’s Fear of Men to a degree that borders on both comedy and tragedy. They began as the art school film project of guitarist Daniel Falvey and vocalist/guitarist Jessica Weiss (I moved to The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection eleven years ago to attend...
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Rarely are the coolest bands to listen to the same as the most fun bands to listen to… However, Norway’s Highasakite manage to float gracefully down to that intersection. I first formally encountered the band, led by vocalist and songwriter Ingrid Helene Havik, a year ago, when I wrote...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off May 5-May 12: 1. Hercules & Love Affair – “ I Try To Talk to You”- One of my favorite albums of the last quarter century was Hercules & Love Affair’s eponymous self-titled 2008 classic, and now, here is a new single which is no...
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Howls are an LA-based duo that write subversive, synth-heavy pop songs… but less in an ‘80s, Depeche-Mode-driven-realm, and more of a style that would find its way onto the soundtrack of The Crow or to a spot supporting Garbage in 1996… I could also picture them sharing a stage...
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Nashville’s Suzie Brown is a name you’re most likely at least a bit familiar with. She’s a singer, songwriter, Harvard-educated cardiologist, mother, and, until recently, a fellow-215er… I think she also fights crime at night… actually, I don’t think I’m supposed to mention that… In just over half a...
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Indie folk songstress (perhaps this generation’s quintessential indie folk songstress) Priscilla Ahn recently took a trip to the desert all on her lonesome. The result of this trip is This is Where We Are, her latest LP, released in the US this February. Priscilla was drawn to this journey...
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So the majority of PHILTHY’s recent live highlights have been a bit (maybe more than a bit) on the abrasive and subversive side, from the post-riot Grrrl of The Coathaners; Dennis Lyxzen’s new, new wave outfit for spouting highly-danceable radical leftist propaganda; or hardcore critical darlings’ Perfect Pussy’s 15-minutes...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off April 28-May 4 is as follows: 1. Quilt -“Tie up the Tides” (Mexican Summer) – From their new album “Held in Splendor”, this tasty tune serves up a creative bit of psychedelic indie folk rock with a retro-60’s feel. There are tons to like in...
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“Revolutionary” hardcore at the Church is fine. And postmodern performance art at KFN can be nice. But sometimes on a Saturday night you just want some big time Rock’N’Rollers to kick your ass with some ultra-groovy riffs. Fortunately for us, English rockers Band of Skulls will be taking the...
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You can blame it on the romance coursing through my veins, but it would seem as though many of the greatest works of art are those that nearly didn’t happen. Both are true for London duo Smoke Fairies’ eponymously-titled fourth album, which is due out May 20th on Full...
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Garage Funk Jammers Little Barrie are a decade and a half into their career, yet May 27th will see the release of just their fourth LP, Shadow… Although that can fairly be chalked up to mainmain Barrie Cadogan’s gig stomping alongside Bobby Gillespie on guitar in Primal Scream (not...
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The last time I spoke to Run River North vocalist/guitarist Alex Hwang was last summer. The LA-based indie folk rock sextet were currently recording their debut LP with legendary producer Phil Ek (best known for his work with the likes of Built to Spill and Fleet Foxes.) Well… the...
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Bo Ningen are probably the hippest band that you’ve never heard of. They’re a pretty big deal for the in-the-know in places like Japan (from where they hail) and England (where they currently reside.) They’ve been making records since 2009 and have collaborated with the likes of CAN’s Damo...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off April 16-April 23: 1. Woods- “Moving to the Left” (Woodsist) – This amazing piece of retro folk psych rock is cool and blissful, a bit lo-fi and spacey. The singer has a melodic falsetto which all feels like it floats along while head-bopping beats...
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Rob Zombie once said that the greatest thing about The Ramones is that they were always around and that they were always great. I think a similar sentiment applies to all-female Atlanta punk rockers The Coathangers. In the past half dozen years they’ve played at least a dozen shows...
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Minnesota’s Cloud Cult has been kicking out organic jams for nearly two decades now, penning experimental baroque pop tunes, churning out 100% organic merch and album packaging, and greening up the music industry in general with Earthology Records, a nonprofit music organization that’s currently operating out of a building...
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“So I guess we’re kind of like U2-meets-Depeche-Mode-meets-My-Bloody-Valentine. My favorite band is U2, but we have a ton of electronic influences and a lot of shoegaze, as well.” Ryan Daly, is explaining the origins of Parade of Lights’ sounds, the anthemic dance rock band he sings and plays guitar...
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Last month Heineken put on a mind-blowing interactive theater show at New York’s The McKittrick Hotel. It was part play, part choose-your-own-adventure mindwarp, with an eclectic cast of characters who encouraged the audience to become a part of the show. When guests arrived,...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off:April 7-April 12 1. Night Drive- “Drones” – This electro-dance track pounds along and takes you back. It’s a journey that reminds you of great times on the dance floor in the 80’s with it’s hypnotic/ robotic vocals and steady keyboard synths that are irresistible and...
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Most people are a big fan of free candy (see: Halloween). I, personally, don’t have much of a sweet tooth. However, I find, Free Candy, the third LP from Edmonton’s The Wet Secrets to be quite appetizing. The album blends garage psychedelics with the most organic kind of soul...
