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YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN have been described as “A psychedelic noh-wave opera group fusing noise, metal, pop and folk music into a multidisciplinary hyper-orientalist cesspool of ‘eastern’ culture in giant monochrome paper sets.” The Canadian group, which maintains an ever-changing cast (with backgrounds such as painting, philosophy, theatre, social sciences,...
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FAWN are a Motor City supergroup of sorts, comprised of previous members of the likes of Thunderbirds are Now!, the Von Bondies, Javelins, Child Bite, and Those Transatlantic, among others. Their debut album, Coastlines, drops next week on Quite Scientific Records. The band spawned from the simultaneous heartbreaks of...
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Last Wednesday the Dandy Warhols played one of the best shows Philadelphia’s seen all year at the Trocadero. The show also holds quite a bit of sentimental significance for me. The last time the band played that particular venue was nearly nine years ago. It was the first concert...
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Next week The Spring Standards kick off a US tour supporting Rhett Miller & the Serial Lady Killers, including a June 5th stop in Philadelphia at World Café Live. Earlier this month the Brooklyn-based (Delaware/PA-bred) three-piece put out their third release, yellow//gold. I recently got a chance to chat...
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“Some of the words we were throwing around were ‘warm’ and ‘dirty’… not in a pornish way,” says Lucy Michelle of Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, when describing the concept behind the band’s upcoming album, which they finally decided to call “Heat.” As someone who is yet to...
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So I have been known to mock the musical tastes of my students. However, that’s only because, in most cases, it deserves mocking. But I hope they know I do it all with love (Well… you know what I mean.) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received...
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Simone Felice (of The Felice Brothers and The Duke & the King) recently released a solo record, which has been festering inside him for the better part of his life. And next Friday, June 1st, he will be performing this life’s work (likely among others) at the hyper-cozy chapel...
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Something tells me that, by the end of the year, Gemma Ray will be the Western hemisphere’s most popular indie-electro chanteuse. Flavorwire is comparing her to Phil Spector and David Lynch, while Village Voice is likening her to Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones. The UK singer/songwriter is the perfect...
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Penguin Prison sounds a bit like Justin Timberlake, bent over and taking it from Stevie Wonder… and I mean that in the best possible way. I’m not usually one for camp (no matter how crass), but Chris Glover manages to appropriate hyper accessible, glossy, retro, synthetic soul pop in...
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So the word is that Rocky Votolato’s show next Thursday, May 24th, at Milkboy Philly is almost sold out. This is great news for the Seattle-based singer/songwriter; my dear friend, Bill Hanson, who owns and operates my new favorite Philthy venue; and, also, one of my new favorite people...
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Oops, you got a little... you're dribbling a bit of bile from you... no, don't use your sleeve--ah, forget it....
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This past March I chatted with Americana singer/songwriter Amy LaVere in regards to her (then) upcoming tour supporting The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson on his latest solo trek. However, it was a side-project, whose details were still being ironed out, that she seemed most excited about in 2012. She did...
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The last time I saw Spacehog was in 2001. I was 16-years-old. The Leeds, England-by-way-of-Manhattan neo-glam rock outfit was serving as the opening act for The Black Crowes and Oasis’ Tour of Brotherly Love (Each of the three bands included brothers). The gig, which took place at Columbia, Maryland’s...
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In 2012 it’s hard to characterize someone as being “conceptual” without them assuming you’re mocking them… as if “thinking” is simply a pretentious hipster fad. RACES, however, do not fall into that category. I recently got a chance to chat with two of the band’s six members and, I...
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With two teams in the playoffs, Philadelphia is finding it difficult to care about anything else right now. The Phillies won? Call us when they’re 13 games up. New footage of the duck boat crash was released? Who… the fuck wants to see that? Kids missed that orthodontist appointment?...
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This past Friday (April 27th), a group of local video and film creatives organized the third installment of an event they call Philly UNfestival at PhilaMOCA. The event is organized by Anthony Zagarella of Fractal Circus, as well Joe Reidl and Nick Hatsis–and is hosted by Aidan Rich....
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The last time Philthy caught up with Charlene Kaye she was in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for an upcoming album. Her goal was $20,000, at the time the article ran she had raised $24,750, and by the end of the 30-day run she had...
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(Unfortunately, as of May 1st, Ane has had to cancel the first two dates of her tour, including the intended opening night in Philadelphia, so she will not be appearing at Union Transfer this Wednesday. But I would still highly recommend picking up her latest, It All Starts With...
