A few weeks ago, we of the Brotherly Love were sitting pretty.  Two playoff teams–one cruelly outmatch, the other chugging with momentum–and a baseball season was just starting.  Sure, the Phillies sort of looked like a drunk company softball team out there.  Whatever, it’s not even May!  Besides, with the Flyers and Sixers both entering the post season for the second year in a row, there was plenty of hitting and name-calling to channel our feelings through.

So, for anybody who lapsed into a rage coma at some point over the last few weeks, congratulations!  The future is here, and yes, it sort of tastes like bile.  You have to… you sort of have to push that down.  It burns, but… just do it.  Or they’ll send you home for work.

The first thing you have to know is that one of our teams made it to the second round of the playoffs.  Hooray!  The second thing you have to remember is that Sixers are technically one of “our” teams.  And the third thing is that the Sixers are the first team.

So where are the Flyers?  Well, after they left the rink, Deviled from head to toe, the first stop was to Twitter.  For one of them.

Not sure where Bryz thinks he’s going over the next eight years, but hey, thanks, bud.  I think you spelled “smiley face” wrong, but that’s cool.  At least you didn’t let the Devils score eight goals this time or something.

Of course you did let them score three, which is always too much when the offense is lifeless and bored and without their star player due to a suspension, but hey, we can’t really complain about that, especially since “losing the other team’s star player” is exactly the strategy the Sixers have been banking on.

Kind of sucks to have to preempt a compliment like that, but it’s so brazenly accurate you can’t really clap your hands without holding an asterisk above your head.  The Bulls’ Derrick Rose went down in Game 1, Joakim Noah went down in Game 4, and Carlos Boozer couldn’t come through, which paved the road for two of the most pressurized Andre Iguodala free throws of all time.

You have to sympathize with Iggy.  He comes in after A.I., has the same initials, and is pressed by Sixers marketing into being their star player on a team without a star player.

‘WHY ISN’T HE BETTER?!” people demanded.  ”THEY MAKE IT LIKE HE IS A SUPERSTAR BUT HE KEEPS NOT BEING ONE.”

Well, he’s not one.  And he probably won’t be one.  But this season, and in those last two shots to seal the victory, he certainly was.  And after the game in the VIP section of Delilah’s with Lou Williams and Spencer Hawes, he was again.  And nobody stopped to ask questions like, “Are the Sixers the worst playoff team ever?” or “What’s going to happen after this?”

So maybe you shouldn’t either.  Mainly because the Flyers are gone and those Phillies I mentioned are having a hard time breaking their April tailspin, as it has quickly become a May fiery downward spiral.

The Boston Celtics finished off the Atlanta Hawks the other night, setting themselves up to be the next victims of the Sixers backwards slide through the NBA playoffs.  In a semifinal ESPN is calling “cringe-inducing,” apparently, no one will score, and everyone will be old, tired, and broken.  The margins of victory during the regular season–large ones–will be forgotten in tight, defensively run games.

Which, if you’re going to tune into basketball for the first time, is just the best kind of basketball.  I don’t know what people are watching the sport for if not for defense.  Maybe dunks and alley-oops and cheerleaders.  And three-pointers and trick shots.  But on a list of the top ten most entertaining aspects of the game, defense is certainly on it, if you have a seven-way tie for 10th place.

So prepare yourselves, Philadelphia.  This is the post season we were promised, it’s just wearing the wrong uniform and playing the wrong sport.  But it’s still inspiring and it still says “Philadelphia” on the scoreboard, so turn on those TVs and start hating Boston.

Oops, you got a little… you’re dribbling a bit of bile from you… no, don’t use your sleeve–ah, forget it.

This past March I chatted with Americana singer/songwriter Amy LaVere in regards to her (then) upcoming tour supporting The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson on his latest solo trek.  However, it was a side-project, whose details were still being ironed out, that she seemed most excited about in 2012.  She did promise that the band would be touring the East Coast for most of May but, by that point, the project was yet to even have an internet presence (I’m pretty sure in our postmodern world, that’s the equivalent to a demo of yesteryear.)  That project was The Wandering, a collection of “traditionally-minded artists,” whose sound LaVere characterized for me as “Trippy 1930s music.”

At the core of The Wandering is North Mississippi Allstars’ guitarist/vocalist Luther Dickinson (also an alum of The Black Crowes), alongside a quartet of equally accomplished female musicians: LaVere, Shannon McNally, Valerie June, and Sharde Thomas.  LaVere comes to the fold with her upright bass, while McNally (a notable solo musician in her own right, along with a former member of Sons of Mudboy and collaborator with the likes of Son Volt and Charlie Sexton) handles rhythm guitar duties, Thomas (a newfound solo artist and leader of the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band) plays fife and drums, and June (a blues artist who has attracted the likes of The Black Keyes and Dr. John) is on banjo.  And Luther, well he plays lead guitar, mandolin, and banjolin.

