We love giving away free stuff, especially when they provide some good times! Well, we have a pair of tickets for the first installment of Nude Beach Presents‘ monthly chill party this Saturday at Underground Arts with performances by Vacationer, Robert Delong and Cruiser. There will be complimentary drinks by Sailor Jerry from 9pm – 10pm as well as during the intermission before the headliner. Vacationer will also be spinning a DJ set after their performance. To win your free pair of tickets, just send us an email at thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "Take Me Away" along with your cell number (only to be used in case of emergency). Sorry, this contest is only for peeps 21+. Good luck!
Below is a new music video from Toy Cannons for a demo called "Wooden Nickel" that frontman Ben Goldberg put together in his basement, which is typically how he presents new material to the rest of the band. You can also download the track for free HERE.
It’s been three years since we’ve had a new album from the soulful rockers Great Divide. The band turned more than a few heads with their debut Reservoir back in 2010. Next month the band returns with a Motown-inspired, horn-filled self-titled effort. The album’s first single is called "Ain’t No Roads".
The new album will be released on March 5th and the band will be performing at Subterranean on March 23rd. Great Divide will also be heading down to SXSW if you’re headed that way.
West Philly "oddball folk collective" and Deli faves On the Water just posted a few new tracks from their highly-anticipated forthcoming album False Starts, which is scheduled for release March 1. Check out the explosive and charmingly intimate tune "Sealegs" below! The band, who is led by Fletcher VanVliet (ex-Da Comrade!), will be performing next in Philly on February 15 at the Field House before heading off on an extensive national tour. They’ll be back in town for their album release party on April 13 at Beaumont Warehouse with Charmaine’s Names, Porches, and FORT.
What makes Brooklyn electro-soul band MS MR so damn exciting is how they manage to re-configure sugary pop with some honest-to-goodness social insight. Not that Lady Gaga and Florence + the Machine (MS MR’s two most obvious influences) haven’t done that already. But, by casting a group of cheerleaders, who, outside a diner in Jamaica Queens, puke up red, gold and blue glitter, MSMR’s new video challenges some of the sucrose that seems endemic of Gaga’s celebrity overreach. Fuckin’ genius! What’s most impressive is how, in spite of all the social satire, the song remains deadly serious. My only hope is that MSMR don’t start taking themselves too seriously, as well… a major problem for the mischief-less music scene in Brooklyn right now. – Brian Chidester
Andy Molholt’s quirky musical exploration Laser Background headlines Kung Fu Necktie tonight. The band’s music has an “everything is not as it appears” vibe to it. Initially, it might seem as though one has entered into some twisted spacey combination of a haunted house and circus, but if you wait a moment – catch your breath and reevaluate your surroundings – the true nature of the music comes to the forefront. It has a dreamy calmness that counters a subtle enjoyable rhythm, which balances the moments of unadulterated freaky chaos with the lyrics grabbing you for better or worse. The hazy pop-rock of Avery Rosewater, the project from Julien Rossow-Greenberg (ex-Arches), whose name is derived from the Kurt Vonnegut novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, serves as this evening’s opener, while DJ Set (Eric Slick & Nicky Devine) also factors into the equation. Kung Fu Necktie,1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $8, 21+ – Michael Colavita
Our year end polls closed yesterday and the results are coming in! As you may have noticed, our artist pool this year was so massive we had to organize qualifying bands by genre. While the end results were based off most overall votes, regardless of category, each genre had it’s own winner as well. Apollo Run took first place in our Alt Rock category.
There is a lot of stale, predictable alternative rock out there in the music world today, even in the mainstream. That’s why a band like Apollo Run really catches our attention. Taking the alt rock sound and reinterpreting it with bright pianos, horn sections, and experimental vocals, this band is an innovator of the genre.
Congratulations are also in order to Chron Turbine, who came in second place in the Alt Rock category, and The Prigs, who came in third. Both are promising bands who are solid members of the NYC Alt Rock scene. – Lucy Sherman
Below is a new music video from Former Belle (a.k.a. Bruno Joseph, a.k.a. Bruno Catrambone) for the track "I Was Waiting For You" off his latest record Cathedral. The full-length album came out yesterday, and was produced by Chris Radwanski (from Night Panther). He’ll be celebrating its release this Friday at MilkBoy Philly with Market East, Geology and Commonwealth Choir.
“Flatlands,” the first track off of Chelsea Wolfe’s 2012 release, ‘Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs’ is beautifully haunting. The Converse x Decibel Collaboration produced video for the song captures this and takes you further into Wolfe’s psyche, with her poetic whispers acting as bookends. The visuals are just as poetic, exploring the dichotomy of gothic luxury and pastoral contemplations. Moving seamlessly through scenes of Wolfe draped in flowing layers of effortless fabric, laying listless in a bath of milk, caressing white roses, and commanding the sea; all are tinged with the pain and longing that fills the album. Chelsea Wolfe will be playing live Friday, Feburary 8 at the First Unitarian Church, closing out her recent tour. – Jacqueline Caruso
The fest runs from April 4-6 in various venues in Kansas City, including recordBar, The Riot Room, the Uptown Theatre, The Union, Gusto Lounge, and Westport Coffeehouse.
Tickets are available for purchase at the link here. It’s $45 for a 3-day music pass. An arts, culture, and tech forum will begin April 17, and is $50 for a 3-day pass. The film fest will take place May 1-5 and will cost $25 for the 5-day event. For an all-access pass, the cost is $100.
Middle of the Map Fest is curated by Nathan Reusch of The Record Machine and Chris Haghirian of Ink.
To find out more about the event from the curators as well as listen to music from some of the bands involved, visit The Mailbox, a weekly podcast from Michael Byars, Chris Haghirian, and Midwest Music Foundation.
Hip-hop collective Ground Up just dropped a new single yesterday called "Head Over Heels" featuring Pittsburgh’s Beedie. For all the old heads out there or fans of re-run TV, you might recognize the chilled out sample from the intro of the classic show Taxi. You can download the track for free HERE.
