It’s fair to say that Philly rapstress Amanda Blank’s recent debut LP, I Love You, has gotten mixed reviews: Billboard called it “guiltless fun” and England’s Guardian wrote “she hits the pop G-spot with her savvy hooks and superlative rhyming,” while Pitchfork skewered it with a 2.0 score, calling it “largely forgettable” and adding “I don’t see how you’re not better off listening to Lady Gaga, who at least offers pretty good hooks.” But Amanda doesn’t give a shit what the critics think, or so she insists in an interview with straight.com:

“People can be vicious,” she says from a tour stop in San Francisco. “When they love you, they fucking love you, but when they hate you, they’d set you on fire if they could. You would think that some of these critics owned music; they own everything about it, but they don’t make any of their own. At the end of the day, I’m more concerned about teenage girls. Those are the people whose opinions matter to me.”

* Satanized — “a chaotic noise rock band from Philadelphia, PA consisting of guitar, bass, drums, turntable and vocals. Scathing treble frequencies and heavy rhythms, alternately slicing and pummeling the listener, are made all the more freakish sounding by occasional moments of high musical complexity occurring amidst the assault. ‘A schizophrenic wasp trapped in a hot bottle.’”

* Nervous Sex — “Improvised pieces that combine samples, screamed vocals/shouting and feature little to no musical structure. Guttoral mayhem featuring a trio of Philly’s notable noisesters.”

* Microwaves — “Take the Locust and slow them down to the speed of the Melvins, add a little Butthole Surfers madness, Alice Donut insecurity and even a dash of Devo and the Cardiacs and you have Microwaves. Quirky, odd, bizarre and altogether wrong in all the right doses, Microwaves bring monged-out carnival insanity right to your stereo and you will thank them with all your deranged heart and diseased brain.”

* Kevin Hufnagel — “Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, Byla) recently, collaborated with vocalists such as Jarboe (Swans), Costanza Francavilla (Tricky), and joined reactivated, avant death metal masters Gorguts. This, his solo incarnation, attempts to unify eclectic and exploratory uses of the acoustic guitar into a cohesive and gripping whole. Layer upon layer of rhythmically propulsive sound through the use of “prepared guitar” [the act of altering the instruments timbre by placing various objects on or between the strings].Other pieces are more haunting solo guitar works at their most naked and stark. Bridging the gap are atmospheric interludes that make use of various Echoplex looping techniques and electronic processing of acoustic guitar to an almost choral effect.”

* Zevious — “With their unique jazz sound Zevious combine progressive rock grooves, tech metal, afrobeat style vamps, free improv, and complex song forms. Ft. the drummer of Dysrhythmia. This instrumental power trio are equally influenced by the sound of early John McLaughlin/Tony Williams Lifetime, Meshuggah, the ‘downtown punk-jazz-harmolodic’ school (James Blood Ulmer/Music Revelation Ensemble, Decoding Society, Curlew), Magma, Vijay Iyer and Ben Monder among others. This is NOT your father’s jazz band.”

* Gun Muffs — “Gun Muffs are the power duo of saxophonist David Fishkin and drummer Eli Litwin.”

* Projexorcism — “Experimental hyperactive expanded cinema pushing the boundaries of weirdness. Currently Projexorcism is using a quad 16mm projector array suspended from a lighting pole – the projectors are synchronized with a 4-channel sound-actuated variable speed lighting controller. The projected images are split,inverted and bent using silver reflective CD-R’s and Fresnel lenses augmented with real-time video capture,manipulation & projection devices. An insane live experience!”

* Valleys — “Vocals reminiscent of A Silver Mount Zion, on the fly instrument switching, a blend of acoustic guitars, casio keyboards, flugalhorn, samples & looping, noise, electric guitars drumming and wonderful harmonies. This bedroom pop ensemble are full of charmingly layered songs that recall the mellower side of the Califone / Modest Mouse collab, Ugly Casanova, mixed with a bit of Ida. They abide by the “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” doctrine perfected by their Montreal forebearers, throwing in a French horn here, an xylophone there.”

Doors are at 6 p.m. and it’ll cost you $8-$10 (sliding-scale donation) to get in. Also, this will be the last show at Danger Danger Gallery for a number of weeks while the joint goes on holiday.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As we told you last month, Philly legend DJ Too Tuff — currently incarcerated on aggravated assault charges — is battling thyroid cancer. You can help defray some of his medical expenses by dropping by tomorrow night and simultaneously enjoying some good tunes and good times.

…at 8:30. You could sit through what’s turned out to be a resounding dud of a show, or just watch the clip, as Cleveland would say, “right hurr.”

