Lockdown Picks: Every Day Is Like Sunday

For many, many years, this site ran a weekly Weekend Picks roundup that collected the very best of all the events that we were privy to, whether they be from the roiling tips[at]philebrity[dot]com inbox, or our own extensive research. We loved going out, you see. And we know that you did, too. 

But we have also liked staying in. In recent years, plenty of times, going out on the weekends in Philadelphia felt lame, like you got dragged to a party of recent Penn State grads. Often, you did. And just as often, we recommended waiting until Monday to go out, because everyone knows that is when the city is magic. Philadelphia on a Monday night, say 10pm, with just you and moonlight, is better than most places get to be any day of the week. 

Now, with COVID-19 fairly raging all around us, we find that once again, the city is under new restrictions in an effort to flatten the curve. We support these efforts 100%, but also want to continue our long, long tradition of suggesting fun things for you to do. So until it seems reasonable to do so, we give you: Lockdown Picks. 

Remember: There was a good chance we would have told you to stay home anyway.

FOOD:

The first time this household tried the Rich Burger from the pickup window at Bloomsday, a joyous cry went up: “Oh, that is just filthy!” It’s not a reinvention of the wheel — it’s a 3-ounce smash burger with Cooper Sharp, American cheese, pickles, catsup & mustard on a potato bun — so much as a perfect execution. It’s gooey, it’s deeply satisfying. It might be the best way to take a walk and spend $6 in Philly right now.  

Many know Bibou as a Philly restaurant go-to/small-”i” local icon, but during this crazy time, one of the ways they’ve chosen to innovate is by opening up  boutiquebibou.com, an online gourmet French foodstuffs boutique that contains loads of French pantry items that will be music to Francophiles and wildly intriguing for anyone else. Perhaps a jar of Guinettes du Perigord, aka sweet morello cherries in kirsh? A really, really good selection of mustards? Or do you wanna shoot the works and try out some Wild Burgundy Snails? There’s a lot to geek out on here, and whatever you order, you can pick up from Bibou on South 8th Street.

I’ve been staring at this Bucatini Amatriciana recipe from Mackie’s Meals on Instagram so long I feel like I’ve been eating it every week for the last 30 years. And I haven’t even made it yet. But I’m going to. As part of this, I’m giving myself and you permission to just start making pasta dishes as a hobby, as something to do with your hands where you get to stand up and put on music. Of course you’ll eat it, too, and that will be great, but let’s also just consider this exercise, okay?

MUSIC:

During our 30+ year history we have become well-known for championing a wide-range of musical genres, but for many people we will forever be associated with the golden age of hip hop and our Soho stores. The memories of the music and culture from that time are intertwined with the experience of being in that store (for customers and staff alike). Mr Bongo founder and MD, Dave Buttle, recalls that heady period in Mr Bongo history… "It was a really exciting time. Soho was booming - full of media companies, record, stores, labels, and the place to go in London for your vinyl shopping needs. If you had an exclusive new hip hop release in store the word would spread and it would be a roadblock. We are talking the early Rawkus releases, Mos Def, Company Flow, then we had Dr Octagon, exclusive Lord Finesse bits from Japan." Hip hop will always be in the DNA of Mr Bongo and a couple of years back we decided to channel that into a Mr Bongo Hip Hop 45 reissue series. Our ambition was to release the best and most in demand cuts from the 80’s and 90’s on 7" in original picture sleeves. It’s a collection of our personal favourites, Bongo store anthems and undeniable classics. We kicked the series off with A Tribe Called Quest ‘Scenario’ and we are about to hit release number 20 with the Egyptian Lover ‘Computer Love'. The series has featured artists such as Nas, Souls of Mischief, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Black Sheep - to name a few. The response to these releases has been fantastic - the demand for these cuts is coming in from all around the world and we are very thankful for the support and love they are getting! To celebrate reaching release number 20 in the series we thought now would be a good time to showcase the catalogue in full. We called in DJ Chris Read to put together an exclusive Mr Bongo Hip Hop 45’s mix. Chris is a long-time collaborator with Bongo, has a deep knowledge of hip hop, and is an incredible DJ. Perfect for this mix. "Every track featured in the Bongos Hip Hop 45s reissues series is a certified classic and a high proportion of these records featured heavily in my DJ sets during the 90s and beyond. It was a lot of fun not only to see these records again on 45, but also to revisit them in this mix. In the years after I moved back to London in the early 2000s, a record shopping trip to Soho was a regular part of my Saturday routine and a visit to Mr Bongo's Berwick Street store was an essential stop on a circuit that took in stores including Record and Tape Exchange, Major Flavas, Scenario, Deal Real and many others. The space was small, the queue for the counter usually deep and the vibe was often hectic, but the atmosphere was electric. I have no idea how many hours I must have spent flicking through the racks or stood at the counter trying to get a glimpse of the latest arrivals up on the wall, but they were hours well spent, made all the better by the presence of some top class DJs serving from behind the counter.” Chris Read

Based in Brighton, UK, Mr. Bongo is a reissue label par excellence, who bring to light a broad swath of music from Brazil, Africa, the Latinx diaspora, and even the US. As part of their new reissue of golden-age hip-hop 45s, they made this mixtape above, with tracks from Nas, Souls of Mischief, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Black Sheep. A lot will be familiar, but plenty won’t to anyone but the deepest head, and right now, it goes down really well. 

If we might get a little bossy, do this: Carve out a day to get up really early, before anyone else, and immerse yourself in the work of jazz legend Keith Jarrett, if not the whole ECM Records catalog. Jarrett recently suffered a stroke that has effectively ended his performing career, but has given us a body of work that is both meditative and masterful. Jarrett’s style of playing the solo piano is both improvised and intuitive, and where his pieces go — especially on a set like Concerts Bremen/Lausanne (Live) — are generally exactly where you wanna go on a quiet morning. 

STREAMING: 

The world is burning, and we are all stuck in our own personal trash compactors, but guess what? Put on Rick Steves — any Rick Steves program at all — and A) watch your cares melt away and B) take yourself on a nice little trip to, say, Brussels! Or Lisbon! All with Rick Steves, who’s been quietly combating the Ugly American stereotype and sticking it to the man this whole goddamned time. That’s right, people! Don’t let the Dockers fool you — Rick Steves is Antifa! And he will chill you out like nobody’s business.

Likewise on the chill scale, if you like smart, spooky tales, check out this production of Angela Carter tales that recently surfaced on the BBC Sounds app. 

Going the other way, if you wanna get hype and have yourself a little bit of the old Barbary in your living room, follow DJ Baby Berlin on Twitch. Berlin has been DJing parties around town for a few years now — spinning Britpop, Darkwave, Goth stuff, New Wave, and so on — but when the pandemic hit, she got serious about doing it from home. Constantly upping her production values while also spinning very, very often, she’s now doing a series of different theme nights. Check out her schedule and you’ll see.

To submit an event for consideration for Lockdown Picks/Weekend Picks, email your stuff to tips[at]philebrity.com.