Photo from BBC Radio 6

Tomorrow brings the official release of the album the internet has been eagerly anticipating since a 16-second ad aired without fanfare during a March episode of SNL. Random Access Memories, the latest from French discotronic duo Daft Punk, has been streaming on iTunes since last Wednesday, and its lead single – the pop earworm “Get Lucky,” sung by the ever-charismatic Pharrell – has been bumping the XPN airwaves since last month.

But what about the album beyond that? There’s a lot of hype and excitement in the air for it, but hype doesn’t always equate to quality. Sure, the duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter released the trend-setting 1997 album Homework and the irresistible Discovery in 2001. And yeah, James Murphy name-checked them in that song title that one time. But less discussed is the uneven 2005 effort Human After All, or the Tron soundtrack.

Does Random Access Memories hold up? Is it a new chapter in dance music and a return to glory for these mysteriously helmet-clad techno-heads? Or is it a bunch of bluster that will breeze away with the next album-of-the-minute? We asked a handful of Philly’s own electronic music heads – from Chris Powell of Spaceship Aloha and Man Man to DJ Apt One- for their thoughts on Random Access Memories, and got a variety of responses. Check them out below.

Les Professionnels

Drew Kramer, Les Professionnels: So we sat around and listened to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories like 4 times while drinking two pots of coffee.We couldn’t agree on anything except for the fact that the coffee was amazing but here’s our gut reactions…
Dan: “It’s pretty amazing and then there is Pharrell.”
Drew: “This is a great live album from a group who has already mastered sampling.”
Chris: “I think I heard this track at the end of a Dawson’s Creek episode or when I was casually browsing Boscovs.”
Allthough this is not the album we we were expecting, we are excited and curious to see how it will be received by the masses and what effect, if any, it will have on the current state of electronic music.

Chris Powell performs with Man Man | Photo by Laura Jane Brubaker

Chris Powell, Spaceship Aloha / Man Man: “Doin’ It Right” is a rad track and the only other memorable one for me along with the single “Get Lucky.” “Doin’ It Right” has been on repeat here all night.
The rest? Hmmmmmm…..
WAY too much noodling throughout. Drum solo? No thanks. Yikes!
Not feeling the acoustic drum sounds on it at all. Some of the other synths and production stuff sound great though!
The Steely Dan-sounding track was a nice surprise.
I really appreciate what they’re going for though I think it could have been presented less as a Daft Punk record and more of a ‘Daft Punk presents’ or some ish.
Maybe it’s just all the hype around it that put an uneasy pressure on it totally delivering.
I like the band’s previous records a lot. This one just didn’t sit right overall for me on first listen.
Oh well! Hoping that the new Arrested Development season makes it all better!

Thomas Crystal of Work Drugs

Thomas Crystal, Work Drugs: We can definitely hear some of the AM Gold tendencies on the record – what with the Paul Williams cut – “Touch”, and “The Game of Love.” Giorgio did what he does best, and I’m happy to see that it wasn’t too much of a departure from his classic songwriting and production work. All of the Nile Rodgers tracks are great – and its so cool that Daft Punk unabashedly went after their influences. The fact is, these guys are the current tastemakers, and they are tapping a lot of old hats as an homage/ tribute or whatever you want to call it, I’m all for it. If there is a chance that groove-based music can slip back into the mainstream, I’m all for it. If anybody can do it, its gotta be Daft Punk.

City Rain

DJ Dave P: I’m not very into it. Especially with all the hype and excessive promo around it. Also…they couldn’t be more wrong in their opinions of dance music and electronic music at the moment. I like the Panda Bear track though.

Ben Runyan, City Rain: A complete snoozefest bordering on easy-listening lets up with a gem of a Daft Punk tune in “Doin’ It Right.” This album feels more like an ambient B-Side album ala Moby than a full throttle effort from the French. They are surviving on legend alone.

DJ Apt One: I am pretty sympathetic to the philosophy behind this album – the idea of bringing craftsmanship back to dance music in the digital age.  I have been trying to work instrumentation back into digitally produced music for a few years now.  I think it’s good that they are using their pulpit to express their ideas about music and it’s a relief that they didn’t try to deliver Discovery 2.0, which is what most people wanted. However, I’m not sure this record doesn’t come off as self-indulgent or simply contrary. Time is going to dictate that.

DJ Apt One

Obviously, a guy like me who will put on Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie (look it up) in his spare time is not going to complain when somebody makes a jazz-disco-funk record that will get radio play in 2013.  I think there are some really good tunes on there (“Lose Yourself to Dance”, “Instant Crush”), but there are also some really schmaltzy tunes on there that really show their French-ness (jangly disco cabaret anybody?).  Also, the production sensibility is kind of boring – lots of plodding drums and uninspired instrumentation.
I honestly think that these guys got a bit out of their depth by trying to produce a fully instrumental record – you can hear what this could have been on the tracks with Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder – when there is a really seasoned old-school producer/composer and some ridiculous musicians in the room this thing really works.  When you’re listening to five minutes of AM Gold with no drum fills, it’s shaky – half of the value in that school of music was the virtuosity of the musicians, and these guys don’t have the chops.

Bonus Material: when that sixteen-second snipped aired back in March, Apt One got super hype and tried to imagine / predict what the finished song would sound like. Listen to his crystal ball take on “Get Lucky” below.

