Text and images by Megan Matuzak.
It’s with reasonable speculation that most How To Dress Well fans wonder how well Tom Krell’s voice would translate to a live performance. At the 6th Annual Roots Picnic on Saturday, Krell sounded even better than he does on Total Loss, his most recent release.
Text and image by Nikki Volpicelli.
Four piece, space-risen Nightlands unveiled their new choir, the Sighborg Singers, Friday night at Johnny Brenda’s.
They opened the night with “All The Way,” a song that’s nostalgically familiar if you recall last October’s Space Odyssey symphony, where frontman and Nightlands’ founder Dave Hartley scored the nearly 3-hour movie live, including this track in a mesmerizing vessel detachment scene that was the build-up.
Nightlands has a hypnotic effect on the audience. Everyone upstairs and down looked stoned – not here, up there, floating above the stage somewhere and fixated. Hartley and his fellow performers (Sighborg Singers included) moved minimally, closing and opening their eyes, taking cues from instrumentals.
Nightlands is an idea based on heavily layered, calculated and specific sounds born from Hartley’s mathematical brain that he experimented with intimately and intrinsically. It seemed, however, that those facts and figures have fallen a bit by the wayside to make room for what matters most. It was visible that Hartley and his band were doing more up there than just thinking over their next sonic moves. They were feeling them out, maybe even excusing their minds for a few breaks here and there to let what’s left work independently. Harmonies flowed organically, ebbing over hypnotizing sounds of Oak Island‘s “So It Goes,” and a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “That’s All For Everyone.”
Even when Hartley stopped to admit that he was “sweating like Patrick Ewing,” that current didn’t break.
Nightlands ended with a few covers, including “99 Miles from LA,” which sounded like the group’s own creation, driving home the fact that the Sighborg “science experiment” (as Hartley affectionately introduced earlier) is a success, both in on-stage chemistry and that organic, don’t-think-just-feel-it-out musical capacity.
Mount Kimbie @ Union Transfer.
Text by Jumah Chaguan. Images by Menglong Liang.
Outside, the heat scorched the foreheads of hatless people. It was the first official heat wave of Philadelphia’s 2013 summer. On the other side of the Atlantic in England, the weather was in the low 60s, rain-free and sunny – a perfect day for many Londoners.
However, the English musical duo Mount Kimbie were stateside and had to bear with the heat before their first concert ever in Philadelphia on Friday.
“I’m not going out in this heat,” said Kai Campos of Mount Kimbie about not being able see more of Philly.
Kai and Dom Maker, the other half of Mount Kimbie, now have to take better care of themselves. They have incorporated more instruments and vocals into their electronica sound which means more can go wrong on stage. Inside the cool and dark Union Transfer concert hall, Mount Kimbie was focused on the rehearsal. Kai heard distortion from one of the speakers and asked the sound engineer for help.
“Yeah, we are bit of perfectionists,” said Kai backstage in the air-conditioned dressing room. “Tonight is going to be a great show.”
Did you miss out on tickets to The Roots Picnic?
Well, you can still catch Questlove on Saturday. He’ll DJ the official after party at Underground Arts along with DJ PHSH. And we’re giving away tickets.
If you want to go to the after party for free with a friend, email us at FreeJUMPstuff@gmail.com. Put “Questlove” in the subject line. You can just purchase tickets here if you don’t want to take a chance.
We’re also giving away tickets to see comedians Kevin Heffernan & Steve Lemme (of Beerfest and Super Troopers), who will perform at Underground Arts before the dance party kicks off. If you want a pair of tickets for that show, email us at FreeJUMPstuff@gmail.com and put “Heffernan” in the subject line. Or yo can buy tickets here.
Text by Sofiya Ballin. Images by G.W. Miller III.
