May 18th, 2012 2:18 pm
OKAY, Meek Mill, Go ‘Head With Your 7.4-Pitchfork-Reveiwed Dreamchasers 2 Mixtape
Philly’s Meek Mill’s in good (big budget) company on this new mixtape with big hip-hop heads showing up. Now, it’s the brutal honest truth that names like Big Sean, Drake and Jeremih are just bigger than local rappers like Young Chris and Beanie Sigel. Maybe bigger names doesn’t equate to bigger talent, but it DOES seem to say something about where Meek is headed. He’ll always rep Philly, but to become a household name, he might have to leave the nest to come back a big-time baller. Anyway, congrats, Meek, and check out the whole review when you have a minute. Until then, here are the potent first and last paragraphs from Jordan Sargent’s review:
“Meek Mill had a few big singles and a breakthrough mixtape in last year’s Dreamchasers, but now comes the hard part. With expectations comes pressure, and pressure in rap means to repeatedly prove one’s commercial potential in a genre largely starved for continuous hits. Meek is a street rapper who’s beginning to answer to executives, and the new Dreamchasers 2 is his first mixtape that reflects that. Gone are the first volume’s guests like Beanie Sigel and Young Chris, stylistically similar rappers from Meek’s hometown of Philadelphia that have instead been traded for the likes of Drake, Trey Songz, and Big Sean. The connection to the latter group doesn’t go far beyond occupying the same tax bracket, but the strength of D2 is that in collaborating with those artists (and guys likeWale) Meek is still able to tip the scales in his favor. He doesn’t so much step out of his own world as merge it with the one that he’s about to enter, and the result is a mixtape that will continue his forward momentum even if it doesn’t fulfill the wild expectations of some fans.”
And the last:
“If all goes well for Meek Mill, Dreamchasers 2 will be a footnote in his career, the tape where he started to bridge the gap to something close to stardom. It won’t play as important a role in his narrative as the first edition, and that’s saying something considering D2 currently sits at 2.8 million downloads on DatPiff alone. But it is of equal quality to the mixtape that broke him big, and that can only mean good things.”
May 18th, 2012 10:53 am
Go See It This Weekend: Philadelphia On Parade At The Mann, Vintage Kicks, Damien Jurado, Justin Townes Earle, Ty Segall, Reggie Watts, LeAnn Rimes, Tracy Morgan, And Hall & Oates
Saturday, May 19
Philadelphia On Parade
Before this city turns into a sweltering summer sewer, the Mann Center wants to help you make the most of these pleasant springtime temps. This Saturday, grab a lawn chair, pack a picnic, rally up all your favorite companions and head to Fairmount Park for an extravagant afternoon of festivities. There will be five stages of live entertainment from more than 800 performers including the Keystone Chinese Lion Dancers, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble and Swift Technique. There will also be dance workshops, arts and crafts stations, face painting and a craft marketplace. At the Independence Blue Cross Health Pavilion, you’ll find instructors sharing life-saving techniques and healthy eating tips as well as yoga, Zumba and line-dancing demos. -Nicole Finkbiner
11am. Free. The Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave. 215.546.7900. manncenter.org
Vintage Kicks
Vintage Kicks sing about everything from the 1 percent and Wall Street to surfing gnarly waves with a catchy, pop-punk infused chorus-verse-chorus formula overflowing with “hey, hey’s!” and “oh, uh-oh’s.” Slightly reminiscent of that ’90’s “What’s My Age Again?” trio, this Philly five-piece formed less than two years ago, but you’d never know it giving a listen to their seasoned-sounding 10-song EP, King Geek. Despite their youth, Vintage Kicks know when to pay respects to a fallen source of inspiration. As evidence, see their recently released YouTube video of the keyboard-heavy cover of late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s “I Don’t Know,” and dance to the revamped classic. -Gabrielle Chepurny
8:30pm. $8-$10. MilkBoy Philly, 1100 Chestnut St. milkboyphilly.com
Sunday, May 20
Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado, who sings and writes songs (but we hate to call him a “singer-songwriter” because of all the baggage that term usually implies), has put out approximately 184 albums since 1995. Not one of them is a dud. Seriously. Even Bob Dylan dropped dogshit like Down in the Groove, but so far everything Jurado’s touched with his stark, modern-folk sensibilities and husky, spooky tenor has been amazing. His new Maraqopa is remarkable. Maybe not all stark and folk, though—there’s some major psych-pop jams happening, but he still keeps it moody and dark. It’s probably going to sound exceptional live. Marc Wolfson Pinansky opens: He sings, plays guitar, whistles and loves cats. -Michael Alan Goldberg
9pm. $12. With JBM + Marc Wolfson Pinansky. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave.
