Phil and the Osophers

Philip Radiotes will release From The Rise of Fall his new record as Phil and the Osophers later this year. In the interim, he is offering a series of singles and music videos that capture his gift for crafting catchy, literate songs that blend musical genres from folk rock to world beat. Radiotes also incorporates ample doses of humor into the mix, as embodied by the two videos that we premiere today–one for his new single “Bee Liner” and a second that presents Radiotes at age 5 covering Michael Jackson.

As he explains, “My dad spent some years as a bus driver, so I knew the look and attitude I wanted the bus driver to have was kinda cool and sweet. The bus in the song arrives offering some kind of deliverance. I take the bus a lot and though I wrote the song in a literal fashion, I wanted it to have a working class nature to it, that we are taking this bus to get somewhere better in life. This particular bus is taking us directly there, at warp speed, and just a few of us passengers know how to get on it! The ‘Bee Liner’ video was made using the long lost video synthesizer from the 1980s, the Fairlight CVI.

“I was first unknowingly introduced to the Fairlight at five-years-old when I performed a karaoke version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ at a music service shop at the Fashion Island Mall in San Mateo, CA. I showed the ‘Bad’ video to (‘Bee Liner’ director) Ken (Anderson), he posted a sample of it to a few video forums, and found out it was a Fairlight CVI. We then tracked down what, to my knowledge, is the only working Fairlight CVI still available to use, and we convinced the guy who owns it to run our footage through it. So, the footage for ‘Bee Liner’ went from 2019 to the 1980s and back. I’ve been grappling with the idea of making the ‘Bad’ video public along with the premiere of the ‘Bee Liner’ video. It’s pretty amazing, but also pretty embarrassing.” - Relix

Brooklyn-based artist Phil and the Osophers takes us into the shoes of an exiled Greek myth character who is now a) mortal b) living on earth and c) misses partying with gods in new single “Endeavor.” It’s a playfully meditative track that is unfamiliarly relatable – you may not have been a myth character, but at some point you got exiled from a happy haven (ie childhood). Enjoy and cry while you listen to it:


“It’s my attempt to write in Greek mythological terms. The central character is a banished mythological figure, who still sees his love up in the sky in constellation form, as he once was. Like in a Greek tragedy, he is hopeless, without chance to ascend back to what he sees as his rightful place in the sky. He can only watch as Orion moves into his place and opine about how he has fallen from the gods’ favor.” explained Phil.

The track is from the band’s upcoming LP From The Rise of Fall, which will be out this summer. - Aupium

Having come a long way from its humble beginnings, current Brooklynite Phil & The Osophers – a solo project spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist Philip Radiotes, often rounded out by drummer Kevin Estrada and bassist Gus Iversen – has found his stride over the past few years. His latest – a track titled “Third Wold American” – is no exception. Taking advantage of an upbeat soundscape to layer in new instruments from the beginning, the listener can find a stark contrast in the tempo of the track verses the lyrics, which are dripping with dissatisfaction. For good reason, too.

Says the band about the track:

“Third World American” is a song that captures a decline in American culture, a decline now sharpened but born long before us. The feeling that we are foreign even at home, that a diversity of values are not welcomed, or even understood. That our hearts are orphaned, alienated by power and, because of this, beat out of tempo with the true rhythm of the world. And it is a song that puts hope solely in exactly these marginalized peoples to lead the way to change.

We’ve got the exclusive premiere of the official lyric video for “Third World American”, a video that plays with the contrast of black and white the way it plays with contrast of sound and meaning. Check it out below! - Imperfect Fifth

"Modern art makes Phil & the Osophers want to get their eyes fixed. The Brooklyn three-piece make like Doc and the Tors in loose, ramshackle indie-pop" – Pitchfork


"Think of a cuddlier Black Lips or King Khan and the Shrines" – Under The Radar

“Cast iron proof that really all you need in order to make a great album is a cast-iron knack for an infectious tune, and the ability to write good lyrics.” — Drowned in Sound

"guitar and drum songs with a more contemporary bend, a highlight being the band's song "Bogota."
-Filter

"three-chord pop songs written for cheap guitars and drums that sound like they're falling all over the room set."
-rcrd lbl

here's some press our name got:

"there's also room for creativity in artist nomenclature. A recent band name that struck me as clever is Phil and the Osophers"
- teen vogue

"a name I liked so much that I’m rooting for them to succeed."
-wall st journal - press

"if we were to assign one of our food icons to Phil and the Osophers we would have to create a new one, the stew icon, as their music can be described as a brew involving ingredients as disparate as folk, jazz, blues and rock. The project is de facto a one-man band, with Philip Radiotes writing and playing all of the instruments and inviting the occasional musician friend over for some creative contribution. Flair, DIY, relentless touring and prolificity are the key words here: Phil has already 4 full CDs under his belt" - the deli magazine

"Polished? No. Radio-ready? No. Delightful? Yes! Phil and the Osophers' "Pretend Psalm" is a jaunty acoustic track that would sound right at home on the soundtrack to a Wes Anderson movie. Something about the quirkiness of Phil's voice and the bouncing unpredictability of the song's melody captures the feeling of having a great time doing geeky things." - <almost won>

"Phil and the Osophers: what you would play for a group of school kids to show them how fun music can be." - show preview-

"a pair of kids whose unique sound caught my ears" - sxsw

"For their 5th album, Toward Conquering the Invisible North, Phil and the Osophers move even further away from the singer songwriter tag, adding a plethora of sounds and noises to a very pretty record. I've only gotten a small sample of what the album will sound like as a whole, but those examples are absolutely stunning pieces of auditory pleasure. These tunes have the full feel of indie pop in them, with deep, intricate lyrics that may mean something on one listen and something completely different the next time around. And the lyrics are woven around solid drumming, pretty strumming, and a host of other sounds you wouldn't normally hear on a folk album... after hearing these brand new tracks we are absolutely positive that people will be falling in love with them when they take the stage. It may have taken a while to get the word out about this Brooklyn two-piece, but now that it's out expect some really great things from these boys in the near future!!!" - band of the week.

They played a nice set of quirky Indie Rock featuring Phil's voice backed by some really amazing drumming. No seriously, this drummer was really good, using occasionally hard tom hits and thudding kick as well as neat little percussion elements to fill out the sound. As an example, at one point the drummer put this little hand shaky thing on to hit his snare, and it added a nice rhythmic percussion to the expected snare sound. It was rather nice and intriguing, so much so that at times I forgot to focus on the front man whilst I paid attention to the percussion.
- evilsponge.org

"For their 5th album, Toward Conquering the Invisible North, Phil and the Osophers move even further away from the singer songwriter tag, adding a plethora of sounds and noises to a very pretty record. I've only gotten a small sample of what the album will sound like as a whole, but those examples are absolutely stunning pieces of auditory pleasure. These tunes have the full feel of indie pop in them, with deep, intricate lyrics that may mean something on one listen and something completely different the next time around. And the lyrics are woven around solid drumming, pretty strumming, and a host of other sounds you wouldn't normally hear on a folk album... after hearing these brand new tracks we are absolutely positive that people will be falling in love with them when they take the stage. It may have taken a while to get the word out about this Brooklyn two-piece, but now that it's out expect some really great things from these boys in the near future!!!" - band of the week.

'Bee Liner' video chosen as Official Selection at 2019 Jerome Film Festival -