Ahead of its return to the airwaves on Sunday, XPN2′s Folkadelphia presents ((TACO)) at the Green Line Cafe on Locust St. with Prairie Empire and The Sun Flights.  ((TACO)) (real name David Mitchell Esparza) has been an illusive character in the Philadelphia music community since 2007 and did not release his first full-length, with backing band The Love Club, until this year’s succinctly-titled Full Length.  More information for tonight’s show can be found here.  Below, listen to the bluesy “Mellow Peaches” from ((TACO))’s 13 takes by the krautrock kid.

The Folk Show’s Gene Shay presents We’re About 9 at the PSALM Salon.  Bonded during weekly open mics at the Jahva House in Maryland, We’re About 9 are a trio of harmonizing musicians that have found an age-defying audience thanks to the band’s unique and fun approach to songwriting and performing.  Tonight’s show marks We’re About 9′s first Philly-proper show in eight years (although they played just outside Philly, in Lansdowne, back in the spring). More information can be found here.  Below, watch them perform “Same Seed” live.

XPN welcomes Garland Jeffreys to World Cafe Live at The Queen. In 2011 the Brooklyn-born musician released The King of In Between, an album that found itself on many year-end best-of lists including Rolling Stone and NPR.  Over the course of the four-decade-long career leading up to that release, Jeffreys developed a long list of collaborators including John Cale and Dr. John and he most recently joined Bruce Springsteen on stage in Holland.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show in Wilmington, DE can be found here.  Below, watch a video for Garland Jeffreys’ “Modern Lover” from 1980′s Escape Artist.

Philly power trio Many Arms perform at The Rotunda tonight.  The free-jazz conspirators released their third full-length self-titled record in 2012, an exploration into math rock-informed chaos spanning three extended tracks.  In the realm of avant-garde noise bands, Many Arms has thrashed their way to the forefront with the new record, receiving praise from music tastemakers including Spin.  Tonight Many Arms will be joined by saxophonist/guitarist Colin Fisher.  The show is free, and more information can be found here.  Below, listen to “Rising Artifacts in a Five-Point Field.”

Tycho

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd
Scott Hansen is an artist with a vision. Before he debuted on the music scene as electronic composer Tycho, Hansen was known by his graphic design pseudonym, ISO50. As ISO50, Hansen produces intricate, often illusionary water color pieces—images that make an appealing first impression and grow more complex when scrutinized. His songs sound about the same. Hansen’s 2002 EP, Science Of Patterns, and the 2004 album Sunrise Projector hinted at his musical ideas, but it wasn’t until his 2011 album, Dive, that Tycho seemed to communicate in music what ISO50 did in visual art. Not surprisingly, Tycho’s current tour features a video component, which Hansen appropriately debuted on the ISO50 blog. Hansen will be playing both his music and visual art tonight in a show that’s certain to be sunny and synesthetic. Tycho performs with Beacon at 8:30 p.m.; tickets to the all-ages show are $5–$15. —Naomi Shavin

Since forming from the remains of Drink Up Buttercup, the members of White Birds have been quick to separate themselves from their former endeavor. Where Drink Up was fast and frantic, White Birds is slow and mellow. The band’s self-titled EP demonstrated just how much the members have evolved, with a dreamy tone and echoing harmonies. White Birds’ new album, When Women Played Drums, expands the fuzzy pop sound; the album comes out February 14th, but you can pre-order it now on Bandcamp. White Birds be joined at Kung Fu Necktie by Univox, whose Key Studio Session we posted earlier this week. White Birds performs with Univox and Tutlie at 8 p.m. at Kung Fu Necktie; tickets to the 21+ show are $10. —Nicole Soll

Snowmine front man Grayson Sanders has received praise for his mellow and melodious voice, with many noting similarities to both Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. The Brooklyn-based indie pop band’s debut album “Laminate Pet Animal” is obviously a tribute to all things natural and lullaby-esque, what with the use of odd instruments (including arbitrary household items, such as dish brushes and brooms) that help create a cultured sound. The band was featured as Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through artist for the month of November, and brings its Fleet Foxes-caliber potential to Johnny Brenda’s for the Philadelphia Bandcamp Hunter showcase. Snowmine performs with Gracie and Tours at Johnny Brenda’s at 9:15 p.m; tickets to the 21+ show are $5. —Lisa Henderson

