really, you need to check this out.

(photo: The Shackeltons by Shana Novak)

you know those days when you just really, really don't want to get out of bed? when you wake up with a glass of water and a piece of bread on your nightstand and you have no idea who put them there? or who put you to bed (it was my roommate, thank god)? the kind of day when you realize that it's 7pm and you still haven't left your room except to refill your glass of water? that's the kind of day i've had today. i wasn't really feeling doing anything, let alone walking the 11 blocks to the south street bridge to do my show tonight. but after i managed to put on some actual clothes, throw my dirty hair back and make the epic journey, i realized some things are worth getting out of bed at 7:30pm for.

what things, you ask? well, i'm glad you did. these things:

the shackeltons
i'm not even really sure where to begin with this band i love them so much. granted, they really don't need my plug...they've been impressing the shit out of people at rolling stone and spin, seattle's kexp, and chris walla. if you haven't heard them, listen to a song, and i bet you'll want to listen to a few more, because this is music that makes you feel like its epic rawness and urgency have grabbed you by the ear and thrown you inside the bass drum. and maybe that last sentence didn't actually make any sense, but in a world with the shackeltons as the soundtrack, it makes more sense than peanut butter and jelly. oh, and if they weren't badass enough already, they're from chambersburg, pa (read: the middle of fucking nowhere music-wise), yet they kick ass like they're scraping for money to pay next month's rent for their williamsburg loft. sarcasm intended.
RIYD: the pixies, early white stripes, aggressive arcade fire, fugazi, television, yeah yeah yeahs

the lisps
millcreek tavern (42 and chester) is a pretty great place. a fantastic brew selection and two blocks from my apartment (sweet brah), they also have great live music pretty frequently. a couple weeks ago i had the distinct pleasure of stumbling upon brooklyn's the lisps in my travels there. though i had gone to see drink up buttercup (see below), the lisps seriously caught my attention with their set of quirky folk. go their myspace now. play "brackish water." it is probably my favorite song i've heard this month. the rest of their stuff is a little more playfully dynamic, with the two vocalists - one petite darling female and one tall curly-haired baritone-y male - bantering back and forth through the lyrics, which is cute, especially cause they're exes. it's quite lovely, and they say they'll be back to visit us philadelphians this fall. which means you should get excited now, especially because they wear really cool costumes.
RIYD: banjos, streams, dinosaurs, trees and forests of musical goodness

drink up buttercup
imagine, if you will, if a clockwork orange's alex delarge had been the fifth member of the beatles. now think about what that music might have sounded like, if it actually existed. OH WAIT. IT DOES. bucks county's drink up buttercup is what that band would have been, except minus the ultraviolence and plus a few barely out of high school way-too-good-for-their-age boys. their drummer is 17, but these boys put on a show way beyond their years. i was seriously trippin out, and i don't take hallucinogens. listen to it now, cause they are starting to get some serious attention. the best part? they sound exactly like this live.
RIYD: trash cans as instruments, man man, bands that get off the stage and play in the middle of the crowd at the end of the show and make everyone stomp their feet for the rhythm section

the armchairs
as if i don't talk about them enough. but seriously they're just so great, and really wonderful guys - my favorite philly band. they were amazing at our show at the danger danger gallery april 18th, and everyone was freaking out to their greatness. about 15 people asked me about them afterwards. they're playing a free show at the trocadero balcony may 19th, and there will be free cookies, so if you're not there, well i don't know where you are, because it's the only place to be. listen to what they have up, but know that no recording can do any justice to how good they are live. it's like waking up on a sunday morning when you're 11 years old and mom bringing you a plate of nice warm cookies and milk, AND dinosaurs is on. that's how good it is. cookies!
RIYD: the kinks, of montreal, the zombies, sunday morning cartoons

...
it's always worth getting out of bed if there's something good to listen to.

Beautiful World Syndicate

Hello friends and listeners. The other day, in celebration of the mighty fine weather we've had here in Philadelphia, I decided to take a walk through the neighborhood. And since I hadn't gotten too much new music lately, I directed myself towards the Beautiful World Syndicate, on 48th and Pine.

