She Came Crashing continues to impress with a sound brilliantly delivered in live vernacular. This performance was from another Philly band we feel is improving with each performance. Despite initial sound issues outside her control, Amanda seized ears with entangling synth-pop a la white keytar with Ray back on beats. Dope. Citing diverse influences such as mewithoutYou, Dr. Dog, Nero, Radiohead, Sleigh Bells, and Santigold, She came Crashing offers its own submission into the ring of good music to hear live and dance to in Philly. Check out some video into the darkness below:
We caught the increasingly honed group Instamatic from Philadelphia at The Level Room on February 18th for a second time (video from the first set we caught them here). The synthpop quartet of Steven Haslam, TJ Adams, Philip Schorn, and Rick Mitchell were in the ether this night with fantastic electro-disco stylings. Otherworldly music emanated like a fast moving fog from the dark stage and the new-wave gods were stirred.
Our video primarily caught the house light display licking like electric flames at the ceiling accented by hot synths/keyboards and steady beat. We like these guys more every time we tsee them. Check out our video below – albeit more for the sound than anything else. We need better lighting Level Room!:
** note these are the last two songs of the set although out of order.
This is the fourth article in a series reviewing sets from some of the best bands in Philly at the Level Room NYE2012 show produced my Phonographic Arts. This show played double duty as the last show of 2011 and the first of 2012 and was amazing.
Also on the bill was Bleeding Rainbow. We’ve written about them before and hate to tread old ground. To summarize, Bleeding Rainbow is .. well .. Philadelphia’s own Bleeding Rainbow – one of those local bands everyone wants to see and for good reason. Their sound is awesome. Their effort is legendary. Their music is all just really good. Live it’s the same and on NYE2012 Bleeding Rainbow brought down the house despite the efforts of an over-zealous drunk dude who thought it was funny to repeatedly jump on stage and shout shit into the mic. Perhaps it was funny… In any event, the band killed it from from to back and to be able to see them without a million people in front of us is sick. Catch em before they get huge and tour constantly. Youv’e been warned. We got 4 Bleeding Rainbow videos for you this time:
This is the third article in a series reviewing sets from some of the best bands in Philly at the Level Room NYE2012 show produced my Phonographic Arts. This show played double duty as the last show of 2011 and the first of 2012 and was amazing.
Creepoid is one Philly band we were eager to check out live. Psychedelic grunge at it’s core makes Creepoid a rather unique act in Philly – their light up drum kit makes it downright one of a kind. The best part is that they are no one trick pony. Listen to Dream Out for evidence of this. The twangy guitar is a heart warming touch in a genre more known for angst. Their songs will approach you from multiple angles. Maybe it is the psych angle that levels the ship to a perfect keel, but whatever the case may be – we love these guys and can’t wait to catch them again soon. Peruse the Creepoid bandcamp for music and downloads.
Check out the video starting with Dream Out below. Friggen awesome ladies and gentlemen:
This is the second article in a series reviewing sets from some of the best bands in Philly at the Level Room NYE2012 show produced my Phonographic Arts. This show played double duty as the last show of 2011 and the first of 2012 and was amazing.
Not be lost in the vast NYE line up at The Level Room was the Philly standout A Fire in the Hearts and Minds. Comprised of Douglas Foulke Jr. on Guitar and vocals, Ben Roysden on bass, and Chad Hoffmann on Drums, these guys play a self-described musical amalgam of Torche, Hum, Pixies, Joy Division, bleach-era Nirvana and blue-era Weezer. In practice its pretty damn fantastic. These guys are even giving away their new album via bandcamp so you have no reason not to grab that.
Obscured in the following video is much of the stage ongoings due to very low lighting. The sound is there though and we really appreciate what these guys are doing. Check some live video [for all intents and purposes audio] out for yourselves:
This is the first article in a series reviewing sets from some of the best bands in Philly at the Level Room NYE2012 show produced my Phonographic Arts. This show played double duty as the last show of 2011 and the first of 2012 and was amazing.
Having just become a full lineup in 2011 Exploding World was initially the solo project of Davd A. Saylor started in 2007. Now including members John Scheck (keys), Jennifer Shaw (keys), and Brandon Moore (guitar), Exploding World has a larger and more dynamic sound. Drawing on influences such as I Brainiac, Sonic Youth, Devo, Subtle, Fugazi, De Facto, Tony Clifton, Drive Like Jehu, Why?, Mitch Hedberg, Creepoid, Pixies, Nirvana, Radiohead, Sam Cooke, Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd, Daniel Johnston, Andy Kaufman, The Stooges, et al, their sound is certainly diverse yet driven by an electric feel afforded by dual keyboardists.
For their New Years Eve opener, Exploding World played through a great group of songs and really set the evening up perfectly. Saylor remained in regular conversation with the audience and explained song influences which we always appreciate. Moore on guitar was solid in his playing and we enjoyed his solos greatly. We saw Scheck on keys switch to drums at one point and also provide vocals – tasks both at which he was most proficient. Shaw was composed as she hit every note on the keys and added to the layers of sound. Oh, and how could we forget to mention Saylor up to his old tricks on drums, keys and vocals simultaneously. Gold.
Going into 2012 we are excited to see what Exploding World will put out and even more excited to catch them again. Here is some video we took from the evening:
Live Philly Concerts 