The gift of unpredictability, within good songwriting chops, is what makes an artist stand out from the pack: Sid Barret had it, Mac DeMarco has it, and legendary (in a very clut way) NYC band Fly Ashtray have it too. Belonging to the thinning out club of "permanent New York things", the group formed in the early ’80s and has released NINE albums since then, to zero critical acclaim and without taking the scene by storm, playing all along a genre of lo-fi rock very similar to what a gazillion Brooklyn bands play today. Check them out below and live at Cake Shop tonight! (11.18). They deserve(d) better!
Philadelphia
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Weekend Warrior, November 18 – 20
From the start, in this case – the opening set, Mercury Girls deliver crystalline compositions that appear ready to break loose in precise, instrumental strides as the steady, percussive spring clears a path for the fiery/jangly hybrid of guitar, which at times, forges a path with melting precision and at others, cruises along in a casual, determined pace. All the while, an intricate feathery blend of endearing, elegant vocals cascades among the crisp mountainous air. This evening, Mercury Girls will be leading the way to emotively-fueled Missouri outfit Foxing. Melding refined melody and raw expression, Balance and Composure completes this night at the former Spaghetti Warehouse. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 8:30pm, $20, All Ages – Michael Colavita
Other things to hit this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Spelling Reform (Record Release), Night Windows, Cherry
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Field Mouse, SUN Kiska, Coronal Mass Ejection
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Congenital Death/The GTVs, SAT DJ Phish, DJ G33k, The Bul Bey, SUN Trap Rabbit, George Engel Brooks
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) SAT Void Vision, Westov Temple
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SUN Wisdom In Chains, Nation Of Wolves
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Little Strike, SAT Stellarscope, Henri Tyler, The Cultour, Sadhound, SUN Maps and His Mothball Fleet, Timur And The Squad
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Downstairs) Pasión y Arte, SAT (Upstairs) Not My Dogg, SUN (Upstairs) Owl & Wolf
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Reef The Lost Cauze, 30 And Over League, SAT Adlib w/Space Kamp, J.O the Last Man, DJ Nobi, SUN Last Minute Hero, Only on Weekends, The Mad Splatter
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Darby
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Remote Control, DJs:Shari Vari, WDR, Brandon Setta, SAT Saint Brendan & The Navigators, Joshua Bright
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Bo Bliz, Low Budget, SAT DJ Deejay
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) SAT Dive In The Box, Beer Me
Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) SAT Activate
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) SAT Ed Christof & Friends
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Sweet Eureka, Knightlife, The Black Market Opera, SAT Argonautic, Groove Merchants
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Flux Capacitor, SAT Tommy Conwell & the Young Rumblers, SUN Skip Denenberg
The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18th St.) FRI Evil Sword, Ursula
All Night Diner (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT MS Saint
Tralfamadore (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Downtrodder, Kelsey Cork, Gravers Lane, Harmony Woods, Busy Bee, Cheyenne Bartram, Amanda Silberling, Drea Rose
Birdhouse (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Bad Heaven, Crooked Spine
The Blink (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI To the Teeth, By Us, Universe, The Vernes
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Birthday Song” – Dominic
Dominic Angelella has been involved in a multitude of musical projects, like DRGN KING, Lithuania, Elevator Fight, and Dragonzord just to name a small few, since coming to Philadelphia to study jazz guitar at the University of the Arts. Angelella’s latest recordings will be released under his new moniker where he’ll be simply known as Dominic. His upcoming album, Goodnight Doggies., is scheduled for release on February 3 via Lame-O Records, and you can take a listen to the record’s lead single, "Birthday Song," below.
NYC
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A slacking all Brooklyn bill at Shea Stadium tomorrow (11.18) with Peaer, Pupppy, Bethlehem Steel and Cadet Kelly
We live in an era full of paradoxes, and the one we stumbled upon today is that in the most hectic city in the US (NYC) an awful lot of music made by caucasian artists is – one way or another – flirting with the concept of slacking. For those in the mood, tomorrow (11.19) four local bands will bring their own version of slack rock to the Shea Stadium’s stage. Peaer (pictured) is a rotating lineup of musicians led by Peter Katz (formerly of Fugue, Poverty Hollow, Suns); their recent self titled album slacks in very interesting and original ways, mostly through a selection of mid to down tempos, introducing elements foreign to the genre like post rock and math rock. Pupppy (Deli NYC Record of the Month in the summer of 2015) has a folkier and more lyrical approach, while openers Bethlehem Steel and Cadet Kelly both dwell in fast paced dreaminess.
