Krust Toons: "Used Gear" by Teddy Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.
NYC
Posted on:
Long Beard brings dream pop to Baby’s All Right tomorrow (12.29)
A gentle, dreamy uneasiness runs through the bedroom recordings of Long Beard’s late 2015 release “Sleepwalker.” The 13 track Team Love Records release is the culmination of singer-songwriter Leslie Bear’s introspective creativity. Combining backward-loop studio techniques with traditional folk compositions, the band achieves a subtle, needy urgency. The heart tugging ache of The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler can be found on lead track “Porch,” as chords and voice layer in a dissonant beauty. “Hates The Party” (streaming below) creates further reflective moments, while putting forward the statement that “there’s more than one reason, to hate the world spinning – everyone hates the party.” “Summer/Fall” shows the benefits of taking ideas into larger studios, making excellent use of backward looping as the instrumental base for Leslie’s temperate vocals. “Dream” impresses with counterpoint, out-of-sync percussive background click, cleverly approximating the chaotic sleeping mind. “Someplace” takes that even further with a three and a half minute soundscape containing the single lyric “always thinking of some place some time ago.” Long Beard plays live tomorrow (December 29th) at Baby’s All Right. – Dave Cromwell
Philadelphia
Posted on:
New Video: “Brite Boy” (Live – Feat. Girlpool) – Alex G
A couple of this year’s Philly standouts joined forces at SPIN‘s Year in Music showcase in Los Angeles. Check out an adorable live performance of Alex G‘s "Brite Boy" with guest vocals and improv dancing by Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad, otherwise known as Girlpool. Alex G will be back in Philly on Thursday, April 14 at Union Transfer with Porches.
NYC
Posted on:
The Unending Thread x Forget It. announces split EP, shows & singles
It’s the day after Christmas, and Valley friends The Unending Thread are hitting us with another present — they’ve been collaborating with new Berkeley four-piece Forget It. on a split EP "TUT // FORGET IT", and today they dropped a new single! Forget It.’s "Not Everything Is About Me" follows last week’s release "Dearest Anna" with showers of twinkle and the screams of hoarse men, plus an introspective adage courtesy of Bojack Horseman. The Unending Thread’s "Dearest Anna", which premiered on MAT Magazine, marks the trio’s stylistic shift to territories redolent of dance-rock. Don’t fret though; them boy-girl vocals, double-tap riffs, and funk licks are still kicking.
"TUT // FORGET IT" comes out January 15th, 2016, with release shows happening in the Bay and LA. It’s a sick line-up on both fronts, but that goes without saying. – Ryan Mo
Jan. 10 — Octopus Literary Saloon (Oakland) with Just Friends, Sarchasm, The Unending Thread, Lawn Chairs
Feb. 4 — The Smell (Los Angeles) with The Unending Thread, Love Nothing, Ferbus, Josh Abrams, and Dustin and the Explosions
NYC
Posted on:
David Hasselhoff on Acid’s last scheduled show this Saturday
David Hasselhoff on Acid makes the type of music you might expect from a band called David Hasselhoff on Acid: a cataclysmic, tantalizing musical mindmeld of hardcore, funk, and progressive instrumental rock. After nearly 10 years as a band—releasing 2 full-length albums, playing Wakarusa, opening for a number of known touring acts—the four-piece is taking a break.
“The future is uncertain, but we still plan on writing music,” says guitarist Phil Wolf, who founded the band with bassist Erich Thomas in 2006. The band solidified its lineup long ago, with drummer Zach Legler 7 years ago and guitarist Brandon Bamesberger 5 years ago. With Legler’s recent move to Los Angeles, the band has decided to only play live when he is in town. Tomorrow, DHOA will play its final gig for the foreseeable future, alongside a hefty lineup that includes At the Left Hand of God, Jorge Arana Trio, Janet the Planet, and Odd Fox. The band promises an unforgettable show for old fans and new; Wolf mentions that DHOA will play songs it hasn’t played in years and have an impressive light show to boot.
“DHOA is special because anything goes,” says Wolf. “Nothing is too weird—actually, the weirder, the better. We welcome all genres but still make sure it sounds like DHOA.”
–Michelle Bacon
Saturday’s show will be your last chance to catch David Hasselhoff on Acid for quite awhile, so don’t miss it. The Riot Room show starts at 8:00 p.m. Facebook event page.
L.A.
