September 30th, 2009

Sunny Day Real Estate Sneak Preview

Reunited emo/post-hardcore avatars Sunny Day Real Estate come to the Troc tomorrow night — in case you’re wondering what they might sound/look like, the quartet was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to play their old song “Seven” (from their debut album, Diary):

September 30th, 2009

Another New Arc In Round Song

Philly’s own Arc in Round just posted yet another song — titled “For Concern” — from their just-completed new album over at MySpace. Granted, no one really uses MySpace anymore, but if you do, you can go check it out right here. I caught up with AiR frontman (and noted local producer/engineer) Jeff Zeigler — who’s been working on some Kurt Vile instrumental mixes — earlier today to find out the status of said album, and Zeigler says that the disc is finished and mastered, and probably will come out sometime in the spring. In the meantime, he says that Arc in Round just completed a remix of fellow Philadelphians Ape School’s “It’s Over” for an EP set to come out in the coming months that will also include remixes by Daedalus, Pop Levi, and others.

Arc in Round, Ape School, and Bardo Pond will team up for a benefit show for Philly artist collective Vox Populi on Friday, October 16th at Johnny Brenda’s. Tickets are $10.

September 30th, 2009

Today In Philadelphia Music History: The Spectrum Opens

Yes, the Spectrum is being demolished, sad to say — likely by year’s end. But on this date in 1967, the Spectrum officially opened for business, hosting its first-ever event: the three-day Quaker City Jazz Festival. Here’s something amusing — the concession prices from the Spectrum’s opening night:

KYW Newsradio 1060 marks the occasion by talking to a couple of people who were there:

Local jazz enthusiast Ben Johnson had never been in a venue so large when he went to the Spectrum on its first night for the Quaker City Jazz Festival:

“And we saw thousands of people and great music. One of the people I remember was Richard Groove Holmes, an organist.”

Local jazz singer Ela Ghant remembers her near brush with Hugh Masakella:

“When they called his name, he walked right by us. It was very exciting. I’d never seen anything like it.”

Also on the bill: Astrud Gilberto — the girl from Ipanema — Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, Ramsey Lewis, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn.

The Spectrum became more of a rock venue and that’s how it’s going out next month. But Johnson did think it should pass into history with a mention of that auspicious opening:

“It was a fascinating time. It was actually overwhelming to me.”

September 30th, 2009

Will Springsteen Bring The Full Album Treatment To Town?

You’ve probably heard about this trend of the past few years where an artist or band will play an album from his/her/their back catalog straight through in its entirety in concert. Usually it’s the album that’s considered the “best” or most artistically/culturally “significant” of their careers. It’s kind of a gimmick, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s cool to hear an album you might know so well not only by the songs and melodies but by the sequence — by the sonic journey — being re-enacted live, and of course perhaps some of those songs (the non-hits and especially deep cuts) the artist may never have performed live before or retired from their sets a long time ago. On the other hand, it often seems like the depressing admission on the artist’s part that maybe their best days ARE behind them and their current material — if they’re still recording new material — isn’t as good or interesting or exciting to them or their fans. Not to mention the fact that they’re kinda giving in to the “collective thinking” or “critical consensus” or whatever you want to call it that determines what their “best” or most “hallowed” work is.

I bring this all up because news just broke that Bruce Springsteen — who is playing five shows at Giants Stadium over the next week and a half, starting tonight — is going to play one of his older albums in its entirety each night, along with lots of other songs from his career. Tonight and October 8th, the Boss and the E Street Band will do Born To Run; October 2nd they’ll do Darkness on the Edge of Town; and October 3rd and October 9th they’ll do Born in the U.S.A. The idea for this sprung from the fact that Springsteen and company played Born To Run in its entirety in Chicago on September 20th and it went over really well, by all accounts.

Now, Springsteen’s case is a little different, in that he already does these gargantuan three- and four-hour shows, so it’s not like he’s neglecting the rest of his catalog to do these full-album things — it just becomes a curious novelty in the middle of the set. But other artists who spend less time onstage usually do the whole album, then close things out with just a handful of “greatest hits,” so you’re often missing out on the full scope of their creative output, if you care about that sort of thing. Then again, all of these artists fully advertise that they’re going to do the “full-album treatment,” so if you go you know what you’re getting yourself into, and besides, a sizable contingent of fans really DO seem to just want to hear that one album, maybe the one that means the most to them (or, could it be, the one they’re told by society they’re SUPPOSED to like the most), re-created in all its glory.

This all may be of interest to you particularly if you’re a Springsteen fan, since he’s got four shows coming up at the Spectrum in October, and there’s a very good chance he’ll be performing those old albums in their entirety here in Philly, too. If/when we get confirmation of that, we’ll be sure to let you know.

September 30th, 2009

Tonight In Shows

Mayer Hawthorne
9pm, $12. Johnny Brenda’s.
Mayer Hawthorne’s velvety voice harks back to the 1970s suavity of classic soul, seducing like Marvin Gaye in the mid-range and eerily similar to Curtis Mayfield in the falsetto. On hearing his demos, Peanut Butter Wolf of Stones Throw Records first thought he was listening to old-school covers, only later catching on that these were self-recorded originals by a 29-year-old white guy from Ann Arbor. The songs are oddly familiar—there’s one where Hawthorne wishes it would rain, a la the Temptations, and another that borrows “You Can’t Hurry Love”’s skip-jump beat and handclaps—but that’ll just make them easier to love. (Jennifer Kelly)

Also, the Arctic Monkeys — nicely profiled by Neil Ferguson in this week’s PW — play a sold-out show at Electric Factory along with the Like [8pm]; Kung Fu Necktie hosts Dysrhythmia, Satanized, and Knife the Glitter [8pm/$10]; West Chester’s Sweetie and Spotted Atrocious, plus Filligar, drop by the North Star [7pm/$8]; and the great Lucinda Williams brings her 30th Anniversary Tour to the Grand Opera House in Wilmington [8pm/$37-$44].

September 30th, 2009

Mayer Hawthorne

September 30th, 2009

Arctic Monkeys