Words // Adam Sharp M.Ward - "The First Time I Ran Away" If this smokey, perfect little number is any indication of what A Wasteland Companion, the new M.Ward album, is going to be like, we're all in for a treat. ( website ) Bahamas - "Lost in the Light" Equal parts campfire sing/clap along, hymn, and love song, this is the best song I've heard [...]

Illustration of Timothy Showalter of Strand Of Oaks by Johnnie Cluney for www.daytrotter.com At the turn of the New Year, the folks at NPR Music contacted WXPN and asked us to pick the "next big band to break out of Philly." Other stations, like The Current in Minneapolis, KUT in Austin, Seattle's KEXP, OPB (Oregon Public Radio), two New York stations (including WFUV at Fordham University and WNYC), and KCRW in Los Angeles were also approached. We were each challenged with the same job: pick one band, one song, and write three or four [...]
This week, we'll be taking a look at several WXPN/XPN2 staff members' Best Of 2011 lists. Today, XPN2′s Eric Schuman tells us his five favorite local albums of the year. 1. Man Man, Life Fantastic (Anti-) Listen to Mister Heavenly's interview and performance on XPN2 Pineapple Girl by Man Man from Life Fantastic Download 2. The War On Drugs, Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian) Listen to The War On Drugs' Key Studio Session [...]

This week, we'll be taking a look at several WXPN/XPN2 staff members' Best Of 2011 lists. Today, XPN's Helen Leicht—host of Middays and XPN Local —tells us her five favorite local albums of the year. 1. Amos Lee, Mission Bell (Blue Note Records) 2. Matt Duke, One Day Die (Rykodisc) Listen to Matt Duke's Key Studio Session 3. Hoots And Hellmouth, Salt (self-released) 4. Andrew [...]

As we reported yesterday, Hoots And Hellmouth is releasing a new album called Salt . The album will be available this Saturday, September 24th, at the band's record-release show at the TLA. (Tickets to the show are available here .) Salt is being digitally released on Tuesday, September 27th, and the physical CD will be in stores Tuesday, October 4th. You can pre-order the 11-song album here . Below, download the new song "Apple Like A Wrecking Ball" compliments of the band. Apple [...]

Hoots And Hellmouth is releasing a new album called Salt . The album will be available this Saturday, September 24th, at the band's record-release show at the TLA. (Tickets to the show are available here .) Salt is being digitally released on Tuesday, September 27th, and the physical CD will be in stores Tuesday, October 4th. You can pre-order the 11-song album here . Check back tomorrow for a free MP3 of the song "Apple Like A Wrecking Ball." In the meantime, listen to the song "Why Would You Not Want [...]

Hoots and Hellmouth just shared a new track "Why Would You Not Want to Go There?" from their upcoming album Salt . They'll be performing at their record-release show this Saturday at the TLA with Buried Beds . You can grab your copy of the album at the show, but it won't be available digitally until September 27 and physically (CD format) in stores until October 4 (however, you can preorder it if you'd like HERE ). Why Would You Not Want To Go There? by hootsandhellmouth
Andrew Gray (ex-Hellmouth of Hoots And Hellmouth) has a new name-your-price, three-song EP which you can download here . Just about a year ago Andrew made this announcement that he was leaving Hoots And Hellmouth to pursue his work as a teacher. Don't expect any hootin' or hollering on these new songs from Gray. The songs have a stripped-down, pensive and hymnal quality to them that brings to mind the work of Tim Hardin and Red House Painters. 3 Songs by Andrew Gray
Sean Hoots , the "Hoots" in Hoots And Hellmouth , has a new project called Raise The Dead! Language . Direct from Sean's website, here's what he has to day: It is with great pleasure that I announce the official release of Raise The Dead! Language: Volume 1. It's not really a band, per se…just me fiddling with loops (electronic, vocal and found sound) to create soundscapes suitable for many types of listening situations – long walks on the beach, yoga class, drives down desert highways, meditation retreats, slow roasting red peppers [...]
First it was New York , and now Philadelphia is stepping up as the potential hub of the East Coast festival scene. Popped! is back, and Riot Fest East has already announced they're setting up shop for a day. As it turns out, that day is part of the Philadelphia Film & Music Festival (a.k.a. Philly F/M Fest), and now the rest of the initial lineup has been revealed. Promising "at least fifteen 'headline-level' artists of all music genres," the immediate standouts are Deadmau5, Opeth, Jukebox the Ghost, Silverstein, The [...]
Summer 2011 will go down in history as the year all those bands that love fests created their own. Joining the ranks of DMB , Phish , and Pearl Jam , Grace Potter & The Nocturnals will officially have their own festival this summer. Potter, who already has upcoming appearances scheduled for Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza , will return to her home state of Vermont to put on the inaugural Grand Point North Festival , featuring artists hand picked by the songwriter herself and her bandmates, The Nocturnals. The [...]
What's that you say? You're going to be in Austin later this week to witness the spectacle of South By Southwest in all of its Makin'-It-In-The-Music-Biz glory? What a coincidence! So are a bunch of bands from Philadelphia. Today (and tomorrow), we take a quick look at a handful of the local acts we hope don't come back to town with horror stories of being herded around the Lone Star State like sheep to the slaughter. Grandchildren From early October to mid-November, it felt like we couldn't [...]