The band’s debut album, Go on Now, You Can’t Stay Here, was released today and is comprised of a combination of standards and songs made famous by slightly more “popular” Southern artists, such as Robert Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, and Ray Charles.  The aesthetic is a celebration of the sounds of Mississippi and, although the artists didn’t pen any of the tunes themselves, the tunes are clearly a driving force behind the roots of each one of these musicians, inspiring them to churn them out with passion and soul nearly matching the rugged authenticity of the originals.

As Amy promised me back in March, The Wandering are currently touring the East Coast and they will be appearing downstairs at World Café Live on Tuesday, May 15th, so if you’re a fan of the work of either Luther or any of the previously mentioned ladies (I must admit, LaVere gets 100% of the credit for my interest in this band.) or if you’ve just recently found yourself taken with good-old-fashion Americana (And, based on attendances for local performances from First Aid Kit and Trampled By Turtles, I’m guessing you have.) this is definitely something worth checking out – it’ll take at least two decades for “punk” to drag itself out of its current, hyper-commodified state so, until then, I’m pretty sure traditional folk, country, and blues will be pretty much the “punkest” thing out there.

The last time I saw Spacehog was in 2001.  I was 16-years-old.  The Leeds, England-by-way-of-Manhattan neo-glam rock outfit was serving as the opening act for The Black Crowes and Oasis’ Tour of Brotherly Love (Each of the three bands included brothers).  The gig, which took place at Columbia, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, was a star-studded affair.  At the time Crowes’ frontman, Chris Robinson, was married to Kate Hudson, who was in attendance.  Spacehog frontman, Royston Langdon, was currently courting Liv Tyler; she was also in attendance.  During Spacehog’s 30-minute set at the nearly-20,000 capacity amphitheatre I was one of four standing… and, by far, the most enthusiastic.  I remember looking to the side of the stage, in the middle of the band’s set, as they attacked a track from their brilliant 2001 release, The Hogyssey, and I saw Liam Gallagher tapping Dave Grohl on the shoulder and “enthusiastically” pointing out my “enthusiasm” for what should be one of the most critically and popularly renowned bands of my generation.

Sure, Spacehog were far less abrasive and offensive than fellow neo-glamers like Placebo (And, yes, they were slightly less interesting than Brian Molko and crew), but their appropriation of the sound was far more prolific.  Spacehog harkened back to Bowie’s greatest and most elegantly glittered sounds.  There was nothing campy about it, and even the “nostalgia” card was downplayed.  The stateside blokes more closely resembled Britpoppers (aside from, you know, the douche-ness) than characters from Velvet Goldmine (However, Spacehog rhythm guitarist and vocalist, Antony Langdon, did appear in Velvet Goldmine, playing a member of The Flaming Creatures, alongside Placebo’s Brian Molko and Steve Hewitt.)

Members of Spacehog have found themselves at the likes of the North Star Bar under the moniker of Arckid (also previously known as The Quick and The Tender Trio) in the past decade, but it’s been a while since the City of Brotherly Love has welcomed Spacehog themselves.  The band reunited back in 2008, but their only area appearance since has been at The Note in West Chester (Which is not the same as Philadelphia.)  Since then, they have become a five-piece (up from a quartet), adding multi-instrumentalist Timo Ellis to the fold, and they’ve recorded a fourth album, As It Is On Earth, which will be available in the near future.

The three studio LPs that Spacehog released between 1995 and 2001 displayed not only arena-ready anthems, but songs that were pub-ready to the nth degree.  The fact that Spacehog are not stars of Behind the Music that are currently touring in separate tour busses (because they all hate each other, as all mega rock acts do) en route to the Wells Fargo Center is baffling to me.  However, while this is far from a blessing for the band, it is quite a blessing for their fans.  This Friday, May 11th, the band will find themselves onstage at the 300-capacity Milkboy, on the corner of 11th and Chestnut, for, what-I-am-just-going-to-come-out-and-say, THE SHOW OF THE YEAR.

In 2012 it’s hard to characterize someone as being “conceptual” without them assuming you’re mocking them… as if “thinking” is simply a pretentious hipster fad.  RACES, however, do not fall into that category.  I recently got a chance to chat with two of the band’s six members and, I hope they’re not offended when I say that they do strike me as quite conceptual.  However, that thoughtfulness would seem to translate to a socio-political passion that I rarely see outside of my classes on cultural theory.  RACES are well aware of the reasoning (socially, politically, musically, environmentally, etc.) behind every move they make… a trait rare and admirable in contemporary public figures.

RACES began about two years ago, outside of LA, as a supergroup of sorts, comprised of friends, lovers, and former lovers who first officially came together when guitarist/vocalist Wade Ryff needed to quickly assemble a backing band for a solo show.  However, those friends have been together ever since (more or less).  Their debut EP, Big Broom, dropped last November and their first LP, Year of the Witch, hit shelves this March. Their sound could be described as postmodernly vintage… whatever that means.  At their core is a folk aesthetic, however anything resembling traditional “folk” is drowned out by a combination of odes to the 1960s (of both their psychedelics and their girl groups) and contemporary dream pop.  If David Lynch’s films were slightly less morose and slightly more “quirky,” RACES would be the perfect people to soundtrack them.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, the band will find themselves in Philthy next week, performing at The Fire on Thursday, May 10th, which is at least somewhat ironic, considering that the ninth track on Year of the Witch is entitled “Walk Through the Fire.”  I recently got a chance to chat with Ryff and drummer Lucas Ventura for, what turned out to be, one of the most poignant and inspiring interviews I’ve done in quite some time (At times Ryff sounds like the epilogue to Trainspotting… except expressing the opposite sentiments.)

