Top Played Artists 10/22 – 10/28

1    OF MONTREAL    Lousy With Sylvianbriar
2    DEER TICK    Negativity
3    YUCK    Glow And Behold
4    DR. DOG    B-Room
5    KING KRULE    6 Feet Beneath The Moon
6    PARQUET COURTS    Tally All The Things That You Broke [EP]
7    SLEIGH BELLS    Bitter Rivals
8    FRANKIE ROSE    Herein Wild
9    THOSE DARLINS    Blur The Line
10    KEVIN DEVINE    Bubblegum
11    MAN MAN    On Oni Pond
12    UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA    Blue Record [EP]
13    OBITS    Bed And Bugs
14    FLATLINERS    Dead Language
15    BELLE AND SEBASTIAN    The Third Eye Centre
16    BEST COAST    Fade Away
17    CHVRCHES    The Bones Of What You Believe
18    THE BLOW    The Blow
19    RUBBLEBUCKET    Save Charlie [EP]
20    CHELSEA WOLFE    Pain Is Beauty
21    ELF POWER    Sunlight On The Moon
22    NO AGE    An Object
23    RJD2    More Is Than Isn’t
24    ST. LUCIA    When The Night
25    MGMT    MGMT
26    CRYSTAL STILTS    Nature Noir
27    SUPERCHUNK    I Hate Music
28    TIM KASHER    Adult Film
29    TOUCHE AMORE    Is Survived By
30    WASHED OUT    Paracosm

Surfer Blood talk Halloween costumes, flax crackers, and haunted practice spaces.

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We spoke with Surfer Blood members John Paul Pitts, Thomas Fekte, Tyler Schwarz, and Kevin Williams before their midnight show at the TLA on October 4th. Read below to find out about new obstacles they encountered moving onto a major label, their favorite horror movie, and what they’re thinking of dressing up as for Halloween.

Shannen: How did you guys all meet?

JP: Well, we’re all from the same town; we all grew up there at least. We went to high school there, and we were all playing in bands that were a little bit left of center. We all were sort of aware of each other and what we were doing, and yeah, I mean one day we started recording demos of some of the Surfer Blood songs. It wasn’t really serious and I guess Tom heard it and brought it up to me that he’d like to play guitar.

Shannen: Do you remember what some of those first songs were?

JP: A lot of the songs ended up on Astro Coast, our first record. I don’t think it was ever really supposed to be a proper record or anything, it was just something that we started and I felt really, really compelled to finish. So yeah, some of those songs ended up on the record later.

TF: I think the first song that I had heard was “Fast Jabroni”. That was a really early one that you guys had written.

TS: There are some demos that we’ve never even put out that I have on my computer. Well my laptop was stolen, so I must have lost some of them, but we had some kind of pirate-sounding songs.

Shannen: I think you guys tweeted the other day that you recorded on a Dell. Was that the laptop that got stolen?

TF: Yeah, I tweeted a really ridiculous run-on sentence that was ranting about Macintosh, even though I have nothing against Mac. I was just basically saying you don’t have to have a Mac, and we made a record on a Dell.

JP: There is so much digital noise on that record, though. If you listen closely there are so many parts where it’s just like (makes noise).

Continue reading “Surfer Blood talk Halloween costumes, flax crackers, and haunted practice spaces.”

