Shaking Through: “Spacestations” by Strand of Oaks.
Since January 2010, Weathervane Music and WXPN have collaborated on a music and video web series, Shaking Through. Led by Brian McTear of Miner Street Recording studios, they provide opportunities to rising, independent artists. The series has included several Philly bands, including Creepoid, Hezekiah Jones, Party Photographers and Reading Rainbow.
The latest installment features another Philly favorite, Strand of Oaks. Eliza Jones of Buried Beds makes a guest appearance on the track. The episode was curated by Chris Ward from Johnny Brenda’s (and the band Pattern is Movement). Download the track for free here:
See the behind the scenes video here.
We profiled Weathervane in our summer issue. Learn about the amazing project here.
Spring Issue Preview: Cheers Elephant, Gogo Morrow and Chocolate Milk.
The spring 2012 issue of JUMP drops in about three weeks and it is hot.
The issue features stories about Chiddy Bang and a world of other great Philly artists, including Cheers Elephant (above), photographed inside One Shot Coffee in Northern Liberties. Photo by Colin Kerrigan.
We also tell you about Gogo Morrow (below), who is working on her solo project after spending a few years touring with Lady Gaga. Photo by Marie Alyse Rodriguez.
In the issue, you’ll learn about the eclectic hip hop crew Chocolate Milk, who have opened for Wale and Chiddy Bang. Photo by G.W. Miller III.
New Music Monday: Toy Soldiers, Peace Creeps, Power Animal and Rone.
Check out the new songs and videos from Toy Soldiers (above) and The Peace Creeps (below), which is fronted by Richard Bush, former lead singer of the legendary Philly band The A’s.
Power Animal (below) drops their new EP Exorcism tomorrow on a limited edition cassette. The album will also be offered through a “pay as much as you want” on Bandcamp where every $2 spent on downloads provides three meals through Philabundance. Check here for details.
Also, listen to the new track from Rone, the former battle-rapper now working with Dice Raw of the Roots crew. This song, which was produced by Ritz Reynolds, is from Rone’s upcoming spring album.
Chill Moody, Hank McCoy & Beano: Who Do You Love?
Text by Kiara McKnight. Images by Caitlin Morris.
In continuing with their now annual tradition, the rapper/producer combo of Chill Moody and Hank McCoy are set to release their third album Who Do you Love?, in collaboration with R&B singer Beano, on Valentine’s Day.
“Every beat I make has a concept that I thought of along with it,” says McCoy. “Everybody can relate to the types of things that I’m talking about because their real life things. So I just want people to be able to listen to it and connect with it.”
The third installment of the Valentine’s Day series touches on several aspects of relationships from finding love, to heartbreak, and even domestic violence. But don’t let all the relationship talk fool you. Whether it’s the upbeat, feel good banger “What’sForBreakfast?” or the soulful ballad “Angel,” this album has something that women and men can relate to.
“All we want people to take from the album is that it’s not music for the ladies, its music about the ladies, and everybody should be able to relate to relationship music,” Chill states matter-of-factly.
The Valentine’s Day series represents more than just yet another album, it shows the progression of just how far these guys have come, from their sound to the album artwork, which features each of the guys on their own separate cover.
They plan to shoot videos for a few songs off of the album, something they hadn’t done for the previous two. They’ve even shot trailers for the album, generating a steady buzz for the WDYL release.
“This is like my freshman project, the first thing I’m releasing and I’m glad they pulled me in on it,” adds an excited Beano. “I think it’ll be very beneficial for when I finally drop something. I’m giving people something they can put on their iPod and finally listen to me.”
Check out their album release party going down this Monday at Bourbon Blue, with appearances by Suzann Christine and Yufi Zewdu. Copies of the album will be available at the show.
With three different album covers to choose from, fans will have to make a choice – Who Do You Love?
Southern Sludge @ Johnny Brenda’s: Slow Southern Steel, Zoroaster and Hail! Hornet.
