MIRO DANCE THEATRE presents Cinco de Miro: ¡Super Salsa Sensacional!
First Annual Fundraiser @ Founder’s Hall, Girard College, May 9th
featuring music, Salsa dancing competition, Latin food & drinks and more

PHILADELPHIA – Miro Dance Theatre is thrilled to invite dance enthusiasts, supporters and members of the Philadelphia community to Salsa the night away at Cinco de Miro: ¡Super Salsa Sensacional! – the company’s first annual fundraising event, on Friday, May 9th from 6 – 11 p.m. This “Party for the People” includes Latin music, a Salsa dancing competition featuring Philadelphia personalities, a live auction, Latin inspired food catered by Breath of Life Caterers and a cash bar with Margaritas, Martinis and top shelf Tequila by Gran Centenario. Held at Girard College’s Historic Founder’s Hall, located at 2101 South College Ave. (at Girard Ave. & Corinthian Ave.), the unique social and fundraising event promises to be an exciting night for all, with proceeds benefiting Miro Dance Theatre programs including the free monthly Open Studio Series, local educational outreach and development of new work.

Cinco de Miro tickets are $25 and are available online at mirodancetheatre.org, by calling (215) 962-4773 and at the following Philadelphia locations: Halloween (1329 Pine St), Black & Brew (1523 E Passyunk Ave), and American Mortals (729 Walnut St).

The highlight of Cinco de Miro is the live Salsa dancing competition featuring Philadelphia personalities Marisa Magnatta of WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show, President of Girard College Hon. Dominic Cermele, hip-hopper Michelle Byrd-McPhee of Montazh Performing Arts Company, Massage Therapist and Personal Trainer Rita Jean Clark, Bucks County Community College student Chelsea Davis, Miro’s Producing Artistic Director Tobin Rothlein, and Antony Giblisi and Heidi Hirjak of American Mortals Salon. Led by Salsa Professional and DJ Victor Colon, the contestants will team up with professional salsa dancers from Fuzion Creativa Dance Company to strut their stuff on the dance floor. Prior to the event, each contestant will receive professional training with their dance partner in preparation for the competition. Audiences are invited to cheer on and cast their vote for the best dance team along with guest Judges including Kathy Romano of WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show, Ms. Tess Tickle and Jose Guillermo Ortega Tanus.

The competition will be followed by a dance party for all, with Victor Colon as DJ for the evening. Cinco de Miro will also include a live auction with items such as private Salsa lessons, dinner with Miro Artistic Directors, gift certificates to local establishments, and more.

A vital member of Philadelphia’s independent dance community, Miro Dance Theatre creates and performs original work that explores the collaborative intersections of dance, video, and visual art. Miro uses classical technique as a departure point from which to explore new and challenging dance vocabularies, ideologies, performance disciplines, and the way media co-exist within the performance space. The company was founded in 2004 by dancer and choreographer Amanda Miller and video and visual artist Tobin Rothlein, following five years as Co-Artistic directors of Phrenic New Ballet. Miller, with ten years experience as a dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and choreographic studies in Europe under Siobhan Davies, is at the helm of Miro’s choreographic exploration. Rothlein, whose work as video artist and visual designer for Rennie Harris Puremovement and others has garnered national and international accolades, oversees the company’s work in combining dance, multi-media and visual arts. As the 2007-08 Girard College artists-in-residence, the company also oversees an outreach program with the school’s students.

Cinco de Miro is supported by Gran Centenario, 1800, Three Olives, Whole Foods, American Mortals, and Black and Brew. Catering for the event is generously provided by Breath of Life Caterers; Smiley Ferebee, Rodney Gains and Munirah King.

Miro Dance Theatre and the Open Studio Series are supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Independence Foundation, Advanta Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund and Girard College.

Schedule of Upcoming Events & Performances

Thursday, April 17th, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Open Studio Series: Behind-the-scenes of Self-Portrait
Girard College, Mechanical School
2101 South College Ave. (at Girard Ave. & Corinthian Ave.), Philadelphia
Admission is FREE.

Friday, May 2nd, 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
World Premiere of Self-Portrait
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Art After 5 series
26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
For additional information about the Museum’s Frida Kahlo exhibit and Art After 5, visit www.philamuseum.org.

