PhilaMOCA

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April 23, 2013 | 9:42 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Ari Hoenig with Loop 2.4.3. at World Cafe Live, Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA, and Liz Longley at Burlap and Bean

arihoenig Ari Hoenig and Loop 2.4.3. will help celebrate the Philly Drum Project‘s first anniversary tonight at World Cafe Live.  Working with locally and nationally known drummers, Philly Drum Project hosts monthly meet ups where percussionists can trade tips, check out gear, set up gigs and participate in workshops with the likes of Eric Slick and Chuck Treece.  Tonight’s event features a trio led by Hoenig, a Philadelphia native who has worked with many influential musicians including Pat Metheny and Wynton Marsalis.  Also on hand are Brooklyn percussion duo Loop 2.4.3., currently on tour in support of their 2012 LP American Dreamland.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here.  Below, watch Hoenig perform “The Way You Look Tonight” with his band.

Cinedelphia Film Festival‘s month of curating Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA continues tonight with a screening of Loud! Fast! Philly!.  With its rare footage from the early 80s through today, the film uncovers and recalls Philadelphia’s hardcore punk history through the lens of bands and fans that were (and are) integral parts of the cultural environment.  Bands featured in Loud! Fast! Philly! include The Dead Milkmen, McRad, Decontrol and more – check out a preview of the film below.  Tickets and information for the 10:30 p.m. and showing can be found here (8:00 p.m. is sold out).

Liz Longley performs at Burlap and Bean tonight. Although now living in Nashville, Tennessee, the singer/songwriter is a Philadelphia native and will be coming home to play some of her songs in anticipation of her upcoming album entitled Liz Longley, and her new single “This Is Not The End” released on April 16th available through iTunes. She has also been The Local Pick Of The Day back in October 2010 with her song “Free”. Longley will be touring steadily through April, May, and June throughout the US. Tickets and information for the all-ages show with Seth Glier can be found here. Below, watch an acoustic session with Liz Longley playing her new single “This Is Not The End” from her upcoming album Liz Longley.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Scene, Ari Hoenig, Cinedelphia's Tuesday Tune Out, Liz Longley, Loop 2.4.3., PhilaMOCA, Philly Drum Project, Tuesday Tune-Out, World Cafe Live
April 22, 2013 | 10:00 AM | By

Interview: Pattern is Movement’s Chris Ward on mixing music with film, literally (album screening party at PhilaMOCA on 4/30)

Pattern Is Movement | Photo by John Vettese

Pattern Is Movement | Photo by John Vettese

When Philly experimental rock duo Pattern is Movement went into the studio to record its first album in five years, the pressure was on. Keyboardist-singer Andrew Thiboldeaux and drummer Chris Ward wanted to make sure whatever they did held up to their revered past work. And Ward, who worked on the record as a performer and in post-production, came up with an innovative method to test the music out. On Tuesday the 30th, PiM is throwing what they’re calling an album screening at PhilaMOCA for Cinedelphia’s Tuesday Tune-Out. Basically, the free event will be an album listening party – the guys aren’t actually performing live – where the public can hear PiM’s as-yet untitled new album for the first time, with visuals care of P.T. Anderson’s dark western There Will Be Blood. After the album plays, Thiboldeaux, Ward and producer Dave Downham will take part in a Q&A moderated by Weathervane Music‘s Peter English – to get details. Last week I caught up with Ward over Google Chat – he was on the tail end of his tour drumming for Strand of Oaks and opening for Phosphorescent. Find out more in our interview below, and see what’s in store / hear some brand new Pattern music in this event trailer.

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FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Interviews, Chris Ward, Pattern Is Movement, PhilaMOCA
April 17, 2013 | 4:30 PM | By

Interview: Joseph Gervasi of LOUD! FAST! PHILLY! A Video History of Philly Punk (premiering April 23 as part of the Cinedelphia Film Fest)

loud-fast-philly

Joseph A. Gervasi has been a mainstay in the Philly DIY scene for more than two and a half decades now, between his work with ’90s punk promotion agency the Cabbage Collective and DIY film companies Exhumed Films and Diabolik DVD (in addition to countless other forays). For his latest project, LOUD! FAST! PHILLY!, he combines his dual loves of music and film to explore and document Philly’s hardcore punk scene from the 1970′s to today. The result is a project presented in two parts: a screening of rare punk footage, which will be supplemented live with commentary from different members of the scene—and a still-growing audio archive of intimate, unedited interviews between Gervasi and myriad interviewees—discussing memorable shows, experiences  and what the punk scene meant to them. Gervasi will post a new interview every day throughout the month of April; each interview will be accompanied by two portraits of the subject by photographer Karen Kirchhoff. The screening and live commentary will take place on Tuesday, April 23 at PhilaMOCA, as part of the Cinedelphia Film Festival.

Though the project is retrospective in nature, Gervasi explains that it is not a documentary—a film that employs interviews and footage to prove a thesis. Rather, LOUD! FAST! PHILLY! aims instead to present simply the facts, while eschewing nostalgia and avoiding revisionist history. I caught up with Gervasi to find out more about the project’s evolution and goals—and where he thinks the Philly punk scene is headed in 2013. In keeping with Gervasi’s own conventions, I present the entire interview unedited.  Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Interviews, Cinedelphia Festival, Joseph Gervasi, PhilaMOCA
April 16, 2013 | 11:00 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Farquar Muckenfuss (and The Monkees’ Head!) at PhilaMOCA for Tuesday Tune-Out, Oh Bree at North Star Bar

FMPsych pop absurdists Farquar Muckenfuss play PhilaMOCA tonight for Cinedelphia’s ongoing Tuesday Tune-Out series. Featuring members of Mercury Radio Theater and The Dead Milkmen, the band will perform backed by footage from The Monkees footage, followed by the cult favorite Monkees film Head. Admission to the all ages show is $5 at the door, more information at the venues’s website. Below, watch Davy Jones in the famous “Daddy’s Song” dance scene from Head.

