5 Things Philebrity Recommends: Right-Now Tropicalia, Boxer’s Trail, Long Light & More
I listen to a lot of Brazilian music, but almost none of it has been made less than 40 or 50 years ago. What that’s about is an aesthetic that characterized so much of the music from Tropicalia/Post-Tropicalia and pop artists of that time — its priority of dreaminess, the way all of the records sounded like they were happening in a very live and lively room, and how all of this felt in the body. Tim Bernardes’ Mil Coisas Invisíveis (A Thousand Invisible Things) reaches through time and pulls all of that back out front. Hailing from São Paulo, Bernardes is a Latin Grammy nominee who’s worked with Tropicalia legend Gal Costa and Tom Zé, while also doing guest spots with Fleet Foxes and Shintaro Sakamoto. So you can see how he’s got feet in both worlds; he has also taken real estate up in my own brain and redeveloped the place into a gorgeous beach with a wave machine. This stuff is soft, and easy on you as a person. — Joey Sweeney
The view from Boxer’s Trail.
There are a thousand and one places in this city to tuck yourself away for a little reverie, and getting to them on bicycle is best. One of them is an ostensibly unassuming spot that, once you’ve been, will call for you again. It’s behind Mount Pleasant Mansion. Walk down the path from mansion toward the river and you’ll find Boxer’s Trail. Turn right and follow until it intersects with the trail leading back to Mount Pleasant Drive. Continue on, and in another hundreds yards or so, on the left, there’s a footpath to a little rock outcropping and partial clearing (pictured above). From there you can watch the river, under shade trees, and do whatever. It was a great place to watch the big bike race we used to have. — Terry Carlin
For all of the hoagie talk there’s been in these parts lately, there’s an Italian-sandwich-adjacent condiment that needs to be lifted up regardless of whether you are hoag-ing or abandoning the script altogether. Iasa Peperoncino Piccante Hot Red Peppers in Olive Oil is hot as hades — there should be a Hot Ones for Italian condiments — but has such a rich, deep, smoky flavor that you find yourself just taking it. This feels like a life lesson, and it is. — Terry Carlin
Angelo on the Roof, 1979 (negative); 1995 (print). David Lebe, American, born 1948.
Just before the pandemic, the Philadelphia Museum of Art ran an exhibition of work by photographer and Philly expat David Lebe called “Long Light: Photographs by David Lebe.” At its core were a series of photographs that Lebe took here primarily in the 1970s while he was living in Center City and coming out. His means were decidedly DIY, using pinhole cameras, camera-less photograms, and light drawings. But the ends were electric, literally charged with style and a kind of nighttime glamour that downtown can still woo you with. (Even those two words together — Long Light — promised something deeply moody.) The hero image was Angelo On The Roof (pictured) which has been so enthralling to me that I wrote a song inspired by it. But the real payoff — even beyond the show and the book released in conjunction with it — comes by way of the hundreds of David Lebe works that PMA has made available online. These track a stylist at work, as Lebe variates endlessly on methods and techniques and images themselves. If the PMA ever starts doing re-runs, an even bigger and better David Lebe show is already in their collections. — Joey Sweeney
Muhammara: as a food, as a lifestyle, even as a word that feels pleasant for your mouth to say. Born and raised in Syria, then enjoyed all over the Mediterranean and now the world, Muhammara is a walnut and roasted red pepper dip or spread, to be enjoyed with pita, bread, fish, meats, you name it — it’s even vegan. It’s sweet, it’s smoky, packs just the hint of spiciness, and it’s easy to make and so so good. Try the muhummara at Suraya for reference — like so many other things there, it’s a study in Middle Eastern perfection — and then make your own with this recipe. Show up at a BBQ with a container of this and people will think you are rich and exotic! — Terry Carlin
