Archive: January, 2011

REMINDER: The Writing Contest is accepting submissions now!

POSTED: Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 2:00 PM

Here are a few winners from recent years, to get you in the mood:

This year's judges have been named and submissions are already trickling in. We're looking for fiction and poetry by residents of the PA/NJ/DE area. The deadline is Jan. 20. Okay now go here for all the rest of the information you need.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 2:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

THE SHOWDOWN: A spazzy, fuzzed-out time

POSTED: Monday, January 3, 2011, 6:00 PM

Filed Under: Music The Showdown

Monday: Jarrett Gilgore needs update his MySpace status. As I write this, it says that he's "finding a sound," but just one listen to his experimental jazz pieces suggests that he's already found it. The multi-instrumentalist tends to focus on the saxophone, but his proficiency with other instruments gives him a well-rounded ear for arrangements. As for that sound, it ranges from rollicking bop to manic freeform, and shifts character from measure to measure. 7 p.m., $5 - $10, Chris' Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St. 215-568-3131. Tuesday: One of the Philadelphia roots scene's busiest busybodies, Joe D'Amico somehow finds the time to lead an eponymous band. The Mason Porter man's new album, Asleep In My Shoes, arrives in a few short weeks, and its release certainly calls for a celebration. A month-long celebration, to be precise. This show is the first of D'Amico's January residency at the Grape Room, each of which will feature various support acts. Considering D'Amico's friendly, collaborative disposition, spontaneous jams should be in order. w/ Phil D'Agostino Quartet, Brian Flanagan Band & Adam Monaco, 8 p.m., $5, The Grape Room, 105 Grape St., 215-930-0321. Wednesday: Everyone knows that, when it comes to hip-hop, Philadelphia's always been a little bit...odd. Our progressive tastes have left us with a bevy of acts that mix rap with countless genres to create unique variations on the theme. Philadelphia Slick headlines this showcase of just a few of the city's brightest stars. Constantly ebbing and flowing when it comes to the number of musicians in their ranks, Philadelphia Slick never fail to create an atmosphere of funky, soulful and downright fun energy. w/ Writtenhouse & Elijah McKinley and the Trees, 9 p.m., $5, The Blockley, 38^th & Chestnut Sts., 215-222-1234. Thursday: Strictly speaking, One Child Born is more a musical cabaret performance than it is a concert. Nonetheless, the way the show is constructed around the music of Laura Nyro gives it a bit of a tributary feel. One Child Born features some of the idiosyncratic songstress' most beloved tunes, all while telling the stories of nine characters (all played by writer Kate Ferber), each with their own connections to Nyro's music. Though never a commercially successful artist in her own right, Nyro's songs served as both hits and inspirations to countless musicians (and, evidently, playwrights). 8 p.m., $22 - $36, World Cafe Live, 30th St. & Walnut St., 215-222-1400. Friday: The haunting new project from Sean Lennon, The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger is an excursion into the dark realms of folk-pop. With woodsy harmonies and ethereal instrumentation, TGOASTT (great initialism, by the way) features Lennon's partner, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, as the other evocative voice. Though Lennon's last solo recordings didn't really hint at this creative turn, the shift is deftly executed. Being a musical vanguard must be in his genes or something. w/ Chris Forsyth, 9 p.m., $14, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684. Saturday: Wa-hoo! It's been a few years, but Cheers Elephant's new album is here. Man Is Nature, the psych-popsters' latest, is as much of a riot as you've come to expect from the guys. And this isn't just any old concert; it's an album release that features some of their bestest musical friends (including The New Connection, whose drummer, Todd Mecaughey, produced Man Is Nature). A spazzy, fuzzed-out time is to be had by all who attend this Nuggets-inspired freak-in. w/ The Fleeting Ends & Nico's Gun, 8:30 p.m., $16 (students: $13 with ID), World Cafe Live, 30th St. & Walnut St., 215-222-1400. Sunday: Conversations With Enemies made a splash late last year with their altogether ooky debut, but you needn't be draped in cobwebs or gorging on candy corn to enjoy their playfully macabre tunes. Since the release of Nowhere, OK, CwE have been making the rounds, playing the undead-riddled material of that album (as well as new and unreleased tunes). If their audiences were all made up of zombies, the songs would be brains. Tasty, tasty brains. w/ Metroplex & Enter The Rooms, 8 p.m., $8, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919.

