Philadelphia Weekly

Grand Archives play Wednesday night.

Wednesday October 7

DesignPhiladelphia
Contrary to popular belief, design has nothing to do with aesthetics. Attractiveness is subjective, so DesignPhiladelphia focuses on how design can promote sustainability, revitalize urban spaces, and actually improve living and working conditions. In its fifth year, the weeklong DP has grown to become the largest design event in the country. It’s impossible to cover all of the 125-plus events, but some highlights include a kickoff party in LOVE Park; an eco-couture runway show on the lanes at North Bowl; hardhat tours of the under-construction 777 S. Broad and the National Museum of American Jewish History; a showcase of Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby teams; and “Bicycle: People & Ideas in Motion,” a series of events out to prove that riding your bike is not just a way from here to there, but a political, social and artistic act. It’s a full plate, so make sure to wear something pretty. Jeffrey Barg
Through Oct. 13. For more information, visit designphiladelphia.org.

Tune-Yards
When Merrill Garbus’ called the Tune-Yards’ genre-crossing, home-taping debut Bird-Brains, she might have been intimating that she sings like a bird on it. Not just trilling prettily, but, when necessary, squalling, squawking, cawing and even yodelling. Or she may have been referring to the cerebral firepower that undergirds her folk-blues jumprope extravaganzas, which cut communal chants with 20th century dissonance and leaven freak folk naivity with a post-modern wink. Either way, the album is a dense, polyrhythmed, wildly inventive conundrum, sure to open up like a jack-in-the-box live. Jennifer Kelly
8pm. $5. With Electric Tickle Machine, Grandchildren + Lee Jae-Won. Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave. myspace.com/dangerdangergallery

Grand Archives
Following his departure from Band of Horses—the group he co-founded with former Carissa’s Wierd mate Ben Bridwell—shortly after their star-making 2006 debut Everything All the Time, singer and multi-instrumentalist Mat Brooke established Archives, later Grand Archives. Easing up a bit on the cosmic Neil Young-isms that fed BoH’s work, Grand Archives indulged in a warmer indie-roots sound on last year’s engaging self-titled debut. Its songs were indebted to Crosby, Stills & Nash and other ’70s West Coast folk-rock; chock full of gorgeous vocal harmonies that’s made them cousins to Fleet Foxes. Sophomore album Keep in Mind Frankenstein doesn’t stray a whole lot from its predecessor, and that’s a good thing indeed. Michael Alan Goldberg
9pm. $10-$12. With the Most Serene Republic + Caves of Mercury. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. johnnybrendas.com

Ellipsis
Drummer Justin Leigh and pianist John Stenger head up Ellipsis, and their continuing residency at Tritone has entailed full-album renditions of Björk, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jeff Buckley and others (first Wednesday every month, free downloadable sets at ellipsismakesmusic.com). But Ellipsis also plays Ellipsis—their originals tend toward anthemic gestures and sparse, swelling jazz-rock-folk melodies reminiscent of the Brian Blade Fellowship but with distinctly personal flourishes. Edge Hill Road, their new debut, is a brooding song cycle with unassailable musicianship from several of Philly’s finest young jazzers. Leigh and Stenger celebrate this week with saxists Jason O’Mara and Jon Thompson, guitarist Tim Conley and bassist Jason Fraticelli. David R. Adler
Wed., Oct. 7, 9pm. $5. With Oud Blues. Tritone, 1508 South St. 215.545.0475. tritonebar.com

Thursday October 8

Philadelphia Fashion Week
No need to spend the time and money to travel to New York. Fabulous Philly fashionistas can stay close to home and attend the inaugural Philadelphia FashionWeek; a celebration of fashion, food, Philly arts and culture. Featuring the latest trends in fashion and touted by organizers as Philadelphia’s first “real” Fashion Week, the three-day event will include 15 runway shows. Models will hit the catwalk in urban street wear, contemporary and couture designs from local lines including Strange Fruit and Triple Five Soul. The fashion extravaganza will also include pop-up mini boutiques, performances by local arts and culture venues, concerts, an open bar and light bites from some of the city’s best chefs. In an effort to showcase the up and coming design talent fostered in Philly the event will also include runway fashion designed by students from The Art Institute, Philadelphia University and Moore College of Art & Design. Jazmyn Burton
Through Oct. 10. For more information, visit philadelphiafashionweek.org.

