October 30th, 2009

Michael Jackson, Philadelphia International Style

The Michael Jackson This Is It documentary hit the big screen this week, playing virtually hourly at a bunch of theaters around the Philly area. We haven’t seen it yet, but we hear it’s actually pretty good, with MJ’s voice and dancing skills in fine form, and they say it’s a classy tribute to the late icon. Perhaps we’ll swing by one of the showings this weekend. Meanwhile, as you may know, Philadelphia International Records (PIR) — the legendary label founded by local songwriting geniuses Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff – released the first couple albums by the Jacksons (1976’s The Jacksons and 1977’s Goin’ Places) after they left Motown and before they signed with Epic. Those albums were recorded at Philly’s Sigma Sound recording studios, and PIR just unearthed some never-before-seen home movie footage of the Jacksons in the studio. In it, teenage Michael Jackson is “interviewed” by PIR producer Dexter Wansel (”He wants to sing, he thinks he can be a real good singer, and we’re gonna sign him to a recording contract”); MJ hangs out with Wansel’s two-year-old son; a female voice off-camera talks about the group staying at the Valley Forge Sheraton; and more.

You can watch the clip right here.

October 30th, 2009

Writtenhouse, Wiz Khalifa, Get Right Tonight At Temple U.

As I’ve learned, one should never, ever pass up an opportunity to see Writtenhouse do it live. And Pittsburgh’s Wiz Khalifa is killin’ it on a national level with his mixtapes, and he’s got a new album, Deal or No Deal, coming in November. We’ve also heard nothing but good things about Philly’s own Get Right. So tonight should be nothing but epic.

October 30th, 2009

Halloween Tunes!

Happy (almost) Halloween! I think I might go as “zombie Cliff Lee” this year ’cause dude looked like a zombie when he stuck out his arm to catch that pop-up the other night (and it’ll be Game 3 of the Series and the first one back here in Philly). Anyway, here’s 10 of our favorite Halloween tunes to get you in the mood for tomorrow night:

October 30th, 2009

Don’t Even Sweat It…

Phillies still got this thing. We’ll probably be up 3-1 by this time Monday. Would Thin Lizzy steer you wrong?:

October 30th, 2009

This Weekend In Shows

Tonight:

Saul Williams
9pm, $18-$21. TLA.
Don’t be surprised if Saul Williams’ performance Friday ends with dude asking for a hug. That’s been the word coming out of shows the spoken-word artist-cum-Afro-punk/industrial hip-hop hellraiser has been performing during his current North American tour. But it turns out these shows have been running the full emotional gamut, from Williams and his band igniting the crowd in a good ol’ fashioned, mosh-pit frenzy (especially when they perform tracks from Williams’ Trent Reznor-produced, 2007 album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!) to Williams intellectually stirring up said audience’s emotions by spitting some poetic verses and Williams jumping off stage and engaging in a post-show, mass embrace. Since a Saul Williams show has been getting a rep for draining a lot out of you, wouldn’t you want somebody to hold afterward? And wouldn’t you want it to be the performer in question? Just go to the show and hug it out, bitch! (Craig D. Lindsey)

A Fine Frenzy
7:30pm, $20.50-$30.50. World Cafe Live.
A Fine Frenzy is the elegant pop ensemble led by 24-year-old, flame-haired singer-pianist (and sometimes model and actress) Allison Sudol. AFF’s 2007 debut, One Cell in the Sea, had a dreamy, whimsical, romantic quality about it—it pulled off the neat trick of being charming without being dainty or cloying—and Sudol’s clarion voice and clever lyrics spoke to love and loss in simple but wise ways. On the group’s new Bomb in a Birdcage, Sudol and company expand their palette, adding a tad more complexity and texture and, gasp, even a bit more aggression to the mix. But they rarely stray from their essential strengths, making the album—and very likely, this show—an absolute winner. (Michael Alan Goldberg)

George Burton Quartet
9:30pm, $10. Tritone.
If you stopped into Tritone last year for one of Matt Davis’ enchanting gigs with Aerial Photograph, you may have seen George Burton playing viola and playing it well. But Burton is in fact a hot contender on piano, and he’s managed to score something very crucial to a young musician: high-profile gigs with seasoned, much older musicians like saxophonist Odean Pope, trumpeter Charles Tolliver and unsung Philly drummer Donald Bailey, Jr. As he imbibes jazz history from the source, Burton is able to bring a sense of wisdom to his own bandleading. These days his group includes fellow burners Jaleel Shaw on alto and Wayne Smith on drums. (David R. Adler)

Also, former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty plays an acoustic show at the Sellersville Theater [8pm/$25-$37.50]; Johnny Brenda’s hosts the Black Heart Procession, Bellini, and the Mumlers [9:30pm/$12]; and Pearl Jam plays the third of its four Spectrum shows, with Bad Religion opening [7:30pm/$77].

