Nashville

Renaissance Fair, “I Hope You’re Doing Well”

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Check out this debut single from brand-spanking new band of (mostly) brothers Renaissance Fair. Formerly operating under the moniker Cavalier, the band changed their name shortly after packing up and making the move from Memphis to Music City. They are currently in the midst of recording an EP, and this first single is an intro of what’s to come. The track, "Hope You’re Doing Well" kicks of with some thrashing guitars that echo the experimetal turn emo was starting to take just around the year 2000 (i.e., it ought to appeal to fans of Braid or The Promise Ring) before detailing, with no shortage of snark, the dodging of a potential bullet. The band is playing a show this Friday at Rocketown along with You Me and Everyone We Know, Daisyhead, and Future Crooks, so dust off your board, get an early start (the show is at 6pm) and check them out! -Terra James-Jura

 

San Francisco

Etana Performs at Mezzanine – 6/6

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If you want to catch a unique show, check out Etana at Mezzanine! Her music is gorgeous and it will give you a chance to check out some music that may not be "the usual" in regards to local shows. We love local bands forever, but everyone’s got to stretch their wings a bit. You won’t have to stretch far. Make your way down to Mezzanine in San Francisco on June 6th!

The soulful Jamaican vocalist who has been described as "reggae’s Jill Scott" (NPR) or"reminiscent of India.Arie" (Essence) – dropped her fourth album I Rise on Oct 28, 2014. The album was helmed primarily by the legendary Jamaican multi-instrumentalist and producer Clive Hunt (Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, Rolling Stones, The Wailers, Grace Jones, Jimmy Cliff). It hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Reggae Album chart, making Etana one of the three Jamaican female artists ever and the first in nearly two decades (since Diana King and Patra in the mid-90s) to land this highly-coveted chart position. I Rise follows Etana’s critically-acclaimed albums Better Tomorrow (2013), Free Expressions (2011) and The Strong One (2008). With poised assurance, she continues to evolve spiritually, mentally, emotionally and musically and carry the torch as reggae’s leading lady.

San Francisco

Attend a Screening of Nas Executive Produced Indie Film Shake the Dust in Berkeley, CA

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You can check out the awesome indepdenent film that shares how hip hop and break dancing has crossed International borders and touched the lives of young people all over the world. Shake the Dust gives a very intimate look at hip hop youth culture in Uganda, Columbia, Cambodia and Yemen. This film is very compelling and we totally recommend you check it out!

From executive producer and Grammy-nominated rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones and journalist-turned-filmmaker Adam Sjöberg comes the buoyant, globe-trotting film SHAKE THE DUST.

With a propulsive soundtrack of international hip-hop samples, music from both emerging emcees and established superstars like Nas, Common and Talib Kweli, as well as some of the most jaw-dropping breakdancing moves ever committed to film, SHAKE THE DUST is an inspiring tribute to the uplifting power of music and movement. By highlighting the stories and moves of some of the most talented breakdance crews in the poorest urban neighborhoods of Colombia, Yemen, Uganda, and Cambodia, Sjöberg weaves together the stories of rappers, DJs, and b-boys across three continents, revealing how breakdancing today acts as a positive force for social change.

June 3-6 — Rialto Cinemas Elmwood, Berkeley

Chicago

Owen and Into It. Over It.

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Polyvinyl Records announced this week that they will be releasing a split 7" on Aug. 21st that will two new originals from Owen (Mike Kinsella) and Into It. Over It. (Evan Weiss), and two covers (each artist covers a song from the other’s back catalog). Below is Owen’s cover of Into It. Over It’s track "Anchor". You can preorder the 7" here.

You can catch Into It. Over It. at Riot Fest this September.

Chicago

Tsaik

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Tsaik is the electronic music duo for Jacob McArthur and Joshua Ruffolo. The label debut, via Uk’s Lost Tribe Records, was released last week and is called Tea Enfoca. The downtempo hazy production is sure to entrance and entertain as they seamlessly blend the organic with the electronic. The duo are now focused on the full-length debut due later this year.

L.A.

Solar Heist releases “Day Trip” EP

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So here’s one to shake off the mid-week blues. Electro pop duo Solar Heist have just released their sophomore EP Day Trip, a wildly emphatic five songs of the synth pop persuasion that invites dancefloor abandon. Its members, Jason Powers and Justin Karcich, are longtime friends who share a symbiotic creative relationship: Powers mostly gives the songs their conceptual treatment, while Karcich draws on his experience as a DJ to flesh out their compositional style. 

