The Dead Milkmen, circa 1990
Listen to The Dead Milkmen’s new Christmas song “Big Words Make the Baby Jesus Cry”
The Dead Milkmen
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Listen to Rodney Anonymous’ remix of the old Dead Milkmen song “Belafonte’s Inferno”
Photo by Nina Sabatino
Tonight’s Halloween Concert Picks: The Spinto Band at Johnny Brenda’s, The Dead Milkmen at Union Transfer, A Tribute to Halloween at The Fire, Kuf Knotz’s BoomBox Collective at World Cafe Live
Indie poppers The Spinto Band are playing the spooky-scary “Dress Up and Make a Sound” event tonight at Johnny Brenda’s. The Deleware outfit has promised to scare your face off and give you goosebumps (what else could you ask for?) with the help of Philadelphia rock ‘n’ rollers Toy Soldiers, Pittsburgh’s Delicious Pastries and DJ Langor. Tickets are $10 here; doors will open at 8:00 p.m. for the 21+ show. Check out The Spinto Band’s video for “Muesli” below.
Listen to The Dead Milkmen’s new Dark Clouds Gather Over Middlemarch EP (playing Union Transfer tonight)
Photo by Nina Sabatino
Along with The Dead Milkmen‘s Halloween show at Union Transfer comes a brand new 7″ single – three songs, nine minutes and 21 seconds, literary references and political grumblings alike. Listen to Dark Clouds Gather Over Middlemarch here, for the next 24 hours only, and get tickets and information on the band’s show tonight here. Below, listen to the Milkmen nugget “The Woman Who Is Also A Mongoose,” recorded live in our studio.
R5 Productions team up with local artists for new concert poster series
R5 Productions have called in local artists to contribute to a new poster series for their events. The Philadelphia Posters Guild will feature at least one new poster each month created by an artist for selected concerts.
The list of currently confirmed artist/concert match-ups includes Thom Lessner for The Dead Milkmen show on Halloween at Union Transfer; Ralph Stollenwerk for Sword’s show at Union Transfer on November 13th; Bonnie Brenda Scott for Dan Deacon’s show at Union Transfer on November 15th; Neil Burke for Om/Dan Higgs at Johnny Brenda’s on November 23rd; and JP Flexner for The Hold Steady’s show at Union Transfer on December 29th, with more to be announced.
From the Guild’s website:
Philadelphia Poster Guild project is an effort to merge local artists, musicians, & venues to create quality, affordable art for the masses. With a little luck, one or more posters will be released each month. These posters will be available at selected R5 shows for a fair price. They will also be available online for a reasonable price as well, shipped in a sturdy tube. Proceeds from this project will benefit local artists, musicians, and a few select non-profits. Support your local artists…they will reciprocate. More details to follow.
Images of the posters will posted on the Guild’s website, and you check out a full list of involved artists here.
The Week So Far: 14 must-read stories on The Key
Photo by Eric Ashleigh | showtographe.com
Interview: Talking wood nymphs and a show at Ortlieb’s with Brooklyn’s Savoir Adore. [link]
Hear a new song from Nothing, sign up to be in their Key Studio Sessions audience. [link]
Interview: Craig Hendrix of Philly’s Auctioneer on songwriting and Shaking Through. [link]
Lehigh Valley jazz-psych duo XVSK stop by to record a Key Studio Session. [link]
Photos of a spellbinding night at Union Transfer with Beach House. [link]
Breaking down the numbers of WXPN’s 885 Songs that Rock countdown. [link]
Watch a jangling new music video from Low Cut Connie, filmed at the North Star Bar. [link]
Get a taste of the new record from Freeway with his Freedom of Speech mixtape. [link]
Listen to The Dead Milkmen recorded live on WXPN…25 years ago. [link]
Download a free mixtape from Black Dub’s Trixie Whitley. [link]
Watch Rap City, the WHYY documentary on Philly’s hip-hop scene circa 1988. [link]
Couldn’t make it to Austin City Limits? Neil Young and Crazy Horse‘s entire set is streaming. [link]
Also in Austin, Philly sons The War on Drugs played a killer “Arms Like Boulders.” [link]
Jack White dances and beatboxes in his music video for “I’m Shakin’.” [link]
Listen to The Dead Milkmen recorded live on WXPN in 1987 (playing Union Transfer on Halloween)
Here’s a blast from Philadelphia radio past: in February of 1987, not long before the release of its third album Bucky Fellini, The Dead Milkmen appeared live on WXPN to promote an upcoming show at the Trocadero. They played for almost 40 minutes, drawing on the new material but also showcasing songs from 1986′s Eat Your Paisley and 1985′s Big Lizard in My Backyard. A couple covers make the cut as well, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and Daniel Johnston’s “Rocketship.” Somebody taped it from the radio, and you can hear it below in all its warbley, tape-hissy goodness (the first song is partly cut off, and it takes about 30 seconds to fade up), thanks to the collection of semi-official bootlegs on singer-guitarist Joe Jack Talcum‘s website. Of this performance, he wrote:
We were a bit looser for this performance than we were for the first [appearance on WXPN]. Also, the punk radio show had been moved from its late Sunday night slot to Friday afternoons, so this was an unusually early show for us to play.
I am embarrassed by the fact that, near the end of the set, I stopped a song twice after screwing it up. How unprofessional! I also broke a string. Back then I had only one guitar, so breaking a string meant ad lib time. Soon after this show, and before embarking on our next major tour, I would purchase a second Gibson S-G to use as a back-up.
You can download the mp3 below, and dig into the treasure trove of archival Dead Milkmen audio here. The Dead Milkmen have a Halloween show at Union Transfer with MC Lars and Psychic Teens; tickets and information for the all-ages show are can be found here.