Best New Music: Hot Panda

Taking their name from a Chinese food restaurant in hometown Edmonton (which -- remind me, next time I'm north of the border -- to check out) HOT PANDA are next in a long line of playful, quirky indie bands defying genre and expectation with capricious, catchy, and deliberately sloppy garage rock. (Think CYHSY, but with more vocal variety, or The Walkmen, but with a greater sense of humor.)

Photo by Luke Simcoe

Formed in 2006 by vocalist/guitarist Chris Connelly and drummer Maghan Campbell, this creative four-piece started out as any indie band worth their cred in Converse should: recording songs in someone's garage, and touring relentlessly in a beat-up, vintage, 1977 ambulance (no word on whether or not the siren worked) -- later the subject of riff-driven b-side "Poor little ambulance." The touring led to more and bigger gigs, and before you knew it, they were opening for Art Brut and hitting Europe with the Von Bondies -- not to mention stopping in at SXSW and CMJ and turning many a critic's head along the way.

Now they're set to release their sophomore LP: the wily and auspicious How Come I'm Dead? -- and I couldn't be more thrilled. Read more about the album -- including a play-by-play of my favorite tracks -- at Siren Mecca, Phrequency.com.

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Music Video Mondays: Warpaint

It feel like Seattle weather out there today: all light sprinkles of rain and temperatures hovering just below shorts weather. The streets are emptier than usual -- no one wants to venture out when the heavens are liable to open at any moment -- and I'm sitting here watching from my Center City apartment (today = personal day), glad for once to be sitting in front of a computer; relaxing to the quiet sounds of Warpaint.

An all-female, art-rock 4-piece based in LA -- who've toured with the likes of Yeasayer and The xx -- Warpaint write sparse, wintry, psych-rock concoctions perfect for rainy days: smooth melodies drawing you in, as they craft a world of dreamy melancholy.

"Stars" is the first track off their 2009 EP Exquisite Corpse -- look for their full-length coming in October.

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Neighborhood Watch: The Hand from Beyond the Crypt

It sounds like something from an R.L. Stein novel (remember those?) and to be honest, that's what I think every time I walk by. I'm talking about that stray appendage reaching up from underground, grasping at passersby with wild abandon, from the entrance to the Broad Street subway, at Broad + Lombard.




Perhaps you've noticed this disturbing phenomenon? The hand -- I discovered, upon further inspection -- is not ACTUALLY a stray appendage, but belongs to one particular bum (perhaps with a penchant for sci-fi?) who has taken to lying on the subway steps, with one soul extremity visible from the street.

I first encountered The Hand from Beyond the Crypt the other week, while journeying to South Philly, and visibly gasped -- as if the entire BSL had been overtaken by the Zombie Apocalypse. Turns out the hand was just looking for cigarettes (zombie lifeblood)-- and when Matt and I informed it we didn't have any, it waved in the other direction.

Zombies!! on the subway!!!!

Now, I notice it every time I walk home from work, and every time, it creeps me out. Why is this bum lying on the subway steps for days on end? And doesn't his arm ever get tired? I suppose when the REAL Zombie Apocalypse finally comes, he'll be all set with upper body strength -- because nothing takes out a zombie like a quick punch to the face.

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Best New Music: Maximum Balloon

His collaborations rival Plastic Beach, or Spirit of Apollo -- and come to think of it, so does the entire album. I'm talking, of course, about Maximum Balloon -- the self-titled debut LP from TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, released yesterday on Interscope Records.



Don't let that dorky haircut fool you -- this man is so legit, he doesn't need to try. After spending years rocking out for TVOTR -- not to mention producing albums for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Thee Oh Sees and more -- and remixing for the likes of Beck and NIN -- Sitek gathered some of his closest friends and most talented colleagues, to record one of the best unexpected party albums of the year.

