Photo by Abi Reimold
Photo by Abi Reimold
Photo by Abi Reimold
Photo by Abi Reimold
Photo by Abi Reimold
Photo by Abi Reimold
All photos by Abi Reimold | Abireimold.22slides.com
About a year ago, the snappy and warped psych-pop band Literature relocated to Philadelphia from Austin, Texas with an awesome LP called Arab Spring in tow. Hard tourers, sharp dressers and a buzzing name on the indiepop circuit, they specialize in a sound that’s a bit more direct than the washed-out hazy dazy Pain of Being Pure At Heart aesthetic of a few years back. There’s a lift to their sound (though still a reverb’d surface) and a galloping-out-the-gate energy (with some oddball lyrical diversions). For their Key Studio Session, Literature recorded four new “barn burners” in the words of guitarist Kevin Attics, including their latest 7″ a-side “Tie Dye” and a couple unreleased numbers. “Grifted” slowed down the pace and dipped back to their LP, but kept the momentum going enough that it may as well just plow straight into the Johnny Brenda’s show they’re playing (and KDU is hosting) next week. They’re opening the night on May 22nd, with Key Session alums Pet Milk headlining; tickets and information can be found here, while the session is available for your streaming and downloading (and bopping around the room) pleasure below.
Photo by John Vettese
In terms of personnel, instrumentation and sheer sound, Philadelphia-based traditional Brazilian ensemble Alô Brasil might be the biggest band we’ve recorded for The Key Studio Sessions. The photo above gives you a sense of just some the stuff they brought to WXPN the other night: multiple percussion instruments, including the conga, the timbau, the pandeiro and the quinto. Melodic accompaniment including guitars, cavaquinho, keys and horns. Eleven players – including band leader Alex Shaw – weaving in between the instruments to create a massive, emotional eruption of body-moving sound. The opening song below is a medley of songs in the Brazilian capoeira tradition – a mix of music and martial arts that evolved under the era of colonial slavery, and employs the sonically singular berimbau (a musical bow). Other moments dipped into samba, reggae, batucada and even carried a hint of jazzy looseness and improvisation. Listening to their set is like a cultural education, especially when Shaw explains each song’s background and significance – as he does with children in the Live Connections series at World Cafe Live. Seeing the band live is even more of a multi-sensory experience, with dancers and much pagentry. Which is to say you’ll love seeing them when they kick off the City Hall Presents series on May 29th, and you’ll love them even more at this summer’s XPoNential Music Festival. Below, download “Capoeira Medley” below, and stream the other songs – new arrangements of contemporary and classic 20th century Brazilian songs.
When Liz & the Lost Boys released its debut All My Charm and Grace, it kept things simple. Led by frontwoman Liz Ciavolino’s intricate harp playing and lilting vocals, light keys, accordion and melodica crafted a serene and folksy vibe over four tracks, but since that release in late 2011, the band has grown. The group that performed in our studio for The Key Studio Sessions a couple weeks ago – Will Wright on bass, Dane Galloway on guitar, Eric Huefner on drums – brings out other elements of Ciavolino’s songwriting. Jazz, rock, even a bit of a theatrical flair. The sound you hear in these recordings is a hint of where Liz and the Lost Boys is heading in their new, Jeff Zeigler-produced LP, due out in June and celebrating its release June 14th at MilkBoy. Get a taste of the new album here, get tickets and information on the show here and enjoy the performances in the downloads below.
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
Photo by Kate McCann | www.katemccannphotography.com
I knew as soon as I heard last fall’s Pack Light but Bring Everything that Philly’s Ryan Tennis would be recording in our studio in the not-too-distant future. What I didn’t know was how many folks he’d have in tow. I figured singer-songwriter, plus backing players, would equal what – three people, four tops? As we were swapping emails to coordinate plans, he sorta casually mentioned “Yeah, I’d like to bring in my nine-piece band, hope that’s cool.” NINE players?! Once the surprise wore off, and I got everyone loaded into our studio, I realized how essential the large group was. They’re called the Clubhouse Band, and it’s a testament to the community vibe of their South Philly HQ, the spot they have regular and freewheeling house concert group jams. These folks were riffing full-tilt on a rootsy chord progression with vocal harmonies, trumpet and bongo percussion before I even had all the mics plugged in. In our session we get a few different sides to Tennis’ crew – the quiet-to-exhuberant swell of “Madeline,” the contemplative “Walk On” the cathartic “Fight Song” – with local MC Max MilLionz spitting a verse – and the very introspective, pleading closer “Best for You.” Listen and download the tracks below, and look for more local live music from Tennis and the Clubhouse Band this summer.
I first heard Philly by-way-of-Jersey heavy psychedelic four-piece Ruby The Hatchet back in September while I was holed up in my house, watching the winds of Hurricane Sandy (er, excuse me, Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy) spew sheets of rain on my porch and blow large branches down my block.
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.
Ruby The Hatchet “Paralyzed” from The Angry Mountain on Vimeo.
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Photo by Rachel Del Sordo
Relatively new faces in the Philly DIY scene, Cayetana crafts focused, passionate indie-punk nuggets exploring a broad spectrum of subject matter – from city living to old age. “South Philly” is an incisive, observational look at rowhome life that’s a world away from the trendy Passyunk Ave strip; “Miss Thing,” a nod to singer-guitarist Augusta Koch’s grandmother, is a moving reflection aging (the lyric “at the end of your life all you’ll eat is ice cream” is at once humorous and heartbreaking). The band just signed to Tiny Engines Records and is looking to release its debut full-length later on this year. This weekend, it plays a benefit show for Ladyfest Philly at Little Berlin featuring Bad Braids and the Girls Rock Philly allstars. Information on the all-ages show can be found here; stream and download this week’s Key Session below.
Modern Inventors impressed a broad cross-section of the Philly music scene last year. They naturally had the pedigree to win over the singer-songwriter crowd – singer-guitarist Matt Kass’ old band The Brakes was a known name, after all. But their soulful harmonies drew in listeners from the pop realm, and their skill as players and songwriters attracted indie rock ears. Not too long after a sold-out show at Johnny Brenda’s celebrating the release of Trains and Aeroplanes in December, the band found itself in our studio performing a set of mostly unreleased new songs. The excellent, rambling rhythms of “Goodbye, Northbrook Drive” were the only familiar sounds we heard – they instead took the opportunity to lay down some new cuts that show their sound reaching even broader. “Old Habits,” filmed by the folks at Out of Town Films, is a mellow smash of 70s proportions. “This Sign” is a snappy, country-fied Wilco-style number, while “The Deep End” has a sytlish and expressive Jeff Buckley thing going on. And set-closer “Selfish Generation” would play well on present day pop radio. Download and listen to it all below, and keep an ear out for more from the Inventors this spring.