Posted on:
Hipnotics release new single
Indie psych pop three piece Hipnotics have just released their latest single “Not Enough Time”, a tastefully melodramatic number that soars with a breadth of expression for an anthemic six and a half minutes. Matt Ernst’s dry rasp fits the song’s colossal ambition, elevating his vocals with an unhinged spontaneity that matches the song’s funkified, almost improvisational, last third. Their penchant for hooky, bombastic resonance falls somewhere between Southerners Kings of Leon and art rock Cumbrians British Sea Power.
Hipnotics’ first full-length effort is due out sometime in early 2016.
NYC
Posted on:
Providence rock quartet The Attending plays The Met on January 8th
Bookended by the guitar-strummed memory songs “Picking Up Speed” and “Cash” (about the titular musician and his brother) and including the drum-surged track “Not the Books to Read” (streaming below), ‘Deep Peace of the Singing Earth’ by Providence rock quartet The Attending is a piercingly moving album. As The Antlers did on ‘Hospice,’ The Attending bravely unburies pain on this March-released effort but also allows for a catharsis that perhaps only music can provide. The Attending plays at The Met in Providence on January 8th. – Zach Weg
Portland
Posted on:
Get post-holiday happy with Sad Horse
It’s been a wet holiday so far, so if you weren’t able to make it out to that free Sad Horse show with Haunted Head and Warm Trash a couple nights ago, you’re actually in luck. New Years night, they’ll be playing their latest album, start to finish, at Mississippi Records. Their Greatest Hits LP is comprised of just that, a grandiose collection of singles from the last almost eight years of their existence. The 26 track long LP of pleasant familiarity is also now available on vinyl. If you’re just now getting into Sad Horse (or SH, as they now like to be referred to as), then check out their Greatest Hits record release set for a crash course in the delight that is SH.
-Cervante Pope
NYC
Posted on:
Hartford’s McLovins plays Grizzly’s in Stratton, Vermont on January 9th
This past October, Hartford improv jam rock quartet Mclovins released its breezily warm self-titled album. Purveying such guitar-zipped songs as “Talk About It” and “Regulars” (streaming below), the 2008-formed band pleasantly recalls such beloved jammers as Phish–lead singer Jake Huffman does even sound a bit like Phish’s Trey Anastasio–on this release while compelling the listener with its tales of young love and summery fun. McLovins plays Grizzly’s in Stratton, Vermont on January 9th. – Zach Weg
Austin
Posted on:
Iconoclast Rick Millisci Urges Us: “Go to California, Be a Freak, Like Kylie”
Right, so this is one that I debated posting for a good minute or two. If you listen, you’ll see why: this is about as bare bones and unpolished as a track gets. It’s often off-key, the subject matter is totally weird and, on top of that, it got submitted to us through some weird-ass service that we never use.
But, Austin has an admirable and strong, if a little voyeuristic, tradition of accepting so called “outsider art” if it’s done authentically, and (perhaps more so) if it’s catchy.
Somehow, through its ultra-minimal drumming, its guitar that’s picked one twangy string after another (and sometimes slightly out of time), and its totally weird vocals about a young reality star, this strange tune by Rick Milisci, obviously a guy a bit older than his subject, on the subject of Kylie Jenner is both authentic and catchy. Somehow, it’s also charming, not creepy, and pretty on the ball when it comes to having an up-to-date look at pop culture. Which, I’ll admit, are not really things we thought I’d think about it when I first clicked it on.
I think what really does it for this song is that, despite not having a lot of production polish, it does have a solid song structure and vision, and it really goes for it. Rick knows what he wants to say, and he can put a song’s parts together, even if they sound a little janky. It comes together in a way that’ll catch your ear and get you talking, whether it’s to say you hate it or, like us at The Deli, to come around and admit that this weird little ditty kinda gets under your skin. Hell, I just took a break writing this to grab some food, and I caught myself singing “Kylieeee Jennner, Kylieeee Jennner” under my breath on the way to the spot. I’m about to meet up with my brother for Christmas, and I’m pretty sure this song just rocketed to the top of the list of shit I want to show him, weird as that might be.
In all, while this isn’t our typical fare at The Deli, this is Austin. Since this is the town that claims Daniel Johnston as one of its own, and since, really, we should each be giving all art a chance if it comes from a place of authentic expression and creativity, here we are presenting you the far, far from leftfield “Kylie Jenner,” a bare-bones, off-kilter, endearing and bizarrely fun commentary on pop culture by one Rick Milisci.
