Review: Fitler Dining Room
A high-minded menu manages to keep it real.
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A high-minded menu manages to keep it real.
ICE CREAM
Granola bars, like puffy coats, are so last season.
Breakfast: There’s nothing that fights heartache like a little self-empowerment. Before breakfast, go for a light jog. Eat a grapefruit, have skim milk with your Special K, and avoid overly sweet pastries or greasy bacon. Think about how good you’ll feel! Alternatively, just say “fuck it” and eat Belgian Waffles in your PJs while streaming “Girls.”
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Toro y Moi’s latest studio album, “Anything in Return,” is most strongly characterized by its subtlety. Unlike the 26–year–old’s previous EPs, the whole album thumps with constant backbeat ambiance. Rather than relying on obvious emotional peaks, “Anything in Return” maintains a pensive, almost somber tone throughout. This is not to say that each track is indistinguishable; the beats of “So Many Details” and “Grown Up Calls” each give off a hip–hop vibe, and tracks like “Cake” are noticeably less introspective. This album manages to find the aesthetic sweet spot, cohesive but not predictable, and the results are surprisingly funky.
According to Metacritic, “Unapologetic,” Rihanna’s latest studio album, is receiving “generally favorable” reviews. This mild nomenclature sums up “Unapologetic” quite well: there isn’t a whole lot to object to, per se, but you can’t say a whole lot about the album. There was too much talent involved — Benny Blanco and David Guetta both lent a hand in production — for the album to totally bomb, but apparently not enough talent to do anything but rehash the same combination of vaguely EDM–inspired beats, autotuned vocals and dubstep invocations that have dominated pop for too long. The most distinguishable track is “Nobody’s Business,” featuring Chris Brown(!), which cranks out a deliciously 80s beat with much success. Guetta gives “Right Now” a forgettable house beat, while Eminem provides a welcome cameo in “Numb,” one of the album’s stronger tracks. The goal of any pop album is to be catchy and accessible; in this respect, "Unapologetic" succeeds. However, it seems to lack other ambitions, and seems destined to be forgotten.
Chris Cornell and Soundgarden are back after 16 years without a studio record with the upcoming release of "King Animal." Listening to the album, it’s pretty hard to believe that the grunge gods are in their forties. The riffs are still heavy, and Cornell’s vocals still capture the angst so crucial to grunge. Songs like “Bones of Birds” and “By Crooked Steps” drift in and out of 5/4 and 7/4, a stylistic choice that conveys a degree of musical seriousness but does so without alienating the more casual listener. While every song is likeable in its own right, the album isn’t especially dynamic, and a lot of the tracks are more or less indistinguishable from one another. Removed from the musical context of the 90s, the sound lacks the immediacy that it had when grunge was still cutting–edge stuff. But you’ve got to give it to Soundgarden for still embracing the sound they worked so hard to define.
14th Annual Bacchanal Wine Gala and Auction
The second of two 2012 releases from Public Enemy, “Evil Empire of Everything” marks the hip–hop icons’ 12th studio album. Active for a full 30 years, Public Enemy is finally starting to show their age. The politically–conscious lyrics that put them on the map are no less relevant or insightful than they were in 1982, and the beats are still funky. However, you can tell when listening to “Evil Empire of Everything” that this is a group that was formed in the 80s: the rapping is less rhythmically inventive than what 2012 hip–hop demands, and the beats come across as slightly antiquated. It’s not bad — not by any stretch of the imagination. Cameos as diverse as Ziggy Marley on “Don’t Give Up the Fight” and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame and Henry Rollins of Black Flag on “Riotstarted” succeed in providing much–needed sparks. Ultimately, however, unless you’re a big fan of 80s hip–hop, this album will likely disappoint.
Federal Donuts 1632 Sanson St. Rittenhouse (267) 687–8258
It’s always a good feeling — or, at least, a holistically satisfying feeling — when you leave a show with your ears ringing, covered in equal parts your own sweat, other people’s sweat, and beer. That was the case after walking out of the basement of the First Unitarian Church near 21st and Chestnut after the Titus Andronicus show, opened by hardcore –favorite Ceremony. While Titus Andronicus is often grouped in the post– and pop–punk families, their musical influences are just as strongly rooted in indie rock. A lot of their fans were well into their twenties and preferred to inconspicuously bob their heads and sip their microbrews, while the younger crowd raucously danced right up next to the stage. Ceremony, on the other hand — a band who probably would have headlined at a more strictly punk show — brought the pissed–off adolescents in droves. The mosh pit immediately got underway when Ceremony took the stage, complete with kids running on stage and singing into the mic until someone else got up and tackled them — not necessarily my scene, but it was fun to watch Ceremony play some of their best songs from 2010's “Rohnert Park.” Titus Andronicus released their new album, “Local Business,” only a couple days before the show, so naturally they did a few new songs to show off the material. The bulk of the show was taken from their album “The Monitor,” with which the crowd was extremely familiar. Songs like “Richard II” had everyone in full sing–along mode. They played an extremely long set — well over two hours — that vacillated between slow build–ups and rocking choruses. The crowd was extremely receptive, as has been typical at First Unitarian. The show was a great mix of two bands different enough to have distinct sets, yet with enough cohesion to not feel incongruous.
