popwreckoning

Philadelphia International Records‘ Center City location was the victim of arson this past Sunday. Platinum and gold records melted and 40 percent of the label’s memorabilia was destroyed. Luckily, the legendary recording studio where the Sound of Philadelphia was born survived the tragedy.

A 27-year-old South Philadelphia man was charged today with setting the Sunday morning fire at Philadelphia International Records. Chris Cimini, charged with arson, burglary and other crimes, had to be rescued by firefighters from the third-story of the building, at Broad and Spruce Streets.

Cimini was treated at a hospital, questioned and released on Sunday. A warrant for his arrest later was issued, and Cimini surrendered to police today.

Investigators said Cimini had been drinking all night in Center City before he went to the studio around 6AM. From surveillance video showing him knocking and banging on the door until he eventually kicked the door until he broke the glass and squirmed inside.

Once inside the studio, police said Cimini vandalized the place, setting off a fire extinguisher and eventually igniting items in a merchandise storage room sometime after 7AM.

The building has been owned by founders and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their partner Thom Bell, since 1971. Artists such as the Jackson 5, Chubby Checker, Dusty Springfield, Teddy Pendergrass and Patti LaBelle recorded their hits at Philadelphia International Records.

Here’s to a swift recovery.

Philadelphia International Records: website

Remind me why we need another indie-pop super group? Members of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot populate Discovery and that’s a bad place to start. But the real burning question is why do these guys think that it’s okay to make R&B music the hipsters can jive to? It’s not. Now they have some hooks, that’s for sure; you’ll hum some of this and it can be downright maddeningly catchy. But it’s so trite, so immediate and embarrassing in its guilty pleasure-ness that I have a hard time ever believing that someone would cop to actually owning or listening to it…at least not someone from the massive circles of fans that orbit around their day job projects.

Discovery is a derivative version of Justin Timberlake’s solo output blended with Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak. It’s Aphex Twin, but substitute misguided posing for actual ambition. While Discovery has a trick or two up their sleeve, they seem fine with bludgeoning those tricks to death. Like the circular arpeggios—I playfully dub them “digital waterfalls”—that dart around “Osaka Loop Line”; solid idea, but when used constantly, it loses the intrigue. “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” sports an ear-turning, choppy female hook reminiscent of that Dirty Projectors song everyone is in love with right now. Except that it also features some awkward lyrics (given the voice singing it) and you eventually have to listen to the rest of the tune. Ohh, and if you’re as tired of autotune as I am, don’t even bother with “Carby”. These guys didn’t get the memo from Jay-Z.

The album is mercifully short, clocking in at around 36 minutes, but the length just reminds you of how much drivel is actually here. I mean, did we really need an electro-twee remake of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5? This would have worked way better as an EP. The even shorter length would have forced the guys to distill the quirky, indie-dance vibe they were going for into something actually appealing and worthy of more than a cursory spin or two.

Discovery – “Osaka Loop Line”

Tracklisting:
01. Orange Shirt
02. Osaka Loop Line
03. Can You Discover?
04. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (featuring Angel Deradoorian)
05. So Insane
06. Swing Tree
07. Carby (featuring Ezra Koenig)
08. I Want You Back
09. It’s Not My Fault (It’s My Fault)
10. Slang Tang

Discovery: website | myspace