MUSIC
Thursday, 2/4: Telepathe with Prowler, Kung Fu Necktie, $10, 21+ Telepathe (it’s pronounced “telepathy,” guys) are a couple of New York girls just trying to make some fun music. Their dreamy vocals are nicely offset by their insatiable taste for bass and beats, and in the tradition of Bat for Lashes, everything is totally dance-friendly. A healthy helping of fuzzy noise makes their music perfect for a night of shoegaze-shuffling.
Thursday, 2/4: Dancing without Borders, The Barbary, $10, 21+ Here’s the dilemma: you want to do your monetary part to help some Haitians, but sending off a few text messages just feels a little too … easy. How about dancing for charity? From DJ sets from the likes of Flufftronix, SiYoung, KurtLife and others, to live performances from Sgt. Sass, Chang Chang, Ruinit and Banned Books, you definitely get the most bang for your buck at Dancing without Borders. Proceeds from this event benefit Haitian earthquake victims and Doctors Without Borders, and this way, you can get some sweat equity from your donation. Make like Cher Horowitz, help some Haiti-ans, and dance the night away.
Friday, 2/5: Kansas, The Keswick Theater, $37.50 — $47.50, All Ages Okay, the price for this might be a little steep, but let’s be real — it’s KANSAS, guys. Who on this campus hasn’t at least WATCHED someone play “Carry on Wayward Son” on Guitar Hero? Pay tribute to these classic rock wonders by watching them live. Face it; there’s a difference between video games and the real thing (no matter what our tragically Rock Band-obsessed neighbors would like to believe).
Saturday, 2/6: John Brown’s Body with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, North Star Bar, $15, 21+ Many people frequently find themselves bemoaning the fact that the Philadelphia dubstep (reggae meets drum n’ bass) scene is a little more than lacking. Finally, a solution! John Brown’s Body has decided to take matters into their own hands by performing at the North Star Bar (with some pretty terribly named openers). Sway to the rhythm and bounce to the beat for a blazed-up alternative to the Saturday night on-campus scene.
Tuesday, 2/9: Tape with Mountains, First Unitarian Church, $12, All Ages Can we talk for a second about how awesome Sweden is? First they gave us IKEA, ABBA, Absolut Vodka — and now Tape? What can we ever do to repay them? Uh, let’s start by going to Tape’s show, for one. Let their swirly mix of mild guitar and electronic tweaking transport you to a Nordic dreamscape.
PERFORMING ARTS
Now — 2/6: STREB, Zellerbach Theater, $24 — $48 Elizabeth Streb: MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and total crazy person. Streb’s specially trained “actioneers” have nerves of steel — and they better, when their idea of “dance” involves diving underneath a swinging I-Beam. Zellerbach Theater will be transformed into a death-defying playground celebrating the capabilities of the human body. The only question is — will you be able to watch without flinching?
Now — 2/28: Any Given Monday, Theater Exile, $18 — $30 Following on the heels of Theater Exiles' edgy and critically acclaimed Hunter Gatherers, Any Given Monday tells the story of one guy’s really shitty day — a more eloquent, interesting and compelling FML.
VISUAL ARTS
Thursday, 2/4: Douglas Crimp and Paul Swan, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Screening at International House, 6:30 p.m., Free Art historian and NYU professor Douglas Crimp lectures on Andy Warhol’s 1965 film Paul Swan. A documentary of the elderly Swan’s “aesthetic dances,” which were created forty years prior, the film provides a poignant look at the graceful aging of “the most beautiful man in the world.”
Sunday, 2/7: Film For All: Persepolis, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2:00 p.m., Free with museum admission Yael Rice, the PMA’s assistant curator of Indian and Himalayan art, will discuss images of Persepolis in medieval and early modern writing and painting. A screening of the animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s acclaimed graphic novel, The Complete Persepolis, will follow the discussion.
Wednesday, 2/10: Maira Kalman, Institute of Contemporary Art, 6:30 p.m., Free The focus of ICA’s current exhibition, Kalman comes to Philadelphia to discuss her work and practice and perhaps more importantly, to celebrate the birthday of her self-proclaimed crush, Abraham Lincoln. Come eat cake and toast our 16th president, who has been depicted many times by the artist.
Now — 2/20: Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Fleisher Ollman Gallery Warning: this show may not be appropriate for all of the pseudo-hipster Greek-affiliated street art enthusiasts who just discovered “some super-underground graffiti artist you’ve probably never heard of called Banksy” — Isaac Tin Wei Lin is the real deal. The Chinese-American, Space 1026-affiliated Lin draws heavily on his heritage and calligraphic Mandarin training in this colorful and strange multimedia installation.
