Still riding high from the release of their debut full-length a few weeks ago, Philly’s Bleeding Rainbow headline Johnny Brenda’s tonight.  The duo-turned-quartet signed to Kanine Records last fall and though the release date was pushed back several months, the noise-punk band put out their gloriously shoe-gazey Yeah Right LP in January.  Yeah Right is The Key’s featured album for this week’s Unlocked series, which means you can dig into it with a review here (and an interview later today).  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show at Johnny Brenda’s with Pet Milk and Ghost Light can be found here.  Watch a new video for “Waking Dream” from Yeah Right below.

On the other Kung Fu Necktie stage tonight, you’ll find local harpist Mary Lattimore performing with Jeff Zeigler. This collaboration is but one on each musician’s long list of projects, Lattimore’s including work with Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile and Meg Baird and Zeigler’s expanding with his band Arc in Round and production work for The War on Drugs, Ape School and others.  When the two pair up for nights like tonight, though, the result is about as far away from those other projects as possible.  Lattimore’s dreamy harp compositions and Zeigler’s warpy but gentle synth layers froth with emotion and understanding.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Trummors, Fred Thomas and Morning River Band can be found here.  Stream Mary Lattimore and Jeff Zeigler’s improvised Folkadelphia session below and learn more about Lattimore’s debut full-length The Withdrawing Room here.

Philebrity and BITBY.TV have teamed up to bring you the hoppin-est Valentine’s Day variety show in town at Underground Arts tonight.  WIth love-themed sets by Juston Stens & The Get Real Gang, Blayer Pointdujour, Katie Frank & The Pheromones, J.M.M. Sweeney Jr. (Mr. Philebrity himself) and others, the event lays claim to being “the city’s only destination for old school-style slow dancing,” with the groove being set by DJ Langor.  More information for the 21+ show can be found on the Facebook event page here.  Stream and download “Strange Love” by Juston Stens & Jessica Lea Mayfield (part of the With Love, From WXPN Philly Local sampler).

Also happening:

XPN welcomes New Jersey rockers The Smithereens to World Cafe Live in support of their 2011 self-titled record.  At The Sellersville Theater, XPN welcomes long-standing rock ‘n’ roll act Soul Asylum.  And finally at The Fire, XPN welcomes the Northern Liberties Winter Music Fest with American Babies, The Fleeting Ends, Ross Bellenoit, Joe D’Amico Band and Miz.  Tickets and information for all shows can be found here.

• Hanging Up My Heartby Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell from Old Yellow MoonDownload

Wooden Wand is James Jackson Toth, and singer-songwriter who has released over 100 recordings in almost every audio format but most recently in the form of this month’s Blood Oaths of the New Blues LP.  Toth carries the heritage of old-style country singers into current times with his back-porch twang and dusty ballads.  Stream and download “Outsider Blues” below.

This week The Key Unlocked local musician Joe D’Amico‘s A Short Time’s a Long Time.  The West Chester singer-songwriter, perhaps best known for his work with bluegrass / folk band Mason Porter, uses his solo material to experiment with a larger spectrum of sounds ranging from ambient to rustic to upbeat rock.  Stream and download “Where Does the Time Go?” below and then check out his Unlocked interview, album review and video.

The breezy lilt of Austin’s Tiger Waves calls to mind Real Estate mixed with 60s psychedelia on their just-released single “Fields.”  Giving nods to The Beach Boys, The Byrds and The Beatles as influences, the young five-piece completed a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, enabling them to tour the States over the next two months.  Tiger Waves will stop by Kung Fu Necktie this Wednesday, January 30th; tickets and information can be found here.  Below, stream and download “Fields” b/w “A Smirk & A Smile.”

Yellow Humphrey’s Gretchen Lohse stopped by to record a Key Studio Session this week, sharing four unreleased works in progress and one reworking of a Yellow Humphrey song.  Departing from her band’s intricate lattice-work compositions, Lohse’s solo work in this session is an intimate, stripped back approach to her classic folk sound.  Stream and download “Primal Rumble” below and then head over here for the full session.

