LouFest, an ambitious 2-day music festival in Forest Park, has for months been the speculation of anxious music-goers both in St. Louis and throughout the country. But wonder no more, dear readers, for Eleven is here to dispel any lingering doubts as to the festival’s ability to live up to the hype. Without further ado, here it is: the 2010 LouFest lineup!
Saturday, August 28
Broken Social Scene
Built to Spill
The Airborne Toxic Event
Lucero
Titus Andronicus
Adam Reichmann
So Many Dynamos
sephaniesid
The Northwoods
Sunday, August 29
She & Him
Jeff Tweedy
Alejandro Escovedo
Fruit Bats
Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons
Gentleman Auction House
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Magnolia Summer
Kim Massie (special Sunday-morning gospel set)
Eleven has a lot planned for the months leading up to the festival; be on the lookout for upcoming previews, interviews, and music from the bands playing LouFest!
Go to loufest.com for more info, and to buy tickets.
This entry was written by , posted on April 7, 2010 at 9:00 am, filed under Upcoming and tagged Airborne Toxic Event, Broken Social Scene, Built to Spill, Fruit Bats, Jeff Tweedy, LouFest, Lucero, She & Him, Titus Andronicus. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
No conversation about St. Louis venues would be complete without mentioning Off Broadway, and its contributions to the city. Likewise, no conversations about the music “scene” would be complete without mentioning Steve Pohlman, one of the owners and proprietors of Off Broadway. I recently asked Steve some questions about the state of the city’s renascent music scene.
In operating one of the most active venues in St. Louis, what has been your generally impression of the state of the music scene? Are more people going to shows now, versus 5 years ago? Are bands more active?
We are up significantly in terms of attendance, and from talking to some of the other venues in town they are too. I think there are more venues now compared to five years ago and more shows on any given night. While you would think that could hurt our business … the number say otherwise.
This entry was written by , posted on March 18, 2010 at 4:33 pm, filed under Local Profile. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

photo by Leanna Kaiser
On Feb. 23, Eleven had the great pleasure of sitting down to interview DJ Parisian (Ian Jones) and Doctor Phelonious (Sean Price) of Safety Words, along with Bo Bulawsky and Trevor Berkholtz of Exercise, about their upcoming show (Friday, March 5th at the Firebird) What could have been a nice, civil discussion on music and philosophy quickly disintegrated into madness, when an anonymous Eleven staffer showed up with a case of beer and a video game called “NBA Hangtime.” Immediately, civil discourse gave way to barbaric trash talking and nonsensical yelling, and all hopes for a “normal” interview were tossed aside.
Exhibit A:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Hit the break for more interview, trash talking, and an exclusive new track from Safety Words.
(more…)
This entry was written by , posted on March 2, 2010 at 1:34 am, filed under Live, Q+A and tagged Exercise, NBA Hangtime, Safety Words, The Firebird. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
All hail and rejoice! Everybody’s favorite canadian posé, Broken Social Scene, has arrived in a golden chariot of a free mp3, to pass judgement on the waiting masses. “World Sick,” the latest rustling from the BSS moniker, is a good study of the band’s varied aural history. Pulling atmospheric sounds from Feel Good Lost, warm production from You Forgot it in People, and wide-open spaces from their self-titled album, “World Sick” promises a familiar but exciting future for their upcoming Forgiveness Rock Record.
Go here to download it. You’ll have to enter your email address, but in my case, Leslie Feist already emails me every other day*, so it wasn’t a big deal.
*Sorry Ms. Feist. I hope you don’t mind me appropriating my monster crush on you for a bit of good humor.
This entry was written by , posted on February 19, 2010 at 5:08 pm, filed under New Music and tagged Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Welcome to our new feature, the local profile! Every Wednesday, we’re going to be interviewing people who are involved in the St. Louis music community; not necessarily in bands, but those who are interested in seeing St. Louis become a better place for musicians.
Today, I interviewed Tawaine Noah, Barista at Foam Coffee & Beer and lead singer/songwriter in local band Union Tree Review.
How have you been involved in the St. Louis music community in the past?
I started like a lot of the folks around my age at the time: You’re in high school, and you start going to local shows. If you’re like me, you get really inspired to be that guy or band up on stage. So, long story short, a couple of my friends and I put together a small acoustic band, and luckily it’s not really all that hard to get booked in St. Louis. Eventually, we put together an album and started playing out.
This entry was written by , posted on February 18, 2010 at 12:16 am, filed under Local Profile and tagged Foam Coffee & Beer, Tawaine Noah, Union Tree Review. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

