NYC

Best of NYC #9: Buke and Gass releasedebut CD in September

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We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers).

The band that graced the cover of our Deli Summer 2009 issue won’t please those who love sparse music that conveys delicate emotions, nor the traditional alt rockers and their epic needs. Buke and Gass is a band that lives in a parallel musical world, where originality – for once – is not a wasted word. The duo truly brings the DIY concept to the next level: they build their own instruments (pedal and amps included) and master them to perfection, creating a huge wall of wonderful distorted sound that can’t be compared to any band we are aware of. Arone Dyer’s vocals are amongst the most powerful and versatile in the NYC scene, ranging from PJ Harvey-ish full aggression to the Bjorky "I’m a little helpless girl" kinda thing (by the way, yes, she is also cute). The songs are complex but not inaccessible, filled with memorable melodies and intricate rhythms that still have the power to get your lazy NYC legs to jump. 
Buke and Gass recently signed to Brasslands, they will surely be one of the NYC bands to whatch this fall (debut full length out in September..

Philadelphia

Turning Violet Violet EP Release Party at JB’s Aug. 6

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Philly’s newest indie band that sparkles, Turning Violet Violet, has been hard at work since emerging as a trio in 2008. From innovative chamber pop with multi-tiered instrumentals to soothing melodies with jazzed out classical undertones, their music is a seductive moonlit serenade for the senses. And they came across a double rainbow when they rounded out their lineup with the viola and unique voice of Sarah Pisano and accomplished guitar work of Jeff Scott. They will be releasing their first EP, Fierce Remains, four ballads that weave tales of how four characters struggle with illness, haunting dreams and other anxieties as well as featuring a collage of work from some of the bands favorite local artists. They’ll be throwing their release party at Johnny Brenda’s tonight before embarking upon a supporting tour. They’ve also enlisted this evening the help of electro-experimental darlings Gemini Wolf to ensure that things get extra trippy. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Bill McThrill

Nashville

SPOTLIGHT: Rocketown’s Grand Re-Opening

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This weekend is the grand opening of Rocketown’s newer, and better location at 601 4th Ave. South. For anyone who is remotely interested in local music, this is actually important, because it’s Rocketown that has been, and continues to teach Nashville’s youth how to run a music scene. It’s almost shocking just how strongly Rocketown’s presence and influence permeates throughout Nashville in the form of some of our most prominent bands, (i.e. PUJOL, Meemaw, Marj, Put’er There, Modern Hell, The Industry, etc), but many people never realize this because their opinions of Rocketown are oftentimes based on the stigmas that seem to be attached to it. Don’t act like you haven’t heard someone say things like, “That venue only has Christian metalcore bands play there,” or, “I can’t get roaring drunk at Rocketown because they don’t allow alcohol and they’ll take my cigarettes…Probably ‘cause they’re Christian…” Lucky for you, those stereotypes and stigmas are only partially true—(it is indeed an alcohol and tobacco-free zone, but deal with it)—and they are also only a miniscule part of the purpose and actual Rocketown experience.

I recently sat down with Rocketown entertainment manager, Reagan Thomas, and venue staff supervisor, Daniel Pujol, to speak more in-depth about what Rocketown does for the Nashville community and music scene. It’s a lot more than you would expect, because it isn’t just a music venue, or a skate park; it’s a community for youth from all walks of life.

“Rocketown is there to serve as a safe place for anyone who needs it. The point is not to tell people what to do, or act as anybody’s parents, but to provide kids with an outlet, or the option of going there if they need anything,” said Thomas. Original founder, Michael W. Smith’s idea of a safe place just happened to be associated with Christianity, (as well as the board of directors, who provide a portion of Rocketown’s financial support), which is where the faith-based principles found in its mission statement come from.

But there are different ideas of a safe place or a community for different people, which is why Rocketown serves to enhance the lives of over 400,000 kids each year, through their various internships, programs, and services. Many of these are provided for free, or a very minimal price, including after-school programming, where classes are offered on everything from video editing and graphic design, to tutoring and art classes. You can learn how to do things like break dance, skateboard, play an instrument, or book a show through one of their many different clubs, or have band practice and hang out at the skate park or the coffee bar. The new location will offer a recording studio for bands and artists, as well as a small, local music store that will be kid-driven, and kid-run.

