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Today’s track entitled “Live It Up” features Philadelphia natives; the two man hip-hop wrecking crew, OCD: Moosh & Twist. Enjoy the snow or go do something spontaneous like OCD: Moosh & Twist would.

Moosh & Twist are Haverford High School graduates.  They are the most successful music group to come out of Philadelphia’s suburbs for a long while.  Currently on tour with Boston’s rap step-son Hoodie Allen, their videos total millions of views and have a solid fan base.

Celebrating his new album release, Because the Internet, which dropped on December 10th, 2013. Childish Gambino leaked his track “3005″ almost a month ago, but still is fresh.  Maybe sit back after a long day’s work and drink some hot chocolate or cider and bump this.  

My latest musical obsession is Valerie June, she embodies everything that is right about the music industry. After honing her craft for years in her native Tennessee and all across Europe she moved to Brooklyn, where she came to the attention of The Black Keys leader Dan Auerbach. He liked her so much that he co-wrote and produced part of this album, while supplying his guitar and backing vocals for half of the tracks on this stellar debut.

Craig Kaplan

Breezy song to brighten up a dull day… Joey Bada$$

// Cody Kaplan // 

Great art direction, great message, good song from a legendary band.

—Craig Kaplan

Today’s song is a Rolling Stones cover by Cat Power, “Satisfaction” Her voice is so amazing that sometimes when listening to her, it leaves speechless.

Craig Kaplan

I promised a different Cat Power song every day this week, but I have to take a one day detour, because Black Uhuru just killed it last night at The World Cafe Live. They played every great song in their catalog and much more, including some serious Dub. Here is today’s song “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”

Craig Kaplan

Today’s song is “I Don’t Blame You from Cat Power. This song was a true highlight from her show this past Saturday at Underground Arts. It felt like she was singing it directly to me. Enjoy…

Craig Kaplan

This week I will be choosing a different Cat Power song each day in honor of her amazing performance this past Saturday at Underground Arts. She played for close to two hours, delivering over 30 songs and was in rare form. There was much interaction with the audience, she even shared a few cigarettes with some audience members. Here is one of the better songs of the night. “Names”

Craig Kaplan

Seattle, WA’s Murder City Devils announced a rare Philadelphia show yesterday, set for Feb. 7 at Union Transfer. This is great news. The band, who released a bunch of really great, organ-heavy, throaty punk in the late ’90s and early 2000s on Sub Pop Records, reunited in 2006 and have been sporadically performing live since.

One of their best and best-known songs is ”Midnight Service at the Mütter Museum,” which is an obvious reference to one of Philly’s best and most well-known museums. The band’s upcoming show here almost makes you wanna buy a plush mega colon to celebrate.

—Bryne Yancey 

Trent Reznor no longer needs Nine Inch Nails, at least commercially and, some might argue, artistically. Which is why it’s been even more impressive that after becoming a successful producer and Academy Award-winning composer, he’s brought NIN from the backburner to the forefront again with their excellent new album Hesitation Marks.

Hesitation Marks is sonically all over the place, serving as a sort of cap for Nine Inch Nails’ discography. The dark industrial tone permeates throughout the album, though, perhaps no more on “Various Methods of Escape” which trades minimalism for loud distortion roughly halfway through with captivating results.

—Bryne Yancey

While Buzzcocks have been around since 1976 and most fans came to the band through the excellent Singles Going Steady compilation, their best album came out in 2003. No, really.

Completely atypical of most first-wave punk bands, Buzzcocks experienced an artistic and critical rebirth in the early 2000s. In 2003, they joined Merge Records for the release of a self-titled full-length which is a bit of an outlier compared to the rest of their discography: While the quirky pop hooks Buzzcocks popularized are still there, they’re hovering underneath a much harder punk edge than the band had ever established. Hell, even its follow-up, 2006′s Flat-Pack Philosophy, was more or less a return to the “classic” Buzzcocks sound.

With that, “Sick City Sometimes” remains one of the loudest, hardest but still memorably catchiest songs in the band’s history. If Singles Going Steady is as deep as you ever got, you’re missing out on some great stuff.

