When Steve Gunn and his band pulled up to WXPN on a sunny Saturday afternoon, he was at the tail end of a busy tour. Not only was the guitar virtuoso on the road opening for fellow Lansdowne native Kurt Vile, he also played in Kurt's band The Violators - and their sets were averaging about two hours. (Read more about Gunn's experience on the tour in Elliott Sharp's Village Voice interview here .) Joined by bassist Justin Tripp and drummer John Truscinski, Gunn was in a unique spot when recording his Key Studio Session: [...]
Philly rapper Mic Stewart isn't an easy guy to pin down. He's a tall, somewhat scruffy fellow with a long ponytail - but as the hook in "Peaceworld (Outro)" goes, "long hair / don't care." Like as if to say he won't let himself to get caught up in your backpacker pigeonholes, something he addresses more directly in the snappy single "I'm Not From Brooklyn" (performed in a jammin' medley during our Key Studio Session with two other cuts from his new Peaceworld LP). Aside from addressing stereotypes and presuppositions, Stewart's music focuses heavily on a [...]
Photos by Abi Reimold | www.abireimoldphoto.com This week's Key Studio Session is the "new" band Divers . They're "new" as in recently formed, however they band includes seasoned musicians whose great work has been a part of the local Philly scene for a while. Divers is Emily Ana Zeitlyn (The Weeds), Tom Bendel (Buried Beds) and Todd Erk (Hoots and Hellmouth), and Ross Bellenoit, a solo artist and producer who has worked with Birdie Busch, Amos Lee, Aaron & The Spell, Denison Witmer and many others. Divers play at Johnny Brenda's on [...]
They're a band made up of seasoned Philly scene vets, but thankfully for Divers , "seasoned" doesn't rule out cranking their amps and having fun. First, let's take stock of who's who. On bass is Todd Erk - he plays in Hoots and Hellmouth, Auctioneer and many others. On drums, there's Thomas Bendel of Buried Beds, and occasionally of Lauryn Peacock's band. Ross Bellenoit does the lead guitar and backing vocal thing, and you've probably heard him a billion places - even if you don't realize it. He's backed Birdie Busch, Aaron and the Spell and Ali Wadsworth, he [...]
The guys of Market East clearly have a thing for the warmer months of the year. There was "Marielle," the rhapsody over cherry red lips and beach afternoons that opens their debut EP (check it out performed for Out of Town Films here ). There are the languid, easygoing arrangements and breezy Brian Wilson-style vocal harmonies that pepper their songs. And now their is Children of Summer , their new EP and a sonic step forward for the trio of Kurt Cain-Walther (vocals), Max Perla (vocals, drums) and Vincent John (vocals, guitar). The EP gets its [...]
All photos by Abi Reimold | Abireimold.22slides.com About a year ago, the snappy and warped psych-pop band Literature relocated to Philadelphia from Austin, Texas with an awesome LP called Arab Spring in tow. Hard tourers, sharp dressers and a buzzing name on the indiepop circuit, they specialize in a sound that's a bit more direct than the washed-out hazy dazy Pain of Being Pure At Heart aesthetic of a few years back. There's a lift to their sound (though still a reverb'd surface) and a galloping-out-the-gate energy (with some oddball lyrical [...]
Photo by John Vettese In terms of personnel, instrumentation and sheer sound, Philadelphia-based traditional Brazilian ensemble Alô Brasil might be the biggest band we've recorded for The Key Studio Sessions. The photo above gives you a sense of just some the stuff they brought to WXPN the other night: multiple percussion instruments, including the conga, the timbau, the pandeiro and the quinto. Melodic accompaniment including guitars, cavaquinho, keys and horns. Eleven players - including band leader Alex Shaw - weaving in between the instruments to create a massive, emotional eruption of body-moving sound. The [...]
When Liz & the Lost Boys released its debut All My Charm and Grace , it kept things simple. Led by frontwoman Liz Ciavolino's intricate harp playing and lilting vocals, light keys, accordion and melodica crafted a serene and folksy vibe over four tracks, but since that release in late 2011, the band has grown. The group that performed in our studio for The Key Studio Sessions a couple weeks ago - Will Wright on bass, Dane Galloway on guitar, Eric Huefner on drums - brings out other elements of Ciavolino's songwriting. Jazz, rock, even a bit of [...]
