The latest edition of our Key Studio Sessions compilations is out today – now streamable and downloadable from Soundcloud!  Check out this year’s in-studio appearances with The Key Studio Sessions Vol. 7, including the down-tempo folk stylings of Waxahatchee, the thrashing punk of Pissed Jeans and the all-out rock jams of Ruby the Hatchet.  Thanks to production assistants Fred Knittel, Madeleine Lesperance, and Dan Malloy as well as photographers Rachel Del Sordo and Kate McCann, and videographers The Angry Mountain, HotBox Studios and Out of Town Films for sharing their work.

In advance of their upcoming debut full-length, local five-piece Oldermost dropped a download of two free tracks earlier this week. “Close to the Fire” and “Once I Left” display two distinct moods of the band, recalling dreamy Americana favorites My Morning Jacket and Lord Huron. Stream the songs below and download them on Oldermost’s Bandcamp here.

New Paradise Laboratories have announced that they will put their production of 27 back on the stage this spring.  The play takes a surreal and improvised look at music’s “27 Club” with portrayals of Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.  Narrator / musical accompanist Alec MacLaughlin stopped in the WXPN studios for an interview and improvisation session during the play’s run last fall – download his appearance below.

Tuesday’s My Morning Download featured Philly’s The Lawsuits and their new single “Onion.”  The track, and the album it will appear on, was recorded by Bill Moriarty.  With the release of Cool Cool Cool happening this summer, the band has some free time on their hands, which they will fill with a few shows next month – catch The Lawsuits at Johnny Brenda’s on May 3rd, at The Fire on May 5th and at Hard Rock Cafe on May 10th.  Tickets and information for all shows can be found here.  Download “Onion” here and check out the Key Studio Session version below.

• The Lawsuits - Onionby The Lawsuits from The Key Studio Sessions, March 6, 2013Download

Ruby the Hatchet stopped by to record this week’s Key Studio Session, reprising two songs from their wild Ouroboros album that was released last fall and previewing a new one, “Paralyzed,” which you can stream and download below.  The Angry Mountain was also on hand to capture the local band’s performance of “Paralyzed” on film.  Ruby the Hatchet will be at Kung Fu Necktie on April 25th – tickets and information can be found here.  Check out the full session here.

• Ruby the Hatchet - Paralyzedby Ruby the Hatchet from The Key Studio Sessions, April 17, 2013Download

Ruby The Hatchet “Paralyzed” from The Angry Mountain on Vimeo.

Local art rock outfit The Chairman Dances shared their new two song Michael and the Prophetess EP this week.  The free download is “a song cycle steeped in biblical language and set in a fictionalized 1950s era Brooklyn” and follows the band’s longer form concept efforts A Promise and Long Lost / A History of Iniquity.  The Chairman Dances will perform at Kung Fu Necktie on June 14th; tickets and information can be found here.

The music fit the scene outside – an intense torrent of hammering drums and swirling guitar riffs, with Jillian Taylor’s powerful vocal booming above the fray. It’s not music that celebrates aggression or destruction – just like a storm doesn’t necessarily have anything against you personally when it causes your basement to flood or makes trees fall on your roof – but it more provides a reflection of natural forces at work in an occasionally difficult world. But these are artists that can see the positive side too; the album I had cranked that September night, Ouroboros, takes its title from the mythological dragon eating its own tail, which metaphorically speaks to life moving in cycles. And for its part, Ruby the Hatchet donated proceeds from the record to Hurricane Sandy relief.

We have them in studio this week playing two amped up songs from Ouroboros – “Wicked Ones” and “The Lean” – as well as a brand new number, “Paralyzed,” a rager with a raucous Dead Weather / Motorhead drive to it. Check out the music below, and see a video of the band playing “Paralyzed” in our studio shot by Jeremy Quattlebaum and Sean Bolton of The Angry Mountain. As the band prepares its followup LP, you can catch them in concert next Thursday, April 25th at Kung Fu Necktie opening for the like-minded LA troupe The Warlocks. Tickets and information on the show can be found at the venue’s website.

• Paralyzedby Ruby the Hatchet from The Key Studio Sessions, April 17, 2013Download

• Wicked Onesby Ruby the Hatchet from The Key Studio Sessions, April 17, 2013Download

• The Leanby Ruby the Hatchet from The Key Studio Sessions, April 17, 2013Download

Ruby The Hatchet “Paralyzed” from The Angry Mountain on Vimeo.

Local alternative hip hop artist Bilal performs at World Cafe Live tonight.  A graduate of Philadelphia’s High School for Creative and Performing Arts, Bilal took his passions for jazz and songwriting to New York City where he fell into the company of The Roots, Erykah Badu and Mos Def.  A chance encounter with Aaron Comess of The Spin Doctors led to his first record deal and started Bilal on a path of putting out genre-defying music.  Tonight’s show is a record release event for Bilal’s upcoming full-length A Love Surreal, out through Purpose Music on February 26th.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show with Johnny Popcorn and Hezekiah can be found here.  Below, stream “West Side Girl” from the new album.

