July 8, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: July 8, 2023] The Smile / Robert Stillman
Much like with the Trey Anastasio Band and Phish (the only way to get close to Trey is to see him solo), The Smile seemed like the only way to see Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead up close. Their drummer is Tom Skinner from Sons of Kemet.
So when they announced a show in Philly I was all set to grab a ticket.
Then I listened to the record and… I didn’t think much of it. Granted , I didn’t give a lot of time to the record, but what I heard was just too jazzy for my liking. So I was just as happy to not go see them.
I see that it has sold out, so good for them.
Robert Stillman is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from the northeast United States, currently based in Margate, UK. His music juxtaposes the archaic with the futuristic, incorporating influences of Jazz, Minimalism, American Folk music, and experimental electronic music to create a sound described by the Guardian Observer as “lending an avant-garde shimmer to pre-modern American sounds.”
One review of his set says he was
Perched behind a Yamaha DX7 and some DJ gear, Stillman blended down tempo jazz sax with minimalist electronic beats to warm-up the growing crowd
This sounds like a show I would have enjoyed intellectually, but not in practice.
Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Robert Stillman, The Smile | Leave a Comment »
July 7, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: July 7, 2022] Jacklen Ro
I had not heard of Jacklen Ro before this show. I wound up being a couple minutes late to thieir set and missed a song or two.
But I really enjoyed them. A lot.
The band is a four-piece: Jackie Giroux (vocals/guitar), Caelen Perkins (guitar/vocals), Lauren Hickey (bass) and Caden Bartlett (drums). They’re from L.A. and they write folky indie rock. They’re punk enough to be on a bill with Skating Polly although their vibe is far more indie than punk.
Especially since Jackie Giroux plays acoustic guitar and Giroux and Caelen Perkins sing with delightful harmonies. But what I especially liked about them is that their harmonies are lovely but they are not polished. The songs are fun and emotional. Not raw, because that implies a harshness. Just stick with unpolished–a warm and inviting sound.
They were also warm and inviting with Giroux being full of smiles and compliments (and wearing no shoes).
“Self Control” is the new single. It is spare but fun with a big friendly chorus. The song is fun on record but live, the low end really gives the song more energy. Continue Reading »
Posted in Bugsy, Jacklen Ro, Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, Skating Polly | Leave a Comment »
July 7, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: July 7, 2023] Trey Anastasio Band
I’ve seen the Trey Anastasio Band twice and each time was a fun event.
Try plays originals and Phish songs and his band is always top notch.
It’s also one of the few ways to see Trey up close, since I can never get close at a Phish show.
Trey had announced these few shows in July, but I didn’t really want to go to the Stone Pont Summerstage to se see his band. Although I do love watching Cyro Baptiste on percussion.
I reconsidered going a couple of weeks ago, but it had sold out. So good for Trey. And besides, I have Skating Polly to see.
Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage, Trey Anastasio, Trey Anastasio Band | Leave a Comment »
July 7, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: July 7, 2023] The Dirty Nil / Daniel Romano’s Outfit /Froggy
Two years ago The Dirty Nil opened for The Menzingers in a show I couldn’t make. But I’ve been intrigued by them ever since.
I wanted to go to this show, but it turned out that Skating Polly, a band I’ve wanted to see ever since I caught the last song of their set when they opened for X was playing the same night.
Stupid double booked nights. This whole night sounds pretty great and it turned out to be a tough choice.
All of the blurbs for the bands come from their write ups on the Underground Arts page
For the strapping lads comprising Toronto rock trio The Dirty Nil, Big Bear was so much more than a convenience store parking lot they gazed upon from their second-floor bathroom window – the trash-strewn asphalt stage where seemingly every element of the human experience played out like a never-ending theatrical production.
The house was all at once a shared residence, creative commons, and god-forsaken pirate ship, its revolving cast of crewmates armed with instruments, alcohol, and overdriven amplifiers. Indeed, they lived, laughed, and loved there even though no kitschy wall sign from a suburban mom’s Etsy shop told them to.
“Bye Bye Big Bear” is a loving musical tribute to that unforgettable time and place, and The Dirty Nil’s first new offering since their impactful 2021 album Fuck Art. On its back, the boys returned to the road to electrify increasingly packed venues and festival stages with their fiery brand of punk-tinged rock n roll.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Daniel Romano's Outfit, Froggy, Philadelphia, PA, The Dirty Nil, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »
July 2, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[LISTENED TO: January 2023] A Symphony of Echoes
This is the second book in a something-teen long series.
