Jul 30 : "Who's Next?", "National Brotherhood Week" - Tom Lehrer

Sad to hear the news this week that Tom Lehrer had died. A great pianist and humorist, and way ahead of his time on many issues, his satirical songs lampooned many of the policital and societal issues of the day. Back in the 60's he was one of my favorites.

In the song "Who's Next?" he warned us about nuclear proliferation :::

And lampooning prejudice in "National Brotherhood Week" :::

All seems so ridiculous when he shows us the universality of prejudice.

Later in life Tom Lehrer did return from entertainment back into academia. "The Guardian" featured a very good piece on his life this week.

(pic is from "Who's Next" video)

Jul 23 : "The Welcoming Committee" - "Ring Of Fire" - "Hotgrits" - Indoor Yves (Philly)

Philly Music!

Another artist who is versatile in a number of genres is Philly's own "Indoor Yves". I went to The Fallser Club over the weekend and saw his show.

His Bandcamp page shows quite a variety of styles in his work. One track that's quite unusual and striking is "The Welcoming Committee", which is the first track on his 2023 EP, "Indoor Fish" :::

And here he does his own take on the song "Ring Of Fire". His version is stiff competition for the originals :::

And dramatically changing gears again, here is "Hotgrits" :::

To find more music, check out Indoor Yves' Bandcamp page ::: Indoor Yves on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE), and his Facebook page ::: Indoor Yves on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

Here is the artist description off his Bandcamp page: "Somewhere J-walking in the great city of Philadelphia, Pa, crawling between cars and dive bars, and sticking his nose in old books, Indoor Yves developed a penchant for "extreme genre bending," indiscreet bass, psychedelia, synthesis, 70’s tube warmth, and overall chaos."

And chaos it certainly was on Friday night when I went to the show at The Fallser Club. Indoor Yves started off by himself playing some chords as a drummer slowly started to join in. But no particular songs and no other band members. After a little while another band member showed up and joined in. It seemed that some band members had emergencies that night. A fourth member later showed up who took the place of the original drummer. While they explained they normally have five members, they wound up with no more than four on Friday. This was my first time seeing the band.

I paid for my ticket well in advance and I had the expectation that the band would actually show up! As fate MIGHT have it, sure, everybody can have emergencies all at the same time, but it does seem far-fetched and a little unbelievable. I hope that Indoor Yves will fix any personnel issues that might need his attention.

(Pics are from artist's Instagram page)

Jul 09 : "Sick Summer" - Lady Lychee (New York)

What would you do?

Picture yourself on summer break. You develop a new romantic interest over the summer, but the summer person shows up unexpectedly as you reconnect with your partner and your regular life in the fall.

This is the scene that's set in New York artist Lady Lychee's song "Sick Summer". It's the opening track on her 2023 album, "Rockstar Cosplay". The album talks about relatiionships, some good and some not so good.

A brilliant album. Lyrics full of depth and nuance, and instrumentals showing a wide range of textures. In listening to "Sick Summer", we hear the song's main character talking in a matter-of-fact way about the summer break and to meeting a mysterious new love interest. As soon as she starts to talk about how intense her feelings have become, the instrumentals start backing her up with some forceful grunge and bass work. I like this transition about 1:26 on the clock. And then when the summer is over and she goes back to her regular life, the forcefullness of the instrumentals recedes, at about 2:43 on the clock. I like these sudden transitions and the way they're integrated with the story.

Nuanced deftly, as a lot of her work is (even when she's hitting with a sledgehammer), the work never brings up an end to the story itself. Maybe Lady Lychee leaves the end of the story to our imaginations. ... So what would you do?

Lady Lychee is a good story teller. Here is "Sick Summer" by Lady Lychee :::

To hear more tracks and read the lyrics to everything, here is the click to her Bandcamp page ::: Lady Lychee on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

(Unfortunately I myself didn't get to her show a couple weeks ago; had personal scheduling complications; gotta stop blaming SEPTA for everything.)

(pic is from the artist's Instagram page)

Jul 02 : "All You Fascists Bound to Lose" and "Your Death" - Hena Punk (Bristol UK)

We're living in a time when we see a disturbing spread of fascism around the globe, not only with our own Trump regime but also in other countries as well. But this is not the first time that the world has faced something like this. Years ago musician Woody Guthrie wrote and sang about it, and his song "All You Fascists Bound to Lose" seems now more timely than ever. Bristol UK's musician Hena Punk is giving new life to the song by doing a cover.

Hena came to Philly and performed the song with a lot of original work back at the end of May. Bonk's Bar in Port Richmond was the scene and the first stop on his American tour, and, after doing shows in New York State and Connecticut, he circled back around and did another show at West Philly Porchfest. Great show at Bonk's. With good stage presence and excellent engagement, he talked back and forth with the audience in between songs.

Hena took us through an interesting show, telling stories and playing music, and, at some points inviting us to sing along. Here we are in Philly singing along with his cover of ::: "All You Fascists Bound to Lose" :::

I thought we did a fairly decent job singing along, but his people back home did a more robust rendition :::

And here is taking a look at some of Hena Punk's own work. This is one of the "spoken word" pieces on his site.

The video above, "Your Death", is a tribute to his deceased friend, Chris. Chris didn't have the fame for his name to be splashed all over major media to tell the value of his life, so this video is a tribute to their friendship because the world can almost stop turning when someone who is important in your life dies.

Here is the link to Hena Punk's Facebook page where you can keep up with what he's doing ::: Hena Punk on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

(pic is from artist's Facebook page)

Jun 18 : "High Tide" - Babes In Canyon (Seattle)

OFFERING EVERYTHING

Last week I went to see Seattle band "Babes In Canyon" at Nikki Lopez. I had found some intriguing stylings in the music they have posted on line and I wanted to check out their show.

I've been especially liking their song "High Tide" which has moving lyrics along with some inventive instrumentals. Seems like the people in the song already know each other. We find the song's main character expressing and offering his love to the other mystery person in many ways, and he hopes that that someone will recognize and reciprocate. Is "high tide" symbolic of the depth of his feelings? The precariousness of a high tide? Or just being high?

Babes In Canyon is a duo from Seattle. One band member plays the synth, the other various alternating stringed instruments. I like the online music, well-balanced; sound mixing at the show had a little bit of a bumpy start.

But back to "High Tide". The song is the lead on the band's 2023 EP "Year to Live EP". A heartfelt declaration of love. :::

Babes In Canyon is still on tour, but they've already passed through Philly and New York. Here is the click to the band's Facebook page where you can keep up with any new releases and any new tours. ::: Babes In Canyon on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

(pic is from band's Facebook page)