Philadelphia

Live Not On Evil Bid Farewell to The Khyber July 30

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With their Misfits-meet-Shellac ‘80s punk rock ethos and crude metal sludge underbelly, Philly’s Live Not On Evil will be a part of local history tonight. Along with Lustkillers, The Fishnet Stalkers, and Smoker & The Rollers, the Creep Records-signed underground punk/metal/goth triptych will play one of the last shows at the Khyber before the fêted Old City pub closes its doors to live music. It should be a live set of epic proportions – and one only appropriate for a band that loves their city. The Khyber, 56 S. 2nd Street, 9pm, $10, 21+ – Annamarya Scaccia
 

 

Philadelphia

Nicki Jaine Opens Projektfest’10 at The Troc July 30

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Deliciously acoustic, this one woman wonder blurs the line between steamy blues and cabaret with class. On top of crafting original songs and revamping tunes from the 30s and 40s, Nicki Jaine is known to sing in German mesmerizing listeners with her Marlene Dietrich-type swagger. “Sometimes Sunshine” unfolds like the nocturnal melodies of Old World Gypsy camps, her diction bringing to mind the enigmatic Bowie and his intergalactic alter-ego Ziggy Stardust. “Pretty Faces” is dramatic and haunting without sounding over-the-top. With the crackle of old time radio, “Sound of Girls” is surreal and raw. Delivered like a gloomy Liza Minnelli as Cabaret’s Sally Bowles, Jaine’s name belongs in lights. Having recently collaborated with Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Philly’s sultry siren reunites with NYC based darkwave darlings for Projecktfest’10, “a non-stop all ages goth cabaret” with Unto Ashes, The Twilight Garden, and Voltaire. The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 8pm, $10, All Ages – Dianca Potts
 

 

Philadelphia

Paper Masques Hitting Old Haunt at The Fire July 30

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Tonight Paper Masques make their way to The Fire. This collective, the brainchild of Stephen Quaranta (Zelda Pinwheel), has transformed from solo acoustic project to ghostly psychedelic folk orchestrations. The bands debut LP Tell the Ghosts It’s Suppertime, released in March of ’09, has all the bells and whistles both figuratively and literally with a copious rotating cast of musicians helping to record songs out of skeletons. Come see this show since it seems to be a one-off performance for these cats. You’ll also get a chance to hear what Brian Ashby (The Teeth, Flashy Python) has been up to. The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave, 10pm, $7, 21+ – Adam G.
 

 

Philadelphia

The Deli’s Featured Artist(s) of the Month: Notekillers

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We have to admit that we couldn’t help rooting for Notekillers. These veterans of the indie music scene are back and certainly sound like they are ready to show a whole new generation how to simply rock! We caught up with guitarist David First to get the skinny on Notekillers. (Or is it The Notekillers?)
 
The Deli: How did Notekillers start?
 
David First: Way, way, way, back, back, back in the day, in 1976, two of us, Halkin & I, rekindled a bandmate-hood that began in junior high. We started out totally improvising what we called "free rock" and slowly began imposing spring-loaded structures that I started bringing in. Another old friend, Bilenky, came in much later – sometime in 1977. Version 1.0 lasted till 1981. We reconvened in 2004 shortly after re-animator extraordinaire Thurston Moore mentioned us in an article in Mojo magazine. We’re having MUCH more fun this time around.
 
TD: Where did the band name come from?
 
DF: Those were rebellious, angry times, and in that spirit, it seemed important that we take a stand against something personal for us. Notes – polite, proper pitches and sounds – seemed like a worthy adversary. We wanted to annihilate them…or at least see that they got a good slapping around. Sometimes it’s Notekillers and sometimes it’s The Notekillers – we can never seem to definitively decide.
 
TD: What are your biggest musical influences?
 
DF: The original rock & rollers – especially Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & Link Wray. Psychedelic rock of the late 60s – Yardbirds, QMS, J. Airplane, and maybe, especially, a Philly band from back then – Mandrake Memorial. Free Jazz (Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler), serious funk (early Kool & the Gang, Parliament/Funkadelic). The subversive structures of John Fahey. And for me, personally, my studies with local legend Dennis Sandole – under whose guidance I developed the chord-melody concepts behind all our stuff.
 
TD: What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently listening to?
 
DF: I love people who are trying to create something genuinely new and nonretro. These days that generally means artists working largely in the realm of sound sans vocals or played-out ego memes. People such as Zs, Oneida, Parts & Labor, Noveller. Just saw Weasel Walter’s new trio w/Marc Edwards – Cellular Chaos – and that was pretty terrific. Philly guy Nick Millevoi always seems to be in the middle of something interesting – saw him do a lovely solo show a couple weeks ago. We did a show at the M-Room recently with Empty Shapes – they impressed us with their entrancing heaviness.
 