• Primal Rumbleby Gretchen Lohse from The Key Studio SessionsDownload

Last night Philly singer-songwriter Joe D’Amico celebrated the release of his very guitar-rock oriented solo album, A Short Time’s A Long Time, at Kung Fu Necktie. We spent all week with the album on Unlocked, The Key’s regular spotlight on new and significant releases from Philadelphia-area artists, and explored it as both a record that’s surprisingly non-folky coming from a Mason Porter founding member, to a stirring meditation on mortality and the frightening uncertainty that comes with adulthood. Spending a night out with D’Amico and his band last night was a great way to cap the week – from Brad Hinton’s spacey guitar textures swapping space with D’Amico’s ripping guitar solos, Bethany Brooks’ snappy jazzy piano work, and the tight and energetic rhythm section of bassist Phil D’Augustino and drummer Kevin Killen. There were moments that were very Wilco, moments that were very Black Keys, and moments that were just pure Joe. Check out a photo recap of the night in the gallery above, see Joe again at The Fire on Valentine’s Day and at Kennett Flash on February 15th.

A Short Time’s A Long Time is the featured album in this edition of Unlocked; hear the spotlighted song “Where Does The Time Go” in Monday’s post, read Tuesday’s album review; see a video for “Where Does The Time Go” in Wednesday’s post and read yesterday’s interview. And stay tuned to The Key for future album spotlights on Unlocked.

The Key: I like the way your solo albums are so different from your work with Mason Porter, the way you explore different musical territories. Is that why the solo records came to be – because you wanted to do things beyond bluegrass?

Joe D’Amico: Oh yeah, absolutely. Everything does come from “folk” in my mind, even when it translates to more psychedelic or more rock and roll kind of stuff. But Mason Porter, there’s a certain sound there that we kind of created and retained. And I just want to explore more things, and continue to do other things. There’s a such a wide range of music that I listen to – I just want to keep creating, or it gets boring.

TK: Who is the group of people you perform with when you play live? Are they the same group that made the record with you?

JD: Yes. The band is Brad Hinton (guitar), Phil D’Augustino (bass), Bethany Brooks (keys) and Kevin Killen (drums). The last record, I recorded more of it on my own, and put the band as it is now together when it came time to release that record. I kept the same band since, and I think a lot of the direction of this record came from having them. With the last record, they were really psyched to play it because it was more arranged and dynamic than most singer-songwritery stuff they had been involved in with other projects. They were really excited about the material. So as I started creating this next record, I had these players in mind, and I knew they were pretty capable of doing whatever I wanted. So I kind of really pushed them and myself to do a lot more.

TK: Are there any styles that you’ve ventured into on this record that you never expected to play before you had this group together?

JD: Yeah! A lot of the whole second half of this record has more of a progressive rock thing to it. There’s the eleven minute song, “Imagine My Surprise / Mother, Mother / Good Morning Child” And all that stems from, well, I’ve got this great band. Let’s try and push the envelope of what we do a little bit more and change the song structures away from a traditional folkier-based sound.

TK: Is it easy for you to switch hats between acoustic, folk-based into this epic progressive rock approach?

JD: It wasn’t at first. It was easy to create the material, and have a blast recording it. But the transition took a little time for me as a performer to get used to. It started very comfortably in the studio, always. And then it came to “allright, how are we gonna play this stuff,” ya know? But the band is really doing well with the material. It’s really exciting live! It’s really dynamic and unpredictable, in a fun way.

TK: How else is performing this sort of material different for you?

JD: Well, it’s louder! (laughs) It’s a louder thing, and you have to book it in different rooms and create the right setting for it. It doesn’t always work in an intimate coffeehouse situation anymore, you know? It translates better in a rock club now. So that’s the difference I need to get used to.

TK: What do you think the Joe D’Amico release is going to sound like? Are there other areas of music and songwriting that you’d like to push yourself and the band member to venture into an explore?

JD: Wow. I can’t say a particular direction, but the plan is to keep pushing it and not do the same thing again. That’s how my records have been, they always move to the next thing.

A Short Time’s A Long Time is the featured album in this week’s edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Where Does The Time Go” in Monday’s post, read Tuesday’s album review, watch the music video for “Where Does the Time Go?” in yesterday’s post and check back tomorrow for photos and a recap of Joe D’Amico’s record release party tonight at Kung Fu Necktie. More information on the show can be found here.

