Kurt Vile makes my insides tingle. His voice, his music, his lyrics, his hair make me feel like a helpless stoned teenage girl who can’t comprehend her feelings on a die hard crush….. swoon. Vile’s fifth album ‘Walking on a Pretty Daze’ is going to be released on April 9! If you’re in the tri-state area I suggest making it out to the Apple Store Soho for the release followed by a live performance from Kurt Vile & The Violators. It’s FREE! If you plan on going I’d get there early. Or don’t go, stay home get high and listen, that’s how I prefer it.
On March 28, the band gave a hint via twitter that something would be coming the following day. The band’s twitter page ask “Soooo what are you guys/gals up to tomorrow?” gathering a lot of interest from fans awaiting some news from the band who hasn’t released an album since their debut in September of 2011 but whose fanbase continues to grow rapidly.
The New Jersey based band released a new music video yesterday for a new song from their upcoming album, Talon of the Hawk, which they also announced a release date for, May 21st. The new song, “Twin Size Mattress”, has everything that we love about The Front Bottoms and more. The lyrics are obscure and smart, captivating listeners like they did on their first album. Brian Sella’s imperfect and endearing voice screams the poetic lines while Mat Uychich as always delivers on the drums. The excitement building around this song from the loyal fans shows a very promising outcome for their new album.
The song is sure to be a new anthem the crowd will scream in unison in their upcoming shows on their new headlining tour, which was also announced yesterday. After a few weeks touring in the UK/Europe in April, the band will embark on a new US tour June 1st and ending on July 13th. Considering how loyal the following of the band is and how much excitement will surround their album release, tickets are sure to go quickly. As someone who already has purchased their presale tickets, I suggest getting them as soon as possible as not to miss out on what is sure to be a great tour.
Erin Bradley | Ambassador of Philadelphia, PA | Beat-Play & Music Without Labels, LLC
Yesterday Johnny Brenda’s played host to a well-matched pair of critically acclaimed artists working at the growing confluence of electronic music and R&B. No faux-rave radio cheese here, though—Autre Ne Veut and Majical Cloudz are significantly more experimental than that. Majical Cloudz began the evening as if emerging from their namesake, two men on stage coaxing everyone closer from within a mist so thick that frontman Devon Welsh asked if he could be seen several times before requesting additional lighting. No matter how much dry ice clouded the room, however, his voice cut through the dark directly into the listeners’ hearts, supported by a bed of pulsating ambient synthesizers courtesy of bandmate Matthew Otto. As he belted out lyrics of longing, romantic and otherwise, through an impressive vocal range while convulsing in a manner more reminiscent of the impassioned paroxysms of a fan in the front row of the 10 year reunion of his favorite emo band than the calculated showmanship of a rockstar, Welsh’s passion for his music was palpable. In a time where all too many musicians hide behind irony, tongues firmly planted in cheeks, this lack of artifice invites each one into a world that is indeed magical.
Video screens lowered from the ceiling as Autre Ne Veut took the stage: first the drummer, then the programmer/backing vocalist, and finally the harem-pants clad Arthur Ashin, their heavy beats accompanying images of a painting being carried around city streets. Painting is a well-chosen metaphor for Ashin’s music, an impressionistic take on R&B that includes all the falsetto acrobatics and guttural wails without the rest of the song structure. The propulsive downtempo instrumentals are not the only aspect of Autre Ne Veut that resembles so-called ‘trap music’—it has a similar relationship to its source material, stripping it down to basics for maximum effect. The results are moving, literally. There was not a single body in the place that did not rock to these rhythms, despite—or even because of—the virtual impossibility of understanding what precisely was giving Ashin the blues. Just before the last song the frontman climbed down into the audience and watched the backing vocalist and drummer jam out the ending of the song they were performing with a smile of satisfaction on his face, embracing Devon Welsh before returning to the stage. He seemed truly happy to watch his music being performed, even by others.
