We never understood who went to the Spaghetti Warehouse to keep their doors open all these years. Well, according to Foobooz.com, the recently closed “Italian restaurant” is rumored to be made into an 800 capacity live music venue by Avram Hornik (Drinker’s Pub, Drinker’s Tavern, Drinker’s West, Noche, Lucy’s Hat Shop). It looks like we might be having a new area for music lovers to hang out at (with Polaris and Electric Factory being in the same general vicinity as well as Silk City) and R5’s Sean Agnew might have also finally found the space that he’s been looking for because his name is said to appear on the application for its liquor license as well. Yay – R5!!! (Keep your fingers crossed.) – The Deli Staff

 

Update: From PW’s MMM, R5’s Sean Agnew states, “No comment right now because there is literally nothing to comment on. Not sure where this all came from!” We’ll keep you posted on any developments or changes.

 

Another update: PW’s MMM reports that "Although Agnew’s name is not on the orange license application posted on the building, as was reported elsewhere yesterday, his name IS on the license (along with Hornik’s and two others) that appears on the PLCB website. Not that this necessarily means a music venue is definitely going into the spot, but interesting nonetheless." Hmmm…

The already danceable tracks of Sun Airway are making the remixing rounds. The Irish outfit Solar Bears’ take on “American West” popped up today via Pitchfork so you can check it out here. Jon Barthmus’ vocals still pleasingly soar over the glitch-enhanced remix. You can catch the real deal when Sun Airway performs at The Ox on Friday, February 4 with local electronica lovers Golden Ages and CSLSX. – The Deli Staff

 

Somewhere between psych pop and fuzzed out folk, indie darlings An American Chinese proves to possess a sound as unique as it is fun. Heard throughout their prior EP Panic Pilgrim, their latest full length, Utopian Tree continues in this tradition, refashioning listeners to ease into a sound that eludes the pitfalls of convention, keeping the band’s work far from feeling so-so. From the buzzing charm of “Jersey Claw to the acoustic drive of “The Distaste of Dairy Frank”, Utopian Tree blooms clever and crisp, full of pop charm and acoustic based chants.

Recorded in the band’s South Philly studio, An American Chinese’s debut LP begins with an atmospherically brief intro by way of “Safe Tigers”, which bleeds effortlessly into the windy backdrop of “Japanese Salesman”. Dreamy chords alongside textured vocals by frontman Mitch Marzec sets the album’s second track catchy with tambourine shakes and snare. Followed closely by “No No Like That”, An American Chinese makes the most of sparse yet concise backbeats alongside an acoustically seeped progression enriched by harmonized lines and a sharp chorus. “Jersey Claw” one of Panic Pilgrim’s best, resurfaces, with buzzing hums that lean into tongue-in-cheek lyricism nestled between steady drums and chords that play out like a chilled out b-side by the Violent Femmes with a pinch of scattered synth that vaguely conjures memories of the electrified interludes of The Cars’ power-pop single “Just What I Needed”. A presumable favorite for fans, “Indian Punk” remains upbeat and nears full-throttle while “Petition To Dear St. Augle” gradually eases into an energized conclusion by way of a stripped down intro that brings to mind pop smith Kiwi Lawrence Arabia. “Chasing Rabbit” is dancey with hints of acoustic punk sensibility and delectable synth. The cricket chirps of “Building a Blue Jay”, in addition to the track’s melodic integrity, render the song cinematic and bright. “Panic Pilgrim, Quick Grab Your Suitcase” showcases An American Chinese’s chops for imaginative storytelling with finesse. Ending with a final track bearing the quintet’s name, Utopian Tree roots itself in the swirling psych pop dreams of an act with the power to render listeners swaying and spellbound well after its latter notes. You can purchase the album here. – Dianca Potts

 

Philly transplant and former Baltimore native Dominic Angelella has certainly found a home in the local music scene. Having come to UArts to study jazz guitar, you’ve probably experienced his learned guitar work with one of his resume filling projects like Hop Along, Lithuania, Elevator Flight, Norwegian Arms, Dragonzord, Patty Crash and Nouveau Riche, which are definitely testaments to his versatility. Well, you can add one more impressive project to his list called Dragon King. I’m really enjoying his electro-pop debut EP Warriors, which was producer by South Philly’s Ritz Reynolds. You can check out the title track below or listen to the album in its entirety and pay what you want to download it here. Joining him this evening at KFN will be Nicos Gun, who he recently joined forces with to help celebrate Phrequency’s 2nd anniversary, and Hop Along (Frances Quinlan will be performing solo). Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $5 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

