This is Hardcore Fest is bringing a bit of brutality back to Philly (ha…like we need more of that) for its seventh year, with a venue change and a slew of hardcore stars in store for fest-goers. The festival has moved from its original home at the Starlight Ballroom to the Electric Factory (except for tonight’s opener at Union Transfer), and will continue to unite hardcore’s legends (including Gorilla Biscuits, Cro-Mags and Suicidal Tendencies) with up-and-comers and some Philly/PA talent like Title Fight, Wisdom in Chains and Code Orange Kids. Although this thing tends to sell out in ridiculously short order, if you didn’t manage to snag tickets for these four days of chaos, you can live vicariously through a photobook compiled by organizer/Philly stalwart Joe "Hardcore" McKay that showcases the festival’s first six years. Thurs. August 9th @ Union Transfer – Doors 5:00pm/1st Band 5:30pm. Fri. August 10th @ The Electric Factory – Doors 5:00pm/1st Band 5:30pm. Sat. August 11th @ The Electric Factory – Doors 11:30am/1st Band 12:00pm. Sun August 12th @ The Electric Factory – Doors 11:30am/1st Band 12:00pm.
NYC Artists on the rise: Roam plays Rockwood on 08.18
Take a deep breath, let it out. Roam has given us a breath of fresh air with new single ‘Wake Me Up’ (streaming below), perhaps the band’s most epic sound to date. If the vocals sometimes take a backseat to the urgency of the music, this only makes their eventual climb to the repeatedly screamed refrain ‘wake me up’ feel all the more towering, when it finally hits near the song’s end. It’s not often I hear a group blend haunting anthem over jangly rock basics
The NY quartet has just released an EP, and they are fashioning their first full-length as we speak (and making some line-up changes from what I hear), I’m hoping we’ll hear more from the band this fall. In the meantime, you can see them live at Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 2 on August 18. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
Free Download: “Time To Go” – John The Conqueror
Below is a new track, which you can download for free, called “Time To Go” from local garage-blues trio John The Conqueror, who is made up of cousins/transplants from Jackson, MS Pierre Moore (vocals/guitar) and Michael Gardner (drums) and Philly-bred Ryan Lynn (bass). We’ve been digging their vibe for a while now, and were happy to hear that they’ll be releasing a full-length album on October 16 via Alive Naturalsounds Records, who has put out records from The Black Keys, Two Gallants and many others.
New Video: “Mount Olive Cohoke” (Out of Town Films) – Daniel Bachman
Check out the beautiful fret work and fingerpicking (in the style of late, greats Jack Rose and John Fahey) from former Virginia native turned Fishtown resident Daniel Bachman! The composition that he is performing is called “Mount Olive Cohoke,” and it was captured by the crew from Out of Town Films. You can catch him live this Saturday at the Kensington Picnic. Enjoy!
“Jokes, Jams, and Jigs” at PhilaMOCA Aug. 9
PhilaMOCA has been mixing things up a bit to try and enhance your usual concert going experience. Tuesday Tune-Out has brought together music and films – both of which I absolutely love. And tonight the local multipurpose space will be providing the tunes and the laughs with “Jokes, Jams, and Jigs,” a variety/benefit show featuring local live music from party rockers Cold Front, electronic dance-pop duo City Rain, and friendly, hook-laden indie rockers The Mendles. For the comedy portion of the event, you’ll find the host of “The Monthly Hour” at the Philadelphia Improv Theater James Hesky, winner of the WMGK stand-up comedy competition Lisa Yost, and one of the “Comics to Watch in 2012” by It’s Always Funny in Philadelphia Alex Grubard. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the organization To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. There will also be refreshments courtesy of Yards Brewing Company and Narragansett for a little social lubrication. Sounds like a good time to me! PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 7:30pm, $8 – $10 donation, All Ages – Q.D. Tran
New Music Video: “Coke & Yoga” – Ethel Cee & Dumhi
Check out the new video (version 2.0) for “Coke & Yoga” from Ethel Cee & Dumhi! The track is off their collaborative EP Seven Thirty. You’ll probably recognize some local natives from the Philly hip hop scene making their cameos.