In addition, the new location will offer: a dance studio, an auto garage/bicycle kitchen for anyone wanting to learn about auto/bike mechanics; a bigger skate park; a new coffee bar; a green room and shower area for travelling bands; free, temporary living space for people who need help getting on their feet, PLUS all the stuff the old Rocketown had. Badass, huh?

By providing a consequence-free environment/giving kids a chance to mess up, Rocketown attracts open-minded youth, and is able to bring different communities of people and music together.

“We’ve got travelers and foster kids hanging out with kids from Brentwood and Franklin, and the J.C. Napier Lafayette projects collaborating with metalheads on music,” according to Thomas.

“It’s all about inclusion,” said Pujol. “[Kids are] raised on the internet; they’re smart…George W. Bush isn’t president now…It’s all about diversity…What they have in common is they’re all different. But the way the building is presented in public has to change…Being a faith-based organization doesn’t need to be a focal point, because that’s not the only thing about the building.” All you dudes and dudettes need to realize that Rocketown is less about ideological consistency and more about working with kids—encouraging, teaching, and enabling them to run their own music scene and be as inclusive as possible. This means no specific genres, (aka the superficial Rocketown Christian metal identity).

This also means that anyone can play a show there where they don’t have to pay to use a real sound system, and an engineer who will actually care about making an unknown local band sound good. That’s hard to find in Nashville, so you should try and find a way to support Rocketown so that they can continue to make all of the kiddies’ dreams come true. You can do this in one of two ways:

1) Volunteer! Nothin’ like some good’ol hands-on help.

2) Make a donation! 

Let’s all say thanks to Rocketown this weekend at their grand opening festivities. They deserve it!—Erin Manning

NYC

Weekly Special #213: a Q&A with Semi Precious Weapons

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Brooklyn beauties, Semi Precious Weapons, are no strangers to The Deli, snagging “CD of the Month” in 2006, “Artist of the Month” in 2007, the cover in 2008, and reviews in between.  However, in the last two years, the quartet has blossomed beyond most rock bands’ wildest dreams. Supporting Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour, releasing both an EP and “You Love You” within six months of each other, and rising to iconic rock ‘n roll status worldwide, SPW have become the 21st century “fab four.”  In NYC for just a week for two gigs with Gaga, an exclusive after-party performance at Hudson Hotel catering to fans who were left in the sold-out shows’ dust, and as well as a short set and signing at Union Square’s Best Buy, SPW demonstrate genuine appreciation for their supporters. Consistently gracious, Justin Tranter (vocals), Cole Whittle (bass/vocals), Dan Crean (drums), and Stevy Pyne (guitar/vocals) spent some of their very precious time on the road to catch up with The Deli. – Read Meijin interview with the Justin Tranter from SPW here.

New England

Deep Heaven Now Pre-Party Tonight at PA’s Lounge, 8:30pm

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Saturday’s massive Deep Heaven Now revival kicks off on Friday with a stellar warm-up bill at PA’s Lounge.  The line-up is half Deep Heaven Now featured bands and half not, so expect a great introduction to the festival’s music, but not a spoiler.

Headlining the evening is the fantastic Ghost Box Orchestra.  They released a new (and mesmerizing) EP mid-July and apparently already have new material to unveil.

Also performing are local legends Abunai!, reuniting for the Deep Heaven Now festival; Chatham Rise, of MN and also playing DHN, and the Concord Ballet Orchestra Players.

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Chicago

Up So Fast

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Young Man (aka Colin Caulfield) is starting to draw some national attention, and deserves every bit of it. Colin premiered his new single “Up So Fast” this week, and announced that his debut ep Boy will be released by Frenchkiss Records on October 12th.

Portland

Sad News for Satyricon: RIP – 1984-2003; 2006-2010

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Well it appears that that a local transplant of six years has discovered a bit of sad news for local music history. Willy Week music editor Casey Jarman has unearthed that one of the most important and influential venues in Portland is closing its doors to the public forever in October.

Satyricon, whose stage has carried the weight of such legendary musical acts as Nirvana, the Dharma Bums, Dead Moon, Poison Idea, Hitting Birth, Crackerbash and the Dandy Warhols – along with pretty much every single punk or underground rock band ever to have toured through the Northwest – is being demolished for a children’s shelter. The trade-off takes the wind out of any real opposition, but it still marks the death of a certain, special era in portland.

