New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Austin folk songwriter Adam Torres has announced a series of U.S. summer tour dates in support of his EP, Came to Sing the Song, and his LP, Pearls to Swine, both out now on Fat Possum Records. Torres’ releases are melancholic, introspective journeys, carried along by intricate acoustic fingerpicking and Torres’ signature ethereal falsetto. The tour kicks off July 27th at Antone’s in Austin. Watch the official video for "Juniper Arms," off Pearls to Swine, below. – Ethan Ames
Austin’s The Naked Tungs recently released their debut EP, Hear It Calls, an intriguing blend of garage, new wave and roots rock which showcases the band’s natural pop sensibility and charming lo-fi character. With subtle time signature changes and diverse instrumentation – from touches of pedalsteel guitar to lead tones reminiscent of Hendrix and The Clash – each song in the five track release has its own unique structural and tonal flavor. Hear It Calls is a promising introduction to a band with potential. Check out the title track below! – Ethan Ames
An outlier from the Burger Records’ roster, normally home to garagey and surfy bands, Cosmonauts harness British rock from the ’80s and ’90s, and repackage those groovy sounds full of attitude in their most recent album A-OK. Citing the Kinks and Sonic Youth as their influences, the bands describes its sound as “drug-punk.” That sounds misleading, since A-OK is too clean to be punk, and too controlled to be "drug music." But it’s certainly excellent party music, which – with the summer on the horizon – is all we care about. Cosmonauts will play the Constellation Room, tonight (June 13th), check out the video for their ballad "Party at Sunday,’ streaming below.
Noise-pop band The Sea Life is releasing a self-titled full-length album on May 26th, on Babe City Records. Blending the angsty vocal stylings of Win Butler and Conor Oberst with up-tempo, minor-key distortion, the D.C.-based band paint a swirling picture of depressive sentiments and full-throated screams of longing. On "Red Eyes," the lyrics suggest aversion toward success: "It’s a shame /That you’re trading your passion for a paycheck." The raw power in the band’s sonic approach and their energetic musicianship, however, indicate that their passion is very much a driving force on this promising release. The Sea Life is playing a record release show at Smith Public Trust in D.C. on May 26th. Check out single "Red Eyes" below! – Ethan Ames
Brooklyn’s soul band The Skins is a tantalizing blend of ’90s R&B and contemporary hip-hop. On their 2016 EP, Still Sleep, each song is tightly hook-oriented and provides sense of urgency to the entire five-track release. The Skins’ sound has evolved rapidly from a more rock-based aesthetic, as evidenced on their 2014 track, "Pump Up The Speed." The Skins will be playing Mercury Lounge on June 27th, and then head to the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle on September 1st. Check out the video for breakout single "Bury Me" below, it got more than 100k plays on Youtube! – Ethan Ames
Though Modern Baseball is currently on an indefinite hiatus, Jake Ewald (thankfully) continues to record and release his solo efforts under the moniker Slaughter Beach, Dog, with assistance from MoBo bassist Ian Farmer. Ewald will be dropping a new four-song EP Motorcycle.jpg on July 14 via Lame-O Records. You can take a listen to the album’s lead single, "Building The Ark," below. He also has plans for a full-length release later this year, which is definitely more good news for die-hard MoBo fans. Slaughter Beach, Dog will be headlining Johnny Brenda’s on Thursday, August 17, with support from Lame-O labelmate Shannon Moser. (Photo by Jess Flynn)
Music legend Elvis Costello will be coming to the Tower Theater this Friday, June 16 with his band The Imposters as part of their "Imperial Bed & Other Chambers" tour. They’ll be performing selections from 1982’s Imperial Bedroom, along with "the songs that led in and out of that velvet-trimmed playhouse." To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "Hits and Headlines, Waifs and Strays". Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!
Gold Casio are the masters of local disco. Their live performances are engaging and visually stimulating, with their aesthetic falling somewhere in between disco royalty and yacht rock magic. Glitter, gold and a whole hell of a lot of dancing are always on the menu with Gold Casio, so when they teamed up with the ethereal jazziness of Coco Columbia an entirely new sonic aesthetic was created.
Coming off their latest the Fever Dreams EP, "Gold Mine" is appropriately named hit of electropop that you can’t help but groove to. Gold Casio gave us some cosmic responses to a few questions about the track. Give them a read below, but make sure you’re blasting "Gold Mine" as you do it.
What inspired "Gold Mine" thematically?
Sparkling harpsichord from another dimension, poolside sunsets from past lives, winter nights with too much smoke and too many mirrors, pretending you’re on a beach anywhere else.
Why the choice of collaborating with Coco Columbia on the track? Were there other artists in the running?
Astrological tendencies, geographical convenience, and divine intervention. Our human vessels and their interconnections predate both musical projects, the song was born before the identity of either had made waves on the scene.
How did fans initially react to the Coco/Casio pairing and the song in general?
Quite well!
Will we be seeing more features from other artists on GC tracks? What other projects does the band have in the works?
Many more collaborations coming down the line, some with artists you probably already love and some you’ll love soon!
Grimace Federation celebrates the launch of their latest intergalactic musical vessel, Auroville, with a live performance this evening at Underground Arts. Honing in high-speed precision, the band cruises while pushing the envelope. Bombarding beats, resulting from the steady thrust of keys and percussion, develop in masterful, woven threads of sonic discovery. Those dynamic points of intersection, when the luminous possibilities of the unknown are weighed against the dangers that potentially lie in one’s path, create suspenseful peaks of intrigue. Meanwhile, the warp-speed, electro-jazz, experimenting engine maintains its varied, but never off course, trajectory. Tonight, they lay the groundwork for the funky, electro-dance assemblage of !!! (Chk Chk Chk), who are in town supporting their new album Shake the Shudder. – Michael Colavita
The combination of Natalie Wimberg and Marc Neibauer, a.k.a. My Home is the Sea, just released its self-titled EP. Enticing, ethereal vocals hover over the top of tranquil, electro-pop instrumentation, transitioning from spacious points of serenity, contrasted by congested eerie passages. They’ll be welcoming the new release tomorrow evening at Ortlieb’s, on a billing that also includes Church Girls, Jesse Gimbel, and Danafox.
