Results tagged “indierock”

Before we delve into the review, your Phillyist would be remiss if we didn't tell you about how we almost didn't get into this show Saturday night. Since the show was sold out (seriously), we knew it was important to get like double-confirmation that we were on the press list or else it was no-dice-see-ya-later time. Which we did, since we're cool thorough obsessively meticulous like that.

Need some variety in your life? Melange Variety Cabaret...On The Fringe is the ticket for you. It features belly dancing, music (R&B, blues, jazz, indie), clowning, puppetry, electronic music gadgetry... and, well, basically it's a cabaret! The remaining three shows promise to be lively and unlike any other show in Fringe. Which, considering the craziness variety that is Fringe, is certainly saying something. The full lineup can be seen here. Catch them tonight, Friday, and Saturday; tickets for the weekend can be had online, but for tonight you'll need to get 'em at the door. If you go to one show, you can get tickets to another for half-off. More puppets for you!

In about a week and a half, singer/songwriter Johnathan Rice is going to be down at Stubb's in Austin, supporting no less a band than R.E.M. at South by Southwest. But luckily for those of us who live up here in Philly and won't be able to make it to the big party in Austin, Rice is currently touring with Matt Costa, and will be a little closer to us tomorrow night, at the First Unitarian Church. (Hope you've already got tickets, because unfortunately the show is sold out!) Why is that lucky? Because Rice is a pretty big talent. His latest album, Further North, released at the end of last year, is a strong collection of indie rock with a bit of an alt-country flavor; the sound reminds us of the Wallflowers and Josh Ritter. The strongest track is probably the supremely catchy "Hard to Believe," but "THC" and "The Ballad of King Coyote" are nearly as excellent. To get a better idea what he sounds like, stream "End of the Affair" in Windows Media Player or Quicktime formats, or check out the video for "We're All Stuck out in the Desert" embedded here. You can also download some free MP3s over at the R5 website, as this show is indeed another R5 production.

It got cold all of a sudden, didn't it? We had a nice little mild winter going—just like we'd asked for—for a little while. But suddenly, it's, well, winter in Philadelphia. And winter means one thing: frigid, freezing weather. So, appropriately, Y-Rock on XPN is bringing FREEZEtival 2008 to the Electric Factory tomorrow night.

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Filter has released their list of the overall Top Ten Albums of 2007, as well as a bunch of supplementary top 10 albums by their staff. Mostly unsurprising indie rock of the moment picks, but some interesting stuff. And hey these remind us of other lists we've seen lately... (Via Samantha) We couldn't care less about the upcoming reality show Clash...

Keep in mind that despite the "top ten" designation, these are in no particular order. Also, most of these bands have been around for a few years, but I only discovered them this year. And just a quick warning: I use some NSFW language in this post. So sue me.

Just in time for tonight's party (will you be there?), Phillyist adds another new writer to the mix, this one the very talented—and extensively published—Joshua Valocchi. We'd like to emphasize that we brought him on as a writer long before he said nice things about Editor Jill's place of employment in a Philadelphia Weekly article, and that said article has nothing to do with his new position on the staff. Although Editor Jill may just...

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2007 Recap from Super!Alright! on Vimeo. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of Texas's only feminist bookstore. Throughout the week, they interviewed a bunch of indie fashion designers and D-I-Y websites—Etsy, Ornamental Things, 31 Corn Lane, and Aorta Designs—for the upcoming Stitch Fashion Show. They also did...

Enon Tickets
11/5/07-11/9/07

It's rare that we get to talk about an indie rock show that features more than one band that we're familiar with and impressed by, but we're getting that chance today. Tonight at Johnny Brenda's both Film School (MySpace) and Eulogies will be playing, along with Cloud Minder and Minipop. Eulogies, on their self-titled release, plays a melancholy (but fun) alterna-pop that one might describe as emo - although we'd rather not, since emo has bad connotations, and we actually like Eulogies. (Download their track "One Man.") The vocals will remind you of J Mascis, and indeed the music has a vague Dinosaur Jr. flavor to it in general. Meanwhile, Film School, on their latest release, Hide Out, are putting out a fun, droning, new New Wave kind of indie pop, with a strong beat and a Yo La Tengo feel, and with brilliant track titles like "Sick Hipster Nursed by Suicide Girl" (a song that manages to be just as excellent as its title). (Download "Lectric," a kick-ass track off Hide Out.)