Friday, May 9th, 6 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Cinco de Miro: Super Salsa Sensacional
Girard College, Founder’s Hall
2101 South College Ave. (at Girard Ave. & Corinthian Ave.), Philadelphia
Admission is $25. Miro Dance Theatre is recognized as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization by the Federal government; all contributions and event proceeds are tax deductible. Tickets are available online at www.mirodancetheatre.org, by calling (215) 962-4773 and at the following Philadelphia locations: Halloween (1329 Pine St), Black & Brew (1523 E Passyunk Ave), and American Mortals (729 Walnut St).

Miro Dance Theatre is recognized as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization by the Federal government. All contributions and event proceeds are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Press Contact:
Canary Promotion + Design
Emaleigh Doley, emaleighATcanarypromo.com

Just did a mix/blend job for one of my amateur radio sources. Here he is in his heyday.--> Been thinking about my former production techniques and how I should proceed in the future. Clearly there is a difference between the "cookie cut" beatmaker and the "Producer" who gives an Artist an outline to work with but adds and removes in the studio. I've been told my style of poems, lyrics and apparently music making is too deep or complicated. I'm left-handed so I leave room for adjustments in a recording. If I'm given a pre-made beat, after and during vocal recording I chop, add samples and play in between the track I was given. That's how I work. I've been known to give artists just a bare bone drum track so I can build everything around the vocals. That's me. I've made beats with just a looped sample to give to artists. Now I know that in the studio the finished product won't sound like what I gave them, but I don't tell them that. Why would I? Shouldn't they make the beat their own so I can tailor it to them? Maybe thats my problem. I expect a vision from the artist. I like music. The way it flows, stops, changes directions and come back to it's beginning. I'm a circular guy. Maybe I should give each artist I decide to work with a speech about my Studio intentions. I can't expect a stranger to "trust" me. Who am I? There's no awards on my wall... http://myphillynetwork.com/content/no-awards-my-wall

For Immediate Release:

Presents

“DRIVING THE VOTE, BRIDGING THE GAP”
Concert
Featuring
Wildphyr
Other names to be announced

April 20, 2008
Festival Pier at Penn’s Landings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“We are not our government”
“We will make our government again”

OUR MISSION
To inspire young Americans to be a part of their political process. To help them understand that it is their government and they have a voice. That America began as and still is “We the people! By the people! For the people!” - Realize the best way to create positive change at home and abroad is to exercise your right to vote, speak out and make a difference.
The show, “Americans on the Mend”, is a non-partisan event to encourage young Americans support the democratic process and express their freedoms by voting and / or registering to vote. The show includes political speakers, bands and other talents from all genres. Sponsors such as “The Association of Diversity in Motor Sports”, “Rock the Vote”, and political candidates will have representatives delivering their message throughout the venues.
“Americans on the Mend”, founded by Griffin Stewart in Los Angeles, CA, is continuing to build momentum after completion of its tour though Los Angeles, Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and now has reached the political hotbed of Philadelphia. Griffin, a Philadelphia area native, is quoted; “voting is a choice that we make as individuals that connects us to our communities and to our country. It is our freedom to challenge our elected representatives to enact on the will of the people.” Griffin has spent the last few years developing the band Wildphyr which organized the show in Los Angeles to helped boost voter turnout for the Super Tuesday elections in California. Recent speakers at our events include Rev Michael Beckwith from the movie “The Secret” and Councilman Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles.
“Americans on the Mend” has been working with the campaigns to reach all Americans to help make a choice in this import historical election.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

THE ASSOCIATION FOR DIVERSITY IN MOTORSPORTS KICKS OFF
“DRIVING THE VOTE, BRIDGING THE GAP”

Association For Diversity in Motorsports promotes educating the youth in achieving professional opportunities in Motorsports.