Izzy Cihak: I understand that the band’s name is derived from the concept of feeling as though you always have something to face or go up against.  What do you feel like are the most prominent practical obstacles in contemporary Western life and which generally prove to be the most fruitful for inspiration?

Wade Ryff: I think each person has their own unique set of obstacles, although I believe that there are similar themes that unite us in our struggles as human beings. Most of these obstacles can be filtered into the category of finding happiness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and a healthy state of mind. I think we live in a fear-based society that makes it extremely challenging to be physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. It takes a lot of energy and work on a daily basis to combat the way we are told to live, think, eat etc . I could go on and on about this but perhaps it’s easier to say TAKE RISKS, MAKE LOVE, QUESTION EVERYTHING, EAT ORGANIC FOOD, STAY INSPIRED,  BUILD COMMUNITY and, most importantly, remember IT’S ALL BULLSHIT and IT DOESN’T MATTER.  That’s enough preaching on my part for the rest of this lifetime.

Lucas Ventura: I used to think that contemporary Western society was at fault for so many of the “obstacles” we’re referencing.  But the more life goes on I realize that I am the obstacle, and nothing external really has to do with any of my problems. I guess when you say practical obstacles though, you’re talking about subjective things… Trying to be environmentally conscious while living in a city based on a conscienceless consumption of finite resources, and striving to be truly unafraid in a culture that preys on our natural human insecurities, those are two of many things that come to mind.

IC: You’re from Van Nuys.  How is that?  Has that played any role on your views on the world or the way you approach your life and music?  I only ask because it’s not generally a place you think of when you think of indie music.

WR: I’m actually from Chatsworth but lived in Van Nuys for a period of time. A lot of our songs were conceived in Van Nuys. There’s not much to do in Van Nuys, so there aren’t many distractions. I think, more than anything, it helped keep me focused on music. In terms of Van Nuys having an effect on my views on the world… It’s hard to find better Mexican food.

LV: I live in Van Nuys, and most of the band lives in the San Fernando Valley, which is kind of treated like the redheaded stepchild of LA. There’s not really a good reason to come here unless you live here, because it’s just a massive amalgamation of suburban neighborhoods, strip-malls, and freeways. I think I dislike living in environments like this because it feels like there’s a certain spiritual decrepitude that I have to resist. It’s easy to just get lost in the mundane aspects of life living here. That sounds really dramatic, though. It’s not that bad.

IC: What are your thoughts on your label, Frenchkiss Records, and your label peers?  I’m quite a fan of Cut Off Your Hands and Freelance Whales myself.

WR: We are very happy to be part of that club.

LV: We got to see many of our label-mates’ shows during this year’s SXSW, and some of them have great albums that just came out. Lately I’ve really been listening a lot to The Drums, Devin, and Suckers.

IC: What kinds of people seem to best “get” your sound?

WR: I don’t know. There is an excitement I feel in the room at all ages shows that I don’t quite experience at 21+ shows.

LV: I need to consult our social media analytics.

IC: How would you characterize your live show and what should fans and potential fans expect of your upcoming Philly (or, Philthy, as we like to call it) performance?

WR: No comment.

LV: I think this band works extremely hard on putting on a good show. If you like our recorded music, I’m confident that you’ll be into what we do live. But other than saying that, it’s hard to be very objective about one’s own art…

IC: What are the band’s plans for the future, following your upcoming East Coast jaunt?

WR: TAKE RISKS,  MAKE LOVE, QUESTION EVERYTHING, EAT ORGANIC FOOD, STAY INSPIRED, BUILD COMMUNITY, and, most importantly, remember IT’S ALL BULLSHIT and IT DOESN’T MATTER.

With two teams in the playoffs, Philadelphia is finding it difficult to care about anything else right now.  The Phillies won?  Call us when they’re 13 games up.  New footage of the duck boat crash was released?  Who… the fuck wants to see that?  Kids missed that orthodontist appointment?  I got through my adolescence without head gear and I turned out just fine.  Sure, the abnormal growth of one of my teeth went unchecked and temporarily pierced my brain stem.  Whatever.  Happens to beavers all the time.

The point is, I can’t hear the TV with my kid rolling on the ground in pain, clutching his mouth, and screaming “IT HURTS, IT HURTS!” so I bought him a bike.  I never got a bike at his age.  Kid doesn’t know how lucky he is.  When he gets some in six hours, I’ll tell him.

But in the mean time, we’ve got post season performances to criticize.  Not the ones you think.