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Boston’s Mean Creek are some of my favorite people in music… and not just because they’re named after one of the better films of the past ten years… I first met them in February of 2010, during a horrific snowstorm that had snow piled four feet high on every...
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“I really love variety and I sometimes get in trouble four that. People like to be able to put a label on you and if they can’t, it kind of frustrates them,” says Beth Thornley, who’s preparing to release her fourth effort, Septagon, on April 8th. While describing her...
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After begrudgingly suffering through one of the most agonizing winters in a very long time, I think most Philadelphians are absolutely euphoric at the recent signs of springtime. Whether it’s finally seeing runners whiz past you in Rittenhouse Square or little pinks buds starting to show up on cherry...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off: March 31-April 6 1. Little Daylight – “Siren Call” – I just stumbled across this very cool indie rock band from Brooklyn while I was travelling. This has a killer shimmering guitar line, a really nice catchy hook and chorus with bright choppy synths through...
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I have often argued that Sweden’s The Sounds just might be the best band of my generation. The synth-heavy, hyper-danceable rockers are impressively well-versed in their understanding of the beauty of post-punk, but they’re also just as competent at producing the infectiously popular aesthetic of the best kind of...
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“This is one of the first bands I’ve played in where music is the primary thing. In previous projects, it used to be music is just the excuse for me to go crazy.” Dennis Lyxzén is characterizing the live experience of his latest project, INVSN. However, he later goes...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off: March 24-March 30: 1. Wye Oak – “Glory” (Merge) – This Baltimore indie pop band has an excellent synth-type sound, and it suits them very well! The huge hooks and the dynamite chorus are beautiful. This is such a great song and is my...
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There’s not a lot that’s sexier to a culturally transgressive American than artistically-inclined foreigners that refuse to adopt the customs of the Land of the “Free” and Home of the “Brave.” (i.e. speaking to us in our native tongue) And the rejection of the current state of “culture” only...
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So for the first time since this whole “playing-the-whole-album” craze has come into fashion with bands that have been around the block at least once or twice, I’m going to be seeing a band play an album whose tour I actually attended the first time around, …And You Will...
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The Baseball Project, which began as a conceptual (and honestly, a bit goofy) side project that came about from an assumedly flavored discussion during R.E.M.’s 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are currently a punk/ jangle pop/college rock-inspired outfit that may have just recorded the...
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Live albums tend to get a bad rep from music snobs… often because they’re a quick, largely-work-free way to another paycheck… often because they’re a way for a band to fulfill/escape a contract penned by one of Lucifer’s buddies… and often because they would seem to be synonymous with...
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Nicole Atkins’ latest LP, Slow Phaser (released last month), represents the songstress’ widest array of musical capabilities to-date: the most soulful psych rock, the sultriest Americana, quirkily empowering piano pop… and most of the things that would fall in-between. She’s beginning to remind me of Chrissie Hynde at her...
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Ages and Ages are a rare entity that is able to acknowledge the hardships and atrocities associated with the human experience… yet remain hopeful, positive, and even confident in their ability to find beauty within it. In fact, their music manages to be profoundly uplifting, despite its dealings with...
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Ex Hex’s debut 7”, “Hot Water” b/w “Waterfall” and “Everywhere”, is out today on Merge and the accompanying music video is bizarrely timely (At least for me…) The first video from the playfully punk Washington DC trio (comprised of Mary Timony, formerly of Helium and Wild Flag; Betsy Wright;...
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Casey Dienel, aka White Hinterland, has the most enlightening and empowering story about moving back in with her parents that I’ve heard in quite some time. Two and a half years after the release of her sophomore LP, 2010’s Kairos, Dienel decided to move back to her family’s Massachusetts...
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After her initial sizeable splash in her country of origin, Spanish indie pop chanteuse Lourdes Hernandez, better known as Russian Red (named for her favorite shade of lipstick), has become quite an international star over the course of the past half-decade. Her second album, 2011’s Fuerteventura, was produced by...
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Norwegian songstress Susanna Wallumrod, but usually just known as Susanna, is a lovely enigma of indie pop. Her somewhat avant-garde aesthetic borrows from the worlds of the baroque, jazz, and even a few ‘90s electronic genres… but she’s also famously covered the likes of AC/DC, KISS, and Rush (in...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off is as follows: 1. Sharon Van Etten ” Taking Chances” ( Jajaguwar) – It’s harder, more electric and staightforward than ever before. Sharon Van Etten hits it hard and on target with this one. Pick of the week!! ...
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After reading City Paper’s response to the NYC Crying Guide, we decided to add to the list of places we have sulked in self-loathe. Let’s face it, Philadelphia is a sad city. Suffering the Napoleon complex to its neighboring city New York, ranking a top-percentage in highest crime rate in the country, and a...
Belgium’s Melanie De Biasio’s aesthetic is at a very bizarre intersection that has her drawing comparisons to jazz vocal legends, trip hop pioneers, and even the hyper-moody dream pop of This Mortal Coil. The singer/flautist’s sophomore effort, No Deal, has already gone gold in Belgium and silver in France,...
Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off May 19-May 24: Chromeo “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)” (Atlantic) – I can’t stop listening to this cool and funky/ danceable track from this neo-funk duo from Montreal. This album “White Woman” is catchy and an 80’s vibe going on. This song is tasty...