Spaceship Aloha at Bartram’s Garden | Photo by Inna Spivakova | DataGarden.org

Perhaps it’s because he’s a drummer, or maybe he’s a drummer because of it, but Chris Powell has a knack for juggling multiple things at once. Onstage behind a kit – in present day avant-popsters Man Man and going back a dozen or more years with his formative group Need New Body – it’s rhythms, tempos and even percussion instruments Powell mixes up. In a broader sense, it’s projects: he’s a producer and collaborator with Grant$, a band leader with Adventuredrum, and a cosmic one-man dance-maker in his new-ish electronic project Spaceship Aloha.

Last year, Powell launched the Spaceship with Universe Mahalo: Volume #1, his debut LP on the local experimental label Data Garden. It’s a heady potpourri of body-moving dub beats, exotic tropical instrumentation, futuristic electro-pop textures, and samples of that lean both towards science fiction (humming lasers, pinging radar) and summer vacation (breezy surf and seagulls). The followup, Tropical Information Systems, will be out this summer on Data Garden, and tonight he makes his second-ever live appearance at Johnny Brenda’s, opening for Mouse on Mars – who rang among his electronic music heroes. Powell and I swapped emails to get to the root of Spaceship Aloha.

The Key: The project emerged when you got married in Hawaii a few years ago. Was that trip your first full-on exposure to Polynesian music? What about the music hooked you so much?

Chris Powell: I’ve been obsessed with Hawaii ever since childhood. It’s this beautiful, magical, exotic, tropical destination – I love the vibe of Hawaii generally, and the music is a big part of that. But I’ve been familiar with Polynesian music since I was very young, thanks to growing up in a part of the country with wonderful local radio stations that played music from all over the world.

TK: The sci-fi / spacey electronic element of the band is great, because for the listener, it’s such an unexpected sonic twist. I have a hunch, however, that for you it was a natural fit – of course you’d think to mix the two styles! Is that right – did it come together really that quickly? Or was it more of an evolution?

CP: The sci-fi sonic style comes very naturally to me. I’m a huge science fiction fan – it just makes sense that those sounds would make their way into my music. I love the old sound effects that were used for UFO’s and spaceships. The Jetsons‘ sound design is amazing. And in terms of fantastical and exotic travel, it doesn’t get much more fantastic than outer space.

There was an evolution, to incorporate sci-fi elements into this work – but it was mostly sorting out what instruments, synths, and sequencers worked best for creating these sounds. Working with local synth makers Critter & Guitari has been a huge opportunity – I’m using their synths to take the music to new places.

TK: The incorporation of different instruments really jumps out – the uke, the acoustic guitar, the horns and strings. Is that you playing all that stuff (in addition to the stuff that’s more obviously sampled)?

CP: The instruments on Universe Mahalo: Volume #1 are mostly sampled, though they are chopped up, performed, and played like drums and keyboards. There are multiple layers constantly working together at all times. All sound sources and instruments are resampled and re-contextualized. There’s a lot more acoustic instrumentation in the newer material, though it’s drastically different from song to song.

TK: For the part that is culled from samples, what were you seeking out in source material?

CP: I used some random elements from the older Hawaiian pop songs (kick drums, bass notes, guitar strumming) that were playing on the Maui radio stations in heavy rotation during my visit there. Most of the samples on Universe Mahalo: Volume #1 were chopped up from YouTube clips. YouTube is an absolute goldmine when working on collage-style sound design. I also used old tapes of music I recorded from the radio when I was about ten years old.

TK: With all your other musical projects, how did this fit in? Were you tracking Spaceship Aloha songs on the Man Man Tour Van or between takes during the Grant$ sessions?

CP: I keep getting less and less sleep, though I seem to have worked out getting just enough to maintain and keep sharp enough through the days! I was working on new Spaceship Aloha material all during last month’s Man Man tour, mostly in the van. It takes awhile to figure out what you can do on the road but I now have the perfect tools to work while traveling from city to city.

TK: I saw your set at Bartram’s Garden last year for the Data Garden show. Was that your first show, and have you performed much since then?

CP: The Bartram’s Garden Oct show was my first live set as Spaceship Aloha. This will be my second show on Monday. I’ve been hard at work on the new Spaceship record, as well as the new Man Man and Grant$ records, so I decided to wait a while before taking on any other SA shows. I’m also a big believer in not performing too much in town. It keeps things fresh and exciting.

TK: I loved that your live show is such an audiovisual experience. To what degree does the imagery inspire the music? Do you use songs to score scenes, or do you make music first and then find footage etc. to pair with it?

CP: The Bartram’s show was a great experience, because I always wanted to work with visuals in a live setting. I think of music visually – I was a visual artist first, so it comes naturally to think about how to expand a live show past the music. Data Garden curated the visual performers for the Bartram’s set. I invited Michael Dur to collaborate with me on the visuals for tonight’s set at Johnny Brenda’s.

TK: Tonight, you’re playing with Mouse on Mars, one of your favorite electronic bands. What about them do you dig? Have they influenced your own writing?

CP: Mouse On Mars is the reason I make electronic music. They have always been so far ahead of the curve, it’s dizzying. This last record MOM released is rhythmically compelling, and compositionally adventurous – the sonic landscape shifts though rhythms and melodies so quickly, it always sounds fresh. They have profoundly influenced my writing, performing, and how I approach music overall. Simply put, they’re my musical heroes.

Spaceship Aloha performs tonight with Mouse on Mars at Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 North Frankford Avenue. The 21+ show begins at 9 p.m., tickets and more information can be found at the venue’s website.

Philadelphia’s Man Man are a band whose energy and enthusiasm are contagious. Everywhere they go, they rile crowds—but perhaps nowhere as much as in hometown Philly, where everyone knows a Man Man show is not just another concert but an event. Saturday night, the band closed out a month-long tour with a stop at Union Transfer, where they regaled the sold-out crowd with nearly two hours of zany, rock’n roll theatrics, complete with wailing, freak-outs, and Zappa-esque costume changes—that transformed the venue into a circus of moshing bodies and good vibes.

