1 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
2 WARPAINT – Warpaint
3 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
6 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
7 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
8 TOY – Join The Dots
9 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
10 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
11 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
12 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
13 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
14 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
15 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
16 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
17 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
18 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
19 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
20 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
21 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
22 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
23 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
24 CIBO MATTO – Hotel Valentine
25 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
26 BLONDFIRE – Young Heart
27 MARK MCGUIRE – Along The Way
28 BROKEN BELLS – After The Disco
29 PYPY – Pagan Day
30 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
Top Played Artists 2/18-2/24
1 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
2 SNOWMINE – Dialects
3 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
4 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
5 WARPAINT – Warpaint
6 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
7 TOY – Join The Dots
8 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
9 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
10 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
11 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
12 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
13 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
14 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
15 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
16 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
17 HOLY WAVE – Relax
18 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
19 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
20 JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – Post Tropical
21 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
22 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
23 SKATERS – Manhattan
24 EL TEN ELEVEN – For Emily [EP]
25 EAGULLS – Eagulls
26 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
27 PYPY – Pagan Day
28 DAMIEN JURADO – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son
29 ADVENTURE GALLEY – Anywhere That’s Wild
30 QUILT – Held In Splendor
Top Played Artists 2/11-2/17
1 TOY – Join The Dots
2 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
3 WARPAINT – Warpaint
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
6 JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – Post Tropical
7 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
8 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
9 THE DISTRICTS – The Districts
10 HOLY WAVE – Relax
11 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
12 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
13 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
14 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
15 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
16 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
17 DADS – Pretty Good
18 CIBO MATTO – Hotel Valentine
19 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
20 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair
21 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
22 DAMIEN JURADO – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son
23 ADVENTURE GALLEY – Anywhere That’s Wild
24 DOG BITE – Tranquilizers
25 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
26 EL TEN ELEVEN – For Emily
27 CHAPPO – Future Former
28 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
29 PONTIAK – Innocence
30 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Concert Review: Cibo Matto @ The Boot and Saddle (2/11/14)
By Kirsten Becker
Japanese expatriates Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori are the creative minds behind Cibo Matto (Italian for “crazy food”). The group received heavy praise for their first two albums, Viva! La Woman and Stereo Type A in the 90s before they went on hiatus for the new millenium. Honda and Hatori still remained very active, doing collaborations with Yoko Ono, The Gorillaz, and Beck as well as solo gigs during those years. In 2011, Cibo Matto announced they were back together and were recording new music, much to the excitement of diehard fans everywhere.
Cibo Matto’s earlier music mostly consisted of songs about food, yet they gradually expanded their subject matter over the years. Hotel Valentine, which is officially released today, is their most mature album to date. Appearances from Nels Cline (Wilco) and Mauro Refosco (Atoms For Peace) are included with Cibo Matto’s signature mix of trip-hop, pop, and funk tunes. To add to the Valentine’s Day theme, Hatori and Honda have also handwritten Valentine’s cards for those who pre-ordered the album. The record is also released on Sean Lennon’s label Chimera Music.
After 15 years of hiatus, Cibo Matto has returned to tour the country to mostly sold out dates. I was beyond excited to get a chance to catch them at The Boot and Saddle on February 11. I pretty much counted out the idea of ever getting to see them live, never thinking they would record a follow up to Stereo Type A. They started off the night with just the two main members playing. Classic “Sugar Water” started off the set, which featured Hatori’s soft whispered vocals and mysterious backing beats. Later on, the two ladies were joined by Yuko and Jared Samuels for a full band to play new songs from Hotel Valentine. “Moonchild,” “Deja Vu” and “MFN” were all highs of the night. Cibo Matto graciously thanked the crowd for their support at the end of the set, but very quickly came back to entertain the fans with an encore, including the song “Happy Birthday.”
Cibo Matto continue their reunion tour through March. Check out Hotel Valentine as well as the rest of the band’s impressive catalog.