The Flyers cruised into the second ground, pausing only to clean the scrambled guts of penguins off their skate blades.  After a morale-bursting Game One, in which there was an overtime, game-winning goal and everything, Game Two looked to feature a weakened Devils squad without Ilya Kovalchuk and, with the kind of mojo the Flyers were sporting, an instant win.

But of course, that wasn’t the case.  Matt Read put one in at 2:53, seemingly setting the table for a Flyers feast of devil-meat, but sadly, by the time the last horn sounded New Jersey had slipped past by a 4-1 margin.  That’s right, after their first period lightning bolt, the Flyers couldn’t score again.  In fact, they couldn’t do a whole lot a second time.  Ilya Bryzgalov put on a show in net, keeping the Devils down, until the third period when all hell broke loose.  And, being Devils, they were right at home.

Swiss cheese isn’t really what we expected from the Flyers at this point.  They’ve looked dominant at time during the playoffs; they’ve looked professional and slick.  Yes they also allowed ten goals in one game.  That was… that was terrible.  And they didn’t score on the power play on Tuesday for the first time this post season.  But in the playoffs, the hot teams get hotter, and the Flyers looked pretty scalding going into Game Two.  It may become more difficult to discern just who exactly is holding the momentum as they glide into Game Three tonight.

But we can yammer on about intangibles all we want.  And many people will!  Like for instance, I just read an “article” that listed “swagger” and “passion” as two different needs for the Flyers.  The list was only three things long.

Well, Lavy will probably just send the Flyers over to PassionMart (he has got to start supporting local businesses like Carlton Swaggerly’s Used Swagger Emporium.  Or at least pick up the passion-sacks Jimmy Rollins is leaving in front of Citizens Bank Park) and have them stock up before the game.  Problem solved!

Sadly, the Flyers will have to rely on actual hockey things to win Game Three.  For instance, keeping the puck out of their own zone for the entire game is probably not going to win them the hockey match.  Or perhaps forcing turnovers.  That’s starting to sound pretty important.  If the Flyers’ front line of Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, and Jaromir Jagr can set the pace, keep up with their own rookies, and punch the occasional Devil in the face, then it should be a pretty formulaic contest.

Meanwhile, Ilya Kovalchuk is returning for the Devils, maybe.  He’s going to wait until the last moment before deciding if he wants to play or not.  We’ll send flowers.

Of course, this is hockey, so the formula can involve bloodying someone into a mess of crumpled human body parts.  Which hopefully the Flyers do, having seemed to step back from their natural brutality in Game 2.

Or, they could just have Peter Laviolette garrote somebody to death as the pregame speech.  Seems pretty inevitable anyways.

This past Friday (April 27th), a group of local video and film creatives organized the third installment of an event they call Philly UNfestival at PhilaMOCA. The event is organized by Anthony Zagarella of Fractal Circus, as well Joe Reidl and Nick Hatsis–and is hosted by Aidan Rich.

Previously held at both North Third and once at the Media Bureau (in conjunction with the Philly F/M Festival), Philly UNfestival is still looking for a more permanent home. This past installment at PhilaMOCA has, according to Zagarella, been the best operated and attended.

“The main point is to get local filmmakers and film enthusiasts in a room talking about what they do.” says Zagarella. There are no submission fees (though, one is encouraged to make a donation at the door) or competition.

The format is simple: the event organizers que up a series of videos from local Philadelphia video makers and invite folks involved in the video to talk about production, theory, etc afterward during an informal Q&A session.

In the spirit of informal Q&As, we had our own Q&A session with Zagarella about the future and history of Philly UNfestival.

Philthy Blog: First, let’s get to know you a little better. Can you speak a little bit about your own personal history with film and media?
Anthony Zagarella: As most filmmakers do, I started making films as a kid. Then, for some reason, I decided to go to art school for it.

Since then, I’ve just been working with Fractal Circus, trying to make a ton of good work.   Now I’m just working on as many projects as possible, and trying to build my network.

PB: What inspired you to start holding these screenings and when did you first start organizing the event?
AZ: In the summer of 2010,  I was going to Fancypants Cinema at North Third a lot. That’s an open-mic sort of thing for filmmakers at a bar, you bring your film and they show it. Nno matter what.  Anyway, that was a huge inspiration.

Scott Johnston and Andrew Geller (the dudes that do that every other tuesday) were doing their part to strengthen the infrastructure of the Philly film community, and I wanted to do mine. So, we had the first UNfestival at North Third some Tuesday before Fancypants.

PB: Can you tell us a little bit about the creative screening process? How do you discover and select the works featured at UNfestival?
AZ: At this point, it’s pretty early in UNfestival’s life, so a lot of the films featured are made by people we know, at least tangentially.  It’s a little incestual, I guess, but in a way, we’re playing matchmaker.

We’re introducing filmmakers that we know to each other, and slowly but surely expanding our network.  We also set up a page on the Fractal Circus website just for UNfestival and we try to use social media to let filmmakers know about it.  We get some submissions that way also.