Front man Ryan “Honus Honus” Kattner, whose raspy vocal chords and manic delivery drive the band’s antics—bounded around stage like a man possessed, switching instruments and shoes regularly, and pounding out bar band grooves on his keyboard. Beside him, Chris “Pow Pow” Powell proved true to his nickname, plowing through tempo and key changes while navigating complex, orchestrated cacophony. And new members Shono Murphy and Adam Schatz—alongside Murder by Death’s Adam Turla—proved fully integrated slices of the bizarre, Man Man pizza, manning a slew of other instruments while contributing vocal harmonies and general wackiness.

The band’s massive set spanned its entire career, juxtaposing early songs like “Against the Peruvian Monster”—the first track off their debut LP The Man in a Blue Turban With a Face—with the title track to 2011’s Life Fantastic. The jaunty, witchy bounce of “Mister Jung Stuffed” had the crowd chanting along—and when it transitioned, seamlessly, into “Hurly/Burly” (which also follows on 2008’s Rabbit Habits), they shrieked and moshed even harder.

“Van Helsing Boombox” was a set highlight, Kattner’s saloon keys and raw vocals aping the impassioned howl of a broken down maniac—while the swinging, clappy “Piranha’s Club” had the crowd two-stepping with glee. Set closer “Engrish Bwudd” exploded with ferocity and oompah beats, the band wailing the fairy-tale-nightmare refrain, while teetering the whole time on the brink of derailment.

But if the old material proved zany and raucous, the new songs too landed with aplomb, and provided a welcome glimpse into the band’s forthcoming record. When I spoke to Kattner earlier this week, he shared that one goal of tour was to road-test new material—and indeed, Saturday night saw the Philly debut of three new songs, including a funky ditty called “Nobody Knows Where the Time Goes” (or so the lyrics stated) and a heart-breaking charmer with a refrain of “Hold on to Your Heart.” The latter in particular showcased a new, sensitive side to Man Man; Kattner hinted that the new record contains “some really beautiful songs,” and hearing “Hold on to Your Heart” has us more excited than ever for its release.

The band closed the night with an epic, five-song encore, propelling through squawking, indulgent renditions of “Steak Knives,” “Spider Cider,” “Bangkok Necktie,” and “Mayan Nights”—Kattner changing costumes with equal ferocity before emerging in a sparkly tunic for closer “Ice Dogs.” Energy levels sky-rocketed as the band danced as if on fire—a very fine ending to an evening of spectacle and rock’n roll.

Setlist
Feathers
Top Drawer
New song
Mister Jung Stuffed
New song: “Nobody Knows Where the Time Goes”
Hurly Burly
Haute Tropique
New Song: “Hold On to Your Heart”
Van Helsing Boombox
Piranha’s Club
Against the Peruvian Monster
Life Fantastic
Black Mission Goggles
Engrish Bwudd

Encore:
Steak Knives
Spider Cider
Bangkok Necktie
Mayan Nights
Ice Dogs / Young Einstein on the Beach

Indie shoegaze / pop outfit Beach Fossils headline Johnny Brenda’s tonight.  According to an interview with Village Voice, frontman Dustin Payseur wrote 75 songs for the band’s just-released LP Clash the Truth before paring that number down to the fourteen found on the tracklist.  The final version of the album floats from basement-y shoegazing punk to gauzy pop, all within the sublime confines of a beachy vibe.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with local bass / drum duo Heavy Medical can be found here.  Stream the title track from Clash the Truth below.

This week’s Unlocked feature with Penrose culminates tonight with a show at Underground Arts. The local blues / rock trio is celebrating the release of Circe, an album steeped in Greek mythology and blues traditions dealing with existential and philosophical themes.  Recorded with Bill Moriarty, Circe is the band’s second full-length, following up 2010′s Devil’s Grip.  Learn more about what went into making the record in our interview with the brothers here, then read the review here.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Levee Drivers, The Lawsuits and St. James & The Apostles can be found here.  Stream and download “Life of Mud” from the new LP below.

• Life of Mudby Penrose from CirceDownload

Erykah Badu will perform her debut album Baduizm at The Electric Factory tonight.  The soul / jazz singer-songwriter and activist was a prominent member of the Soulquarians in New York alongside Questlove, Robert Glasper and Bilal and she is credited with sparking the neo-soul genre with her first record, for which she won two Grammy Awards in 1998.  Badu’s most recent release was 2010′s New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh).  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show can be found here.  Watch the video for “On & On” from Baduizm below.

In many ways, you could argue, Philadelphia’s Man Man are like the zany heart of the local scene. Throughout the years, we’ve watched them grow: from a ramshackle league of whooping, circus gypsies—to the nuanced and creative band who released 2011’s Life Fantastic. And during this time, the band never failed to disappoint, regaling us with some of the most fun, colorful and memorable shows we’ve seen, and a sense of humor and energy that’s contagious.

Now, the band is getting ready to release its fifth record this summer, which features new Man Man members (Man Men?) Shono Murphy and Adam “Brown Sugar” Schatz, along with vets Ryan Kattner and Chris Powell. But first, they’re completing a month-long tour, which they’ll celebrate with an epic closing show this Saturday at Union Transfer. We caught up with front man Kattner (aka “Honus Honus”) ahead of time—to talk faking death, tea, and what fans can expect when Man Man rolls into town.

The Key: So, you guys have a new record coming out this summer, which you describe as a natural progression from Life Fantastic. Will we get to hear these songs live at Union Transfer?