XPN welcomes the second night of the Northern Liberties Winter Music Festival to The Fire.  Tonight’s featured acts run the gamut of musical genres from the noise rock of New Jersey’s Ruby the Hatchet to the electro-pop of City Rain and the alt funk / rock of Black Stars.  Several of the bands are boasting new music, with Ruby the Hatchet’s excellent OUROBOROS out last fall and Asbury Park’s Brick & Mortar currently working on a new record.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show with Revolution, I Love You and Swear and Shake can be found here.  Below, watch Brick & Mortar’s video for “Bangs.”

Photo by Shawn Brackbill | ShawnBrackbill.com

Psych-thrashers Ruby the Hatchet headline tonight at MilkBoy Philly with Attic Dancers. Ruby the Hatchet features the heavy rock ‘n’ roll vocals of Asbury Park native Jillian Taylor surrounded by fuzzy riffs and clashing percussion, most recently captured on 2012′s OUROBOROS.  Attic Dancers are a relatively new local trio who released the ear-catching Carrier LP in April of 2012, mixing alt-rock foundations with psych/shoegaze-y layers.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here; below, watch Ruby the Hatchet’s video for “Black Tongue.”

Philly alt-folk five-piece Brethren headlines The Grape Room in Manayunk tonight. The band started out in 2010 making music very much informed by The Avett Brothers, but in the past two years have evolved in more of a refined pop / rock direction. Watch a video of the band recording the new song “Gone A Little Wrong” below, get more information on the show here.

But if you’re like me, you find best-of lists a little boring. I mean, they’re kind of a necessary evil, in terms of the cultural community putting the past 12 months into context. That said, after the fifty-billionth iteration they can almost become a chore to read and to put together. So for The Key’s year-in-review, we asked our trusted sources – our writers and photographers, XPN’s on-air staff, fellow bloggers in the Philly scene and even a few musicians – to send us their Top Five Whatevers. Could be the traditional music route – albums, songs, concerts of the year – or it could be only loosely connected.

We’ll be sharing these recaps every day through to the end of the year. Today, I’ll get things started with my top five Philly music discoveries of 2012. Coming across an exciting emerging musician I’ve never heard before is easily a highlight of my job, and there was no shortage of that this year. (See the incomplete honorable mention section.) With this list, though, I tried to focus on the less-discussed acts, the ones you won’t find on a show every weekend. Some artists hit the ground running this year, and that’s great – these artists are ones that are worth your time to seek out.

1. Radiator Hospital – I first caught this new-to-town, midwestern-bred act opening for Ted Leo at a West Philly basement show last month. Singer-songwriter Sam Cook-Parrot has an extensive discography, a lively homemade vibe along the lines of Half Japanese and Daniel Johnston, and an infectious and instantly likeable delivery. Bonus points for his Jarmels cover. Listen to “…You Call That A Kiss?!” below.

2. Family Vacation – This group of Temple students contacted me out of the blue this fall. They had not even played their first legit show and I was nonetheless floored. Jangley indie pop nicely informed by Youth Lagoon  and My Morning Jacket, lots of chemistry and a free EP to boot. Listen to “Winter’s Wind” below.

3. Citizen Xavier – This emerging Philly rapper has great taste, from rapping over a Teddy Pendergrass hook to his uber-nerdy Goonies-referencing video and song, “Reel Characters.” Even if he didn’t sample and namecheck great bits of music and film, his Erik B & Rakim big-beat stylings are a winner. Watch the video for “Left / Right” below.

4. The Sun Flights – A back-to-basics acoustic duo that doesn’t get lost in the typical folky trappings. There are no overlong songs, no overly dramatic presentations, no kind of heady musicological focus that might alienate a general audience. At the same time, they write songs that people who are into all of those things would still enjoy. The perfect balance of haunting new-folk mystique and accessible pop. Listen to “I Am A Robot” below.

5. Asaad – I’ve seen this rapper’s name pop up now and again for a while, going back to his guest spot on a Dragon King song in early 2011. So maybe not “new” exactly, but he had a tremendous year, from #DIRTYMIDDLECLASS to New Black History Month to #TROY, mixing thoughtful, quasi-philosophical verses with raw, nasty, provocative ones. The beats and sounds he raps over are equally exciting, and unpredictable. Watch a video for “Jumanji Flow” below.

(Incomplete) Honorable Mentions: Rock School-founded psych four-piece Keepers, impressive impassioned post-punk outfit The Downtown Club, soulful singer-songwriter Daniela Romeo, hard-hitting thrashers Ruby the Hatchet.

Photo by Dominic Digiorno | twitter.com/digs1975

Explore the roots of The Roots with a 1996 audio documentary and vintage photos [link]

Philadelphia art-pop act Auctioneer premiered a new song called “Swim” [link]

We review the major label debut from Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, Dreams and Nightmares [link]

Philly thrashers Ruby the Hatchet is streaming its entire new album from Bandcamp [link]

Twang out with indie-country guy Daniel Romano and his song “Middle Child” [link]

Remembering the late Terry Callier with performances from World Cafe [link]

Get details on The Lumineers return to Philadelphia in February [link]

Download Memory Tapes‘ second Halloween minimix, Walk Me Home 2 [link]

Philly Americana rockers The Bailey Hounds put a piano-ballad spin on Danzig’s “Mother” [link]

Dan Matz of Windsor for the Derby mixed classic rock and drone rock in an eclectic playlist [link]