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Published: Dec 13, 2006

What I Like About Jew used to be the only alternative for those seeking relief from relentless Christmas music. Every December, Rob Tannenbaum and Sean Altman would trot out holiday songs like "Reuben, the Hook-Nosed Reindeer" and "Hanukkah with Monica." Though they split up after releasing Unorthodox earlier this year, the two are tending the flame with two new projects: Tannenbaum's Good for the Jews and Altman's Jewmongous. Like the tiny jug of oil that kept the temple's menorah lit for eight nights, the same stable of songs will fuel two nights of schlock rock. Must be a miracle.

Good for the Jews, Sun., Dec. 17, 7 p.m.; Jewmongous, Fri., Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m.; $15, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770, www.tinangel.com.

A 16-year-veteran of the English soul scene, singer Omar is landing in Philadelphia next week to team up with homeboy Vikter Duplaix for a transcontinental summit that will knot their parallel sounds. After collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Angie Stone and Common, Omar dives into the dance side of soul on his sixth album Sing (If You Want It) — which is exactly what Duplaix has been doing his entire career. In addition to both performances, DJ Junior from Eavesdrop Radio will be on the wheels, while Reelblack Productions and Saga Moor provide the eye stimulation through various visual backdrops.

Tue., Dec. 19, 8 p.m., $17-$22, hosted by Rich Medina, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.

Irish troubadour Damien Rice had a hard act to follow after 2003's elegant, idiosyncratic (and mega-selling) O. His much-anticipated sophomore effort, 9, doesn't really break new ground — Rice's intimate, wounded tenor voice still pulls in the listener with ease; his songs are still charmingly emotive. And while his lyrical navel-gazing can be a bit off-putting on vinyl, onstage Rice is surprisingly outward-focused, energized and engaging.

Fri., Dec. 15, 8 p.m., $27.50-$37.50, with The Swell Season, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow sts., 215-336-2000, www.livenation.com.

Use a battery-powered amp, play a set on the street to passing cars, record it: The bizarro Alan Lomax homage on the Princeton, N.J., group's Live Outside 7-inch gives the listener yet another layer to pick apart — as if we weren't spending our time blissfully dissecting WPRB DJ Dan DiMaggio's scuzz-tinged homilies to Modern Lovers, the Hyped2Death catalog and more.

Wed., Dec 20, 9 p.m., $7, with Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit and DJs Fantasy and Penetrator, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475.

Anyone who was fascinated by the vibrant and exciting "Tesoros/Treasures/Tesouros: The Arts in Latin America, 1492-1820" exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art should check out Piffaro's Christmas show. In collaboration with the Choral Arts Society, they will present Spanish colonial music from the great cathedrals of Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca, which was written with an Indian audience in mind.

Fri., Dec. 15, St. Patrick's Church, 242 S. 20th St.; Sat., Dec. 16, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave.; 8 p.m., $25-$30, 215-235-8469, www.piffaro.com, www.choralarts.com.

Las Vegas retro new wavers The Killers are either recklessly confident, or just plain reckless, but the band's follow-up to the multiplatinum Hot Fuss left critics and fans alike listening with slack-jawed amazement to the musical mish-mash dubbed Sam's Town. Shades of Bono and the Boss abounded on this overreaching quasi-rock opera that captured the glitz and shallowness of The Killers' hometown in ways it perhaps never intended. Onstage, though, even the so-so songs should rise above their own limitations.

Sat., Dec. 16, 8 p.m., $35-$40, with Red Romance, Electric Factory, Seventh and Willow sts., 215-336-2000, www.livenation.com.

 

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