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Sheer Mag and Thin Lips team up with White Reaper for Goose Island gig at World Cafe Live

Sheer Mag | photo by Tom Beck for WXPN // Thin Lips | photo by John Vettese for WXPN

In addition to the whole craft beer thing, it seems that Chicago’s Goose Island is lowkey getting into the concert promotions business. First there was last fall’s throwdown with Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the lot of what’s now called Franklin Music Hall; now we get word that they’ve brought the party indoors for a DIY-friendly rager at World Cafe Live downstairs on June 22 starring Philly faves Sheer Mag and Thin Lips, with Kentucky rockers White Reaper taking the middle slot on the bill.   Continue reading →

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Tierra Whack’s new song “Unemployed” was co-written with her mom

Tierra Whack | photo by John Vettese for WXPN

One of my favorite parts of seeing Tierra Whack at last year’s Roots Picnic was the moment she got the crowd to chant “HEY MAMA WHACK” for her mother, who was watching the set from backstage. It’s always great to see that, much as an artist might be at the center of the zeitgeist, much as they may have captured the attention and imagination of fans and tastemakers alike, they’re still a real person with real roots, and they’ve still got time for family. And it continues nearly a year later. Continue reading →

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Two To Tango: Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale and Meow Meow

Meow Meow and Thomas Lauderdale | photo via World Cafe Live

Before collaborating on an inter-twisting new album, Hotel Amour, and intertwining set lists the likes of which bring them to World Café Live on March 26, Pink Martini leader and pianist Thomas Lauderdale played accompanist and bestest bud to the toast of the Australian cabaret scene, Melissa Madden Gray, otherwise known as Meow Meow.

For the last 15 years, when Lauderdale wasn’t busy touring the land or hitting recording studios for Pink Martini’s space-age bachelor pad lounge orchestrations, he was tinkling the ivories for the kittenish chanteuse. Now fully united and integrated, the pair discussed their origin story from two parts of the globe during one conversation, with Lauderdale in his home of Portland and Meow calling from London.

Continue reading →

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Lehigh Valley Punk Rock Flea Market returns to Bethlehem next month

Lehigh Valley Punk Rock Flea Market

Philly’s semi-annual Punk Rock Flea Market is always a highly anticipated event in the city, and lately some other parts of the region have been joining in with their own versions. The Lehigh Valley Punk Rock Flea Market will return for its second year after a successful inaugural event last year. Hosted by Tape Swap Radio, a live music show that airs on Lehigh Valley Public Radio, the event will be held on Saturday, April 27 at the Ice House, a performing arts venue in Bethlehem. Continue reading →

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Killiam Shakespeare, Camp Candle, Kingsley Ibeneche will play Tiny Room For Elephants Festival

(clockwise from left) Killiam Shakespeare, Kingsley Ibeneche, Camp Candle

Local art collective and creative network Tiny Room For Elephants has found a home in the newly-renovated Cherry Street Pier, which includes both artist studios and public event space. The group, which aims “to create, document and share culture,” uses the pier for events throughout the year, but they’ll host their biggest project next month — a living art gallery that culminates in a three-day music and arts festival. Continue reading →

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Just Announced: Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties will bring Routine Maintenance to Chameleon Club and The Fillmore

Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties at Made In America | Photo by Cameron Pollack for WXPN
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties | Photo by Cameron Pollack for WXPN

Dan Campbell may be best known as the frontman of The Wonder Years, but have you met his alter ego? Campbell started his Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties project a few years back, and just announced that its next album, Routine Maintenance, will be released on May 10. Continue reading →

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“It’s harder now to be an independently run venue”: The Troc’s owner confirms its closure

The Troc | photo by Matt Shaver

It’s official: The Trocadero‘s owner Joanna Pang has spoken to Variety magazine and confirmed that the iconic Chinatown venue is, indeed, closing this May, following the word-of-mouth news that began circulating late last week.

“This was home to me,” said Pang, whose father Stephen Pang first purchased the venue in 1979 and ran it as a movie theater through the early 80s before it became an iconic alternative rock and punk venue. “But the landscape of the business has changed in the last five years. It’s harder now to be an independently run venue — it’s a different world. There are bigger rooms run by bigger concert corporations.” Continue reading →

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lylyly finds their niche on “Home”

lylyly | photo by Bob Sweeney | courtesy of the artist

Local garage rockers lylyly are slowly but surely making a name for themselves in Philadelphia. The band just released their second single, “Home,” with news that a full-length album will follow sometime in late 2019. Continue reading →

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Baroness explores uncharted territory on “Borderlines” from new album Gold & Grey

Baroness | photo by Dana Distortion | courtesy of the artist

Philly metal outfit Baroness announced that their new album, Gold & Grey, will be released on June 14, and they’ve shared a video for the lead single “Borderlines.” Self-described as psychotic, the new album sees the band following a different, more unstructured and improvisational approach to songwriting than their previous work; it’s also their first release with their new guitarist, Gina Gleason. Continue reading →

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Radiator Hospital is getting lonely on the new album Sings ‘Music for Daydreaming’

Radiator Hospital | courtesy of the artist

Philly scene faves Radiator Hospital were pretty quiet throughout 2018, and now we know why. The band has been working on a new record, called Radiator Hospital Sings ‘Music for Daydreaming,‘ and they’ll be playing a release show at PhilaMOCA on May 21 to celebrate.

According to Salinas Records, the record will be out May 10. The label describes it as “Fourteen songs of stripped down Radiator Hospital heartbreak,” and despite the upbeat tone of the lead single “Weird Little Idea,” the video that accompanies it gives the song a dreamy sense of loneliness as singer-songwriter Sam Cook-Parrott plays all of the roles in his band. Continue reading →