johnnybrendas.com
PLUS Union Transfer’s got The Adicts with World Inferno Friendship Society on Saturday night, the TLA’s hosting Meshuggah tonight and Justin Townes Earle tomorrow night, Johnny Brenda’s welcomes Ty Segall tonight, Kung Fu has Saturday Looks Good To Me on Saturday night (ha!) and Bobby Conn on Sunday night, The Troc has got Reggie Watts on Saturday night and Joshua Bright on Sunday night, The Barbary hosts Mansions tonight and Shattered Realm on Sunday, The Keswick is poppin’ with LeAnn Rimes tonight, Tracy Morgan tomorrow night and Gordon Lightfoot on Sunday night, The Tower’s got Hall & Oates on Saturday night, North Star Bar will have Snarky Puppy in house on Saturday night, and Milkboy’s got the Dex Romweber Duo tonight and a Ladies’ Night on Sunday night featuring Ron Gallo of Toy Soldiers.
May 17th, 2012 6:44 pm
Attn Phish Fans: We’re Giving Away A Kickass Package For The Band’s June 15 – 17th Bader Field Shows
Don’t know if you ever pop on over to PW’s contest page, but right now we’re giving away a pretty heady package that Phish fans will delight in. The band, as any fan in the area knows, is playing three nights at Bader Field in Atlantic City. Well, we’ve got a pair of tickets that’ll get you into all three nights. Where will you stay? Oh, we’ve got that covered too: we’re putting the lucky winners up in the Tropicana three nights. BOOM! There will be a shuttle provided from the Tropicana to the concert each day, so transpo is covered as well. Epic. Go to our contest page and enter to win. This is huge. Also, while you’re Phishing, you should go to the official Phish at Bader Field site. See: FAQs and the section called “ITEMS THAT WOULD IMPRESS IF YOU BROUGHT.”
May 17th, 2012 3:22 pm
You Won’t Be Able To Complain About The Price Of Beer At Live Nation Venues Anymore
Beer at concerts is absurdly expensive. You know this. Every time you’re even in line to buy one, you can hear the folks carping about it. “$8 for a bottle of blah blah blah! RIDICULOUS!” Well, now you’re just going to have to shut up about it, at least at Live Nation venues—TLA, Tower, Festival Pier (full list of venues here)—at least over the summer. Because, starting today, all Live Nation amphitheaters (oh, wait, so maybe take Festival Pier off that list?) in North America (except, oddly, Houston or Toronto) will sell 12 ounces of domestic draft beer for $4. $4! Thems regular ole bar prices! YOU CAN AFFORD THAT!
But that’s not all! They’re also upgrading the food available at the concessions. “Restaurant quality upgrades” that include hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken tenders, corn dogs “and more.” (Can we take a guess here and say the “and more” is nachos? We’re going with nachos.)
So there you go. No more crying about beer prices at concerts. Enjoy your $4 domestic draft.
May 17th, 2012 2:02 pm
Gossip Roundup: New Album News, Feist And Turf Feinz, St. Vincent’s “KROKODIL,” Jay ‘N Barack, Destroyer, Here We Go Magic And John Waters, And Donna
NEW ALBUMS AND SINGLES AND SUCH
>> Diplo’s got a new track called “Set It Off” from the forthcoming EP Express Yourself (June 12). It features a band that has an awesome name – Lazerdisk Party Sex.
>> We haven’t heard much from Yeasayer since Odd Blood. But this week they sent out copies of a new track to their fanmail list and now you can listen to it on Soundcloud. It’s called “Henrietta.” Those guys are mysteries.
>> Those L.A. punks HEALTH have agreed to create a soundtrack for a video game. Well, it’s not just any video game, we guess, ‘cuz it’s Max Payne 3. Well, give a listen to “Tears,” it’s pretty good (despite the fact that it was made for a video game).
