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Devandra Banhart / Soma (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, October 13, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2023] Devandra Banhart / Soma

About ten years ago I was really into Devandra Banhart.  I enjoyed his weirdo folkie vibe and thought that he was a good deal of fun.

And then I seemed to lose track of him altogether.  I haven’t listened to him in ages.  I see that he’s cut his hair but he still looks like a wild, fun hippy.

His new album was produced by Cate Le Bon, whose sensibilities are wonderfully oddball.  The new album is pretty streamlined with lots of synth  I think it’s too mellow for me.

Soma is Soma Kirtan a New Jersey based musician.  It’s unfortunate that he goes by Soma as there are about a half a dozen bands named Soma.  It’s possible that this SOMA stands for Sacred Order of Mystic Apogees.  I can’t find much else about him/them.  Their music is beautiful traditional (I think) Indian music.  It would be fun to see this live too.

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Devandra Banhart, Soma | Leave a Comment »

Devandra Banhart / Miho Hatori (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 12, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2023] Devandra Banhart / Miho Hatori

About ten years ago I was really into Devandra Banhart.  I enjoyed his weirdo folkie vibe and thought that he was a good deal of fun.

And then I seemed to lose track of him altogether.  I haven’t listened to him in ages.  I see that he’s cut his hair but he still looks like a wild, fun hippy.

His new album was produced by Cate Le Bon, whose sensibilities are wonderfully oddball.  The new album is pretty streamlined with lots of synth  I think it’s too mellow for me.

Miho Hatori was in Cibo Matto and worked with Gorillaz.  She has released some solo albums and I really like the bits I’ve heard from her new one.   Dead Grandma Blog says

Miho Hatori herself says that the album is inspired by the two different genres of anime- Isekai (basically meaning ‘other world’) and Slice of Life. The record eases you in relatively painlessly, with the understated, downtempo opener ‘Tokyo Story‘, which while being quite comforting also has a vague creepiness to it… Hatori characteristically plays and experiments with rhythm throughout the rest of the album (without ever losing pop sensibility), and ultimately manages to create a tight 29 minute package that feels meatier than albums twice it’s length.

Interestingly, I suppose, Back in December, Miho’s Cibo Matto partner Yuka Honda (under the name Eucademix) did a solo avant garde show–she uses a laptop to create interesting sounds–some pleasant, some not so much.

I’d really like to see Miho Hatori.

Posted in Cibo Matto, Devandra Banhart, Miho Hatori, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Tigers Jaw / Yowler / Gladie (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA October 12, 2023) Philly Music Fest Day 4 [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2023] Tigers Jaw / Yowler / Gladie

There’s a lot of great shows at Philly Music Fest this year.  Here’s the third of four nights that I would have loved to have gone to.  But I have a lot of shows that I’m going to and I can only get to Philly so often.

Plus, I’ve seen Tigers Jaw twice and both shows were great.  I really like their catchy emo pop punk, but I’m not sure I need to see them again.  But man if I was a die hard fan, here’s three days in a row of really close concerts I could go to.

And yet…  Here’s what they say about these two shows (they love playing Crossroads)

Mystery Setlists? We’re pulling out all the stops for Garwood this weekend. We’ll be playing two very distinctive sets for people who might want to come to both shows.
One of the shows setlists will concentrate on two worlds + spin, and the other will be charmer + I won’t care heavy. (Not full album plays, just most of both records, plus both sets will have some self titled oldies and newer Ep songs.)
We’re not saying which night is which combo. 🤔
So many songs. Maybe a fun cover.

Yowler, is Maryn Jones, a Philly based musician and the guitarist and lead vocalist of the band All Dogs and formerly a member of the band Saintseneca.  For Yowler her songs are kind of spare and sad, but there’s some pretty heavy elements thrown in which kind of blow you away after being lulled into mellowness.

I saw Gladie open for Otoboke Beaver late last year and really enjoyed their set a lot.  I would happily see them again, although this is the second time since that show that I’ve had to miss them.  They were supposed to open for Charly Bliss, but cancelled at the last minute.  They also played a Free at Noon recently but I didn’t go to that one.  I’m sure that with each show they just get better so when I finally get to see them again, they’ll be fantastic.

