Every Sunday night, XPN2’s John Vettese brings a Philly band into the depths of the WXPN studios for an in-house interview and recording session.
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Relatively new faces in the Philly DIY scene, Cayetana crafts focused, passionate indie-punk nuggets exploring a broad spectrum of subject matter – from city living to old age. “South Philly” is an incisive, observational look at rowhome life that’s a world away from the trendy Passyunk Ave strip; “Miss Thing,” a nod to singer-guitarist Augusta Koch’s grandmother, is a moving reflection aging (the lyric “at the end of your life all you’ll eat is ice cream” is at once humorous and heartbreaking). The band just signed to Tiny Engines Records and is looking to release its debut full-length later on this year. This weekend, it plays a benefit show for Ladyfest Philly at Little Berlin featuring Bad Braids and the Girls Rock Philly allstars. Information on the all-ages show can be found here; stream and download this week’s Key Session below.
Modern Inventors impressed a broad cross-section of the Philly music scene last year. They naturally had the pedigree to win over the singer-songwriter crowd – singer-guitarist Matt Kass’ old band The Brakes was a known name, after all. But their soulful harmonies drew in listeners from the pop realm, and their skill as players and songwriters attracted indie rock ears. Not too long after a sold-out show at Johnny Brenda’s celebrating the release of Trains and Aeroplanes in December, the band found itself in our studio performing a set of mostly unreleased new songs. The excellent, rambling rhythms of “Goodbye, Northbrook Drive” were the only familiar sounds we heard – they instead took the opportunity to lay down some new cuts that show their sound reaching even broader. “Old Habits,” filmed by the folks at Out of Town Films, is a mellow smash of 70s proportions. “This Sign” is a snappy, country-fied Wilco-style number, while “The Deep End” has a sytlish and expressive Jeff Buckley thing going on. And set-closer “Selfish Generation” would play well on present day pop radio. Download and listen to it all below, and keep an ear out for more from the Inventors this spring.
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Canadian-born singer-songwriter Anjuli Josephine has been making music out of Philadelphia for a couple years now, and just released her whimsical self-titled debut EP. With mix of emotional, introspective lyrics and a poppy sensibility, Josephine fondly recalls performers like Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson and Fiona Apple, and her backing players – Karl Rieders on bass,
Al Daniels on keys, and Nate Kowalski on drums – are top notch. The band plays The Tin Angel this Saturday, March 30th, and gave us a taste of the set they have in store in this week’s Key Studio Session. Check it out below – it’s a wide-ranging set, from the bopping “Can’t Keep Up” to the drifting, lilting closer “Heart Heart Heart Hurt” – and get more information on the show here.
Photo by Kate McCann | KateMcCannPhotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | KateMcCannPhotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | KateMcCannPhotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | KateMcCannPhotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | KateMcCannPhotography.com
Simply put: Slingshot Dakota are two of the most positive people to set foot into our studio. It’s not just the music that drummer Tom Patterson and siinger-keyboardist Carly Commando make – uplifting, piano-driven, punk-informed pop songs – but also their outlook. Their current album Dark Hearts, released in the fall on Topshelf Records, deals a lot with getting through hard times, the loss of loved ones, coping with grief and struggles. But it channels those feelings into singalong refrains, bright melodies, danceable tempos; stuff that sounds as great when they played it live for us as it does on the album. Add on the fact that Patterson and Commando are two uber-friendly outgoing souls, and just fun people to record, and you can draw a connection directly through their sound, their philosophy and them as people. They play the First Unitarian Church tomorrow, opening for Owen; you should totally stop by the merch table after their set and say hello.
You can quickly spot the things that are important to Jim Thorpe-ara six-piece Free Range Folk. Two married couples make up the band, and their love of family comes across in the song “Father’s Day.” They farm as well, and their love of the Northeast Pennsylvania land and all its potential shines through in “Bubblin’” and “Lehigh.” Then there’s “Seraphim Moonbeam” and its majestic groove – that one’s just about love in general. When the band appeared on the Folk Show with Chuck Elliot last fall, it mixed up traditional instrumentation (dig the acoustic guitar – banjo – mandolin interplay) with the rock drumming you hear later in the set. Three of these performances are songs that appear on their second album, 444, and the band celebrates its CD release in two upcoming shows – Thursday, March 14th at Sellersville Theater and Saturday, March 23rd at the Mauch Chunk Opera House. Listen and download the set below.
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Going acoustic and pulling it off is one of those marks of a great songwriter. A piece of music, you’ll hear quite often, should be able to stand alone, unadorned, without full-band bombast or lush orchestrations – those things can accent a song, but shouldn’t define it.
Katie Crutchfield took the opposite approach with her band Waxahatchee. She started alone, and then built up. Her buzzed-about 2012 LP American Weekend led to this year’s Cerulean Salt, being released next week on Don Giovanni Records, and the lo-fi acoustic calls of the first one answered with a more band-oriented sound this time around, peppered with hints of Rilo Kiley and Built to Spill. The record sounds great – hear it for yourself via NPR’s First Listen series – and we’re excited for its release party at Golden Tea House in West Philadelphia on Friday (Crutchfield’s twin sister Alison opens the show with her band Swearin‘; as does her bassist, Sam Cook-Parrot, with his band Radiator Hospital). But we’re also excited to present you with a set of stirring, solitary performances in this week’s Key Studio Session.
“Blue Pt. II” is particularly haunting in translation, while “Noccalula” is as much a heart-wrencher here as it is on American Weekend. For a bonus, watch video of Crutchfield performing the 1950s country tune “Dark Moon” – written by Ned Miller and popularized by Loretta Lynn, Elvis Presley and others.
Waxahatchee “Dark Moon” – Key Studio Session at WXPN from WXPN FM on Vimeo.
Philly garage rock trio St. James and the Apostles have a big sound for just three guys. You can attribute some of that to Mike Kiker on keyboards, who plays Ray Manzerek style, juggling both bass lines and higher-end lead parts. Certainly Jeff Castner’s thundering drums are another component, as well as frontman Jamie Mahon, whose voice bellows and guitar rips. The guys were in our studio this weekend to record a session of tracks from across their discography – traditional closer “St. James Infirmary Blues” can be found on their 2012 LP Baphomet, while “Gimmie Some” and “Siobahn” can be found on some of the band’s early live releases. “Friend In Jesus,” from what I can tell, is a new one, and with its take on redemption and the rock and roll lifestyle, it neatly sums up the Apostles’ perspective. They’re part Doors, part Supergrass, part spiritual. Dig in, listen and download below, and catch the band live at Johnny Brenda‘s this Friday when they open for Adam and Dave’s Bloodline.
