#THUNDERBIRD CAFE PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MOVIE#

Pittsburgh punks Homeless Gospel Choir (who are neither homeless nor a gospel choir) are on tour with the fun, feminist, all-female punk band Bad Cop/Bad Cop. May 18: Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Homeless Gospel Choir, F-k Yeah, Dinosaurs!: Mr. They chronicle the city’s strange magic, while keeping some sonic distance from their obvious antecedents, Outkast. The most essential rapper in the world at the moment might actually be the fictional “Paper Boi” in the brilliantly surreal show “Atlanta.” But in the realms of the real, the duo EarthGang reigns. May 15: EarthGang, Pigeons & Planes: Stage AE, North ShoreĪtlanta is still the center of gravity for the planet-spanning world of hip hop (though London and L.A.

#THUNDERBIRD CAFE PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MOVIE#

She’s since pursued a musical path like none other, lending her voice to Beyonce’s movie “The Fighting Temptations” and her keyboard to Tyler Perry’s mega-hit stage shows. Then, a friend put a house beat behind her song “Stalk You,” and it became a club hit in Japan. The Chester, Pennsylvania-born singer grew up singing jazz and hymns in church, and found her voice while studying philosophy at Spelman College in Atlanta, forming a gospel/R&B duo with a Broadway-bound friend. May 12: Avery Sunshine: August Wilson African American Cultural Center, DowntownĪ throwback soul singer with a penchant for improvisation, Avery Sunshine’s music is as bright and radiant as her name. Harriette Pilbeam’s richly textured new record “Giving the World Away” balances melancholy and introspection with undeniable hooks-within-hooks, recalling the heyday of the Cocteau Twins, Cardigans and Mazzy Star without imitating them. Hatchie photo courtesy of Grandstand Media.įrom the sun-baked land at the bottom of the world (Australia), comes the dreamy, hazy indie-pop of Hatchie. There was a faction of hippies that weren’t just peace-and-love - they were bent on breaking the system - and the MC5 was their voice. Wayne Kramer supplied the thunderous chords and much of the mighty MC5’s militant, snarling anger at the corruption of Vietnam-era America. One song in 1969, “Kick out the Jams” was the Big Bang for punk rock, kicking off a musical revolution that still reverberates to this day. May 6: We Are All MC5 with Wayne Kramer, Murder for Girls: Thunderbird Cafe, Lawrenceville Zauner is also an acclaimed author, who wrote the memoir, “Crying in H Mart,” about growing up Korean-American and the loss of her mother to cancer. Japanese Breakfast started as a monthlong, song-a-day writing challenge, but her meticulous, synth-heavy sound seems carefully crafted rather than improvisational. Her sly, sophisticated art-pop is extremely of-the-moment - which also implies a musical wormhole to the 1980s, a decade now seen as a time of great experimentation in pop music.

Japanese Breakfast is the alter ego of Philadelphia’s Michelle Zauner. May 5: Japanese Breakfast: Roxian Theatre, McKees Rocks

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