Tonight:

The Watson Twins
7pm, $16-$18. Troc.
Once flanking Jenny Lewis on her solo debut, the ever-fetching Watson Twins proved their knack for coy pop and breezy soul on 2006’s Southern Manners and last year’s Fire Songs. Signing to Vanguard should give a sense of their old-soul sound, and Chandra and Leigh will return in early February with Talking To You, Talking To Me, their third album since leaving Lewis’ wing. Really, it’s probably just a matter of time before they re-team with Lewis and a few other friends in a female version of Monsters of Folk. Then the two supergroups can tour together and clamber on stage as one big family-band-style revue. (Doug Wallen)

Hamiet Bluiett & Kahil El’Zabar
8pm, $12. Philadelphia Art Alliance.
When he gets going, baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett could probably take down a house with his gutsy, barrel-chested sound. A cofounder of the World Saxophone Quartet and the St. Louis-based Black Artists Group, he’s played a major role in avant-garde jazz from the ’60s on, working with everyone from Mingus to Marvin Gaye and exploring African-American music in all its connectedness. Percussionist Kahil El’Zabar, a bit younger, chaired the influential Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in the early ’70s. He continues to front the Ritual Trio, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Infinity Orchestra, and it’s his very adaptability that should make this duo parley with Bluiett come alive. (David R. Adler)

Also, Ani DiFranco headlines Electric Factory [8:30pm/$34]; Hoots & Hellmouth drop by Johnny Brenda’s along with the Great Unknown [9pm/$15]; and Cave In, Narrows, and Trap Them team up for a show at First Unitarian Church [7:30pm/$12].

Saturday:

Grant-Lee Phillips
7:30pm, $22-$34. World Cafe Live.
Once the frontman of raucous ’90s roots-rock combo Grant Lee Buffalo, singer-guitarist Grant-Lee Phillips has quietly forged a solid and occasionally pretty thrilling solo career over the past decade in which he’s refined his love of Neil Young and classic country music into a more elegant and evocative folk-pop sound. Now in his mid-’40s and having recently become a father for the first time, Phillips has certainly mellowed, but fortunately he hasn’t gotten boring (like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, to whom Phillips is often compared). The strings-kissed ballads and brisker tunes on Phillips’ lush, upbeat new Little Moon range from tender (but not cloying) to urgent (but not desperate), and his smoky croon only gets better with age. (Michael Alan Goldberg)

DJ Too Tuff Benefit
10pm, $10. Tacony Billiards.
When word of incarcerated local gangsta rapper DJ Too Tuff’s battle with thyroid cancer hit the streets in September, the hip-hop community reached out to help. Beat Garden Entertainment’s Octavius “Big O” Mitchell hosts a benefit concert in his honor to help him with his rising legal and medical bills. Local acts show some love for Too Tuff and the Tuff Crew with performances from B. Kane, Clean Guns, L. Allen, Sick Six, Rockie Reyes, Triple Nickels, Poynt Blank and many more, as well as special appearances from H3O and Too Tuff’s childhood friend MC Mechanism. In the meantime, the troubled star is standing trial for aggravated assault charges. Hopefully, the judge will show some love too. (Sherri Hospedales)

Also, They Might Be Giants plays a special afternoon “Family Show” at the TLA [3:30pm/$25]; Flyleaf headlines a sold-out show at the TLA at night [9pm]; the North Star welcomes Rubblebucket, the Mean, and the Leslie Carey Band [9pm/$12]; Hezekiah Jones throws an EP release party at Johnny Brenda’s along with Sisters 3 and Perkasie [9pm/$10]; and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra plays two shows at the Wachovia Center [3pm and 8pm/$25-$60.50].

Sunday:

Melt-Banana
7:30pm, $12. First Unitarian Church.
Melt-Banana have been known to cram as many as a dozen songs into a minute or two, their explosions of pick-blurring, chipmunk-singing punk frenzy measured in seconds and punctuated by polite “thank yous” at every break. One of Japan’s best noise punk outfits, Melt-Banana have been shrieking and spazzing since the early 1990s, layering abstract guitar sound over speed-freaked, subversively melodic punk choruses. If you’re not paying attention, you may not even recognize their crazy covers—a cartoon-voiced jitter over Toots & the Maytals “Monkey Man,” a super-fast romp through Queen’s “We Will Rock You”—but there’s no mistaking the electro-shock energy in this trio’s live set. (Jennifer Kelly)

Also, the Tommy Castro Band and Coco Montoya play the Keswick Theater [7pm/$27.50-$33.50]; and A’s Rage. BM Linx, and Qi Command play the Khyber [8pm/$8].

[Watson Twins photo by Michael Alan Goldberg.]