Augustana had a rough 2011. The San Diego-based quartet was dropped from its label, Epic, following disappointing sales of its third album, had to cancel a summer tour with Jack’s Mannequin, and lost several of the original band members. But just as rumors of the band breaking up surfaced, lead singer Dan Layus announced he and the remaining members would continue making music under the name Augustana. Dan Lamoureux, who had previously played keyboard with the band, returned on drums, and Augustana released dates for a short winter tour. Despite the changes in the band, Augustana’s rock sound remains the same, and their set will feature both new music and hits off previous albums, such as “Boston” and “Sweet and Low.” Augustana performs with Graffiti6 at 8 pm at Theatre Of Living Arts; tickets to the show are $17. —Nicole Soll

Also Playing: Arctic Splash + DJ Deejay at PYT (10 p.m., free)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th
Brown Recluse + Acres Of Diamonds, Instamatic at Milkboy Philly (9:30 p.m., 21+, $8–$10); Jedi Mind Tricks + Diabolic, B. Lynch at Union Transfer (8:30 p.m., all ages, $18–$20); Jack’s Mannequin + Jukebox The Ghost, Allen Stone at Theatre Of Living Arts (7 p.m., $30.50); SOJA + The Movement, Fear Nuttin Band at Electric Factory (8 p.m., $25.95)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5th
Rock To The Future Benefit featuring Polar Ice Cap + The Danger O’s, Fast Car, Jampa! at World Cafe Live (7 p.m., all ages, $7)

A blend of found super 8 footage and iPhone-recorded cityscapes shot atop North Philadelphia’s Divine Lorraine Hotel, the brand new music video from Philly shoegaze / coldwave ensemble Nothing is a stunning piece of work. First, in that it’s simply really intriguing on a visual level, and next because it’s the first acoustic ballad we’ve heard from this group known for noise-rock jams and spectral noir atmospheres. This unreleased track is an inticing harbinger of what’s to come in the EP Nothing plans to release early next year. Watch the clip above, download the title track from its Suns and Lovers EP below, and catch the band in concert this Friday at The Rotunda with YOU and Mueran Hermanos.

• Suns and Loversby Nothing from Suns and LoversDownload

Never one to shy away from ambitous musical projects, Michael McDermott – stage name: Mikronesia, one half of Gemini Wolf, founder of earSnake records – can now add “opera composer” to his curriculum vitae. This Friday, Nov. 11, his imaginative work Pangaea: When The Continents Were One premiers at The Rotunda for one night only. The multimedia fable blends an eclectic score, anthropological visuals and a 15-piece ensemble to look not just at the idyllic beginnings of mankind, but the point at which conflict between cultures began. The Key recently caught up with McDermott to talk about the work and its genesis.

The Key: I thought it’d be fun to being our interview with some free association if you’re game.

Michael McDermott: Sure!

TK: OK, then. Complete these sentences. “The most difficult thing about putting an opera together front-to-back is…”

MMcD: I guess coordinating lots of people’s different schedules. I mean, you could write an opera and record it all by yourself in the studio. But I just collaborated with so many different people. Just getting everyone to come to the studio at a certain time and record, that was the most difficult thing for me. I could have used an assistant manager or something. [laughs]

TK: “The easiest part about putting together an opera is…”

MMcD: Getting people to work on it with me. Everyone I asked said yes, which I was surprised about. I thought some people would be like “What, an opera? No that’s stupid, that’s prog-rock.”

TK: “The thing about Pangaea that will totally come as a surprise to the people hearing it is…”

MMcD: That they will still sit through and listen to an 80 minute piece of music front to back in the era of shuffle on your iPod or watching to a quick YouTube video.