If I had to pick a mascot for indie in the oughties (note to self: pitch Indie in the Oughties to PBS as a new Ken Burns documentary), Joanna Newsom would be in the final 4. With a voice that can quickly separate the hip wheat from the lame chaff, a quirky instrument—which also happens to be the logo for a hip foreign beer—and name-dropping opportunities like Steve Albini (10 points!) and Jim O’Rourke (10 points!), the psych-folk (high score!) songstress has one hell of a stacked deck.
But forget all that. Listen to Joanna’s newest song, and make a note in your planner ten years from now (because I know you have a decade-at-a-glance). I’ll probably be saying the exact same thing about indie in the ’10s.
Listen to it at Drag City (the stream is in the top-right corner of the page).
This entry was written by , posted on February 5, 2010 at 12:33 pm, filed under New Music. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Friday, Feb. 5
Where: Old Rock House
When: 8 PM
The sound of So Many Dynamos’ angular guitar riffs and nerdier-than-thou keyboards should be familiar to any self-respecting St. Louisan. Though calling them “local” might get a few rolls of the eye these days, it is impossible to not be proud of what the band has accomplished. Civic pride, people! Regardless, the Dynamos are giving their hometown a show before departing for a European run, and what a better place to send them off than the seemingly now-ubiquitous Old Rock House? Joining them from the other side of I-70 are Kansas City natives Capybara and Cherokee Street heroes Sleepy Kitty. Bring a bottle of champagne to break on the bow.
(more…)
This entry was written by , posted on February 4, 2010 at 7:19 pm, filed under Upcoming. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Friday, Jan. 8
Where: Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
When: 8 PM
If Boulder Acoustic Society had a commercial on local television, its tagline would be this: “Appalachian folk with a Talking Heads attitude.” That’s the cheesy 2-bit version of BAS, a description they might just take well to. As the perceptive reader has already guessed, this Boulder-based four piece are partial to acoustic instruments: accordion, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and what have you. The sounds they make will be familiar to the initiated St. Louisan, as echoes of the Big Muddy world abound. Subtract the love for the Mighty Mississip’, add a slightly deranged attitude, move it down the street a few blocks to the Lemp, and there you have it: a show to be reckoned with.
(more…)
This entry was written by , posted on January 7, 2010 at 7:51 pm, filed under Upcoming and tagged Bad Plus, Boulder Acoustic Society, Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, The Bistro. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Tomorrow, the 5th, Cherokee Street will be opening its doors to the community for its annual Print League Holiday Sale. The Print League is made up of some of the finest artists and printers in the city, who will be putting their art on sale for holiday shoppers and merrymakers. The event will be from 10am to 7pm, and if last year’s holiday sale was any indication, will be well-attended by many awesome people. But we’re most excited about the music! Here are three shows happening on the street that day:

Where: Typo Cafe
When: 5:00 pm
Safety Words is the newest hip-hop offering from the West Side, and represents an unprecedented sound: 8-bit music straight from your favorite nintendo games, mixed with some of the best lyricism from your favorite rap records. Sure, it’s been done before, but never this authentically; there’s no gimmick here. The Battletoads pause music might just be the next Amen Break.
Safety Words – Crimingelo
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This entry was written by , posted on December 4, 2009 at 7:23 pm, filed under Upcoming and tagged Cherokee Street, HUMDRUM, Safety Words, Skekses, The Mhurs. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Sure, Sweden’s Lykke Li may be cute as a button. Sure, she may have had some production help from fellow Swede Björn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John. Sure, she has the voice of a Scandinavian angel. But her latest offering, a free download from her website, has proven that she has one more tool in her arsenal: a great taste in early rock. “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” is a cover of a Shirelles song of the same name. Lykke Li should be gearing up to record a follow-up to 2008′s Youth Novels, so grab the mp3 and quiver in heartbroken anticipation.
Lykke Li – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This entry was written by , posted on November 20, 2009 at 6:59 pm, filed under New Music and tagged Lykke Li, The Shirelles, Will You Still Love Me tomorrow. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.