Photo by Pete Troshak | flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets | twitter.com/shak74

The lineup for the 6th Annual Roots Picnic includes Gary Clark Jr., Lushlife and more [link]

Dave Hartley‘s Top of the Key returns to tell you why the NBA should #LetBonnerShoot [link]

Folk-inspired Philly songwriter Gretchen Lohse records a stunning Key Studio Session [link]

The latest album from Joe D’Amico gets the Unlocked treatment [link]

Portland dance-rock artist ONUINU chats about his upcoming show at Kung Fu Necktie [link]

Get your vote on in The Deli and Tri-State Indie‘s year-in-review polls [link]

Pitchfork gave Bleeding Rainbow‘s new LP a bad review, then premiered it anyway [link]

UK pop singer Jessie Ware played Union Transfer, reminisced about World Cafe [link]

Listen to Simian Mobie Disco recorded live on Making Time RADio [link]

Elder grunge statesmen Soundgarden brought their reunion tour to The Tower Theater [link]

Listen to Yo La Tengo cover The Spinners’ classic “I’ll Be There” from Free at Noon [link]

Ohio singer-songwriter Dolfish is spotlighted in this week’s Folkadelphia session [link]

Photo by Olivia Malone

Her online persona may suggest that Katie Frank doesn’t take herself too seriously.  As a young, recent Temple University graduate, it could be safe to assume as much, but her attitude on her music is a different story completely.  Don’t let Facebook taglines like, “Folk rock meets pop in a whole new way!” fool you.  Both Frank’s stage presence and songwriting are heavy, mature products of years of hard work and dedication to her craft.  Toting a new EP, the budding songstress and her band The Pheromones play tonight at Tin Angel, with Madalean Gauze, Amy Faden and Meaghan Cary in a showcase of local female singer-songwriters.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show are available here.  Below, watch a video from when Katie Frank and The Pheromones performed at Underground Arts in October.

The day before yesterday, we Unlocked Joe D’Amico… so to speak. While his new album did make our Unlocked series, a feature story could hardly unpack his complex and eclectic compositions. D’Amico’s recent release, A Short Time’s A Long Time, ranges from easily accessible (like opening track “Up, Up and Away”) to winding and difficult (his 11-minute “Imagine My Surprise – Mother, Mother – Good Morning Child”). The Philadelphia native’s experimental americana has begun to draw attention beyond the local scene, which makes it all the more exciting to catch an intimate Kung Fu Necktie show from him. Tickets and information for the 21+ show with Rev. TJ McGlinchy and Ben Smith are available here. Below, you can stream tracks from his new album.

Femi Kumi brings world music to World Cafe tonight.  Born in London but raised in Nigeria, Kumi’s multi-cultural life informed his musical education and ultimately his style.  Beginning with his time playing in his father Fela Kuti’s band, his life-long musical career has been characterized by a blend of jazz and Afrobeat.  This fusion and even the tradition of father-son collaboration continue to play into his grammy nominated music.  Today, Kuti’s son plays in his critically acclaimed and aptly named band, Positive Force.  Kuti often uses his music as an outlet for political activism, famously raising AIDS awareness with a collaborative remake of his father’s hit “Water No Get Enemy” in 2002.  Tickets and information for all ages show are available here.  Below, watch the music video for his song, “Beng Beng Beng.”

A Short Time’s A Long Time is the featured album in this week’s edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Where Does The Time Go” in Monday’s post, read yesterday’s album review and check back later in the week for interviews, video and more.

Easy answer: Dylan’s “Desolation Row.” And that song has so many words upon words, verses upon verses – the fact that Dylan could keep it from collapsing under its own complexity is, to this day some 38 years down the road, remarkable.

But what of the musician who wants to stretch out, but doesn’t want to do it with pure verbage? Joe D’Amico of West Chester folk ensemble Mason Porter  found himself this quandary. He loves playing mandolin-led bluegrass music, and continues to do so, but as a songwriter had more expansive goals.

D’Amico’s eleven-minute song is called “Imagine My Surprise – Mother, Mother – Good Morning Child.” It appears on his latest LP, A Short Time’s A Long Time, which The Key is featuring this week in its Unlocked series. And it’s not folk in the slightest. The song is dramatic and swelling, with layers of piano and guitar that build on top of galloping drums, burst with bright vocal harmonies and then break off into lengthy instrumental passages. This centerpiece of his record is actually a merging of three distinct song-ideas – think of it as his “Golden Slumbers / Carry The Weight / The End” – but done with a prog-rock flair.

This moment is just one of the surprises D’Amico has in store on his third solo outing. As we noted yesterday, he’s used his solo albums over the past few years as a place to explore new sounds, from the ethereal Americana of 2011′s Asleep in my Shoes to the poppy variety show he has in store this time.

