Home • Directory • Classifieds • Chat • Contact
 online info hub for Philadelphia
|
 |
 | |
|
News |  |
Info | |
Forums | |
Tech & Business | |
Music & Culture | |
Community & Events | |
Local Music & Culture:Featured Artists:
Philly Music & Nightlife:• Galactic just the ticket for lovers of New Orleans Has there ever been a bigger sentimental Super Bowl fave than New Orleans this Sunday? Underdogs sure but the widespread Saints support also comes from post-Katrina sympathy and overall affection for the Big Easy so rich in music always primed to party. >> read more or comment • New Recordings Pop For the rest of the pop music world durability may depend on reinvention but Sade thrives by sticking to her strengths. Still an initial hearing of "Soldier of Love" the first single to the Nigerian-born soul-jazz-R&B singer (born Helen >> read more or comment • Songs that tell of 'uncomfortable truth' Nigerian-born Nneka Egbuna speaks frankly about how provocative and demanding her work is. Nneka has made a career of lo-fi hip-hop touched by dance-hall rhythms and old-soul sounds to make her melodies quake and ring. Vocally and lyrically though she s >> read more or comment • Concert Previews Gil Scott-Heron Back in his 1970s heyday R&B/jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron didn't fit neatly into any musical category other than the one for visionaries ahead of their time. The 60-year-old rap godfather best known for such socially conscious streams of co >> read more or comment • Concert and club listings In Concert The Academy of Music Broad & Locust Sts.; 215-893-1999. www.academyofmusic.org. Rain: The Beatles Experience. $34.75-$85. 2/5. >> read more or comment Philadelphia City Paper - Music Picks:• Music Picks: Da Comrade! rock/pop Tune in at the wrong point and West Philly's Da Comrade! comes off as just another facepaint-smeared Man Man-inspired weird-for-the-sake-of-weird avant-garde troupe. But amid horn bleats and whispery bacchanalia these dudes (and lady) have obvious hooks and skill. Stick out the riffy rock coda of "Ghosts of Chernobyl" or the simmering midtempo "Doom Maiden" from 2009's The War From Your Living Room (Chernobyl Collective); they're enough to topple your high horse. Don't judge just dig. Wed. Feb. 10 7:30 p.m. $5 Power Animal and Niagara Falls Kungfu Necktie 1250 N. Front St. 215-291-4919 kungfunecktie.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Writtenhouse hip-hop Those rhythmic scratches the blasting sharp beats — on 2008's Sunshine Philadelphia Vol. 2 Germantown hip-hop trio Writtenhouse had a total late-'80s/early-'90s thing going on echoing De La and Tribe. Their hot-off-the-presses new cut "Mic Check One Two" hints that they've graduated from Midnight Marauders to Beats Rhymes and Life harnessing slick jazzy keyboards and even-tempered rhymes to craft an introspective mellow mood. Fri. Feb. 5 7 p.m. $7 with Slick Mantra Scanz Ground Up and DJ Cliff Moore Rotunda 4014 Walnut St. 215-573-3234 therotunda.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Pepi Ginsberg
rock/pop No one stays tied to one place too long in Pepi Ginsberg's songs. Overwhelmed lovers take flight couples go into hiding and the dispossessed wander the streets and highways of a nation still under the spell of Dylan and Guthrie. But though Ginsberg herself moved to Brooklyn a few years back she still keeps a toe in the Philly scene playing with local boys and recording in Fishtown. She returns to her home away from home to celebrate the release of her fourth album East Is East on Park the Van Records. Amnon Freidlin's freewheeling guitar is a worthy foil for Ginsberg's flexible voice which is as forceful as a gymnast on the exuberant "East Is East" and as fragile as crystal on "Coal to Diamonds." "Shake This" contemplates mortality and impermanence with a real sense of joy: "It'll be all right" she sings over Pete Angevine's peppy beat and that's all the assurance you need. No one knows what's next so live it up. Sat. Feb. 6 8 p.m. $10 with Exit Clov and The Armchairs Johnny Brenda's 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215-739-9684 johnnybrendas.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Tape instrumental/ambient This Swedish trio is on a Stateside tour culminating with an appearance at New York's Unsound Festival of electronic music but there's little that's palpably electronic about their music. Links to jazz and folk while spiritually apt are equally tenuous and far from feeling "experimental" their loose understated compositions are calmly positively assured. Plying a primary palette of acoustic guitars organs and flutes with subtle sonic manipulations and finding equal time for lucid drones and sweetly ambling tunes Tape are ever placid but never boring the most melodious of pastoral ambient foragers. Tue. Feb. 9 8 p.m. $12 all ages with Mountains First Unitarian Church Chapel 2125 Chestnut St. 866-468-7619 r5productions.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Band Name