Ryan Kattner: Yeah! Part of this tour was being able to take these new ditties and road-test them and see how they do.

TK: What has the response been like so far?

RK: It’s been awesome! They’re definitely different [from older material.] But they feel like this band. We’re forever gonna be anchored by my rusty throat (laughs).

TK: If you could describe the new record in one sentence or less, how would you describe it?

RK: I’d say it’s… refreshingly beautiful and strange.

TK: Well you have certainly piqued my interest! (Laughs.) So we all know that Man Man is known for being crazy and wacky on stage—but how do you prepare for a show behind the scenes? Are there any band traditions or rituals you like to partake in?

RK: We do nice, soothing, rosemary-huffing sessions—that’s boiled water with rosemary leaves and a towel over the head. We actually planned on doing this for the whole tour—but then we did it for one show and we realized that the rosemary had gone bad. So we were huffing bad rosemary!

TK: That sounds terrible!  Do you need a special type of rosemary for huffing purposes, or is the regular grocery store type sufficient?

RK: Only organic rosemary. Or the stuff that grows off the side of a highway (laughs). I’ve never been a huge tea drinker, but we’ve been battling a flu epidemic this tour, so my composition now is like 1/3 green tea, and 1/3 broken glass (laughs.)

Actually, in a strange, messed-up way, it is fun. Well…perhaps not fun—but at least interesting—to begin a tour sick. Because then by the end, you feel like the phoenix rising. So that’s why we’re very psyched for this last week of shows—because we’ve hustled through it, and now it’s our triumphant return.

TK: I must admit I’m surprised to hear Man Man are tea-drinkers. I expected you to tell me you all do shots and cartwheels.

RK: (laughs). Well, the rosemary tea is puffed out of the gutted-out gully of a pig. And you know… whiskey is part of our DNA. But we don’t have to tell kids that.

via Kattner’s instagram

TK: So…we’ve been following you on Instagram, and we must admit: we’re a little concerned about all your near-death experiences/ resurrections from the dead. Where did you come up with the idea for the dead guy meme? Is this a hint towards the new record’s theme?

RK: It’s just something I’ve been doing it for years. It doesn’t relate directly to anything in particular. The new record is not about aliens and me dying. (pauses) I’m sure there are about 10 stoners out there who will be really sad to hear that. (laughs) Really, it’s just us finding some levity on tour—especially in the winter, doing the same thing every day, it can feel a little like [Bill Murray's classic flick] Groundhog Day. It’s just a way to blow off steam. Also, I’m all about dying. And the Man Man detractors—if they can get a smile from seeing a picture of me dead—well, that just brings an ET-like glow to my chest.

TK: Aww, how sweet. So Philly is the last night on this tour. What are you looking forward to most about coming home?

RK: Well, we love playing Union Transfer, so we’re definitely psyched about that. I’m glad the tour can end in Philly instead of starting here. We have new players in the band, and this is their maiden voyage with us. So we’re happy that we were able to work out any kinks on the road and get used to playing together, and then share this new band with Philly. Mostly though, we just want kids to come out to our show. Not just to see the new material either—for this tour, we’re digging out songs we haven’t played in years. There will be stuff that spans all of our records. It’s refreshing. We’re really excited about it.

TK: We’re really excited too!  So besides the show, what’s coming up next for you?

RK:  So we have the new record coming up—which Chris [Powell] and I mixed with [famed producer Mike] Mogis in Omaha. It’s actually been kind of hellaciously hectic and not ideal—we had to mix the record while we were on the road. It was definitely not easy, but it helped that we worked with someone as brilliant as Mogis—we knew we could trust him to make sure it worked. But it is really tough to listen to the mixes when you’re in a tour van, or at a rock club, and have to make that call. But now it’s mixed, so we just have to sequence it, and get the art work squared away.  I’m really excited hearing the record, just knowing where my head was at when we recorded, and where my heart was at. There are some really beautiful songs on this record. I’m excited to unleash it on the world.

TK: We’re super pumped to hear it!

Man Man play Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden Street, Saturday, March 2 with Murder by Death and Northern Arms. The all-ages show begins at 8 p.m. and admission is $20; more information can be found at the venue’s website.

Fayetteville NC’s Steven A. Clark is something of a “bedroom R&B” artist. Until that sunny day in late September, he had barely worked with others, and he certainly had little experience fronting a group of actual musicians. He arrived at Miner Street Recordings that morning with no instrument in hand, no cases full of equipment – just his song, “Bounty” and a voice to sing it.

Watch the episode below and download “Bounty” from Shaking Through’s Bandcamp page here.

Shaking Through: Recording Steven A. Clark from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Honus Honus cautions audiences not to expect “Life Fantastic 2.0,” but that the album will be a “natural progression.” Honus notes, “I can’t write the same songs I did when I was 23. It would be a disservice to me and anyone who enjoys what we do.”

Man Man play Union Transfer on Saturday, March 2nd.

Photo by Peter English

Tim, whose music has run the gamut of genres, shares one simple goal with Powell: to make art and to have fun doing it. The two came together at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia to record “Punch Drunk” – a thumping hip-hop track, true to its own name. What none of us could have expected, however, was that by the time the day was finished, this Shaking Through recording session would give birth to a new project, a collaboration with a life of its own. That’s right – this final episode of 2012 captures not only the birth of a song… here we have the birth of whole new musical project called Grant$.

Watch the video for “Punch Drunk” below, and get the track at Shaking Through’s Bandcamp page. While you’re there, download the entire new Shaking Through Volume 3 for free.