Two days ago , we posted the track list and cover art of the new Hoots And Hellmouth EP, Face First In The Dirt —with the promise that we'd have a song or two on the site prior to the EP's official release on March 15th. Well, we like to stay true to our word, so here it is: an exclusive track from Face First , "Picked By The Root" (posted below). With boxes of the new EP packed up in their van, the members of Hoots And Hellmouth will head out of town [...]

Photo by Doug Seymour Hoots And Hellmouth live at Ribfest in Chicago Yesterday, the members of Hoots And Hellmouth tweeted that their new EP had an official title ( Face First In The Dirt ) and release date (March 15th). Seeing as how pretty much everyone here at the station is a massive fan of the band, our interest was obviously piqued. We immediately sent a couple of emails to the band's management, who assured us that we'd get our grubby little paws on a copy of the EP (as [...]

We're barely a week into 2011 and we've already got our first major summer festival line up announcement of the season that has us excited for the warmer months ahead. Earlier today the fine folks behind the Wakarusa Music Festival dropped a monster list of bands that will take to the variety of tents and stages over the weekend of June 2 -5 at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas. Now in it's seventh year, the jam-friendly festival will be headlined by the mighty My [...]

A nice, nondescript bridge in New York City One is the cultural capital of the known universe. The other is the home of William Cochran's "Community Bridge" mural and—according to the Internet—"well-known for the 'Clustered Spires' skyline of its historic downtown buildings." But, if you're Philly's Hoots And Hellmouth , the two cities are pretty much indistinguishable. (It's understandable. After all, they both have relatively infamous spite houses —though NYC's was much cooler.) However, it is worth noting that one of the main differences between New York City and Frederick, MD, is [...]

Photo by Neil Ian Google "turkey vinyl" and this is what you get. (Whatever, it's festive enough) As producer of The Key Studio Sessions , I've got a lot to be thankful for this holiday: the wealth of musical talent in the Philadelphia region, and the number of those musicians who are stoked on performing for us. The incredible studio here at XPN where I can record, and this website where I can share those recordings with you. It's been good vibes since The Key launched, for sure—but I promised Matt I wouldn't [...]

I decided to make this a separate entry. The most talked about music workshop that happened at the Ottawa Folk Festival happened on Saturday August 14th. It was at the dance tent and the workshop was called Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show. The bands/musician consisted off: Hoots & Hellmouth Bruce Peninsula Hidden Cameras Arrested Development Jill Zmud [...]

I decided to make this a separate entry. The most talked about music workshop that happened at the Ottawa Folk Festival happened on Saturday August 14th. It was at the dance tent and the workshop was called Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show. The bands/musician consisted off: Hoots & Hellmouth Bruce Peninsula Hidden Cameras Arrested Development Jill Zmud [...]

Here are photos from the various singer/songwriter's workshop that happened on Day 2 at the Ottawa Folk Festival . I Spit On Your Rave with Lau, Godknowswhat, Hoots & Hellmouth It's Indie-Lovely with The Acorn, Bahamas and Adian Knight Unholy Alliance with Calexico, Rock Plaza Central and Jim Bryson and the Weakerthans band. Folk the '80s! with Bahamas, Krista Muir, Craig Cardiff, Peter Katz, Aidan Knight and [...]