The guests of St. Mark’s Church on Frankford Avenue are having a spiritual experience. Throughout the halls, up the stairs and in a large room, “Move Your Body,” Beyonce’s exercise remix to “Get Me Bodied,” blasts. Young girls perform choreographed steps across the stage as cups of fruit and yogurt are handed out on the sidelines. Teachers and facilitators, dressed in suits and ties get down and dirty doing push-ups as parents are out of breath from jumping jacks, catching an entirely different spirit.
This is a free health forum led by The GrassROOTs Community Foundation, the collaborative product of sociologist Dr. Janice Johnson Dias and The Roots’ frontman, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.
Together they created a foundation that specifically targets young women, encouraging holistically healthy lifestyles. The forum features poet Ursula Rucker, a series of panels hosted by health professionals, mentors and the young girls participating in the program.
Text by Ashley Coleman. Image by Timothy Becker.
You would never know that the man in glasses sitting on the 19th floor of The Bellevue, overlooking Center City, has worked with some of biggest names in music — Drake, Jill Scott, Meek Mill, Keri Hilson and more.
Brandon Pankey is a star account manager at the Sports & Entertainment Financial Group.The company helps plan tours from inception, including figuring out routes, creating budgets, hiring crew and ensuring artists are properly paid.
Although working as an account manager can sound like nothing but long office days and number crunching, he’s had his brushes with the rock-star life, which he modestly discusses.
“2010,” he says with a laugh. “Miami. Drake’s birthday party. Fontainebleau. Porn stars. Free liquor all night. I won’t say I was there. I won’t say I wasn’t. I’m just saying.”
Wilbur: The Power of Three.
Text and images by Jessie Fox from Here’s My Chance.
Three guys, three friends and three music lovers. A standing bass, an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. The power of three seeps into the inevitable creation of the band Wilbur.
But who or what is Wilbur?
True Gold: Shining In The Studio.
Text by Brian Wilensky. Images by Michael Bucher.
True Gold is a South Philadelphia-based, space-gazing, fuzz-rocker band unafraid of putting in the studio time and stage hours to get the sound they want and their message across just right.
Guitarist and singer Michael Kappeler works at Swarthmore College, which is what gave the band the opportunity to record a batch of songs at the school’s radio station, WSRN. The band recorded tracks for their forthcoming LP themselves.
“It’s an interesting process recording it yourself,” Kappeler says. “At times you have to separate yourself from the project and not get hyper-focused on very minute details. That can draw it out. You start trying to fix things that don’t need to be.”
Jeremy Wieland: DJ Grandpa On Wheels.
Text by Caroline Newton. Images by Timothy Becker.
Diplo, Cosmo Baker, Low Budget and many other notable DJs have been regulars in the DJ booth at The 700 Club in Northern Liberties. Now, those bouncin’ house party-esque dance soirees on Friday nights are the product of another DJ, Grandpa.
Grandpa, aka Jeremy Wieland, is a 30-something father of two who also owns Exit Skateshop, located about one block away.
The Summer Issue of JUMP Hits The Streets This Week!
The summer issue of JUMP hits the streets later this week but you can preview it online here.
The issue is full of good stuff: Sugar Tongue Slim, Reef The Lost Cauze, Liberty Bellows (the accordion shop on 2nd Street), Brandon Pankey, Cruiser, Anthropic Records, Work Drugs, Julian Coleman, TeFF, Philly street performers, Kindred The Family Soul, Zwaanendael, Joint Chiefs of Math, Feed The Muse, Homer Jackson and the Philadelphia Jazz Project, Pat Martino, Chris’ Jazz Cafe, City, The Guild, West Kensington Ministry at Norris Square, The Barbary, Chloe Wagner and Requiem, The Dell Music Center, The GrassROOTS Community Foundation, Jell-O Man Paul Vile (brother of Kurt) and nine places to get good drunk food.
There is a lot more, including a map of Philly venues and a ton of awesome photos.
We’ll post all the locations where the print mags will be available on our facebook page starting on Friday.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 