rock/pop See if you write it out like Band Name — as it's written on the North Philly trio's self-released cassette Insert Hear and how it was listed by R5 when they opened for Vivian Girls not long ago — well it's frickin' un-Googleable. Seriously give it a try. But people in the know i.e. the DIY kids at Terrordome and AVA House they make it one word Bandname which turns up a much more fruitful search string. Whether their band name is some sort of scene-preservational obfuscation or just a silly impractical choice Band Name/Bandname is great and needs to be heard. Imagine Voidoids-style rock cranked up to Germs-esque minute-and-a-half blasts ("Landwar") lo-fi shout-alongs a la Slanted and Enchanted ("Smile") or even early Get Up Kids ("Wonder Why"). It's rich it's fucking fun and hell I'll save you the trouble: myspace.com/bandnameb4tv. You're welcome. Fri. Feb. 5 6 p.m. $5 with Everyone Everywhere This Black Box and Hold Tight Terrordome 624 N. 48th St. myspace.com/terrordomepa. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Circulasione Totale
jazz The old cliché goes that music is the universal language but it rings cacophonously true in the case of the Circulasione Totale Orchestra. Led by multi-reedist Frode Gjerstad the ensemble gathers a dozen musicians from around the world for an improvisatory dialogue and no matter what language each individual member may speak there seem to be no barriers to the deep and nuanced musical conversation that develops over their lengthy sprawling pieces. Gjerstad staffs half the band with fellow Norwegians including the prolifically inventive rhythm duo of Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love tuba player Borre Molstad electronic musicians Lasse Marhaug and Morten J. Olsen and guitarist Anders Hana (Olsen's partner in avant-noise duo MoHa!). But sharing duties with Nilssen-Love is legendary South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo and Haker Flaten stands aside British bassist Nick Stephens. The States are also amply represented by vibraphonist Kevin Norton saxophonist Sabir Mateen and cornetist Bobby Bradford best known for his stint with Ornette Coleman's quartet in the early '60s and an undersung figure in free jazz history. It's always dangerous to unleash this many strong voices at one time but while they do raise the occasional ruckus this United avant-Nations manages to avoid shouting one another into oblivion. Sat. Jan. 30 8 p.m. $20 International House 3701 Chestnut St. 215-387-5125 arsnovaworkshop.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Bells Bells Bells rock/pop
"A Ghost Could Live Here" the title track of Bells Bells Bells' third album has plenty of nooks for a haint to hide. One-time opera student Amandah Romick's voice swoops like a bat through the creaky mansion of sound built by Kevin Fassett's mood-swing guitar textures Kat Paffett's eerie piano and Nick Kendus' muted martial drums. Elsewhere the Philly band conjures moods most familiar to fans of Black Sabbath Slumber Party and Edgar Allan Poe. Their touch can be as turbulent as a summer monsoon as on "August Is a Month" or wearier than an anchored soul like the fingerpicked guts of "Housekeeping by the Lake" which was inspired by Marilynne Robinson's 1980 novel Housekeeping. If you're afraid of the dark and can't bear to face a ghost alone you can look for a hand to hold at Saturday's record release show. Just make sure it's attached to someone you can see. Sat. Jan. 30 9 p.m. $7 with Frisky or Trusty and Party Photographers Tritone 1508 South St. 215-545-0475 tritonebar.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Freelance Whales
rock/pop OK you kids are great with your twee-romantic pop tunes and your glockenspiel spielin' and your YouTube video where you're cradle-rocking all shy on the subway platform. But listen: The quirkiness level is way elevated. Not a problem yet it's just ... be careful. I worry is all. Fri. Jan. 22 7 p.m. $10 with Animal Tropical and Faces on Film Kung Fu Necktie 1250 N. Front St. 215-291-4919 r5productions.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Ken Vandermark Septet