Top Played Artists 2/4-2/10
1 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
2 TOY – Join The Dots
3 WARPAINT – Warpaint
4 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
5 HOLY WAVE – Relax
6 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
7 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
8 JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – Post Tropical
9 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
10 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
11 LAWRENCE ARMS – Metropole
12 SNOWMINE – Dialects
13 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
14 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
15 DADS – Pretty Good [EP]
16 KRONOS QUARTET WITH BRYCE DESSNER – Aheym
17 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
18 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
19 DOG BITE – Tranquilizers
20 GRIZZLY BEAR – Shields: Expanded
21 MT. ROYAL – Mt. Royal
22 CIBO MATTO – Hotel Valentine
23 THEE OH SEES – Singles Collection, Volume 3
24 DAMIEN JURADO – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son
25 AUTUMN DEFENSE – Fifth
26 BAD THINGS – Bad Things
27 QUILT – Held In Splendor
28 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
29 CYMBALS – The Age Of Fracture
30 TRAPS – Boom Pow Awesome Wow
Preview: Jack Deezl and Aaron Ruxbin Live @ WKDU (2/20/14)
By Chris Burrell
Drexel Alumni Jack Deezl and Aaron Ruxbin approach the craft of DJing from two extremely different angles, but both coalesce at the intersection of passion and obstinacy. Refusing to succumb to the pressures of conformity both within the stigma and equipment typically associated with being a popular disc jockey, these men find themselves on the polar opposite spectrum of what defines DJing: one playing only vinyl records, the other [mostly] originals. One pure analog preservation, the other digitally manipulated live. The unifying factor being an emphasis on challenging the listeners expectations, advancing an amalgamation of sounds new and old, and digging for the deepest cuts; whether unearthed from years ago or synthesized earlier today. You won’t hear any top 40 in these sets, but you will hear something brand new, every time, guaranteed. Two special live in-studio sets from across the sonic spectrum. Put on your thinking caps and lay out your disco pants, Jack Deezl and Aaron Ruxbin are going VAHN DEEEEPEEERRRR!
Jack Deezl and Aaron Ruxbin will be performing with RJD2 at Union Transfer on February 21. Tune in to The Halfway House on February 20th to catch their Live @ WKDU session.
Review: Neutral Milk Hotel @ The Tower Theater (1/29/14)
By Nick Stropko
So, it has happened. Years of anticipation, speculation, and blind hope have culminated, and the day has gone and passed. I have seen Neutral Milk Hotel.
Naturally, I have rapturous praise for the concert. Of course Jeff Magnum’s voice has retained it’s power, its winding intensity, its ability to reach just a little higher than it probably should and sell it regardless (he did have the slightest of problems during “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 1,” but it really just served to humanize what has become a deified figure). Of course it was gratifying in a way Jeff’s solo shows were not to see the whole band together–Julian Koster rotating in place with his bass and playing the singing saw, Scott Spillane working an array of brass instruments, and Jeremy Barnes frantically keeping everything together. They really nailed the eclectic instrumentation present in NMH records, with the singing saw, zanzithophone, and electronic bagpipe, among many more, making appearances. Of course standing in a room full of people singing along to “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” with Jeff Magnum is going to send chills down your spine. Of course, of course, of course.
However, rapturous praise is kind of boring. Pretty much every account of the show I have gotten has been overwhelmingly positive. Instead, I’d like to offer an array of stray thoughts I had during the show.
- While Magnum’s voice has certainly not lessened in intensity, it seems like his range has become ever so slightly more limited. I think a few of the songs were played a few steps down, and he reaalllyyy had to strain to hit that note in “Two Headed Boy, Pt. 1.”
- I can’t really tell if I like Jeremy Barnes’s drumming or not. Maybe I’m just being silly, but it seems like he has trouble maintaining the beat during fills. Is it possible that Jeremy Barnes is actually not a very good drummer at all? Is this just a weird stylistic thing that I’m not grasping? THIS IS OF GRAVE CONCERN.
- I really enjoy the stage dynamic of Neutral Milk Hotel. Jeff was pretty much unrecognizable–he received no applause when he walked onstage, his mess of hair making him look like a roadie in a fantastic sweater. He spoke little but seemed gracious, maintaining his weird indie god aura while not coming off as too stuck-up.
- Isn’t this whole tour kind of remarkable? Maybe this is well-tread ground, but I think it’s worth restating every now and again that a band can sell out major venues across the country largely based on the strength of a record they put out on an indie label in 1998.
- The “Ghost”–>”[untitled]”–>”Two Headed Boy, Pt. 2″ combo during the encore was phenomenal. Phenomenal. When I saw them break out the electronic bagpipe, I kind of freaked out and definitely sang along to a bagpipe part. No shame.
- Fuck it, I can’t think of anything else that’s negative. It was a really great show, and I’m thankful I got to see it.
If you missed out on Jeff and co. last week, fear not! They’re playing at The Mann on July 21st. I highly recommend you attend.