Little Berlin 2430 Coral St. 10/27, 12 p.m.
With the release of "Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!" Godspeed You! Black Emperor has ended a decade–long span without an album, reasserting their lofty position on the post–rock totem pole. As with the rest of their work, the album is dominated by long periods of experimental ambience punctuated by periods of driven melody. The first two tracks, which together total up to 25 minutes, feature sounds inspired by the Near East, while trance–like riffage and soaring guitar screams on “We Drift Like Worried Fire” serve as reminders of GYBE’s indie rock roots.
This past summer, my final summer in my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, I had the pleasure of working as an apprentice to a professional jam maker. That’s right, all this guy did all day was pick fruit and turn it into jam. All of the fruit—strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, plums, peaches, apricots, apples, and more—was sourced from within about thirty miles of Charlottesville, located in the heart of central Virginia. In addition, my jam overlord refused—indeed, blasphemed—the use of pectin in his jam. Pectin is, essentially, gelatin from apples instead of animals. Commercial jam companies use pectin to get away with using less fruit while maintaining a spreadable consistency. Skipping the pectin and instead using the “Modified French Method” of jam-making, we managed to cram more than a pound of fruit into each eight-ounce jar of the best (and probably most expensive) jam you’ll ever taste.
Since her debut in 2010, Grimes has commanded everyone’s attention in the world of synth-pop and experimental music. Her 2012 album “Visions” was met with critical praise, and her blossoming popularity was evident by the sold-out crowd at Union Transfer on Thursday night. We got there about ten minutes before the first of three bands came on stage, and already people were pressing up against the stage. The first two sets, Myths and Elite Gymnastics, were plagued with technical difficulties. The projector kept displaying Windows error messages on stage, which led to a lot of awkward banter from the performers. Between Elite Gymnastics and Grimes was about a 45-minute wait, and it was pretty obvious that the stage crew was confused about what they were supposed to be doing. The troubles extended into Grimes’ first song, during which one of her synthesizers fell off its stand. But after that, Grimes, like any great DJ, made us all forget and just want to dance. Unlike some “press play” DJs, Grimes messed with the keys and adjusted dials and pedals in real time, while still dancing for the entire show. In fact, it’s almost hard to believe her complete ignorance of music theory when watching the ease with which she controlled her equipment. Crowd-pleasers like “Genesis” and “Oblivion” brought hands to the air while the too-cool-for-school twenty-somethings bobbed their heads with their backs to the wall. Anyone who loves a dance party atmosphere—or very, very out-there band merch—should try to catch a Grimes show as soon as possible.
Restaurant: Le Baobob Location: 5353 Woodland Ave. Dish: Gigot, $12 It’s a bit of a trek, but well worth it for this West African joint, which dishes up traditional food from Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte D’Ivoire. For lamb fans, don’t miss the gigot, a tender lamb shank served with a savory onion sauce. So fetch!
There’s something unique about going to see a show at the First Unitarian Church. You walk downstairs to the sweaty, subterranean hall and push your way past a crowd of flannelled, snap-backed U Arts kids crammed right up to the stage. Headaches, the Toronto-based opener, saw the venue’s holy origins as an opportunity for a little humor, asking the crowd to bow its heads in prayer to “badass shit, rock and roll, and, above all else, pizza.”
At Your Favorite Eatery
With the release of their newest album, "Electric and Benevolent," Philly’s own indie quintet The Extraordinaires seems poised to chisel out their own niche in the brimming East Coast indie scene. Catchy and poppy enough for anyone to bob his or her head to, yet with a unique style that would please even the biggest indie snob, The Extraordinaires take a narrative approach to songwriting that often breeds songs progressing in a series of “acts,” as opposed to the conventional verse– chorus–bridge structure. The result is an album that sounds more like a collection of musical stories than anything else. In the case of "Electric and Benevolent," these stories are all based on the life of Nikola Tesla (why not?), whom they turn into a sort of folk–legend, crafting tale after tale about his wily, steam–punky genius. Catchy tunes like “Ellis Island” and “The Egg of Columbus” are the album’s lighter, more theatrical fare, while the second–to–last “Colorado Springs” features eight minutes of towering indie jamming. If you consider yourself a fan of indie, whatever that means these days, odds are you’ll enjoy "Electric and Benevolent"
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