We made the trek North last year for an enchanting evening with the Wu-Tang Clan in beautiful Bryant Park, who were part of the inaugural Roots Picnic in NYC, and we’d like to share a bit of that magic with you when Method Man + Red Man, Raekwon, and Cappadonna comes to the Electric Factory next Thursday, June 29. The Wu-Tang members will also be joined by Philly’s own Hardwork Movement. To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "How High". Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!

Philly/Minneapolis-based indie label Dirty Pillows just announced that it will be dropping a series of 7" records that will benefit the ACLU. The releases will be split between each of the cities, with proceeds going to their local chapters. Volume 1 features previously unreleased tracks from Purling Hiss ("Sit Down"), Harsh Vibes ("Laser Floyd"), and Dulls ("Find You"), as well as a remix from Sad13 and contributions from LOUDS and many other talented artists. You can stream the compilation in its entirety below, and feel free to purchase multiple copies via a variety of formats. Donate what you can for a good cause!

High Fidelity Drag, the forthcoming album from Telyscopes, will be released on July 14. Its latest single, “Alcoholics (The Last Drop),” occupies a dreary albeit jangly headspace. With lo-fi psych-folk, whose lyrical lines intriguing twist amid transition, the track journeys into rugged, noisy terrains of jagged, angular guitar riffs before its abrupt conclusion. It’s grounded in a narrative that certainly needs more than one listen.

Vita and the Woolf recently dropped their much-anticipated album, Tunnels, via Believe Digital. Draped in dramatic synths and pulse-elevating percussion, Jennifer Pague’s elegant, soulfully powerful voice continuously reaches new heights. While all those components further entrench themselves, an underlying danceability emerges through the shadowy soundscapes. You can find Vita and the Woolf showing off their versatility on Saturday, August 19 at the 56th annual Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Psych outfit WASNT WISNT lays down a steady-rockin’, hypnotic groove, with its new single, "Sounds like adult revisionism". Feel free to press play & zone out the rest of the world for a moment. It’s been nearly four years since the release of Steel Cut, the debut LP from the trio of Jim Lewis and Steve Heise, who were founding members of King Kong Ding Dong, and Josh Meakim of A Sunny Day in Glasgow, The Fantastic Imagination, and Valley Exit just to name a few. They were also joined by Rick Hass (This Radiant Boy, Faux Slang) on the organ for their latest.  

Krust Toons: "My New Axe!" by Tedd 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.

Serena Scalzi began releasing dreamy recordings under the moniker Americanadian earlier this year. Now, with her latest single "Peachy," she has unveiled her first single with her full band that now includes Jeff Weingarten on lead guitar/midi bass and Nina Fuchs on (drums). The group is currently working on its debut album, and you can catch the band’s inaugural live performance at The Pentajawn on Thursday, July 6 with Blubird, Salfi, Brisk Piss, and Mandala.

We’re still feeling a bit groggy from all the heat and humidity, and to jumpstart this Monday, we have a hauling-ass freight train of jam from Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band! Clocking in at nearly sixteen minutes, "Dreaming In The Non-Dream" is the lead single and title track from their forthcoming record. Forsyth recently shared with NPR that the album was recorded after the last U.S. presidential election as "a way of grappling with that event-slash-calamity" and that the title was inspired by a William S. Burroughs quote: "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." With the downsizing of the band to a power trio and the exodus of Nick Millevoi, Dreaming In The Non-Dream is also the first album, since 2013’s The Solar Motel, with no second guitarist. "I wanted total control of the guitars on this."

