Your 2011 ResolutionsCapricorn (Dec. 23-Jan. 20): Count your success in the gregariousness of your children, the sparkliness of your kitchen, the way you remember the origin of every ornament. Your lucky day is always.Aquarius (Jan. 21-Feb. 19): Resolve to be less arbitrary. Decorate your nest as deliberately as a bowerbird does. Never mind David Attenborough murmuring nearby.
Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20): Resolve nothing. January for you is about pajamas, fluffy flannel bedding and cups of tea. Feel free to light ladies' magazine amounts of candles. Rest as much as you can, until the daffodils come up.
Aries (March 21-April 18): Listen to more comedy albums, but not that Louis C.K. (Really, dude? The six-letter f-word? Over and over? What a jackass.) Stick with Mitch Hedberg, Paula Poundstone, Demetri Martin, Aziz Ansari.
Taurus (April 19-May 18): Resolve to frame every piece of kid-art that comes your way. Carry scribbled Post-It notes like talismans. Frame swaths of ruined wall. Amazing.
Gemini(May 19-June 21): Resolve to ask for help, with the dishes, with the yard, with the blues. Get back some of the riches that you've handed around, with your heart like luminarias.
Cancer (June 22-July 23): Get a whole bunch of really optimistic magazines and spend an afternoon perusing them. Take the resolutions that sound the most fun, then cut the rest up for collages. (Bonus points, as always, for glitter.)
Leo (July 24-Aug. 23): You're winning. Resolve yourself a trophy room, full of blue ribbons and statuettes. You made the best pie. You bowled a mostly perfect game. Your My Little Ponies have the most perfectly braided manes. Be sure to reward yourself for anything, everything.
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 23): Resolve to remember, you're not the only one who identifies with this excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: "Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove all around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or two, Harry realized that the gold chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends...friends...friends.."Libra (Sept. 24-Oct. 21): Take off all of your costumes. Hang them neatly in your closet. Get some copper polish for your steampunk gear. Repair everything and go out unadorned.
Scorpio (Oct. 22-Nov. 22): Like the Philadelphians who drag out chairs to reserve their parking spaces, resolve to claim yourself a little bit of space, either metaphorically or by dragging out furniture.
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 22): Make a list marked "Bigger Dreams" for 2011. Be very specific and use a LOT of adjectives. Cut the list into snowflakes and fold the snowflakes neatly into a Godiva box. Tie with a bow and hope for the best.
It's good to know that the era of the spectacle rock show is not over. Theatrical road shows like Sufjan Stevens and The Decemberists still bring literary overtones to their over-the-top performances, and epic live rockers like Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, and Philly's Dr. Dog (playing the factory in February), keep the spirit of high-energy rock passion alive.
But Gogol Bordello, man ... you've gotta see it to believe it.
Half the show is the collective psychosis of the crowd. If you've never seen the Electric Factory jam-packed with a live assortment of pre-electroshock therapy patients of all ages dancing and speaking various languages (mostly yelling), then you probably haven't been to a Gogol show in Philly. And the band, a post-Klezmer dub-core troup of meso-eurasian folk-thrashers does everything to satisfy the imagination's lust for a band of violin-and-accordion-wielding James Bond mini-villains.
Gogol Bordello played two sets (or, one set with a very extended encore). After playing all their hits, they came back to play some of their newer, quieter, less crowd-pleasing but, frankly, more musically engaging semi-anthems. We heard an ode to alcohol (which, exhilaratingly, I couldn't figure out if it was meant to be ironic — but I did determine that it was definitely not a Barenaked Ladies cover), as well as a version of Stan Jone's "Ghost Riders in the Sky" (which fit their late-set western-motif).