Open for about a year now, the Beautiful World Syndicate is a record collector's paradise- they specialize in hard-to-find records and almost exclusively stock vinyl. Professional DJs and producers have been known to spend hundreds of dollars on a trip to the store (or the South Philly location, at Tasker and Passyunk). The guys who stock their records are very good at what they do, and even if the focus is a little narrow what the store lacks in breadth it more than makes up for in depth and quality. All the records are in superior condition, and the selection of jazz and soul records is comprehensive. 

On my recent trip I got three albums- Oliver Nelson's "Blues and the Abstract Truth," Jackie McLean's "Hipnosis," and Herbie Nichols' "Bethlehem Years." The last one is rare enough that I couldn't find a picture on the internet, but I got it in VG++ condition for $5- the going rate online is closer to $20. The fellow behind the counter (in all my trips there, I've only seen one guy) is quite helpful and will play any record you want to hear before you buy it. I could turn this into a record review (all the albums were stellar), but you should just go on over and find your own.

Save yourself some money, enjoy a nice walk, support a great local business, and get some sweet new tunes. And tell 'em WQHS sent you.

Great Movie, Stellar Soundtrack: Buffalo 66

If you haven't seen this movie, you should.  If you haven't listened to the soundtrack, you should.  Vincent Gallo wrote, directed, starred in, and composed the music for this unusual film.  His music is eerie, full of noise, bells, dissonance, pain.  And then, his father croons.  In between, are some great songs from Yes and King Crimson and the album opens with Stan Getz making you feel like you are in the most magnificent hotel lobby ever.  

     -Margot

thanks!

thanks to everyone who tuned in to my show sunday night to listen to the armchairs! they were absolutely wonderful and quite entertaining. we discussed everything from foreign policy to superhero alter egos to opinions about what dessert they would choose to be made of (if they had to be made of dessert). it was really fun and i think we'll do it again sometime soon. in the meantime, check them out at our show (see below) this friday night at danger danger (5013 baltimore).

the armchairs live on-air tonight!

hello all you pretty people.

tonight i am very excited to welcome the armchairs to my show on wqhs, the starlight social. the band is playing at our show coming up on friday at the danger danger gallery, and having had the pleasure of seeing them play before, let me tell you - they are a band worth seeing. tonight they're going to offer us a semi-acoustic taste of their full live show, as well as hang out for a little with me and my co-host donnie johnson...they'll dj a little, and maybe bring along a few surprises as well?! listen to find out...

the starlight social
8-10pm on WQHS.org

Four hour extravaganzathon

That's right, an EXTRAVAGANZATHON will be occurring at WQHS. The magic time is this Friday, from 6-10PM. So if you need a reason to skip Fling, or like to listen to internet radio while drunk, here's your opportunity.

Since four hours is a long time, there's an OPEN invitation throughout the evening for anyone who wants to come by to spice up the programming. It's sure to be a blast.....

........

Sam

........

new flyer for april 18 WQHS! updated lineup!

just added! GIRI! they're here all the way from JAPAN. and that's quite a long walk.

NEW lineup:
GIRI
Miking Mihrab
The Armchairs
Cinemasophia
Mary Magdalene

This Saturday: Pilam Human BBQ XXX

human barbecue is like a flower. when you water it, it grows. when you shout at it, it gets sad. when you take off your clothes...well...it does too. human bbq is about moist flesh damply smacking against the quivering loins of society, only to be cut, cooked, and enjoyed by all. it's also about live bands playing all day long. april 2008: human barbecue triple x: choose-your-own sex joke.

There's no better way to spend this Saturday.

Live Music by:
A Place To Bury Strangers (ny)
Oxford Collapse (ny)
Japanther (ny)
Pants Yell! (boston)
Tarngo (germany)
Brown Recluse Sings
Birds Of Maya
Farcial Hoodwink
Perennials (boston)
Manic Mirrors

Special Reunion Shows By:
Bellevue

DJ Sets by:
Tax Lo's Dave Nada & Cullen Stalin (B'more)

And more TBA

April 5, 2008
12 noon- infinity
Pilam (3914 Spruce St.)
$12

For more information about Human BBQ XXX, check out the Human Blogbeque or yarga.net .

What We Play

Here are the top 10 albums our djs have been playing the past week. As you can probably tell, we have good taste.

