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Joey Ryan Residency

Posted on by Amanda

If it’s a Thursday in March than it must be a Joey Ryan day! Joey’s March residency at The Hotel Cafe continues this evening at 8pm. Joey Ryan is a fairly new discovery.  Amanda and I both first saw him open for Carney last fall and he instantly went on my watch list. I have since seen him a couple times at The Hotel Cafe and every time I see him, I think I fall in love a little more. Especially since the release of his EP Kenter Canyon which is one of the best EPs I’ve heard in awhile (definitely so far this year).  To endear him even more (to my heart at least), his website says that, at one point, he was planning on attending graduate school to study neuroscience!

If you get a chance, come out and see Joey Ryan at The Hotel Cafe. He’ll sing some songs about the weather and then offer to give you a hug. What more could you want!?! Here are his residency dates:

TONIGHT: March 4th: 8pm- Hotel Cafe (also with Jim Bianco and Honeyhoney)

March 11th: 10pm (with Jim Bianco, Melissa Ferrick, and Caitlin Crosby and Jay Nash)

March 25th: 8pm- Hotel Cafe

Sadly ,he will be at SXSW for one Thursday in between (the 18th) which happens to be my birthday…

http://www.myspace.com/joeyryanband

song: “Broken Headlights” (from Kenter Canyon)

~ Kristen

Local Philly Band- Alright Junior

Posted on by Amanda

In the mood for a little Alright, Junior. I’ve been listening all day…and so should you!

This is one of my very favorite bands from Philadelphia. From the amazing timbre of Jace’s voice and Mike’s animalistic drumming to Steve’s guitar shredding and the way Greg swings his bass about as if it were a sword (or machine gun perhaps?), these guys will bring it every time. Their live, energetic sets never fail to give me exactly what I need and their songs are some of the most played in my ITunes library. My fave Alright, Junior song is probably still “Sinner of the State” off their debut CD, Eudaemonic, but I’m really loving all their new tunes from their most recent EP, Our Temporary Everything including “Never Quite the Disappearing Act.”

The boys have two local Philly shows this week: Tomorrow, Friday March 5th at The Note in West Chester (with another great band, Overlook) and Saturday March 6th they return to The Khyber…my fave venue to see them play!

Check. Them. Out!

http://www.myspace.com/alrightjunior

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AlrightJunior

~ Kristen

New Music!!!

Posted on by Amanda

So last night I didn’t go out to a show…and I didn’t have enough work to do to occupy my entire evening…and I wasn’t so tired that I needed to go to bed by 8pm. This, let me tell you, is a very rare occurrence.  It’s also very dangerous…I can get up to no good when left to my own devices. I wandered out of my apartment and ended up at Best Buy (also very dangerous). I left Best Buy with…umm…several…new CDs. Then I went back home and purchased online the CDs that I couldn’t find at the store.

By the end of the evening, my haul looked like this (and trust me, the number of CDs I had in my hands, but didn’t buy would probably have doubled this).

  • Almost Alice– various artists (music inspired by the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie)
  • This Addiction– Alkaline Trio
  • Transference– Spoon
  • Sad Man Happy Man – Mike Doughty
  • Future Selves – Transfer
  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Live
  • Under the Covers Vol. 2– Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
  • B.R.M.C.- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club   
  • Horizon– Matthew Jordan

Obviously, I’m too paralyzed by all the fantastic new music to let you know what I think about any one individual CD…but let me just say the stand out thus far is definitely the offering from Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. I mean, come on, they cover “All the Young Dudes”…dude! 🙂

~ Kristen

Frightened Rabbit – New Music in T-1 Week

Posted on by Amanda

My excitement can barely be contained for the release of the new Frightened Rabbit CD, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, next Weds (March 10th). The tunes have been leaking all over the place, so really I’ve already heard it…but I still can’t wait to get that physical copy in my hand. I’m in love with what I’ve heard thus far. Their last record, The Midnight Organ Fight was stuck in my player on repeat for quite some time and is just one of those perfect records (every song is brilliant). I actually discovered them at the end of 2008 (thank you Best of Lists!), and their song, “The Modern Leper” managed to make it onto my own years’ end best of mix for ’09. Frightened Rabbit is one of those very rare bands that I actually fell in love with BEFORE I saw them play. I finally got the opportunity to see them live at The Knitting Factory this year and am now counting down the days ‘til I get to see them again (that would be at Coachella-Saturday). They are also playing The Casbah in San Diego May 22…may have to make a special trek down there to see them again. They are from across the pond (Scotland to be more precise) so these live viewing opportunities are few and far between.

If you want to hear the new record, you can go to their myspace page…also some videos!

http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit

~ Kristen

Listen to this: Downtown Harvest

Posted on by Amanda

Brightening my week last week was the arrival of my copy of the new Downtown Harvest CD, “Discovering Dinosaurs.” Downtown Harvest is a fantastic band from my favorite musical city, Philadelphia. My love of this band started with a performance of their song “Clockwork Tangerines” off their first album “Golden Dragon”. One thing that will always draw me in to a song is good harmonies, but who says these harmonies always have to be vocal? The harmonizing guitars at the beginning of “Clockwork Tangerines” was enough to turn my head and quicken my pulse…then I was hooked!

My faves off the new record are probably all the ones I’ve seen them perform. “Shimmy” brings back particularly good memories. If you have some time, check them out! I’ve heard rumors of a potential CA tour sometime this year…

http://www.downtownharvest.com/

~ Kristen

Several Noteworthy Videos

Posted on by Amanda

So I’ve come across several videos of note this week. All of songs that I wish would be recorded already!

The first video is from my friends, The Elizabeth Kill, and is a great warm-up for the Alice in Wonderland movie coming out this weekend. It’s for a song called “The Great Escape” and features some bits from the movie…it’s going to be trippy!

The second video is from Nico Vega frontwoman, Aja Volkman. I swear this woman can do no wrong! This video is for a song called “Stick of Wax”, an incredibly haunting song sung by such a beautiful voice…a must listen!

Finally, one of my fave SD bands, Dirty Sweet, was supposed to come up to LA and play some acoustic gigs at The Hotel Café…these dates, sadly, seem to have been removed from their calendar in favor of time spent at SXSW followed by a European tour…as a result I’ve been mourning by watching some lovely acoustic Dirty Sweet videos! Here’s one of them, the title track of their forthcoming album (April 6th!!) “American Spiritual”. For more Dirty Sweet videos, check out their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dirtysweetmusic

~ Kristen

“More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle”

Posted on by Amanda

Today, is a Mike Doughty kind of day. I have been listening to his music all day long! I discovered Mr. Doughty through one of my favorite television shows, Veronica Mars. His song “I Hear the Bells” was featured on the soundtrack for the show and is still one of my favorites. I love his CD, Haughty Melodic, which also contains a couple other gems including “Your Misfortune” and “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well.” Plus, it was created in collaboration with Dan Wilson (might help explain why I love it so much).

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see Mike Doughty live until Spring ’08 when he went on tour to support his second CD Golden Delicious. It had taken me so many years to see him, mostly because whenever he came to Philly (where I was living at the time) his shows would sell out too fast. He is an entertaining performer with an arsenal of engaging songs on which he puts his unique “Mike Doughty” stamp.  I dare you to listen and not get hooked.

This week (Thursday 3/4), he’s in LA playing at The Troubadour.  I have yet to pick up his most recent CD, Sad Man, Happy Man, so this would be the perfect opportunity for me (and YOU!) to see what he’s been up to these past couple of years!

~ Kristen