New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Folk musician Tyler Sjöström will be releasing his new EP What We Say We Are on Sept. 30th. You can preorder the release now. Tyler’s style is both simple and authentic in sound and complex is songwriting and lyrics. It is a beautiful balance that is well represent on the lead track "Red River".
You can catch Tyler at Quenchers Saloon on October 18th with Abbi Rajasekhar.
Earlier today, the good folks at R5 Productions sadly announced that this upcoming series of shows at the famous basement hall of First Unitarian Church will most likely be their last. With newer venues such as Union Transfer, The Boot & Saddle, etc. taking on the bulk of their shows, R5 has relied less heavily than it had in the past on the church. As a result, because the church relies on the incoming rent, an after-school group is going to be utilizing the space. However, R5 will continue to present seated events in The Sanctuary or the smaller Side Chapel. You can read the official post HERE. Cheers to a great run of excellent, sweaty DIY shows!
(Photo by Rusty Wright, The Waldron Photograph Co.)
Dogs on Acid (great band name!) is the latest project from Algernon Cadwallader‘s Peter Helmis and Joe Reinhart. The band has been playing out for a bit now, and they just released their first 7" last month via Ranch Records, which was recorded by Reinhart at his studio The Headroom. They also have another one coming out soon so stay tuned! Dogs on Acid will be performing on the big stage of Union Transfer this evening when they open for Joyce Manor and The Exquisites alongside fellow labelmates and Philadelphians, The Spirit of the Beehive. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 8pm, $15, All Ages – Alexis V.
After working on it for nearly a year, Connecticut’s Cheem released its debut EP, Elka, on September 10. The pop punk set starts off with the spunky “Chicks Love Gongs,” a track boasting two choruses basically sung at the same time. (It works to great effect though – just listen!) The mood shifts on the EP’s title track, a love song of sorts that promises “I’m never far” and details a romantic runaway over beautiful chords. Later, the band shows off its knack for catchy, tight guitar riffs on “Reward” and pushes its instrumental boundaries on the spacious outro track “Apollo.” Download Elka for free now over on the band’s Bandcamp page. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)
Like constantly unstable chemical elements, most musicians are always seeking new collaborations that can open new creative possibilities – which also explains why for bands it’s nearly impossible to find committed musicians. Fancy Colors‘ songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Zac Colwell and drummer Dave Heilman toured with Regina Spektor, of Montreal, and Sondre Lerche among others, met on the road and recorded their debut album ‘Near Equator‘ in several locations during breaks in their tour schedule. In June 2014 they followed up with sophomore LP ‘Island of the Dead,’ which brings their evocative and elegant dream pop to new levels of lusciousness. The band today is premièring this psychedelic video for new single ‘Gnosis,’ and we are proud to let you know that they are scheduled to play our Indie Pop CMJ Official show on Saturday 10.25 at Spike Hill. You can also see them live at Rockwood Music Hall tomorrow (09.18)
Brother JT has new release coming out for Cassette Store Day entitled Lo Bias Hi Noise. It’s a collection of unreleased 4-track demos that were recorded from 1983-1999. You can take a listen to "Wish That I Could Read Your Mind" (below), off the forthcoming album, which will officially available on September 27 via Summersteps Records.
Juniper Rising is a washy western blues band form Brooklyn convincing enough to take us back to Texas. They’re putting out their full length debut on Burger Records next month, and we can tell it’s going to be a solid release. "I don’t care what the people say/I ain’t waiting for my wedding day" Holly Overton sings on this spaced out track, as she weaves nostalgic images of rainy days on the beach. Live they are absolutely delightful, Kevin Faulkner plays a mean table stell slide guitar, providing sliding melodies that give this band that extra western feel. Make sure to give their debut, ‘Day of Days,’ a listen and catch them at their release show on October 3rd or at these east coast dates in late September. – Jake Saunders
Before you get all hot and bothered for not knowing who Book Swap is and, oh god they must be awesome because they’re playing with Meth Dad, RIcHIE and Kelly Ruth, chill. In this case a cigar is totally a cigar and a book swap is simply an opportunity to pick up some new literature and unload that copy of "Ulysses" that impressed nobody, while offering the added bonus of listening to said awesome bands. The lineup will satisfy a range of tastes, whether it’s for quirky folk pop, booty-shakin’ grooves or straight party rock. The show gets going at 8pm, and cover is $6, but drops to $5 with the presence of a book to trade. And why a book swap in the first place? As organizer and contributer to creative collective 2 Jung 2 Dye Jeremy McAnulty summed it up: "We just liked the idea of people coming together to enjoy music and art, but bringing something personal of theirs to exchange with each other. It’s a fun way for people to interact at a show."
And, since we touched on the topic of booty-shaking groove, check out this video of Meth Dad laying it down for Ourvinyl.tv earlier this year. -Terra James-Jura
We have a ticket giveaway for a sweet show on this Friday, September 19 at District N9NE (formerly Starlight Ballroom/Club Polaris) with R&B crooner How To Dress Well and LA singer-songwriter Nite Jewel. To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line “What Is This Heart?" Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!
WIN TWO TICKETS to the San Francisco based avant indie rock band, Split Screens album release show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on September 20th!
Yassou Benedict and New Spell will be sharing the bill with this new local band who has been growing very quickly within the local Bay Area music scene. We’re always into supporting great bands in the underground scene and Split Screens is a band who is a quintessential example of artists who do their best to put out great music and promotes their music well. We totally think you should attend this show. We’d like you to support this event so much so that we are giving away free tix!
Email: sfeditor@thedelimagazine.com to submit your name to win! We will announce the recipient of the tix on September 19th!
