Who’s That Bumping in Your Boombox?
There’s lots of Philly love in this brand new video by Mont Brown, featuring Pace-O Beats, Chill Moody and Theodore Grams (with a cameo by JUMP magazine at 1:50).
We featured Chill (at right) in the winter 2011/ 2012 issue. Check out the story and videos here.
West Philly five-piece band The Horrible Department will hold a record release party on Sunday at the Rotunda for their debut album (on vinyl!), Capital I and the Royal Waltzing We.
It’s hard to classify the band and album – the new release is in the vein of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weil, based upon a musical performed at the Rotunda last year. The Horrible Department is surreal, Baroque, folky and punk-ish. They played the Occupy Philly New Years Eve party, if that says anything about them.
They’ll be joined Sunday by the West Philly Orchestra and Octomonkey. See here for details.
Electro-pop Class Actress @ Johnny Brenda’s.
Text and images by Grace Dickinson.
Brooklyn-based Class Actress made their way to Philadelphia last night, playing to a packed crowd at Johnny Brendas.
With a Madonna like aura, lead singer Elizabeth Harper reveled all night in an onstage dance party to the 80’s synth-pop surging from the band. Her catchy lyrics and confidence held beneath her oversized dress shirt and tight black jeans compelled the crowd to groove along with her, creating a Friday night dance party you’d be silly to miss.
Follow JUMP on facebook and twitter to learn about artists, shows and other stuff happening in the Philadelphia music scene.
And keep your eyes open for the spring edition of the print magazine, due on the street in early March (see previews here and here).
Spring Issue Preview: Swift Technique is Funky.
Text and image by Ashley Hall.
Whether performing at house parties when they attended Temple or starting a thousand-person parade in Washington D.C. on the day Obama won the presidency or just jamming on Market Street (see below), Philly’s six-piece instrumental band Swift Technique has always made people move.
The guys have been praised for their unique sound, combining a live instrumental hip-hop sound with funk and jazzy riffs in between. And with the energy pumping from their instruments, comes eye-catching performances, fashioned after acts like James Brown and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But what does bassist Jake Leschinsky attribute most of their sound to?
“If you live in or around Philly, it affects you,” he says. “The music we make is a direct result of Philly, honestly.”
Check them out at The Blockley on February 21st for their Mardi Gras show with Brass Heaven from The Roots … and in the spring issue of JUMP, due out in early March.
Joe Boruchow Honors a South Philly Legend.
Philly artist/ musician Joe Boruchow, whom we profiled in the most recent issue of JUMP, just sent us this illustration he created of legendary South Philly jazz guitarist Pat Martino (below).
Just had to share it.
Spring Issue Preview: Purling Hiss, Chiddy Bang, Young Werewolves, Swift Technique and Pierre Robert.
We hung out with the guys from Purling Hiss last weekend, following them around the dark, dank basement of Pi Lam, before their performance was eliminated by campus police (apparently the fraternity had a permit that expired at 11:30, right when Purling Hiss was supposed to play). We even followed frontman Mike Polizze into the graffiti-covered bathroom (below).
You can learn more about Purling Hiss in the spring issue of JUMP, which will be on the streets in early March, right when the guys return from their five-week tour with Dr. Dog. Read more…
Man Man @ Union Transfer.
Image by Stephen Craford. Text by Dana Lucchine.
Imagine the heartrending scratchy voice and piano-banging of Tom Waits. Add in intermittent electronic noise, tribal rhythms, confetti and a touch of feral screaming.
Then, just start dancing.
That’s the music of hometown heroes Man Man, who graced the stage of Philadelphia’s Union Transfer last Saturday, playing a sold out show to a crowd of enthusiastic fans and their significant others.
Mixing new jams with well-known and beloved favorites, the band once again proved how much fun live music can be. There were sing-alongs and face paint, crowd surfers and drunk girls to welcome the boys home.
Frontman Honus Honus began the show in a dress and left it in sparkles. He compelled the crowd to dance, and every single person (except the huge guys in front of me) obliged.
As if enthralling audiences is part of his daily life (it is), Honus burst with heartache and an energy rarely seen on stage nowadays. While he stuck primarily with his piano on this particular night, his bandmates pulled out all the stops and found rhythm in everything, including audience members’ shaking key rings.
I couldn’t even identify half of the instruments they had up there but, for reference, there was a handmade percussion instrument built out of bicycle. So yeah, things got weird.
A real Philadelphia treasure, Man Man is internationally known for its live shows. While the records are great, the concerts – especially the Philly concerts – are in a whole other category. The drummer’s first move, before even sitting down at the drum kit, was to take off his pants – because he knew it would be that type of show.
This band and the city have a deep connection, each fiercely missing the other when tour dates interfere. But when they’re finally reunited? Nothing’s sweeter.
Spring Issue Preview: Ground Up Goes “Overboard.”
Images by Caitlin Morris. Text by Sofiya Ballin.
It’s cold. Freezing cold. But like every Friday afternoon at Temple University’s Bell Tower there’s a cypher.
They’re like the United States Postal Service – “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail …”
No matter what there will be a cypher.
However, this time it’s different. There’s a camera man, new faces and a whole new kind of energy and excitement in the air. Philly hip-hop trio, Ground Up, is shooting a video for the song “Overboard,” off of their 10th mixtape The Get Up, which slated to be released on March 6th.
Despite frozen fingers, directors Calvin Scibilia and Matt Weslosky from Perpetual Pictures diligently set up their equipment.
“Our vision is a cypher-type video,” Scibilia explains. “It’s going to be a video that portrays a cypher in which people are having fun, instead of up in the club. We always try to take film to another level and keep it artsy.”
New Music Friday.
We’re only a few weeks into the new year and already, there are some hot new videos rolling out. Here are a few brand new videos featuring new music that dropped this week.
Above, it’s the Worship Recording crew, Rob Paine & Charles Lazarus, featuring Lady Alma.
Below, the talented Jessi Teich, whom we featured in the summer 2011 issue (see the story here).
Below is the new release from Philly’s Santigold. We wrote about her brother, Ali White, in the spring 2011 issue, and we dropped a few great pics of Ali and Santi as children (see the story here).
John Wesley Harding: Musician, Novelist, Host and Philadelphian.
JUMP reader James Rosenthal, of the Philly band Clarksville, recently sat down with John Wesley Harding, the British pop/ folk artist, bestselling author and sometime college professor who now resides in Philadelphia. Rosenthal filed this report:
John Wesley Harding states, “Silence is the new rock ‘n’ roll.”
Having recently invaded Philadelphia, the English songwriter explains his philosophy as we eat Schmitters in a favorite Chestnut Hill haunt. He is promoting his latest album, The Sound Of His Own Voice, and touring with his backing band.
This is where it gets complicated. On YepRoc Records, he is in good company with stellar label mates Nick Lowe, John Doe, Thee Minus Five and even mod-god Paul Weller. The special part of this project, says JWH, is, “to play (tour) with the musicians who recorded the album.” Read more…
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 