This Week On The Philebrity Player: EVERYTHING!
Dear Lovers,
Back in the late winter, when we started The Philebrity Player, our weekly album-of-the-week free streaming awesome experience, we were kinda sweating it. Would we be able to get our paws on a whole album from a great artist each week? Would the people dig it? Could we AFFECT POSITIVE AESTHETIC CHANGE in the city by turning people on to great music that’s near and dear to our hearts? A few months in, and we are proud to say, emphatically, “Yes, bitches! We can!” So this week, we’re gonna have a lil’ evergreen celebration and point you back to some of the Player’s dopest records so far. Which is seriously just about all of them.
After the jump, fun faq’s and best-in-show.
Before we do, some fun facts about The Philebrity Player:
¬? Contrary to all good business sense, Philebrity does not ‚Äî and will never ‚Äî charge artists or labels to appear on The Philebrity Player. Rather, we rely on outside advertisers to sponsor the project. This way, we can put whatever the hell we want up there and not have to deal with collecting $200 or some shit from some crapass band every week.
¬? The Philebrity Player is powered by Apollo Audio, and since this started, they have put up with all kinds of nonsense from us and never once complained. Some of the records you find on The Philebrity Player are in fact for sale as digital downloads at Apollo, and we highly recommend it. It’s cheap for the consumer, and the artists always get a fair shake on the dough and are treated with respect and reverence.
¬? City Paper totally ripped off our steez with this and frequently features re-runs from The Philebrity Player. Just sayin’.
¬? Advertising on the Player is relatively cheap and fun, and has great marketing potential for your business, if you have one and you like to rock. If you’re down, consult our advertising page.
AND NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!
Blood Feathers — Blood Feathers
“Led by the duo of Ben Dickey (The Big Jangle, Amen Booze Rooster) and Drew Mills (Aspera), this is a group that is very near and dear to our hearts indeed. In fact, back in 2004, we proclaimed that they‚Äôd be the Best Philly Band of 2006, and hey, guess what? So far, so good. Boasting Byrds-y harmonies unseen in these parts in a loooong time and tunes that worm their way right into yer skullmind, their debut album Curse And Praise just might be one for the ages. Listen, and we‚Äôre sure you‚Äôll agree.”
Click here to launch Blood Feathers on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Spank Rock — Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo
“Girl you know it’s true: Spank Rock is the Baltimore booty-Urkel you wanna do. Out on Ninja Tune/Big Dada (the same label what brought you the Diplo classic Florida), Yox5 is seriously the official monster party jam of this brand new spring. It’s got it all: Songs about “ass-shaking competitions,” pulsating stripper electro beats, hilarious rhymes and, not least, Amanda Blank.”
Click here to launch Spank Rock on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Gnarles Barkley — St. Elsewhere Album Preview
“Listen: Your guess is as good as ours how we got this one ‚Äî a five song preview of the Gnarls Barkley record that you are free to stream as much as you damn well like until next Tuesday (which is when it actually comes out, by the way). Make no mistake: St. Elsewhere, their debut record, is one of the most talked-about records of the year. People of Earth, be warned: We are in the midst of a Phenomenon. And The Philebrity Player couldn’t be happier to present it to you.”
Click here to launch Gnarls Barkley on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Espers — Espers II
“Deep and weird and scary like tripping on a too-hot summers’ day, Espers II is surprising not because it’s haunting, but the way in which it’s haunting. It’s like early Yes or Obscured By Clouds-era Pink Floyd, and Good God In Fishtown, it was worth the wait. And it clearly marks a new point of departure for Beard Nation ‚Äî one in which Sandy Denny rolls up her sleeves and rocks out with none other than Black Sabbath. And that, friends, is something very new.”
Click here to launch Espers on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Favourite Sons — Treason EP
“Favourite Sons are an NYC-by-way-of-Philly-and-UK combo whose members have done time in Rollerskate Skinny and our own Aspera ‚Äî nothing to sneeze at there. You’ll also hear all kinds of amazing stuff in there, from Nick Cave to the Monochrome Set to The Fall/Pavement.