 

Posted in Gladie, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Tigers Jaw, Yowler | Leave a Comment »

Pinkshift / Jhariah / Pollyanna (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, October 12, 2023) [POSTPONED]

October 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[POSTPONED: October 12, 2023] Pinkshift / Jhariah / Pollyanna [moved to January 26, 2024, to Asbury Lanes]

I found out about this show too late.  By the time I realized it was happening I already had plans.  But as it happens, this show was postponed because of flooding.  It’s been rescheduled to January 26, which is pretty great for me, because this show looks amazing.

I have seen Pinkshift three times and they are amazing.  They get better with each show, but I have yet to see them headline.  So I would have really liked to get to this show.

Jhariah plays musical theater.  But on the heavy end, like when My Chemical Romance goes theatrical.  He throws in all kinds of cool and interesting sounds.  This is wacky and fun and he clearly relishes the theatricality.  I would love to see him live.

Pollyanna are from New Jersey and they absolutely rock: Lead singer and guitarist Jill Beckett, drummer Daniel McCool, bassist Brandon Bolton, and guitarist Jack Rose.  They mix

power-pop, loud rock, bubble grunge, and punk influences.  Their name directly derives from the dictionary definition, “to be unreasonably or illogically optimistic” – perfectly describing front-person Jill Beckett’s ‘stuck in 2017’ incredibly optimistic attitude. After meeting in the first grade, Dan and Jill started the band at just 13 years old, eager to create and play music that would reach audiences beyond the confines of Jill’s open garage doors. Brandon made them a trio in early 2019, bringing 90’s femme punk influence to the group. At the start of 2021, Jack completed the bands’ lineup, adding his elemental stabby guitars and love for shoegaze and metal into the mix. After completing almost 5 tours around the east coast and the midwest, Pollyanna has won over a following in the New Jersey music scene along with cities in the tri-state and beyond. They plan on growing as far as possible and leaving a unique mark in the music industry.

Their album Slime is great–snotty and brash with great sounds and Beckett’s excellent vocals.  So, yes, I hope to see them some time.

Sorry about the flooding (it was really terrible), but I’m glad I get to see the show next year.

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Jhariah, Pinkshift, Pollyanna | Leave a Comment »

CHAI (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2023)

October 12, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2023] CHAI

I saw CHAI about a year and a half ago and it was one of the more memorable shows I’ve been to.  The four members of the band are funny, silly, coordinated (sartorially) and play sweet pop music.

Here’s a brief history of the band

Chai was formed in 2012 in Nagoya, by twin sisters Mana and Kana.  Mana, Kana, and Yuna were in the same class at high school.  Yuna introduced the other band members to Japanese music that did not easily fit into the traditional definition of “J-Pop”, such as the band Cero or Kimyō Reitaro. After the members went to university, Mana became friends with Yuuki (originally from Gifu Prefecture, who had moved to Nagoya), and asked the four friends to form a band.  The band’s name comes from Russian tea (known as chai). Kana drank the tea with jam with her Russian literature professor at a Russian restaurant, which she thought was cute.

They have just released their fourth album, Chai. Continue Reading »

Posted in CHAI, Font, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Font (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2023) [CHAI]

October 11, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2023] Font

Before this show I looked up Font on bandcamp and they had …  one song.

And it was great.

But who are they?

Font is an Austin-based band made up of Thom Waddill, Jack Owens, Anthony Lawrence, Roman Parnell, and Logan Wagner. Font began playing shows regularly in the beginning of 2022.

The Austin Chronicle has described their music as “relentless post-punk with New Wave keyboards and arty, personality-driven singing.”

I don’t know what “personality-driven singing” means, but the rest is pretty accurate.  They make noisy, unexpected songs with catchy parts and decided uncatchy parts.  The songs tend to have something–a piano note, a guitar riff–that recurs enough to call it a hook.