As far as selecting, we look for things that are short, entertaining, and unique in some way. Also, if you’re a filmmaker from Philly, you get 2 billion bonus points.

PB: Are the participants typically directors and videographers?
AZ: Most of the people that submit work are either the director or producer of the film they submit.

PB: Where does the acting and production communities’ role lay in UNfestival?
AZ: I’d love to have an actor submit a film! The more subcategories of the film community that get involved, the more opportunities each filmmaker will have to spread their networking tendrils at the event. That’s the idea!

PB: Do you have any upcoming projects in the works for either UNfestival or your own personal work?
AZ: Well, it’s 3 days after UNfestival right now, so I’m a little exhausted about it. The idea is to start planning the next one in a couple months!

My first priority, however, is to make work.  I’m working on a couple music videos (one being for Laser Background) and I’m in the natal stage of writing a webseries.

As always, Fractal Circus will be busy making videos about everything. I hope to use some of those new UNfestival connections to work on as many projects as possible.

PB: Any last words?
AZ: I’d like to thank everyone involved for helping to put on the most successful UNfestival yet–especially the filmmakers.  Without them submitting work and being there for the Q&A sessions, there would be no show.

If you’re interested in getting involved with Philly UNfestival, you can contact Zagarella at ant@fractalcircus.com.

The last time Philthy caught up with Charlene Kaye she was in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for an upcoming album.  Her goal was $20,000, at the time the article ran she had raised $24,750, and by the end of the 30-day run she had raised $33,000.  That was last July.  The album itself, Animal Love, drops today.  However, the music found on it has been in the works for quite some time, since well before even the Kickstarter campaign began.  When I interviewed Charlene last June, she told me:

“It’s a concept album about how we, as humans, instinctively process the emotion of love, how it relates to our physicality, and how we are equipped to survive when it’s lost… It pertains to romantic love, but also a lust for life… I’m really interested in this idea of the sublime and how to achieve that sonically.”

Animal Love is quite a bit different from Charlene’s last LP, Things I Will Need in the Past, which she released in 2008 and which I’ve described as “Along the lines of an acoustic record from Chrissie Hynde at her most whimsical.”  Her latest is far more playful.  It contains synthesizers, drum samples, and plenty of electric guitars, giving the sound quite a bit more volume (in both senses of the word).  However, it’s not quite as raw as its title would imply.

The rawness of Animal Love would seem to lie in Charlene laying her soul bare on many of its tracks.  However, the album is far from lacking in polish.  This is most evident on the album’s two eponymous tracks.  The first of which (“Animal Love I”), which kicks off the album, begins as a sassy R&B number before plummeting into something resembling the peppiest of 1960s girl groups, with Charlene proclaiming “Let your bones show, let your bones show.”  The second of these eponymous tracks (“Animal Love II”) is an epic exercise in vintage soul, gloriously scoring a heartbreak in a manner somehow uplifting (I mean, not quite in as glorious a manner as Bono is known for, but it could definitely soundtrack the non-fairy-tale-ending of any Hollywood film… While we’re parenthetically discussing film soundtracks, have a listen to track 8, “Don’t Make Me Believe,” and tell me it doesn’t sound perfect as a Disney theme… oh, and thank you, Lena Dunham, for finally making it okay to discuss things “parenthetically.”)

I never thought I would say this about anything, but the album’s strongest tracks would seem to be those inspired by Ms. Kaye’s time working with musical theatre.  After all, she is a great-friend-of and frequent-collaborator-with Glee’s Darren Criss and she has toured with StarKid (With whom she will be opening for and playing guitar alongside at the TLA on June 5th, as part of their Apocalyptour.)  “Hummingbird Heart” and “Poison Apple,” which come about mid-way through Animal Love, both ring of something that deserves a chorus line, whose pep and pop seem to grow exponentially with their discontent… they’re certainly not downers… but they should be.  And the chorus of “Hummingbird Heart” gets my vote for the year’s best popular expression of existential dissatisfaction:

“Who says you can’t live forever?

Shine down your light, it’s now or never

And you said baby watch your head

Look at the crowd, they love you now

But come morning you’ll be left for dead.”

(Unfortunately, as of May 1st, Ane has had to cancel the first two dates of her tour, including the intended opening night in Philadelphia, so she will not be appearing at Union Transfer this Wednesday.  But I would still highly recommend picking up her latest, It All Starts With One, today and reading my recent chat with the singer/songstress.)

Is it just me, or does any time a foreigner chooses your city to kick off a national tour make you feel special… like you’ve chosen wisely and deserve recognition for your taste in geography?  Well, I have to say, I do feel a bit that way.  This Tuesday, May 1st, Norway’s Ane Brun will release her eighth LP, It All Starts With One (already platinum and award-winning in its native country), stateside and Wednesday, May 2nd, she will be kicking off her North American Tour at Philthy’s own Union Transfer.