Click here to launch Favourite Sons on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Brightblack Morning Light — Brighblack Morning Light
“Brightblack has already been loosely affiliated with all your New Weird heroes, from our very own Espers to Joanna Newsom, to that squirrelly godfather of indie cageyness, Will Oldham. But that‚Äôs not why we like them. We like them because they sound like Spiritualized if they came from a weird alligator swamp in Florida and were raised by their freak uncle, Steely Dan. Soft bombs permeate Brightblack Morning Light, and with summer getting its official kickoff this weekend, we can already tell that this is the one that‚Äôs going to permeate every sweeping out of ashes in the morning, every heavy makeout session and every stony silent bike ride. It‚Äôs like these guys are living the summer in music that we‚Äôre intuiting in life. Heavy. Totally fucking heavy, and so much bliss. Brightblack Morning Light. Get into this.”
Click here to launch Brightblack Morning Light on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Mojave 3 — Puzzles Like You
“Caution: This is not your ex’s Mojave 3. Puzzles Like You is longhair pop at its finest, bouncy on its feet, and still every bit as wistful as earlier records like Out Of Tune. But if you’re a newcomer to the band, just know this: This is not the first totally gorgeous record Mojave 3 has made, and by the sounds of things, not the last, either.”
Click here to launch Mojave 3 on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Adam Arcuragi — Adam Arcuragi
“Adam Arcuragi is not a singer/songwriter. I mean, he is, among other things, but people, keep in mind that technically, Ozzy Osbourne is also a singer/songwriter. Rather, we like to think of Adam Arcuragi as a deep mystic poet, maybe on the order of like William Carlos Williams or maybe Ol’ Dirty Bastard. A soothsayer, a sage, a kid who says the darnedest things. AA’s debut was long in coming, but we are fairly sure it’s one for the ages. Are you a momrocker grooving on Van Morrison? Adam is for you. Are you a disgruntled Neutral Milk Hotel fan? Adam is, too. Maybe you just like weird songs about dead dogs and stealing away and making out at the bottom of the ocean. Adam has your shit. So let go.”
Click here to launch Adam Arcuragi on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Thom Yorke— The Eraser
“Largely paranoid android wailings over spiraling laptop fractals of ever-mutating glitch electronica, Eraser will surprise nobody and it will change nothing — except your dirty diaper mind. It is the sound of desperation in the bloodstream, the cottonmouth brain panic that invariably greets the discovery that the drugs are gone. Or worse, the meds no longer work. The horror, the horror.”
Click here to launch Thom Yorke on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Peaches — Impeach My Bush
“Somehow, Impeach My Bush squeezes an entire nasty strip bar onto one record, and also packs in some pretty empowering sexual politics even when, seriously, that is the last thing on your mind. If all of that is too heady for you, there’s the funny titles: “Tent In Your Pants,” “Two Guys For Every Girl,” “Rock The Shocker,” and, of course, “Slippery Dick.” We here at Philebrity are proud to present Impeach My Bush to you this week; it is by far the filthiest thing we’ve ever had on the site, and to dance around the office to it is to experience the purest subversive glee we’ve had all summer.”
Click here to launch Peaches on The Philebrity Player NOW!
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Midlake — The Trials Of Van Occupanther
“The facts: They are from Denton, Texas. Their sound? Oh man. It is a high-caliber Fleetwood Mac/Blue Oyster Cult/Pink Floyd-y loveshot to the neck, for which the only remedy may be MORE MIDLAKE. Van Occupanther is their second album. And for some reason, everyone who hears it falls in stony love with it instantly. From David Dye to Charlie Hall to Eric from Apollo, we all hail The Trials Of Van Occupanther.”
Click here to launch Midlake on The Philebrity Player NOW!
NEXT WEEK: THE PHILEBRITY PLAYER RAGES ON. MUSIC. MAKES THE PEOPLE. COME TOGETHER.