The bass wanders all over the place–in a great New Wave sorta way.  And, as it turns out the percussionist is a major component of the band.  From where I was I couldn’t really see the drummer (there was so much STUFF on stage), but I could clearly see the percussionist who had cowbells, blocks, cymbals (which he moved around to make different sound) and some bongos.  He must have been exhausted. Continue Reading »

Posted in CHAI, Font, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Rainbow Kitten Surprise / Indigo de Souza (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2023) [CANCELLED]

October 10, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: October 10, 2023] Rainbow Kitten Surprise / Indigo de Souza

I really liked the couple of Rainbow Kitten Surpirse songs I’ve heard.  I actually thought they might be even weirder than they were with a name like that.  I’m not sure if I wanted to see them live or not, but I kept this on my radar. Especially since Indigo de Souza was announced as the opener.

I have been trying to see Indigo de Souza for what seems like years.   My first attempt was in Jan 2022.  But there were several cancelled shows (including one opening slot that I couldn’t make).  And then finally, her major headlining show in the area and I was unavailable that night.

So, that might have made me want to go to this show.  But that’s irrelevant because on May 23rd, they cancelled the entire Fall tour.

The band announced Tuesday night in a Twitter thread that the tour will be canceled due to a medical crisis, saying they will “turn off the lights for now.”

“We do not make this decision lightly, and we know that it will result in a lot of disappointment and concern, but we are a family, and we know that the most important thing we can do right now is to help get everyone healthy,” the thread said.

While the band did not put a timeline on its return, they did say they will make their comeback when their friend and fellow bandmate is in good health. The band said it hopes to return in full glory and pick up where it left off.

No word on how anyone is, but at the time, they stated

“One of our members is in a medical crisis. To make sure they have the time to get the proper treatment, we have decided to take down the entire year of shows.”

Hope the person is okay.

Posted in Indigo De Souza, Philadelphia, PA, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Kurt Vile and the Violators / Purlilng Hiss / Florry (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 10, 2023) Philly Music Fest Night 2 [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 10, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 10, 2023] Kurt Vile and the Violators / Schoolly D / Emily Robb

I really respect Philly Music Fest.  If I lived closer to the venues and didn’t have other things (like a family), I’d love to go to every night.  But I don’t.  Lat year I didn’t go to any.  This year I’m going to one show.

But it’s not this one either.  Although of the nights I did not go to, this is certainly a good one.  If I’d had more time,  would have happily seen Kurt and Purling Hiss together.

I saw Purling Hiss six years ago.  I assumed they would be a really loud heavy metal band.  But they’re not.  They’re more of  loud indie rock band with lots and lots of guitars.

Here’s a few out of context sentences from reviews of their newest album Drag on Girard (it’s shame this show wasn’t at Johnny Brenda’s).

  • The fuzzed-out lead guitar, the languid vocals, and the unbridled backbeat that keeps it all together
  • Drag on Girard settles on the scuzzy, faded sound of a nicotine-stained dollar bin find from the ‘70s.
  • Their latest release, Drag On Girard, can be fuzzy, abrasive and at times chaotic, but the album still brings a melodic and catchy ambiance.
  • Drag On Girard is a raging amalgamation of late-’70s, pop-rock guitar solos and the rambunctious reemergence of the off-bent alternative punk scene of the 2010s

It’s pretty great stuff and makes for a fun live show.  I may have to check them out again soon.

What I did not realize was that

Purling Hiss is led by Mike Polizze, a fixture of the Philadelphia music scene. He’s connected to the world of Kurt Vile, the War on Drugs, and their shared affection for 1970s classic rock and its favoring of lengthy jam sessions and guitar histrionics. Vile and Jeff Zeigler of the War on Drugs assisted with Polizze’s well-received solo album, 2020’s Long Lost Solace Find.  

Polizze is also the main guy behind Birds of Maya, another garage/psychedelic band that makes noise.  I wonder if he brings out the noisy side of Kurt Vile.

Florry are a kind of sloppy “bar country” band.