There was something truly phenomenal about the Gogol show that really stuck with me more than anything else. It came during their infamous "Star Wearing Purple" — a chorus which seems an oddly vapid choice of central mantra for a band otherwise dense with social and macro-psychological messages. Although, to be fair, I don't know what kind of megalo-fascist European regimes in the gypsy-punk zeitgeist are represented by the tertiary colors. On the other hand, it might just be a meaninglessly catchy turn of the phrase. Does that make it less important? Not my call.
But I digress ...
During the climax of "Start Wearing Purple"— which could aptly be described as the climax of the evening, if not the climax of year 2010 — there is a carefully crafted build-up to a communal spazz-out the size and potency of which I have never seen. Not at Pearl Jam, not at Roger Waters, Radiohead, Jimmy Page and the Black Crows, Gorillaz, Weezer, Phish, Primus, nowhere. At the moment of choral release, a capacity crowd of over-the-top lunatics powered up their Dragon Ball Z war-screams and 6 foot vertical leaps to create a supernova of psycho-kinetic energy that nearly sublimated in a pair of flying deceased electric-chair inmates sliming the Electric Factory and destroying amplifiers. Insurance premiums would rise unmanageably.
What is it about an old fashioned sing-along (especially a drinking song, which, lyrically, is not what "Start Wearing Purple" is about but, musically, it's about getting annihilated on ale and punching your landlord's wife in the forehead) which harnesses the power of emotional energy in large groups? How does Gogol Bordello take a phrase like "Start wearing purple for me NOW!" and turn it into the most important thing for a thousand would-be soccer-rioters to lose their shit and scream at each other in perfect unison? Is that simply the power of a hook? Do dangling violin and minor-chord acoustic flourishes with symbol-rolls conjure up through-the-roof vocal participation from any mob of music fans? Or does the Bordello command some sort of neural pathway to the rowdy immigrant within all of us?
Maybe it's different for different fans.
I know when they return I look forward to entering the Bordello again. A spiritually charged house of hooligan horrors that makes for a memorable evening of high-powered, brutal flamboyance that you'll never forget. Even though I don't personally relate to the Eastern European immigrant experience, this new fan was sung about by John Popper: "The hook brings you back."
Photo | Ryan Carey
Gogol Bordello Tickets
Posted 2011-02-07 10:36:49
I'm a fan for Gogol Bordello since their beginnings in 2000 and still love and support them. I'm all hope that I'll be able to see them when they're coming to California next April.
You can't get into The Dandelion for NYE? Or the Barbary? Or anyplace in Philly? Go to Seaside Heights, N.J. — home of MTV'sJersey Shore — and watch Snooki pull the stunt she was supposed to have done in NYC at midnight, dropping from some ball or another. What was to have been Snooki's big moment on Times Square, being lowered from a ball (not THE ball) at the stroke of twelve just got squashed yesterday, so states the NY Times...that's right, the paper of record.The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, which organize the Times Square celebration, halted those plans.
"It was never intended or requested for Snooki to be in the actual New Year's Eve Ball in Times Square," the groups say in a statement. "The request to have her in a separate ball on a set-back roof came too late and was too impractical to fit in to our outdoor events."
So Snooki will do her hamster routine from a "descending ball apparatus" at the Jersey Shore house — that crew returns to MTV on Jan. 6 2011. Here're some TMZ snaps of construction. See you on the beach.
headshots Los Angeles
Posted 2010-12-31 17:42:34
I like the Idea of putting Snooki in a ball, but do they have to let her out?
A couple of last minute things before we go to 2011. Oi guvnah:
⤠Stephen Starr's The Dandelion at S. 18th and Sansom is indeed opening on Fri. Dec. 31. Starr's right hand ma'am and Director of Creative Services Randi Sirkin confirms the date while claiming the time is 3 p.m. They've been doing soft opening meals on Tuesday and Wednesday, so here's hoping.
⤠Suburbanite Asher RothandNottz finally made their "Rawth" EP free for fans right here. Smoke THAT.
