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(10/02/19 1:59am)
It's rare to find spaces in the bustle of today’s world that allow for uninterrupted appreciation of art in all its forms. So, when you do come across one of these spaces, it's difficult to forget. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Friday Nights series is one such art haven. The series presents a new musician virtually every Friday night, drawing from the Philadelphia music community and beyond. The artists hail from a wide variety of countries, backgrounds, and musical histories, with classical jazz, Americana, folk, and Latin music among the styles represented. But the unifying feature of all the artists is their ability to create their own distinct ambiance.
(10/01/19 8:02am)
On Oct. 19, Sabrina Claudio's warm and sultry vocals will fill the Fillmore Philadelphia just days after the release of her upcoming album, "Truth Is". A rising star, Sabrina Claudio makes music that feels like a sweet return to old school R&B. If her recent surprise EP release, with songs from the full album, “Truth Is” - The Short Collection is any indication of what she has in store for the rest of the album and tour, then listeners are in luck.
(10/04/19 8:45pm)
When you hear a Mannequin Pussy song, you know exactly who it is. The energy is high, there's a distinct grind in the guitar, the bass is prominent, and bandleader Marisa Dabice's voice growls and croons all at once. The band has been a fixture in the Philly punk scene since the release of Romantic, their sophomore full–length album capping off at 17 minutes, full of irreplaceable hooks and sheer malice in every lick. Their latest album, Patience, combines their hardcore roots with classic rock and pop tropes that only dig their claws even deeper into your heart.
(09/30/19 1:49am)
Charli XCX’s career is like a tightrope walk. She's constantly balancing between the mainstream pop world (through which she started her career) and the underground She cut her teeth and made a name for herself as an up–and–coming talent with Icona Pop’s 2012 hit “I Love It.” Charlotte Aitchison (XCX's real name) released her first mixtape, True Romance, in 2013. She then followed up in 2014 with another hit, “Boom Clap,” as the lead single of her major label debut studio effort Sucker.
(10/04/19 9:36pm)
Though we may try to be civil, most of us roll our eyes when we hear that an actor or actress is going to release an album. After all, they’re not “singers.” They have not put in decades of work and hours of networking to appeal to record labels and get one shot of success. Nevertheless, they get signed to a major label and get radio play based on name recognition alone.
(09/29/19 11:45pm)
Norwegian EDM producer Cashmere Cat's (real name Magnus August Høiburg) second studio effort, PRINCESS CATGIRL, is often too cutesy for its own good. Just seven tracks long, the album runs just under the nineteen–minute mark, and Cashmere Cat informed his listeners on Twitterthat this short length would make the project more potent when listened to “without interruption.” Unfortunately, this overly sweet pastiche falls flat. Though technically a concept album, PRINCESS CATGIRL fails to tell us anything significant about its titular character.
(09/27/19 1:16am)
Toronto artist Jordan Edward Benjamin, who goes by the name grandson, is difficult to characterize. He creates songs that combine intense lyrical hip–hop verses with solid riffs and punchy, garage rock instrumentals. The artist has also accrued a massive punk rock following thanks to songs about social justice, a DIY, “anyone can rise up” ethos, and a presence at shows and festivals like Chicago’s Riot Fest, which caters towards a more punk and hardcore crowd. Whatever musical background the fans at Union Transfer came from on Sunday, from rap to blues to punk, everyone came together in the spirit of a good time.
(10/06/19 5:45pm)
Walking into the Fillmore Philadelphia on a cool September evening might bring you a night of dancing alongside your lifetime best friend, or maybe a night of reciting the lyrics you have inscribed within the walls of your mind. But this past weekend, the Fillmore was the place to fall in love. It was the 21st stop on Daniel Caesar’s CASE STUDY 01 Tour, complementing the release of his sophomore album this past June.
(09/24/19 6:01am)
14 years is a long time to wait for anything. It's especially long when you’re waiting for a second album. The successful 2005 collaboration between Calexico and Iron & Wine followed great albums from both individual bands, and ran parallel to an incredible international tour. Another something, anything, was expected from this collaborative effort an era ago. Calexico and Iron & Wine’s Years to Burn (2019) tour stop at Union Transfer on Sep. 20 showed us why we waited.
(09/25/19 2:26am)
Almost every music fan has found themselves scrounging for tickets on Live Nation or Ticketmaster's website at least once before. The prevalence of these two agencies in the concert–going process isn't anything new. However, many aren't familiar with the history of the companies themselves and the huge role they play in shaping the live music industry.
