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Critical Mass 1.0
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| Courtesy of Zoe Strauss |
Zoe Strauss, Philly's favorite documenter of this imperfect city, has nearly 100 photos of New Year's Day and the Mummers up on her Flickr account — including one of a young boy in horrid blackface. If this doesn't help you better wrap your head around this weekend's parade, maybe the video of the Space 1026 Mummers on our sister blog, Meal Ticket, will.
In related news, God bless anyone who has a Missed Connection at the Two Street party.
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| Photo | Michael Regan |
| Aryon Hoselton and the Vaudevillians during a choreography session in 2007 |
Even though newbie Jeffrey Billman doesn't get it, we've got some Mummers news for y'all. Hillary Rea, former CP intern extraordinaire and sometimes contributor, lets us know that the Vaudevillians New Years Brigade ' the Space 1026-ified Mummers, like Ryan Creed told you about in 2007 ' will host their third annual sew-a-thon this Saturday, December 19 at Space 1026, where you can help them make their costumes for this year's parade. This year's performance is Philly Phood-themed.
Rea writes:
In these difficult economic times, VNYB decided to cut back their 24-hour Sew-A-Thon to a mere 12 hours. However, those 12 hours will be jam packed with sewing, dancing, spirited discussions about the spandex stretch index, and an all around positive open studio party and community gathering.
In the spirit of traditional telethons we are encouraging the folks who attend to perform magic, sing karaoke, and show off any other talents they so desire. VNYB will also show Mummers and Philadelphia related movies up until 7pm.
At 8 p.m., the entertainment will switch over to a concert by Lovers and Maple Rabbit. A $5 suggested donation for the mummers/bands is welcome. Here's a video from last year's "nuclear winter" performance (the TV announcers even mention the sewing marathon):
Gotta love this line: "It's good to know in the post-apocalypse, the Phillies will still be around."
What, exactly is the deal with the Vaudevillian NYB? The aforementioned Creed let you know in a cover story before their inaugural strut in 2007:
The Mummers Parade, once exclusive to South Philadelphia, now has a bigger, younger and more diverse audience. The 1026 Mummers ' named the Vaude-Villains ' are bringing this new face of Philadelphia to a beloved tradition in their own ragtag, seat-of-their-pants manner.
Trauss brushes aside the idea that the Vaude-Villains' involvement in the parade is peculiar or special: "It is an obvious thing to put together. We are people who do crafts and art projects, and then here's a completely other sector of Philadelphia that also has a huge art component, but it's a sector you don't normally think about. We all have art as huge parts of our lives, and we might as well make art together."
Vaudevillains NYB present 3rd Annual Sew-A-Thon, Sat., Dec. 19, noon-midnight, $5 suggested donation, Space 1026, 1026 Arch Street, Second Floor.
see you there!
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| gritcityinc.com |
Big giveaway today, folks: If you've been on Tatted watch ' either in the print edition of City Paper or on our blogs ' you already know that Grit City Inc./Marianne Bernstein's gorgeous coffee-table photography book, which captures South Street denizens' ink and the meaning behind it, has reached its long-awaited publication date.
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| Grit City Inc., 160 pp., $34. |
Just in time for Pure Gold Gallery's Tatted launch party tonight (7-10 p.m., Piazza at Schmidts, 1050 N. Hancock St., suite 57, puregoldgallery.wordpress.com), we've got two signed copies to give away to our readers. But given the awesomeness of this book, we're not going to make it as easy as a simple Wiki-able trivia question.
Here's what you gotta do to win:
Send us an e-mail describing your tattoo ' pictures are welcome ' and tell us why you got it.
Tat-free? Then tell us what you'd ink yourself with if money/permanence/pain/etc. were no object.
(Me, I think I'd go with this. Or this. But definitely not this. No offense, dolphin people.)
Most interesting submissions win; best tat photos will be posted on CritMass. Shoot me an e-mail at carolyn.huckabay@citypaper.net to enter, and don't forget to hit up Pure Gold tonight for an evening of booze, giveaways and the chance to chat with Marianne and her crew.
