Funk

Korn is part of a funk-metal resurgence that includes 311, Rage Against the Machine, and the Deftones. While Korn is clearly not the best of the genre, the Southern California quintet succeeds at making heavy metal viable again and creating loud, aggressive rock for kids raised on Public Enemy and Metallica. Korn has only a few predictable moves, and the group tried all of them out on a capacity crowd at the Electric Factory on Friday night. Dreadlocked front man Jonathan Davis - dressed in a purple sequined sweatsuit - screamed and growled like the Tasmanian Devil, while limber bassist Fieldy played like Primus' Les Claypool.

Funk and rap music will be amply showcased at the Spectrum on Sunday with a show featuring Midnight Star, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh and Eric B. The vocal group Midnight Star makes music that ranges from the frantic funk of "Freakazoid" to the sultry balladry of "Feel So Good. " The seven-member band's latest hit is "The Midas Touch" (Solar), which manages to combine elements of funk, rap and pop in one neat song. Whodini's latest single, "Growing Up" (Arista), continues a string of successes for this Brooklyn-born, London-based act. Like Whodini's best music, "Growing Up" is more melodic than most rap, and features smooth vocals with smart lyrics.

South Street west of Broad used to be the "wrong end" of the street, far from the action. But as the Avenue of the Arts is remade, this new South is slowly finding itself under reconstruction. Ron's Ribs and Jamaican Jerk Hut offer exotic foods. Bob & Barbara's Lounge has become a hangout for R&B/jazz fans, drag mavens and jump-blues enthusiasts. Now Eden Roc has made its mark on the block as the place to go for the funk. Eden Roc, on three floors plus a roof deck, moves visually from burned-out Miami chic to brothel red with old woods and bricks, heavy drapery and fireplaces throughout.

Boxing Gandhis was a multicultural force the audience couldn't resist Thursday at the Middle East. A flood of people hit the dance floor at the first note from the seven-piece outfit, and didn't leave until the last. Heads swayed happily; hands clapped to the punchy funk-blues beat; it was inspirational. There's so much talent in this band, it's ludicrous. From smooth five-part harmonies to the lovely rasp of singer-guitarist Dave Darling to the power of the smoky alto of his tiny wife, Brie, the Gandhis filled the house with raucous, upbeat tunes such as "If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin')"

Programmable sounds rule the charts - an oxymoronic idea when you consider the passion necessary for hip-hop and funk. Teena Marie and Morris Day and the Time - hit-makers throughout the '80s - are looking to turn the beat around, playing "jams" that have nothing to do with Phish. At a sold out Tower Theater on Saturday, megalomaniacal singer Day and MC/comic foil Jerome Benton - both dressed to the nines - guided the Time through signature hunks of burning-rubber synths and innuendo-laden anthems.

So high you couldn't get over it. So low you couldn't get under it. The funk was all over the place at the Trocadero Thursday night. Slippery, hard, screaming, oozing, sticky and sweet. Scribbled on the walls, dropping down from above, rising up from the floor boards. It grabbed you by the hips, and shook you silly. It felt good. George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars rode a monster groove from just after 9 o'clock Thursday until 1:30 Friday morning. No stopping. No intermission.

As Maceo Parker's old friend George Clinton - or was it that other saxophonist, Bill Clinton? - once said, funk is its own reward. Those who saw and heard Parker blow his horn Wednesday night were richly rewarded. Parker, the longtime musical director for James Brown and one of the world's major exponents of funk, put together an intense set at the Theatre of Living Arts. More than one musician has said that he hears Africa in James Brown's music. And though there wasn't an African percussionist to be seen in the house (with the significant exception of master drummer Dr. Gibbs, who was in the audience)

Ignore the opening line of Prince's new double album, "Graffiti Bridge" (in stores today). It's a snatch of dialogue from the upcoming "Graffiti Bridge" movie - the sequel to 1984's "Purple Rain" - in which Prince's character, the Kid, tells his suicidal, wife-beating dad he's disillusioned and ready to explode. What that line promises - that is, a shrink session's worth of complaints rehashing the broadest melodramas of the "Purple Rain" movie - is nothing like what follows in the music.

AN EMBARRASSMENT of soul-funk album riches, plus some stellar rock, pine-fresh country and well-tuned jazz disprove the notion "they're not making good albums like they used to. " NAMES TO LEARN: It may have been a legal issue, but I'm glad the Minneapolis funk band formerly known as The Time is back together in original form (first in 21 years) and rockin' the party as the Original 7ven on "Condensate" (SRR Records, A) . The album title derives from the typically funny Morris Day lyric, in which he allows he's still too cool to sweat: "I condensate.

The air was thick with funk, and the Tuesday night crowd was concerned more with writing rap poems than with getting up for work the next day. On stage the five-member band Dynagroove, a two-guitar assault powered by a heavy back beat and charged with thick saxophone, was dripping sweat. Some favorite 1970s funk tunes made the set danceable, and a group of hard-core fans made it fun for all. Tuesday is Dynaday at the 23 East Cabaret in Ardmore, where the group plays as part of a two-band bill for a $2 cover charge, an attractive deal for suburbanites who want to get their mind off the grind and see some live dance music with a rock-and-roll edge.