Although Ane has released an impressive number of LPs between 2003 and now, the process of developing, writing, and recording It All Starts With One was not quite as rushed as you would imagine.  In that time she moved from Norway to Barcelona to give street performances a try and then onto the US to tour and record alongside Peter Gabriel.  And she feels as though strumming acoustic covers on the streets of Barcelona and learning to sing a reasonable portion of Peter Gabriel’s back catalogue has helped her to realized the breadth of talent she possesses and given her the confidence to expand her aesthetic.  The sound of It All Starts With One is the most varied and dynamic of Ane’s studio LPs.  It’s the first that listeners wouldn’t necessarily be quick to label as a “folk” album.  It’s actually quite epic… but in a very minimalistic sense… I recently got a chance to chat with Ms. Brun about her latest release and her geographical wandering, among other things.

Izzy Cihak: On behalf of Philadelphia (or Philthy, as we like to call it), I would like to say that our city is honored that you chose us to open your upcoming tour here.  What can fans expect of the shows?

Ane Brun: I’m really happy to come back to Philadelphia! I’m bringing my own musicians this time, and we’re performing mostly songs from the new album, but also songs from my other releases, a couple of these in new versions.  You’ll get to hear both the melancholic and the powerful, energetic side of my music.

IC: The title track of your recently released “Do You Remember” EP was a collaboration between you and folk duo First Aid Kit.  How did that relationship come about and what are your thoughts on the Soderberg sisters?  The duo recently wowed Philadelphia on the same stage you will be gracing on May 2nd.

AB: I adore First Aid Kit. I’ve listened to them for a couple of years, and they have always amazed me with their incredible talent. One night, during the recording of the album, First Aid Kit was doing a guest performance at a local venue in Stockholm and I went to see them. I was so inspired and really wanted them to be featured on my album. We were, at that time, finishing the track “Do You Remember” and I was looking for something folky, with a twist in the backing vocals. I had plans to try to figure out something myself, but when I was reminded of their greatness I asked if maybe they would like to contribute, and they did!

IC: In a time when a lot of artists seem to be sticking to short-form outputs, you’ve released quite a few LPs in a relatively short period of time.  Is there something about full-lengths that you find to be more appealing than these shorter releases?  If so, I’m definitely with you on that.

AB: I’ve never really considered not releasing full albums, even though I’ve also done a couple of EPs through the years. I think maybe it’s because I work in cycles. When I write, I write intensively and in a defined period of time. And this usually results in at least 10-12 songs, and I never finish a song before I really like it, so I don’t have any songs to throw away. In that way, it becomes LPs instead of EPs.

IC: You’ve also released a number of live albums in a relatively short period of time.  I’ve always found live releases to be far more interesting and pure than studio albums, yet they seem to be losing popularity.  What are your thoughts on the art of the live album?

AB: For me, it’s been very natural to release these live albums, since I change my live-concepts quite often and the recorded songs get new “costumes” on the road. I’ve toured with a string quintet, orchestra, solo, with full-band, vocal-trio, duo, and other constellations. And I think it’s important documenting what me and the musicians are doing out there, and the music grows into new shapes on tour. I also think that because I own my own label and approve my own releases I may be more free to release whatever I want to. Maybe it would be harder to get an approval from a bigger label to release a live album in 2012?

IC: You have a varied musical background.  What do you feel like have been the biggest influences on your sound, whether musical or otherwise?

AB: I believe that the music I’ve heard throughout my life becomes a part of a source of melodies, phrasing and tone in the music that I make myself.  And growing up in Scandinavia means hearing and seeing music and culture from the English-speaking world, combined with Scandinavian culture. I think my music is, of course, influenced by old and contemporary popular Scandavian folk music, (I can hear that in some of my songs, like “Lullaby for Grown-Ups” from Changing of the Seasons in 2008), but my sound is a result of me listening to pop, jazz, classical music, and music from other parts of the world in combination with the traditional music from Norway and Sweden

IC: Considering how much your sounds vary, have you noticed a commonality among the kinds of people who best “get” your work?

AB: I think it’s hard to analyze my own fans *smiles*

IC: As a musician, you’ve spent a lot of time in various countries, from Norway to Spain, Sweden, and the US.  Are there any notable differences between the music scenes in each country?

AB: I’ve only been a musician in Stockholm, which is a great place to be a musician.  I’ve played all around the world, and I find that the differences are not so related to geographics; it’s more venue, seasons, and atmosphere. Good audiences exist everywhere.

IC: In your own words, what can fans expect of It All Starts With One, which is to be released the day before you find yourself here in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection?

AB: It’s an album full of energy. Both powerful and emotional. The sound is open and feels big. The voice and the lyrics are in the centre, surrounded by echoing drums and strings and, on some songs, my usual finger-picking guitar. Its’ got a guest performances from one of my favorite Swedish musicians, José Gonzales, and First Aid Kit.