More funny articles and useful to all of you,I like add to my bookmark,plz tell me when you update this blog. Thanks
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| Lionsgate |
| Mo'Nique in Precious |
Since Philly-born Lee Daniel's Precious premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and Mo'Nique took home a special acting prize for her portrayal of Precious' mother, she's been tapped as an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress (in his review, Shaun Brady said "Mo'Nique, undoubtedly in line for the Academy Award, is remarkable; she almost makes you pity this woman before exploding into terrifying, withering rage.").
But Oscar, for those who follow it with religious fervor, know that the venerable awards show is politics as usual, and the quality of the performance in question is just as important ' arguably less so ' than the type of performance, station of the actor in Oscar history (i.e. Al Pacino's win for Scent of Woman is largely seen as a gimme for past snubs) and campaign mounted to support that performance. In recent months, Mo'Nique has caused quite the stir because she hasn't gone on the traditional campaign circuit, which usually consist of film festivals and panels, pimping out her own work. It's even been rumored that she's asked for money to make appearances in support of her film and herself.
It may seem counterintuitive for Mo'Nique not give herself the extra push, she's brought up some interesting points in her own rebuttal of the process. Below is a clip from tonight's episode of Mo'Nique's BET show, where she discusses the nomination process with former noms Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson:
For those who don't want to watch the entire clip, Terrence and Taraji essentially say its part of the game while Mo'Nique doesn't see the point. And for her, she's right. Precious is one of those once in a lifetime roles for Mo'Nique. Finding another strong role for a strong, overweight black female is going to be near impossible for white-washed Hollywood and Mo'Nique is smart to ask how this will help her. Because it won't. Just look at this part transcribed by awards guru Scott Feinberg (who first reported on the clip):
Mo'Nique: 'Now let me ask y'all this, because I know y'all are gonna school me correctly: What does it mean financially?' '
Henson: 'Y'all are really gonna see how Hollywood works! For me, not really much. I mean, I did see a change, but a very slow change. This one here [Howard] hit ' how many figures come with million? Six? Seven! You hit seven; I ain't seen seven yet. But that's how it is for women in Hollywood. That's just, you know, across the board.'
Howard: No, but it didn't come right away. That didn't happen right away. It's like planting a seed that's being watered ' it's got to grow.'
But Mo'Nique is a different animal. She's not looking to be a legit actress, as far as I can tell and Precious is an anamoly for her. And while Henson and Howard claim it has helped their careers, Henson will still probably be relegated to supporting roles because being a black woman in Hollywood is Sisyphean. Even though Howard's paycheck was upped, his nom didn't stop him from getting kicked off of Iron Man 2 (only to be replaced by the also-nominated, and in my opinion superior, Don Cheadle). Feinberg says this is a turning point for Mo'Nique but I call bullshit and I hope she does too. It'll be a shame if Mo'Nique loses traction because she doesn't want to campaign, and the awards cognoscenti may be up in arms about Mo'Nique's refusal to campaign, I'm with her. Fuck 'em.
I've always thought the campaign push is ridiculous, but I agree it's part of the game. Even Howard says that she has to campaign in order to make herself known to Academy voters but doesn't Mo'Nique's snub send the message that her performance should stand on merit alone? Look, I know I'm living in a fantasy world where Hollywood is a meritocracy, which it most certainly isn't and while Precious has it's fault, Mo'Nique is a powerhouse and she deserves the credit, even if the large majority of people who have to decide have never seen Phat Girlz.What do you think? Is Mo'Nique doing the right thing or is she simply hurting a movie she helped push to greatness?
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In last week's City Paper, Julia West interviewed photog-about-town Marianne Bernstein, who asked South Street's most inked-up denizens to bare their souls ' and their tats ' for GritCity Inc.'s new coffee-table book, Tatted. Along with the photo shoot, Bernstein asked Philadelphians to write down the meaning behind their ink. Here's what she had to say about the results:
Each person's handwriting is unique ' some letters rounded, others sharp ' you can almost sense personality coming through. I love the layers of information in the shape and text of the handwritten notes. Watching each person write their note was very poignant. It was almost like receiving a love letter. I felt so fortunate again and again to have strangers offer up their time and give of themselves in such an open, personal way. And I think they were just as surprised as I was. It all happened so fast. They probably didn't have time to process it until later.