(Greensboro, NC) -- The Association For Diversity In Motorsports (AFDIM) and Infinity Business Affiliates INC., will be traveling throughout the country to various Motorsports and political venues, registering new voters and educating various groups about the business/career opportunities and family entertainment found in Motorsports.
This 2008 “Driving The Vote, Bridging The Gap” voter awareness drive gives AFDIM, with the assistance of strategic Corporate sponsors, the chance to make Motorsports fans a “voice to be heard” on social issues as well as expands the opportunity to become Professionals in Motorsports, for a more diverse community of youth. In the media, we always hear about the “Soccer mom”. AFDIM and its partners now believe, it’s time for the “Motorsports Mom and Dad” to have a voice.
We will have “Driving The Vote, Bridging The Gap” booths at various Motorsports sponsored races. Also, as we travel across the country, we will have representatives from local/national civic and political groups, celebrities, corporations and media outlets appear in support of our drive. From NASCAR to Drifting, “We will be voters encouraging new voters to register until the deadline for the 2008 Presidential election. After the voter registration deadline we will be reminding people to vote in November”, said Wayne Clapp, Executive Director of AFDIM.
The “Driving The Vote, Bridging The Gap” voter registrations drive will not stop after the November 2008 Presidential election. This database of new politically active Motorsports fans and other individuals that pledge their support will be followed-up with electronically or by mail with our monthly newsletter highlighting racing news and whatever social issues our readers say are the most important to them. We will then inform the rest of the community on the issues of importance and how, together, we can lend our voice or letters to effect change.

Throughout the year we will be fundraising through concerts and fun entertainment racing events in order to lend a hand to our racing community. Through this effort we hope to bring the existing Motorsports family together and bring new Motorsports fans into our community; all the while, making sure that every voice is accounted for and heard.
We reach out to our corporate community for sponsorship and donations, for information in how to donate funds to our cause or to receive information on how to become a sponsors at one of many events that we will a part of such as Formula Drift, NASCAR, Indy cart, Formula 1, etc… Contact David Resendes, Director of Marketing, Executive Board of Directors AFDIM at info@one2infiniti.com.
The racing community consists of all types and varieties of individuals and corporations making up the fabric of the United States, yet when it comes to social issues, we are left behind. “It is now time to Bridge the Gap in Motorsports”, said Dave Resendes, President of Infinity Business Affiliates, INC.
Thank you for your support,
Event Producer
Vision Technical Group, Inc.
216 Brooke Rd. Pottstown, PA 19464
Brian Boatwright – Larry Hecklin
610-495-8050

MIRO DANCE THEATRE’s Monthly Open Studio Series Continues
Stories from the City at Night @ Girard College, Thurs. March 13th
British composer Pete M. Wyer to accompany with a live performance

Philadelphia’s Miro Dance Theatre’s monthly Open Studio Series returns to Girard College on Thursday, March 13th at 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Miro co-Artistic Director’s Amanda Miller and Tobin Rothlein welcome longtime friend and collaborator Pete M. Wyer, one of the composers of Miro’s Hurdy Gurdy (2005). In celebration of collaborations, past and future, and the U.S. CD release of Wyer’s Stories from the City at Night, Miro will perform excerpts from their repertoire, set to Wyer’s moving music and videos featuring Miro dancers. Wyer will also accompany with a live musical performance.

The Open Studio Series, which launched in February 2007, provides audiences with open access to the creative process and a chance to see and respond to new dance works in progress, as well as previous pieces from the Miro repertoire. The 2007 season featured guest artists from the region and around the world, all at Miro’s Girard College studio where the company also serves as artists-in-residence and continue to oversee an outreach program with the school’s students. All series events are free and open to the public.

“I’ve been working with Pete Wyer longer than Miro has been in existence and I love creating work to his music,” said Rothlein, Miro’s video and visual artist. “I’ve been dancing and choreographing to Pete’s music for over 10 years now,” seconds Miro choreographer Amanda Miller. “I always have a very emotional reaction to his music which is one of the reasons I love performing with it.”

A self-taught musician hailing from the UK, Pete M. Wyer has worked with the acclaimed Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North (Leeds, England), and the Julliard School, among others. The “pioneering, transatlantic composer” (The Independent) is thrilled to reconnect with Miro in 2008. For additional information on Wyer and to sample his music, visit www.pmwmusic.com.

Miro Dance Theatre and The Open Studio Series are supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Independence Foundation, Advanta Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, and Girard College.

About Miro Dance Theatre
Miro Dance Theatre (“Miro”) creates and performs original work that explores the collaborative intersections of dance, video, and visual art. Miro uses classical technique as a departure point from which to explore new and challenging dance vocabularies, ideologies, performance disciplines, and the way media co-exist within the performance space. The company was founded in 2004 by dancer and choreographer Amanda Miller and video and visual artist Tobin Rothlein, following five years as Co-Artistic directors of Phrenic New Ballet. Miller, with ten years experience as a dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and choreographic studies in Europe under Siobhan Davies, is at the helm of Miro’s choreographic exploration. Rothlein, whose work as video artist and visual designer for Rennie Harris Puremovement and others has garnered national and international accolades, oversees the company’s work in combining dance, multi-media and visual arts.

