Sonic Liberation Front – JetPack #2: Sonic Sphere Live at the Highwire
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Sonic Sphere is the small tactical improv unit of Sonic Liberation Front, Philadelphia’s Afro-Cuban folklorico meets avant-jazz ensemble. Sonic Sphere performs their brand of instant composition regularly in Philadelphia – One show featured Sun Ra leader, Marshall Allen. This new Digital EP “Sonic Sphere Live at the Highwire was recorded live at the Highwire Gallery’s Fire Museum series in May of 2012.
Sonic Liberation Front – JetPack #1: Speak Joy / Peache / It Man
Speak Joy (David Middleton) 6:28
Peache (Baba Joe Bryant Bey) 4:15
It Man (Kevin Diehl) 6:37
Jetpack #1: Speak Joy / Peache / It Man features recently studio recorded tunes: An avant/Afro-beat thriller by d.Hotep (guitarist, Sun Ra Arkestra) called “Speak Joy”; a rumba in tribute to drummer, Peache Jarman, written by Baba Joe Bryant; and “It Man,” a Lukumi-jazz bembe channeler by Kevin Diehl, highlighted by Todd Margasak’s cornet.
The Jetpack series is a companion to Jetway Confidential and Follow-up to critically acclaimed album Sonic Liberation Front meets Sunny Murray Features members of Shot x Shot, Sun Ra Arkestra, Anthony Braxton Quartet, Puntilla’s Nueva Generacion, and the Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble.
Fan of Friends is a quartet that plays folk music with a great deal of respect for the old and new traditions of the genre. Featuring banjo, guitar, violin, and cello, Fan of Friends create dark, somber songs that fuse that the gritty urban landscape of the band’s Philadelphia home with Appalachian folk and string-quartet classical music. With three of its members alternating between lead vocal duties, the Fan of Friends’ songs a wide diversity while maintaining a sharp consistency.
The group ‘s primary vocalist is Joshua Marcus, whose has released two tremendous solo albums and was a member of the Philadelphia band Like Moving Insects. He is joined by sisters Harmony and Chelsea Thompson on strings and Josh Newman (of Adam Arcuragi’s band) on guitar and bass.
What distinguishes the quartet from Marcus’s solo work is Harmony’s gripping, chilling singing and the cryptic songs from Newman. The band excels both in its simplicity and their uncanny ability to weave their voices in and out in harmony. It’s modern folk music that has much in common with R.E.M. and Fleet Foxes.
Originally started as a quintet that featured Adam Granduciel, currently the frontman of Philadelphia’s War on Drugs, the band coalesced as a quartet. After almost three years of playing shows (mostly at alternative spaces in Philadelphia) and appearance at the Popped! Philadelphia festival, Fan of Friends’ first release was a 7″ vinyl single released by High Two in 2007.
Fron the Desk of… marks the second collaboration between High Two and Contraphonic. In April 2008, the two labels co-released Joshua Marcus’s second solo album, Reverse the Charges. The album features Marcus’s songs exclusively, but relies on support from the members of Fan of Friends, plus 30 additional musicians for incredible folk orchestrations. Promotional copies of Reverse the Charges are available upon request.
SELECTED PRESS:
“Reverse The Charges reminds us that though songs of love and loss have been with us since we lived in trees, those are topics that never lose their power; we all struggle with the same juju. Sounding like a jaded Neil Young, or an even more exhausted Will Oldham, Marcus creates deeply effective songs that are melodic but with a sense of weariness.” — Foxy Digitalis
” I’ve been a big fan of Joshua Marcus since I first heard his yearning, plaintive vocals, his resonating banjo and his updated Appalachian mountain music.” — Songs:Illinois
” West Philly is the land of potlucks, porch gatherings and living room concerts. I first fell under the raw and open-hearted spell of the band Fan of Friends at one of these shows two years ago. Marcus sings, but then, they all sing. I get a chill when Harmony’s voice reaches up cresting unevenly over the evocative refrain “Who do you think you are?” in the song “Larks Are Card Keys.” It’s a spell song, one of the most right there and real in young American folk. Marcus earnestly beckons listeners with his stripped-down banjo playing and warm, dark vocal strains. Look for FOF’s new 7-inch from High Two. Fan I am of these friends. — Philadelphia City Paper
Adam Arcuragi: vocals, guitar, vocals
David Hartley: guitar, vocal, trumpet, vocals
Todd Starlin: trumpet, vocals
Brian Christinzio: organ, vocal
Maryanne Doman: dobro
Tom Bendel: percussion
Gretchen Lohse: violin, viola
Joshua Newman: electric guitar
Robbie Bennett: mandolele
Janka Perniss: violin
Nathan Lohse: cello
Engineered and produced by David Hartley
After the release and of his self-titled solo album and the ensuing tour, Adam Arcuragi began the arduous task of sorting through all the songs, sketches of songs, and half-songs that he wrote in the time since his debut was recorded in late 2005. The quality and quantity was quite astounding. Knowing that the path to realizing his second record in the grand manner it has been imagined, Arcuragi knew it would be a long path.
The five songs that make up the Soldiers for Feet were recorded during a
break from working on Arcuragi’s yet-untitled, soon-to-be-finished second proper album. Originally conceived as a home-recorded documentation of his new material, the sessions flourished into into a portrait of the artist in his most intimate situation — at home, playing and singing his songs, with his friends in tow. When you have friends in such great bands as BC Camplight, National Eye and War On Drugs, success was guaranteed. Arcuragi opens himself up with graceful charm; his new songs are bound to impress and recruit fans.
Recorded live in the waning days of 2007. All Songs by Illuminea. Audio recording by Marc Alan Goodman. Video recording by Demetrius Wren. Thanks to Nicholas Krill and Eric Hora.
Written by Marc Alan Goodman whilst enjoying dual residences in his 15 passenger van and Tim Nelson’s couch, “Build Your Own” has become a staple in the illuminea catalog. While the recorded version is supported by a throbbing sousaphone, limitless percussion overdub arrangements and immaculately in-tune acoustic guitar, live the song sheds some of its slow-jam sultriness and bristles with joyous romp, yet still including so many of the bells and whistles (literally) heard on the album.
2. Then What
Arranged together as seven people playing in a room, and as of yet having no studio version to speak of, this is the latest from the Jen Appel hit factory. From the disorienting if dancey rhythms of the introduction to the bombastic climax of the epic coda, this song shows perhaps a tougher and more complex, yet still inviting and interesting side of illuminea. This is the future.
3. Homewrecker
This gem of a summertime positivity jam was written by the inimitable Ms. Minna Choi. Delving deep into obscure and underground musical phenomena such as Beyonce, Stevie Wonder and Michel Jackson for inspiration, illuminea produced this booty-shaker for backyard BBQ blowouts. A rarity for this group, the live arrangement of this number is very similar to the recorded version, though this particular performance features the subtle yet textured Cowbell rhythms of Nicholas Krill. Let it in.