“Up Up And Away” kicks the set off with glockenspiel chimes, a rich vocal and airy harmonies – it’s very reminiscent of his scene contemporaries The Great Unknown – but as the set moves onward, plunking guitar lines and other layers enter. At the halfway point, the song slams into a punchy, rhythmic electric guitar overdrive. For certain, we’ve never heard D’Amico rock this hard, and it’s almost a shame he lets it drop away so soon.

“Where Does The Time Go” brings us into the Beatles-esque pop that makes up the album’s first half – its guitar lead a nod to “Getting Better.” Down the way a bit, “I Need Time” hints at the pure volume of the opening cut but settles into a boogie swing, something drawn a bit from The Band. “Face of the Stranger” brings the energy down a touch, but builds on evocative synthesizer textures on the verse and adds some twang on the chorus.

After the middle trifecta, the album changes tone: “When Easy Was Easy” is a rockabilly song slowed down to a introspective crawl, D’Amico’s instrumental phrasing both yearning and nervy. He sings about the changes and complexities that come with time: “It’s not gonna be the way it was before.” And that’s a moment of truth right there – nothing can stay pure and sacred and thrilling forever, and perhaps that’s the point of his increasingly more adventurous musical excursions.

If A Short Time’s A Long Time has a shortcoming, it’s that D’Amico could chase this path even further if he wanted to, but instead he keeps it grounded. The production is clear and crystalline, as we’ve come to expect from his solo work and Mason Porter’s, and his singing is reliably warm and melodic. These are both undeniably positive traits, but they leaves us wondering what Joe D’Amico unrestrained might mean.

While we ponder that, however, we’ve got an album to dig into that presents D’Amico as an artist with a broad vision, but also one who can also craft music with broad appeal.

A Short Time’s A Long Time is the featured album in this week’s edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Where Does The Time Go” in yesterday’s post, and check back later in the week for interviews, video and more.

Whether they’re singing round the campfire or singing around the microphone in our studio, West Chester folk ensemble Mason Porter conveys a sense of warmth. Its CSN-esque harmonies ring out, its songs (and interpretations of others’ songs) carry strongly performed as a full band as much as an acoustic trio – which is how we got to record MP for its Key Studio Session. Singer-mandolinist-guitarist Joe D’Amico took the lead on four of the selections: the combo’s new rendition of “Alberta,” a traditional folk number popularized by Bob Dylan; “Hard Luck and Trouble,” a staple from the band’s Thunder in the Valley LP ; and two brand new songs. Upright bassist Tim Celfo sang out on a sprightly new number as well (“Can’t See”), and singer-guitarist Paul Wilkinson blended in brilliantly on both ends, giving a good taste of what to expect from the new record Mason Porter plans to release later this year. The musicians had a busy 2011, between the various re-releasings of their excellent 2010 covers album Story of the Rifle, extensive touring and D’Amico’s own solo offering, Asleep in my Shoes. Their focus at the start of this year is light and local, with shows at Lancaster Dispensing Co. (Jan. 28) and The Note (Feb. 2). But stay tuned, since the new recordings are set to be harvested once summertime rolls.

• Back to Where We Started Fromby Mason Porter from The Key Studio Sessions, Jan. 25, 2012Download

• Let Me Inby Mason Porter from The Key Studio Sessions, Jan. 25, 2012Download

• Hard Luck and Troubleby Mason Porter from The Key Studio Sessions, Jan. 25, 2012Download

• Albertaby Mason Porter from The Key Studio Sessions, Jan. 25, 2012Download

• Can't Seeby Mason Porter from The Key Studio Sessions, Jan. 25, 2012Download

We recently caught up with Raphael Cutrufello of Hezekiah Jones, during which he talked about the new album, Have You Seen Our New Fort (due March 29th on Yer Bird Records), as well as the band’s collaboration with The Spinning Leaves. The Fort sessions were produced by Andrew Lipke, a collaboration Cutrufello was particularly excited about because of the musical ideas Lipke brought to the sessions.

You can watch the video for the pensive song “Lift The Shadow From This Heart” below; you can also download the title song from Joe D’Amico’s new album, Asleep In My Shoes.

• Asleep In My Shoesby Joe D’Amico from Asleep In My ShoesDownload

WXPN Welcomes Hezekiah Jones, Up The Chain, Joe D’Amico (w/ Chris Bathgate) to World Cafe Live, Downstairs Thursday, February 17th. Doors at 7PM; Show at 8PM. Tickets are $17-$22.

• I've Got You For Christmasby Joe D’AmicoDownload