Ken Vandermark has never been shy about trumpeting his influences. On the contrary the list of names to whom the Chicago multi-reedist has dedicated his compositions is more voluminous than many people's record collections (but then again so is Vandermark's output). As part of Ars Nova Workshop's Composer Portrait series dedicated to trumpet master Don Cherry Vandermark premieres new arrangements of Cherry's 1966 "Complete Communion" and 1975's electric-world music fusion "Brown Rice." For the occasion he's assembled a septet of many of the Windy City's finest along with Greek keyboardist Pandelis Karayorgis. Fri. Jan. 22 8 p.m. $12 International House 3701 Chestnut St. 215-387-5125 arsnovaworkshop.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: The Inbetweens jazz/rock It used to be that jazz-rock fusions happened from the outside in but those shotgun weddings have become a thing of the past with younger generations of rock-raised conservatory-trained musicians whose shuffle-mode brains effortlessly integrate a variety of genres. The Inbetweens are a guitar-bass-drums trio of ex-New England Conservatory students who have doubled as the rhythm section for the Brooklyn Qawwali Party and Philly soul singer Candice Manson. While they've obviously listened hard to the Downtown scene ('80s to '90s Bill Frisell in particular) the Ethiopian jazz inflections betray the influence of fellow Bostonians Either/Orchestra all mixed in with surf guitar post-rock and dub flourishes. Thu. Jan. 21 8 p.m. free The Rotunda 4014 Walnut St. arsnovaworkshop.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Jeff Antoniuk and the Jazz Update
jazz Suggesting a refresher on the sounds originally broadcast by the Jazz Messengers the Jazz Update Canadian-born saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk's Annapolis-based quartet is aptly named. The group doesn't strive to reinvent the music but simply to dust off some familiar sounds for a modern-day workout. On their debut CD 2007's Here Today that applies not just to standards — Monk's "Four in One" Benny Golson's "Stablemates" — but to Antoniuk's own compositions. "Rain" evokes Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" while "Blues for J.D. Salinger" is an explosive showcase for drummer Tony Martucci in the Blakey vein. Fri. Jan. 22 5:45 and 7:15 p.m. free with museum admission of $16 Philadelphia Museum of Art 2600 Ben Franklin Pkwy. 215-763-8100 philamuseum.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Nanci Griffith
folk/country Probably no one was happier to see the '00s go than "folkabilly" singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith. Bouts with both breast and thyroid cancer the death of her beloved stepdad and two terms of George W. made her life embody the title of her powerful "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go" and led to a four-year songwriting drought. But with new health and a new president came inspiration: 2009's The Loving Kind (Rounder) to be showcased at her Media Youth Center benefit Saturday is her best album in years blending an unusual number of political songs (the title track tribute to interracial marriage pioneers Richard and Mildred Loving has already been embraced by gay-marriage advocates) along with her trademark confessionals and slice-of-lifes. Sat. Jan. 23 8 p.m. wait list only with Susan Werner Media Theatre 104 E. State St. Media 610-891-0100 mediatheatre.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Laura Izibor
soul Dubliner Laura Izibor is being called the soul of Ireland. The 22-year-old found a home on a few U.S. soundtracks last year and is currently burning up with the piano-driven single "From My Heart to Yours" and its groovy video. Plus some of her debut album Let the Truth Be Told (Atlantic) was recorded right here in Philly. Tue. Jan. 19 7:30 p.m. $25-$35 World Café Live 3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400 worldcafelive.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Manuel Valera jazz After combining his own four-piece with a string quartet for his previous album Cuban-born pianist Manuel Valera strips down to a trio on his latest Currents (MaxJazz) with invigorating results. Paired with longtime collaborators James Genus on bass and Ernesto Simpson on drums Valera's fifth record mines relatively straight-ahead territory but finds a consistent chemistry. The son of a veteran saxophonist who shared the stage with virtually every Cuban jazz legend one could name Valera brings a deep understanding of both traditions to a repertoire that ranges from a fractured take on Monk's "We See" to a lovely but muscular stroll through "I Fall in Love Too Easily" to a tightly-in-the-pocket move to the electric keyboards on the disc's title track. Fri. Jan. 15 5:45 and 7:15 p.m. free with museum admission of $16 Philadelphia Museum of Art 2600 Ben Franklin Parkway 215-763-8100 philamuseum.