Shaking Through : Grant$ from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Ginger Baker

There’s a point in Jay Bulger’s compelling documentary Beware of Mr. Baker where the filmmaker sits down with Eric Clapton and asks him to pit Cream drummer Ginger Baker against his rock contemporaries – John Bonham, Keith Moon. Clapton makes a sour, disgusted face, and immediately dismisses the notion that they’re even on the same plane. Baker, he explains, didn’t just bang things with sticks. Baker understands music, arrangement, dynamics. This immediately made me think of one of the best rock drummers in present-day Philadelphia – Chris Powell of avant-garde indie luminaries Man Man, as well as side projects Adventuredrum and Spaceship Aloha. Powell is someone who you could watch perform and think, wow, that’s one tripped-out percussionist. But those paying attention can also quickly pick up on the nuances of his playing, his imaginative arrangements and attention to detail.

With Beware of Mr. Baker opening at the Philadelphia Film Festival with a screening tonight at West Philly’s Rave Theater, and another one on Sunday at the Ritz East, I decided to get Powell’s take on this drummer whose career bridged rock, jazz and African percussion – as well as polo, drug addition and no shortage of emotional and domestic troubles. We each watched the film, and met up last night to compare notes. Powell observed the similarities between Baker’s untamed red beard and Animal from The Muppets. We pondered Clapton’s skepticism of rockers who die young. “It’s like you’re preserved in amber,” Powell said in agreement. “You don’t have to deal with real life – things like trends changing, or the music business changing, or navigating a career in an industry that mostly wants young people.” And we had a wide-ranging discussion on this dynamic portrayal of a fascinating figure in contemporary music, which you can read below.

Chris Powell performs with Man Man | Photo by Laura Jane Brubaker

The Key: As a non-musician watching the movie, I responded to Ginger Baker as a versatile drummer but also a fascinating personality. As a drummer, what was your take?

Chris Powell: You know how there’s certain bands you like, and if you really connect to it, that’s when the digging starts? I never really connected with Ginger Baker that way, probably because I never really liked Cream that much. So definitely his personality was pretty shocking, I had no idea it was how he was, manic or whatever. I didn’t know about his background in jazz. Which is funny because Mitch Mitchell, for example, he played with Hendrix, and he’s one of my favorite drummers. Hendrix had a rock band essentially, and Mitchell was a jazz drummer who was doing the rock thing. But I didn’t know the extent to which Ginger Baker was actually straight up a jazz drummer.

TK: It was neat to see this period towards the beginning of rock, where the people who were playing in bands are really schooled people. Not that people today aren’t…

CP: They’re not! A lot of them aren’t.

TK: But in a pre-punk era, its interesting how, wow, a lot of these people seriously know their stuff.

CP:I feel like this comes up pretty regularly, just because of the roots of music in America and those Big Bands. If that’s when you grew up, that’s what you know. You know jazz, because that’s kind of all there was, and you had to take your pick form all these really brilliant bands. Regardless of the arrangements, and what your taste is, you’re around nothing but pure talent. So it created this situation where, at the beginning of rock and roll, there’s just these brilliant players. They could totally play this rock stuff, yeah, but they are also dynamite musicians. It was also really funny to hear him talk smack about John Bonaham and Keith Moon. I was like wow, no shit!

TK: Yeah! That description of Ginger’s playing – where he seems all unbridled, but unlike those guys, he actually knows a lot about music and arrangement…

CP: He’s actually a really musical player. It’s interesting because when they were talking about his influences – how he heard Max Roach playing drums and connected to it instantly – for me, it was the same drummer. When I heard Max Roach, it all made sense. That’s what I want to do with drums. I don’t want to just hit them because, up until hearing that, I was just getting coordination going. When I heard Max Roach, I was like wow, it sounds like a piano. It’s musical, it’s all about arranging, about this whole world of what you can do on the drums so you’re not just hitting them like Keith Moon, who’s just bashing the shit out of them. And I have to say, I never liked Keith Moon because of that. It’s a one-trick pony. But you think about Bonham on the other hand, and the drum solo in “Moby Dick” – that actually references Max Roach, a track called “The Drum Also Waltzes.” So I thought it was funny that Ginger Baker was also talking shit on Bonham. I thought Bonham was a really musical player.

TK: Another thing I took from the movie as a non-drummer was probably the best description I’ve ever heard of the thing drummers call independent limb coordination – and how Baker’s not really playing as fast as it sounds like he’s playing. For you as a drummer, how long did it take you to get to that point?

CP: As soon as you get the gist of how jazz works, and wrap your head around all that coordination you realize how all the different limbs can do different things. Then you can start doing some really fun, syncopated, coordinated stuff on the different limbs. It can be really simple, but the combo all of a sudden sounds like this big wild thing. But it’s just four parts that are pretty simple in a lot of cases, but when they’re all doing something different, it sounds really exciting .

TK: What did you think about John Lydon’s take on Ginger Baker as a character? How his music was fueled by his personality, and when the music is this spectacular, he can’t question what it took to make it…

CP:  That’s always a weird thing, right? With musicians, bands, artists. A lot of people who we really enjoy their art and enjoy their music, they actually do things that when you actually get down to us as individuals, and what our morals are, you get to thinking “Wow, I would never that in a million years. That dude rolls like that? Holy shit.” But if you’d never found out, you would have enjoyed it. People do all sorts of really dumb shit, but strangely they give this gift to the world. Not to get all deep or whatever, but straight up, they create this thing that’s a gift to the world, that everybody gets to share and enjoy, and they can be total dickheads. It’s funny how that works.

TK: Do you think is it better not to know more? Like with Mitch Mitchell for example, would you want to find out…

CP: Yeah, no, I’m good! For me, his drums are like gospel, that’s the jam. That shit is brilliant to me, and I’m leaving it at that.

