TO ALL LOCAL PHILLY ACTS PERFORMING AT ANY OFFICIAL OR UNOFFICIAL SXSW SHOWCASES – we are putting together a listings page for our Philly folks and posting it to our national website to try to get some type of order to help your fans and future fans find you down in Austin next week. Please feel free to email us your SXSW schedule at thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with info for where, when, and with whom (notable acts please) as well as any other details that would be helpful. Have fun! And please remember the first rule of tour: Don’t die…ha. ;o) Much love! – The Deli Staff
R5 Productions just announced today that the spring edition of Punk Rock Flea Market will be on Sunday May 22 at The Punk Rock Flea Marketdome. Unfortunately, it will be the last one until Christmas time. Sign-ups for tables begin this Sunday March 13 at noon. There have been a few modifications to how things will be running. Please check out the dealio here. – The Deli Staff
Hot Guts are purveyors of all things dark and cavernous. Their subdued tribal rhythms, fuzzy guitar, and spooky baritone vocals are reminiscent of classic Goth rock outfits like Bauhaus. Perfect for those late night strolls in the seedy parts of town where the lamps flicker. “Da’rat Hessla” is a kind of detached noise-punk track with a sinister riff that seems on the verge of collapsing and trailing off to its own devices. The buzzing atmospherics and compelling chant of “Did You Not Go to the Dance Alone?” soon give way to a fittingly warped crescendo. Other joyously decadent acts to watch out for tonight include New York electro-rockers Pop. 1280 (whom Hot Guts recorded a split with), and up-and-coming pagan folkies Cult of Youth will be headlining. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $5, 21+ – Joe Poteracki
Tonight local music rag Origivation hosts the live edition of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards at The Legendary Dobbs, featuring Mark Rogers of WSTW FM’s Hometown Heroes as emcee. Local bands and venues will compete in ten categories including Best Pop Act, Best Indie Rock Act, Best Folk Act, Best Singer/Songwriter and Best Music Venue. In addition to the roll call of winners – and appearances by Best Touring Act nominees Dr. Dog and Free Energy – there will live performances by 10 of Philly’s finest. The bill includes folk innovatorsHezekiah Jones (Best Singer/Songwriter – Male), who will release his newest album Have You Seen Our New Fort, March 29 on Yer Bird Records; rowdy rock quintet the Quelle Source (Best Indie Rock Act), who’s hard at work on some new material; female-fronted freak-folk five-piece Bells Bells Bells (Best Folk Act); plucky folk-pop-funk songstress Christie Lenée (Best Singer/Songwriter – Female), beach bum jam act Up The Chain, and local rock institution the Absolute Zeros. Plus, Y-Not Radio DJ’s are spinning upstairs, so you’re in for one great night of supporting local music. The Legendary Dobbs, 304 South St, 7 pm, $8, 21+ (Photo by Lisa Schaffer) – Bill McThrill
Update from Dr. Dog:
“Contrary to some promotion by Origivation we will not be able to attend the Origivation Reader’s Choice Awards this week. We’re honored to have won a reader’s choice award but are bummed that the magazine is promoting an appearance by anyone in the band. We’ve never been able to attend (we’ll all be in Denton, Texas) and the magazine has never had reason to believe we would be able to attend. They did ask us and we promptly explained we would be out of town. Just making sure you all know what was up.”
Steve Goldberg and The Arch Enemies are coming to the North Star Bar tonight. Goldberg and Co. are pop through and through, but think a lot less GaGa and a lot more brothers Wilson or The Zombies. Goldberg skillfully orchestrates lush pop numbers including full string and horns, like on the modernized Medieval folk tune “The Garden of Forking Paths”. The delivery is straightforward with very little effects being utilized, but the songs sound full realized and bursting with sound. The song “Julia” has a timelessness to it that makes everything from the lovesick lyrics to the harpsichord intro sound familiar even on the first listen. Goldberg has a deep and intricate knowledge of popular music and uses that knowledge to create a pop Frankenstein with a heart of gold. Goldberg is joined by the slick indie sounds of The JeanMarie, who make bouncing pop-rock fronted by Rob Thomas (not really.) Filling out the bill is folky songstress Dani Mari. North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 8pm, $8, 21+ – Adam G.
Mrs. Pain is the moniker used by Kelley Cosgrove, but as you will soon learn (unfortunately), it has taken on multiple meanings of its own. The uninhibited, photogenic singer-songwriter seems to absorb her environment like a sponge while mixing her own experiences and sense of humor to conjure up tunes that can take you away to far off places or soberly put the world into a unique perspective. From her hospital bed where she has spent the last few weeks, she contemplates the forces that have led her on this strange often painful journey that we are sure has plenty more to unfold for all to see. You can check out our interview with Mrs. Pain here.