1	SHE AND HIM	Volume One	Merge
2	BEACH HOUSE	Devotion	Carpark
3	VAMPIRE WEEKEND	Vampire Weekend	XL
4	PLANTS AND ANIMALS	Parc Avenue	Secret City
5	THESE UNITED STATES	A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden	United Interests
6	THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN	We Brave Bee Stings And All	Kill Rock Stars
7	FUCK BUTTONS	Street Horrrsing	ATP
8	OAKS	Songs For Waiting	Self-Released
9	CRYSTAL CASTLES	Crystal Castles	Last Gang
10	ELF POWER	In A Cave	Rykodisc

OH EM GEE, LYKE TOTALLY DOPE SHOW APRIL 18 AT DANGER DANGER

sure, there are tons of things you could do on a friday night, but really none of them are quite so phantasmagorically exciting as what we're doing april 18.

WQHS' last show of the semester is still three weeks away, but it's not too early to start thinking about making your way over to west philly's own danger danger (5013 baltimore), where we'll be serving you some of the finest musical goods philly and brooklyn have to offer:

Mary Magdalene (may be their last show before a hiatus!)
Cinemasophia (NYC)
The Armchairs
Miking Mihrab

i'll be posting more about upcoming shows in philly soon, but in the meantime treat yourself to the links above.

Make A Rising at Pilam Tonight

While most Penn students were in Cabo over SPRING BREAK!!! taking tequila shots and roasting in the sun, I was springbroke at home listening to Make A Rising's newest album and mentally packing my bags for tonight's voyage over a sea of horns and harmonies.

West Philly's own Make A Rising is playing tonight with Pterodactyl and Off the International Radar at Pilam (3914 Spruce St., 9 p.m., $5). Don't trust me or the tour guide to your left? Check out this week's Philadelphia Weekly:

"Skeptical? Pick up their new album Infinite Ellipse and Head With Open Fontanel, and slap on a pair of headphones. See what I mean? Insane though it is, the album gels better and more quickly than their previous effort—2005’s Pitchfork-lauded Rip Through the Hawk Black Night—and is as notable for its sense of control as for its careening energy. That said, if you thought Man Man were the most puckish live band in the town, you haven’t seen Make a Rising."
- Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Weekly

Get pumped, brahs. It's going to be a sweet trip.

(Photo by WQHS's own Maria Tessa Sciarrino)

Stuff I've been listening to

Greetings, readers.

Since I'm sure everyone out there's curious, I thought I'd share some info about new stuff I've gotten lately that I'm really digging. I don't think it's at the station yet, but if we get some action on this blog I'll be happy to burn some copies and take them down to the station.

First off is the Born Ruffians- it's straight-ahead rock, mostly just a guitar, bass and drums. But they're loud and make really fun tunes. The lead singer has a pretty incredible voice: he's shrill but not obnoxious, and can really fling his voice around in some pretty interesting ways. Their new album "Red Yellow and Blue" has some great stuff on it, my favorites being "Little Garcon" and "Foxes Mate For Life." "Little Garcon" is softer than the rest of their stuff, but like most of their songs it settles into an interesting (if unsurprising) beat and allows the vocals to carry the more interesting parts. "Foxes Mate For Life" is a little faster, and features a very clever throwback use of background vocals. This stuff won't change your life, but makes for a diverting, enjoyable listen.

On the other end of the spectrum is the soundtrack for "Manda Bala," a documentary about kidnappers in Brazil. It features Brazilian music (tropicalia, bossa nova, etc.), and a couple tracks in particular really stand out. "Quero Voltar pra Bahia" (translating to "I want to go back to Bahia") is an astoundingly catchy tune by Paulo Diniz with a sound somewhere near the intersection of funk, psychedelia, and ragtime. Most of the song is in Portuguese, but his attempts to sing the chorus in English really hold it together. "You Don't Know Me" by Caetano Veloso is a cleaner sounding, more traditional ballad with a nice Brazilian lilt to it. "Dê Um Rolê," a waltz by Novos Baianos, is also worth hearing- it's got a strong flute sound and a some very nice guitar work in the background.

And with that, let's keep this blog rolling!