Top Played Artists 10/14 – 10/22

1    DR. DOG    B-Room
2    DEER TICK    Negativity
3    OF MONTREAL    Lousy With Sylvianbriar
4    UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA    Blue Record [EP]
5    FLATLINERS    Dead Language
6    YUCK    Glow And Behold
7    MAN MAN    On Oni Pond
8    HAIM    Days Are Gone
9    THOSE DARLINS    Blur The Line
10    BELLE AND SEBASTIAN    The Third Eye Centre
11    NO AGE     An Object
12    CHVRCHES    The Bones Of What You Believe
13    SLEIGH BELLS    Bitter Rivals
14    KING KRULE    6 Feet Beneath The Moon
15    RJD2      More Is Than Isn’t
16    OBITS     Bed And Bugs
17    SUPERCHUNK    I Hate Music
18    SEBADOH    Defend Yourself
19    RUBBLEBUCKET    Save Charlie [EP]
20    HUNX AND HIS PUNX    Street Punk
21    DIARRHEA PLANET    I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dream
22    FOOTBALL, ETC.    Audible
23    WASHED OUT    Paracosm
24    MODERAT    II    Mute
25    VOLCANO CHOIR    Repave
26    ISLANDS    Ski Mask
27    PORCELAIN RAFT    Permanent Signal
28    CROCODILES    Crimes Of Passion
29    BEST COAST    Fade Away
30    JAGWAR MA    Howlin’

Top Played Artists 10/2/2013 – 10/9/2013

1    DEER TICK    Negativity    (Partisan)
2    MAN MAN    On Oni Pond    (Anti)
3    DR. DOG    B-Room    (Anti)
4    NO AGE    An Object    (SUB POP)
5    BELLE AND SEBASTIAN    The Third Eye Centre    (Matador)
6    SUPERCHUNK    I Hate Music    (Merge)
7    CROCODILES    Crimes Of Passion    (Frenchkiss)
8    PORCELAIN RAFT    Permanent Signal    (Secretly Canadian)
9    FLATLINERS    Dead Language    (Fat Wreck Chords)
10    PAPER KITES    States    (Nettwerk)
11    HUNX AND HIS PUNX    Street Punk    (Hardly Art)
12    FOOTBALL, ETC.    Audible    (Count Your Lucky Stars)
13    TY SEGALL    Sleeper    (Drag City)
14    YUCK    Glow And Behold    (Fat Possum)
15    DIARRHEA PLANET    I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams    (Infinity Cat)
16    OBITS    Bed And Bugs    (SUB POP)
17    ALUNAGEORGE    Body Music    (Vagrant)
18    WASHED OUT    Paracosm    (SUB POP)
19    VOLCANO CHOIR    Repave    (Jagjaguwar)
20    DIANA    Perpetual Surrender    (Jagjaguwar)
21    MGMT    MGMT    (Columbia)
22    NIGHTMARES ON WAX    Feelin’ Good    (Warp)
23    LEMURIA    The Distance Is So Big    (Bridge Nine)
24    WEEKEND    Jinx    (Slumberland)
25    ISLANDS    Ski Mask    (Manque)
26    RUBBLEBUCKET    Save Charlie [EP]    (Communion)
27    UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA    Blue Record [EP]    (Jagjaguwar)
28    JAGWAR MA    Howlin’    (Mom And Pop)
29    MINKS    Tides End    (Captured Tracks)
30    ELF POWER    Sunlight On The Moon    (Orange Twin)

Concert Review: Atoms for Peace @ The Liacouras Center (September 24, 2013)

Courtesy of Spin
Courtesy of Spin

By Kirsten Becker

I jumped at the opportunity to see Atoms For Peace kicking off the US leg of their tour in support of “Amok” at the Liacouras Center. For those who don’t know, the superband is composed of Thom Yorke of Radiohead, frequent collaborator and producer Nigel Godrich, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, and Joey Waronker. They entered the stage and kicked things off with the opening track to “Amok” entitled “Before Your Very Eyes…” Yorke then broke between the next song to voice one of the few words he would say that night: “My name is Jay Z,” (gesturing to Flea) “and this Beyonce.” Delving back into the music, Atoms For Peace played both original songs and versions of Thom Yorke’s solo material from his 2006 record “The Eraser.” Yorke flailed around the stage doing his signature moves while his haunting voice danced above Flea’s erratic basslines. Refosco showed off his talent playing various indigenous percussion instruments, some of which I could even recognize. The performance had a high level of energy and emotion, something that couldn’t ever be captured on an album. All of the members were fully invested in each song and every move and note was calculated; even down to the lights which fluttered and pulsed to the music.