 

Sorry to inundate you with another/belated Top 10 list – I wasn’t planning to do one, but after checking out other lists, I was inspired to reflect on all the amazing homegrown music that sprouted up in 2010, and I also wanted to draw some attention to releases that I came across which I felt were overlooked. So below are some of my favorite local releases from 2010. Hope that you are enjoying them too, just discovering them, or giving them a second look. Cheers! – Q.D. Tran

 

1. People Songs – Power Animal

2. Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier – Sun Airway  

3. Yellow Life Giver – Creepoid

4. Everlasting – Grandchildren

5. Prism Eyes – Reading Rainbow

6. Pope Killdragon – Strand of Oaks

7. Public Service Announcement – Purling Hiss

8. Try Harder – Sunny Ali & the Kid

9. Science & Advice – The Armchairs

10. Univox – Univox

 

Truck North rang in the New Year by dropping his latest mixtape yesterday titled QuickTape. We shared with you the track “Y’all Know Who” from it last week. Well, you can download his whole mixtape for FREE via 2 Dope Boyz. Check out another track the rockin’ “Money Aint Stoppin’” featuring Curt@!n$ & P.O.R.N. (with oh so familiar riffs) below! – The Deli Staff

From never considering herself to be much of a performer to honing an eight year career of music and guitar mastery that is capable of shifting to rock, folk, jazz, and country, Charlotte Littlehales has steadfastly found herself immersed in the local music scene. With Scott Churchman (Ape School, Folklore) and Lux Perpetua’s Jason Wolf (formerly of The Extraordinaires) backing her live on stage, the crew skillfully brings her songs to life. And if you choose to ring in the New Year by seeing her open for bluegrass crooner Joe Brady at The Fire tonight, then you might get treated to some music from her upcoming album that’s currently in the works. Also joining them will be charming indie popsters Arrah & The Ferns, whose album All The Bad in One Place was one of the brightest of 2010. And if you catch their set, then you might be able to find out more on how you can help them with their upcoming music video that’s destined to be filled with unicorns and sombreros. The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., 9pm, $7, 21+ (Photo by John Hayes) – Bill McThrill

 

Uh-oh – New Year’s Eve is tomorrow! Do you have someone to kiss at midnight? Do you have any plans!?! Well, it’s up to you to swing the former, but we can certainly help you with the latter. And the right event might just get you the action that you are looking for. Now, we think that there will be plenty of kissable peeps at The Annual R5/Making Time New Years Eve Freakout at 90 Degreez (formerly Transit), and the all night open bar will help create a little social lubrication. But if you don’t have your tix already, SORRY, because this baby is SOLD OUT. Also the Hands and Knees/Tigerbeats Party is a good alternative, but unfortunately, there is no open bar there. Luckily, there are plenty of open bars and kissable people throughout the city on NYE. If your pockets are a bit deeper, The Blockley has the man who laid down plenty of those beats that you were jamming out to when your parents just didn’t understand. DJ Jazzy Jeff will be spinning his favorites just for you. Open bar is also included. Now, if live music is your thing and you’re still trying to get some lovin’ (we just want to say that we do not condone excessive PDA in the middle of a live performance – unless it is on stage), then you might find a love fest at KFN with Dangerous Ponies, Banned Books and Bandname. Your odds of a hookup might also be best at a molly-fueled jam band show like Lotus or The Disco Biscuits. But most of that action is back at the hotie anyways. Honestly, there is a shitload of options for your flava and we’re kind of feeling like the guy in Clerks that’s not even supposed to be here today/this week so we’d like to direct you to the friendly folks at Phrequency who have kindly put together a list of more options and details for this weekend here. We’ll be back with Weekend Warrior next week. Happy New Year – we’ll see you on the other side soon enough! – The Deli Staff

 

