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(03/05/19 9:50pm)
In Aristotle's tragic plot structure, the first half of a tragedy shows the protagonist on the rise, before the unfolding events of the first act culminate in a sudden change of fortune. The second act, then, is beset by pity and fear before an ultimately tragic and cathartic ending. Understanding this classical plot structure helps when making sense of the new EP a modern tragedy vol. 2, released on Feb. 22 by Canadian hip–hop artist Jordan Edward Benjamin, better known as grandson.
(03/04/19 9:20pm)
For rockers like Mike Krol, leaving the safety of the garage can be a dangerous game. Beyond those thin aluminum walls is a world full of heartbreak and despair. On his latest record, Power Chords, Krol ventures outside, barking and biting his way through lost love with his signature fuzz, fists up the whole time.
(02/26/19 6:52am)
As Adrianne Lenker meticulously tuned her guitar in the middle of her set at the First Unitarian Church on Feb. 15, the full audience silently stood by, waiting for her next song. Unassumingly, Lenker softly spoke into the microphone, “Does anyone want to hear anything in particular?” The room suddenly burst with an outcry of song names from her dedicated fans. Clearly surprised by the audience’s outburst, Lenker dismissed the flurry of suggestions with a chuckle to herself. “Okay, this is impossible,” she smiled. “I take it back.”
(02/26/19 2:00am)
The lights dim at the Fillmore, and the packed crowd cheers, “Blake!” as a tall, looming figure appears from foggy smoke on stage. Idly, he sits on the piano bench with no introduction, not even a wave or a smile. The running of piano notes that open the song “Assume Form” seem to be conjured out of thin air. The crowd goes silent, letting Blake’s melodies fill the space.
(03/11/19 1:04am)
For years, Meg Duffy made their bones in the music world by working as a studio guitarist and then playing in Kevin Morby’s band. Their move from New York City prompted the beginning of Hand Habits, which began as a solo project and transformed into a fully fledged band. Their debut, Wildly Idle, which was recorded and produced by Duffy in their bedroom, made a name for the group in 2017. Widly Idle showcased a variety of modern folk songs that were pensive and lush with keen observation, placing Duffy alongside contemporaries such as Big Thief and Angel Olson.
(03/10/19 11:39pm)
Each member of Migos—Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff—has each recently gone solo in an effort to individualize themselves from the collective rap trio. Quavo released Quavo Huncho and Takeoff released The Last Rocket, both in 2018, but Offset's Father of 4, released Feb. 22, explores heavy themes and boasts memorable tracks, something that cannot be said for the two previous Migos solo albums.
(02/26/19 3:37am)
For the past four years, Kehlani has consistently been featured as an “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone and Complex. But with her new mixtape, While We Wait, Kehlani solidifies her position as one of R&B's current stars. This highly anticipated mixtape has attracted social media buzz from artists like Khalid, Wale, Janelle Monae, and DJ Khaled. It’s no surprise that the album is gaining so much attention, as Kehlani’s artistry has been continuously evolving and improving. Keeping a relatively low profile in 2018, choosing to be featured on just a select few tracks—KYLE’s “Playinwitme”, Charlie Puth’s “Done for Me,” Cardi B’s “Ring”— Kehlani blossoms on this new mixtape, ready to make 2019 hers.
(02/27/19 4:36am)
When four–piece rock band Badflower burst onto the music scene in 2015 with debut single “Soap,” it seemed as if they would make their place in the blues rock revival. Between the heavy guitar riffs and the way Josh Katz yelled "Sometimes I cannot be respectable," the band would fit in just fine among acts like Black Pistol Fire, Greta Van Fleet, and Dorothy. That hard–rocking image was cemented with 2016 EP Temper, which NYLON Magazine declared “Good, old–fashioned rock n’ roll.” Three years later, debut LP OK, I’M SICK, released Feb. 22, takes the band in a new direction—a good one—with the introspective and emotional lyrics telling a much more mature story than the average debut.
(02/26/19 3:14am)
In 2012, American rapper Nas released “Cherry Wine,” a song featuring vocals from Amy Winehouse that went on to be nominated for the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 55th Grammy Awards. The single, written by Winehouse, Nas, and Saleem Remi, was one of Winehouse’s last few projects before she died on July 23, 2011. The music video, which premiered October 2, 2012, featured Winehouse’s iconic vocals and ended with a tribute to her. The now–classic rap song is haunted by Winehouse’s soulful croons, especially on the line, “I wanna go through my red and my cherry.” The song as a whole is beautiful, yet painful.
(02/26/19 6:05am)
At four in the afternoon, students stream into the Starbucks below 1920 Commons. Muffled by orders of cold brews creamed with coconut milk and toffee syrup, “Take Five” croons softly through the speakers on this late February Friday. The weekend slips by and soon, teenagers trudge along the second floor of Fisher–Bennett Hall, where the sticky–sweet melody of “In the Mood” playing through an open office door alleviates Monday’s somber atmosphere. Jazz music—especially in settings teeming with life such as a university campus—often does not beg to be listened to. It instead fills the cracks where silence doesn't suffice and other genres do not fit. However, the space it once inhabited was vast.
(03/21/19 8:31pm)
The artists signed to Top Dawg Entertainment are some of the the most talented hip–hop artists out today. Yet, with just a couple of exceptions, TDE’s management of such a strong group of artists has been subpar to say the least. TDE has signed Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, Lance Skiiiwalker, and SiR, all artists who either possess incredible potential or have already displayed their capacity to make consistently great music. So why do they drop music so rarely, and more importantly, why does it seem that so many of these rappers have had issues with their label?