After an impressive set, Atoms For Peace walked off the stage to roars from the crowd. When they returned for an encore, Flea had a melodica in hand. They performed an interesting and jarring version of Yorke’s “Skip Divided.” Also in the encore was a cover of UNKLE’s “Rabbit in Your Headlights” and Radiohead rarity “Paperbag Writer.” Five songs later, they left the stage again. It was clear they weren’t over just yet, roadies tuned and adjusted guitars in the dimmed lights. Finally, the collective returned; this time Flea making a costume change into a Temple basketball jersey. The final two songs were again Thom Yorke originals, “Atoms For Peace” and “Black Swan.”

The musical genius of this band is remarkable and seeing them live is an experience in itself. “Amok” is available now, for more information on the band and future tour dates, visit http://atomsforpeace.info/

One of the BEST Moments of My Life at a Show

By Maeve Walker

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-i-v2zlmL8&w=480&h=360]

I went to see Bomb the Music Industry at the church – it was maybe my second or third time seeing them. Not only are they are great band recorded, they are even more fun live. I was with a few friends, who also knew how much I liked them.

Never in my life had I ever crowd-surfed. Ever. It’s pretty scary, in theory. You’re up in the air, all willy-nilly, leaving your fate up to the crowd to carry you or let you fall. It’s not something that I normally would be interested in.

Bomb the Music Industry has a song “Sort of Like Being Pumped,” – it’s the final song on my favorite album, Scrambles. My friend, Jake, said that they don’t usually play that song (which bummed me out because it was my favorite song at the time).

Towards the end of the show, with only a few songs left, Jeff Rosenstock started playing the guitar riff of the song. My heart started beating really fast and soon I was singing stupidly with happiness.

Jake is pretty well known in Philly. He’s a larger than life person, in all aspects of the word. He probably saw my face light up and got an idea in his head – to throw me into the air unexpectedly at the big climax of the song.

As the song continues, we are near the middle of the crowd – if you know me, you know I like to be far away from crazy people running around because I typically wear glasses and am a girl that bruises easily. I like to watch the action from a safe distance.

The pivotal moment – the song is about to hit the big finale:

“IT’S BEEN A LONG DAMN WEEK WE GOTTA REST OUR TIRED FEET…”

Boom.

Jake takes me around the waist and chucks me into the air.

I’m on top of the crowd.

And I kid you not, confetti cannons go off, streamers fly through the air. Champange bottles are popped onstage.

It was like that exact moment was MADE for me to make my way towards the band, being carried by the crowd.

It was truly one of the most surreal moments of my life. I will never forget the song, the band, the streamers – the super ecstatic feeling of being on top of the world, totally immersed in a great song and band.

Interview with Young Pilgrims (September 10, 2013)

Courtesy of The Key
Courtesy of The Key

By Jonathan Plotkin

Young Pilgrims are an indie punk revival band from Philadelphia. Earlier this summer, they released their debut album Kyoko and a Rocket to the Moon on their Bandcamp, have been playing places such as Don’t Tread On Me, Jolly’s, and North Star Bar, and were recently featured as artist of the month by The Deli Magazine. On September 10th, after their last show, I got the chance to sit down with the band and talk it out for a few minutes.

Jonathan: So you guys are Young Pilgrims, what are your names?

Sean: I’m Sean Brown.

Zack: I’m Zack.

Jonathan: And what instruments do you play?

Sean: I play the guitar and I sing.

Zack: I play the bass guitar and I sing sweet harmonies.

Jonathan: And is there a drummer in the band?

Sean: Nick Boonie. We have two drummers, actually.

Jonathan: Who did you record the album with?

Sean: Jesse Appel.

Jonathan: And they’re both not available right now.

Sean: That’s right, they both died in the accident.

Jonathan: Right, the accident. We’ll get back to that totally true and not made up story later. So how did you guys meet in order to form your band?

Zack: High school. A lot of people went away to college and their band broke up and we made a new band.

Sean: Can I… can I tell that better than you did?

Continue reading “Interview with Young Pilgrims (September 10, 2013)”