I sometimes wonder if I enjoy a series more for the narrator of the audio books than the quality of the books themselves.
I didn’t think that at the time of reading this, because I was swept up in the comedy and adventure and (yes, I’m saying it, time travel). However, while looking for a cover image, I read a scathing review of this book and felt that I did agree with many of the criticisms. I guess I just didn’t care. And I wonder if that’s because Zara Ramm gave great voice to the lead character Max and also did an amazing job with all of the different characters (male and female from all over the place).
Book 2 continues the time travelling saga of the historians of St. Mary’s. Like the other stories there are several seemingly random adventures that the crew must go on. The first, in this case, is with a soon-to-be-retiring historian named Kalinda Black. She wishes to go to Jack the Ripper times and suss out what actually happened.
Things go horribly wrong when Jack the Ripper (in some form or another) hops a ride with them back to St. Mary’s. It’s confusion and chaos trying to fight a near invisible enemy. And that’s before anyone realizes that Captain Farrell is missing.
It is, of course, the dastardly duo of Izzie Barclay and Clive Ronan, set in a future St. Mary’s. In a sign of things to come, Max realizes that they cannot kill Ronan because of time paradoxes (I am not about to go into details of that) and that Izzie is much harder to kill than it seems when Max shoots her and dumps her in an elevator.
Because the future St. Mary’s has been decimated by Barclay and Ronan, Max stays on as interim head. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Audiobooks, Death, Dinosaurs, Fears, Feminism, Fire, Funny (ha ha), History, Huh?, Jodi Taylor, Morality, Murder, Mystery, Supernatural, Thieves, Threats, Time Travel, Violence, Zara Ramm | Leave a Comment »
July 1, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[LISTENED TO: July 2022] Just One Damned Thing After Another
This is the first book in a something-teen long series.
I sometimes wonder if I enjoy a series more for the narrator of the audio books than the quality of the books themselves.
I didn’t think that at the time of reading this, because i was swept up in the comedy and adventure and (yes, I’m saying it, time travel). However, while looking for a cover image, I read a scathing review of this book and felt that I did agree with many of the criticisms. I guess I just didn’t care. And I wonder if that’s because Zara Ramm gave great voice to the lead character Max and also did an amazing job with all of the different characters (male and female from all over the place).
As we meet Madeline Maxwell (Max), she is in a bad way. She has few prospects and fewer coins in her pocket. She’s pretty desperate until she gets a surprise visit from a former teacher who tells her about a job with poor pay and worse conditions.
This leads to a job as a historian at St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. The cool thing about St. Mary’s is that historians travel to the past to “confirm” details of things that happened. Essentially University researchers get to experience historical events first hand, including all of the dangers involved. The Institute is a part of University of Thirsk. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Audiobooks, Death, Dinosaurs, Fears, Feminism, Fire, Funny (ha ha), History, Huh?, Jodi Taylor, Morality, Murder, Mystery, Supernatural, Thieves, Threats, Time Travel, Violence, Zara Ramm | Leave a Comment »
June 30, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[READ: June, 2022] How to Kill Your Family
This looked like the perfect book to read over Fathers Day weekend.
But it’s not an instruction manual for the average person. No indeed, the reason Grace Bernard is planning to kill her family is twofold
Her mother died when she was young. She learned while she was growing up that her biological father Simon wanted nothing to do with her (or her mother). He promised them the world, because he pretty much owned the world. He was part of a very wealthy family who bought and sold companies on a whim. He was also very publicly (un)happily married with a child and this affair with Grace’s mother could not go public.
As the book opens, Grace is in Limehouse prison. Ironically, even though she has already killed people, she is in prison for a murder that she did not actually commit–and had no intention of committing.
Grace is surprisingly, hilariously, above everyone else. Her cellmate Kelly is pretty trashy. She runs scams online. She frequently gets caught, but she’s right back out there to do it again. She drives Grace crazy. And Grace looks down on Kelly and everyone like her–there’s some really funny lines of abject dismissal in the book:
She’s attractive, is Kelly. Big pouty lips, which I suspect are the result of cheap filler but look all right from a distance, and lots of red hair. Sadly, her limited intelligence means she was easy to find when a man finally plucked up the courage to stop sending her money and contacted the police. She’d had the money sent to her boyfriend’s account, the stupid cow, and has wound up doing an eighteen month stretch as a result. Not an elegant crime, I warrant you, but I have no sympathy for her victims either. If you are delusional enough to believe that anyone wants to see a grainy iPhone picture of your flaccid little friend, you deserve to get bled for it.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Bella Mackie, Funny (ha ha), Murder, Prison | Leave a Comment »
June 29, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[READ: April 2023] Night Watch on the Hinterlands
I absolutely loved K. Eason’s The Thorne Chronicles (How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse). I had no idea that she had a new duology out until this book came to my desk at work.