NYC
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Serge Bulat’s “Queuelbum” wins IMA for Best Dance/Electronica Album of the Year
Hailing from Moldova and now living in NYC, electronic musician/producer Serge Bulat (previously NYC Artist of the Month in this very blog) took home the 2016 award for the Best Dance/Electronica Album of the Year at the 15th edition of Independent Music Awards in NYC. The award is for Serge’s debut album called “Queuelbum” which was released in May this year with a fusion of electronica, neo-classical, trip-hop and alternative elements. Check out our favorite track ‘Walker,’ vaguely reminiscent of that essential post-rock record that is TNT by Tortoise.
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Raised by the Wolves” – Miles Chancellor
Miles Chancellor is ushered in under the cloak of shadowy instrumentation in his latest single, "Raised by the Wolves". Recorded, mixed and mastered by Justin Miller & Sketcho, the Philly emcee circles around the listener, methodically and patiently entrancing his prey. Bump it this weekend when you’re out on the prowl.
Portland
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End Up at Another Know End Show Saturday
The Know End in Sight Series has featured some pretty good shows so far, and Saturday’s will definitely be one of the best ways to both end this shitty year on and see off the Know from its northeast Alberta home.
We never miss a chance to see to heavy hitters Danava, who still manage to hold such a special place in our hearts even without having released any new material in a long time. Party rockers Mean Jeans will hopefully play almost all of this year’s Tight New Dimension which, of course, has had us in a whole other dimension of rowdy punkness since April.
With the coolness of Andy Place and the Coolheads and NYC’s Dirty Fences touring through to round out the bill, there’s no doubt shit won’t get crazy.
Tickets are only $12, so it’d be smart to get there early and snag one before the night sells out.
Portland
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Dada Distract Yourself with Aan’s New Album
Out today, the newest record from Bud Wilson’s full fledged music baby Aan is perhaps one of if not its strongest release yet. Dada Distractions served as just that – a means to somewhat distract Wilson from all the bullshit that occurred to him last year.
Amid the loss of two friends and the ending of a six year relationship, Wilson also saw the known incarnation of his band and his home of Portland quickly changing. Like most with creative outlets to deal with the darker feelings, Wilson channeled his ills into Dada Distractions, where songs bounce between droning heavy hitters and softly scuzzed out pop.
The current embodiment of Aan sees the band’s touring sound engineer turned member Gabriel Nardin, Dana Valatka and former Deli Portlander Travis Leipzig aiding in expressing Wilson’s musical journey through lost love and the acceptance of death. Dada Distractions is definitely an album of expression, that can be witnessed live during the album release show this weekend for Rontoms’ Sunday Sessions. Helping Aan celebrate the album’s release will be Minden and Kelli Schaefer. It’ll be Papi Fimbres’ last show as Minden’s drummer, giving even more of an incentive to turn out.
Stream Dada Distractions in its entirety below.
NYC
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Norwegian Arms drop single ‘Find Truth’ + announce new LP
“Find Truth” is the latest single from NorwegianArms, the musical outlet for polymath Keith Birthday, a man constantly in motion between Philly and NYC, and who also called Siberia home. All of these places, as well as the experiences and emotions in them, have served as inspiration for the upcoming LP, Girard Freeloader. In preview single "Find Truth," darkness bubbles in simple synth riffs as sparse drums reverberate behind soft vocals, singing about the fears of aging, searching for truth, and lonely despair. Philly-bound? Catch Norwegian Arms at Johnny Brenda’s on December 15. Otherwise, look out for news about a release date for “Find Truth” as well as tour dates at venues near you. – Will Sisskind
Portland
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Acoustic Awareness in a Beautiful Venue
The Old Church is quite a beautiful venue. Sounds bounce of the historic Carpenter Gothic church’s walls with sonic ease, making it an ideal location for amplifying even the softest of tones. On Saturday, the Old Church will be host to a night of acoustics, meant to benefit a city-wide epidemic.
Spreading awareness acoustically, And And And, Ill Lucid Onset and Alyce Fernley will be gracing the Old Church’s large, organ-dominated stage to play sets for Human Solutions. The local nonprofit provides services to low-income and houseless individuals within Portland and granted the city’s current housing state of emergency, the nonprofit could use all the support it can get to help support those most in need.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here or at the door. For more information on how to volunteer with Human Solutions or other ways to help, visit their website at humansolutions.org.
L.A.
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Common Souls release intimate new single “Roots//Habit”
Common Souls, a self proclaimed ESM (electronic sad music) duo, just released their newest single off of their latest EP, Pyramids. The single, “Roots//Habit”, is a love song so organic and raw you’d swear it was written just for you (and for one of you out there, it probably is). The pure talent Ryan Yoo and Nick Velez have is equivalent to an entire studio production, with sound producers, mixers, band members, etc. But they do it alone and the amount of soul and vibrant energy the two produce is astonishing. Pyramids creates a dynamic, electronic, spellbinding musical experience that captures the emotion in music most artists struggle to find. Common Souls might just be the secret love child of The Weeknd and Frank Ocean, and I am definitely okay with that. – Kayla Hay