the week (april 15 - april 21)
no blog last week because i took a nose dive on my bike. took me until a day or two to regain full use of my left arm. updated the site last week typing one-handed. if that’s not dedication, i don’t know what is. there’s a lot of great stuff happening this week, let’s dive in:
happening this week:
as someone who absolutely loves almost any sub-genre or iteration of hip-hop and rap music, i am the first to admit it can be a lackluster live experience. some rappers live and die by their instrumentals, pumping them as loud as people with their existing vocal tracks playing and doing karaoke of their own music. does it get the people moving? absolutely. does it leave a lasting impression? not typically. mononymous new york city based rapper mike has songs that are upbeat and get the people going but truly shines on tracks with introspective and thoughtful wordplay. he’s bringing along 454, niontay and el cousteau to a much larger stage than you’ve been able to see him on in the past in philly. it’s happening at union transfer on wednesday, april 17th.
ned russin knows how to write infectious, hooky music. most would know it from the cross-over success of his previous band title fight, but since that band’s dissolution nearly a decade ago, glitterer has been the primary focus. glitterer is more pop rock leaning, but it’s still unmistakeably russin’s work (although the former solo project has now grown to a four-piece band). touring behind a new record called ‘rationale’, they’ll be at first unitarian church on friday, april 19th alongside freakpunk duo draag me and slowcore trio a country western.
you know what i love more than a mixed bill (one of my favorite things on earth)? a two band mixed bill. a weird, hard to quantify pairing where you have a chance to see two completely different sets of music on the same night. at underground arts on sunday, april 21st, we get the unlikely duo of california sludgy psych-metal trio earthless and tightly-wound japanese krautrock quartet minami deutsch. mostly instrumental, earthless has their own spin on desert rock mixed with slow-rolling, double-digit minute epics. minami deutsch fuse synth-laden weirdness with head-spinning post-punk angularity.
announced this week:
“jerry’s”, self-described as ‘adult d.i.y.’ is an unassuming space harboring some of the best music that philadelphia has to offer. every show feels like a secret, like you’ve ended up at the coolest place in philly that only a handful of others know about. at jerry’s on front on thursday, may 2nd you can catch two great bands. local post-punk freaks cartoon, whose debut full length ‘nyuck nyuck boing’ is a serious early contender for the best record a local band puts out this year. they’ll play alongside new york bass and drum duo animal surrender, who make intricate and contemplative instrumental post-folky-rock. it’s a fun juxtaposition between two unique acts who bring very different sounds to the table but speak the same unusual language.
if you’ve been to an underground hip-hop show in philadelphia, you’ve seen shrapknel before. they might not be the most known rappers from philadelphia, but they have some of the most credibility as a part of the backwoodz studioz family. they are sharing the stage with another duo — brooklyn’s phiik & lungs. their series of ‘another planet’ tapes are bar forward, minimal instrumentation, breakneck speed. it’s happening at johnny brenda’s on friday, june 21st.
More about this week’s photo:
Credit: Eric Lee @jerseywallphl
philadelphia electro-punk trio powerhouse of the cell performing as a part of a free concert series at fringe bar on thursday, april 11th.