Philadelphia

Rob, Lately and the Tiny Heart Band Opening for CHAPPO at The Fire May 30

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Rob, Lately a.k.a. Rob Malloy simply sounds like he’s having a good time on his LP Tiny Heart. So it’s not surprising that he has brought together some folks to back him as the Tiny Heart Band and join in on the fun tonight at The Fire. They’ll be opening for Deli NYC psych pop faves CHAPPO, whose rad tune “Come Home” appeared in an iPod Touch commercial a while back so you’ve probably jammed out to it without even knowing who the artist was. Well, now you do. And you can feel those good vibes again this evening in the cozy Girard Ave. staple! The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., $8, 8pm, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

NYC

Antennas Up: June Artist of the Month

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Antennas Up is one of our favorite Kansas City bands. Formed in 2008, the quartet showcases a range of genres in its music: funk, hip-hop, dance, electronic, and radio-friendly pop. The band is not afraid to take risks, but can execute its craft better than most bands in Kansas City, let alone around the nation.

The group’s latest album, The Awkward Phase, was released on May 15 to favorable reviews.

The band also recently completed a successful Kickstarter project to get the album on airwaves across the country and more than exceeded the goal. Cheers!

Check out the first single from The Awkward Phase, "December."

Antennas Up is:

  • Kyle Akers: lead vox, bass
  • Bo McCall: guitar, vox
  • The Ryantist: drums, vox
  • Jonny Universe: guitar, keys, vox

 

NYC

6th Annual LC Fest: the invasion of the Brooklyn Songwriters – June 6-9

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The Deli will be sponsoring the 6th Annual LC Fest, organized by Local Correspondents, a Brooklyn-based independent music community. This year’s fest runs from Wednesday, June 6 through Saturday, June 9 at Bar4 in Park Slope (444 7th Avenue). The free four-night festival features twelve 20-minute sets each night, and performances are from 8 p.m. to midnight, with doors at 6 p.m.

Here’s a shortlist of recommended performances: Jodi Shaw (June 6), Matt Singer (June 7), Paul Basile of Great Elk (also June 7), Shannon Pelcher (June 8) and Bryan Dunn (also June 8) have all just recently released new albums, while The Bright Silence (June 9) opened for Spacehog in February. Plus, Heidi Sidelinker (also June 9) is most well-known for being in Lowry, but is playing a rare solo set at this free festival, as is Casey Shea (June 7), who almost always plays with a band and has been touring almost non-stop since his new album came out earlier this year.

A full schedule of performers is available here.

Local Correspondents (LC) is a supportive Brooklyn-based community for independent artists. In addition to its annual festival, LC hosts weekly showcases and open mic nights at venues throughout New York City, bringing together an extremely talented and diverse group of performers. LC offers a helping hand to performers who live and visit the NYC area by providing them with advice, tips and opportunities to play.

Philadelphia

BITBY’s May Episode Feat. Heyward Howkins

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Below is BITBY’s May episode featuring Heyward Howkins as he performs “Spanish Moss” and “Thunderin’ Stop” while a kiddie birthday party rages on. Both songs appear on his forthcoming debut LP The Hale & Hearty, which will be released on June 26. (Photo by Kyle Costill)

Chicago

Jessica Robbins

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Jessica Robbins released her debut album, Dear Fred, back in 2010 and is returning next month with a new ep called Habitat.

Jessica has a wonderful voice and style. She also has knack for for recording great covers in a unusual places. Below she records a cover of Fiona Apple’s "Extraordinary Machine" in a bathroom with a puppy.

Jessica Robbins will be celebrating the release of Habitat on June 21st at Schubas with Brendan Losch.

Philadelphia

Ween Break Up :o(

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It’s a shame though this should be no surprise to some of you since they’ve not been very active as of late. Aaron Freeman a.k.a. Gene Ween told Rolling Stone from his New Jersey home:
“It’s time to move on… I’m retiring Gene Ween.”  
 
Freeman goes on to say:
“It’s been a long time, 25 years. It was a good run.”
 
“For me it’s a closed book. In life sometimes, in the universe, you have to close some doors to have others open. There’s no, ‘Goddamn that such and such!’ For me, I’d like to think it’s a door I can close finally.”
 
Ween are/were one of the great bands that carved their own path in the music industry, and inspired a generation of music experimentalists. They will be missed. You can read the rest of the article HERE.

NYC

Skaters release video for “Done for Good”

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Skaters is one of the most interesting new indie rock bands highlighted in our latest year end Best of NYC Emerging Artists Poll. The band was formed less than one year ago and consists of Michael Cummings and Noah Rubin (The Dead Trees, Adam Green, Little Joy), who spent a year trading demos back and forth from Los Angeles to London with Guitarist Joshua Hubbard (The Paddingtons, Dirty Pretty Things). The three met in the middle to record an EP in a Manhattan loft, and never left the city.Skaters just released this video of the song "Done for Good" from their debut "SCHEMERS" EP – which can be downloaded for free here.

NYC

NYC Album of the Month: Foxygen – “Take The Kids Off Broadway”

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A bit of advice: If you’ve just listened to the first track off Foxygen‘s debut LP ‘Take The Kids Off Broadway’ and are a bit puzzled, don’t worry! That’s just the band shifting your brain cells around to prepare you for what comes next. ‘Make it Known’ makes Ariel Pink’s ‘Hold On’ sound halfhearted… hell, this song could be our new anthem if we’re not careful.

But that’s probably not what they had in mind. A lot of this duo’s music feels entirely off the cuff, even while sounding like a lot of time was spent on these tracks. Occupying that historical space somewhere between hippie psychedelia like 13th Floor Elevators, and glam rock like Roxy Music/early Bowie, it’s hard to tell what era this music was conceived in – which is the very prerequisite of timeless records. Frankly, this is a band that can’t seem to make up their mind about much of anything, and it’s probably for the best. The twin vocals of songwriting team Sam France and Jonathan Rado seem to switch genre entirely mid-verse or mid-hook, going from a tumult of horns and organs to jangly guitar and back again. Leader-of-the-pack motorcycle rock n’ roll gives way to Shirelles fanfare and viceversa, all fronted by something close to Mick Jagger… it’s retrolicious, through and through.

If all this sounds looney tunes, well… it kinda is. But maybe I’m just being old-fashioned. As Foxygen says themselves: "How could I love someone if I’m not willing to change?" Bedroom production aside, this is the clearest representation of something new I’ve heard in quite some time. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)