With their new single "The Optimist" due out for download later this month, Philly electro-pop project City Rain premiered the song today on the blog Sunset in the Rearview , where not only was the new music showcased, but the background behind the song is shared. From the blog: “The Optimist” tells the classic tale of personal tragedy leading to spiritual triumph. After losing the love of his life, losing two of his close friends, and struggling with unemployment in an unforgiving recession, Runyan met Scott Cumpstone, a fellow Temple University graduate and [...]
It's been a couple weeks of breakup bummers; in addition to Dangerous Ponies announcing plans to go their separate ways this past weekend, twangy indie four-piece Arrah and the Ferns also quietly announced their indefinite hiatus not long before that. (Hat-tip to The Deli for catching this news today.) Frontwoman Arrah Fisher - whose place of employ appeared in a great Food Network segment last night, along with Adam Garbinski of Bloodline fame and some dude wearing a Richie Records t-shirt - explained the hiatus in a post on [...]
The excitement is in the air for local harmony-pop group Market East 's latest album Children of Summer , which drops May 27th. Last week we debuted the new single "To Walk With You." Today it's another selection from the new album called "Evergreen"; download the song below, and watch a video of the band performing it in the studio. We've also got the details of the aforementioned special guests of the June 8 release show at MilkBoy , and it's quite the lineup. Joining Market East will be Joey Sweeney and [...]
Photo by Bo Hakala The rapper/spoken word artist Dessa (of midwest collective Doomtree ) will be performing at Sellersville Theater tonight with Philly hip-hop artist Kuf Knotz . Dessa is celebrating her newest album Parts of Speech , released on Doomtree Records. For more information on Dessa, check out a piece from The Key here . Alongside Dessa will be Philly native hip-hop artist Kuf Knotz, who blends elements of blues, rock, and other genres with his hip-hip. Tickets and information for the all ages [...]
Singer-songwriter Jay Nash releases his new album, Letters From The Lost , today. He'll be celebrating the release of the album at the Tin Angel tomorrow night (Wednesday), May 15th, with Matt Duke and Eliza Moore. Go here for tickets. Raised on a steady diet of The Grateful Dead, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan, Nash writes seductive and warm songs steeped in classic singer-songwriter tradition. He grew up near Syracuse, New York, moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to follow his rock and roll dreams and moved back East [...]
Breaking a nearly year-long silence, riot grrrl-inspired Philly three-piece Break It Up announced today that its long awaited self-titled debut LP will be released digitally and on CD on June 4th with a vinyl pressing in the long-range plan. The band has been working on the record for the better part of the past year; they recorded in a quick three-week run with Jeff Zeigler at Uniform Recording back in late summer, while post-production with Dave Downham at Gradwell House commenced through the fall and into the spring. I caught up with singer-guitarist Jen Sperling over [...]
Photo of Reef (left) and Haj (right) ©Marco Hill Below, watch the new video from Reef The Lost Cauze and produced by Haj from Dumhi , for the song "Mooshine." You can find the song on a free download of Loosies and it will be out tomorrow on the Sirens on Snyder EP by Reef and Haj.
The above image that appeared on Arrah and the Ferns ' Instagram yesterday afternoon prompted a barrage of questions in my brain. Why is singer-guitarist Arrah Fisher eating a sandwich on The Food Network? What kind of sandwich is it? (It looks tasty.) And what restaurant is this? Swapping Facebook messages with Fisher, I got answers to two out of these three questions this afternoon. The sunny eatery where we see her (and boyfriend Scotty) is the South Philly Taproom , one of two places where Fisher bartends and waits tables when she's not rocking stages. [...]
More new aural goodness from Philly rapper Gliss hit our radar today thanks to the folks at Vibe.com . "Inner Visions," the latest cut from his forthcoming High on a Weekday LP, has a nice Boomerang Soundtrack-era R&B underbelly, bent and warped around Gliss' wandering rhymes dissecting the state of the world circa 2013. Listen to it below, and keep your eyes peeled for High on a Weekday this summer.
Upper Darby-bred art rock five-piece mewithoutYou announced a run of summer tour dates, and they're bringing like-minded Philly outfit Auctioneer along for the ride. The former is continuing to tour behind their excellent 2012 LP Ten Stories , while the latter is prepping their debut LP for release this summer sometime (and if their recent show at PhilaMOCA is an indicator, it's going to blow some minds). The tour wraps up at The Depot in York, PA, on the 6th of July with Rocky Votolato also performing; information on [...]
With a new album and new tour, North Carolina's Superchunk are back at it. I Hate Music will be released through the indie punk / rock band's longtime label Merge Records on August 20th and they will support the release with U.S. tour that runs through Philadelphia on September 24th. According to Merge, I Hate Music is the yin to its 2010 predecessor Majesty Shredding 's yang, though the overall message of the new album is love: I Hate Music is an album about love more [...]