You probably already know about Drexel’s Music Industry Program helping to prep young, enthusiastic minds on how to deal with the shit storm that is the music industry. The students are working hard (from what I hear) and creating a college experience that’s probably more interesting than the education that I received. It’s also nice to see that Bantic Media, Drexel’s music marketing company run by students, is backing some of their own classmates who are making impressions of their own on the local music community like Slutever and When I Was 12. Well, tonight you can catch another Drexel act that has been striking my fancy. Gypsy Death and You, the duo of Emily Cahill and Alex Wilson, have been making some enjoyable “dreamy-yet-edgy indie rock” that has me taking a second and third listen. Check out tracks like “Sound of the Sun” and “Crocus” for yourself! And go see them when they headline an early all ages show at The Fire this evening. The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., 7pm, $7, All Ages – H.M Kauffman
We had plenty of coverage last week about Purling Hiss so you should be quite familiar with their psychedelic blues rock tunes by now. Well, they are performing at The Rotunda tonight with Sic Alps and Magik Markers. This one is for all you under 21 peeps, and it’s FREE so stop wasting your time on the streets and start wasting your time listening to some good music! Special thanks to The Rotunda who has been really providing some stellar events for the all-ages indie music community lately. Bravo Gina Renzi and everyone involved! The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 8pm, FREE, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman
Man Man just announced that they will be releasing their new album Life Fantastic on May 10 via Anti-. We’ve been following and waiting for its release for a long time now since we first interviewed Honus Honus and learned that he was down in Omaha working on it last summer. The album is produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes/Monsters of Folk), and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) contributed the string arrangements. The first track from the album called “Knuckle Down” was unveiled via Pitchfork. You can take a listen and stream it below as well as check out the album’s cover art with Man Man’s strange homemade friend above. Also read more details about the upcoming album here. Enjoy! (Photo by Andrew Park) – The Deli Staff
Kurt Vile’s new album Smoke Ring for My Halo drops today via Matador, but you should know that already. And hopefully you’ve heard it by now since it has been streaming at NPR here. It’s The Deli’s March Album of the Month, and you can check out our review to the right or here. Below is footage from a chilly outdoor recording session by Vile and the Violators for Pitchfork’s rooftop performance series “Don’t Look Down”. The video features the songs “Jesus Fever”, “Runner Up”, “On Tour”, and “Ghost Town” from Smoke Ring for My Halo, which was also picked as “Best New Music” by Pitchfork yesterday. Vile will be back in Philly performing on Wednesday, March 23 at World Café Live opening for tour mate Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
Philly duo Arches describe their latest release Wide Awake as a concept album, a foray into the world of an anonymous city dweller as he leaves his lonely life behind and heads towards a hopeful alternative to places and spaces unknown. The album buzzes with a sense of collision, not heavy or violent, but like kicking up sand and watching it settle. Arches waver and quaver with gentle bends that push and build and threaten to break, sounds that echo and open up, mixing with wind and rain. Layered vocals weave wistful lyrics with wordless harmonies, nine quiet howls sung against the soft strum of a guitar.
Opening track, “This Isn’t a Good Night for Walking”, creeps in quiet towards a momentous percussive peak complete with twinkly cabaret piano. The track rises and falls, and rises and falls, again, a seeming onslaught of crescendos. Sounds literalize the band’s name; shifts between ups and downs drive much of the album, couplings that entice the ears and inspire both collective and anthemic rallying as well as a more quietly cooing sentimentality. “Headlights” starts low in near whisper but quickly blooms into booming vocals and churning guitar before ebbing back out. From track to track, the LP winds and unwinds, many loosely drawn strands charting the grey in betweens of departure and arrival. Perhaps the most fulfilling song on the album is its title track, “Wide Awake”, a slowly lulling hymn humming what could be the albums mantra: “Living in a dream/wide awake it seems”. Meandering movements of melodious pop twists and turns through worlds of sleep and insomnia, and while movement is constant, a journey is afoot, one well worth hearing for yourself.
Congratulations to Arches for reaching their Kickstarter goal! There will be a vinyl version of Wide Awake coming soon. Until then, you can purchase a digital copy here. You can also check out Arches live tomorrow night March 8th when they perform at Danger Danger Gallery with Shark?, Levek, and Cough Cool. – Amanda Lindsay
Below is a video that is almost a year old, but it’s a track, “Time Theft”, from Total Fucking Destruction’s new release Hater, which was recorded and mixed at Mark-it-Zero Music Studios (Brutal Truth, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, XXX Maniak, Vulcan, Old Head) by Dan O’Hare. You can purchase the album here. These guys are straight-up badasses! Also, if you don’t have Peace, Love and Total Fucking Destruction, we suggest that you go out and grab a copy. You can catch the madness live when they perform on Saturday, April 9 at Pilam’s Human BBQ XXXIII. (BTW: The Deli Magazine is not responsible for any readers’ ears bleeding and heads exploding.) Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