The city that works used to be a gloomy, drippy, yet-to-be-super-condo-ed gray haven for junky creativity. Some of which means nothing to kids today. But all those bands helped mold and shape pop in its current form, and believe me, all the good stuff floating around the indie scene owes its soul to that movement. So, as more of downtown becomes usurped by white affluent monyfied culture mongers, they destroy a culture’s past and replace it with their future – free of punks and grimy dark corners, free of landmark all-ages music venues like Satyricon, once the longest-running indie rock nightclub on the West Coast.

Goodbye Satyricon; apparently the world no longer needs you. Until they do.

– Paul Valladon

NYC

A Place To Bury Strangers drop new video, play Death By Audio on 08.19

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"I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow of Your Heart" is the fourth single from APTBS‘s "Exploding Head" CD. Directed by Sian Alice Group’s Ben Crook (Spiritualized, Fratellis, Black Lips) the video was shot during the band’s London show on May 25th, 2010 and marks the first official appearance of NEW bass player Dion. Don’t miss their "home" party at Death By Audio on August 19.

Philadelphia

The Deli’s Featured Artist(s) of the Month: Penrose

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While naming your band after a mathematician might not be very rock ‘n’ roll, Penrose’s Murphy Bros certainly have their ears tuned into classic rock ‘n’ roll history. We fired some interview questions at brother Tom Murphy. And while we might have inflicted a little mental damage conjuring up memories of watching cartoon porn with his mom, we think he’ll be ready to rock on the main stage at The Troc tomorrow evening. But first things last…
 
The Deli: How did Penrose start? 
 
Tom Murphy: Well the band is the three Murphy brothers, consisting of myself, Pat, and Dan Murphy. Penrose unofficially started in a Philly suburb basement when the three of us would go downstairs after dinner when we were in high school and played spacey little instrumental jams until our parents told us to go to bed. Having three musically inclined (albeit not especially proficient) brothers with a bass, guitar and drum kit can be taxing on hard working parents. Of course, they were always very supportive. Later when we all went to New York for college, we started writing actual songs with lyrics and all that.  We played our first gig in a North Philly warehouse venue called the White Room in May of ’09 and have been playing at least twice a month in Philly or New York ever since. 
 
TD: Where did the band name come from?
 
TM: We named the band after Roger Penrose. He’s (was?) pretty famous…as far as mathematicians go…and created a lot of really cool art too. He was a big inspiration of M.C. Escher I believe. One drawing we were always attracted to was the Penrose Triangle which is this “impossible figure” which really just means you can draw it but you can’t build it. The edges won’t line up, but if you just glance at it, it looks pretty legit. We liked that imagery for the three of us – a triangle that isn’t quite ordinary.
 
TD: What are your biggest musical influences?
 
TM: Luckily we grew up strong and we grew up right on some good Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin tunes along with other classic rock stuff. After we came to worship those bands, I’d say we developed a pretty deep love for modern rock from the 90s and 00s which revolved around bands like Radiohead and Modest Mouse and the White Stripes. Now we’re really digging any Jack White project and the Black Keys specifically. I think it all really stems from some good down home Son House or R.L. Burnside or John Lee Hooker blues though, which we’ve been on a real kick with for some time now.
 
TD: What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently listening to?
 
TM: Well like I said the Black Keys and the Jack White universe are really wearing our iPods into the ground, but locally we’re really digging bands like Toy Soldiers, Flamingo, El Fuego, The Great Vibration, mountjoy.  We also can’t stop listening to TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb‘s "Idiots". What a badass record. Oh yeah, add Hollis Brown to that list – they’re a sweet New York bare bones ROCK AND ROLL band.   
 
TD: What’s the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?
 
TM: Our parents took the three of us to an Aerosmith concert in like 1999 at the E Center, and I’ve spent the past 11 years trying to figure out if I’m proud of it or not. All I really remember was this cartoon naked chick dancing all over the jumbotron screen thing and feeling very uncomfortable sitting next to my mom.
 
First album I bought was …And Then There Was X by DMX and I’m positive I’m proud of that.
 
TD: What do you love about Philly?
 
TM: Obviously the music scene is great. The DIY scene has been really cool to be a part of. The city lost a real asset when the Carriage House closed down, but I’m sure somebody will step up.  What makes me really proud about the city is the way the Caravan music festival went this year. There was a write up about it a few weeks ago on the Deli Philly before it went down. We just got back and pretty much what happened was 150 Philly musicians and fans drove a total of like 1000 miles up to Maine and back to participate in a badass DIY music festival in the woods. That’s a committed local music scene.
 
TD: What do you hate about Philly?
 