TD: What’s the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?
 
DF: We’re old – the Doors at the Town Hall was the first show Halkin & I went to – and I even got Ray Manzarek’s autograph. First album was Meet the Beatles purchased at EJ Korvettes on Welsh & the Blvd.
 
TD: What do you love about Philly?
 
DF: The kids and bands that have made things way livelier and healthier than things were when we were starting out. The Philly creative music scene receives national attention – those of us who’ve been around long enough know that this wasn’t always the case. Not by a long-shot.
 
TD: What do you hate about Philly?
 
DF: The chip on the shoulder that I still sense sometimes.
 
TD: What are your plans for 2010?
 
DF: Get back to playing more shows. We took time off to get a new record together – which is now done. It’s called We’re Here to Help and will be officially available in early November on Prophase Records. But we’ll probably have it at shows earlier than that. Otherwise, we’re working on new material and ever-new ways to blow up things and take people for a ride on the shards.
 
TD: What was your most memorable live show?
 
DF: All Tomorrow’s Parties in England a couple years ago was fun – I could easily get used to playing in front of a thousand-plus people all the time. A recent show at Union Pool in Brooklyn that encored with saxophonist Daniel Carter joining us was a blast. And anytime we’ve played at Pilam.
 
TD: What’s your favorite thing to get at the deli?
 
DF: Breyers mint chocolate chip.
 
– The Deli Staff
 

 

NYC

NYC Artists on the rise: Rope play Union Pool

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Rope‘s guitars in the song "I Can’t Pretend to Understand" sound like a combination of Husker Du’s pervasive bright fuzz and Pavement’s out of control (but within reason) crookedness, with the occasional hypnotic intricate solo a la The Feelies. There, that’s 3 of my favorite bands ever in opne sentence… Their music has an urgency and a tension that will please true indie rockers, also because of the vocals, that are reminiscent of a young Tom Verlaine – ok, I know, too many awesome references here, but listen to these guys and tell me it’s not true… The band has been around for quite some time (their Myspace page was created 5 years ago) but for some reason they just caught our ears (some indie bands don’t like to promote themselves, you know? It’s kinda unkewl…) They have a 7" out and will have a full length ready in the fall. Rope is playing a show on July 29 at Union Pool, it promises to be a lot of fun.

NYC

Weekly Feature #212b: Bear in Heaven

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So what if the four members of Bear in Heaven are from the South? Save for a few rappers, jazzmen and big-gutted dudes flashing Strats in Bay Ridge bar bands, how many Brooklyn musicians are actually from Brooklyn? And yet the Southern issue keeps coming up. Writers—this one included—ask about it in interviews, and reviewers, in tracing the band’s history, often mention that singer and guitarist Jon Philpot, guitarist Adam Wills and bassist Sadak Bazarra knew one another back in their native Georgia, before moving to Brooklyn in the early ‘00s. Drummer Joe Stickney, a college friend of Wills’, hails from Alabama. – Read Ken Partridge full feature on the band here.

NYC

Best of NYC #13 + Weekly Feature #212a: The Woes

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Formed in 2002, The Woes have been delivering their brand of dust-belt folk music to an every-growing NYC audience. At times the group can resemble a chaotic collective, but the discerning fan can pick out the regulars, including Jesse Lauter, Cicero Jones and lead singer/songwriter Osei Essed. In Essed, the Woes have the catalyst for what few bands can boast: genuine, visceral attitude. His voice delivers the deep sound of Tom Waits with the spiritual, gothic Americana sound of David Eugene Edwards. Their new CD is entitled “Heaven Knows” and they are currently touring behind it. Essed took the time to answer questions from the road. – Read Ben Krieger’s interview with the band here.

Chicago

Secret Handshakes

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When I was in high school, yes it was a while ago, Q101’s local 101 was can’t miss radio. I would record (on to tape) every episode and insert these great Chicago bands into the mixtapes I would love to make for everyone. The song from Tub Ring that made many of my mixes was their cover of The Carpenters’ “Close To You” which appeared on their 1993 album Music From The Bathroom. It is still my favorite cover of that song to this day.

Well, Tub Ring is back with their first release in three years, Secret Handshakes. The album will be released on August 31st by The End Records, and it features fourteen new and energy packed tracks. The group recorded the 14-tracks on Secret Handshakes at Chicago’s Electrical Audio and at keyboardist Rob Kleiner’s own Studio Edison, with Kleiner doing double duty as producer.