In 2011 the two musical stars of Philthy were the hyper-conceptual and socio-politically confrontational Atari Teenage Riot and the, somewhat less-likely (considering the “Music Department and Features Editor”’s, background is in semiotics and postmodern art), Deer Tick, the alt.-country-by-way-of-reckless-punk-abandon project of John McCauley.  Their last LP, Divine Providence, released in October of last year, prompted me to publish sentiments such as, “This might be the greatest album I’ve ever heard. Sorry, John and Lou.”  And of the album’s most powerful track, “Clownin Around,” a song written from the perspective of history’s most disturbingly prolific clown, John Wayne Gacy, “The most biting and brilliant country ballad since Townes Van Zandt’s ‘No Place to Fall,’” (And offense can be taken when I say that, in terms of pop songs delving into the minds of serial killers, it makes “Helter Skelter” sound like the theme song to The Magic School Bus.)  Well, they’re at it again.  In February they released a free EP, Tim, comprised of songs originally scrapped for Divine Providence (In all fairness, they’re not as good as the songs that made the record.), and this past Sunday they provided one of the best musical experiences to hit Philly this year.

Sunday, April 22nd, saw two tours meeting at Philthy’s latest musical hotspot for possibly the most shit-kickin’ show the city will see for years to come.  Deer Tick and openers Turbo Fruits (Jonas Stein of Be Your Own Pet, doing the whole garage country thing… which he has actually been doing for years now.) joining alt country SUPERSTARS Lucero, along with their openers, J. Roddy Walston and The Business.  Although I would have rather seen Deer Tick and Turbo Fruits alone, in the basement of the quite-a-bit-more-intimate First Unitarian Church (which was the original plan), Deer Tick’s 45-minute set was pretty fucking hard to complain about.

Now Deer Tick aren’t necessarily “mind-blowing” performers.  McCauley and crew aren’t exactly “charismatic” in the traditional sense of the word… And they certainly haven’t caused anyone to re-evaluate the criteria by which they consider live music… But that kind of seems to be the point.  And, that being said, they’re pretty much the greatest and least lame of all American “blue collar” Rock’N’Roll bands… And spending the night getting drunk, loud, and rowdy with these five guys is likely a much better time than getting drunk, loud, and rowdy with anyone programmed into your cell phone.

The five guys took the stage in proudly tacky matching suits and in a very “punk,” deal-with-the-circumstances-you’re-dealt manner, managed to pack almost 15 of their crassest numbers into less than an hour.  They kicked off with “The Bump,” John’s Introduction and theme music, which more or less establishes that, if he seems to be a hot, drunken mess, it’s only because he is… and he is well aware of it.  Despite the recently released EP, the band only performed one of its four new tracks, “Walls.”  They also avoided too much of their earlier work, playing only four pre-Divine Providence tracks (including three from their debut, 2007’s War Elephant.)  Although there were fans who would have seemed to have liked the band to dig a little deeper, I was happy not to be bogged down with the first three LPs, which would seem to lack the potency of Divine Providence: the country just wasn’t alt enough and the grain was severely over-polished.

The set resembled that of the band’s area appearance last October at UPenn’s Harrison Auditorium… You know, except not in the seated auditorium of an Ivy League school.   It was largely focused on the band’s best work to date and included their touching homage to Pogo the Clown, along with some of Divine Providence’s rowdier numbers, such as latest single “Main Street,” the garage-rocking “Something To Brag About,” and “Let’s All Go to the Bar,” the band’s defining anthem, which closed their set.  However, my one complaint about the band’s last area appearance was the absence of the ballad “Now It’s Your Turn,” which I swear they found in a box of old Guns N’ Roses demos somewhere.  I expressed my sorrow at the void in said show in a review, characterizing the song as “Reminiscent of the most poignant of Sunset strippers at their most pensive (see: A shirtless, chapped Slash chainsmoking atop the Hollywood Hills, sharing an intimate moment with his Les Paul.)”  Well, it was present-in and the-highlight-of Sunday night, when the band churned out a rendition of the ballad even more epic than that found on the album… Well, maybe not, but when John climbed the bass drum for his Slash-esque solo it sure as fuck felt that way.

I recently discussed with my students of Intellectual Heritage the notion of psychoactive plants being present at the creation of numerous of the world’s religions… A sentiment not so far off from what Danish lo-fi outfit, Alcoholic Faith Mission, were pondering when they came up with their lovely moniker.  Friends Thorben Seiero Jensen and Sune Solund were walking by Brooklyn’s  Apostolic Faith Mission while discussing alcoholism and they joked about swapping the “A-olic” in the church’s name… And the band was born.  (While they are from Copenhagen, AFM have had some prominent moments here in the states.  Their sophomore effort, 421 Wythe Avenue, is named for the Brooklyn address which housed them during its recording process.) Just six months after they found a title for themselves, they released their debut, Misery Loves Company, which the two recorded with a laptop in Thorben’s bedroom.  The recording process was accompanied by a rather intriguing (and possibly brilliant) set of rules:

“Only record at night. The only light source could be that of candles. Consumption of alcohol was integral. And lastly, once something was recorded it could not be changed.”