Part hip-hop, part dance-pop, part somewhere in between, Maximum Balloon is only 10 songs -- but each one totally rules, from the bouncy groove of "Tiger" to the dreamy lull of "If you return." As for special guests, look for appearances from David Byrne, Karen O., Holly Miranda, Theophilus London and more. Intrigued yet? You should be. Read more -- and check out the first single -- at Phrequency.com.

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Music Video Mondays: I'm awesome!

His real name is Ryan Peters, but he goes by the moniker Spose -- and he's a middle class, white boy rapper from Maine, with lyrics about love handles and back zits. Sound awesome? I'll let this video speak for itself.

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America Does British Invasion: The Mix!! (Stream it for free!)

This mix goes out to my dad, who weaned my brother and I on British invasion tunes growing up -- and who will probably listen to this and scoff that none of the songs even come close to being as good as the originals. And he's right. There's no way that any of these covers will ever be exciting or monumental as the original releases -- sitting in your bedroom, age 14, listening to Revolver for the first time, being a part of something new and amazing.

This mix is an exploration, and a tribute. All the songs here were made famous by British bands, between 1963 and 1970, with one exception from 1981 ("Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits, thrown on because I know my dad really likes it.) All the covers are from American bands, released between 1978 and 2010. And now, without further ado...stream it here.

(Note: if the playlist doesn't load properly, try copying and pasting the link directly into your broswer.)

Happy Listening!

The Beatles, 1966.

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Haiku Review: Of Montreal + Janelle Monae

Kevin Barnes' wacky
vision: psych-pop plus fish masks;

Janelle opens, wows

Photo Yusef Muhammad for Phrequency.com

Read the full review (Wednesday night, Electric Factory) here!

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Best New Music: Shapers

The name Shapers always reminds me of Animorphs. You know, like Shape-Shifters? From those weird, tween, sci-fi books that I swear I never read but saw sitting around the middle school library? Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it's because I already know their music is as unpredictable as a boy who is secretly half bear -- and liable to shift at the slightest provocation.

animorphic masks?

An experimental quartet from Chicago, IL (land of such experimental figures as Jim O'Rourke, Andrew Bird, and of course, Kanye) --Shapers write fuzzy, spacey, ambient songs with FURIOUS PERCUSSION (and then no percussion at all) and WILY SYNTHS (and then no synths at all) -- channeling Yo La Tengo, Krautrock, and sleepy, '90s post rock -- to craft capricious tunes for the flip-flopper in all of us. Get dirty with the details -- and check out a live clip -- at Philly's Erratic Music HQ -- Phrequency.com.

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Music Video Mondays: Of Montreal

So False Priest -- the new album from indie pop stalwarts Of Montreal -- drops September 14, and has already been getting a ton of play in my iTunes. Featuring appearances from the fabulous Janelle Monae (see her MVM contribution here) plus Solange Knowles -- Priest hearkens back to the band's funky, dance-y stage (think "Disconnect the dots", "So begins our alabee") -- and just might be their best LP since The Sunlandic Twins. "Coquet Coquette" is the first single, and comes complete with this bizarre little video:

Prior to this viewing, I confess: I always thought of coquet coquettes as perfectly harmless creatures -- but perhaps Of Montreal is trying to tell us something. When the Zombie Apocalypse comes, it's every man for himself! Can't wait to see if this little gem makes it to MTV.

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Neighborhood Watch: The Return of Smelly Balls

Smelly balls, scientific name Smellius Ballius, are those gross, sticky, yellow, round things that fall off the trees in the fall and emit a foul smell, not unlike vomit, when crushed. I still remember the first time I stepped on one -- just 3 short years ago, in 2007 -- and tracked that skank around all day, wondering if just my feet really smelled, or maybe my boyfriend -- or if one of my roommates was secretly bulimic and had thrown up in a laundry hamper and stinkified the apartment.