>> Animal Collective have announced that a new album is imminent and they’re going so far as to say that it WON’T sound like Merriweather Post Pavillion. It’s more of a return to their roots, they told someone. Centipede Hz is out on September 4th.
>> Those hyped-up Passion Pit boys are comin’ at ya soon enough with new material in the form of a record called Gossamer. It’s out July 24th and, in the meantime, you can oogle over a tracklist and album art if you’re so inclined.
>> Stream the new Simian Mobile Disco, Unpatterns, in anticipation of their Voyeur date on May 24th.
>> Some singles: Usher’s hot new jam with Rick Ross, “Touch ‘N You,” Azealia Banks‘ new one called “Jumanji,” Little Boots has a new one called “Headphones,” and Iron and Wine covered George Michael’s “One More Try.”
VIDEOS AND IMAGERY
>> Bethany and Best Coast were on Letterman last night doing the title track from The Only Place. Oh, El-P was kickin’ it with Dave this week, too. Oh oh, and Big K.R.I.T. was on Jimmy Fallon the other night to do “I Got This” with the Roots.
>> There’s an incredibly charming new video for Feist’s “Cicadas and Gulls,” which features two members of an Oakland street dance group called Turf Feinz. These two guys dance around Feist and a few background singers and it’s pretty much incredible.
>> That damn Jools Holland. It must be awesome to be him. He gets the sickest talent to be on his show and recently he had Hot Chip on to do a new song called “Night and Day” from June 12’s In Our Heads. Dude’s the man.
>> For Pitchfork’s +1 series they recently followed around Annie Clark of St. Vincent fame as she headlined The National’s twins-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She is only the most charming thing in heels who shreds and she does a crowd-wandering, manic version of “KROKODIL.”
CONCERTS, TOURS, DATES, VISITATIONS, APPEARANCES, ETC.
>> Well, lookie here! WXPN’s got their 12th Annual NON-COMMvention fest and they’ve got an impressive lineup that starts today!: Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, War on Drugs, Good Old War, Rufus Wainwright, Zeus, Citizen Cope, Nada Surf, The Walkmen, and Beth Orton to name a few.
>> Oh, are you tired of hearing about the Jay’s Budweiser’s Made In America festival that’s happening on the Parkway in September? Well, Mr. Carter’s tight with the President of the United States and he’s invited him (and his wife) to be a part of it all AS PERFORMERS. Yeah, Jay wants Barack Obama to sing some Otis Redding jawns. Also, Jay’s cool with gays getting married, too – CNN wrote about it with a title “Jay-Z still has Obama’s back.”
>> Destroyer’s coming to Philly, guys. It’s going to be great. They’re at Union Transfer on June 17th – mark your calendars now.
>> Early 4AD duo, Dead Can Dance, have a new record, their first in ages on August 9th, and they’re following through with a tour that’ll stop in at Philly’s Verizon Hall on August 26th.
SOME OTHER STUFF THAT’S NOT ABOUT ALBUMS AND VIDEOS
>> One of our favorite bands and records of the moment, Here We Go Magic’s A Different Ship, picked up a hitching John Waters the other day. They, naturally, tweeted and blogged about it. JOHN WATERS IS THE MAN.
>> The Bonnaroo lineup’s been announced, and yes, it’s sick.
>> Morgan Spurlock, the Super Size Me guy, did one of his “A Day in the Life“s about our baby boy, ?uestlove.
>> Donna Summer is dead at 63. Sad.
May 17th, 2012 12:10 pm
Win Free Tickets To See Reggie Watts’ Saturday Show At The Troc!
Fact: No one does what Reggie Watts does on stage. No one. He’s unique. One-of-a-kind. All the other synonyms that mean that too. He’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle stuffed under a mountain of hair. Watch what he does here, or read about it here. See! You want to go to this. And our very funny buddy Doogie Horner is opening. That’s a Win/Win, folks. If you’d like a chance at winning a pair of tickets, shoot an email to tips@makemajormoves.com with “WHY SHIT SO CRAZY?” in the subject line. We’ll be picking a winner later today, so get crackin’.
May 17th, 2012 11:02 am
This Three-Year-Old Is Going To Be The Coolest Kid Of All Time
Here you have some siblings. They’re amused by toying with this young child. In this clip they put on Nirvana’s “Breed,” from 1991’s Nevermind.