Tatted's official launch party is Thursday at the Piazza's Pure Gold Gallery, but citypaper.net reader/Head House Books event planner Debbie Rech let us know that the South Street-adjacent bookstore is also hosting a f'te this evening. The deets:
There is a launch event and book signing at Head House Books, at 619 S. Second St. (between South Street and Bainbridge) at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 8. RSVP at sales@headhousebooks.com. We look forward to a memorable evening and to celebrating Marianne's talent behind the lens.
Check back with CritMass later in the week for a chance to win a copy of Tatted, and don't miss Thursday's jam at Pure Gold, complete with music from DJ Frosty, free beer and rum, and GritCityInc. giveaways including books, tattoo sessions, 215 mag swag bags and more.
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Well, I sure didn't see this coming.
In 2006, Island Records reissued three Pulp albums in the UK: His 'n' Hers (1994), Different Class (1995) and This Is Hardcore (1998), with bonus tracks, liner notes, extra pics, the works. Dutifully, I bought import copies. Now, three years later, the same three double-disc editions have been released in North America, despite Pulp never having really risen above "critically admired cult act" status on these shores.
It is interesting ' maybe even significant ' that Pulp, who went on indefinite hiatus in 2002, are the first of the mid-'90s Britpop acts to get a reissue campaign, rather than Oasis, Blur, Elastica or Suede. This band had a unique take on their zeitgeist, one that remains relevant. And their towering, dapper stick figure of a frontman, the inimitable Jarvis Cocker, was auteur-like in his pursuits. Even the band's most tossed-off compositions often contained a laser-like focus, as Cocker found endless permeations and new angles for his devastatingly witty, deeply neurotic worldview.
Before signing with Island in '94, Pulp had spent over a decade exiled in an especially hopeless indie nowheresville, primarily in their hometown of Sheffield. Band members came and went, as did a dizzying array of musical styles ' faux-Factory Records, twee-pop, gloomy goth, Euro-folk. By the early '90s, however, they had settled into a (mostly) stable lineup and an effective identity, melding guitar-pop and disco.
His 'n' Hers, their major-label debut, is, first and foremost, a very British album. Imagine a collaboration between Roxy Music and Mike Leigh, as the glossy art-pop music soundtracks some impossibly grim lower-middle-class scenarios. By the first track, "Joyriders," someone's probably been murdered already. Of the album's three singles, "Babies" and "Do You Remember the First Time?" display Cocker's oft-cited talent for droll sex commentary. But "Lipgloss," a glorious paean to a woman undone by heartbreak, highlights his sympathetic eye. The bonus disc shows just what a songwriting roll the band was on. B-sides like "Street Lites," "Your Sister's Clothes" and "Seconds" are anthemic and sly, and they contain miles and miles of style.
Amazingly enough, the band was just getting started. Different Class is, of course, Pulp's magnum opus. It contains "Common People," their signature song and biggest hit, a scathing satire on the glamorization of poverty. ("The stupid things that you do/ Because you think that poor is cool.") It also contains their other signature song, "Disco 2000," a tale of unrequited adolescent longing, melded to the fabulously cheesy guitar riff from Laura Branigan's "Gloria." But there's much more to the album than these two singles. Different Class is a classic coming-of-age tale, detailing Cocker's escape from Sheffield to London. Only this tale culminates with songs like "Underwear" and "Monday Morning," where the freedoms of young adulthood reveal their potential for disappointment and disillusionment. Because the band was so focused on making Different Class as perfect and catchy as possible, they didn't hold any classic songs back, so the bonus disc is mostly inessential. However, fans of other tall singers who look good in suits may want to check out Nick Cave's scuzzy cover of "Disco 2000."
In the UK, Pulp would never again be as popular as they were during the era of Different Class, and the follow-up, This Is Hardcore was a precise description of what fame did to the band's collective psyche. "This is the sound of someone losing the plot," Cocker sang, "Making out that they're okay when they're not." The album catalogues an exhausting foray into overindulgence, while the expertly crafted arrangements and state-of-the-art production shows just how alluring but dehumanizing the experience can be. Cocker's cynicism finds an artistically brilliant outlet in the title track, which basically compares rock stardom to pornography. (And the video's pretty genius too, a mash-up of film noir, Douglas Sirk and Bubsy Berkely.) The bonus disc is much better than Different Class'; there's a fully realized outtake, "It's a Dirty World," along with b-sides like "Cocaine Socialism" and "The Professional" that skillfully fill out Hardcore's worldview.