The Gossip
Singer Beth Ditto’s vibrant live performances peg her as a force of nature like tornados, tsunamis and quakes. Her soulful bluesy howl writhes over jagged post-punk riffs that jitter and shake like a strobe-induced seizure. The Arkansas-bred plus-size lesbian emanates a sexy swerve that transcends the airbrushed beauty myth, investing the music with a sweaty knee-wobbling slink. The trio graduated to the majors after a remix of the Standing in the Way of Control title track ascended the UK charts, but the streamlined Rick Rubin production of their latest, Music for Men, dilutes Ditto’s strengths even as the polished disco-punk foundation longs for its prior grit and struggles with an increasingly stale style. Chris Parker
9pm. $20-$23. With Men and Apache Beat Tickets. Theater of Living Arts, 334 South St. 215.922.1011. livenation.com

Friday October 9

Asian American Film Festival
Downturn economy be damned, Philadelphia now has two major, big-ass film festivals to devour (the CineFest in spring and the rebranded Philadelphia Film Festival, returning next week in small form). But let’s not ignore the plethora of tiny, ultra-specific film fests that haunt our region throughout the year. Indeed, there’s a small one every weekend in October, with future weeks bringing FirstGlance and the Terror Film Festival. (Plus Exhumed Film’s third 24-Hour Horror Marathon.) This week? The HBO-sponsored Asian American Film Festival, a three-day siege of features, documentaries and numerous shorts that, title aside, includes films from overseas. James Van Der Beek is resurrected in Saturday night’s centerpiece screening, the thriller Formosa Betrayed, while opening night ushers forth the Sundance player Children of Invention, in which a pair of abandoned kiddies fend for themselves while squatting in a model apartment. Time to freeze your Netflix account for a month. Matt Prigge
Through Sun., Oct. 11. $5-$8. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. 215.948.2750. phillyasianfilmfest.org

Yoko Miwa
As a jazz education capital, Boston attracts talent from around the world, although graduates often end up leaving for sexier scenes like New York. Some, however, like pianist Yoko Miwa, remain up north, nourishing the local soil while building reputations as global contenders. Originally from Kobe, Japan, Miwa graduated from Berklee in 1999 and began teaching there. She took a gig as accompanist to singer Kevin Mahogany while also refining her own trio music, thus far giving us In the Mist of Time, Fadeless Flower and Canopy of Stars—efforts that reveal a burnished lyricism and muscular rhythmic approach, a good fit for the Art Museum’s Great Stair Hall. D.R.A.
5:45-6:45 and 7:15-8:15pm. Free-$12. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. 215.763.8100.
philamuseum.org

CANCELED: DJ Spooky Record Release Party
When it comes to artistic street cred, DJ Spooky’s brimming with it. Show in the Whitney Biennial? Check. Publish a collection of essays? Check. Hang out with Yoko Ono? Check. Compose for Saul Williams’ flick Slam? Check. Known for mixing jazz, rock and electronic music to create politically-charged albums, DJ Spooky—also known as multimedia and visual artist, author and journalist Paul D. Miller—infuses tracks with lyrics in Mandarin and Farsi to illustrate his views of the world. Get schooled by listening to Spooky’s latest—which he’s calling his “manifesto”—The Secret Song along with a screening of his remix of the film Kino Glaz. Philly’s own DJ Dev79 of Seclusiasis opens the show. Attendance will bolster your own street cred. Taqiya Miller
Fri., Oct. 9, 9pm. $13. North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St. 215.787.0488. northstarrocks.com

Saturday October 10

Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is nervous about exercising in public. He’s nervous about what someone with his portly physique might look like plugging away on a treadmill. He’s nervous about staying in this same shape and what kind of example that might be for his offspring or of his own chances of survival if the world were to suddenly become a mutant wasteland. What he isn’t nervous about is admitting to any of these fears on stage, say at the Keswick Theater where he’ll be promoting his new comedy album and DVD My Weakness Is Strong. After a dramatic turn in Big Fan (this year’s offering from the screenwriter of The Wrestler), Oswalt turns his attention back to the funny. Your buddy sent you the link to the George Lucas rant. Now’s your chance to see all that nerd rage and insight in the flesh. Paul F. Montgomery
8pm. $29.50. Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. 215.572.7650. keswicktheatre.com