WHEN: Thursday, March 13th, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Girard College, Mechanical School
2101 South College Ave. (at Girard Ave. & Corinthian Ave.)
Accessible by #15 & #33 buses; free and secure parking.

ADMISSION: FREE; light refreshments will be served.
For directions and more information, visit mirodancetheatre.org
or call (215) 962-4773.

Please watch this music video on YouTube about Breaking the Cycle in Philly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DvWaDNDXmM

Thanks!

Let's preface this whole thing by making one point very clear: in a battle of the bands, nobody wins. The audience at these events is comprised of people who, unless they are there specifically to cheer for your band, are there specifically not to cheer for your band under any circumstance. The judging panels are frequently populated with people who have no business telling anybody what sort of music to make, and will laud only those acts who pander to their particular predetermined idea of cool or remind them of their own failed and unlistenable musical endeavors. And in an era where "selling out" becomes more of a philosophical fossil with each passing day, the spectacle of artists competing for cash and prizes still smacks faintly of fresh marrow. All in all, band battles are just the sort of music industry nonsense with which BadmintonStamps looks forward to never being associated.

That said, our disdain alone will not make events such as Philly Sound Clash go away. And since $2,000 and city-wide rental car omnipresence seem like a dangerous combination in the wrong hands, we feel obliged, Philadelphia, to offer you some guidance through what is a long, messy, and generally under-qualified list of candidates.

Without further ado, BadmintonStamps is proud to endorse GANG as clearly the best choice in the 2008 Philly Sound Clash. Their non-stop party-hop comes correct in all the best ways. They hold dear our god-given right to fuck shit up and look good doing it. And they know that the path towards a more secure homeland begins by taking care of those damned dirty rats.

There you have it, people. The ballot is right this way. We urge you to vote early, often, and if possible, while driving a Mini Cooper.

GANG - "Rat Posion" (follow link to download)

PHILADELPHIA – The Rosenbach Museum & Library welcomes Philadelphia’s Dave Burrell, famed composer, jazz pianist and Musician-in-Residence to the museum on Wednesday, February 20 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. Burrell will premiere Syllables of the Poetry of Marianne Moore, a series of new compositions commissioned by the Rosenbach. The series is inspired by the museum’s extraordinary collection of Marianne Moore materials and based on Burrell’s research into the life and work of the Modernist American poet and writer who was a central figure in New York Modernism.

In an intimate concert setting, Burrell will perform and discuss his new works, which serve as musical translations of Moore’s poems: What Are Years?, The Mind is an Enchanting Thing, Those Various Scalpels, and O To Be a Dragon. The compositions interpret Moore’s poetry in striking detail, often down to one musical note for every syllable in each poem. Upright bassist Michael Formanek, professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute, will accompany.

The performance is free with museum admission. Seating is limited and tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the performance. The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for children under 5. For more information, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.

Since 1998, the Rosenbach has commissioned artists to bring its collections to life in unexpected ways and through a variety of projects. As Musician-in-Residence, Burrell’s previous work with the Rosenbach includes Bill of Sale for a Slave Girl, inspired by the museum’s African American collections.

Since the mid-1960s, Dave Burrell has contributed to over 100 recordings, including 26 under his own name, in addition to pivotal recordings with Archie Shepp (Attica Blues), Pharoah Sanders (Tauhid), Marion Brown (Three for Shepp) and Grammy Award-winner David Murray (Lovers, Ballads). A recipient of numerous grants and awards from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Music Foundation, and the Pew Fellowships in Jazz Composition. Burrell’s recent releases include Momentum (High Two Records) and Consequences (Amulet Records) – his first recording with Medeski, Martin and Wood percussionist Billy Martin. 2004’s Expansion, recorded with his Full-Blown Trio featuring William Parker and Andrew Cyrille, ranked #2 in The Village Voice's year-end best Jazz albums. In 2006, Burrell premiered the Db3 ensemble with Michael Formanek and Guillermo Brown. Hailed as a “living treasure” by The Village Voice and a "veteran pianist” who personifies “the best of neoclassicism-uncompromising individuality and in-the-moment gusto” by The New Yorker, Burrell joined the prestigious Steinway Artist Roster in 2007 and is one of only six Steinway Artists in the Philadelphia region.

