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Lock 'n' Roll
Head to the Italian Market to get yourself a rockin' new look.
-A.D. Amorosi

January 16-22, 2003

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

Tumultuous week for music: Pete Townshend caught with kiddie porn, Maurice Gibb dead, Tommy Mottola ousted from Sony, Best Buy Inc. deleting scads of Sam Goodys. Good week for Philly, though: The only thing cooler than an Eagles victory was finding we'd been Grammy nominated. Floetry, Musiq, Jill Scott, James Poyser (for producing Erykah Badu), McCoy Tyner, Eve and Solomon Burke are all vying for little golden Victrolas. La Tazza will keep "Hologram" Thursdays afloat, says Frank Sparacino, and not just with homeboys but also "outta town electronic bands wanting to play the night." Meanwhile clothier bro Tony Sparacino brings "Tag the House" to Taz Jan. 17 with DJs Carter and Cappi. Along with turning Gasoline into Beyond, the Bros. Bynum are this close to opening a Caribbean-themed restaubar in the U of P area -- Cha! Cha! Cha! -- as well as partnering with Sound of Philly Studio/Records for some sorta biz in Atlantic City. Seclusiasis Studios' evil-electro Slipstate, after two years at Aqua Lounge, moves regularly to Silk, Jan. 22 with Dev79, NYC's Colorform (who have a new CD on Spooky's label, Synchronic), Boston's Dustmite and Philly's DJ Saint B. Stef Renee's Soul Sanctuary ain't just a party. It's incorporating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education foundation. "There'll be performances," says Renee, "but the initial focus will be on creating a repository of Philly urban arts performances/interviews and linking them to the legacy of creativity that this city is so undervalued for." SS's first projects are film/video-related with soundtracks by local artists (like a documentary by Philly/Camden high-school students, No Such Thing As Neosoul: An Insiders' Look at the Philadelphia Black Arts Aesthetic). A permanent home for SS has yet to be found. TLA Releasing (Circuit) hit NYC, premiering P.S. Your Cat is Dead with director Steve Guttenberg, Michael Musto and John Cameron "Hedwig" Mitchell in the house. If you miss Tim Motzer and Ursula Rucker's happy b-day to Martin Luther King at NYC's SOB with Gil Scott-Heron Jan. 19, catch them with Doc Gibbs at NXNW Jan. 23. The Teeth, my new fave packaged act (gotta get the press kit!), hit The Khyber Jan. 22 with Particle Seven and The High Strung. Prog-tribal DJ MG, Franco-punk spinner Bonnie Mac, Luca Stone and Jessica Graham (artistic director of Theater Catalyst's Eternal Spiral Project) party like a verb at Cianno's "girL" gig Jan. 18. "Philly's next big band?" asks R5's Sean Agnew, promoting The Curse's CD release show, Jan. 17 at First Unitarian. Due to commitments from his new appointment as Minister of Culture in Brazil, Gilberto Gil canceled his U.S. tour/Kimmel show. Guitarist Mike Tyler is looking for his unfinished wood Stratocaster (with B.B. King signature) used on every session he's recorded during his formidable career (215-473-8987). Low Budget (of Anjou, Silk and Jones) starts Boom Bap Tuesdays with Major Taylor at Liquid Blue. After many a moon selling homemade CDs and tapes, Philly's LouDog celebrates releasing his first (Indre) studio-recorded CD, the magnifique-ly sneery Slowly Drifting at Club 218, Jan. 17. Give till it hurts: B. Someday nonprofit theater hosts a Winter Gala Fundraiser Jan. 20 at Astral Plane with B-bodies Michelle Pauls, Carla Mariani and Bob Kravitz, best known as the singing host at Franco & Luigi's. Cash raised will go to April's production of Camus' The Misunderstanding at the Walnut. Yum. Philly Cooks! hits Hyatt Regency Jan. 22 with Sam Gugino, Jim Coleman and Stu Bykofsky judging appetizers, entrees, desserts and "Dish of the Year" from 40 Philly chefs, all for the good of MANNA. While I thank whoever put that A.D. amalgamation/spoof on www.usedwigs.com, I send a "stop whining" to The Bad Vibes -- the Philly band whose ex-members formed the formidable Trauma Queens (whom the Vibes're also dissing) -- that I inadvertently inferred broke up. (They didn't.) As Tribecca after-hours celebrates a second b-day twice (Jan. 16's open bar hoo-ha; Jan. 17's party for MISL Champs Phila. KiXX), Robin Parry celebrates one year of Club Nostradamus at its now-home, Twenty21, Jan. 18, with Julia Othmer and the newly implanted (several times a month) Peak-A-Boo Revue of dancers from Hard Liquor/Five Spot Burlesque. Engaged by PBS' documentary LANCE LOUD! A Death in an American Family and its reruns of the original 1972 series? Find his band, (and Hot Club fave) the equally riveting, equally trashy Mumps, and their Eggbert label compilation Fatal Charm, which thanks David Snyder, David Carroll and their devoted Philly fan base.