This past weekend I took a small vacation to one of my favorite cities Phillidelphia, and being a music minded town, it was impossible for me not to do some “field reporting” on the music while i was there.

 
Let me start off by saying that an hour after this show I was still breathing heavy, and now, the morning after, I am sore all over from the almost two hours of dancing that went on at this show. That dancing is credited to, of course, Of Montreal and not so much the other [...]

Antibalas
Security
Label: ANTI-
Release Date:03/06/2007

The new Antibalas album, “Security,” opens with “Beaten Metal,” a title that describes the crystalline clanks and clacks that distinguish the percussion.  In just under six minutes the track builds into something undeniably propulsive and funky, but there is a tension, as sinister keyboard lines slither in and out, casting a pall.  The [...]

RJD2
The Third Hand 
Label: XL
Release Date:08/22/2006

How do we continue to be surprised when the worlds of rock and hip-hop clash? It is increasingly more apparent that it happens all the time. The artists that surprise us the most should surprise us the least. With DJ Shadow’s penchant for atmospherics and wistful vocal lines, it shouldn’t have [...]

The Arcade Fire
Neon Bible    
Label: Merge Records
Release Date:03/06/2007

Today has been an incredibly conflicted day for me. Major confessions have been made and then retracted; I’ve fallen in love with my city and hours later discovered its bitter edge; I froze in the winds of early morning and then basked in the warmth of the afternoon. The [...]

Amon Tobin
Foley Room 
Label: Ninja Tune
Release Date:03/06/2007

The sometimes idolized, and sometimes taken for granted Amon Tobin’s new album, “The Foley Room,” creates the odd impression of reminding me to have missed him. Tobin, who hasn’t released a proper album in 4 years or so, is the kind of electronic artist who, despite the obsessive terminology developed, [...]

Eluvium
Copia 
Label: Temporary Residence
Release Date:02/20/07

 
The best soundtrack possible for the most beautiful movie that will never be made.