Congrats to Curly Castro for signing a record deal with Man Bites Dog Records (which houses releases from Roc Marciano, Copywrite, Vast Aire, Killah Priest, etc.)! The talented emcee is also part of hip-hop collective Wrecking Crew so we expect to see more collaborations with his cohorts on the upcoming album.

West Philly emcee Chill Moody is having a breakout year (if you caught his set at The Roots Picnic, then you should know why) so it will be quite a celebration when he closes it out with his debut headlining performance at the TLA tonight. He’ll also have some new material in tow from his forthcoming album RFM, which officially drops January 7, 2013. The record features one lone guest appearance from Freeway so you should probably lay down some cash that the Philly hip-hop veteran will be joining Chill for a song or two this evening. After all, he does live underneath the TLA stage. Obviously, that’s a joke, but the early-rising, bearded spitter has laid down bars with practically every emcee that has rolled through the venue this year so they might as well rent him a room. Also sharing in this momentous occasion with Chill will be Jade Alston, Mic Stew, Mont Brown and Pate. TLA, 334 South St., 10pm, $16, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman

The tandem of Josh Benus and Matt Kass unite to form Modern Inventors. Celebrating the release of their debut album Trains & Aeroplanes, whose physical release date is actually January 15, 2013, at Johnny Brenda’s this evening. The sound is folky, but strays somewhat from the traditional landscape developing texture/mood through the use of their instrumentation. The single “Hello” is built on guitar and percussion giving it a sense of fluidity with a touch of organ providing another layer.  “Goodbye Northbrook Drive” begins with a strong spiraling acoustic guitar pattern that fits the lyrics (“Round and round and round I go”). Both songs make a nice use of their natural vocal harmonies, smoothing out the rough edges while also demonstrating a united soulful side. Joining the party will be the always entertaining folk ensemble of Hezekiah Jones, and the night will kickoff with indie rockers Shark Tape. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9:15pm, $10, 21+ – Michael Colavita

Can’t we all just get along? If you haven’t heard or followed, hometown rappers Meek Mill and Cassidy have been having a war of words via Twitter, and Cassidy has been challenging Meek to a good ol’ fashion live rap battle. It sounded like we were going to get one when Mill finally accepted the challenge the other day to duel it out for $100,000. However, Meek had a change of heart so Cassidy came at him with a diss track, "Me, Myself, & iPhone." Well, last night Meek responded with his own diss track called "Repo," which was produced by Jahlil Beats. You can check out both of their jabs at each other below. BTW: Honestly, these Twitter wars are pretty lame. Meek & Cassidy need to find a church basement, and take care of this nonsense "8-mile" styley. We’d be into paying to see that as long as there is plenty of security, and everyone in attendance is forced to go through a metal detector. Right? But we highly doubt that we’ll see it ever happen – weak sauce.

Family Vacation is a band made up of Temple University students, and started the way many groups do. College acquaintances, at first, bonding over similar likes in music, then beginning to jam and write songs together, and eventually searching around to find pieces to fill out their sound. Things clicked. A band name was chosen. And plenty of more jam sessions ensued. The four-piece released a promising self-titled lo-fi indie pop-rock EP, and recently made their live performance debut. Obviously, this is just the beginning of the Family Vacation, but you can join the trip, and learn more about our Featured Artist(s) Poll Winner HERE. 

Though you might not see stories about the devastation from Hurricane Sandy and the people that it affected frequenting your news channels and programs as often as they once did these days, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t people still struggling out there to piece together their lives. This evening Tin Angel will open its doors for a showcase to benefit Union Beach, N.J., which is the hometown of Philly Weekly’s Tara Murtha who will be hosting the evening along with local storytelling funny lady Juliet Hope Wayne. Below are words from Tara about the place where she grew up and why you should come out tonight to show your support.

“Union Beach is a small town less than two square miles that on the edge of Raritan Bay in Monmouth County, N.J. The unique conditions of Hurricane Sandy caused the bay to surge, punching over 100 houses out of existence. Many other homes were ruined and all were damaged. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go to a fund set up by the township, as well as one special family: the Smiths. Ray Smith built his house with his own hands. The hurricane ruined the house and like many other Union Beach families, he did not have flood insurance. Thank you for keeping these families in mind during the holidays. Union Beach may not be a boardwalk tourist town, but it is home to many good, struggling, hard-working people like Ray.”

Performers who will be donating their time and talents for the night will include The Doublewides, Foxhound (Chris Kasper & Kiley Ryan), Joey Sweeney and Suzie Brown as well as special guests to be announced. Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., 8pm, $10, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman

This past Friday night four Philly bands came together to end the world with a bang, or deny the prophecy of the Mayans rather. Norwegian Arms were also celebrating the release of their debut LP, Wolf Like a Stray Dog, a collection of folk-y, fun tunes written by mastermind Brendan Mulvihill during his time spent in Siberia. Introducing the night was Night Panther, a groovy four-piece that sounds like a sexier version of a 1950’s sock hop. They played some sweet electric guitar riffs and boogied down in their dapper outfits to thumping electro sonic blasts. Following their performance was ex-Armchairs Andy Molholt’s project, Laser Background, a band so different and unique that their sound could only be described by the soul of their kazoos and rockin’ guitar work. A big excitement of the night, besides the release of the new Norwegian Arms LP, was the return of Pattern is Movement to Johnny Brenda’s stage. Drummer Chris Ward and keyboardist/vocalist Andrew Thiboldeaux threw down a slew of deep, soulful grooves with a modern day experimental twist. The audience seemed thoroughly ready for the next PiM album to arrive. 2013 is going to be a huge year for the dynamic, bearded duo. Last but not least, Norwegian Arms had everybody bobbing their heads in approval of their set that included songs from the album, another new original and a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You.” It was a special evening of music at JB’s with plenty of positive energy bouncing around the room. You can check out our pics from the night HERE. (Photo by Rachel Barrish)