It's a transitional time for Brooklyn's Woods , as the indie rock band prepares to move out of their recording studio and home Rear House and welcomes a new drummer to the fold. On the heels of last year's Bend Beyond LP, the quartet will mark the new chapter with the release of a new 73 in July that will include a cover of The Kinks' "God's Children" on the b-side. The track was written by Ray Davies and originally recorded in 1971 for the soundtrack to Percy . [...]
This Wednesday, May 15 through Friday night May 17, the 13th annual Non-COMM industry and music conference is being hosted at WXPN. Many of the bands performing over the three days will be broadcast and webcast on XPN. Below is the schedule (subject to change). Wednesday, May 15 7 – 7:25 p.m. Gabriel Kelley 7:30 – 8:10 p.m. Steve Martin & Edie Brickell (video webcast) 8:10 – 8:35 p.m. John Murry 8:40 – 9:20 p.m. Tom Tom Club (video webcast) 9:25 – 9:55 p.m. Kurt Vile 10:00 – [...]
Continuing to tour in support of her latest Sugaring Season LP, Beth Orton returns to Philadelphia for a show at World Cafe Live on August 6th. The British folk songstress returned to the studio after a six year break following the release of Comfort of Strangers to record Sugaring Season, working with Tucker Martine and collaborating with M. Ward and Tom Rowlands (Chemical Brothers). Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here . Watch Orton's Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music below and [...]
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez will bring his current project back to Philadelphia on July 13th for a show at Underground Arts . Bosnian Rainbows appeared after the Texas-based musician announced the disbandment of his former band The Mars Volta, though Volta drummer Deantoni Parks stuck with Rodriguez-Lopez the new venture alongside Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes and Nicci Kasper. The experimental / alt-rock group will release its debut self-titled album through Sargent House in June, following two singles that were released earlier this year. Tickets and information for the show will be available on the XPN Concert [...]
Retro rockers Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside have announced a summer tour that swings them through MilkBoy on July 17th. Continuing to travel in support of its latest LP Untamed Beast , the Portland band was recently in town supporting Thao & The Get Down Stay Down and will perform a set at Non-COMM later this week. The Sound Outside walks the line between bluesy rock and old-school country, with Ford's vocals having been compared to Ella Fitzgerald and influences ranging from Tom Waits to Cat Power. Tickets and information for [...]
Drexel's student run Mad Dragon Records is celebrating their 10th anniversary with a concert at the The Trocadero on Friday, May 17. Performers include Cheers Elephant , Hoots & Hellmouth , Kuf Knotz , Andrew Lipke and the Prospects , Matt Duke , and Wild Rompit . Tickets are available here . The label will also be releasing a 10th Anniversary compilation of previously released and unreleased material from bands that have recorded for the label. The CD will be distributed at the show and will be made available [...]
Trophy Wife | Photo by John Vettese The ball keeps rolling for Ladyfest Philly , a three-day event taking place around West Philly in June. Organizers of the festival recently shared an hour-long mixtape showcasing the stellar line-up and including contributions from local favorites Attia Taylor , Trophy Wife and Amanda X alongside national acts Screaming Females , U.S Girls and a dozen more. The festival, which is in its tenth year and celebrates women in arts, culture and activism, will also offer workshops on [...]
If there is an entry point into the multitudes of lovelorn folk poetry that is Lady Lamb the Beekeeper , “Bird Balloons” - the most rocking track off of its debut album Ripely Pine - might not seem to be it at first. But lead singer Aly Spaltro strummed forth this Afghan Whigs-esque tale to open Lady Lamb’s tight, intimate 10-song set on Sunday night at World Café Live Upstairs to a crowd of 50 reverential listeners. They hung on her every syllable about lions, vultures and Eros. High points abounded, including her solo banjo-plucked “Regarding Ascending [...]
A week or so ago, Mumblr dropped their new four song EP Nutter . For those who love fuzzed out guitar riffs sprinkled with nasty bass tones, thriving drums, and a Weezer-esque vibe will enjoy this release. ( DISCLOSURE: The Key's intern Kyle Rossi plays in Mumblr, but we'd like them regardless. -ed. ) With four songs, and the longest song being roughly two minutes and thirty seconds, they pack a significant amount of depth into this EP. Not to mention the rock. Oh, boy, the rock. Mumblr started out as [...]
The Key
Listen: Smith Westerns – “3am Spiritual”
Fauve ≠ - Blizzard [EP en écoute]
Mount Kimbie ft King Krule - You Took Your Time
PICTURE OF THE DAY