Le Loup + Nurses
The formula, last popularized by Arcade Fire, is to take relatively simple melodies, blow them up with massive choruses and oddball instrumentation, and drive the whole enterprise forward with relentless, foot-thudding rhythms. Sam Simkoff’s Le Loup adds a hint of Americana to the mix, with twangy cadences of banjo under the billowy choruses, and a bit of Afro-beat complexity in soaring single “Beach Town.” Portland’s Nurses pursue euphoria, too, but, as a group, in a more minimalist fashion. Their Apple’s Acre layers Beach Boys harmonies over stark, mechanical beats, and joy-cracked whistling choruses over yearning, romantic melodies. J.K
7:30pm. $10. Kung Fu Necktie. 1248 N. Front St. 866.468.7619. r5productions.com

Therapy
Boost your Saturday nights with a dose of classic house grooves and rare soul classics administered by noted DJs from across the country during Therapy, a weekly dance session held at the Arts Garage. From true house enthusiast to those who need a distraction from chronic it’s-almost-Monday blues Therapy was designed to suit the needs of a range of partygoers. Featuring a rotating list of DJs this multimedia event seeks to create a space where the bass heavy rhythms of classic house and soulful grooves can be enjoyed in a supportive environment. Dancers, house-oholics and those who like to watch are encouraged to take part in Therapy. Hosted by the Native Soul Ambassadors, Therapy began offering a remedy to weekend boredom in September and has since hosted several noted DJs including Johnny Dangerous and Dozia of Five Six Media. Jazmyn Burton
10pm. $10. Arts Garage, 1533 Ridge Ave. therapy@purehousemusic.com

Cuong Vu
Not every musician can bridge the distance between edgy downtown venues in New York and big-ticket concert halls around the world. But Vietnamese-American trumpeter Cuong Vu, with his bristling chops and technological curiosity, went from an obscure avant-garde bandleader to a member of the Pat Metheny Group. And the glamour job has only strengthened his independence and compositional daring. His most recent discs It’s Mostly Residual (featuring Bill Frisell) and Vu-Tet, are by turns eerie, beat-oriented and metal-aggressive, with electronic soundscapes and grinding band interplay somehow falling into balance. This week Vu tackles something new: jazz standards with two electric bassists (Stomu Takeishi, Luke Bergman), plus Vu-Tet drummer Ted Poor. D.R.A.
9pm. $10. With Planet-Y. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. arsnovaworkshop.org

Sunday October 11

Swap-o-Rama-Rama
If you’re bored to death with all the clothes in your closet but the economy has you on a tight leash, consider dropping the 20 bucks on Swap-O-Rama-Rama instead of H&M. You show up with a bag of clean, gently used clothes you don’t want or don’t fit into, as do a few hundred other people. Not only can you then take anything out of the tons—literally tons; there was over a ton of stuff left at the end of last year’s event—of clothes, shoes and accessories anyone else has brought in, but you can modify your selections at the sewing machine and silkscreening stations set up around the room. And if sewing machines freak you out, there are crafty volunteers to show you how to use the equipment. The proceeds this year benefit Girls Rock Philly, an all-female rock-band summer camp for girls ages nine through 17, and they’ll be supplying live music while you’re making stuff. Emily Guendelsberger
Noon-5pm. $20. Old Pine Community Center, 401 Lombard St. 215.627.2493. sorrphilly.wordpress.com

Monotonix
At one point the amazing book Among the Thugs—a vivid, Clockwork Orange-like portrayal of English soccer hooligans—author Bill Buford describes the adrenaline-fueled excitement of hooligan leader “Steamin’ Sammy” crossing into ecstasy when things are about to “go off,” i.e. they’re about to beat the living shit outta their rivals. The moment before the mighty Israeli garage-rock trio Monotonix begins playing is kinda like that, too: You can feel the anticipation and energy in the room building feverishly, and then it all explodes in a blast of noise, hair, sweat, hilarity, flying beer, flying bodies, and total ecstatic mayhem. Only you’re likely to leave with an exhausted smile, not a stab wound. M.A.G.
7:30pm. $10-$12. With Turbo Fruits, US Girls + My Mind. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 866.468.7619. r5productions.com