TK: “My one regret about the project is…”

MMcD: Underestimating. I’ve already have people say “I want to come to it but I can’t make it that night, when’s the next one?” And I have to be like “I don’t know.” I wish I would have booked the premier to have several shows, or a long run. It seems like the work I’m putting into the premier is more work than I’ve ever done for one show. It would have been cool to perform it for an entire week. But I think down the road we’re going to do something like that.

TK: Awesome. Now to jump into broader questions, how did you come to decide “For my next project, I would like to write an 80-minute opera about Pangaea?”

MMcD: [laughs] Well, the idea of Pangaea is really kind of old. Even in High School I had this idea of writing an opera. Back then I probably thought of it more like a musical, and it became kind of opera of Pangaea…and slowly it morphed into this idea of making it about the ecology, war. And as the sound of the music I was interested in changed, it became more neo-tribal, integrating different kind of world musics together into this mulch of sound that really had no boundaries as far as what cultures they referenced. Which is also I think a comment on modern culture a little bit.

TK: That’s something for me, as a listener, was the most surprising thing about the record. I’m still used to thinking of your terms in the electronic / experimental idiom, and there’s straight-up pop songs on here. For example, the song that Lily Ruth-Bussie is on; it’s music that sounds like nothing you’ve written or performed before, and that I would not have expected of you. Which is good! I like that.

MMcD: That song actually has a bit of gamelan Indonesian percussion on it, which is one of my favorite types of music. I knew over the past couple years, I just had a mental checklist – I’ve gotta have a song with gamelan in it, I want to have a psychedelic indian song. Just all these different things in my mind. And I knew I wanted to have them in the opera. It’s kind of the culmination of, whenever I had an idea, and I knew it wouldn’t necessarily work for Gemini Wolf, and wouldn’t work for other bands that I produce or work with, I would say okay, I want to make sure that makes it into Pangaea.

TK: When did you begin writing it?

MMcD: I think I started when I was around seventeen, so it’s been fifteen years or so.

TK: Wow.

MMcD: Some of the songs are definitely that old, the ideas are old. I would say I’ve seriously been working on it for about two years where I would sit down and try to write a story, decide which songs are going to be which sections of the story, tracking demos and things like that. And this past year has been recording actual versions of the opera, with all the instruments – real instruments, not just MIDI sketches of strings and drums and stuff like that.

TK: Was the intent always to bring it to the fifteen piece ensemble, or did you initially think it would just be a recording project?

MMcD: It was always going to be a performance. At some point about a year and a half ago I got really scared about doing it live and decided it’s just going to be a recording. Or, what I thought I was going to do was a multimedia installation, where the recording will be playing on loop in a gallery, and you can see artifacts from the Pangaea universe, and there would be video and stuff like that. And when I mentioned that to some of my older friends, they were like “No man, you’ve got to perform it live. You’ve been talking about it for so long, do it live.” So I was like allright, I’ll do it live.

TK: You first began thinking of this in high school in the 90s – do you remember an album called Pangaea that came out back then?

MMcD: The Miles Davis album?

TK: No, it was more of a space music / new age album by Dan Lacksman, who produced Deep Forest. I remember it because I worked in a record shop at the time that had a pretty extensive new age section – Enigma and so forth – and it carried that album. I was wondering if that record was an inspiration for this idea itself. Though the idea obviously has a basis in science as well.

MMcD: No, I never heard of that project. But Miles Davis has an album called Pangaea.

TK: Well I didn’t know that. [laughs]

MMcD: It’s from the late 70s I think, ’77 / ’78. That’s the really hard fusion-funk, just an hour striaght jam session that he made into an album. That probably put the word into my head, cause I did like Miles Davis – Bitches Brew and things like that. And I’m always googling it to see if somebody has done this sort of thing. I think people maybe have written music about the idea of Pangaea as a pristine super-continent where humans haven’t come yet.

TK: Which is kind of the perspective that this album I’m thinking of took. Whereas yours is more about the beginnings of conflict.