Text by Chad Sims. Images by Art Andrews.
Monday was a celebration of Southern sludge at Johnny Brenda’s. This time, it wasn’t live music alone but cinema as well.
The evening started early with the documentary Slow Southern Steel. The film is about the culture, music, and people of the underground Southern heavy metal scene. The story seems to be told through a mix of interviews and live performance footage. I was not able to make it for the screening, but I heard the movie was great and can’t wait to get a chance to view it myself.
Up next was Atlanta’s Zoroaster, and it was on. Explaining exactly what sort of music Zoroaster plays is difficult but it sure is heavy. All of the clichés apply and are well founded when describing this band – they are epic, tectonic plate-rattling riff masters. The bass and guitar are tuned so low they become a massive wall of noise in a mind-bending, wonderful way. The drums provide less of a beat and more of an idea of a beat. Often they sound as if a Black Sabbath 45 was played at 33 and a 1/3.
In other words, these guys are badass. I can’t wait until they come to town again.
Super group Hail! Hornet finished off the night. The band is assembled of members who have played in Sourvein, Weedeater, Alabama Thunderpussy and several other outfits.
As a bass player, I was personally psyched to see the legendary “Dixie” Dave Collins. While Collins is a great performer, jumping and diving around the stage, his bass sound was more indistinct rumble than anything else.
Overall the band was pretty good and cranked out a set of head-banging rockers.
Simply-Unknown: Another Side of Philly (Weirdos, Not Thugs).
Simply-Unknown isn’t your typical rap group spewing lyrics about gun, drugs and violence. Hailing from Germantown, this group is all about spreading positivity and putting Philly on the map. A. Ryder, the rapper of the group, effortlessly strings together words, forming charming and complex rhymes. MX is the singer of the group, his emotion-filled voice echoing the thoughts and feelings of today’s youth. DJ Silent-D rounds out the trio, creating a sound for the group that is all their own.
Our Kiara McKnight spoke to the the young men with big dreams.
How did you guys come together as a group?
A. Ryder: Well, we met in high school. I’ve known him (MX) since 8th grade actually. And we just started working on music, recording in the basement.
How did you guys come up with the name Simply-Unknown?
A. Ryder: Actually, he (Silent Dave) came up with it.
MX: He’s just Silent Dave, he don’t say much. He just works on the DJing and everything. He just does it all quietly and silently.
A. Ryder: He’s very creative though.
How would you describe the dynamic of your group?
A. Ryder: Well, it balances out. I try to talk about life experiences. Also, I can be serious in some of my lyrics but not too serious, you know? I like to be silly too.
MX: I do a lot of emotional songs. I try to do the best I can to show the message to people of what I feel and what I’m going through in life.
A. Ryder: Think of, like, Drake. Stuff that’s emotional but not girly. Read more…
David April: The Soul-Spinning Beer Runner.
As part of our partnership with Philly Beer Scene magazine, we’re documenting Philly’s relationships between music and beer. For the most recent issue of Philly Beer Scene, G.W. Miller III hung out with David April, the guy who co-founded the Fishtown Beer Runners and gives tours at the Philadelphia Brewing Company. Turns out he’s also a renowned DJ who spins gospel and old school R&B.
David April listened to DJ Billy G spin T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and other blues legends on Hatboro’s WRDV-FM and he was inspired. He became so excited that he stopped by the studio and told the station manager, “I want to play 50’s R&B and black gospel music.”
Surprisingly, the station manager replied to the 26-year old white boy raised in Virginia, “OK. We’ll let you give it a shot.”
That was in 1992 and April, who gives tours every Saturday at the Philadelphia Brewing Company and is the co-founder of the Fishtown Beer Runners, has been spinning gospel and R&B music at the station ever since.
In January, he celebrated his 20th anniversary on air. In honor of the milestone, he and Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Dean Browne brewed up a batch of “Holy Smoke” rauchbier.