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com I knew as soon as I heard last fall's Pack Light but Bring Everything that Philly's Ryan Tennis would be recording in our studio in the not-too-distant future. What I didn't know was how many folks he'd have in tow. I figured singer-songwriter, plus backing players, would equal what - three people, four tops? As we were swapping emails to coordinate plans, he sorta casually mentioned "Yeah, I'd like to bring in my nine-piece band, hope that's cool." NINE players?! Once the surprise wore off, [...]
I first heard Philly by-way-of-Jersey heavy psychedelic four-piece Ruby The Hatchet back in September while I was holed up in my house, watching the winds of Hurricane Sandy (er, excuse me, Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy) spew sheets of rain on my porch and blow large branches down my block. The music fit the scene outside - ... Continue reading
Relatively new faces in the Philly DIY scene, Cayetana crafts focused, passionate indie-punk nuggets exploring a broad spectrum of subject matter - from city living to old age. "South Philly" is an incisive, observational look at rowhome life that's a world away from the trendy Passyunk Ave strip; "Miss Thing," a nod to singer-guitarist Augusta ... Continue reading
Modern Inventors impressed a broad cross-section of the Philly music scene last year. They naturally had the pedigree to win over the singer-songwriter crowd - singer-guitarist Matt Kass' old band The Brakes was a known name, after all. But their soulful harmonies drew in listeners from the pop realm, and their skill as players and ... Continue reading
Country singer/songwriter Caitlin Rose will be playing at MilkBoy tonight. Rose hails from Nashville, Tennessee, the heart of country, and it shines through her music. To date, she has released an EP, two albums, and a seven inch record, and her latest album, The Stand-In, was released just last month. The album was released on ... Continue reading
Canadian-born singer-songwriter Anjuli Josephine has been making music out of Philadelphia for a couple years now, and just released her whimsical self-titled debut EP. With mix of emotional, introspective lyrics and a poppy sensibility, Josephine fondly recalls performers like Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson and Fiona Apple, and her backing players - Karl Rieders on bass, ... Continue reading
Simply put: Slingshot Dakota are two of the most positive people to set foot into our studio. It's not just the music that drummer Tom Patterson and siinger-keyboardist Carly Commando make - uplifting, piano-driven, punk-informed pop songs - but also their outlook. Their current album Dark Hearts, released in the fall on Topshelf Records, deals ... Continue reading
You can quickly spot the things that are important to Jim Thorpe-ara six-piece Free Range Folk. Two married couples make up the band, and their love of family comes across in the song "Father's Day." They farm as well, and their love of the Northeast Pennsylvania land and all its potential shines through in "Bubblin'" ... Continue reading
On the one hand, The Lawsuits are solidly part of the well-established Philly roots music scene. Their guitars twang, their vocals harmonize, and they gig more often than not with their like-minded bretheren in The Levee Drivers, Toy Soldiers and of late, The Districts. On the other hand, they're a lot more, interweaving elements of ... Continue reading
Going acoustic and pulling it off is one of those marks of a great songwriter. A piece of music, you'll hear quite often, should be able to stand alone, unadorned, without full-band bombast or lush orchestrations - those things can accent a song, but shouldn't define it. Katie Crutchfield took the opposite approach with her ... Continue reading
Philly garage rock trio St. James and the Apostles have a big sound for just three guys. You can attribute some of that to Mike Kiker on keyboards, who plays Ray Manzerek style, juggling both bass lines and higher-end lead parts. Certainly Jeff Castner's thundering drums are another component, as well as frontman Jamie Mahon, ... Continue reading
It's kind of astounding, actually. Four mild-mannered, friendly guys walked into WXPN studios this past Sunday, gathered around microphones and set up their instruments. And then, like as if I'd gone and flipped a switch or something, Philly punks Pissed Jeans suddenly became total freaking demons. Brad Fry started off, coaxing a half a minute ... Continue reading
The Key
Deer Tick – “The Rock”
Craziest Horse: The 15-Minute Like A Hurricane From Berlin
Escucha el ruidoso regreso de M.I.A.
Mikky Ekko – Kids