It promised to be a battle, Monday's pairing of the bands Shabazz Palaces and !!! (pronounced chk-chk-chk) at the Blockley. The rhythmic pedigree of each act guaranteed it. And having Philadelphia's King Britt around to DJ the event guaranteed a fair and funky fight. Shabazz Palaces is an avant-hip-hop ensemble led by rapper/knob-twiddler Ishmael Butler (once known as "Butterfly" in the jazz-hopping, '90s alt-rap group Dig­able Planets, in which Britt was a touring member) and multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire.

AN EMBARRASSMENT of soul-funk album riches, plus some stellar rock, pine-fresh country and well-tuned jazz disprove the notion "they're not making good albums like they used to. " NAMES TO LEARN: It may have been a legal issue, but I'm glad the Minneapolis funk band formerly known as The Time is back together in original form (first in 21 years) and rockin' the party as the Original 7ven on "Condensate" (SRR Records, A) . The album title derives from the typically funny Morris Day lyric, in which he allows he's still too cool to sweat: "I condensate.

NEW YORK - It's now safe for all Phillies followers to uncover their eyes and resume watching their team. Yes, those were the Phillies Sunday at Citi Field that everyone had become accustomed to seeing - the team that won 98 games and clinched their fifth consecutive NL East Division title eight days ago before their offense disappeared for eight games, all losses. They were actually putting wood on the ball Sunday, showing a little patience in the batter's box, circling the bases, and crossing home plate time and again in a 9-4 win over the New York Mets.

By Tim Rutten It's sometimes useful to see ourselves as others do, and recent reports in a couple of usually sympathetic foreign newspapers are sobering. Britain's Daily Telegraph - a conservative paper and that country's best-selling broadsheet - diagnoses us as a nation depressed. It cites polling data showing that alarming percentages of Americans expect their economic situation to deteriorate further, and their children's to be worse still. As Toby Harnden, the paper's U.S. editor, wrote: "A country whose hallmark has always been a sense of irrepressible optimism is in the grip of unprecedented uncertainty and self-doubt.

In the pantheon of modern funk music, three figures reign supreme. So intones the voice from on high that welcomes listeners to the grandiose new Bootsy Collins ' disc "Tha Funk Capital of the World. " There will probably be a similar introductory flourish as Collins and his 13-piece Funk U-nity band land tomorrow night at the Keswick Theatre on his first U.S. headlining tour in 16 years. Modesty never being part of his bold and sassy self, Collins isn't just (self-)

SEATTLE - Roy Oswalt, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, sat facing his locker Friday with his feet perched on a ledge. He stared into space for a few minutes and made no movements in a mostly empty visitors clubhouse after a 4-2 loss to the Mariners. When Oswalt came to the Phillies in a midseason trade a year ago, he spoke often of feeling rejuvenated. The energy of a pennant race revived a dominant career that led to many fruitless seasons in Houston. In 2011, Oswalt's fastball has lacked life.

Even music freaks who've heard and seen it all waxed ecstatic last May when Janelle Monae dropped her first full-length album, "The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III). " We were mad as hell in February when the artist didn't take home Grammys for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance. And jeez, she wasn't even nominated for Best New Artist, an even bigger crime. Monae did earn a spotlighted performance on the televised awards show, though. "That's something people are more likely to remember," she rationalized brightly in a recent chat.

SACRAMENTO - It was one of the lowest points of the season for 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday. His team had just lost two straight games, the first of five consecutive on the road. They were facing a Los Angeles Clippers team that should have been ripe for the taking, yet there was Holiday, struggling for a third straight game. After he had turned the ball over 10 times and scored only 10 points in losses at Milwaukee and Utah, the first half against the Clippers, in his hometown and in front of many family and friends, was abysmal.

The Flyers' lead in the Eastern Conference has dwindled to three points, primarily because their offense has been mediocre, at best, since the all-star break. Like last year's team, which struggled after the Olympic break, the Flyers have been out of sync since the all-star stoppage, winning just 7 of 13 games (7-5-1). During those 13 games, they have not scored more than three regulation goals, excluding empty-netters. The Flyers, who play host to playoff-hungry Buffalo in a Saturday matinee, are on their first two-game losing streak since late December.

Elizabeth "Dolly" Funk, 104, a former vaudeville singer, died Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Wesley Enhanced Living at Pilgrim Gardens in Northeast Philadelphia. Mrs. Funk's father, Benjamin Pangborn, was a drummer, and her mother, Elizabeth, was a French horn player. After her father died in 1914, her mother married Al Delmont, who played a variety of instruments. While her mother and Delmont toured in musical comedy acts, Mrs. Funk and her brother, Harry, spent their childhood split among their grandmother's home in England and family homes in Philadelphia and New York City.