Posted by Eric Schuman @ 6:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

THEATER REVIEW: Cirque du Soleil "Dralion" @ Liacouras Center 12/30

POSTED: Monday, January 3, 2011, 4:45 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Critical Mass

cirquedusoleil.com

The Liger's cousin, "Dralion" represents a fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics, yielding a fierce Dragon/Lion hybrid known for its skills in gymnastics. Before I begin, I'll mention that there's a new tradition for anyone under 40 in the Cirque du Soleil crowd to be, we'll say, in Dazed and Confused form. Now, I know this isn't very gonzo but I'm glad to say that I was completely straight-laced because the acts in "Dralion" were plenty insane on their own. The performances were jaw-dropping feats of high-flying prowess, with masterful accuracy and good, old fashioned gymnastic contortionism. Each act had a flavor of a major world ethnicity in performance style, costume and music.

cirquedusoleil.com

One couldn't help but detect a chip on the shoulder of the show's architect in the form of a heavy Eastern bias. A thread weaved throughout the performances was a silent film-esque mini-narrative that seemed to be based on three stooges-style physical comedy. There was no English dialogue, but rather a style of grunting pseudo-Latin which I couldn't determine as trying to represent Italian, vaudeville-era Hollywood or just vague western jackassery. But the implication was that Eastern cultures produce amazing feats of well-disciplined entertainment while the West enjoys pies-in-the-face and fart jokes. Still, there's nothing wrong with watching a diss to your entertainment heritage as long as it's a thoroughly amazing diss. There was a juggler doing crazy things with countless objects simultaneously; a trampoline act that launched human beings some 60 feet into the air (while they seemed to be running up the side of a wall); and equally unlikely ball-balancing (with groups!) and hoop-jumping that could make Keri Strug feel like an uncoordinated oaf. There was aerial ribbon-dancing and mini-Italian operas that inspired the imagination. And throughout it all a grand soundtrack — performed live. The music may have been the best part. A sextet of mostly hidden musicians playing pan-ethnic melodies of every scope could have been the entire Trans-Siberian Orchestra for all I know. The music seemed to incorporate every instrument, as the flying Epcot Center trapezed it's way across continents. I would pay money to see them on their own, even if they didn't have the world's most jacked up circus re-writing history in front of them. The Liacouras Center was a great venue, we had pretty good seats, but there didn't look to be a bad seat in the house. Incorporating trap doors, moving platforms, and probably a bit more than a half-court's worth of performance space, this beast of a production was ridiculously economical on square footage. I guess even the stage crew conjures a disciplined sense of Asian efficiency. The next stop for "Dralion" is in Boston — which is the closest it'll be to Philly until they make later-in-the-year stops in central N.Y. And for those of you young folks who think you're gonna "enhance the experience," well I ain't your pop but I would recommend saving that for an event that isn't already sensory overloaded.

Posted by Ryan Carey @ 4:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

IN MEMORIAM: Pete Postlethwaite, 1946-2011

POSTED: Monday, January 3, 2011, 3:45 PM

Filed Under: In Memoriam | Movies

Postlethwaite in The Town

Just heard via Film Junk that British actor Pete Postlethwaite died yesterday due to complications from a long battle with cancer. He was 64. According to FJ, Postlethwaite didn't let his treatments slow him down from working:

[Postlethwaite] put in some memorable performances this year in The Town, Inception and Clash of the Titans. Spielberg supposedly referred to him as the "best actor in the world" at one point after working with him on The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad. ... He still has one more upcoming role in a movie called Killing Bono that is still to be released in 2011.

Personally, I remember him best as Father Laurence in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Here's a clip, to take you back to 1996 for a minute.

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 3:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
What we're trying to do this weekend
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
PHILLY LOVE NOTES: An ode to Spruce Street
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: James Blake @ TLA 5/11
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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@mission2denmark | @emilygee

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