There’s something strange about Cozy Galaxies and their self-titled LP, which was released late summer. On the one hand, the five-piece (formerly known as The Major Leagues) crafts really lush, clean, and picturesque soundscapes – ones that, in regards to both technical and emotional reverence, sweep you away with its driving rock swells and marching dream-pop coating. But on the other, the Philly (by way of Lancaster) outfit throw in random sprinkles of lyrical defiance – or, by Tipper Gore standards, “explicit” vocabulary – like “bullshit”, “motherfucker” (“Clean Yourself Up”), and “shit” (“Dreamer”). It’s not confusing or disturbing. More like weird and unexpected – a sort of wake-up call from the inevitable reverie you’ll slip into when listening to their songs or, rather, while watching them live like you will tonight at North Star Bar. They’ll work the stage with other noteworthy locals, like Giant Mind, who smolders with their irresistible soft-spoken slithers and red-light rock-jazz; Ah, Wilderness, who takes it back with jangly, ‘60s psych-pop; and Flamingo, who’s absolutely tempting with their one-two punch of dripping-sex vocals and ripe-tide of guitar riff come-ons. Tip: this show is best paired with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, tea light candles and some brie, but I somehow don’t think that you’ll be getting all three at the North Star, unless you sneak in your own. North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 8pm, $8, 21+ – Annamarya Scaccia

 

Versatile rhyme-sayer Alien Architect has a huge show tonight opening up for the legendary and bombastic motherfuckin’ Wu-Tang Clan at The Troc. Known to perform in various incarnations from acoustic spoken-word to prog-rocky full band productions, AA creates genre-bending tunes that would allow you to find him on a singer-songwriter stage like The Tin Angel or the big stage like this evening. Sharing the bill with such hip hop royalty should allow him to gain a bunch of new fans and continue to assert the depth of the Philly hip hop scene. He will also be doing a bunch of more intimate shows in the next few months, but given this opportunity expect Alien Architect to bring his A-game to the highly coveted opening slot. The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 9pm, $41.50 adv/$44 door – Adam G. 

 

While I tend to shy away from the larger shows these days and prefer to hide out at home or in the local smaller music venues, I can’t help but be drawn to the warehouse space of the Electric Factory tonight for Gogol Bordello. Eugene Hutz will be in town with his caravan of musical misfits spreading the gospel of their old world meets new world order Gypsy punk which should be reason enough to pull me out of this winter hermit-ish state that I’ve been in (hard not to be with all this goddamn cold and snow!). But admittedly, I’ll really be there for our local madmen clad in white Man Man. It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to catch a live performance from Philly’s favorite sons. They’ve taken a little hiatus from touring this past year working on their upcoming new album in Omaha. And leading purveyor of chaos Honus Honus a.k.a. Ryan Kattner has certainly been staying busy recently with his new side project and indie supergroup Mister Heavenly, which also features Nick Diamond (Islands and Unicorns) and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse). Mister Heavenly announced that they signed to Sub Pop at the end of last month even before playing a single show (that I know of), but it’s not surprising with each members’ indie music pedigree. And when they finally made their first appearance opening for Passion Pit on the Left Coast, the band had in tow actor and Diamond’s buddy, Michael Cera, on bass, which created quite a furious media storm on the internet. Also judging by the live footage of Mister Heavenly’s new material, the tunes are pretty badasssss with Kattner and Diamond trading off on vocals accompanied by their self-proclaimed “Doom Wop” arrangements. I’d suggest all to catch Man Man when you can because you never know what Kattner’s busy calendar will hold for their live performance schedule in the future. But luckily with a new Man Man album in the works for Anti- Records, there should be at least a tour to follow. Toms River, New Jersey’s (and I wish that they were Philly’s) River City Extension will also be opening the evening which is definitely an added bonus. I had a chance to catch them last year at The Fire, and could instantly tell that their folk-ish sound fuel-injected with plenty of horns had a bright future. Glad to see River City Extension getting their opportunity on the big stage in front of what should be a lively audience. Already wishing right now that the local support acts will have longer sets. Electric Factory, 421 N. 7th St., 8pm, $37.40, All Ages (Photo by Shawn Brackbill) – Q.D. Tran