If you’re looking for something a bit different, rather eclectic, and — perhaps most importantly these days — free to do to kick off your weekend tomorrow night, Bowerbird is putting on a show at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) featuring experimental, improvisational music from several local, national, and international musicians free of charge. Here’s the details:

The night will feature an international quartet of Margarida Garcia (born in Lisbon, now based in New York City, playing upright electric bass), Manuel Mota (from Lisbon, playing guitar), Barry Weisblat (from New York City, homemade electronic inventions), and Marcia Bassett (aka Zaimph, predominately using guitar and vocals); Andrew T. Royal, a solo violinist from Chicago; and a fantastic trio of Philadelphia-based musicans, Ian Fraser, Jesse Kudler, and Tim Albro (playing a combination of laptop, guitar, craked electronics, cheap consumer devices: a no-name table top electric guitar, hand-held cassette recorders, radios and transmitters). Also this evening, as a special farewell, the once-upon-a-time based in Philadelphia duo Hisswig, featuring double bassist Evan Lipson (now in Chattanooga) and microtonal violinist Katt Hernandez (heading to Boston), will say so long, see ya later to Philadelphia.

The fun starts at 8 p.m. Did we mention it’s free?!

“You got a poor kid that wins ‘American Idol’ and then he’s expected to be on the same level or playing field as the Rolling Stones or U2 or Bon Jovi the next day. That’s not fair,” Bon Jovi says. “We were allowed to have the third album be the one that was the breakthrough record. I don’t know if a kid these days is ever gonna break 100 million in album sales. I don’t think that’s ever gonna happen again.”

So how does an artist make it today? Is it better to ride around in a van from town to town or do ‘Idol?’ “Well, both of them are good launch pads. Getting in the van, deciding who and what you are — there’s nothing wrong with that,” he says. But for those who win ‘Idol,’ it’s still ultimately about the music. “Of you’re brave enough to go on and win one of those ‘Idol’ contests, ultimately you better have the songs to back it up,” he says. “Chris Daughtry has delivered songs on two albums in a row. But I’m sure there are 10 Idols I can think of that didn’t do that or had a flash in the pan.”

Still, he has a lot of respect for those that go through the ‘Idol’ process. “It’s a very difficult spotlight to be in and a microscope to be under,” he says. “I couldn’t have survived it to be honest with you.”

Yes indeed, today is World Toilet Day, which was established to raise awareness to the fact that 40% of the world’s population does not have access to toilets (and proper sanitation in general). To mark the event — and we shit you not — groups of people all over the country will be organizing and engaging in something called “The Big Squat,” whereby they all get in squat position in public for about a minute or so to show solidarity with people around the world who have to pop a squat sans toilet to expel their bodily waste. We’re not exactly sure if or where or when this will be happening here in Philly today, but you’re more than welcome to squat on your own wherever you find yourself in the city today to celebrate the occasion. Just be prepared to explain yourself.

Meanwhile, here’s a few ditties to mark World Toilet Day:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s true: I’m a Skinny Puppy fan. Perhaps I don’t listen to them these days as much as I did, say, 20 years ago, but as far as industrial music goes, for me it pretty much begins and ends with the veteran Canadian band. In fact, they were the very first band I interviewed for a published article (it was for my college newspaper back in the early ’90s, but whatever). I’ve since chatted with them on a few more occasions since becoming a “professional music journalist,” and while their music has been fairly creepy, scary, and unsettling over the years, its members — frontman Nivek Ogre, multi-instrumentalist cEvin Key, and the late keyboardist Dwayne Goettel (who died of a drug overdose in 1995) — are about the nicest, most intelligent, most personable musicians you’d ever want to encounter. Actually, that’s usually the case with the musicians who make extreme music. In my experience, it’s the people who make the gentlest music who tend to be the biggest assholes. It’s weird like that.

Anyway, if you’re interested, you’ll have a chance to meet the Skinny Puppy guys today — they’re doing a meet-and-greet/signing over at Digital Ferret record store (732 S. 4th St.) from 2:30 pm until 3 p.m., after which they’ll head over to soundcheck for their gig tonight at the Troc, which we highly recommend checking out as their shows are usually quite the multimedia sensory overload. To this day, one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen was Skinny Puppy at the Troc back in ‘92; 17 years later, they’ll hopefully bring the freaky fury back to the room.

Langhorne Slim
9pm, $12. Johnny Brenda’s.
Folksy, fedora-wearing Langhorne Slim puts a slight twist on the troubadour tradition, mostly sticking to gentle folk picking but occasionally breaking into a reedy, punk-infused shout. Whether that’s enough to set him apart from hoards of Dylan-Guthrie-Seeger wannabes is open to argument. His latest album, Be Set Free, set off a debate in Paste Magazine with one reviewer calling it a modern day Tea for the Tillerman and another “mediocre, and sometimes painfully inept.” This latter gibe, though, is how some people feel about Paste itself, so why not give Slim the benefit of the doubt? (Jennifer Kelly)

Also, Baroness, Earthless, U.S. Christmas, and Black Tusk bring the heavy to First Unitarian Church [8pm/$12]; Skinny Puppy brings its industrial fury and killer multimedia show to the Troc [7:30pm/$24-$26]; and Ryan Cabrera drops by Tin Angel [8:30pm/$15].