Jazz & Grooves artists: ‘a skyscraping blend’

Brooklyn-based band, The Antlers, have achieved what most indie artists can only dream of: an 8.5 rating and the elusive “Best New Music” title from music website Pitchfork Media.

But perhaps the bragging rights belong to Penn students, who have the opportunity to see The Antlers at The Rotunda tonight for the Social Planning and Events Committee’s annual fall show, Jazz & Grooves.

“In a year of great music, The Antlers have found themselves ahead of the pack,” said Austin Paul, co-director of SPEC Jazz & Grooves and co-planner of the event. “Their sound only gets better live — it should be an amazing show.”

The event is somewhat of a departure from past SPEC-sponsored events, according to SPEC member and event co-planner College junior David Saginur. The Antlers are more targeted toward the college crowd than past performers, which have included a Led Zeppelin cover band and Robert Randolph.

And SPEC couldn’t be more excited to treat indie-rock enthusiasts to an unprecedented opportunity and to introduce casual listeners to music’s next big thing.

As Saginur put it, “Next time [The Antlers come to Philadelphia], they’ll be playing a much larger venue for a much larger price.”

While for now The Antlers are just breaking into the business, many music connoisseurs are eager to hear their work, especially those eager for an antidote to the recent music trend where, as stated by Pitchfork, “ … it seems fashionable to bunt, or put your forehead on the bat and spin until you get dizzy.”

In addition to the coveted praise from Pitchfork, who describe The Antlers’ music as “a skyscraping blend of the ambient and the anthemic,” The Antlers have recently earned the praise of such media giants as NY Press, Timeout New York and NPR, who named the band’s first album, Hospice, the best album of the first half of 2009.

Holly Miranda will also be joining The Antlers in their performance tomorrow night. Miranda is a fellow Brooklynite admired by Kanye West, who featured a track from her album on his blog and was described by Vanity Fair as having “a falsetto [that] makes walls collapse.”

Tickets were sold on the Walk all week and can be purchased at the door tonight night for $15.

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