Tub Ring will headline a special record release show on Saturday, August 28 at Subterranean.

Philadelphia

Making Time Radio w/Dave P on XPN

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Looks like XPN is getting a little Botox work done on their programming with the launch of Making Time Radio tomorrow night hosted by your favorite Philly DJ to get rad to, Dave P. He’ll be hitting the airwaves every last Friday of the month from 11pm – 1am with all his favorite electronica, dance, indie and alternative rock tracks (well, probably the ones approved by XPN). BTW: WTF Making Time w/ Surfer Blood and The Drums on Sept. 10 and LCD Soundsystem on Sept 24! (Whoops – looks like the busy guy is already running into scheduling issues.) – H.M. Kauffman
 

 

Portland

Sunnyside Sizzles on Debut EP – Free Download!

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The debut EP by brand new Portland power trio Sunnyside has successfully ransacked the laundry piles in my late-’90s emo dorm room. They flitter in the kind of emotive rock ‘n’ roll that gave heightened awareness to a genre that would later be defiled by that dirty three-letter word, but where Sunnyside excels is in ensuring that their rapid-fire regimen trumps the valleys of that bumpy terrain.

They’re so new they don’t even really have band photos. So new no one I’ve talked to yet has even heard of them in passing. So new it’s not even apparent whether or not they’ll stay together long enough for anyone to hear them. But they should. Awash in pretty keys, three-chord choruses, peppy drums and powerfully affecting lyrics, the band would probably have been right at home in the booming indie rock eruption of the late half of the last century. As it stands, we’re lucky to have them now, however long that will last.

Download the band’s debut EP here and see for yourself. "Maybe I Will" is making me want to move out of my house to live inside my head again.

– Ryan J. Prado

Nashville

Katie Eck @ The Rutledge, 7/27/10

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There was quite the crowd gathered at the Rutledge last night to hear an early performance by Katie Eck. In appearance, and sound, Eck very successfully played the part of a soulful diva. She was accompanied by a 5 piece band that looked like they had just gotten done playing for the Queen of Soul herself—(Aretha Franklin, dummies)—along with 3 background vocalists, and a set of pipes that could’ve blown the roof off of the place if it hadn’t been for her impressive control and tasteful melodic choices. Eck’s voice was reminiscent of Kimberly Locke and Joss Stone with her power and vibrato, but stylistically, she was more Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, or—I hate to use the same comparison for any wailing, female soul singer, but—Aretha Franklin. (The first song erupted into a finale finish of “Hit The Road Jack” that was Ray Charles-worthy. ‘Nuff said).
Katie’s original songs were more melody-driven and R’n’B/soulful, while the covers that she chose seemed to aggressively stride along the gospel side. The song that was (probably) called, “I Can See Heaven,” had a delivery and feel that was comparable to “If I Ain’t Got You,” by Alicia Keys, or even a Cece Winans approach. (And how ironic is it that Cece Winans’ daughter was standing nearby during that song?!) You couldn’t help but get the impression that Katie has had a lot of experience performing in church, most likely in front of huge crowds, given her notable stage presence, and the spiritual nature of many of her songs. This is something that makes her stand out, however, because there doesn’t seem to be many Nashville female Christian artists who mix their live performances with more stylistically mainstream, “non-Christian,” artists. (PAGANS). That isn’t a good or a bad thing—it’s just interesting.
Katie Eck’s songs are good enough to get the toes tapping of even the most irreverent, morally questionable show-goers; she cunningly tricks her audience members into enjoying her songs (because they’re good), thus making the subject matter merely an afterthought. You can decide for yourself by going to her website, where you can download some free songs from her EP. Check her out next time you get a chance.—Erin Manning

San Francisco

The Deli SF’s Weekend Highlights For 7/27-7/31

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This weeks show highlights, it would seem, are brought to you by the Mission. Not that there aren’t other events around the Bay Area, but for now here are a few selections from the calendar for this week.

Head out to the Knockout tomorrow for the Mantles EP release with the newly minted Royal Baths and Fungi Girls, 9pm.

On Friday, out at Amnesia, Southpaw Records will be celebrating it’s first anniversary with Bare Wires, Ty Segall, and The Sandwitches, 9pm.

Lastly, head over to El Rio for an early afternoon BBQ and show with The Love Dimension, These Hills of Gold, Nectarine Pie, The Aerosols, and B and Not B, 3pm.

Next week’s highlights brought to you by the Marina… or not.

 

–Ada Lann