Saturday:

Queer Zombie Apocalypse Party
10pm-2am, $5. Elena’s Soul.
SPOILER ALERT: The new Zombieland ends with Jesse Eisenberg (aka Annoying Michael Cera) and Woody Harrelson getting it on in living-dead queer ecstasy. Okay, that’s not quite true (or even a little true), but wouldn’t it be great? And it just might happen at the Queer Zombie Apocalypse on Halloween. Put on by the worldbeat dance party Baile Crunk, the Apocalypse will feature music by Precolumbian DJ, who’ll spin baile funk, reggaeton, dancehall, soca, crunk cumbias and kuduro, a kind of propulsive, percussive beat from Angola. DJ Shoogacane, who reps for the queer ladies, will add Miami Bass and n.o. bounce (both booty-centric). This is the last Baile Funk ever, and it’ll be memorable. Costumes not required but encouraged, so come on, guys–play off pop culture and gay Woody up. Not like he needs it. (Liz Spikol)

October 29th, 2009

Guerilladelphia Is “Unstoppable”

Our good pal Kuf Knotz of local hip-hop/soul outfit the Hustle has teamed up with G. Love, Chuck Treece, and a handful of other Philly-bred music vets under the name Guerilladelphia to cut the brand-new Phillies World Series song “Unstoppable.” You can listen to it (and download it) right here.

October 29th, 2009

INTERVIEW: A Fine Frenzy’s Alison Sudol

Tomorrow night, Alison Sudol — who makes terrific piano-centric pop under the moniker A Fine Frenzy — comes to World Cafe Live with her four-piece band in support of their sophomore album Bomb in a Birdcage. As I noted in this week’s PW: “AFF’s 2007 debut, One Cell in the Sea, had a dreamy, whimsical, romantic quality about it—it pulled off the neat trick of being charming without being dainty or cloying—and Sudol’s clarion voice and clever lyrics spoke to love and loss in simple but wise ways. On the group’s new Bomb in a Birdcage, Sudol and company expand their palette, adding a tad more complexity and texture and, gasp, even a bit more aggression to the mix.” We caught up with the always friendly and gracious Sudol over the phone last week as she was kicking off her U.S. tour:

Feeling good about the new album?
Yeah, I am, actually! I don’t have full perspective on it for sure, it still feels pretty new. But I do feel like it’s definitely different than I thought it would be when I was making it, and I like it. And it always surprises me when I put it on. Something happened when we were in the studio and it was more than just musicians coming together and making music — something just kinda happened that wasn’t planned or controlled or anything and I feel that when I listen to it, more now even than when I made it.

Are there one or two moments from the recording sessions that stick out for you now?
Yeah, you know, there definitely are. There were a lot of very special moments. But one was the very beginning. I wrote “What I Wouldn’t Do” far before we went into the whole album process, and funny enough, I never get sick but I was actually sick when I wrote that. I was stuck inside and I wrote it in an hour and a half or two hours, and I was sick again when I recorded it. And I just remember it coming together, and I did that vocal and I was literally kinda propped up on a pillow feeling awful, and then I was like, “Oh, I feel like singing,” and there was something so joyful and free in it.

Do you sit down before you write the songs and think about overall moods or themes for an album, or do you just write and record all the songs and then see what you’ve got and what works together?
I guess it’s a conscious effort to try to make something of a piece. There are songs I’ll write that won’t go on the album because they just don’t fit in, but I think there were subconscious themes that I didn’t realize until afterward. There’s a lot of, like, elemental themes, and there’s a lot of birds and flight and sort of mythical struggles and stuff like that on this album. Just like One Cell had a lot of fairytale elements, and I didn’t really realize that too much until afterward.