Video Games Live
If you were in a shitty rock band in the ’90s—and really, who wasn’t?—you probably decided at one point to play an awkward-sounding cover of Super Mario Bros. or Zelda or something equally nerdy … and you thought it was brilliant. Might not have been quite as awkward if, instead of a shitty rock band, you were playing in a full-on symphony orchestra. With projections and lasers and special effects and a stage show. In Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center. And, in addition to Mario and Zelda, you also played music from Halo, Final Fantasy, Warcraft and Myst, like Video Games Live does. Then maybe your band would’ve gone somewhere. Jeffrey Barg
Sun., Oct. 11, 3pm and 7:30pm. $10-$65. Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad and Spruce sts. 215.893.1999. kimmelcenter.org

Monday October 12

Krapp’s Last Tape
Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just excited for some absurdist theater? The Lantern Theater company’s Samuel Beckett Festival concludes tonight with the performance and discussion of Krapp’s Last Tape. The one-act play, written during the same 12-year streak that yielded Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days, concerns an old man’s unspooling memory through a series of musty old reel-to-reel recordings. Tonight, the role shouldered by such giants as Patrick Magee, John Hurt and Harold Pinter, will be played by Barrymore-winning actor Frank X. Krapp’s Last Tape is a prime example of the Irish dramatists knack for minimalism, offering an intimate conversation between one man and his former self. Stick around after the show to discuss the roots of the play, the meaning of the little white dog, and more fruit innuendos than you can handle. P.F.M.
6pm and 8pm. $15-$20. St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow St. 215.829.0395. lanterntheater.org

Them Crooked Vultures
With all due respect to the Dead Weather and, uh, Chickenfoot, Them Crooked Vultures is a fucking supergroup. You’ve got Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. You’ve got drummer Dave Grohl, who—regardless of what you think of Foo Fighters—is arguably the best rock drummer since John Bonham. And you’ve got singer-guitarist Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, who knows how to do weird and ass-kicking in equal measures. Oh, and there’s guitarist Alain Johannes (QOTSA, Eleven) too, who’s to TCV as Dave Kushner was to Velvet Revolver. They’ve yet to release anything, and they’ve played only a few shows so far, but how can Them Crooked Vultures not be completely fucking awesome? It’s inconceivable. M.A.G.
7:30pm. $47.50. Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St. livenation.com

Tuesday October 13

Philly Folk Parade
Like L.A.’s Laurel Canyon-era folkies, there’s a group of local musicians—arguably not all folk exactly per se depending on how much of a stickler you are for such things—who have created their own tight-knit musical community, a permeable collective of different acts that have cross-pollinated so much through shared bills and, in their case, Moonlight Forest jams, that they finally got on with it and launched a series of formal showcases. Organized by lovey-dove superduo the Spinning Leaves, this second installment features Birdie Busch, PW coverboy Ross Bellenoit, Cowmuddy, Mason Porter, Sisters 3, Wes Mattheu and the golden-locked Andrew Lipke. Eventually, the Leaves—recently picked up by Ropeadope Records, expect new vinyl soon—hope that the group will get to tour as one big happy family, like the contemporary L.A. counterparts at Hotel Cafe (albeit with more outright hippie accessories like acorn necklaces). Tara Murtha
7:30pm. $13-$20. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. worldcafelive.com

Third Man Trio
Iconic Dutch drummer Han Bennink, with trademark bandana and buzz-cut, returns to Philly for the U.S. premiere of the Third Man Trio, a successor to his Clusone Trio with Michael Moore—the expatriate saxophonist/clarinetist, not the filmmaker. The third man in question is Will Holshouser, versatile Brooklyn-based accordionist (David Krakauer, Antony & the Johnsons) who has recorded with offbeat trios of his own (Reed Song, Singing to a Bee). For a hint of Bennink’s trio philosophy, check out Parken, his latest disc with clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst and pianist Simon Toldam. It’s a mix of Ellington tunes and originals, superbly melodic for all its outbursts and pointy angles. D.R.A.
8pm. $12. Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, 1616 Walnut St. suite 100. 215.545.7562. arsnovaworkshop.org