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What to do in Philly tonight?

Brooklyn soul-folkster Langhorne Slim — a.k.a. Sean Scolnick, who originally hails from Langhorne, PA — swings by Johnny Brenda’s to play songs from his recent self-titled album for Kemado, and loads of other material from the back catalog. Philadelphia-based photographer Doug Seymour, who’s shot Langhorne live, tells me “he puts on one hell of a show,” so for the uninitiated like me that may very well be worth checking out. The show’s at 9pm and tickets are $12. Meanwhile, the new, odd, and much-talked-about Seattle outfit Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band comes to the First Unitarian Church. Mainly a family affair (the Verdoes Family) they feature 14-year-old drummer Marshall Verdoes and do exceptionally quirky, lo-fi indie-rock full of strange angles, tangents, and structures. This should be one of the stranger gigs you will see all year. The weirdness commences at 7:30pm; tickets are $12. It also must be noted here that singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata ’s scheduled show tonight at the TLA has been cancelled. So don’t go, unless you’re going to get your money back.

For more ideas about how to spend your evening, check out our events calendar.

Of course, you could also entertain yourself by reading today's best offerings from the PW blogs.

• IS HIP-HOP MAKING AMERICA LESS RACIST? Nevermind that even in the Philly suburbs where I grew up, hip-hop to this day is referred to in some quarters as n****r music (Just a couple of weeks ago I walked right by some lady at a Target in Bucks County as she pointed to some Kanye CDs on display and say “I can’t believe they sell this n****r shit here.”). And that there’s plenty of people who openly lament, rather than celebrate, the effect hip-hop has had on fashion, sports, and culture in general; often it seems like veiled (or not-so-veiled) racism to me. Yes, Obama is president. And yes, lots of white kids love hip-hop. But I have a hard time believing that racism is truly on the decline in the U.S., or that Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg will be hailed 100 years from now for improving race relations in America. (Michael Alan Goldberg)

• SO YOU LIKE SEEING MODELS FALL DOWN : ...but you don’t like seeing ankles bend in ways they’re not supposed to because of dangerous heels or some poor girl’s face meeting the hard, hard runway? Well, then, this, from what I believe (via my three years of high school Spanish) is Spain’s version of “Make Me a Supermodel,” is the model-falling-down video for you. It’s a kinder, gentler model-falling-down video. Her shoes are, uh, whatever you call flip-flops when they cost over a hundred dollars, and instead of a hard runway, it’s… well, just watch. (Emily G.)

• DEPRESSION CONFESSION: MATTHEW GOOD : The Canadian bandleader describes dysphoric mania like this: “Imagine being put in a coffin with the things you fear the most, being buried underground and feeling it start to shrink, and multiply that feeling by 1,000. You think, ‘If I die now, that’d be cool.’" Isn’t that a superb evocation? (Liz Spikol)

• KARL ROVE CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK : I think I read Karl Rove’s Wall Street Journal column in order to raise my blood pressure. Some people bungee jump; I read the WSJ op-ed page. It gives my heart a good workout. Or it’s going to kill me. Remember: Whenever Rove speaks with confidence about some politically cynical act by anybody, it’s because he knows the terrain so well. He got there first. (Joel Mathis)