soundadvice

HIP-HOP

Ali Shaheed Muhammad

Does the name Ali Shaheed Muhammad ring a bell? It should. The midnight marauder DJ made his name as part of A Tribe Called Quest. When the hip-hop pioneers called it quits, Ali served as one-third of neo-soul ensemble Lucy Pearl, but that crumbled quickly. Then there was that unreleased album. Ali is hoping to have better luck as he brings his crates to club audiences as part of the free monthly Scion coast-to-coast series.
--Deesha Dyer

Wed., July 7, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., free with RSVP, with DJ Statik and DJ Haul & Mason, 21+, Fluid, 613 S. Fourth St., www.scion.com/metro.

DANCE/POP

Pop Rocks!

If I tell you that the steamiest gay event outside of Al Pacino in Cruising was to hit Philly in honor of someone named Esther, you'd plotz. Instead, before Madonna's Re-Invention gig rocks the Wach, Manhattan's infamous Pop Rocks! gay soiree — with DJ Chip Duckett ripping through top-of-the-pops tunes — infiltrates the Troc. Get there by 9 so you can spy un-commercially released Madonna videos. And you don't have to spend 300-some bucks to see Esther at her prime.
--A.D. Amorosi

Sat., July 3, 9 p.m., $5, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE.

GOSPEL

Gospelfest 2004

CLC Bookcenter, as it has for the last five years, brings Gospelfest to Christian soldiers looking for the good word and those on the outreach tip listening for the good groove. This means Jersey's own singing-songwriting wunderkind Tye Tribbett and Greater Anointing, holy-rolling superstars like Vanessa Williams (the gospel diva, not the chick in Eraser) and New Direction, and gospel-soul's finest familial unit, the Williams Sisters.
--A.D. Amorosi

Sat., July 3, noon-6 p.m., New Covenant Church, 7500 Germantown Ave., 215-542-1242.

ROCK/POP

Pete Best Band

He bills himself as "the man who put the beat in Beatles." Guess that's better than "the Beatle who didn't get to go along for the ride." The ex-Fab has spent 40-some years since those heady days doing what he does best — playing early Beatles songs, circa 1960-62, for die-hards and the curious. Pete Best's set is said to be raucous in a Cavern Club-ish kind of way, and quite fun.
--Nicole Pensiero

Fri., July 2, 8 p.m., $25.50, Sellersville Theater, 24 Temple St., Sellersville, 215-257-5808.

ROCK/POP

Icarus Line

Frazzled and frayed R-O-C-K is certainly nothing new. But the Icarus Line do it so damn well. Actually sounding and looking as boo-scary as a pre-Sum 41 Iggy doesn't hurt. Nor do undercurrents of classic rock and psych, or a vocalist who sometimes sounds like a snarling Gordon Gano. Duck. Duck. Goosed.
--Andrew Parks

Thu., July 1, 9 p.m., $10, with Dead Meadow, 400 Blows and Trouble Everyday, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888.

ROCK/POP

Juliana Hatfield

Ex-Blake Babies frontwoman Juliana Hatfield spent much of the four years between albums touring with Evan Dando, and later with estrogen-fueled rock trio Some Girls. She also hung out plenty on a Jungian analyst's couch; the resulting In Exile Deo (Rounder) is amazingly endearing for a record filled with songs about dysfunctional relationships. Onstage, expect a mix of old and new as Hatfield rocks out with her three bandmates.
--Nicole Pensiero

Wed., July 7, 9 p.m., $13-15, with the Damwells and The Jane Anchor, North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808.

ROCK/POP/ANTI-FOLK

Schwervon!

Damn, anti-folk looks good in a two piece. Of course, the electrically charged music that singer-drummer Nan Turner and singer-guitarist Matt Mason make is more like indie rock. It can be loud and cute and mouth-along-able. Most of all, the Schwervon! kids sing about the real, the here and the now — laundry, depression, rent and repression — which is probably how they got mixed up with that sincere NYC anti-folk scene. So much damn fun.
--Patrick Rapa

Thu., July 1, 9 p.m., $6, with Cheese on Bread and Desc, The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., 267-671-9298.