Corresponding with today’s release of their new EP Crime Waves (Don Giovanni), creative collaborators Moor Mother and Mental Jewelry are tabbed to perform at their release show this evening at Trash House. Slowed-down, trance-inducing, grim and grimy beats cultivate a sonic canvas on which Camae Ayewa lyrically paints. An unwavering, impassioned perseverance permeates as the music continues a timeline of commentary, extending in both directions. Smacking with sincerity, this collection of songs retains a raw refinement that’s penetratingly powerful. Tonight’s show, presented by All Mutable, also features the minimalist noise/hip hop of Manikineter, a.k.a. Carl Kavorkian, the discovery-oriented, space-age, electro beats of Madam Data and the continuously-morphing, bass-forward beats of Kilamanzego. – Michael Colavita

Other places to be this weekend…

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Joy Riding (Album Release), Sad Actor, SAT Juzz Uno, The Bul Bey

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT Mutlu, John Beacher, SUN Shy Boyz

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Sarah M., Lulu Wish, Maxray Savage/Shawn Ryan, DecoSoul, Dr. Plotkin/Bosom Band, SAT Percussor/DJ PHSH, SUN JJL

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI Infinien, Gnarbot, SUN Memorial Concert & Benefit for Richie Ingui of The Soul Survivors: Charlie Ingui & The Soul Survivors Band, David Uosikkinen’s In The Pocket, Rob Hyman, Don Van Winkle

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI Cookie Rabinowitz, Little Stranger, SAT Soraia

The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI Interminable

The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) SAT Louis Futon, Armani White

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SAT (Upstairs) Eric Bazilian, SUN (Upstairs) The Dull Blue Lights 

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Bison’s Big Bang, SAT RFA

Milkboy South (401 South St.) FRI Fitonia

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Grey Palmer/Kinyon Lanier and My Funky Brethren, SAT Edgewise (EP Release Show), Eaten Alive, Disappearances/DJ Baby Berlin, DJ Littlespaceyy, Blood Sound, SUN Acolytes, getXwell, Los Vigilantes Oscuros

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Remote Control, Sad Heaven, SAT Creem Circus, Cowbell Superstar, Lonesome Crow, SUN Poor Devils, Lightninging

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Bo Bliz, Low Budget, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN DJ Kid Roc

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SUN Rusty Cadillac

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI Posers, The Droogettes, SUN Old Scratch, Devon Czekaj, Emily Neblock.

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7^th St.) FRI Kaonashi

The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) SAT I’m Not Okay: A Live Music and Burlesque Tribute to Emo

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Naps Past Noon, Andrew Jude, SAT J.W.Farrell, Emmett Drueding, Justin Kerecz

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.)  SAT Ardmore Pop (50th Anniversary Celebration of Monterey Pop Festival): Johnny Showcase (Otis Redding), Dean & Company (Grateful Dead), Ali Wadsworth (Janis Joplin), The End Of America (The Byrds)

Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.) FRI DJ Beat Street, SATDJ Lean Wit It, SUN Sunset Live: Piano Fight Club: Burnt Sienna

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18^th St.) FRI Pansy, Steve Layman, Coats/Thought Patterns, Yeenar, SAT False Tracks, SubLaymen, Telepathic, SUN Yeenar,Sleepy Limbs, Heavenward

LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster Ave.) SAT Pinkwash

Safety Meeting (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI NYXY NYX, YCIB

 

The Lunar Year just released their debut full-length album Herodias today. Led by Katie Burke’s dynamic vocals, the band ponders literary themes and muses over youthful memories, intertwining the delicate with the dramatic. These songs serve as a series of snapshots, which upon reflection, create a captivating storyline. South Philly’s Boot & Saddle will be hosting the quartet’s record release show on Saturday, July 1, where they will be supported by Rosu Lup and The Chairman Dances.

The power trio of Ceallaigh Corbishley, Greg Geiger, and Jon Pritchard, better known as Slomo Sapiens (a band name that you know you wish you thought of), has us excited about the next wave of garage-psych acts, being homegrown in Philly. The group is currently building a recording studio in their buddy’s basement so we are hoping to hear more rad tunes from the local power trio sooner than later. Until then, check out their latest single, “Fangs,” below, and take a gander at our recent interview with The Deli Philly’s Featured Artist(s) Poll Winner HERE.

A brooding, grim stomp paces “Found Out,” the first half of Worst Ones‘s latest single release. One enters into a horror-thriller scene as the presence of another lingers. With the constant trail of footsteps pounding behind and the buzz of chainsaw-style guitars, you will want to look over your shoulder and sleep with one eye one.