Alto tours California after the release of a debut EP
The band is called Alto, their debut self-titled (released June 26th); one girl plays the bass, another the viola and the third the violin, but if you’re imagining anything like a chamber ensemble you’re far off. These three lovely ladies, who met within the walls of UCLA back in 2009, play with the help of some accomplices on the drums, sax, guitar & mandolin, a catchy acoustic folk-pop with a gypsy touch in times and some hints of mid-20th century French chanson. Their vocal harmonies and strings none-too-overbearing or grand-sounding make for a most charming trio that tells stories of love and other troubles, all served in a conversational mode, light-hearted and genuine. Currently touring California, Jessica, Veronica & Nicolette will be back in Los Angeles this fall with a show at The Mint on September 25th. – Tracy Mamoun
The New Folk @ Schubas
The New Folk are celebrating the release of their debut album, Sea Fever, with a month long residency at Schubas. The residency kicked off with a show this past Monday, but you have three more opportunities to check out this great new band. You can catch them on Aug 13th, Aug 20th, and Aug 27th.
New Release from Cold Slice Cassettes
The latest release from Chicago’s Cold Slice Cassettes is a mysterious discovery created by a drifter/traveling minstrel. Natural High For Low People from Jehosaphat Blow has fascinating story and sound. As the story goes this recording was discovered and "re-mastered from a strange, purple tape found at a garage sale on Prince St. down in the southside of Chicago". Blow is an amazing one man band that must be heard and is a solid find for this fun local label.
Tropic of Cancer: Lobo going solo
After five years of a fructuous collaboration with Juan Mendez, ‘Permissions of Love‘ is Tropic of Cancer’s first output clearly established as Camella Lobo’s solo venture, a three-track EP released in May on the Italian minimal/industrial label Mannequin. If the transition is virtually seemless, the emotional generosity of this record further discredits most labels that were attributed to the band, shoegaze, goth, coldwave, you name it. What Lobo sings is as ever hard to grasp, an end would suggest the titles but the voice itself is deep drowned in reverberation; there’s only this persistent smashing beat to hold onto, but somehow that’s enough to draw one into a strangely reassuring droning atmosphere which soon enough becomes so familiar that in contrast, the silence afterwards feels like a cold and oppressive void. Next step for Camella Lobo? ‘I Feel Nothing’, a new EP announced for October (Sleeperhold). – Tracy Mamoun
River Giant Appearing at the High Dive this Thursday
Photo Source: River Giant
River Giant are hitting the High Dive stage this Thursday with The Crying Shame and The Swearengens.
The trio released their debut full-length this April; the eponymously titled River Giant soars and wails its way through ten tracks. Their fondness for bands ’70’s era bands like Crazy Horse and The Band jumps out readily, but not in an overbearing or detrimental way. They tackle motifs of Americana through their modern lens of alternative rock music.
The strength of their songwriting is what sticks out first – they know how to build a foundation of a song without making it wearily repetitive. From there, they add upon the established contours by working to excitable climaxes, slowing down passages, or letting guitarist/vocalist Kyle Jacobson fly high with his pipes like a wild river on the loose. Their use of dynamics is appreciable in every song.
"Pink Flamingos," "Western," and "Fast Heart" are a few standout tracks, among others. At moments they are straightforwardly country rock, other times heavy rock ignited with feedback, and other songs sound downright folksy – taken in full though, River Giant cannot be pinned down by the confines of a single genre. Good luck getting their songs out of your head once they snake their way in!
They play this Thursday, August 10th at the High Dive for $8. Doors are 8pm; it should be a racuous affair. Check out "Fast Heart" below for a quick listen and carry on their bandcamp to stream the whole record. It is available for purchase for $10.
– Cameron LaFlam
A Deli Premiere: Clementine & The Galaxy preview track + play 92YTribeca
Clementine has always had a strange knack for taking familiar sounds and finding new soundscapes for them to exist in. With band in tow, Clementime & the Galaxy, one of The Deli Magazine’s Best NYC Emerging Artist of 2011, is ready to project those sounds through the stereoscopic lens of her upcoming record.
For first single ‘Complication,’ Clementine overlays an 8-bit tapestry on top of a maze of never ending breakbeats, making her voice the only refuge throughout the track’s breakneck pace. Complicated indeed… but we are happy to follow vocalist Julie Hardy around until she figures it out. No longer playing second fiddle to the likes of Ellie Goulding and St. Vincent, Hardy is now embarking on her own tour with the Galaxy, and is set to release a new album soon.
See her when she hits up 92YTribeca this Friday, Aug 10 with Johanna and the Dusty Floor. Should be the best place to see them if you find yourself stuck inside of Earth’s orbit this weekend. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)