Singer-songwriter Francie Medosch started out as a teenager recording tense, depressive lo-fi indie rock, but during the pandemic, she had a realization: She wasn’t depressed anymore. “I think it’s cool to have art that reflects where you are in the moment,” she said then. She’d also been revisiting old favorites like Gram Parsons and Neil Young, planting seeds for the folksy new sound that would take hold on 2021’s Big Fall. Florry’s second proper album, The Holey Bible, posits an alternative to nihilistic indifference: What if instead of dispassionately accepting disaster as inevitable, we use the bitter end as a motivator to make the best of what time is left?

Though Florry’s sound has always had a homespun quality, on The Holey Bible, Medosch and her backing band—complete with 12-string guitar, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, and plenty of pedal steel—push further toward old-school country.

Not my scene, but it could be fun.

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Birds of Maya, Florry, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Mike Polizze, Philly Music Fest, Purling Hiss | Leave a Comment »

Kurt Vile and the Violators / Schoolly D / Emily Robb (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 9, 2023) Philly Music Fest Night 1 [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 9, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 9, 2023] Kurt Vile and the Violators / Schoolly D / Emily Robb

I really respect Philly Music Fest.  If I lived closer to the venues and didn’t have other things (like a family), I’d love to go to every night.  But I don’t.  Lat year I didn’t go to any.  This year I’m going to one show.

But it’s not this one.

I’ve seen Kurt Vile a few times and he always plays a good show.  But my wife and I had seen him fairly recently, so there was n need to see him again so soon.

Schoolly D is an old-school rapper who i kind of thought I knew, but I guess I mostly know him from Primus.

We hopped into my dart and headed for the nightbreak to see a man they called Schooly D. [–Harold of the Rocks]

I don’t know what he’s like these days, but I imagine him on stage with a Casio drum machine freestyling.  His latest album came out in 2010 and it was more mixing and sampling than lyrics.

Emily Robb plays an electric guitar (and is referred to as a guitar abuser).  She has a solo album out that is an incredible amount of fuzzy guitar noise.

No vocals, no artifice, barely even a drum. It’s a totally fried, mutant offering that’ll entice the twisted seekers– a sustained, distilled meditation on the unabashed revved up freedom of rock.

This night actually sounds kind of unpleasant.

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Emily Robb, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Philly Music Fest, Schoolly D | Leave a Comment »

Aunty Donna: The Magical Dead Cat Tour (Perelman Theater, Kimmel Cultural Campus, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2023)

October 7, 2023 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 7, 2023] Aunty Donna

I don’t recall what made me check out Aunty Donna one night.  But the opening skit of the first episode had me cracking up.  I’ve been a fan ever since.

The only “problem” with them is that their jokes are so vulgar, so over the top rude, that it’s hard to share them.  Especially with the kids.  I mean, even their merch–which includes a hat that says Morning Brown is hard to explain without going a bit red in the face.

So what was this show going to entail?

Well, the promo told us this

Dear Human Beings,

Hello, I am a Magical Dead Cat, the titular Magical Dead Cat from the very title of this very show. I write to you today because I have discovered the most wondrous sketch show on the popular streaming service Netflix – Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun. I was so impressed with said show that I issued Aunty Donna this challenge: entertain me with a 2 hour live show, one that features all new sketches, but also a few fan favourites. It MUST include a short interval, and based on availability / budget, possibly an opening act. If Aunty Donna succeeds in pleasing me with a rip-roarin’ show, I have promised to surprise them with a special, web slinging, mystery guest!
Come, sweet humans, and see if Broden, Zach and Mark are up for the task!

With loving grace,
The Magical Dead Cat.

The show also came with a warning that there would be occasional coarse kanguage.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It was filled front to back with nothing BUT coarse language.

They opened the show by having an announcer introduce each of the three comedians.  And as each one’s name was announced they came to the front of the stage and did a high-stepping dance.  But the announcer continued to re-introduce Broden and Mark, as Zach’s face fell and the other two grew exhausted from all of their dancing. Continue Reading »

Posted in Aunty Donna, Australia, Broden Kelly, Funny (ha ha), Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Mark Bonanno, Perelman Theater, Philadelphia, PA, Religion, Zachary Ruane | Leave a Comment »

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