S balls, in the wild. (From wikipedia)

Anyway, it turns out that Smelly Balls are actually some sort of super magical herb you might have heard of called Ginkgo biloba -- which cures all sorts of stuff, from memory loss to dementia to blood flow -- and are apparently also a delicacy in China, where people eat them at weddings. (Keep in mind they also eat monkeys and dogs.) If rubbed directly on the skin, they can give you a wicked rash, similar to poison ivy; if thrown directly at the art students smoking cigs outside the Starbucks on Broad, they can inspire a massive stinky ball fight, in which said art students use their giant pads of paper as shields.

art school battle.

Wikipedia is vague on how long the S. Balls season lasts -- but judging from previous experiences...it could be a while. My advice to you? Wipe your feet before going inside -- 'cuz really, when you think about it...Sballs are the LEAST of the nastiness coating our fair city streets, and no one wants to skulk around trailing herpes.

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Haiku Review: Best Coast

Sun-drenched melodies
about boyfriends, cats, and weed:
garage rock, for realz

Photo Kate Bracaglia for Phrequency.com.


Read the full review (Tuesday night, First Unitarian Church) here!

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Best New Music: Jukebox the Ghost

"I think Philly is the East Coast's dirty little secret," said Jukebox the Ghost guitarist Tommy Siegel to me 2 years ago, when I interviewed the band for Phrequency. It was early winter and the trio was playing a hometown show at Johnny Brenda's, having moved to the city from DC just months before.

photo by Camille Drummond

Little did he know that months later, people would say the exact same thing about his band! And yet -- from December 2008 to now -- Jukebox the Ghost has laid very good claim to the title of the area's best kept secret --having hit the road with Ben Folds, Nightmare of You, Jenny Owen Youngs, Adam Green, and more -- and concocted a cornucopia of pop songs dripping in buoyant energy and originality -- while STILL staying (mostly) under the radar.

That could be about to change though. Their sophomore album, Everything Under the Sun, dropped yesterday and has ALREADY garnered a slew of attention -- not to mention a spot for the boys playing live on David Letterman.




So what makes Sun so great? Well, there's lot of things. Like the grandiose structure and passion of "Summer sun"; the pure pop brilliance of "The popular thing;" the wily piano runs on "Schizophrenia"...and more. Much more, in fact. Read all about it -- and indulge -- at Phrequency.com.

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Haiku Review: The Breeders

Is this true? Can this
Be happening? Legendary
rock band plays...the church?

Photo Inna Spivakova for Phrequency.com



Read the full review (Friday night, First Unitarian Church) here!

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Red Bull Flugtag: In Photos!

The Red Bull Flugtag event this year proved somewhat disappointing -- blame it on the winds (or a general lack of aerodynamics) -- but no one's flying machine seemed to make it more than a few dozen feet. Still, the weather was glorious, and good friends were on hand -- meaning that despite it all, good times were had.

And when the lines for the ferry were absolutely monstrous -- winding around the waterfront, with no end in sight -- friends and I decided to do it the hard way, and walk across the Ben Franklin Bridge. Here, the stunning view proved perfect for photos -- and thus we stayed, watching one contraption after another tumble into the Delaware river.

Here are some shots of the action:

Aerial shot from the bridge (click on any photo to enlarge.)

Massive crowds on the Camden waterfront.

Boats, tied together, bringing the party to the water

Look at how tiny they seem!

Walking across the bridge...

Friends check out the action

This green kite-like flyer seemed to be doing well...

As did this white flying man.

The airplane goes in for a crash landing!

Flugtag riders abandon their broken craft, and jump in anyway.
Bombs away!

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What is it about 20-somethings: Besides being poor, confused, and transient?

2 weeks ago, The New York Times ran an excellent demographic study on young people in America titled "What is it about 20-somethings?" (which, in case you have been living under a rock, is available here.) In it, the author tackles the question of why today's young adults are taking so long to grow up, citing influences such as the economy (terrible!), the job market (uninteresting!), and a general delayed sense of obligation/ need to find a career/ get married/ settle down.

