There’s a new booker-promoter in town. Say hello to Village Green Productions, “A Philadelphia-based company that is trying to give you more reasons not to move to NYC.” Here’s hoping they do just that. By the looks of their kick-off party at The 941 Theater tonight, they will be doing great things.
Here’s the Skinny:
It’s $10 and all you can drink. Show starts at 9. Keeping with the home town feel, all bands are Philly-based and encompass numerous genres. Get there early and stay for them all: Dreamy indie-pop performed by Brown Recluse Sings and Audible. Music a little more atmospheric and ambient with Gildon Works. And of course, our favorite transplants, Jukebox the Ghost, a definite antithesis to the other bands, but should mix well. This will be a great showcase of local talent and a great start for the new bookers on the block. Hope to see you there!
Starting in mid-July, Los Angeles Indie sweethearts Earlimart, will pack their touring van full of coolers and amps for an old fashioned summer tour. In preparation, they’re releasing Hymn and Her (Buy), out on their Shout! Factory imprint Majordomo Records on July 1st. The New York Times has hailed the release as, “The thinking-man’s Wilco” which, to me, seems like a compliment from a non-Wilco fan but also, doesn’t really sound like that bad a moniker. AND, this just in: They’ve made a vow to release at least one record every fiscal year for the next 10 years. Unless they decide that they don’t want to anymore. What dedication!
Check out select tour dates below.
7/19: Cafe du Nord, San Francisco, CA 8/01: Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA 8/02: Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
Sometimes a band can really surprise you. After you do this long enough, you pretty much know what to expect. When you hear a specific influence listed in a band’s bio, you can almost guess what their album sounds like. Well, I have finally found a band who broke that mold. Seattle’s The Apple War have created one of my favorite CD’s in quite some time. The newly self released debut, Alarm Bell City, states Brit rock influences and while they are indeed evident, they are not close to what you may expect.
When I listened to this album, I expected to hear the latest incarnation of U2 and Radiohead. If you listen close enough, of course you will hear fragments of both of those bands. However, you will also hear unexpected things, such as elements of free form jazz, multi-layered vocals, organ and xylophone.
There are definitely some obvious singles, such as the infectious “Psycho Stepper,” “Fifteen-Sixteen” and “Alarm Bell City.” However, there are some much more ambitious songs, like the constantly changing “All Signs Point To Yes (Try, Try, Try)” and the previously mentioned jazz interludes of “Everybody’s Sayin’.”
The band never hits you over the head with anything. The album really is a beautiful listen that is a lot more quiet than you would expect. Due to that, this is not a disc that you can absorb in a quick listening session. It takes repeated plays to catch all of the subtleties that the band sprinkled through out and you really get out of it what you put in. Isn’t that what music is about anyway?
I suppose we all owe DeVotchKa a big round of thanks for opening up the possibilities of weird, Euro-gypsy music to today’s indie music fans. Or, at least, Little Miss Sunshine for bringing their music to a much larger audience. Personally, I was digging their sound well before then, but we’re getting off topic here.
If not for the Big D, we probably never would have heard the interesting, dulcet sounds of E.S.L. With their mix of, amongst others, a Polish pianist, Cree cellist and crazy fiddler, E.S.L. creates a hodge podge sound of eastern European delights. Theirs is an all-star cast of musicians, comprised of Marta Jacubek-McKeever (Girl Nobody); Cris Derksen; Diona Davies (Po’Girl, Carolyn Mark, Be Good Tanyas) and Joy Mullen (The People Verses, The Doers, Greg MacPherson), with guest appearances by Duffy Driediger of Ladyhawk, and Marta’s father, Irek Jaciubek, on the Polish styled Czarne Oczy.
June 3 brings the release of their debut, Eye Contact. The fact that the band currently resides in Vancouver simply reinforces my theory that Canadian musicians soon will rule the world.
When is the last time that you listened to a CD that simply was a good time, with no particular agenda, political message or angry diatribes included? Yeah, it’s been quite a while for me, too. Fortunately, Alan Wilkis has the goods for what ails ya’.
Mr. Wilkis is an independent musician (record labels out there, take note, for I have no doubt this will be soon rectified) from Brooklyn who has managed to put together the most “fun” album I’ve heard in ages. Entitled Babies Dream Big (Buy), you can tell from the first view of the cover that you’re in for a good time with this one.