(02/21/19 3:48am)
Avril Lavigne has been around for a while—international hits such as “Complicated” and “Girlfriend” came over a decade ago, and the singer was dubbed the “Pop Punk Queen” for her music and fashion style as she dominated the charts. Until Head Above Water came out on Feb. 15, Lavigne hadn’t released a record since her self–titled album in 2013, an up–tempo, pop–rock collection that was relatively well–received but criticized by some for overusing rebellious tropes. Head Above Water comes a few years after the singer’s diagnosis with Lyme disease, which inspired the album that she described on Twitter as "an emotional journey.” But does the album actually manage to reach that standard and serve as a proper comeback for the now 34–year–old? The answer is a hard, unequivocal no.
(02/25/19 6:34am)
When thinking of cities with songs about them, New York is the first to come to one's "Empire State of Mind," followed of course by the selection of West Coast cities available for "California Dreaming." But the punk, hip hop, and indie rock artists of Philadelphia have embraced their hometown's quirky charm and turned it into songwriting fuel. While outsiders like Elton John ("Philadelphia Freedom") and even North Jersey's Bruce Springsteen ("Streets of Philadelphia") can attempt to catch the spirit, it takes hometown troublemakers like Mischief Brew and the Fresh Prince to guide listeners on a tour of the real Philly.
(02/27/19 7:40am)
It is the summer of 2016, I am fifteen and, like everyone else who has ever traversed through adolescence, I am knee–deep in an emo phase. My playlists cycle through the same artists who comprise the emo canon—My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco—and I beg my parents for Warped Tour tickets with desperate fervor. I mold myself to fit the stereotype of the misunderstood teenager so well, save for one detail: I am Hispanic, and Hispanic girls aren’t allowed to like punk music.
(02/22/19 2:19am)
On Monday night, four bands performed for the PhilaMOCA crowd, waking sleepy audience members from their exhaustion at the dawning of the week and giving them something to talk about. Adult Mom led the charge, headlining the night with a set of bubbly, pop/punk songs, a divergence from their more lo–fi and quiet studio sound. Steph Knipe, the creative center of the project, sings with sincerity, not unlike Petal's vocal strength, but with an added twang. Seeing them with a full band only added to the sound, melding several influences smoothly while conveying a singular sound. The night, however, was chock full of great bands, with enough in common to create a cohesive wall of sound throughout the night.
(02/18/19 2:00pm)
FIDLAR means “Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk.” This is a band who made their 2012 debut with lead singer Zac Carper screaming, “I drink cheap beer/So what?/Fuck you,” on their eponymous album FIDLAR’s opening track, “Cheap Beer.” Immediately, FIDLAR became the epitome of SoCal party–punk, but “punk” has never really been their sound. Rather than worrying themselves with the strict sonic and cultural guidelines put forth by the generations of social outcasts and staunch, self–identifying nonconformists who call themselves “punk,” FIDLAR has always done what they’ve wanted. And that’s what makes them punk as all hell, even if their music isn’t.
(02/19/19 7:33am)
A walk down Cedar Park’s Baltimore Avenue reveals a neighborhood in transition. There’s a punk rock hair salon, an ice cream parlor known for its vegan CBD flavor, and no shortage of well–lit brunch spots. There’s also, however, a dollar store, a quiet corner bodega, and a fixture of old men who play dominoes in the park. Right now, Cedar Park is at a pivotal stage in a hard–fought gentrification process: does it want to be “attractive” or inclusive?
(02/19/19 12:22am)
French house, a musical genre often defined as a combination of Euro disco and Deep house, used to be everywhere. You definitely know it if you’ve ever heard anything by Daft Punk prior to Random Access Memories (perhaps "One More Time" or "Harder Better Faster Stronger") or "D.A.N.C.E" by Justice. Characterized by head–banging drum machines, glittery synthesizers and sequencers, and filtered samples of '70s and '80s music, French house can be seen as the bass–head electronic cousin of disco. Yet, despite the genre itself being just barely 3 decades old, we are beginning to see it die out.
(02/25/19 12:20am)
Hip–hop pervades every city in America—it developed in urban environments and remains a strong musical influence there even as it has taken center stage in popular music within the last few decades. Los Angeles has brought us N.W.A. and Kendrick Lamar, Jay–Z and The Notorious B.I.G. came from New York, and Atlanta provided Outkast and T.I., among others. Similarly, Philadelphia has nurtured numerous hip–hop artists who have carved out their place in the upper echelon of the genre. But who among these individuals are the best to come from Philly? Here are the top five rappers repping the City of Brotherly Love:
(02/21/19 1:25am)
The smell of leather was thick in the air, coming off of the battered jackets and beer–soaked combat boots of every aging hard rocker in the crowd. Everyone that packed into the Theatre of Living Arts (TLA) this past Saturday for rock band Dorothy’s sold out show started the evening dressed in all–black, although several would go on to buy and wear opener Spirit Animal’s “banana cream”—not yellow, they insisted—t–shirt. The population density of the venue allowed little room to dance, but did nothing to deter the concertgoers from flipping their hair, swaying their lighters, and pumping the devils’ horns all in time with the heavy riffs, punchy drum beats, and lead singer Dorothy Martin’s cutting vocals.