TM: This has been a tough summer violence-wise, so that’s an obvious dislike, especially when it touches the music scene. Other than that, the PPA makes me want to punt puppies off of the Ben Franklin Bridge most times.
 
TD: What are your plans for 2010?
 
TM: Well in like, immediate 2010, we’re playing an all ages show at The Troc on August 6th on the main stage which is going to be really fun I think. We’re also playing a residency at a club in New York called Arlene’s Grocery which is a nice gig. Other than all that, we’re planning to have a legit debut release by the end of the calendar year and have been working pretty hard in the studio to get it sounding nice. Look forward to that.
 
TD: What was your most memorable live show?
 
TM: Like I’ve been mentioning, the Caravan music festival is pretty close to the Penrose heart, and we just played a pretty fucking awesome set up there to the 150 or so troopers who made it up from Philly to Maine for it. The amps were literally smoking, the generator I think exploded a little bit, the lights all but died, and the cops came immediately after our last song, but the fire raged on and so did the party. We’ll not forget that one any time soon.
 
TD: What’s your favorite thing to get at the deli?
 
TM: Rat salad.
 
– The Deli Staff
 

 

NYC

NYC Artists on the Rise: Delicate Steve’s residency at Union Pool

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The instrumental music played by Steve Marion, aka Delicate Steve, is strange and wonderful. His first full length album “Wondervisions” – released after a 10 year career of recording, producing and playing with other bands – features sonic delights only a "wise" musician/producer could conjure up. On the song “Butterfly”, a rapid beatbox percussion sets the table for his dobro-like slide guitar styling, which are then filled out with emotive chord progressions. Gentle interludes on traditional sounding guitars (reminiscent of, say, Jimmy Page’s quieter moments) bridge it all to a joyous conclusion full of synthetic strings and percussions. “Attitude/Gratitude” blends flowing arpeggio keyboard lines with additional rich acoustic guitar. “The Ballad of Speck and Pebble” incorporates a funky horse-hop-like bass guitar and shaker percussion to bright guitar phrasing. Open guitar chords are strummed with synth pads extending each note, creating warm emotional textures. It’s clearly well crafted studio work, yet the primary guitar playing (especially the single note licks and riffing on top) sound loose and jammy. The perfect blend. Delicate Steve will be playing a September residency at Union Pool – do not miss. – Dave Cromwell

NYC

Phosphorescent tour + release video

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Currently touring the United States, Phosphorescent will play dates at the End of the Road, Take Root, and Leffingeleuren festivals in Europe, before they return to the U.S. for a performance at Treasure Island Festival in October. The band just released their first video from the album "Here’s To Taking It Easy". Directed by Natalie Johns of Dig For Fire TV, the video was shot over numerous shows, practices, and hang outs leading up to and through the release of the new album.

Austin

Live Review: Legs Against Arms, The Act Rights, Sip Sip, The Downbeats

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Sweat swung like beads on spinning ceiling fans as The Downbeats opened at The Parish last Thursday night for an audience full of young guns who were likely sliding shut the door to their moms’ minivans not an hour ago. When informed they had 8 minutes left in a time-check, The Downbeats lead vocals sprayed in perfect punk rock form over tuning guitars, “Well then, we got about 8 more songs.”  Moments later, he disrupted a song to proclaim he didn’t feel quite right, and with foxly movement as stylized as synchronized swimmers, all but the drummer jumped off the stage, instruments and microphones with them, to play the rest of the set among the audience. 

Reverberating second act Sip Sip’s 14-man-band resembled Danielson in energy and costuming.  Dynamic and entertaining, Sip Sip juggled back and forth between song and rap, accompanied by a whirlpooling horns section and a synthesizer, on top of standard rock instrumentation.  At moments, they drew up an irrefutable comparison to a double-headed giant of Jay-Z and Michael McDonald with the brassy hips of Chromeo. Sip Sip, fronted by members of Austin’s lushly orchestrated Mother Falcon, was very much the lungs of the evening. 

 

Headliners Legs Against Arms beamed pleasant rock, which was a complementing decipherable pop to the grating, and sometimes trying, sound of the third act, The Act Rights. The Act Rights jammed with fortitude, but their buzzing garage sound and pop blister vocals spent the entire set walking a tightrope of take-it-or-leave-it. Legs Against Arms rolled along with radio-ready rock ’n stroll. 

 

–Lauren Hardy (photo by Natalya Alexandrovna)