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| atasite.org |
The rest continues here. Wesley Willis Joy Rides comes out tomorrow on DVD from MVD Visual.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
Waiting for Espers to take the stage at Johnny Brenda's last night, a buddy and I debated their catalogue. He's a loyalist to the original document, the self-titled debut. Myself, I'm partial to the deep, dark chasms of Espers II. We eventually agreed that it's compelling and commendable how each of their releases ' particularly the brighter, more serene new Espers III ' has its own distinct identity. And then we watched as those identities bended seamlessly with one another when performed live.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
The opener "Mansfield and Cyclops" ' a definitive Espers song if there was one ' comes from their second album, and Meg Baird's haunting intonations in the expansive composition positively dovetailed into harmonies with Greg Weeks on foggy, proggy "Road of Golden Dust" from III. The six-piece ensemble then moved into "Flaming Telepaths," a Blue 'yster Cult tune from their covers album The Weed Tree, which was just as complimentary. Later, they reached back to the first release for "Riding." Kind of an odd selection since it structurally feelt more like a transitionary afterthought than a stand-alone piece of music, but sonically it played right into the cat's cradle of interwoven eras.
The dissonant old songs felt more airy. The sparer new moments had more grounding (credit new bassist to Norm Fetter for beefing up the thinner tones on the record). And the set enraptured the ample crowd, much of which was politely seated on the Johnny Brenda's floor.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
Another perk was the comforts-of-home vibe Espers' set gave off. Greg Weeks is a understatedly funny dude, and doesn't always let it show through onstage, but Johnny Brenda's must put him at ease. He cracked wise about the title of The Weed Tree, telling us it was named for an errant tree in guitarist Brooke Sietinsons' backyard, or maybe it was actually "something I dreamed up when I was putting weed in my bong." Awesome. Later, when Baird broke a string (and the band couldn't get together their Durutti Column cover my other buddy was yelling for), Weeks unwittingly found himself filling the space with discursive banter about their recent European tour. He recounted tales of harassment for his recently-trimmed stache at a Dublin dance club ("I don't like your mustache and I don't like you!"), where he was later set upon by a trio of Italian guys "because there was this woman dancing within like three meters of me and I guess I was perceived as a threat." When Meg made it back up on stage, Weeks said his monologue was a learning experience; "we learned we can't play without you." Naw, dude. You did just fine.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
Also worth noting were the openers, both of whom were notable in opposite extremes.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
Standing at a piano, belting out jazz standards and jazzy derivatives, a laptop flipped open at her side - which I swear was simply decorative as it did not seem to accomplish a damn thing - and taking frequent breaks to sip on, what was that, a Long Island Iced Tea? Seriously??...Chicago songwriter Azita came off like a hot mess. She's clearly an exceptionally skilled pianist; she's clearly got a powerhouse voice. And she clearly is fine with bludgeoning both those strengths to a pulp with sloppy carelessness - over-emoting one moment, underselling a crescendo the next, and at several points apologizing for not being drunk enough. I'm thinking crap, sister, you wanted to be drunker? Although bits of beauty eked through here and there, her set was mostly a train wreck of Cat Power proportions. Part of me wondered what the performance would be like if she had her shit together. Part of me wonders if, a la The Greatest and the Memphis Rhythm Band tour, it wouldn't nearly be as intriguing.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
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| Photo | John Vettese |
On the other side of the coin was red headed Canadian Doug Paisley. He played slow, low and striking rootsy folk, the stuff of Jackson Browne and Gram Parsons. He was charming and soft-spoken; the crowd watched in hushed attentiveness. And while his songs tended to drift into subaudible territory (a cover of Roy Orbison's "Candy Man" "Crying" notwithstanding), his worked the neck of his guitar so skillfully it was confounding.
Matterfact, between him and Meg Baird, I'd say I spent a good portion of the evening fixated in amazement at nimble fretting fingers.