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: The Hustle hip-hop/soul/rock  After being followed by a group of cameras for a Fuse TV reality show Kuf Knotz and the other dozen or so guys in hip-hop group BurnDown All Stars decided to take a break and explore individual projects. For Kuf that includes fronting his band The Hustle which houses a dash of soul heap of rock and a large dose of hip-hop. He says some record labels and indie filmmakers have approached them but for now they're focused on establishing a solid hometown rep. Fri. Jan. 8 9 p.m. $13 with Cee Knowledge and the Cosmic Funk Band World Café Live 3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400 worldcafelive.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Camper Van Beethoven/ Cracker rock/pop It's only a little strange that David Lowery's songwriting has gone from slacker-punk opuses with Camper Van in the '80s to spunky soldier psych-up songs (i.e. "Yalla Yalla" — see YouTube for vids of the troops rockin' out to that one) with Cracker (pictured). What's weird is that Lowery can still do both and does. Wed. Jan. 13 7:30 p.m. $30-$40 World Café Live 3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400 worldcafelive.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Marc-AndrĂ© Hamelin
classical Former Philadelphian Marc-André Hamelin never liked to be known as a super virtuoso pianist even though he is universally regarded as one of the most technically adroit players on the planet. His visit to the Perelman Theater this week includes music that although extremely challenging on paper does not tend to dazzle audiences so much as seduce and enchant them. There will be Berg's beautifully mysterious Sonata Liszt's magnificent ooze of that same musical form a selection of the slyly dramatic Debussy Préludes and some new music from Hamelin himself. But don't worry; he will in the process get jaws to drop. It is the only way he knows to play. Wed. Jan. 13 8 p.m. $23 Kimmel Center 300 S. Broad St. 215-569-8080 pcmsconcerts.org. ... read more >>• Music Picks: The Strapping Fieldhands/Kurt Vile/ Home Blitz
rock/pop You know Kurt Vile. He's the shy-but-noisy Matador rock 'n' roller we splashed on the cover two weeks ago and knighted Best Local Artist of 2009. And you're familiar with The Strapping Fieldhands of course: They're a hardworking Philly band verging on legendary status among certain kinds of blue-collar-indie Andys. But if you aren't down with dirty Princeton garage band Home Blitz now would be a great time to get acquainted. Their latest Out of Phase is one of the most fun messiest things you slept on last year. Fri. Jan. 8 9 p.m. $10 Johnny Brenda's 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215-739-9684 r5productions.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: Murali Coryell
blues "People ask me why I'd take a second mortgage on my home just to make a record" says bluesman Murali Coryell. The answer is not the up-tempo title tune on Sugar Lips — look deeper into the heart of the record to the slow reflective "Mother's Day." A deep attachment to his mother and her sudden loss made a change in his life "I've joined the club the Lost-A-Parent Club" he says. After that nothing ever looks the same. Knowing this song was composed in time for her funeral is all the more moving and yes getting it recorded with both his father Larry Coryell and himself taking guitar solos in her memory was reason enough to mortgage the house. "The producer told me: No fast runs and fire take your solo like you are talking to your mother. I cried all through it and when I was finished I looked up and the engineers were crying too." Thu. Jan. 7 8:30 p.m. $10 Tin Angel 20 S. Second St. 215-928-0770 tinangel.com. ... read more >>• Music Picks: The Great Unknown roots/rock/pop Sure they've got their requisite rockers. "I Can See Forever Up Here" is a romp through Jay Farrar territory and "Votra Notra Dom" hints at the gritty Delta boogie of Little Feat. But the true strength in West Philly Americana quintet The Great Unknown lies in their moments of restraint. Check out "Shrapnel" a simmering hymn rooted in a rickety cello duo. Dig the breezy whistling and bango-led campfire harmonies on the flawless "The Weasel & The Worm" which closes their self-released debut Tonight Let's Pretend. These nuanced cuts tend to get amped up when the band plays rock settings such as their opening slot for Hoots and Hellmouth at Johnny Brenda's last month and the potency just doesn't translate. To experience the tunes in their proper context check out The Great Unknown's post-holiday appearance at the decidedly more subdued Tin Angel. Sat. Dec. 26 10:30 p.m. $10 with Chris Kasper Tin Angel 20 S. Second St. 215-928-0978 tinangel.com. ... read more >>Phillyist:• Photoist
Title: 3rd & Arch Like to see your photo here? Submit it!     • TelePhillyist