Free Yr Radio, a campaign launched by Toyota and Urban Outfitters in support of independent radio, is getting a soundtrack. It's a benefit compilation CD that's coming out tomorrow (a release date chosen to coincide with non-commercial radio's biggest event, the CMJ conference in Manhattan - an event we've gotten more press releases about than we can count). The compilation features a collection of live music, B-side tracks and previously unreleased material from the campaign's participating bands, and it's available exclusively at Urban Outfitters stores nationwide, and from the retailer's catalog and web site at www.urbanoutfitters.com. All profits from the CD will be divided among the campaign's participating radio stations (one of which is our very own Y-Rock on XPN in Philadelphia).

Maybe 2007 has been the blankest year for you. Perhaps you’re not as popular as you want to be. By some mistake, maybe you’re not the starting quarterback.

For thirty-five minutes, I sat on a loveseat in the dressing room of Ciaran McFeely, who performs under the moniker Simple Kid, and simply shot the proverbial shit. With legs crossed and hair hanging in his face, he thoroughly answered any query that I spewed his way. Follow-up questions were unnecessary; everything was answered.

Some album titles really grab you and stick in your head, and Moo, You Bloody Choir is one of those. It's the latest release from Australian band Augie March (MySpace), and happily, the music on it will really grab you, too. Their lyrics, courtesy of singer-songwriter Glenn Richards, are clever poetry, and their music is pleasant indie rock, with a bounce, a jangle, and even the occasional banjo. Favorites of ours include the whirling, enveloping, romantic opening track, "One Crowded Hour" (which you can see/hear them performing in the video included in this post), and the rocking "Just Passing Through."

For a band with only a three-song EP to its name, Vampire Weekend sure has polarized the indie rock blogs. It’s like a cage match between hype and backlash: on one side you’ve got a long line of critics and fans hailing the New York band’s refreshingly polyrhythmic, Afro-pop sensibilities, while on the other, there are just as many people resenting the mounting hype or their sunny tunes or both. (You can sample some of that criticism, which ranges from “What’s the big deal about this band?” to “They’re the Jimmy Buffetts of indie rock,” here.)

Looking to quench your indie rock thirst? Tonight at TLA you can have a double-shot of Midlake and dawn Landes.

The National Giveaway
8/29/07-9/2/07

Pterodactyl, besides being one of our favorite dinosaurs, is also a pretty kick-ass noise rock trio out of Brooklyn. We've been listening to their self-titled release (which came out near the end of April), and although it's a bit uneven, its slight dips are compensated for by its soaring highs. By which we mean, it can occasionally drift so far into discordance that it's just annoying. But at other times it rocks your socks off. The insane, brutal drumming on "Polio" (one of the album's two really stand-out tracks, along with "Astros") is worth the price of admission alone.

If your lasting memory of Silverchair is the Cobain-lite bombast of the “Tomorrow” video on MTV—we still heart you, Tabitha Soren—you’ve missed out on some fine tunes over the years. But you can catch up Saturday night when their headlining tour comes to our fair city.

Dear Radio 104.5:

Chris Funk of The Decemberists

What's new and/or interesting in local theaters this weekend.

This is just a quick note to let you know that Ben + Vesper are playing Johnny Brenda's tomorrow night, as part of a packed bill of indie rock that also includes MV & EE, Greg Weeks, and Festival. We can't speak from firsthand about all the bands, but we've been listening to Ben + Vesper's recently released full-length All This Could Kill You, and we find it to be a lovely little recording, full of beautiful harmonies and pleasant guitar strumming. Ben + Vesper is another one of those bands that consists of a quirky married couple doing the indie rock thing. And we haven't met one of those we didn't like yet. See if you like them by downloading their song "An Honest Bluff" in mp3 format right here.