TK: If you can think about this movie without your drummer hat on, how would you see it?

CP: It’s a story that has all these ups and down, but it makes for a really fascinating life story. People have their different legacies that they leave, and his certainly has more drama than your average person. It’s funny ‘cause I I watched it with my wife, and of course I was on the end of listening for information on who he played with, and their background, and she got to take it in as, well, he’s this dude. It’s the story of a dude, and not so much this amazing drummer. This movie actually does both of those things really well.

Beware of Mr. Baker opens tonight at the Philadelphia Film Festival with a show at Rave Theater at 5 p.m., and also screens Sunday, October 21, at the Ritz East at 9:40 p.m. Tickets and information at the festival website.

Charles Cohen and Hair Loss perform at The Switched-On Garden 001 | Photo by Paul Gargagliano| www.paulgphotog.com

Experimental electronic music label Data Garden celebrated its launch one year ago this weekend by transforming Bartram’s Garden, the botanical garden in West Philadelphia, into an interactive art exhibit called The Switched-On Garden. There were numerous sound installations located throughout the park, and live performances by the musicians whose recordings made up the label’s first releases. This Sunday, to mark its one-year anniversary and to unleash a new batch of albums, Data Garden returns to Bartram’s for The Switched-On Garden 002.

Like last year, the goal is “to explore the relationship between plants, music and technology.” Over a few slices of pizza, Data Garden co-founder Joe Patitucci tries to explain to me what exactly that means. “We want to create an expression of our values that will make a statement about who we are as a label,” he says. “We don’t want to have a traditional record release show at a bar, because that’s not what we’re all about. Instead, we’re creating a place where people can go outside, get together, and experience nature and electronic music at the same time.”

As a label, Data Garden’s first order of business is to practice an environmentally progressive mode of releasing music. CDs and vinyl are out of the question, but Patitucci and co. also understand the fact that humans have a fondness for physical objects. So the challenge is to release music in a way that includes something people can hold in their hands, but also doesn’t bring unnecessary, harmful waste into the world. The solution? Data Garden’s catalog is sold mp3 format, the download code included in seed-paper packaging, and each album includes seed packets. Once the music has been downloaded, the seed paper album art and seed packets can be thrown into the ground and (ideally) a living plant will eventually pop up.

KING BRITT 10:10 REHEARSAL x DATA GARDEN from King Britt on Vimeo.

King Britt, the DJ, producer and former Pew Fellow who has worked with Digable Planets and was one half of the electronic duo Saturn Never Sleeps, is one of Sunday’s live performers who has a new album coming out on Data Garden. Titled The Bee & The Stamen, and comparable to the music of Boards of Canada and Tim Hecker, King Britt sonically charts the journey of a bee through the process of pollination. It’s a predominantly contemplative listening experience, adrift with ambient and serene sounds, but as Britt zooms in closer on his subject, the result is often haunted and always captivating.

Also performing on Sunday is Christopher Powell (Man Man, Adventuredrum), who, under the name Spaceship Aloha, is releasing Universe Mahalo: Volume 1. The 10 propulsive, melodic and frantic tunes are the perfect soundtrack to an all-night Maui Luau in the year 3031, where aliens dance with robots and humans dance with holograms. “This project is a personal sonic re-invention of sorts via electronic rhythm boxes, sampled YouTube bright spots, restructured YouTube dregs, environment sound sources, customized synths, and the obsession to start a party with a good beat,” says Powell. “The live show will have elements of structured rhythms and melodic themes that will be improvised and/or re-contextualized on the spot to guarantee moments of discovery for all of us, performer and listener alike.”

Photo by Paul Gargagliano| www.paulgphotog.com

One of the seven so-called “bio-interactive sound installations” that will be spread out across Bartram’s Gardens 46 acres will be Leslie Zacharkow and Kyle Stetz’s “Flora Catalogus.” “It involves outfitting a single tree with an array of hanging speakers and a microphone,” explains Stetz. “As visitors interact with the tree, it will cull their sounds and organize them into an interactive audio collage. We encourage people to talk and sing to the tree, which will then use their voices as food for its own musical exploration.”

That’s what The Switched-On Garden’s all about, namely playing with dominant ideas of nature and technology, and blurring the line between the two. “We want to engage people on multiple levels, and encourage them to have new experiences they won’t have anywhere else,” says Patitucci. “The Switched-On Garden is an environment—a new world—where the sum of all this very strange stuff actually makes sense. All people have to do is be curious.”

The Switched-On Garden opens at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14 at Bartram’s Garden, 54th Street & Lindbergh.

Some of the featured performers for this year include headliner Man Man, as well as Blayer Point Dujour and the Rockers Galore, The Spinning Leaves, The Great Unknown, Lushlife, and many more.

If you’re planning on not staying too late in Northern Liberties, head over to World Cafe Live to see Steve Kimock‘s Summer Tour. Kimock is known for his improvisational stylings ranging from jazz to world fusion to funk and anything that inspires him at the time. He will be performing tonight along with Bernie Worrell. The show starts at 8 p.m., tickets are $20-30. Below watch a short video preview of the tour.

Blast to the past! Look back to 1995 when wearing plaid outfits was hip and boy bands were popular. Some of the all stars of decade will be featured in Party in Fairmount Park, including New Edition, Salt-n-Pepa, and El Debarge. Tickets to the show at The Mann Center range from $39.75-125; doors open at 6 p.m.