Marianne Moore (1887 – 1972) was a Modernist American poet and writer. The Rosenbach houses The Moore Collection, including a recreation of Moore's living room – where she worked for more than forty years – just as she once lived in it. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Moore's complete library, with many personally inscribed and annotated books from her friends and contemporaries including Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Elizabeth Bishop, is part of the Rosenbach collections in addition to drafts of her poetry, correspondence and unpublished memoirs. The collection is a unique literary repository, preserving intact a comprehensive record of a writer's intellectual development.

The commission of Dave Burrell by the Rosenbach is made possible by a grant from the Helen Burke Charitable Foundation and additional support from the Hirsig Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation.

About the Rosenbach
The Rosenbach Museum & Library seeks to inspire curiosity, inquiry, and creativity by engaging broad audiences in exhibitions, programs, and research based on its remarkable and expanding collections. The museum was founded by legendary book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach and his brother and business partner Philip. With an outstanding collection of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, and art, the Rosenbach is a museum and world-renowned research library, set within two historic 1865 townhouses, that reflects an age when great collectors lived among their treasures.

Press Contact:
Canary Promotion + Design
Emaleigh Doley, (215) 242-6393
High-resolution images available upon request and online at: www.canarypromo.com/rosenbach

Organizers of the Popped! Festival aren't moving the event to New Jersey. But they are spamming people on behalf of Malibu Rum. Why? There's no mention of this Saturday's "Winter Beach Bash" on the Popped! web site, nor is Malibu listed as a festival sponsor (not surprising; anybody who attended the festival last year is painfully aware that pulling down liquor sponsors is not where this organization's talents lie). It seems, then, the non-profit festival's e-mail list has been turned into somebody's (???) private - and for profit, perhaps - marketing spambot. Thanks, guys. I look forward to learning how Popped! can make my penis 5X bigger and help me set up a second mortgage. And by the way, no amount of flavored rum in their cola is going to fool people into thinking that VHS Or Beta don't suck serious coconutsack.

Download: The Clash - "Koka Kola" (follow link)

Ouch! A-Sides take a 5.7-pronged trident in the rear. C'mon, Pitchfork. If you can't say something cinematic, don't say anything at all.

The Vineland Music Festival just can't catch a break. Now, the organizers of Coachella have added piss to the NARCS' previously discussed vinegar, scheduling their own New Jersey music festival on the same weekend as the proposed Vineland affair. And theirs might have Radiohead. Damn.

"ADAM SPARKLES TOOK ACID AND WATCHED THE MUMMERS THIS NEW YEAR'S DAY...NOW HE HAS A NEW MIX!!!" Download it here. Caps Lock not included.

The latest NME cover reveals that Pete Doherty's solo album will be nothing like heroine or super mdoels. It's probably, unfortunately, true.

Whoda thunk Thursday night's most intriguing live proposition would be at Millcreek Tavern? Bird And The Buffalo offer up a smart slurry of melting chamber pop. Between these guys and The Neighborhood Choir, there's definitely the seedlings of a whole new shamble-rock movement here in Philly. 'Bout time, if you ask us. MySpace it for the goods.

If the dancing is more your Thursday thing, then bring your sweat-pantsed ass over to Silk City. Steven Bloodbath's Mo Money, No Problems comes correct with Low Budget guesting.

Any band that has the good sense to pump up the crowd with John Tesh's old NBA on NBC theme song is a band you need to see. Which is why you need to see Shout Magic at Tritone this Friday night. Of course, if your parole officer has you confined to NoLibs, there's always Movable Type, fresh out of the studio and playing their newest tunes at The Fire.

Saturday night, the InMyPants DJs are spinning deweydecimaljams at National Mechanics, part of a book drive for Books Through Bars. Donate a new or gently-used tome of non-fiction, get a free drink, and dance like Dewey himself. Note: they're all stocked up on this title already.

What's new in the tumultuous world of Grizzled Grandpa Fist-Shakery, you ask? It's a new spin on a classic theme. Tired of telling individual youngsters to turn that damned music down, the old folks have expanded their vision, working the dark recesses of local politics in an effort to block the entire Vineland Music Festival, a three-day summer affair recently proposed by the makers of Glastonbury and Lollapalooza for a large parcel of undeveloped farmland in Vineland, NJ. What makes this particular glass of hater-ade truly refreshing is the name this group of malcontents has chosen for themselves: Neighbours Against Rock Concert Site. NARCS, if you will. Before you snicker, let's at least give them some credit for being self-aware enough to recognize and appreciate the ginormous number of buzzes they'll be killing throughout the Northeast. I never would've expected that degree of lucidity. Now, onto the meat of the issue:

"Many neighborhood residents share concerns about traffic, noise, potential crime... and the environmental impact on the area..."

