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Music
When The Postal Service did the ol’ ritualistic “thank you all good night see you soon” thing about an hour into their set, we had to wonder if it really was goodbye. But the more pressing questions were...
- Hadn’t they already torn through the entirety of 2003’s Give Up?
- What exactly did “soon” mean given that it’d been about a decade since their last Philly show?
- Why the hell did I skip that show at the North Star way back when?
View galleryEmily Guendelsberger wrote the cover story on it.
It starts tonight. Runs through Sunday. More info here.
Beth Cosentino's got a pretty fierce voice. She can boom on the loud ones and belt on the torchers. So sometimes it's a surprise, if not a little bit of a disappointment, that she writes such simple, straightfoward lyrics about love and longing.
Exhibit A: "Boyfriend," from 2010's Crazy for You: "I wish he was my boyfriend / I wish he was my boyfriend / I'd love him to the very end / But instead he's just a friend."
Exhibit B: A couple cherry-picked choruses: 1) "When I'm with you I have fun" and 2) "You don't know why I cry."
The sentiments are true and sweet, and transparent, but too many of them in a row and you start to wonder if this band is all lollipop and no stick. Maybe this is her approach to classic songwriting, with words unshackled from timeliness or hidden meaning. And maybe we've already got enough cleverness in the world already. Regardless, I have no interest in picking a fight with all those college kids in the smoky haze at the TLA on Wednesday. In concert, the simple stuff worked, especially when it was set to low-then-loud guitars and catchy melodies. You may not give me a lot to think about, Best Coast, but when I'm with you I have fun.
Solange danced on stage with moves you’d catch at any predominately black middle school in the ’90s. She jigged; she finger-rolled; she coordinated her steps Prince-style with her guitarist and bassist. She did so in dookie twists and mixed African prints, a look that served as a reminder that this approach to style was something her sister, Beyonce, borrowed from her, and not the other way around.
Solange was just one artist in a stacked line-up. The Roots always appear to be curating a mix of indie darlings, newer rap stars and hip-hop legends, and this year they made good, tapping Grimes, A-Trak, DJ Premier and Macklemore among others. Solange’s time breezed by — she showed off her flute register in front two backup singers who sounded exactly like her, in a really referential set that showed if anything, that the blipster queen was among us.
Kettle Pot Tracks — a site which specializes in high quality videos for their On The Hill seris — just shot a couple with Philly band Divers. Besides this song, they did "Take Me Back." Both are pretty as all hell. They also did a Q&A here.
Divers - Eggshells from Jason Stewart on Vimeo.
You may remember the cover story we ran on the South Philly cloud rapper last year. Well, he's playing at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday. Go early. And stay hydrated.
ROOTS PICNIC, Sat., June 1, $50, Festival Pier, more info here and here.
The Baroness that headlined Union Transfer on Friday night did not look like one that survived a bus crash, or like one that endured a lengthy recovery involving extensive physical therapy, stitches, or the departure of their rhythm section. Sure, there were some slip-ups and equipment issues, but who cares?
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