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| Photo | John Vettese |
Saw them in LA recently and I am amazed that they are more celebrated. This is really one of the most talented and greatest sounding folk bands ever. Few bands from the past and present can really compare with them - if any.
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| Photo | Carolyn Huckabay |
'Would you like to meet a special somebody?'
Three songs into Imogen Heap's hour-plus set at the TLA last night, her equipment's power went dead. 'Everything's fine, I'm just going to do some interpretive dancing now,' she said cheerily, mumbling to herself and pacing around the stage and playing with whatever noisemakers were in arm's reach. (Among them: bird squeezey toy.) To distract us from the technical misstep, Imogen asked us if we'd like to meet Harold. 'Woooo!' we replied.
Harold, turns out, is no sound technician or stage manager, but rather Imogen's stuffed lion, which she brought on stage and clutched lovingly for a moment, until the fuss was settled and she and her backing bandmates launched into a powerful synth-brassy 'Headlock.' By then, of course, the lioness had us hooked.
Equal parts dotty and dominant, Imogen has mastered the art of the lovable space cadet. That, or she really is in outer space. Either way, it's charming to hear her tell little tales between songs, or fill the dead space with snippets of conversation in that delightful British alto. Before 'Aha!' she launched into a story about a friend ' 'well, I'll allow we were more than friends' ' who came over for lunch, claiming to be a vegan and requesting a special meal. When he reached for a definitely-not-vegan biscuit, Imogen reported, she realized that perhaps they wouldn't be 'friends' for much longer. All of this is to say that 'Aha!' is, in part, inspired by the biscuit-eating vegan (which would explain the lyric 'Caught you red-handed in the biscuit tin'). 'But the song isn't entirely about him,' she admitted, 'because it ends up talking about a serial killer.'
Most of the set was dedicated to Imogen's new album, Ellipse (Megaphonic), which finally dropped this summer; of its 13 tracks, she played 12, skipping 'Earth' and peppering in a few numbers from 2005's Speak for Yourself (RCA). There were really lovely moments (sitting uncharacteristically still throughout 'The Walk,' she let her airy, controlled falsetto dominate over electronic embellishments) and intense ones (she danced robotically to 'Bad Body Double,' commanding such stage presence it was hard to imagine that just moments before she'd been distractedly humming arpeggios to herself) and imperfect ones (after finishing the odd, complicated 'Little Bird,' she conceded, 'I haven't quite got that one yet'). Slow bits were infused with enough visual and aural distractions to compensate; from the saw to the hang to the guest cellist she'd just auditioned via vokle.com, there was always something going on to keep our attention.
Imogen couldn't have left last night without giving us 'Hide and Seek,' which she saved for the encore. Keytar strapped across her shoulders, she' blazed through, asking for us to sing along at the end. A totally a cappella "Just for Now," with an audience-induced three-part harmony, followed, and Imogen wrapped things up with one of her favorite songs from Ellipse, "The Moment I Said It." As her last lilting note faded out, she whispered "goodnight, everyone," did a little twirl, and took off.
Set List:
1: 'First Train Home' (Ellipse)
2: 'Wait It out' (Ellipse)
3: 'Between Sheets' (Ellipse)
4: 'Headlock' (Speak for Yourself)
5: 'Bad Body Double' (Ellipse)
6: 'Speeding Cars' (Goodnight and Go)
7: 'Little Bird' (Ellipse)
8: 'Half Life' (Ellipse)
9: 'Aha!' (Ellipse)
10: 'Canvas' (Ellipse)
11: 'The Walk' (Speak for Yourself)
12: 'Swoon' (Ellipse)
13: '2-1' (Ellipse)
14: 'Tidal' (Ellipse)
15: 'Hide and Seek' (Speak for Yourself)
16: 'Just for Now' (Speak for Yourself)
17: 'The Moment I Said It' (Ellipse)
The moment I said it is actually the final track from Speak for Yourself. Was an amazing show!
Great review. She's going to be touring the UK soon dates are up here http://bit.ly/8HHDyA
"The Answer dishes to The Question!"
So no shocker but Allen Iverson is a Sixer once more. Here, Michael Scott discusses A.I., from deleted scenes from the first season of The Office.
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