Tuesday night, we carted ourselves out to the hot, misty expanse of the Tower Theater to see Bloc Party with the Maccabees and the Noisettes. British band the Maccabees started things off right with a rousing set which, they confessed, was their first performance as a band in America, and their first performance in front of a seated audience. They didn't sound like they were doing anything for the first time, though; they played strong, loud, post-rock tracks with emotional vocals and fantastic beats. We were racking our brains trying to come up with a comparison to describe what they sounded like, and then realized they sounded vaguely like Bloc Party, which made perfect sense. Anyway, we were very impressed.

We've talked about this show, and the contests associated with it, quite a lot, but we thought we'd give it all one more mention, now that the show is practically here. We are referring, of course, to the show tomorrow night at the Tower Theater, wherein the Noisettes (MySpace) and The Maccabees (MySpace) will open for Bloc Party (MySpace). It's an indie rock triple feature! How can you resist, we ask you? We couldn't, which is why we'll be going ourselves.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (MySpace) is not an association of big tattooed dudes who like to ride around on two-wheeled vehicles. It's a kick-ass indie rock band that you need to get to know if you haven't already. A good place to start is their latest album, released about a month ago, called Baby 81. There are a handful of tracks on this one that are just good indie pop/guitar rock songs. The rest are divided between very good and totally excellent. All of them are full of driving guitars, smooth vocals, and head-banging hooks. A couple of our favorite tracks are the sexy "Berlin" and the epic rock masterpiece (clocking in at just over nine minutes) "American X." But another of our favorites is "Weapon of Choice," which we'd like you to check out for yourself; listen in Windows Media, QuickTime, or Real Media formats.

Horrors Ticket Giveaway
5/28/07-6/1/07

Listen up and listen good: Tonight is your last chance to catch the Seattle, WA, based band Pretty Girls Make Graves in Philadelphia, PA.

Know who's playing the Electric Factory this coming Thursday? Arctic Monkeys (MySpace) and be your own PET (MySpace). If you don't know why this will be an awesome show... well, first of all, where have you been and what's wrong with you? And second of all, these are both bands that are known to be even better live, and their recorded stuff already rocks. BYOP is Sonic Youth-approved, and all crazy lyrics and smashing indie rock. They've got a new drummer, a new album due out this summer, and are ready to roll. As for the Monkeys, they're one of those way-hyped bands that pretty much lives up to all the talk. The first time we heard Arctic Monkeys was on a live recording; it was so awesome, we picked up their first studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, right away, and were actually a little let down by it, not because it was bad, but just because it didn't have quite as energetic and explosive a sound as that live recording. Since then, we've also purchased their latest disc, released in April, Favourite Worst Nightmare, and it's more of that same fantastic, bouncy, full-on indie-rock-with-an-English-accent that we've come to expect from the Monkeys. The lyrics are clever and biting, the music grabs you and shakes you in your chair and won't let go. We've also made our peace with their studio sound, and are loving it quite a bit. But we're still looking forward to getting the real live experience on Thursday. Come on out, too, if you wanna. Tickets are still available as of this writing, but snatch 'em up, because we're sure they'll all be gone soon.

When we were in high school, there was some pretty bad music being produced: Britney Spears and boy bands and Creed (shudder). We'd decided that mainstream American music was pretty much the root of all evil. (True: our CD collection boasts a mix we burned that's actually called "Mainstream American Music is the Root of All Evil.") That's when we first started listening to indie rock. Bands on small labels or releasing their own music. Innovative recording techniques, usually the result of albums being made in someone's tile bathroom or padded-walled basement. Harmonies that evoked the 1960s. That's when we discovered Sloan. As soon as we heard the opening of their song "The Other Man," off of their 2002 record , we were more or less hooked on this Torontonian indie-pop quartet. (Admittedly, we're late adopters: Sloan has been performing together since the early 90s.)