XPN welcomes Artist to Watch The David Wax Museum to Johnny Brenda’s tonight. The Americana/Mexican roots duo of David Wax and Sue Slezak released Knock Knock Get Up in August and have since been receiving lots of love from blogs and music publications. Tickets and more information for tonight’s show with Radio Jarocho can be found here. Below, watch the video for “Will You Be Sleeping.”
Zilla Rocca
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The Week’s Best MP3 Downloads, incl. Gracie, Rachael Yamagata and Zilla Rocca
Electronic-pop outift Gracie lent some songs to our Key Studio Sessions series this week. Andrew Balasia, the man behind the moniker, stopped by the studio on his way to a show at Johnny Brenda’s and recorded three tracks off of his upcoming Bleeder LP. Download the Key Sessions rendition of “Creature Pleaser” (the album’s first single) below and check out the full session here. Gracie has hinted that he will be back for a show in Philly before the month is finished, so stay tuned for more information on that and the release of Bleeder.
Download Zilla Rocca’s Party With Villains EP (playing World Cafe Live on 11/29)
Wasting no time after the release of the popular Wu-Tang Pulp project, Philly noir-hop MC Zilla Rocca last week quietly released his brand new Party With Villains EP. (It technically dropped on the day the east coast was cleaning up from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, so he waited a week to announce it.) The set makes a smooth return to Zilla Rocca’s solo style – crackling vinyl and funky backing tracks, fierce rhymes and samples from crime movies. Listen to the EP below, grab a name-your-own-price download at Bandcamp and catch Zilla when he appears at Kuf Knotz’ Boombox Collective showcase at World Cafe Live on November 29.
Zilla Rocca goes funk, then dubstep, on two new tracks (Party With Villains EP out next week)
Philly rapper Zilla Rocca is dropping his new Party With Villains EP a week from today, and last week he premiered the fun and funky single “Nothing in the Bank.” The song generated enough buzz over the past few days that the noir-hop originator maxed out his free downloads on Soundcloud, but you can still bounce to the streaming cut below. For some additional deep vibes, check out “Massive, his collaboration with Bristol, UK dubstep crew Silent Dust. This jam is the a-side to a digital single being released digitally on November 5. Continue reading
Watch Zilla Rocca and Curly Castro discuss Wu-Tang Pulp and the state of hiphop with Rhymestreet.com
On the heels of releasing their long-awaited Wu-Tang Pulp project, Philly rappers Zilla Rocca and Curly Castro of The Wrecking Crew sat down with the folks at Rhymestreet.com to talk about the method behind the album’s madness, share some thoughts on the state of hip-hop, and perform for the cameras at The Arts Garage. Check out the video below.
Zilla Rocca talks reinterpreting Wu-Tang Clan with the Wrecking Crew
We’ve been hearing about this project for a couple years now – Wu-Tang Pulp, an homage to hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan featuring Philly MCs Curly Castro, Has-Lo and Zilla Rocca. Individual teaser tracks have popped up here and there, and this week the entire collection surfaced as a name-your-own-price download.
But what is it, exactly? A covers record? Those don’t look like Wu-Tang song-titles. They don’t sound like familiar Wu-Tang beats. Are they deep cuts and rarities? Are they never-released jams? Might The Wrecking Crew be be such fans / obsessives that they’re into a whole other depth of Wu obscuro nerdery? Note the “Pulp” in the album title – these are comic book loving dudes, after all. Continue reading
Watch a video for Zilla Rocca’s “Full Spectrum 2″; new EP drops today
Self-styled noir-hop MC Zilla Rocca is big on reworking and re-imagining his music, both through remixes or response songs; sequels, if you will. This week he premiered a new music video for “Full Spectrum 2″ – a follow up to a track on his 2011 Nights and Weekends EP. The video was shot with a crew of fellow Philly rappers; Has-Lo and Open Mike Eagle trade verses on the songs, while Dewey Decibel‘s artwork is prominently featured throughout the video (you can actually spot him dancing in the background of some shots). The video coincides with the release of Zilla’s Full Spectrum EP, a collection of remixes out today. Grab the EP as a pay-what-you-wish download at Zilla’s Bandcamp page and watch the video below.