Mardi Gras may have been last week but Philly funk ensemble Swift Technique are bringing Bourbon Street to The Blockley tonight.  Celebrating their fifth year as a band, Swift Technique have traveled far and wide and have shared the stage with many top-tier acts, including The Meters, Questlove and The Fela! Band.  The seven-piece also recorded a Key Studio Session last summer, which you can stream and download here.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Earphunk, Dirk Quinn Band and Black Stars can be found here.  Listen to “Route One to Route One” by Swift Technique below (it was the most-listened to track of The Key’s Volume 5 compilation last year).

Philadelphia-via-Boston folk trio The Gallerist play Kung Fu Necktie tonight.  The project of singer-songwriter Mike Collins, The Gallerist released their debut album A Falling Waltz in 2011.  The traveling roots of the band may have anchored in Philly’s terra firma for now, but A Falling Waltz betrays The Gallerist’s roaming desires with gypsy-esque rhythms and lyrics of faraway places like the Delta.  In recent months, the indie outfit has been playing a tight show circuit including an appearance at January’s intimate Sofar Sounds event.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Tan Vampires, Old Abram Brown and The Sun Flights can be found here.  Below, watch The Gallerist perform “Old Skin” at Sofar Sounds.

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.”

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.

To begin with the room – even though the North Star made its name as a popular down-and-dirty live music venue in the alternative rock heyday of the 90s (and continuing into the aughties), there’s actually a fancy a side to the building. Up a tucked-away flight of stairs on the bar / eatery side of the room is a hidden room with a vaulted ceiling, ornate  (but not gaudy) wooden walls, big windows and cozy seating. At one point in the building’s past it was a dining room, and now it’s the perfect environment to experience the acoustic, intimate, unamplified portion of the venue’s programming.

That’s something that The Sun Flights does particularly well – with fingerpicked guitars and delicate harmonies, they set a striking mood that something in between Azure Ray, Red House Painters, early Tegan & Sara and The Decemberists. Which is to say, a little bit esoteric and haunting, but definitely with poppy influences and aspirations. I could see this duo – Natalie Butts on vocals and guitar, Claire Duncombe on vocals – bringing in more players, exploring arrangements and layers, building into something bigger and Bon Iver-style. But they work just as well in the most basic configuration, which in some ways is even more important. Listen to their song “I Am A Robot” below, visit the venue’s website for more on the show.