Singer-songwriter, guitar maestro, and ex-Violator, Steve Gunn will be gracing Union Transfer’s stage this Saturday, February 2, in support of his new album The Unseen In Between (Matador Records). He’ll also be joined by talented former Philly natives Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore for an enchanting evening of experimental folk tunes. To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "Vagabond". Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!

Krust Toons: "Stop the Ringing" 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.

Xyzzy Lovelace, a.k.a. Evan Paris (of The Ordinals) recently shared a new single, “Double Polarize”. Keys gracefully guide the track, which is aided by the addition of rudimentary, lo-fi percussion. Luminous, reverberating vocals capture an emotive scene amid the electro-dance surroundings. The ebb and flow of contrasting, linked feelings is something that is difficult to explain but easy to relate.

A haunting, volatile, vulnerability seeps into your ears and under the skin in the music of Curtis Cooper. There’s a confessional, candle-lit closeness that encircles lyrically, as the room appears ready to rip itself apart. They create a keen, lingering, emotively-embedded sense of personal narrative – one which shifts the plot forward with a dramatic edge, wielding the sonic vehicle in a precise manner, while pushing the limits around every corner. These songs mesh an at-home, endearing familiarity with a pressure-regulating heaviness that rains down. Tonight at Everybody Hits, Cooper will be supported by garage-psych quartet Secret Nudist Friends, whom recently made their way home after a string of tour dates. Also, fellow Good How Are You Records labelmates Puppy Angst will be joining in the festivities, along with Atlanta glam-punks Material Girls. – Michael Colavita

Other places to hit this weekend…

Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Curtis Cooper, Secret Nudist Friends, Puppy Angst

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Sparrow Steeple, Hermit Thrushes, SAT It’s the Year 2000: DJ Emynd, Bo Bliz, SUN Cabana Wear  

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT Cassettes (Record Release), Savage Dads, SUN Concert for Jen Devor: Sweetbriar Rose, Roberta Faceplant

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT George Engel Brooks/Fame Lust

PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12^th St.) FRI Yowler, SAT Tate

Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St.) FRI Lotus, Tweed, SAT Lotus, Tweed

The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) SAT The Willies (CD Release), Renaissance Blvd., Red Letter Life, Whiskey Drippin’

The Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal St.) SAT Sy Mosquiat, Shaun Sloan

Franklin Music Hall (421 N. 7^th St.) FRI Scholito

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) 5th Annual Benefit for Living Beyond Breast Cancer: The Miners, Travel Lanes, Flies in the Kitchen/(Downstairs) Liz Longley, Jesse Ruben, SAT (Downstairs) Live at The Fillmore, SUN (Upstairs) GTS Presents 4th Annual Winter Wreck

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI The Gene Smith Band, Haha Charade, Surreal Nation, SAT Sins Of Magnus, Syberia, Voodoo Death Cult 

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI American Dinosaur, Thee Idea Men, Full Bush, SAT The Lunar Year

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Lightninging, Soft Crime, Rubber, SAT Hotbed, Cosmic Lottery

The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Kingsnake, The Age Of Truth, Clamfight, Ritual Earth/Past Life, Rare Spirits, Drew Sestito, SAT 90’s Alternative Singalong: In The Presence Of Wolves, DJ Baby Berlin

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI DJ Aktive, SAT DJ Deejay 

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT The Chedder Pickers, SUN Rusty Cadillac 

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI The People, Ellen Siberian Tiger

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI Tough Guy Soda, Fuzzy Slippers, Frankly Lost, SAT The Ancient Mariners, Knights Reign

The Tusk (430 South St.) FRI The Heels, Beer Me,  Loafass

Century (1350 S. 29^th St.) SAT Erin Incoherent, The Russells, Los Gueys, Grey C.E.L.L.

Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI DJ Chris Urban, SAT DJ Brian Toll

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Somethin’ Divine, XPresidents, Jac with No K, SAT Adder, Egocentric Plastic Men, Grunge Puppy

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Broken Arrow, AM Radio, SAT Splintered Sunlight, SUN Whiskeyhickon Boys

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18^th St.) FRI  Glass Leaf, Kobika,The Poms, SAT Babe Grenade, Lisa Chosed, Annalise Curtin, Fauna Finch, SUN Copley Woods, Almost People

Creep Records (1050 N. Hancock St.) FRI Great Time, The Bul Bey, Dahi Divine, Destiny X

The Music Ward (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Bad Leather, SAT Fox, Backpack, ILY

Out of the Ether, the new album from Philly garage-psych duo Writhing Squares, is out today via Trouble In Mind Records. Brimming with pulsating, rhythmic grooves, Kevin Nickles (Ecstatic Vision, Taiwan Housing Project) and Daniel Provenzano (Purling Hiss, Spacin’) launch into space, riding a noise-infused, free-jazz rocket. Step into the future, and have your mind altered. You can catch their record release show at Kung Fu Necktie on Thursday, February 7, where they’ll be supported by Sparrow Steeple and labelmates Headroom.

With the caveat of "still dead just keeping you updated on the new demos," former snotty punks Cousin Brian recently shared another new sampling of their latest sound. With an accompanying, bathed-in-neon-cosmic glow, "Tempted By The Void" floats into a psych- jangle headspace. Consumed by the combination of soft strums, synth, and reverberating vocals, one is set adrift into the ethereal. Let’s find these guys a drummer, and make this transformation complete.

Sower of Wind is the new EP from Rosetta, which was recently released via Pelagic Records. Ambient soundscapes toe a threshold between somber & soothing, while exploring mysterious terrain. The ominous beauty envelopes in a bone-chilling calm. You can find Rosetta as part of the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest 2019 on Sunday, April 14 at The Fillmore Philadelphia.

The trio of Dog Paws just shared its debut single. Backend kickstarts "PA Girl" into gear. Jacque Tawney voices a volatile, emotive-tinged circumstance. As sadness and love coexist, the raw power of the moment pulls from both ends, taking one into the here and now. However, there is still a held hope for the future.

Low Dose closed out 2018 celebrating frontwoman Itarya Rosenberg’s birthday at Kung Fu Necktie with a performance of their yet-to-be-released self-titled LP. Well, we now have the latest single from the forthcoming album, which they’ve named "Right On". Rosenberg shared, "It’s about the frustrations of just trying to exist in the world without being bullied by men constantly." The band’s debut full-length is schedule for release on March 29 via Brutal Panda.

Necessary NAH, a rather comprehensive collection of the artist’s material from 2011-2017, was recently posted. One can venture into the layered ambience. Hip hop/jazz/electronica, injected with noise, establishes varied precision across multiple dimensions. Cultivating spontaneity with a controlled hand, NAH‘s jams take hold, and bring you to places previously unknown. Go there with one of Philly’s most profilic and talented sound sculptors!

With a new album tentatively on the horizon, glam experimenters Cerulean Blue recently shared a new single. “Silver Birch” creaks the sonic door open amid the tension of strings. Once the eeriness subsides, the song artfully ambles punctuated by instrumental escalations along intersections. Sparse, poetic lines illustrate opposing view points through a momentary but longterm view.

Krust Toons: "The Wall" 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.