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FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Farquar Muckenfuss, North Star Bar, Oh Bree, PhilaMOCA
April 15, 2013 | 11:53 AM | By

Rediscovering UK post-punkers The Monochrome Set in six songs (playing PhilaMOCA on 5/30)

coletttemsetnyc1980_2Stylish post-punk, pre-new wave UK outfit The Monochrome Set has long been on my list of influential artists of yesteryear to dig more deeply into. With the 2012 release of its tenth studio album, Platinum Coils, and its first U.S. tour in 30 years just announced - including a stop at PhilaMOCA on the 30th of May – the time seemed as appropriate as ever.

The band formed in late 70s London after the dissolve of a formative group called The B-Sides. The frontman of that group, Stuart Goddard, went on to become Adam Ant; two of his mates, monickered Bid (offstage name Ganesh Seshadri) and Lester Square (Thomas W.B. Hardy), continued forth in a nervy and eclectic direction with The Monochrome Set.

Its ever-in-flux sound echoed the uneasiness and paranoia of contemporaries Television Personalities, Young Marble Giants and Wire, then evolved to bridge that world with the arty pop songwriting of XTC and The Smiths, and even the emerging twee sounds coming from The Vaselines. So, in general, they worked in tandem with lots of cool, revered artists, and paved the way for even more cool, revered artists. Check out a selection of music videos and audio tracks from the band’s vaults below, and get tickets and information for the band’s May 30th appearance at PhilaMOCA’s website.


“Eine Symphonie Des Grauens” – performed at Minneapolis’ M80 festival in 1979. This garagey number, released as an early 7″, mixes a loopy minor key eastern-influenced refrain with some sinewey guitars and a stomping beat. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Recordings, PhilaMOCA, The Monochrome Set
April 9, 2013 | 9:30 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Port St. Willow at Kung Fu Necktie, Divine Hand Ensemble at PhilaMOCA for Tuesday Tune Out, XPN Welcomes Mike “Slo Mo” Brenner to World Cafe Live

portstwillow_15april2011-9Portland’s Port St. Willow will be playing at the Kung Fu Necktie tonight. The band, formed by Nick Principe, has one release thus far – Even // Listen, released in November of 2010 – and has also been apart of Weathervane’s Shaking Through, where the band recorded their song named “Stay Even”. Primarily funneled through the musical talents of Principe, the sound bursts through with a heightened depth of melody. Although they have not released anything since their EP, they created quite an impact with “Stay Even” and the bright sound they created will join them on stage. Tickets and information for the 21 and up show with Our Griffins and Ben Seretan can be found here. Below, watch Port St. Willow’s recording experience with Shaking Through.

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FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, Scene, Divine Hand Ensemble, Kung Fu Necktie, Mike "Slo Mo" Brenner, PhilaMOCA, Port St. Willow, Tuesday Tune-Out, Weathervane's Shaking Through, World Cafe Live, XPN
April 2, 2013 | 6:52 PM | By

Guest VJ Eric Bresler previews Cinedelphia’s Tuesday Tune-Out lineup (begins tonight at PhilaMOCA)

Eric Bresler EraserheadWhen Eric Bresler took his post as director of programming at Philly performing arts space PhilaMOCA, he tried to think about creative ways the venue – which operates in a very do-it-yourself fashion – could raise money to sustain its unusual and unique programming. It doesn’t require memberships. It doesn’t charge more than $10 for most events. Bresler ultimately came up with the idea of the Tuesday Tune-Out, a film and music showcase and fundraiser – which, if you haven’t gathered from our monthly features on it, we’re massive fans of.

This month, the MOCA hosts its inaugural Cinedelphia film festival – we’ll tell you more about that in an indepth interview with Bresler tomorrow – and it lined up a hefty five weeks of Tune-Out programming. After nearly a year of featuring events at his venue, we’re thrilled to welcome Bresler to this space to talk about the music and movies in store. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30pm and are $5.

From Eric:

I always enjoy finding out about the personal interests of musicians that I like – the movies they watch, the places they hang out – so I thought it would be fun to invite a single musician or band every week who would perform and then screen a film of their choosing that somehow influenced their sound or approach towards making music.  Despite the crowds that PhilaMOCA events get, the city at large is still unaware of the space so I came up with the idea of rotating monthly curators as a means of introducing new segments of Philly’s populace to PhilaMOCA.  So the audience for, say, 8static is very different than the audience for BITBY or Folkadelphia, thus by the end of the month there are several bands that have played the space for the first time that have brought out their own crowds who may be visiting the space for the first time.  We’re really proud of the TTO series and seriously appreciate every guest curator and performer that has come out to support it. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, Scene, Divine Hand Ensemble, Farquar Muckenfuss, Pattern Is Movement, PhilaMOCA, Sweatheart, Tuesday Tune-Out