The music portion of the day-long festival – which will also showcase local arts, crafts, and food vendors – takes place on the stage of the Piazza at Schmidt‘s, and is presented in conjunction with the Philadelphia Folksong Society. The initial lineup announced today includes:

Man Man
The Great Unknown
The Spinning Leaves
Blayer Pointdujour & The Rockers Galore
Auctioneer
Chris Kasper
The Kalob Griffin Band
The Doublewides
KC Jones
Norman Taylor
Mikey Jr.
DJ Matt Beck

Watch our Key Studio Video session with Blayer PointduJour and the Rockers Galore below.

Key Studio Sessions #2 – Blayer PointduJour & Rockers Galore from WXPN FM on Vimeo.

1. Man Man, Life Fantastic (Anti-) Listen to Mister Heavenly’s interview and performance on XPN2

• Pineapple Girlby Man Man from Life FantasticDownload

2. The War On Drugs, Slave Ambient  (Secretly Canadian) Listen to The War On Drugs’ Key Studio Session

3. Hoots And Hellmouth, Salt (self-released)

4. Work Drugs, Aurora Lies (Bobby Cahn Records)

5. Music For Headphones, Life.In.Mono

• Pineapple Girlby Mister Heavenly from their XPN2 Studio Session, November 4th, 2011Download

Kattner’s voice is a skidding, abrasive rumble that jars against Thorburn’s amiable yelp. Kattner occasionally manages to cajole his growling tones into something like the croon needed to narrate bouncing duets full of whistles and plinking, twinkly riffs. He navigates honeyed verses like “Her lips are like ships to sail right through the thoughts that you harbor” with surprising dexterity—though on the closing track, “Wise Men,” an unfortunate lyric (“I’m cracking like a coconut”) elicits winces, especially as it’s relayed via Kattner’s rasp. Kattner’s talents are best tailored to “I Am A Hologram,” where he commandeers the chorus’ rhyming, timely couplet and makes the song his own.

Thorburn and Kattner share vocal duties for most of the album, trading off like they’re the only subs in a one-person game. The combination can be almost lovely: “Your Girl” charms despite (or perhaps because of) its weird amalgam of cute come-ons and veiled threats, and you’ll find the melody from “Wise Men” replaying in your head hours later, lodged there seemingly permanently. And then there’s “Pineapple Girl,” which takes as its subject the strange correspondence struck up between notorious Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and then ten-year-old American Sarah York in 1988. Thorburn channels Noriega: “I’m not a mean one, I’m just another leader,” while Kattner plays the part of the little girl: “I don’t desire to be a clueless creature.” With its disconcerting theme and unorthodox casting, “Pineapple Girl” is the last thing you’d expect it to be: sweet.

Out Of Love falters when it fails to successfully integrate its opposing influences. Opener “Bronx Sniper,” for example, is a fuzzy, fairly standard rocker with a lilting intro affixed awkwardly to the beginning. “Doom-Wop” is a jumble of out-of-tune vocals, squealing reverb and a dull, pounding beat. “Harm You” suffers from the same split-personality ailment as “Mister Heavenly,” divided as it is between a snarling, spitting verse and a delicate refrain.

On “Harm You,” Thorburn sings, “I’m in love with the myth of who made you.” It’s an appropriate notion for a band billed as an “indie super-group.” There’s always more expected when there are branded names in the liner notes, and history is littered with the botched attempts at famous collaboration that are so much less than the sum of their parts. Mister Heavenly’s Out Of Love has its missteps, but it’s worth listening to for its flashes of brilliance

Out Of Love will be released on August 16th via Sub Pop; click here to stream it in full. You can also listen to “Pineapple Girl” below.

Mister Heavenly – Pineapple Girl by subpop

Raise Your Voice! is being offered as a free download to all advocates of public broadcasting. All you have to do is visit RYVoice.org and enter your email and zip code. You’ll then be able to download the album, and you’ll also have the option to share it with your friends and social networks. It will be available for a limited time only, so grab it while you can.

The album features a variety of artists, including local Philly acts Man Man and Dr. Dog. Also included are XPN favorites Booker T. and Neko Case. A full tracklist is below. Again, head over to RYVoice.org to support public radio and download the free compilation.

Raise Your Voice! tracklist:

1. Tom Waits – Make It Rain
2. Wilco – I Might
3. Lost In The Trees – Song For The Painter
4. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
5. Market Irglova – Go Back
6. Booker T. Jones – Progress
7. Tinariwen – Tenere Taqqim Tossam
8. Man Man – Life Fantastic
9. Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
10. Jolie Holland – Gold And Yellow
11. William Elliott Whitmore – Everything Gets Gone
12. Sean Rowe – Wet
13. Dr. Dog – Mirror, Mirror
14. Joe Henry – Odetta
15. Devotchka – All The Sand In All The Sea
16. The Swell Season – Low Rising

Philadelphia-based Man Man will be bringing one of their wild live performances to the Trocadero on August 5th. The experimental indie group is touring in support of its fourth studio album, Life Fantastic, which was released on May 10th. The widely lauded and well-produced album is the group’s first LP since 2008, and possesses a strange beauty that we can’t wait to see translated onto the stage.

XPN’s Bruce Warren sat down with Man Man’s Ryan Kattner at the Roots Picnic last month; you can listen to the interview here via the XPN media player.

Listen/download to the title track from Life Fantastic below (via Stereogum).

• Life Fantasticby Man ManDownload

Man Man performs with the West Philadelphia Orchestra on August 5th at 8 p.m. at the Trocadero; tickets to the all-ages show are $18.50.