Though no tour dates have been announced just yet, the band is currently preparing to take these songs into a live setting this summer and fall. Which, frankly, sounds like the perfect way to end that jolly day trip.  

 

Philadelphia

New Video: “Bold” (Live – Acoustic) – The Districts

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Check out this beautiful, acoutsic rendition of "Bold" performed by The Districts frontman Rob Grote! While at this year’s Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shore, AL, he stopped by the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to do a recording of the song off the band’s latest LP, A Flourish and a Spoil. The Districts will be getting a lot of new stamps on their passports this summer, touching down in Europe, Asia and Australia, but first, they’ll be headlining an intimate benefit show for Thrangu Rinpoche’s School for Himalayan Children this Saturday, June 6 at PhilaMOCA.

Philadelphia

LOUDS Record Release Show at Boot & Saddle June 4

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LOUDS caught me by surprise with their über-infectious debut single “Ways” – a sliver of joyous electropop at its finest, which admittedly felt more like a tease every time the track ended. Well, the Brooks brothers (Charlie & Petie) have put together a stellar group of local players, made up of Juston Stens (ex-Dr. Dog), Justin Wolf (Lux Perpetua, ex-Extraordinaire), Ryan Crump (founder of Beats, Brews & Banter), Alejandro Giraldo, and friends, to take this once studio-only production project to the next level. LOUDS will be celebrating the release of their first EP profoundly titled (with tongue-in-cheek), If More People Bought Art More People Would Buy Art, which will be released via Philly’s own Color Theory Records. They’ll also be joined by labelmates and Deli faves, The Extraordinaires, and Newark, Delaware’s FIANCÉ. Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 8:30pm, $10, 21+ – Q.D. Tran

Philadelphia

New Track: “Koolwhip City” – In Place

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The instrumental duo of In Place shared a new single called "Koolwhip City," earlier this week. The composition provides an ominous, searching tone – cut through by rays of brass. You can catch In Place performing live on Saturday, June 13 at the Grape Room.

NYC

New York singer/songwriter Lindsey Cohen unveils video for ‘Exhausted’

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This past April, New York-raised singer/songwriter Lindsey Cohen released ‘Distance Makes Me Sensitive,’ an enjoyably impassioned five-song EP of relationship difficulty set to sharp guitars and gentle pianos (the record follows 2014’s EP ‘Grace Under Pressure’). Cohen, who started writing songs at fourteen and is currently enrolled at Columbia University, tells moving stories of interpersonal drama and individual struggle, while pleasantly recalling such icons as Stevie Nicks and Fiona Apple. On what appears to be the latest single from the album, “Unhappy Ending,” for example, the musician sardonically yet sensitively (“Blame it on a misunderstanding,/Welcome to my unhappy ending,” goes the chorus) details a dissolved romance over a frenetic instrumentation reminiscent of Apple’s “Fast As You Can.” Cohen just unveiled a new video for single ‘Exhausted,’ streaming below, which reads like a celebration of her hometown. – Zach Weg

NYC

Too Much Rock’s 7″ series: The Uncouth!

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(Photo by Todd Zimmer)
 
The fourth installment of Too Much Rock’s 7” single series features The Uncouth!, arguably the leading purveyors of Kansas City’s Oi! scene. Too Much Rock has also released singles from Schwervon!, Rev Gusto, and Josh Berwanger Band; each 7” includes an original song from the band and a cover chosen by TMR’s Sid Sowder.
 
The album’s A-side is “KC United,” a 2-and-a-half-minute track that celebrates KC pride and displays what The Uncouth! does best: producing unabashed, fast-paced anthems with a classic punk throwback. This carries over onto the B-side, a cover of “Gudbuy T’Jane,” a 1972 hit from Slade, who influenced both the skinhead and glam rock scenes. The KC trio’s interpretation retains the original’s rhythmic drive and adds its own brand of immediacy and ferocity.
 
Check out this single from The Uncouth!, also available on Teenage Heart Stateside Distro.
 
 
–Michelle Bacon
 
Michelle Bacon is editor of The Deli KC and plays in bands.