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In 2011 the two musical stars of Philthy were the hyper-conceptual and socio-politically confrontational Atari Teenage Riot and the, somewhat less-likely (considering the “Music Department and Features Editor”’s, background is in semiotics and postmodern art), Deer Tick, the alt.-country-by-way-of-reckless-punk-abandon project of John McCauley. Their last LP, Divine Providence, released...
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I recently discussed with my students of Intellectual Heritage the notion of psychoactive plants being present at the creation of numerous of the world’s religions… A sentiment not so far off from what Danish lo-fi outfit, Alcoholic Faith Mission, were pondering when they came up with their lovely moniker. ...
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There's no reason not to be optimistic, unless you're somebody who allows problems, analysis, and history affect your opinions....
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These United States’ fifth full-length (since 2008!), and best yet, is hitting shelves on June 12th. However, if you’re interested in getting a sneak preview of the self-titled release, the Americana quartet will be at Union Transfer tonight, supporting Trampled By Turtles, likely previewing a handful of tracks from...
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Keeping with the sentiment of urgency found in their moniker, I recently chatted with Stefanie Berecz (vocals) and Brendan O’Connell (keys and guitar) of The Right Now as they were en route to their final rehearsal for their tour, which kicks off tonight in Pittsburgh. Although the two would...
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On April 23rd World Café Live’s free Monday night institution, Philly Rising Open Mic, will be hosting a special guest, Britain-bred, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter and one-of-Shawn-Mullins’- favorite-people-in-the-world-of-music, Callaghan. In 2010 Callaghan relocated from London to Atlanta to record her debut album with Shawn Mullins (who produced the album). “I lived...
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The Penguins put their skirts on last night, but not their dainty ballet skirts. They slipped on their classiest gowns and came out with the intent to not go quietly....
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It’s likely been a little while since you’ve heard Megan Reilly’s name. Six years ago the Illinois Times was saying “Her music works on an almost subliminal level, lulling you into a state of perfect receptiveness and infiltrating your consciousness like a restless spirit,” and the Dallas Observer was...
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“Living in San Francisco, it’s like 4/20 there every day, every minute, but I think it’s nice for everyone else to get to celebrate,” says Allyson Baker, mainwoman of SF’s Dirty Ghosts, who will find themselves in Philthy this Friday, 4/20, performing at PhilaMOCA (alongside locals Levee Drivers, Ghost...
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I recently chatted with TOBACCO, frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow and general purveyor of some of recent history’s most misunderstood (but none-the-less thoroughly enjoyed) takes on popular music (He’s a big fan of utilizing analogue synths and noise boxes to produce sounds that often ring of psychedelic fuzz...
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There is something profoundly anti-sentimental about Cool Nightmare, the latest EP from Portland’s Radiation City, which dropped earlier this week. The release is, in a lot of ways, centered on a dying piano. This piano spent its golden years in drummer Randy Bemrose’s basement. The sound of the decaying...
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The key to their success? Relentless athleticism. Concentrated support. And as always, Peter Laviolette being seconds away from a vicious crime....
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Somewhere between protecting their eggs from the harsh Arctic cold and learning to play hockey, Penguins became a whiny, detestable pack of Pennsylvanian jerkbags. And there's not a thing Morgan Freeman could narrate them doing that could change that....
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“The first time we ever played Philly the sound man was watching a hockey game, so… This is better,” proclaimed Katy Klaw, 1/3rd of Peggy Sue, as the Brighton-based indie folksters graced Union Transfer with their presence this past Saturday. The performance she was referring to occurred about two...
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All of this week’s highlights in Philthy live music have not come from the marquee stars, but the Robins to their Batman, those in the passenger seat, the (aptly and honorably titled) “support.” This Tuesday, Upstairs at World Café Live hosted the (shockingly, sold out) “Austin to Boston Tour.” ...
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As of today, Morgan Nagler’s Whispertown is on their fifth official release and third official name (They began as “Whispertown2000,” before going on to be “The Whispertown 2000” and now, simply “Whispertown.”) Whispertown’s latest, Parallel, is out today on Acony Records and the seven-song EP has the band heading...
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Although I often mock World Café Live (with love) for their upper-middle-class, white, suburban, NPR-listening demographic and their relatively sterile dinner-theatre setup, the University City venue has hosted some of the best concerts the city has seen this year, from Saul Williams’ awe-inspiring set last month to Jessie Baylin’s...
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I was at the fourth-to-last Sleater-Kinney show of all-time… It was the most powerful experience of live music I’ve ever witnessed… This week I attended Morningwood’s fourth-to-last show of all-time… Well, it was the best thing I’ve seen so far this year… and the highlight of my Spring Break....