⤠Premier Hospitality's Justin Fine kept telling me about this but it involved saving me money so I simply got lost — Rue La La, a private sale shopping destination that has sites of its Rue Local in Boston and Seattle, launched Rue Philadelphia on Wed. Dec. 29 with Fine as the local site's GM. "This is an extremely exciting launch for the city," writes Fine. "And an excellent way to give Philadelphians easy access to the best their city has to offer, and it gives our brand partners access to customers for life." Exclusive access to Rue Philadelphia is available for a limited time here. The first deal on the area's coveted restaurants, bars, salons, and exclusive events with 70% off retail prices comes courtesy of Sampan, chef Michael Schulson's restau-Graffiti Bar.
⤠Sonic Liberation Front is one of this city's most awesome meta-jazz ensembles, percussive, complex, raw. Sunny Murray is avant-garde jazz's master mensch of the drum kit. Grrrrr. They just released, through Philly's High Two label, Sonic Liberation Front meets Sunny Murray. It ain't an original title but it would've made my CP Top Ten for 2010 if it had got here just a few days sooner.
⤠Plus, for fans of SouthWest Philly and my "The Big Chill" cover story, there's a quick childhood list of my favorite things that got lost in the editorial shuffle after the jump — enjoy!
⤠Getting stuck in shale at the Traprock storage facility
⤠Listening to WFIL AM with friends in the projects that line the gorgeous historical Bartram's Gardens
⤠Dining at St. Mary of Czeschowzcha's Pieroggi Days
⤠Hearing homeboy Kenn Kweder rehearse at trombonist Kurt Titchanel's house
⤠Everything at Tony's Water Ice
⤠Finding myself under arrest for throwing a chez lounge chair over an unused railroad bridge on 62nd and Elmwood
⤠Nabbing a copy of Alice Cooper'sSchool's Out with the paper panties still in tact at Jolly's Records on Woodland Ave.
⤠Snow drifts on Dickens Avenue where I lived, and having my mom and dad push me on my fake snowmobile
⤠Rosie the Prostitute who lived on Theodore St. with the rose tattoo on her ass. She was the first working girl I ever knew.
This week, Shelf Life columnist Justin Bauerlisted his favorite books of the year. Which got us wondering what everybody else was saying on the subject...
The Guardian: Critics and readers were polled, and the resulting list has a few nice surprises (and is nicely presented). I gotta check out Damon Galgut's In A Strange Room.
The Daily Beast: Emma Donoghue's Room tops their fiction list; Michael Lewis' The Big Short wins nonfiction.
Skepticblog:Michael Shermer lists the Top Science Books of 2010. Includes Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, Stephen Hawking's The Grand Design and Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
The Sunday Times/Times Literary Supplement: They ran a bigger list in their paper-paper, but what they have here is good stuff. A.S. Byatt, John Ashberry, Helen Simpson, Julian Barnes and more name their favorites.
NPR's Monkeysee blog: Bob Mondello calls Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat his favorite book of 2010. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton picks Daniel Lanois' Soul Mining. Mara Liasson prefers James T. Kloppenberg's Reading Obama, Guy Raz likes Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, Lynn Neary goes for Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, and more people pick more books. Lots of good stuff here. Also: Rachel Symes does Weird and Wonderful Books: 2010's Hidden Gems. Includes Shane Jones' Lightboxes and David Lipsky's fascinating Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace.
How to Make a Bestselling Book TrailerThe Curse of the Drinking Class put together a funny, smug article and divide it up as much as possible. Lots to click through, but worth it.
Top Ten BooksMost Popular Books lists the all-times international best-sellers. Tolkien, Rowling, Orwell and more.
Kevin Kelly and Sara FitzSimmons sang quite a bit about romantic mishaps, distance and heartbreak at Johnny Brenda's last night. But the biggest tragedy would be if folks walked away thinking they were just another She & Him-aping duo from L.A.
