New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Baltimore foursome Ponytail have released a new video for "Honey Touches," off their third full-length, Do Whatever You Want All the Time, out this week. The video – directed by Bill Benz and Mike Giambra, also known as MENZ – chronicles "man’s everlasting battle with fruit and the pursuit of making the ultimate smoothie." PS- The amazing cover art for the release (above) was designed by EYE of the Japanese rock band Boredoms. –Big Hassle
Road warriors The Extraordinaires recently came back from another tour which also included a stop at SXSW. They’ll be performing their first Philly show in a while tomorrow night at Kung Fu Necktie with former Dr. Dog drummer Juston Stens and The Get Real Gang, and Golden Crowns (featuring members of The Invisible Friends, Dark Horse and The Carousels, and Sweatheart). Well, our favorite whimsical drrrty South Philly crew has a very interesting surprise for their fans regarding who will be joining them on stage. Find out from our interview with The Extraordinaires’ Jay Purdy about what will be going down tomorrow evening and some other tidbits that you probably didn’t know about their leading man, their music, touring, and (as always with our first-time interviewees) what’s his favorite thing to get at the deli HERE.
The Big Show by The Extraordinaires
There is a new band in town and they are called Pretty Swans. The group was founded by Russ Woods (aka Tinyfolk) and they have released a free ep called Embers. The ep features covers of songs from Chris Isaak, Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis, and two originals.
The band is currently wrapping up recording their debut full-length which will be called We Got Hot & Died. All of the songs on the album deal with the subject of fire and the album can be preorder here.
If you haven’t heard about Erin Manning yet, I’ll be the first to tell you that you’re a little out of the loop. The Louisville native singer-songwriter has been out and about playing shows around town for the past two years, with just about every other local musician in Nashville. If you’re anything like me, you probably just rolled your eyes to the words “singer-songwriter,” but this girl is no average “singer-songwriter.” Erin Manning has lungs of steel that strike you in a way that really make you come to love her catchy melodies, yet vindictive lyrics. She has a Fiona Apple undertone and her own Nellie McKay moments. As a result, at her shows everyone breaks out in dance while singing about how crazy ex-lovers can be. The irony in her work is beautiful and don’t assume she is some sort of bitter musician—on the contrary—Erin has quite the quirky stage presence, which makes her not only a good musician, but a great entertainer as well.
Her upcoming EP, Back and Forth (to be released digitally), like her previous work will surely not disappoint. On Saturday April, 23, Manning will be having her EP release show at The Basement promptly at 7 pm, sharing the stage with the likes of Peter Barbee, Korean is Asian, and from what I understand, “surprise special guests.” Erin wrote all of the songs on the Back and Forth EP herself and she plans to play every last one of them on Saturday. The only thing that might be disappointing about this show is that it is said to be one of her last, at least for quite a while. As sad as it is, Erin has decided she wants to collaborate and pursue other side projects, and I can only imagine what is to come. Only good things of course!
Also, Erin Manning is Lightning 100’s local artist spotlight of the week, which means that they’ll be debuting the first song off of her new EP, Let it Go, and for this week only (April 17-24) you’ll be able to download that song for free here.
Remember, it’s an early show on Saturday and the show will start at 7pm and if you show up at 9pm, you will have missed the entire thing, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to see her as well as some other great local artists. You can go here for more information about the show.–Hilary Blakeney
In honor of the upcoming Austin Psych Fest we’ve nominated a set of all pyschedelic bands for the current poll – check ’em out and cast a vote! And then go see ’em live next weekend, 4/29-5/1 – the Psych Fest scored the Seaholm Power Plant as a venue, which really couldn’t be more perfect.
The Pear Traps are releasing a new self-titled ep on May 1st. You can currently stream all six songs through bandcamp. The band is celebrating the release with a free show at Cole’s on May 27th. Cassettees will be available at the show.
Jade Sylvan has a lot of good friends in the Boston music scene. With their help and encouragement, she learned to play the guitar while writing and recording one of the better albums I’ve heard all year, making a seemingly easy transition from acclaimed poet to singer-songwriter. The production on this record, done primarily in the attic of Lee Wizda (Red Car Records), in their spare time, is stunning. Cellos, violins, farfisa, vocal choruses and various percussive elements are wrapped around Sylvan’s charming guitar lines and often delicate voice.
Lyrically, Jade runs through a variety of subjects with a cynic’s wit and a penchant for word play, which is to say you’ll either love it or hate it. Or, maybe, you’ll mildly disapprove. Look, I’m not a mindreader. My favorite tracks are Carbon to Carbon and Turning, and are therefore the ones you should sample while deciding on whether to purchase the album. I’m kidding, of course! You should just buy it outright.
The single, If I Knew Now, featuring the most playful subject matter, has an accompanying hand drawn stop motion animation video, currently available for viewing enjoyment on her website. The entire LP can be previewed and downloaded via her BandCamp page, which you should go to as soon as is possible, but in an orderly fashion. Always orderly.
–Charles Murphy
A rocking evening of 5 female fronted bands spanning electro-pop, grunge, garage, psychedelic, and post-folk rock at pianos tonight.
8pm – The Walking Hellos: "The Raincoats meet Pere Ubu…The Shaggs meet Tin Huey…Lydia Lunch meets Throwing Muses."
9pm – Mitten: "…the perfect blend of electro-pop and an 80’s synth vibe with a hint of indie-freshness.”
10pm – Tara Elliott & The Red Velvets: "The bastard child of Janis Joplin and The Stooges."
10:45 – Heliotropes: "…an enrapturing and hypnotic mixture of the junkie folk-pop-environment…the radio-friendly girl-vocals and the massive sweeping riffs."
11:30 – Clinical Trials (pictured): "…like Elastica with extra vitriol and a dash of grandeur…Their music pays homage to their grunge and riot rock predecessors."
– (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building.
The New Highway Hymnal are a great group of youngins from Haverhill, MA and by that, I mean whoa boy, are they young. And young means energy, which these kids have by the handfuls. You know what else they have a handful of? Drink tickets they can’t use. Only front man Hadden Stemp meets the drinking age. They don’t seem to mind though because “drunk people always like music,” but they still play a set reminiscent of hot Death Valley asphalt, blistering in the sun with temperature rising.
This Saturday catch a top runner from The Deli Portland’s 2010 Emerging Artists title at the Doug Fir. The Ascetic Junkies are joined by a handful of old collaborators to pique the ears of Portland’s incestuous music scene. Catch these lovely Junkies meshing with Boy Eats Drum Machine, Cars & Trains, and Leigh Marble. Cars & Trains will be backed by the AJ’s on his song "Asleep on a Train" and later join the AJ’s playing hand percussion on their own material. Boy Eats Drum Machine will be backed by the AJ’s on "Oregon Shore" and will later possibly be playing some turntables and/or sax on an AJ’s tune or two. There may even be a cover song or two performed by the entire group.The entire show sounds like a house show invading the Doug Fir. Except it’s $10 and 21+. But worth it! –mh
Why Do Crows? from Ascetic Junkies on Vimeo.
From L.A.’s esoteric underground comes the austere and mature sound of Letters Vs. Numbers. At the forefront of this hidden gem of a group is a musical sophistication and elegant simplicity in song craftsmanship that is not readily seen in bands riddling the streets of our fair city. Letters Vs. Numbers is the perfect platform for a young artist’s voice exploring his musical prowess. Check out the Deli’s exclusive premiere of this bands collaboration with director Nate Miller for LvN’s first music video, "Let’s Play God," a beautiful amalgamation of sonic atmosphere and cinematic depth.
– Chris Castanon