I had audiobooked the first duology and loved the world that Nicole Poole read to me.
But now I was jumping in to the print version. Shockingly for me I haven’t been reading many books this year. I have gotten so into the audiobook world that I’ve been listening far more than I’ve been reading. And in some respects it was hard to get into this book because there’s a lot of made up stuff here and you really have to get into the world and the vocabulary and it was a bumpy start for me.
This book is set in the same world as the Rory Thorne books. Yes, that is true. But it is set far in the future so there is no overlap with characters or anything like that. So that was a bit of a bummer.
There’s a lot of “hard” science fiction in this story, which is probably more of the reason why it was hard to get into it. I accepted the new world, but you have to learn so much to get up to speed with everything that it can feel like a slog even if you are flying through the pages.
There are two main characters in this book.
Lieutenant Iari is a tenju templar (which you have to learn about and which I don’t think I fully did, but tenju are rather large humanoid race with tusks). She was orphaned during the Expansion War and joined the templars because she believed in their mission. The war is over now and her primary purpose is to stop The Brood. Brood are deadly, seemingly invisible monsters that have come through a rip in the Void (which you have to learn about). The rip is called The Weep, and I feel like I never quite got the hang of how or why the Weep happened. The one thing that was clear was that the vakari inadvertently created The Weep during the war. Continue Reading »
Posted in Adventure, Advice, Aliens, Duology, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Gender, K. Eason, Magic, Multiverse, Political Humor, Sci-fi, Science, Violence | Leave a Comment »
June 28, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: June 28, 2023] Sparks
Last year I dragged myself all the way to New York City (which seems to get harder and harder to get to every time I try) to see Sparks at Town Hall. I had never seen them and I was convinced they’d never play anywhere closer.
It was worth the grief because the show was wonderful.
So imagine my surprise when one year later they announced a show at the Keswick Theatre. Keswick is kind of a pain to get to but it’s a nice enough venue. And for Sparks I was willing to make the effort.
And then Sloan announced their local show for the same night–I’m honestly shocked how often bands winds up in Philly on the same night. It’s a little weird, frankly.
So even though I have only seen Sparks once and I have seen Sloan four times, I assumed the Sparks show would be very similar while the Sloan show would be quite different. Plus, my wife and I have been enjoying seeing Sloan together the last few times.
And so, I blew off Sparks for Sloan. Continue Reading »
Posted in Glenside, PA, Keswick Theatre, Sparks | Leave a Comment »
June 28, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: June 28, 2023] Sloan
This is my fifth time seeing Sloan (and S’s third time). And while I know that they have a new record out (and they played every song from it), I am so impressed by the number of new songs they played at this show.
Every time I’ve seen Sloan, they’ve done “An Evening with” which I love. I do enjoy an opening act most of the time, but it’s so great getting two sets–two and a half hours–of music from the band you really like.
I’m always a little bummed that Sloan aren’t bigger here–they play such huge places in Canada. But here they wind up in 250 person capacity venues. Of course, everyone there is a huge fan, so that’s gotta feel pretty good. Plus, I don’t want to see them in an arena.
Their new album Steady is really good and they started off the show with three new songs, one from each vocalist. I love that they started out with a song from Patrick–his songs are so catchy. They followed it with a Jay song–so distinctive. And ended the trilogy with a Chris song–poppy and catchy with great harmonies from Patrick.
They jumped back to Twice Removed with a classic song I can’t believe I haven’t heard them play before, “I Can Feel It.”
Jay doesn’t have as many songs as the other guys so we tend to hear a few of the same songs from him when he sings. But Between the Bridges is my favorite album of theirs so I’m always happy to hear a song from it.
After the new “Human Nature” with a killer melody, Andrew, the drummer, came out from behind the kit. This is always fun, because Jay switches to bass and Chris switches to drums while Andrew sings and plays guitar. Continue Reading »
Posted in Canadian Music, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Sloan | Leave a Comment »
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Much like with the Trey Anastasio Band and Phish (the only way to get close to Trey is to see him solo), The Smile seemed like the only way to see Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead up close. Their drummer is Tom Skinner from Sons of Kemet.
I Just Read About That... 