It's understandable - cute girl with a pretty voice wears a sundress; guy next to her sports a fedora and suit vest, and strums an acoustic guitar; the two harmonize. And yeah, they're from L.A. Now. But they've been working that folksy soul charm for years, going back to Homesick Elephant's formidable days in Philly, doing open mics at The Fire circa 2007, as their other band Cheese on Bread wound down.
Photo | John Vettese
The JB's set was a sort of homecoming; the duo made the requisite jokes about how they hail from "Los Angeledelphia" and "we're not feeling so homesick right now." But their get-simple performance was what impressed the most. With just two microphones and a guitar, they struck the right blend of K Records and Sun Records, coming off sentimental, but sincere; comical, but convincing. Kelly proved nimble on the fretboard, fingerpicking most songs in studied folk patterns, while FitzSimmons's voice is a veritable instrument on its own, one that cooed with warmth and comfort but also required her to back away from the mic on the louder moments to keep the mix even. (Common practice for singers, yeah, but she does it remarkably well.)
They sent out their song "Get On the Boat" to a friend in the audience who was stranded in Philly because of a flight cancellation, and played a winning cover of The Magnetic Fields' "All My Little Words." Their own words were clever puzzles of self conscious wit and timid introspection: "I'm quiet as a mouse, 'cept I don't even speak / and my car is makin' sounds, and the oil always leaks."
If pressed to compare, I'd say it reminded me of Regina Spektor's first two albums, quirky and heartfelt, before she went all pop star. But it most certainly did not remind me of those other stars, Zooey and Matt, the doey-eye actress and the raspy hack. Homesick Elephant is more honest than they could ever hope to be.
Philly drag and burlesque troupe Liberty City Kings will be curing your NYE hangover @ Tabu (200 S. 12th St.) with a showcase of music, drag & burlesque artists performing their unique style of kinky cabaret.
Vixens and Vagabonds will feature performances by:
Anastascia Beaverhousen
Tre Suave
George McKay
Dino Fontaine
Peachy LaFever
Sven Handlesbod
The Rev. Pat Firmass
Geppetta
Nicole Reynolds
There will also be a tassel-twirling competition and live DJ after the show (MC The Notorious OMG). $7, or $5 in drag (Mummers costumes count!)
Vixens & Vagabonds runs bi-monthly. If you think you'd be interested in performing or even helping out with stage-crew, email them at libertycitykings@hotmail.com.
What particular kind of mood do you need to be in to fire up a playlist with absolutely no central theme other than varying degrees of connection to Philadelphia? Well, if Philly pride can be considered a mood, then I suppose that's the one. Otherwise, this streaming playlist (whose tracklisting can be found here) is less of a transcendental mix-tape and more of a nice community service project — a living monument dedicated to the past and present of Philly music. The playlist consists of many of our more popular home-grown acts over the decades, as well as out-of-towners who simply wrote about Philly (i.e. Springstein's "Streets of Philadelphia"). As I'm typing this, Bowie's Young Americans is starting up, which you may or may not have known was recorded at Philly's Sigma Sound Studios.
I bet you don't remember The Stickmen: The '80s experimental funkmen from Philadelphia who pioneered the short-lived genre known as no-wave. These guys, as well as many less substance-abusing Philly musicians who might have been in danger of being forgotten by time, show up on this homage.
So for any snowed-in audiophiles who want to pay tribute to your local music heritage, light some candles and plug in to Songs in the Key of Philly.
In case you missed it, Kurt Vile — City Paper's artist of the year 2009 — turned up for a large portion of last week's The Best Show on WFMU, and Philly Boy Roy called up to shoot the breeze. I can't believe Vile's never heard of Frank's soda. Anyway, he's got a good rapport with Tom Scharpling and the whole thing was funny and weird. Kurt, you goofball.
Listen here (Dec. 21 episode)
(In related news, see that trophy we made Vile pose with? I borrowed that from former City Paper arts editor Debra Auspitz — back in December 2009, during that blizzard. Finally, today, more than a year later, I am returning it to her.)