Thursday
Sleigh Bells: Sleigh Bells’ recent sold-out show in Philly had the Trocadero pulsing with sound and dancing bodies, but that was nothing compared to Thursday’s Bonnaroo performance at the Other Tent. The booming bass from the opening night show could be heard throughout the entire farm, and people were packed in and around the tent. Alexis Krauss kept the crowd hyped up the entire time despite the fact that few could even see her as she shouted Bonnaroo’s praises and belted Sleigh Bells’ trademark cheerleader-pop-rock anthems. Guitarist Derek Miller provided support to the increasingly hard set, which culminated in Krauss diving into the delighted crowd.

Friday highlights: Givers, Florence And The Machine, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, Pretty Lights, Ratatat

Saturday:
Chiddy Bang: Fresh off the release of their latest mixtape Peanut Butter and Swelly, Philadelphia natives Chiddy Bang took to the stage of This Tent on Saturday afternoon. The 15-track mixtape blew up the blogosphere, so it was no surprise to find a large, youthful crowd spilling out of the tent despite the sweltering 3:30pm heat. Composed of rapper Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege and drummer/beatmaker Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin, the hip-hop duo played a set that spanned their young yet eventful career. Most of the material came from 2009’s breakout mixtape The Swelly Express as well as PB&S, and the set also featured a preview performance of their new single “Manners.” The most ambitious aspect of the show came when Xaphoon took the mic to gather numerous freestyle topics from the crowd for Chiddy to rap about. Although the audience became antsy during the long collection process, they immediately reengaged when the Guinness World Record holder for longest freestyle began to adeptly rap about Bonnaroo, Pokemon, and a crowd-pleasing detestation for LeBron James. Peanut Butter and Swelly was released as a prequel to Chiddy Bang’s debut full-length effort Breakfast, which is expected later this year. Until then, check out this video that Bonnaroo released of the duo performing the new single. The quality is a little low, but the energy is there and you can still get the idea.

Man Man: Following Chiddy Bang, the Philadelphia music continued at This Tent with a performance by experimental rockers Man Man. Known for its wild live performances, the multi-instrumentalist quintet continued in this tradition wearing matching outfits and face paint, and playing an unpredictable and diverse set. While hard to see exactly what instruments the members were playing, everything from keyboards to harmonica to eccentric drums could be heard. The hour-plus show featured tracks primarily from the group’s first three albums, despite its recent May release of the LP Life Fantastic. Although people wandered in and out of the tent throughout the performance, there was always a decent-sized crowd grooving to the slightly spastic set. In the day or so following the show, many overheard conversations made it clear that Man Man had established numerous new fans for itself.

Sunday
Beirut: Perhaps the most challenging scheduling conflict of this year’s Bonnaroo was on Sunday evening, when Beirut, The Strokes, and Explosions In The Sky were all slated to perform within an hour of one another. Beirut was the first to begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Other Tent, and a late start time had some attendees feeling anxious while other devoted fans waited patiently. However, as soon as the set began, the crowd that had stayed realized they had made the right choice. Zach Condon and Co. opened with “The Concubine” from 2009’s double EP March Of The Zapotec/Holland, and continued into a set that included older favorites as well as plenty of new material from their upcoming August release The Rip Tide. Rainbow-colored lights filled the tent as horns and strings soared and bellowed beneath Condon’s soulful Balkan vocals. Once, as Condon began the lyrics to “Elephant Gun,” he stopped to laugh, apparently overwhelmed by the positive atmosphere. The crowd joined him wholeheartedly, and then began to sing along with full force. Everyone happily bobbed and swayed as a breeze finally provided relief from the oppressive heat that had been present all weekend. The tranquil atmosphere at the show synced perfectly with Beirut’s exquisitely layered songs, making for one of the paramount experiences of the festival.

Other Sunday highlights: Iron & Wine, Robyn, Cold War Kids, The Strokes, Explosions In The Sky

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/15/recap-bonnaroo-2011/feed/ 0 http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/08/wxpns-bruce-warren-interviews-man-mans-ryan-kattner-at-the-roots-picnic/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/08/wxpns-bruce-warren-interviews-man-mans-ryan-kattner-at-the-roots-picnic/#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:21:34 +0000 The Key http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=13183

You can listen to Bruce’s interview with Ryan here via the XPN Media Player; for more photos by Eric Ashleigh, visit eashleigh.com.

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/08/wxpns-bruce-warren-interviews-man-mans-ryan-kattner-at-the-roots-picnic/feed/ 0 http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/03/mister-heavenlys-debut-record-due-out-august-16th-download-pineapple-girl/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/03/mister-heavenlys-debut-record-due-out-august-16th-download-pineapple-girl/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:32:26 +0000 Bruce Warren http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=12704 A release date has been set for the debut album by Mister Heavenly, the band that features Nick Thorburn (Islands/The Unicorns), Joe Plummer (of Modest Mouse), and Ryan Kattner (of Philly’s Man Man). The album, Out Of Love will be released August 16th on Sub Pop Records. No tour dates have been announced yet. However, Man Man just released their new album Life Fantastic and will perform tomorrow at the Roots Picnic.

• Pineapple Girlby Mister Heavenly from Out Of LoveDownload

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/06/03/mister-heavenlys-debut-record-due-out-august-16th-download-pineapple-girl/feed/ 0 http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/05/03/man-mans-new-album-life-fantastic-now-streaming-at-stereogum/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/05/03/man-mans-new-album-life-fantastic-now-streaming-at-stereogum/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 18:36:47 +0000 The Key http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=11347
Stereogum loves some Man Man. The website has had continuous coverage regarding the album, including an interview, info about the release date, and free streams of a couple of tracks. Well, now they’ve got the whole album available via streaming audio. You can give it a listen here.

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2011/05/03/man-mans-new-album-life-fantastic-now-streaming-at-stereogum/feed/ 0