MMcD: It’s almost like a mythology. ‘Cause it’s not true – there were no humans on Pangaea. It’s kind of an allegory for divisions among humanity, finding some reason that we’re different from other people, and then going to war over that. And then as that’s happening, the continents are splitting apart. So it’s kind of a mythology. And there’s another album I put out two years ago called Pangaea: Trinity Sun. Which was a project I did at Nexus Gallery for their Nexus Radio. and it’s actually an old school Orson Welles kind of radio drama. And it was a lot simpler, I just did a bunch of ambient soundscapes and my friend Christian Raben who’s a really brilliant MC and hiphop artist – he goes by Solomon Slowburn on my label earSnake, he went to Brown and studied mythology so he’s really good at taking a story I make up and making it sound really cool and epic…like Beowulf or something. [laughs] So he did the narration of Pangaea: Trinity Sun and I just did the soundscapes. And the story of that is the creation story of this perfect race of people who live underwater and don’t have any concept of time or thought or materials. And they slowly start to discover these things and once they do, humanity is born and that’s kind of the genesis of the Pangaea opera. And they’re actually referenced at the end of the opera.

TK: Does Christian appear on the Pangaea album?

MMcD: He’s at the very end – he does a spoken word soliloquy on the very last song. The song “Sabertooth Tiger” has an MC, John Morrison. And Jalima Shani, she’s an MC too, she’s on the second side.

TK: The performance on the 11th is going to feature the orchestral ensemble. There’s also a visual element to it?

MMcD: Yeah, it’s got Nico Dominguez. He’s basically taking a bunch of images and video clips I’ve been finding of cave paintings and weird tribal stuff and using them as a starting point. He’s making this visual way to tell the story. It’s not going to be acted out like a traditional opera, where people are moving around on stage and interacting, acting things out. A lot of the visual element of it is going to be told through this imagery, kind of like abstract imagery. And there’s also puppets in it, giant puppets.

TK: Nice! Is it the Spiral Q people?

MMcD: It’s not officially Sprial Q, it’s this woman Liza Godell – who’s one of the directors over there. She’s making the puppets herself, giant animal heads and things like that for a couple songs.

TK: So it’s not going to be a straightforward, literal performing of the story, but there will be room to take it in and read it in that sense. Will there be a chance for people who haven’t heard to story yet to read up on it? Will there be a playbill with a summary?

MMcD: Yeah, there’s going to be a program and a synopsis. There’s also a deluxe edition of the CD that has a 60-page book that has the whole epic poem written by Christian that tells the whole story of what’s going on. It actually goes more indepth about what’s happening with the songs, so if you read that and listen to it, you’ll get the whole story. And with the projections there will be little one- or two-sentence explanations of what’s going on, like title cards in a silent film.

TK: Do you think Pangaea might be a project you could reprise for, say, Live Arts / Fringe next year?

MMcD: Yeah, I hope so. It’s 15 people in it. There’s six singers – I couldn’t really see performing it without those six singers, but all the music is written out, so if the schedules don’t work out for these fifteen people, other musicians could play it down the road. But yeah, hopefully I’d like to play it at the Fringe, like you said, maybe in New York, Baltimore or something else.

Pangea: When The Continents Were One premiers Fri. Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. at The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street. Tickets to the all-ages performance are $10.

Also playing: Dropkick Murphys + Against Me! at Electric Factory (8 p.m., SOLD OUT)

Also playing: Michael Showalter at Kung Fu Necktie (7:30 p.m., 21+, SOLD OUT); KFN; Revolver + Jac, When I Was 12 at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $10); Flogging Molly + Moneybrother, The Drowning Men at Electric Factory (7 p.m., SOLD OUT); Creepoid + Invisible Days, The Vandelles, Lux Perpetua at Tritone (9 p.m., 21+)

Photo by John Vettese

2-Piece Fest 4 begins at 2 p.m. Sat., 2/26, at The Ox

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Why put up with multiple rock-star-wannabe egos and haul around a ton of music equipment when you could keep things simple and start a duo? This year’s Two-Piece Fest features close to two dozen local-ish acts who, for whatever reason, decided two musicians was enough. The massive lineup—which features Slutever, The Joint Chiefs Of Math, Hulk Smash, Best Friends, and Peter And Craig—might feel overwhelming; when you’ve got that many bands on one fest’s bill, excessive delays seem like an inevitability. But that’s just another one of the many benefits of being in a two-piece: You’re able to set up, play your set, and break down with a minimum of time and effort. The performances begin at 2 p.m. at The Ox; tickets to the all-ages show are $8.