(If I were you, I'd call ahead to make sure these shows haven't been postponed due to the snow!)
Monday: Now in their second decade of party-starting, Richmond's Strike Anywhere holds a special place in the modern punk universe. More than just a group to bounce off the walls to, Strike Anywhere's biting and socially-conscious lyrics have lately taken a turn to the more personal, but their strong musical convictions remain. If you're into taping shows, then good news: the band encourages the recording and sharing of their concerts amongst fans. So bring some tapes and make some friends. w/ Daytrader & One Win Choice, 6:30 p.m., $10 - $12, The Barbary, 951 N. Frankford Ave., 215-634-7400.
Tuesday: Conceived as the solo outlet for local whiz Stephen Quaranta, Paper Masques has blossomed into an open arrangement of friends and collaborators. Though Paper Masques has been roped into the studio before (on 2009's thrilling Tell the Ghosts it's Suppertime), the shifting nature of its lineup contributes an ever-dynamic quality. Quaranta will be taking his muse back into the studio early next year to create a followup, so now would be the time to see all the sketches in action. w/ Homesick Elephant & Attic Dancers, 9 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684.
Wednesday: This trifecta of Philadelphia favorites culminates with Andrew Lipke, one of the busiest guys in the city. Andrew has recently been splitting his touring time between Get The Led Out and the band he leads, The Prospects. The latter group is the one you'll see tonight, performing music from Andrew's two albums (and maybe, just maybe, some new material). If you have yet to witness Lipke's captivating performance and tremendous artistic capabilities in person, now would be the time to amend that. w/ Hezekiah Jones & Chris Kasper, 8 p.m., $9.50 - $29.50, Sellersville Theater, 24 West Temple Ave., 215-257-5808.
Thursday: A recurring trend in music worldwide is a return to the dusty bins of soul, R&B and funk records. Combining those influences with the energy of garage-rock, Vital Stats bring the soul back home. A little rough around the edges, Vital Stats play their music like you'd imagine it was played before the label execs got their grubby hands all over it. Instead, the band lets their own grit give the songs a raw, heartfelt passion. w/ Otis Heat, Macadocius & Chris Arena, 8 p.m., $8, M Room, 15 W Girard Ave., 215-739-5577.
Friday: There are plenty of ways to ring in the New Year. In the event that you don't already have plans (a perfectly respectable predicament, by the way), might I suggest catching an always joyous set from Dangerous Ponies? The septet is a bundle of fun. They recently released their debut full-length on Punk Rock Payroll, and are on a mission to bring a smile to the face of everyone they meet. That mission will be accomplished plenty times over as their performance welcomes in 2011 with carnivalesque fervor. w/ Bandname & Banned Books, 9 p.m., $5, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919.
Saturday: Geez, last night was a doozy, wasn't it? Don't really feel like rolling out of bed until 1? 2? Not a problem. The free festivities at the Kimmel Center are happening all day long. The day of family-friendly fun is capped off with an hour-long performance from The Hot Club Of Philadelphia, our own salute to the '30s gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. Their lively acoustic music is enough to rouse you out of any self-imposed stupor, and will start your year off on the right toe-tapping foot. 3:30 p.m., free, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.
Sunday: What better way to get the most out of your holiday weekend than by attending Boy Wonder's massive "Recovery Day" jam? Less a concert than a showcase of old friends and new, this year's bill boasts a healthy mix of rock, hip-hop, and singer-songwriter acts from around the country (with plenty of local bands, of course). There's enough fun packed into this lineup to snap you out of any lingering 2010 funk and replace it with brand new, 2011 funk. The good kind of funk, that is. w/ Wyldlyfe, Flux Capacitor, Samantha Gongol, Granville Automatic, Box Five, Rebecca Way & Mike Mitchell, 5 p.m., $13, World Cafe Live, 30th St. & Walnut St., 215-222-1400.
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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