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August 17–24, 2000

music

Hear Here

New and notable local releases.

by Brian Howard

Two weeks ago, the entire nation snapped to and took notice of a Philadelphia band. Okay, the band was The Interpreters (now known as Interpreters USSA) who don’t really hail from Philly anymore. And the nation apparently hated them based on the band’s brief set at the RNC. Even Lewis Black of The Daily Show took a shot at the band. It seems like only yesterday that the band (Herschel Gaer and now-ex-members Patsy Palladino and Branko Jakominich) burst onto the national scene to nearly deafening unanimous praise. Irony is a cruel mistress. And she wields a double-edged sword.

But while everyone got a little carried away over a band we’d all kind of written off anyway, Philly’s been bubbling over with new sounds over the last few months.

Living on the Edge

The members of Edge City Collective feel that sometimes the best way to write a song is to not write anything down at all. The five members — guitarist Jon Madof, bassist Michael Taylor (both of Taylor/Madof Group), guitarist/mandolin player Scott Schaffer, sax player/flautist Jon Thompson and accordionist Ranji Kumar — record by the seats of their pants. As Schaffer’s liner notes to their debut Guitarrasalto (Edge City Music) explain, "On most tracks you hear the first and only performance of a piece." The procedure has resulted in 15 tracks which dip into multiple cultural themes and offer up twists at each turn. But unlike some improvised music, this is no formless mess (though there are one or two more nebulous pieces). Opener "Citron" is a rather atmospheric guitar and bass contemplation; "Osweetmoses" a Les Paul-ian rag; "Fantango Secundo" explodes with post-mariachi grandeur; while the title track bobs and weaves in a John Fahey-esque lurch. Guitarrasalto was recorded at The Fivemonk Laboratory in Bala Cynwyd and is the first in a planned trilogy. (www.edgecitymusic.com)

Number Crunchers

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that a band that has links on its Web site to Linux and random number generators isn’t going to mind math rock references. That said, Philly trio Technician — Ian Pitcher (guitar), Ramona Pratt (drums), Gregory Nangle (bass) — borrow more than a little bit from folks like Shellac on their debut LP Electronic Conversations with the Dead (Tranquility Base). Their crunchy, trebly guitar/bass/drums sound could have jumped right off of Shellac’s At Action Park. Some tracks meander listlessly and there’s a hint of adenoidal new wave geekiness inherent in the very downplayed vocals. But it’s easy to get excited about the sum of the parts. Plus, you’ve got to love a band that includes mp3 versions on the CD "as a convenience." (http://www.technician.org/ Tranquility Base Records, PO Box 184, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010)

Better Late

The Diane Linkletter Experience broke up a while ago when Scott Jefferson (formerly of Gerrymander Bob) and Bret Tobias (former Moped) formed The Bigger Lovers, Jesse Flavin moved away and Ramone Sender got a real job. But hey, that’s no reason not to put out a debut full length. Too Hard To Disguise (Vital Cog) is a culmination of work by the band and songs Jefferson has since recorded solo. Now, if we could just get Jefferson (whose Bigger Lovers play out often despite livin’ in label limbo) to play these live. (http://www.vitalcog.com/ PO Box 7846, Princeton, NJ 08543)

File Under Philly

One of the more pleasant surprises on Y-100’s The Philly File compilation of local bands was the discovery that not everything that falls under the industry-defined modern rock tag makes us want to wretch violently. Case in point: Bergenfield, NJ’s Chlorophyll. Sure, there’s something offensively, lozengy smooth about the production of their self-titled debut on Escape Velocity Records (where the Philly File’s "Sunny Day Suicide" originated), and their album art kind of rips off the Atavistic record label’s logo. But Pat Jamieson’s voice has an eerie Jeff Buckley/ Craig Wedren/ Jeremy Enigk thing going on. Of course, kinda like a lot of modern rock, much of Chlorophyll’s album suffers from a dearth of thoughtful lyrics. But it’s a start. (http://www.cholorphyll.net/ PO Box 522, Bergenfield, NJ, 07621)

World Wide Nastee

Who’s that crooning along with Japanese soul ambassador Toshi Kubota on his new Nothing But Your Love (Epic)? It’s Mercedes Martinez and Tracey Moore of Jazzyfatnastees on two tracks produced and performed by The Roots. Kubota, who’s been interpreting American soul/hip-hop for Japanese audiences for years, enlisted the Roots, along with Joe Nicolo, Raphael Saadiq, Soulshock & Karlin, and Poke and Tone. (http://www.toshikubota.com/)

Devil’s Own

It’s tough to take a band seriously when their promotional video contains no actual songs. But it’s probably safe to say that a band that performs wearing bonnets, stockings and/or party hats and names itself Satanic Butt Slayer probably doesn’t take themselves all that seriously either. Totally not a dis. SBS’s second "binary protocol disc," Mission is, a, um, spellbinding mix of cartoonish death metal, smooth grooves and monotonous sung-spoke lyrics which seeks to further usurp the "custodians of harmonic usefulness." If it sounds too ridiculous to actually spend money on, don’t worry. You can request Mission for free or download an mp3 at http://www.satanicbuttslayer.com/

Overheard

With their upcoming full length Treat Me To Some Life pushed back to a Spring 2001 release, Lenola’s gonna treat us to something to tide us over: an EP, The Electronic Tickle (Tappersize/File 13), featuring one track from Life and four rare B-sides. Plus, their Radio Sessions CDR is also out, containing 12 tracks from 3 radio performances. You know you need it, and you can get it at http://www.lenola.com…/.

If you’re in Southwest Philly this Friday, check Elliott Levin, Sun Ra trombonist Tyrone Hill and the Manuelote Brass Band at Wharton Square, 23rd and Wharton, 7 p.m. It’s rare to catch solid jazz for the low, low price of free.…

Thanks to Branko Jakominich for his weird Brigitte Bardot/Branko electronic post card reminding us to enjoy those last days of summer.