What's new and/or interesting in TV this week. The Colbert Report (Mon. 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. Comedy Central) LOST (Tues. 9 p.m.-10 p.m. ABC) Biggest Loser: Couples (Tues. 9 p.m.-11 p.m. NBC) 30 Rock (Thurs. 9:30 p.m.-10 p.m. NBC) Private Practice (Thurs. 10 p.m.-11 p.m. ABC) Winter Olympics: Opening Cermony & Ski Jumping (Fri. 7:30 p.m.- 12 a.m.) If we're not talking about what you're watching leave a comment! • One Book Discussion Continues With Lecture on Iranian Women's Literature
As part of the One Book One Philadelphia series focusing on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis Dr. Nasrin Rahimieh Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture and University of California-Irvine professor will give a lunchtime talk entitled "Contemporary Iranian Women's Writing" on Tuesday February 9 at 12:30 PM. She will use women's participation in the Iranian Revolution as the foundation for her lecture on the unprecedented ways in which women have participated in the writing community of Iran. A timely lecture this talk comes on the heels of the thirtieth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution a topic she will be sure to address. The location is listed as TBA on the Free Library's site so for more information contact the Penn Middle East Center at 215.898.6335. • Across the Ist-a-Verse
• Tickets are now on sale for The Young Friends of The Philadelphia Art Museum's annual black-tie Winter Gala: Midnight Masquerade. This glorious event will be held on the evening of February 20 and will include exquisite cuisine dancing open bar live music and an exclusive unveiling of the spectacular Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris exhibit which includes more than 180 paintings sculptures and works on paper by Picasso and his fellow expatriate artists. The exhibit will be on display at the Museum from February 24 through April 25. Proceeds from the gala will be used to acquire new works of art for the Museum help aid the Museum's conservation and preservation and will also help support outreach and educational programs. Um did I mention it's tax deductible? Phillyist looks forward to seeing you there in your prettiest party threads —attire is black-tie or festive costume and masks are optional. Young Friends Winter Gala—Midnight Masquerade
• Extra Extra
• Asshole of the Week
So maybe we don't love the PPA. Maybe we sometimes wish there were a Philadelphia Parking Effigy at which we could safely legally and angrily throw rocks. Because we've been ticketed towed moved abused and we didn't like it. We didn't like it at all. We didn't like paying our tickets either but we opened our check books and we did it. This is why we think the 25 people who owe 308 grand are jerks instead of heroes. When we broke the rules we took our lumps but they're off parking away in handicapped zones bus zones and all over the place without the requisite shame. The PPA is suing to get its money and we're waiting to see who will win. The vulture-like PPA or the dandy-free parking scofflaws? It's smackdown time! Place your bets. • Whose Wedding Chapel? Run's Wedding Chapel! The casino is giving one lucky couple the "Ultimate Rock & Roll Wedding" with a ceremony officiated by Rev Run. Seriously? How do you not enter this? This Phillyist doesn't even want to get married and is still half thinking about it. Come on what's more of a gamble than marriage? You might as well do it in Atlantic City! All you have to do is share your epic love story with The Borgata and you could win the wedding ceremony at Gypsy Bar on Valentine's Day. The groom gets a bachelor party at MIXX Nightclub and the bride can bachelorette it up at mur.mur. They'll also clean you up for the big day at the salon and barbershop and then you and twelve of your nearest and dearest can live it up at that night's Kid Rock concert. Then mosey on over to your late-night nuptials—complete with a photographer and custom cake—and then over MIXX to party like rock stars at the Kid Rock after-party. Sound like your kind of wedding? Enter online at the official site where you can also find more details. • CinePhillyist From Paris With Love Frozen The Last Station Zombieland • Photoist
Title: Curve Like to see your photo here? Submit it! • "Seductive Subversions": The Women of Pop Art So thank you Sid Sachs. Sachs director of exhibitions at University of the Arts is curator of Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958-1969. The exhibition which runs through March 15 is one of the first to solely collect and examine the contributions of female Pop artists. But these works on loan from private and museum collections also educate viewers on the intent of Pop Art. Take "Body Beautiful or Beauty Knows No Pain: Vacuuming the Drapes" a photo montage by Martha Rosler. In this piece a pleasant houswife stands with a vacuum hose cleaning curtains as soldiers prepare for war in a different world behind them. But then again it's the same world isn't it? One part of it is just covered by material. The piece has enough edge to provoke meditation without preaching politics and the rhetorical dissonance is sobering. This conversation will be furthered tonight and tomorrow when U Arts hosts a two-day symposium featuring female Pop artists and art historians. Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958-1968 Women and Pop Art Symposium • Extra Extra
