Song the Sinner Sings

Our boy Adam Arcuragi is the cover story for the City Paper music issue that comes out tomorrow. Deb told me last night and I'm so proud/psyched for them. Debbie is only mentioned in passing though, and she does so much work for the band I think she should have gotten a bit more mention. Still it's a great article.

My favorite bits:

*Almost compulsive use of the word "fuckin'"

*"You listen to old gospel recordings, those don't have fuckin' drums," he notes. "But it's rhythmic. Handclaps and things like that. And just the percussion of someone's voice; a cappella groups, they don't have a drum kit. But some of them are so evocative of rhythm that you can't help but tap your foot."

To him, the human voice is the most effective instrument for pulling a listener in. "It's the sound of your compatriots. It's the sound of your brother and your sister." I do like the drums, but I totally agree with this, which is probably why I like Adam's music so much.

*"Look at the Philadelphia music scene right now," he says. "It's phenomenal. It's one of those great moments in time. I mean, everything is cyclical based on time, place and people, as the Sufis say, but sometimes the cycle is just right and everything comes into congruence so that there's a confluence, right? A coming together, so that everything lights on fire."

Still, as much as he envisions Philly 2006 as comparable to the height of the Ming dynasty, or Paris in the 1920s, or Madchester, he wishes for something more unified than competitive, a crosstown camaraderie. "I just wanna get everybody to get tighter and just hug more and high five more, and smile more." (See Stef, it's all about Philly right now. Philly is the new black.)

The pictures are fun too! I particularly like this one.


Right on.