The recording of their sophomore effort was also accompanied by another interestingly strict set of guidelines: “Everything used to record had to be found in the confines of their dwellings.”

After the release of 421 Wythe Avenue, the duo enlisted four more musicians for their collective.  Since then they’ve released two albums, 2010’s Let This Be The Last Night We Care, and Ask Me This, which dropped stateside March 27th, courtesy of Old Flame Records.  Their sound is a pastiche of folk artistry and a high-minded, postmodern appropriation of the cultural and theoretical significance of those traditional practices.  Their sound can be difficult to characterize, but they seem to not only recognize the beauty in antiquated forms of music, but also the power in knowing how to utilize contemporary methods.  The band kicks off their US tour tonight in DC, and tomorrow, Thursday, April 26th, they will find themselves on the local stage of Kung Fu Necktie.  I recently got a chance to chat with Thorben about their recording process, Denmark in general, and my very favorite Dane (and nearly favorite person), Lars von Trier.

Izzy Cihak: Although Alcoholic Faith Mission is Danish, you’ve done quite a bit of touring in the US, quite a bit of recording in the US, and you even technically began in Brooklyn.  What are your thoughts on the states, the US music scene, and US audiences?

Thorben Seiero Jensen: We love playing in the states.  The audiences are very attentive, making it easy to want to play every night.  However, the deals sometimes really suck!  We haven’t paid to play but we got damn close in the beginning.  However meeting the people and hanging out afterwards makes up for it.

IC: The US is largely ignorant of the Danes.  How would you characterize Denmark, from the viewpoint of a contemporary indie band?  Do you get annoyed that American pseudo-intellectual “hipsters” regard the country entirely based on the commentary of Lars von Trier (I must admit, other than Morrissey, he’s pretty much my favorite person in the world.)?

TSJ: No, that doesn’t annoy us – von Trier is a bit of an oddball, but he does make some amazing films.  Every once in a while he takes a stab at stand-up comedy, failing big time.  Latest bit he did was how he wanted to be a Nazi or whatever at Cannes… Not that brilliant, considering you’re at a press conference – Even though it was a joke!

Anyway, Denmark is a little fairy tale country. We pay many taxes and get free medical care and schools, etc, etc – and here’s the kicker, most Americans outside of the big cities don’t understand, let Alpne believe – We are not communists… yeah.., put that in your pipe and smoke it!  We love green energy in Copenhagen alone (250.000 people within the city), we bike 1,2 million kilometers a day. We’re huge on biking – we bike everywhere.  Also, we dig windmills – and have many companies worldwide leading in their field.

The hipster wave has gotten its annoying little stranglehold on Denmark as well and there are many skinny dudes with tight jeans, dumb hats, and ugly scarves.

IC: While von Trier is in the air, I must say that the quite conservative restrictions under which you recorded your debut, Misery Loves Company (and its follow-up, for that matter), mirror the rules of Dogme 95 to a pretty un-ignorable degree… Is there anything to that?

TSJ: Well, when we recorded that we honestly had no idea it would turn out the way it did. Sune and I had just gotten a recording studio set up and we just wanted to mess around with it.  It happened one night when we started up a session that would eventually turn out to be the song “Silly Songs.”  We only did one takes and were quite pleased with the lo-fi result. And from then on out we just kept on with that M.O.

IC: You’ve recorded quite a handful of albums in a relatively short period of time.  In a time when full-lengths seem to by dying out, in favor of shorter digital releases, what is your take on “the album?” (I’m yet to succumb to digital music, despite being a “critic.”)

TSJ: The albums still serve a purpose for us. It’s not that we don’t like EP’s, etc, but it’s always nice to dive into an album and get tangled up in its moods and feelings.  It’s difficult, for me at least, to get under the skin, so to speak, of an EP with fewer songs.  That being said, many bands only have the one EP in them, which, in that case, makes it fine for them just to release a non-album.

IC: In the US you’re signed to Old Flame Records.  Any thoughts on the label or the artists that you share it with?  I’m a huge fan of Twin Tigers and Mean Creek are actually good friends of mine.

TSJ: We’re super excited about working with Rob [Mason]. Hopefully this will be a partnership that will only continue grow.  Twin Tigers has been a recent discovery of mine and I really like… Really looking forward to tour with You Won’t… Still don’t know them that well but the few songs that I have heard sound really interesting…

IC: We’re already a decent way into 2012.  What have been your highlights of the year thus far and what are your hopes and goals for the rest of the year?

TSJ: It was amazing being back on the road through Europe – we hadn’t been there for a while and getting to tour in support of the new album was nothing short of perfect. We’re looking forward to going back to the states in a couple of days to do our first extended tour there. So far it has “only” been the North East, Toronto, Montreal, and SXSW. So getting to travel the whole country is sure to be delight

IC: What can fans expect of your upcoming US tour and how would you “sell” your aesthetic to potential fans?

TSJ: Bedlam and mad fun! We like to play each show like it was our last, giving it full throttle from the get-go.  Also, we brought a certain type of merchandise that fits and suits us rather well – Flasks…