• PAWS Dog of the Week PAWS is in constant need of support both personal and financial. Click through for information on volunteering fostering or making a donation. If you have specific questions about fostering you can e-mail the PAWS foster parent coordinator Robin at robin@phillypaws.org. Franny (ID# A09488246) Franny is a 4 to 6 year old Boxer/Pitty mix who came to PAWS as a stray. She's a mellow adult dog who doesn't need a lot of exercise just a lot of love. She's a cuddler who wants to be next to her people as much as possible. Franny has a bit of a prey drive so she should be in a home without cats or small dogs. If you'd like more information about Franny e-mail alamond@phillypaws.org. You can find Franny at the PAWS Adoption Center which is located at 100 N. 2nd Street (the corner of 2nd and Arch). Also make note of Franny's ID number and bring it with you when you go to the adoption center. Adoption hours are Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. • • Kitten-Piercer Convicted Of Animal Cruelty Let's be clear: earrings that look like cats are okay. Cats with pierced ears are not okay. Last year Philly.com reported that dog groomer and lunatic Holly Crawford from Wilkes-Barre would go to court to answer for charges of animal cruelty. She was selling kittens for hundreds of dollars on eBay after piercing their ears and cropping their tails among other things. Not cool Holly Crawford. Not cool at all. Fast forward to earlier this week when the jury finally heard testimony. Crawford's lawyers likened the woman's "gothic kitten" schtick to other controversial procedures routinely performed on pets which while this Phillyist thinks they're as inhumane as Crawford's actions are still legal in many US jurisdictions. Yesterday Crawford was convicted of one misdemeanor and one summary count of animal cruelty. Her attorneys compared what she was doing to the kittens to what parents do when they allow their children to get ear piercings and urged the court to apply the same standard. But we fail to see the logic. If a parent wants a child to get an ear piercing and takes the child to someone who can perform the procedure but the child objects there isn't going to be a procedure. The parent and the person performing the procedure will invariably respect the child's change of heart. These kittens didn't have the option of objecting. We can all agree can't we that a child even a very young one exercises a degree of decision-making and autonomy several notches above a kitten. The court didn't buy Crawford's argument either. • Photoist
Title: Philadelphia 2009 Like to see your photo here? Submit it! • Zahav is Pure Gold Last week we decided to venture out to Zahav and take advantage of one of the many restaurant week lunches. We were not disappointed. In fact the lunch was one of the better lunches we've had in quite some time for a number of reasons. Zahav a Hebrew boy's name whose origin means gold certainly lives up to its reputation. The room is comforting and beautiful. Our waiter knew the distinction between being helpful and informative versus overbearing (a fate too many front of the house staffers make). The food was both unique and sublime. For starters we love things that come "for the table." The "for the table" concept does two things—it gives the diner a bit of the restaurant's flavors and it makes the diner feel they aren't glutton-like for ordering more than one starter. The silky hummus slicked with really really good olive oil was proportioned perfectly. The Chef Michael Solomonov clearly understands them well. Too much tahini and it tastes too sesame(ish) too much lemon juice and cumin and one knows it too many chick peas and not enough oil and its too mealy. This version was just right. The homemade laffa was also delicious and maintained both a chewy and a crunchy texture as good laffa should (again knowledge of proportion). A selection of salatim/salads served in small ramekins also appeared with the hummus. That day's offerings included pickled okra (our favorite) fresh lemony tabbouleh smoky eggplant and a refreshing fennel with citrus salad. All were devoured with equal fervor. Next up came mezze of fried cauliflower and crispy haloumi. We could eat both dishes morning noon and night. The fried cauliflower was