Autre Ne Veut’s new album Anxietywas released yesterday to a ‘Best New Music’ nod from Pitchfork, and this show was the opening night of a tour that will take these two artists through their respective hometowns of New York and Montreal and down the west coast before ending at SXSW. If their success continues to grow, perhaps sincerity is not dead in the 21st century.
By Dave Fox | Philadelphia Ambassador | @philosofoxthedj | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC
To Write Love On Her Arms‘ Heavy and Light Tour, which Steve Harpine recently covered in Nashville, made its way to the Theatre of Living Arts on Tuesday, February 12th. Hosting such a positive event on South Street during Mardi Gras was an unprecedented move, and TWLOHA put the focus on their message from the outset, handing out resources for local psychological help at the door and opening with a video clip of their mission for the night, affirming that the artists on stage care personally about each member of the audience and their stories. Immediately following the video, our attention was directed up and back to spoken word artist Anis Mojgani in the balcony behind us. The use of the entire room dramatically helped in making the crowd feel a part of the evening, whether artists were performing or founder Jamie Tworkowski and his friends were speaking.
While Jon Foreman and Fiction Family have been headlining the entire tour, the rest of the lineup varied, and in fact some artists were joining the tour for the first time in Philadelphia, including opening act The Lone Bellow, whose three-part harmonies and acoustic stylings have been warmly welcomed by everyone from Conan O’Brien to Paste. The TLA proved to be no exception, as a church-like hush fell over the crowd. The hush continued through an inspiring welcome from Tworkowski, until Heavy and Light stalwarts Now Now (formerly Now, Now Every Children) took the stage and loosened things up with their playful banter and a bit of percussion. Considering the electronics and dancing I generally associate with their music, I was impressed they were able to tone things down so smoothly for an acoustic performance. For a taste of their recorded material, you can download their new single “Thread” here.
After a short talk from a psychiatrist, Will Anderson of pop-rock outfit Parachute brought back the coffeehouse vibe the night had been gradually developing with a solo set. When poet Anis Mojgani appeared in front of us, it was as if the night began again. His slam performance brought a punk rock energy to the proceedings that only continued as Anthony Raneri of Bayside began the mass sing-along portion of the evening. The excitement in the room was palpable as Jon Foreman spoke about what To Write Love On Her Arms means to him, and virtually exploded as he led everyone in an unamplified rendition of Switchfoot’s “Dare You To Move” before inviting Sean Watkins of Nickelcreek and the rest of their Fiction Family bandmates to join him on stage. They ran through a brief but excellent set of material from both their first album and their newly-released Reunion, and closed the night by inviting all of the artists on stage to sing Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”. In a night filled with a sense of community and encouragement to take that out the doors into the rest of the world, I can think of no more appropriate sentiment to end on than “I want to live, I want to give… You keep me searching for a heart of gold…”
By Dave Fox | Philadelphia Ambassador | @philosofoxthedj | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC
MWL Interviews - Ballyhoo
Ballyhoo - Last Night
Coral Thief - Words I Say
Trevor C Jones - Never Want To Leave
Episode 15 - Feat. Yann Tiersen + Datsik + MORE!
Episode 14 - Feat. Rachael Yamagata
Episode 13 - Feat. Portugal. The Man
MWL Live episode 12 - Feat. These Days
MWL Live Episode 11 - Feat. Eliot Lipp
MWL Live - Episode 10 - Feat. The Green
MWL Live Episode 9 - Feat. Chamberlin
MWL Live Episode 8 - Feat. Minnesota
MWL Live Episode 7 - Feat. Digitalism
MWL Live Episode 6 - The Halloween Episode
MWL Live Episode 5 - Feat. Stephen Marley
MWL Live - Episode 4 - Feat. Alabama Shakes
MWL Live - Episode 3 - Feat. Minus The Bear
MWL Live - Episode 2 - Feat. The Lonely Forest
MWL Live Episode 1 - Feat. DMX
MWL Live catches up with Marco Benevento!
MWL Live Interviews Y La Bamba!