She paints a picture that I, as a 25-year-old, Ivy League-educated city-dweller, find all too familiar: smart, well-bred, college-educated young people wandering around disillusioned: moving from job to job, and crappy apartment to crappy apartment (with brief stays at one's parents' house interspersed), living with significant others with no thoughts of marriage (or, god forbid, kids!), and wondering when -- and even if -- they have to grow up.

Pilam Human BBQ, 2009.

This article has been on my mind quite a bit the past 2 weeks, and in general, I agree with most of what the author says. At least half of my friends are unemployed, or employed part time, or just some of the time -- and almost all of us have low-paying, temporary sorts of jobs that we spend a few years at, before applying to grad school for lack of better options. We all move around a bit -- throwing big, drunken ragers to celebrate each move -- and in general, I think marriage is the farthest thing from our minds, even though many of us are in committed relationships.

Stoop-dwelling outside my apartment.

But another aspect of one's 20s that I find particularly troublesome -- perhaps not among the general populace but certainly among my (educated, liberal) friends -- and which the author fails to really dwell on -- is the realization that maybe -- just maybe -- our futures are not going to be as great as we once imagined.

Consider: growing up and going to school in the '90s and early '00s, as a smart kid, I always had this sense of invincibility. Parents and teachers were quick to preach that WE, the future of America, could do anything we wanted -- and taught us to think big. And we did! As a young teen, I had a real sense of accomplishment -- I wanted to act, so I tried out for plays, and took acting classes, until I was finally cast in a lead role. I wanted to appear more professional (why, I have no idea), so I joined the Speech and Debate team -- and won the state championship my junior year. I wanted -- one fine day -- to have a career as a famous writer or reporter, so I studied hard and applied to Penn, where I was sure I would find the resources to quickly achieve my dreams.

Making Time, 2007.

At some point however -- at least for me -- I started to realize: achievement in the real world isn't like achievement in high school or even college, and just being smart and driven doesn't guarantee a damn thing. After all, we can't ALL write best-selling novels or star on Broadway, now can we? Following your dreams is nice, but -- unless you have a trust fund -- pretty damn unrealistic. And maybe the reason we're all wandering around dissatisfied and downtrodden is because we REALLY have no idea what our futures hold, and are terrified of entering a career that is boring and beneath us.

Straight chillin in West Philly.

Our 20s are our last chance to skirt reality -- while at the same time, deciding what reality is. This creates a strange paradox which imbues everything we do with a sense of urgency and self-awareness: we need to party hard now, since we won't be able to later -- we need to experience all we can now so we have a better idea of what we want to do in the future. We're in that transition phase where we can feel ourselves on the brink of adulthood (beginning -- metaphorically -- when we hit 30) and it's stressful and depressing.

The Times cites a study from the National Institute of Mental Health, which found that the average human brain keeps growing until age 25 -- possibly longer. As we continue to grow, we must forge our identities based on all we've experienced, with a mind towards what's to come. That's the thing about 20-somethings. We're trying to figure it out.

Now if you excuse me, I have a party to get to.

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Best New Music: Jamaica

They're oft referred to as the new Phoenix -- really, they're more like the new Phoenix, dipped in the blood of Van Halen (consider: their hair) -- mixing '80s-inspired dance pop with wicked guitar solos and swagger. A breakout duo from Paris, France -- these guys have proved their mettle with a slew of radio-ready, chrome-plated hits -- not to mention successful live gigs all across Europe. They're also connected to just about every cool French band out there -- their debut album bearing producer credits from Daft Punk's Peter Franco and Justice's Xavier de Rosnay -- and Phoenix being, well, kindred spirits.



But my favorite thing about these photogenic taste-makers? Their totally ironic and irreverent sense of humor, as demonstrated through the video for their first single, "I think I like U 2." Check it out -- and read more about the island-y pop-sters -- at your #1 source for Bands With Place Names, Phrequency.com.

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