Okay, let me retract my last comment. These people obviously aren't even aware of the fact that they live in New Jersey.

Download: The Dome City Rock Orchestra - "Quiet Village" (follow links to mp3s)
Download: Lowgold - "Quiet Times"
Download: Interpol - "Narc"

Usually when someone thinks of a good band, they usually just think of a band that fits in the type of genera that they listen too. They don't think outside the box of bands in other generas and don't consider that they Are good.

I mean, for myself, I don't like rap. I have an apprechiation for them..but I just don't see too much musicall tallent comming from it. Anything that involves making music, You know, with those things they call insterments.. has a beat and also a melody.

There have been a few bands recently that I have been listaning to and that have grabbed my attention, but there is one in particular that has really got me thinking 'How come they arnt as big as, The Trues, Queens of the Stone Age or even Avenge Sevenfold..

This band is 'The Marble Index'

I've looked at their myspace and their website and red up on them, and by damnit, these guys deserve a little notice. They've played all around the world and have even just released a new album called "Watch Your Candles, Watch Your Knives". And still I'll ask someone if they've heard of them and for the people who actually have.. Its few and far between...

But I'm telling you guys. You should go to their myspace " http://www.myspace.com/marbleindex ," listen to a few songs and try leaving their page without the thought of "wow". I can tell you this now.. You can't leave without a good thought in your head about them.

The Marble Index - http://www.myspace.com/marbleindex

It would be nice to get a few comments goin here for bands that other people have found that think they deserve more credit. So if you've found the latest 'wow' band... Tell us about it.

A songwriter from Kentucky apparently gets our strange sports pessimism, via Blinq:

And this one came along just in time for our latest Sunday afternoon unraveling.

International music sensation and former lead singer of Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, has been wowing fans globally on his “TIME MACHINE TOUR” with sold out shows in the UK and Australia. The Time Machine concept was taken from excerpts of Hayes’ new solo record *This Delicate Thing We’ve Made which explores the idea of time travel. Darren enlisted the magic of set designer, Willie Williams, who has been highly regarded as bringing both groundbreaking conceptual and technological imagery to the stage not only for Hayes, but also U2, R.E.M, David Bowie and George Michael, among others.

Hayes will take the excitement of this tour into a slightly more intimate setting on December 4th at World Café Live in Philadelphia where he will perform acoustic songs that are crossing all genres with soaring ballads such as ’Sing To Me’ to funk stormers like his latest global single ’Me, Myself and (I)’.

:: www.darrenhayes.com :: www.myspace.com/darrenhayes :: www.youtube.com/darrenhayes ::

December, 4 2007 at World Cafe Live
3025 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Cost : $20 in advance/$25 at the door

Think your holiday was solid? Greg Weeks and his cohorts in cine-freaky The Valerie Project had their album's big time 7.5 review sitting on the front page of Pitchfork from last Wednesday through to early this morning. Stuff that in your vampire turkey and cook it.

Meanwhile, Plastic Little spent last week traveling the King's highways and byways over in England, conquering trans-Atlantic audiences as they build up hype for their third single, "I'm Not A Thug", out December 10th. Pre-order now to get in on some of that sweet signed poster action. And London readers, please PLEASE tell us that at least one of you went to this. We can only imagine.

The 'Stamps boys are always huge fans of songs that reference natural disasters, but the recent tradgedy in Bangladesh has made Baby Bash's "Cyclone" a bit too guilty of a pleasure to enjoy in the short term. Thank god for local party-starters Gang. Their newest tune, "Earthquake It", was just recently added to their MySpace page, and can be relished completely free of any major current events stigma.

Don't say we didn't warn ya. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are at the TLA in just about three weeks, making their first proper Philly showing since, get this, the Five Spot back in 2002. Our call: brace for an early sell-out. This thing is like Making Time with Hot Chip for the XPN membership subscription crowd, so we highly suggest picking up your tix in advance. David Dye has a posse, and they will swarm on command.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - "Tell Me" (follow link to download)