“I’m not really a religious person,” April says. “It’s really more about the musical journey. I want to understand the music and where it came from.” Read more…
The six-member pop/rock/hip hop crew from Toronto, Down With Webster, will swing through Philly next week. They’ll bring their raucous live-set to the North Star Bar on Monday for an all-ages show.
Our Antonio Boone spoke to Tyler Armes, who founded Down With Webster when he was only 12-years old.
So you guys are just starting off your tour, WINTOUR III right?
Yeah. Right now we’re out in the middle of nowhere and its snowing like a bitch out here. It’s not really the smartest thing to do – tour in the winter – but we figured no one else wants to do it. We may as well do it.
I know Down With Webster started as a group in junior high school. What’s kept you guys together for so long?
I think the bottom line was to perform for a talent show and we ended up winning. That gave us a little bit of hope to make it as a band and not make it a one-time thing.
Our close friends and family would come out to our tiny little club gigs when we were like 16 and 17. Our friends liked the music we were making – not to make us feel good. People actually wanted us to burn CD’s for them. It was very gradual. All of us more or less made the decision after high school to not go to college, build a little studio and bunker down and learn how to write and record our own music.
Now, it’s not really a choice anymore. We’ve all spent the last 12-13 years of our lives together. This is it. This is what we do.
What was it like when you first got signed to Universal Motown?
It was obviously really exciting. Around the same time, Timbaland had a deal on the table for us and Gene Simmons from Kiss tried to sign us. It was a cool time for us but at the same time, there’s a lot of scary stuff about signing a record deal and the music business right now.
We felt nervous about handing over our baby that we had been working on for 10 years and signing someone on to our team who would have to make decisions with us. We did our due diligence and spent six or seven months before we signed the deal, making sure that they would be really good teammates. And they are really good teammates. It was a cool experience. For a band from Canada to sign a US deal … it’s a big deal. Growing up, not a lot of bands got signed. And now you’ve got Drake and Bieber. But before that it was kind of unheard of. Read more…
New Found Glory: Pop Punk Day at The Piazza.
Text and images by Brittney Bowers.
If there was any doubt that New Found Glory couldn’t rock out like they used to, they put those doubts to shame on Saturday during their outdoor performance at the Piazza at Schmidt’s. The pop punk veterans acted as if they were still young kids, dancing around the stage and stirring up the crowd. Read more…
Jeff Mangum in Philly, For the First Time in 12 Years.
Text by Dana Lucchine.
As anyone who goes to concerts nowadays knows, people tend to view music performances through their camera phones. It’s a sad effect of our ever-improving technological world. We often miss out on the action because we are so desperate to document it.
The mysterious Jeff Mangum, who returned to Philadelphia last Wednesday, nipped this problem in the bud. No photography of any kind was allowed, which turned out to be a wonderful decision.
The music – fiercely personal yet universal – served as the only focus of the night. He came on stage with no new tunes and instead played those the audience knew and loved.
The frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel disappeared from the music scene some 12 years ago, after the band’s release of the massively popular album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Themes of sex and God, violence and death, love and loss pervade that record, and similar musical themes took over the show in Philly last week.
Penn’s gorgeous Irvine Auditorium served as the perfect setting for Mangum’s return. He remained sitting throughout the evening, surrounded by four guitars. Despite his reputation as a recluse, he was surprisingly personable with the audience, urging them to fill the aisles closer to the stage and sing along. By the end of the evening, everybody was accompanying his signature wail.
As Mangum closed his set with “Oh Comely” and “Two-Headed Boy,” former NMH member Julian Koster, the leader of the opening act The Music Tapes, climatically marched down the aisle with another bandmate, joining Mangum on stage. It suddenly became clear that the whole evening had been leading to this musical surprise. The three jumped into a beautiful, poignant version of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “The Fool,” while the audience, mostly in tears, surrounded them.
Jeff returned once more for an encore, and then he was gone – but hopefully not for another 12 years.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 