so tender and delicious against the bold dill chive mint and garlic in the sauce we wish we had more. As for the cheese. Two words. Fried Cheese. Do we really need to expand? These were followed by a house made merguez with matbucha a mild cousin to the spicy harissa and a tahini and pomegranate roasted eggplant. The experience ended with a chocolate semifreddo with candied kumquats and salted toffee and a vanilla panna cotta with passionfruit sorbet and baklava. It's hard to explain bad panna cotta and bad semifreddo versus good. Both are extremely tricky to make in bulk as there can be consistency issues but neither of these versions had none of those issues and were were a perfect ending to a perfect meal. Both had the consistency they should and the melange of tastes on each plate worked so harmoniously they made perfect sense. Would we recommend Zahav? Most certainly. Would we go back to Zahav? Without a doubt. We're already planning it. Zahav located at 237 St. James Place is open Sunday through Thursday 5PM-10PM and Friday through Sunday 5 PM - 11PM. Reservation may be made either online or at 215-625-8800. • Phillyist Playlist: Evan Dando at M Room Yep I reported on Dando the last time he played in Philadelphia: about six months ago as the frontman of the Lemonheads (MySpace). And yes he still wears the flannel ... don't you judge him. Dando was in the press a lot last year as he resumed using the Lemonheads name after an eight-year break to focus on his solo career released a new album (the lovely quirky mess covers LP Varshons) and filed a suit against General Motors over a 2008 commercial using an unauthorized copy of his band's 1992 song "It's a Shame About Ray." Dando is seeking damages and a percent of the profits from the ad campaign which GM used for its Buick and Chevrolet brands. Save the empire Evan. The Lemonheads rocked the Philly crowd that night last June and Dando will surely bring the same force and charm tomorrow night at the M Room though it will be with a very different sound than usual. Dando will be playing old Lemonheads favorites as well as solo material but tomorrow night will be an acoustic show. This will be a very different concert experience than the typical plugged-in and amped-up Dando show—Dando is such a memorable performer that his concerts still resonate in people's heads 15 years after (see this Lemonheads feature by Philly Weekly reporter Michael Alan Goldberg who cites a show in DC from back in 1993 which also happens to be the first concert this Phillyist ever attended). There's no denying it; the man even rocks other rock celebrities' socks off. Just look at the list of people who have performed on his solo records and tours: Oasis Ryan Adams The Dandy Warhols Ben Lee Juliana Hatfield Gibby Haynes Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha Hole's Melissa Auf Der Mar Spacehog's Royston Langdon and members of the Descendents. Yeah pretty much a who's who list of innovative 1990s rock artists. The thought of a stripped-down show in such an intimate setting is a veritable wet dream for alt-rock kids old and new so it's actually a miracle tickets aren't sold out yet. In other words go buy them now! Evan Dando with the Candles and Steve Yutzy-Burkey • This Week in Philadelphia Theatre
Don't worry there's plenty more if you're not in the mood for cheating husbands: Opening
Continuing
Putting on a show? Send us an email or leave a note in the comments! • Extra Extra
Current Exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:• Marcel Wanders: Daydreams • Stories and Images in East Asian Art • Ragas and Rajas: Musical Imagery of Courtly India • Gorky in New York • A Purer Taste of Forms and Ornaments: Josiah Wedgwood and the Antique • Hans Memling’s Virgin Nursing the Christ Child and the Early Netherlandish Tondo • Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms • Notations/Bruce Nauman: Days and Giorni • May Your Glass Be Ever Full: Drinking in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Europe • PHILAGRAFIKA 2010: The Graphic Unconscious―Works by Oscar Muñoz and Tabaimo • Jun Kaneko • An Enduring Motif: The Pomegranate in Textiles • Willem Kalf and the Sumptuous Still Life in the John G. Johnson Collection • Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz and the Stella Kramrisch Collections • Arts of Bengal: Wives Mothers Goddesses • Pleasures and Pastimes in Japanese Art << Next Page >> |
login | register
Interact: Chat Room
|
>> 
|
 | • Weather |
| • Forums |
| • Chat |
| • Directory | | • Classifieds | |
|
|||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
Home | Privacy | Forum Map | Contact Us Copyright © 2003 Philly Spot. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
|
Recording Studio 76ERS Phillies Eagles Flyers | |