Now, Wilkis sent IA a very unassuming email asking that we give his CD a try. Of course, we get literally hundreds of those same requests each week and his almost went the way of the dodo since his email, though seemingly heartfelt, didn’t really say anything about the music. Fortunately, Joe gave it a spin and told me I had to check it out. As usual, Joe was absolutely correct in his summation. To open the kimono a bit further, we usually only get a track or two to review and I figured I’d only listen to the first song or two before making my decision. Suffice to say, not only could I not listen to the whole thing at once, but it’s been in heavy rotation on ye olde iPod ever since.
Opening with the fantastic “Burnin’,” Wilkis evokes comparisons to everyone from Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder to Beck and Lenny Kravitz. He’s got a semi-retro, ’80s vibe, with a synth-y feel and programmed drums throughout. There’s even a bit of early Prince in there on tracks like “I’m Famous.” While the sound stays rooted in the dreamy sound of ’80s pop, he does drift lazily about, incorporating old school rap drum beats into “Milk and Cookies,” and going all 70s R&B slow burner on “I Wanna Know.” And I’ll be damned if he doesn’t even give shout outs to Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on the charmingly quirky “In My Dreams.”
While Mr. Wilkins arguably could work on his own self-promotion efforts, he’s certainly got his own delightful brand of music down pat. Babies Dream Big is bound to start your summer off on the best foot possible, and that’s a damn fine thing there.
Hello atmospheric, experimental indie. If lead single “Fall of Rome” and the rest of their debut EP Bars and Windows are any indication, the full length from Brooklyn’s Fan-Tan should be worth waiting for.
It is going to be another beautiful weekend, but if you aren’t going to the beaches or other destinations, there are plenty of shows to see.
Big Names and Double Duty
After shows all over the region this week, Liverpool’s surgical-mask clad Clinic comes to Philly. Check out the anti-epk epk video. Classic. They are joined by one-man band BBQ (Mark Sultan).
Former Sunny Day Real Estate member Jeremy Enigk is joined by singer-songwriter force and fellow Seattlean (Seattler?) Damien Jurado.
5/30: Philly @ North Star 6/3: Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java
Four big acts come together for a monster show. Check out the neo-goth of She Wants Revenge, but be sure to get their early for Be Your Own Pet, Switches and The Virgins. Enjoy the SWR video for “These Things”
You can’t beat free and the ABC in Harrisburg has just that. Former Soul Coughing front man Mike Doughty will be performing at the ABC anniversary show, followed by a DJ session later in the evening.
Can a skinny, pretty, white girl sing the blues? In the case of Laura Gibson, apparently the answer is yes. Lest you be confused, I’m talking about the quietly sunny singer from Portland, Oregon, not the jewelry maker, because I’m sure many of our readers are fond of trinkets and baubles.
Our Ms. Gibson has a new tour EP that she’s selling on the road and for digital download, entitled Six White Horses. Laura has culled together a fine outing of thoughtful, introspective tunes. She has no east coast dates at the moment, but hopefully she will be back later in the fall.
The vast bulk of what I write here at IA specifically is about music that a band is making. Sure, every now and then, something like Lykke Li’s “Little Bit” video blows my mind, but for the most part, I stick to my wheelhouse.
Today, however, is the exception. Austin-based Full Service wrote to let us know about what is quite possibly the most interesting promo tour I’ve ever seen. To promote their latest, The Dig, the boys in the band are staging a month-long Takeover Tour to coincide with this summer’s 311 and Snoop Dog tour rolling across America. What is a takeover tour, you may well be asking. Well, Full Service will play outside of the arena venues, before the inside concert begins, at all fourteen stops along the tour, beginning in Philadelphia July 15th and ending in Austin on August 2. The band is also booking late-night club dates in the each city after almost every takeover.
In the words of drummer Hoagman, “We were not invited by any means. This is parasitic infiltration at its best. Will it be our greatest Takeover of all time? All signs point to yes.”
If that’s not marketing genius, well, I don’t know what is.
Ndidi Onukwulu is the latest in a long line of recent performers proving that Canada apparently has something in the water that helps those cats make some of the best music out there today. In her case, think Norah Jones, but infinitely bigger and brassier. She’s just put out her sophomore LP, The Contradictor, and the jazz chanteuses of the world best take note, because Onukwulu is going to be making some waves. Debut single “SK Final” has a big sound, complete with a tight horn section, pounding drums and a snatch of fiery guitar here and there. She’s joined by an all-star cast, including Jesse Zubot (strings/mandolin), Paul Pigat (guitars), Steve Dawson (guitars), Roey Shemesh (bass), Barry Mirochnick (drums) and Tyson Naylor (keyboards). Dawson produced the CD with Zubot producing some of the tracks. If Duffy and Amy Winehouse aren’t doing it for you, I have a feeling Ms. Onukwulu will.
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