Some great local Philadelphia and nearby vicinity shoegaze, dreampop, noise pop and indie.

Philly shoegaze & dreampop 3

Taken from the album "Chorus." Out now on Slumberland Records.

Order LP/CD: http://slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/273
Order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/chorus-itunes

Philadelphia, PA’s Literature features Kevin Attics, Nathaniel Cardaci, Chris Schackerman, and Seth Whaland. Attics, who’d written for numerous music trades as a teen, met Cardaci and Whaland at the house venue they both operated in Austin, TX. Cardaci and Whaland each ran small imprint labels and, a million adventures later, the trio decided to form a band. Upon moving to Philadelphia the group befriended Schackerman who also joined the fold. 

In 2012, following a well-received single and a track on Gerard Cosloy’s “Casual Victim Pile II” compilation they released their debut album, "Arab Spring," which became a cult hit within the indiepop community. That album is sharp and immediate, almost mod-ish in its attack, but always tuneful and going for melody where it counts. They toured the US in support, and have performed with the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Eternal Summers, Ted Leo, Sic Alps, White Fence, Gentlemen Jesse, Hospitality, and Brown Recluse. They also appeared on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic.

In 2013 they released a follow-up 7”, “Tie Dye” and contributed a track to Esopus Magazine alongside artists like Jens Lekman and The Shins. They also played at that year’s NYC Popfest, which helped cement the buzz that was steadily growing amongst savvy pop fans. "Arab Spring" was treated to a re-mastered re-press, which followed the first pressing and quickly sold out.

Autumn of 2013 saw the band begin work on their second album, "Chorus," with lauded engineer Gary Olson (whose body of work includes records by Crystal Stilts, Mad Scene and The Beets) at his Marlborough Farms studio in Brooklyn, NY. As a beautiful autumn turned into one of the harshest winters in recent memory, Olson and the band began stretching out, enhancing the album with studio techniques dating back to the late 60s including true-tape flanging, sending vocals through Leslie speaker cabinets, and the same analog style of automatic double-tracking created at Abbey Road Studios.

The result is an album that is as immediate as it is timeless, full of effortlessly catchy and well-crafted tunes that echo pop legends like Smiths and Orange Juice. All of that time in the studio has resulted in a rich, considered sound that puts the band's arranging and playing front and center. "Chorus" is one of the most exciting pop records in years, and marks Literature at true contenders.

Literature - New Jacket

Lenola - Lazy Eye spun December 21 2003 on Radio Squaremont. The only other place you can hear this is Last.fm. If you like it, by all means purchase it over there.

Lenola - Lazy Eye

Aireals- Ports of Call

This compilation collects live in-studio performances by Philadelphia musicians recorded for WXPN's The Key between September and December of 2011. All tracks engineered by John Vettese, except for track 7, engineered by Chris Williams, and track 15, engineered by Nick Bookbinder. Thanks to production assistants Zachary Deveraux Fairbrother, Jake “Rabid” Nisenfeld, Jeremy Quattlebaum, Joshua Pannepacker, and Maureen Walsh, as well as photographers Eric Ashleigh, Michael “Kraus Phade” Béon, Kate Bracaglia, Michelle Holshue, Mattias Nilsson, Eric Schuman, and Rachelle Lee Smith for sharing their work.

"Ballinora" by Ports of Call

11 For Concern

Lenola- Milkpaint

Philadelphia 4-piece Arc in Round reflect a sonic sensibility garnered from endless hours of studio tracking, tweaking and sonic experimentation. The band spins out carefully crafted dark pop—taut yet spacey, noisy yet melodic. Humming bass, shuffling drums, glitchy keyboards and dissonant, pedal-treated guitar all melt together into an iridescent sheet of sonorous reduction, and you can still tap your foot to it.

11 For Concern

Arc In Round