(09/23/19 3:45am)
When exploring the niche of indie pop music, it doesn’t take too long to stumble across Fitz and the Tantrums. Their 2013 release “Out of My League” was quickly adopted by the happy–go–lucky Tumblr crowd that year and pushed their name to the top of the genre as a staple summer anthem. Six years later, their sound has only gotten stronger. Their third studio album All the Feels was released this past weekend and indicated the maturity the band is heading toward, still coupled with their youthful sound.
(09/19/19 9:42pm)
Salvaging beauty from the wreckage that is boredom is what Maia (who prefers to go by her first name, and is known to her fans as mxmtoon) does best. The artist from Northern California demonstrates this skill on her debut album the masquerade, which was released this past weekend. It's the eighteen–year–old’s memoir about what it’s like to exist in the spaces that today’s teenage girls occupy—high school hallways, therapy sessions, and meme pages—and the sense of displacement she feels.
(09/18/19 2:51am)
As college students, getting out to concerts is tricky. We always face that dilemma of whether we should spend money that could go towards necessities such as food to splurge on a show, or to stay in and save money. Plus, when you do get out to a concert, you have to deal with large crowds, people talking during the performance, blocking your view by taking pictures and videos, and getting way too drunk while you're trying to enjoy the show.
(09/16/19 11:54pm)
This past Wednesday, Kacey Musgraves blessed the stage at The Met Philly with her presence. The country–pop star has been on a streak of success following the release of her Grammy–winning album Golden Hour, and she proved exactly how her success came to be with her set at The Met. Featuring tracks off of Golden Hour and her earlier albums Same Trailer, Different Park and Pageant Material, her performance was a great sampler of her music and a perfect treat for her fans.
(09/15/19 12:49am)
If the phrase House of Sugar sounds at all familiar, you've likely spent some time in Fishtown, the location of the SugarHouse Casino after which (Sandy) Alex G's latest album is named. A Philadelphia resident himself, Alex Giannascoli, who typically goes by Alex G, recorded the album between releasing and touring 2017's Rocket, a mixture of acoustic alt-country and heavily-distorted weirdo DIY.
(09/16/19 3:34am)
Austin Post created his first mixtape on his high school laptop using Audacity, a free audio editing software. Eight years later, his new album Stoney found its way onto the Grammy nominations list for Album of the Year.
(09/12/19 2:36am)
The opening track on Be The Cowboy, Mitski's critically acclaimed 2018 album, begins with a single tone. It's piercing in its volume, but then pares down into a drone behind her voice, like a flame that focuses into an intense blue heat. Her music gives off that same sense of restraint, a straining against the bounds of the ordinary and quotidian, burning brightly and singularly.
(09/10/19 3:34am)
Norman Fucking Rockwell! is many things—a combination of soft rock and piano ballads, a string of pop culture references to famous artists, a rumination on the tumultuous relationships, and the culmination of Lana Del Rey’s career. Since her beginnings with the viral debut single “Video Games” in 2011, the singer has been characterized by a unique, cinematic quality driven heavily by themes of romanticism and depression. Despite commercial success and solid critical acclaim from records such as Ultraviolence and Lust for Life, there’s always been a slight incoherence in her content, missing a measure of realism and depth. Released Aug. 30, NFR resolves these issues as Del Rey perfects her personal brand of melancholy.
(09/10/19 11:51pm)
The trope of the unfulfilled businessman is a familiar, if all too real, one. We see it in movies like Netflix’s Set it Up, where a low–ranking finance bro finds true happiness by eschewing his corporate dreams, and in our daily lives, where 20% of the Class of 2018 entered the consulting industry after graduation. We hear little of these people’s hopes and dreams as they grow into middle–aged businessmen and women, leaving us to wonder: is there really life after we settle at Bain or BCG or Deloitte?
(09/10/19 6:22am)
With a voice that sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack of Juno, Greta Kline harbors a deep longing and desire to rewire every aspect of her life on Close It Quietly. Her band, Frankie Cosmos, recorded their fourth album near their homes in New York, letting the scenes and stories pocketed in each street heavily influence their work. The group consists of guitarist and vocalist Kline, bassist Alex Bailey, synth player Lauren Martin, and drummer Luke Pyenson—but all the songs are derived straight from the ruled pages of Kline’s journal, as she writes about disorder in her small universe held within the album.
