Philadelphia Homegrown and Awesome Music

Chris Sulit's new home grown and breathtaking band, The Alternative Outfit, has been slicing through the North East's eardrums with their new album, Melancaholic. It's a Bermuda Triangle; a stormy journey through tortured love and lost treasures. The tracks take the listener into movie scenes drenched by Danny Elfman and vocal harmonies rivaling Freddie Mercury.

What's even more remarkable, the album is entirely written and performed by Chris Sulit. While the bassist, Bobby Kay, plays a key part in the production, from what I could tell after talking to the two of them, Sulit is the one who spent the days, weeks and months locked in the studio pulling at his hair until it turned purple. Check this CD Out!!! Especially my favorites songs; "Waltz of the Ill" and "No More Dreaming". - Adam

The Invisible Hand - 10 tracks of Human vs. Machine

Without hesitation this album hits you with urgency, aggression, and ferocity through terrorizing vocals backed by an emotionless robot and its army of synthetic musicians.

As I read through the lyrics, I found an intriguing and futuristic look at life reminiscent of Isaac Asimov, where the singer tells of his struggle concerning nature and the overwhelming allure of technology. This dynamic story is riddled with a plethora of synth driven and machine programmed sounds. The vast digital pallet of tones is perfectly accentuated by Hardcore Rock, verifying Matt Garfield a king in both the techno and rock realm.

My favorite songs are: "Connect That Wire to the Black Wire" and "We'll Overcome You Using Our Technology"

This Album is DIY, Punk, Techno, Unique, and definitely worth a listen. I can't wait to hear what Mose Giganticus releases next. - Adam

Game Theory is the latest release by South Philly's funk-hop powerhouse The Roots. This album dives further into the realm of soul and jazz, and shows a progression of the group's style. I am a huge fan of the funkier Roots sound, and I think it shows the versatility of these musicians.

An album with just The Roots would be killer, but it wouldn't be right of them to leave their crew off of this album. It's packed with special guests including John-John and Dice Raw of Nouveau Riche, Malik B, and Mercedes Martinez of the JazzyFatNastees.

The signature funky-jazz beats provide a surreal background for Black Thought's lyrical flow. "Clock With No Hands" is a premium blend of jazz, hip-hop, and the R&B vocals of Mercedes Martinez. South Philly is represented on this album, especially in the triumphant call to the streets "Long Time." These guys are world class, but haven't forgotten their origins.

The door comes crashing in with Quest Love's raucous beat in "Don't Feel Right." Maimouna Youssef sings the choruses on this track. Her voice elevates this song to from bangin' to hot. It's one of those songs you crank up as loud as you can, while driving down Broad Street with all the windows down on a hot summer night.

As soon as the beat hits, your head is moving. As a long time fan of The Roots, and Funk music, I appreciate the deeper soul in their music. They are tighter than ever, and I think that Game Theory shows this group's maturity. I still love Illadelph Half-Life and Things Fall Apart, but this is a return to their roots. It is solid, and can be listened to straight through. I recommend that you play this album at max volume while driving through Philadelphia. -Ptah Gabrie.

Allow me to begin this brief narrative with an admission of near early judgment passing that is most likely the reason that truly talented and inspired artists do not get the recognition that is deserved. I listened to Me Without You, Brother Sister for the first time on a long drive from Philadelphia. This, my friends, was my first mistake. My second mistake was taking the CD out of my CD player when the album came to a close and putting it back in its jewel case. I'll explain later.

Me Without You is a band, nay, a musical conglomeration of five members that one may have a difficult time categorizing. Aaron Weiss' one-third sung, one-third shouted and one-third spoken lyrical delivery is initially disconcerting, quite possibly because it's not something you heard done (at least not well) with much frequency. He is backed by a very competent band of musicians who seem to err on the side of melancholy, which complements Weiss' lyrics perfectly. Brother Sister is filled with minor chord progressions and crunchy, slightly overdriven guitars spitting out well-constructed riffs that add greatly to the overall feel of the album. The album is very well recorded and produced and is something Me Without You should be proud of.

The artwork adorning the album makes for a bit of aural and aesthetic harmony as one can see the visual images in their mind as the album plays on. On the front cover there are images of fish and an amalgam of motion in the still pictures. The opening track, Messes of Men, which begins with the words "Í do not exist..." feels as if it was written in this somewhat nautical setting, something perhaps that Herman Melville would have written. Also on the front cover there is a moon to the upper left and a sun to the upper right. In song number (7), The Sun and the Moon, Weiss repeats the phrase, "...the sun and the moon are my father's eyes..." possibly religious imagery to which the front cover is surely tied.

Weiss utilizes an almost narrative stream-of-consciousness style in his lyrical delivery. Sometimes it feels as if he is merely telling a story, unrehearsed and straight from memory. Other times, however, is clear that Weiss is a poet and has constructed his lyrics carefully not only in rhyme schemes, but also in theme and meaning. A rather organic feel is applied to approach deeply emotional spiritual issues. There are a number of Biblical references including a description of Moses "...floating downstream in the Nile... in my floating basket raft..." the closing track, In a Sweater Poorly Knit.

Now, as for that explanation I promised at the beginning of this review, here it is. I mentioned that I listened to Brother Sister, but what I really should have been doing is experiencing and submerging myself in the numerous layers that reveal themselves only upon repeated experiences. I've listened to this album numerous times since my initial listen and have found something new that I like about it every time. The phrasing and lyrical delivery are impeccable and the music is nearly perfect in its ability to support and add feeling to the array of emotions metaphorically described throughout the album. And with that, this review ends as does Me Without You, Brother Sister in the same way it begins with a declaration that "...I do not exist..."

-Trevor Krauss

Here's an idea, book a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom on New Year's Eve, tell your fans that their beloved drummer is leaving the band, and record it for release. Sounds like an epic concert giving way to a timeless recording, right? I thought so until I got about two minutes into the 33 minute long opener "Magellan"

Just in case you don't know who The Disco Biscuits are, let me briefly break it down for you. The band is based in Philadelphia, and they played shows throughout the city at places like the now vacant Silk City before gaining the publicity they have now. I am sure that I saw them play at one of those drunken summer festivals down at Penn's Landing but who knows.

When I picked up The Disco Biscuits new album Rocket 3, I immediately noticed there were only four songs, which led me to believe that I was in for some extended Philly-style jamming. Extended yes, but their jams are not very interesting and can be quite repetitive.

The guitar style is very similar to the Dead, and I feel like they are trying to with the vocals, but it just doesn't work. It is not original. Pitch issues right off the bat took away from the quality.
The biscuits did manage to get a good recording of this show. Everything is well balanced. I thought the obnoxious keyboard noises were kind of low, but I wasn't complaining. The first three songs all run into each other, which is cool for the stoners who want a 70 minute jam to back their session, but if you are not under the influence it drags on for quite some time. I can only listen to the same four bars for so long.

The album ends with a song called "Hope" It's a nine minute long jam that begins with a most-Jerryesque-riff, which isn't too bad, but right before the five minute mark the tempo picks up and the song changes. I don't know what sound Aron Magner, keyboards and vocals, is using in this section, but it just didn't do it for me.

I thought the live jams would have more variation. I thought the performance quality could have been better. Rocket 3 is recorded and mixed well. My favorite musician is definitely the drummer Sam Altman, but he is not in the band anymore. They even list their new drummer on back of the CD, but under it is a disclaimer that says "Drums on this CD were performed by original drummer Sam Altman." I guess it's a legal thing. The music probably sounds cooler when you are sipping on a rum and coke, and hearing it live at the Festival Pier. - Ptah Gabrie