Oh, and if you want to know who the hell this dude is, like we did, pretty much all we can find about him is that his “Biography” on the site he submitted to us says “Smile :),” he calls this song in particular a “Cool Surf Song about Pop Culture in 2015,” for some reason CD Baby says you’d like him if you like Flo Rida, and he has 356 songs on Myspace.
Yep. 356. One of them is named “Zookeeper Licks Monkey’s Butt.” There’s another called “Sandwiches are Beautiful.” So there’s that. Get on this weird train y’all. If nothing else, it sure is interesting.
Philadelphia
Posted on:
Weekend Warrior, December 24 – 26
The fourth and final Kat Kat Phest kicks into gear this Sunday with a pair of proceedings at Kung Fu Necktie. Over the course of six days, numerous bands from both near and far will showcase their skills, and this first night is a strong starter. The instantaneous surge of emotive pop-punk trio Hightide Hotel makes a swan song performance, balancing impassioned melodic vocals with momentary, speedy bursts of tight instrumentation. Similarly, Marietta’s sound begins from a pensively private place before stretching out instrumentally, pushing the pace and maintaining a honed in collaboratively united feel that ups its power while also staying loose in energy. On the heels of releasing their new LP Awkward Pop Songs last month, Jank uncorks their nerve catching jams. This event traverses both levels of KFN with a separate lineup upstairs that includes Mumblr, who weave in and out of dreary, soft, contemplative corners and roaring jams. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St. (Downstairs) 7pm, $10, All Ages, (Upstairs) 8pm, Free (w/admission to downstairs), 21+ – Michael Colavita
Merry Xmas & Chill…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Philly Loves James Brown: DJ Mike Nyce
The Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT The City & I, Pocket, Seismic Thrust, Broken Beak
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT The Quixote Project, SUN Kat Kat Fest: Hightide Hotel, Clique, Marietta, Jank, Christopher Walking/Mumblr, Howlish
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAY WNOC: Christmas Show
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) SAT Shane Henderson
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SAT (Downstairs) John Faye (Record Release), Dr. Beardfacé and the Spaceman, The Captain, The Pilot, The Driver, Molly Rhythm/(Upstairs) Ben Vaughn Quintet (Record Release), SUN Winter Beer Festival: The WhiskeyHickon Boys
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Shy Boyz, Dirty Soap Blues Band, QQQ, Whitebearbrownbear, Svvje, SUN Beatles Tribute: Kevin Killen, Hezekiah Jones, Looseleaf Trio, Chelsea Mitchell, Red Skiles and the Country Ramblers, Vilebred, Aaron Van Allen, Cowmuddy, A Fistful of Sugar
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) SAT The Once Was, Something Like A Monument, Are Too
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) SAT Dj Deejay, SUN Mast, Nommo, DJ Lil Dave
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SUN Rusty Cadillac
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St) SAT Clashing Plaid, SUN Travis McDaniel, Matthew Leuzzi
The Grape Room (105 Grape St) SAT Flathead, Pocket Dial, Overcoming Gravity, Haywood Trout, Thomas G Waites Project
Bourbon and Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) SAT Uptown Ezy, DJ NoPhrillz, SUN Reece Stacks, Scottie Kash, ThisIsInfinity, Skills Gates, Wyo Jair
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) SAT Electron, American Babies, Blendmode, SUN Dave Patten, Michele Karmin, Danielle and Jennifer
The Pharmacy (1300/02 S. 18th St.) SUN Walla Fest Mantee, Boog, Roof Doctor, Abi Reimold, Straw Hats
Cha-Cha’razzi (1918 S. Bancroft St.) SAT Shadow Band, White Crayon
Philadelphia
Posted on:
New Track: “Hey, You’re Mine” (The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Remix) – A Sunny Day in Glasgow
As we get ready to take it easy this holiday season, there is something that feels right about injecting a remix from the beautifully oddly titled A Sunny Day in Glasgow double EP Planning Weed Like It’s Acid/Life Is Loss into your lives. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart provided their take on the single "Hey, You’re Mine," which you can stream HERE. The bi-continental sextet will be ringing in the New Year next week at Johnny Brenda’s, alongside Mercury Girls and EZTV with Jeff Zeigler spinning far-out tunes throughout the evening.