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I was sad to find that the quite-anticipated double-header of Bowerbirds at Johnny Brenda’s and Grimes at block-away Kung Fu Necktie was recently squashed when Grimes promptly sold out KFN and had her show moved to the First Unitarian Church. However, Grimes’ avant-garde indie pop, in my mind, must...
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Heartless Bastards are the only band in the world that I have ever said are perfectly suited for a state fair… when it wasn’t intended as an insult. They seem to be from some other time and place… but that time and place are really amalgamations of scenes and...
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Sophia Somajo, aka Soso, is a somewhat avant-garde singer/songwriter from Sweden. She wrote, recorded, and produced her entire debut album (That Time I Dug so Deep I Ended up in China, out 5/1) inside of her bedroom… She’s one of the few people I can think of that I...
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Mindless self indulgence and morningwood would seem to be a natural pairing… So I guess it makes sense that the lead singers (and mainman and woman) of Mindless Self Indulgence (Jimmy Urine) and Morningwood (Chantal Claret) are an actual pair… or, couple… married, in fact. And this Spring each...
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Sophia Knapp is painfully charming. “I wanna rock people’s socks off,” she tells me upon being asked what are her plans for 2012. “My band is, like, pretty cool cats,” she tells me at another point. Sophia Knapp isn’t your average platinum from Brooklyn… although she may be my...
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This Wednesday, Feb. 29, the TLA will be hosting Philthy’s best bill of 2012 yet, with Company of Thieves and Girl in a Coma. It is likely the best lineup the city has seen since… well, Girl in a Coma and The Coathangers hit up the North Star last...
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There’s something very cinematic about the sounds of Dead Fingers. At times it rings of the kind of vintage country that would be romanticized by Jim Jarmusch. At times it’s reminiscent of the effortless, alcohol-addled, late-night folk jamming of Bob Dylan and friends captured by D.A. Pennebaker in Dont...
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Nothing for a Thursday night like a little glamour and a three-way… especially when it’s courtesy of Philthy’s favorite trio of electro vixens, Patty Crash and The Sisterwives. This Thursday, Feb. 23rd, Patty and her girls will be at The Barbary for Polyglamourous. However, if you can’t wait to...
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As far as electro noise pop princesses go, Philthy has Patty Crash and NYC has Ducky (Morgan Neiman). Ducky’s been in the music game since she was 13. By 16 she was spinning in San Francisco clubs and by 17 she was dropping out of high school and relocating...
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In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Free Dominguez and Jimmy Gnecco are stripping down for the week… although not in a manner quite as “festive” as it sounds. The Kidneythieves’ vocalist (Dominguez) and Ours’ frontman (Gnecco) have hit the road for a brief string of intimate, solo shows, which...
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Poliça are a hard band to pin down… to put it mildly. They are an off-shoot of GAYNGS… a side-project consisting of members of Bon Iver, The Rosebuds, Megafaun, Doomtree, Solid Gold, and Leisure Birds… among others. At the core of Poliça are GAYNGS vocalist Channy Leaneagh and producer...
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On Saturday, February 11th, VICE and Project X’s Party Legends College Tour comes to Philly for an exclusive screening of Project X (from the producers of the Hangover), and after party, featuring performances by Machine Gun Kelly and Jesse Marco. Screening: The Roxy Movie Theatre, 2023 Sansom Street |...
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I’m guessing most of my readers look forward to February 15th nearly as much as they look forward to December 26th… However, this year Philthy has an even better reason to celebrate that particular date… Sheffield duo Slow Club will be appearing at Johnny Brenda’s for what I’m anticipating...
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No one actually likes Valentine’s Day. Well, I mean, no one who is even slightly interesting likes Valentine’s Day. And even less do they like holiday celebrations named for a play on words of said holiday. And, alas, I will find myself at Voyeur this Friday, Feb. 10th, for...
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN have been described as “A psychedelic noh-wave opera group fusing noise, metal, pop and folk music into a multidisciplinary hyper-orientalist cesspool of ‘eastern’ culture in giant monochrome paper sets.” The Canadian group, which maintains an ever-changing cast (with backgrounds such as painting, philosophy, theatre, social sciences,...
FAWN are a Motor City supergroup of sorts, comprised of previous members of the likes of Thunderbirds are Now!, the Von Bondies, Javelins, Child Bite, and Those Transatlantic, among others. Their debut album, Coastlines, drops next week on Quite Scientific Records. The band spawned from the simultaneous heartbreaks of...