—Bryne Yancey

Philadelphia basement punks Swearin’ burst onto the scene with their self-titled 2012 debut, which was full of energetic hooks and a palpable exuberance overall, with the vocals of Allison Crutchfield at the forefront. Somewhat unexpectedly (though not undeservedly), the band became critical darlings, earning rave reviews and regular coverage from Pitchfork and NPR, and even a story in the New York Times. Not bad for a punk album recorded inside a west Philly basement.

Swearin’ just released their sophomore effort Surfing Strange this week, and while it showcases an impressive amount of growth, there might be some detractors. The band’s vocal approach, once dominated by the exuberant Crutchfield, has become more democratic, with bassist Keith Spencer and guitarist Kyle Gilbride taking turns behind the mic as well. The result is a less immediately affirming record, but an ultimately more well-rounded one with nods to bands like Dinosaur Jr. and the Breeders, and still plenty of hints of the anthemic punk ethos established on their debut. “Dust in the Gold Sack” is the best of both worlds.

—Bryne Yancey

The evolution of Atlanta, Ga. based O’Brother has been nothing short of exciting. Formed in 2006, the quintet started out playing an okay-but-not-earth-shattering form of airy post-rock, with smooth vocals, plenty of empty space and not much in the way of loudness. There were faint hints of what would eventually come, but it wasn’t until 2011′s Garden Window that they really came into their own. The band got louder, heavier and much more menacing overall while maintaining the vastness of their earlier work, with often riveting results.

Earlier this year, O’Brother followed up Garden Window with Disillusion, which takes their still fairly newfound sound and adds some grungier, slightly more accessible elements. Even 9-minute songs such as the title track have a weird catchiness about them.

O’Brother are performing live at The Trocadero on Dec. 13 with Torche and Hot Water Music. Don’t miss it.

—Bryne Yancey

  Today is Nov. 1, which to some is the mental boundary when the memories of summer cease to linger and autumn rears its multi-colored, leafy head. (Nevermind that it’s 70 degrees and rainy in Philadelphia today.) With that, listening habits often change; the sunny, poppy anthems of spring and summer are placed aside in favor of darker, often more austere music. It’s peculiar when you really think about it. Why wouldn’t we instead listen to music that doesn’t remind us that it’s dark and cold outside?

Death Cab For Cutie’s 2003 masterpiece Transatlanticism remains a fall classic. It was the band’s lushest, most artistically brave and realized accomplishment up to that point, and to many, remains so a decade later. While the album does contain a fair share of upbeat and/or “heavy” songs (“The Sound of Settling,” “A Lack of Color”), it’s dominated by piano-driven balladry with the completely captivating, near 8-minute title track as the centerpiece. It’s still the quintessential dreary fall song.

—Bryne Yancey

Modern Baseball are a group of young guys from Philadelphia who are writing songs way beyond their years. Their 2012 debut Sports is full of personality and pop hooks, and replete with intensely personal, often sardonic, thoroughly on-the-nose lyrics.

“Re-Do” opens Sports impressively, with nods to modern pop-rock bands like the Front Bottoms and Motion City Soundtrack, but with a decidedly rawer disposition wrapped around interesting instrumentation that’s unconventional but melody-forward. If this record is any indication, Modern Baseball will be a mainstay in the scene for years to come.

—Bryne Yancey

  Any Philadelphia punk worth his or her weight in studded denim vests knows about Golden Tea House. It’s not only the best DIY venue in Philly, but maybe the best venue, period — not because the sound is great, or the view optimal. It’s the best venue because, no matter who’s are playing or who you’re there with, it gives you the feeling that you’re watching your favorite band with all of your best friends. That sort of vibe can’t really be replicated at a traditional venue.

To celebrate their second birthday — which is like, 100 in DIY venue years — Golden Tea is putting on three stacked shows this weekend. Tonight it’s local boys Luther, along with the UK’s Great Cynics, West Chester’s NONA, as well as Crybaby and Omar. See you there. If you need the address, ask a punk!

—Bryne Yancey