Anyone who’s been denied entrance to a live-music performance because they were underage doesn’t need to be reminded about the importance of all-ages shows. Whether you’re currently under 21+ and want to vent your frustrations (while discussing alternatives), or are over 21 and want to share your own experiences, tonight’s All-Ages Movement Project‘s East Coast Summit has plenty to offer. Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye will be the keynote speaker at tonight’s event, which will also feature live performances by Philly’s own Slutever and SGNLS. Other confirmed speakers include R5 Productions‘ Andy Nelson, Sugar Town’s Sara Sherr, Fredericksburg All Ages‘ Adam Bray, and Girls Rock Philly!‘s Beth Warshaw-Duncan; Grace Ambrose, who organized last week’s panel discussion with Kathleen Hanna and Sara Marcus, will moderate the discussion. The event begins at 5 p.m. at The Rotunda; tickets to the all-ages event are $10-$15 (which includes a copy of AMP’s book, In Every Town: An All-Ages Music Manifesto).

Also playing: The John Byrne Band + Citizens Band Radio at World Cafe Live (9 p.m., $13-$18); Franz Nicolay + David Dondero at Kung Fu Necktie (7:30 p.m., 21+, $8); Do You Need The Service +Univox, The Better Letters at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $10)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27
WXPN Welcomes Steve Earle, who performs at Johnny Brenda’s tonight as part of a benefit for Witness To Innocence. (WTI is a national organization “founded by, led by, and composed of exonerated death row survivors” that seeks “to abolish the death penalty, to conduct self-advocacy campaigns to win just compensation for the exonerated, and to build a peer-support community of exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones; you can read more about the organization here.) Steve Earle performs at Johnny Brenda’s at 7 p.m.; tickets to the 21+ show are SOLD OUT.

Also playing: “Three-Piece Fest” at Danger Danger Gallery (7 p.m., $5-$10); Folkadelphia presents Meg Baird + Arborea at Johnny Brenda’s JB’s (1 p.m., 7 p.m.); Blood Features + The Cobbs, Dressed Like Stolen Cars at Kung Fu Necktie (8 p.m., 21+, $5)

Ian MacKaye

The summit will feature “[a]n evening of panels, speakers, training, networking and live music designed for staff, volunteers, allies, and fans of all-ages music venues and youth music organizations.” AMP says the goal is for participants to “[h]ear what your peers around the region are doing, learn how we can take collective action to advance the field, and strengthen young people’s access to the tools of participatory cultural production.” Other confirmed speakers include R5 Productions‘ Andy Nelson, Sugar Town’s Sara Sherr, Fredericksburg All Ages‘ Adam Bray, and Girls Rock Philly!‘s Beth Warshaw-Duncan; Grace Ambrose, who organized last week’s panel discussion with Kathleen Hanna and Sara Marcus, will moderate the discussion. As if that list of local names isn’t impressive enough, the summit will also feature performances by Philadelphia’s own Slutever and SGNLS. The sliding-scale admission of $10-$15 will also get you a copy of AMP’s book, In Every Town: An All-Ages Music Manifesto.

If you’re currently under 21, you probably don’t need us to tell you why all-ages shows are of critical importance to the local music community; the frustration and disappointment that comes with not being able to see one of your favorite bands perform live (because you’re not legally old enough to buy a beer from the venue) is likely a regular occurrence. And, if you’re 21+, it shouldn’t take much more than a quick reminder of that experience to stir up the old frustration. Needless to say, it’s an important cause, so you can expect plenty of reminders and other related coverage from us in the next week and a half.