Record Store Day: April 21, 2012!

 

April 21st marks the 5th year of Record Store Day, a day for supporting your local record stores. All over town, St. Louis’ record stores and local labels will be presenting live music and purchase specials.

Euclid Records, Vintage Vinyl, and Apop Records will all feature bands over the weekend.  At Euclid, Doom Town and Magic City kick off the weekend on Friday night, starting at 7pm.   Saturday – Record Store Day proper – sees This City of Takers playing bright and early at 10am at Vintage Vinyl, followed by a showcase from Tower Groove Records all afternoon.  Bunnygrunt, the Skekses, and Warm Jets USA will all play, starting at 1pm. Later that night, Catholic Guilt plays at 5pm at Apop and Sleepy Kitty at 7pm at Euclid Records.

Beyond the live music, Record Store has been embraced by anybody who really matters in music these days. Bands recognize more and more the importance of physical places for consuming music and of supporting the independent businesses who have always supported musicians. Accordingly, there are more exclusive releases this year than any year yet. It’s not just records either: Special-released CDs, DVDs and even cassettes are also available.

Look for exclusive releases from The Misfits, 311, Potugal. The Man, Lou Reed, Uncle Tupelo, Thievery Corp., Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Artic Monkeys, Otis Redding; Aretha Franklin, Phish, Bruce Springsteen, Common, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Devo, Jay Farrar, Wilco, and many, many more.

For a complete list, check out the website: http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on April 19, 2012 at 2:03 pm, filed under New Music, Upcoming, Vinyl and tagged , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

April issue is out! Within: the Flaming Lips & Girl Talk Top The Bill For LouFest 2012

The 2012 version of LouFest is set to hit Forest Park on August 25th & 26th, and this year it promises to have the most balloons, confetti and laser beams ever. Both headliners, Oklahoma City’s fearless freaks The Flaming Lips and Pittsburgh’s mash-up genius Girl Talk, are well known for their over-the-top live shows that provide total sensory overload and never fail to leave the crowd grinning from ear to ear.

The rest of the lineup is equally strong, with local heroes like Son Volt and Sleepy Kitty and transcendent, ageless rockers in Dinosaur Jr. Of course, it also features a steady diet of “indie” rock, with bands like Dr. Dog and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Check out the full lineup in the latest issue of Eleven, on stands now!

 

Open publication

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on April 3, 2012 at 10:00 pm, filed under Live, News, Upcoming and tagged , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

What’s Going On 3/16-3/17

You know, Austin isn’t the only place in the world that has great things to do this weekend and while it may seem like most of the world is Texas, a few of us are still around looking for fun! It’s a big weekend and I’m sure many of you will be in Dogtoown tomorrow but between the hoops and the hops, go catch a show!

Friday March 16, 2012

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Vijay Iyer

Mr. Iyer concludes his 4 night run at Jazz At The Bistro with 2 shows tonight and two more on Saturday night.  If you’ve never heard of him, now’s the chance to learn.  Iyer is all that is right about modern jazz.   The pianist has one foot firmly planted in tradition and the other in the future.   He may be classically trained, but he is far from stuffy.

In the tradition of Miles Davis, here is Iyer’s take on a Michael Jackson classic:

Two shows, 7:30 and 9:30, Tickets are $30

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The Bottoms Up Blues Gang is back from their most recent jaunt on the road and they will be laying down the Blues in true St. Louis tradition tonight at The Venice Cafe. Is there any better place to be on a nice summer night than The Venice Cafe? Even if it’s March, it sure feels like summer!


 

The band starts at 9pm

Saturday, March 17, 2012 Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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It’s not all shamrocks and shillelaghs today, so have no fear if that’s not your thing. Local stalwarts Aaron Kamm & The One Drops will be serving up their blues/reggae fusion at Broadway Oyster Bar and it’s sure to be a great time. They definitely create an interesting sound that gets the crowd moving. And I’ll bet B.O.B. will serve you a Guinness or 4 if you really need feel a little Irish

 

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And if that wasn’t enough Blues for you, you can check out The North Mississippi All-Stars at The Pageant. Rooted deep in the history and culture of southern Blues, the Dickinson brothers, Luther and Cody, lay it down with all l the passion and skill you’d expect from the children of producer Jim Dickinson (who was a legendary session player and producer at Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama – look him up!).

Tickets are $22.50 at the door and the show starts at 8pm with opener Power Mill

So have fun and be safe out there this weekend!

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on March 16, 2012 at 2:16 pm, filed under What's Going On and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

What’s Going On 3/2-3/4

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Lousy Smarch Weather

Everyone here at the Eleven Office is still buzzing from the Yacht show at Plush last night, but now is no time hide from the hail, there is lots more going on this weekend.

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photo by canderson

 

The hard-rocking duo, Bass Drum Of Death brings their high energy show to St. Louis this week.  Sure, the obvious comparison is to the Black Keys or The White Stripes, right?  But Eleven would never go for the obvious comparison would it?  Would it?

The Old Rock House 8pm $10 with Up The Academy and Tone Rodent & The Airliners

 

//2//

courtesy of Blind Pilot

As if Yacht wasn’t enough, Blind Pilot continues the stream of Portland bands flowing through Plush, though, they couldn’t sound any more different from the techno, dance, pop, harmonic sounds of Yacht.   The folksy, rootsy sound is right in St. Louis’ wheelhouse.  There is no reason that St. Louis shouldn’t be a huge base of fans for these guys and no reason for you to miss the show!   It’s just too bad there isn’t local support on the bill, as we at Eleven can think of a number of St. Louis bands that would be perfect for the task.

Plush 8pm $13-$15 with Cataldo

 

Saturday March 3rd, 2012

 

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The Blind Eyes are celebrating the 3rd birthday of their debut album, Modernity at Off-Broadway. Not only is the show guarentee to rock your socks off, the first 100 people who walk through the door will win themselves a free download card for the album, so you will never forget the experience every time you fire the album up on your iPod.   AND not only that, but if you are the first 100 people through the door, you get the added bonus of seeing two more of St. Louis’ best bands, Union Tree Review and Volcanoes!  It doesn’t get any better than this folks.

Off Broadway, 8pm, $8 with Union Tree Review and Volcanoes.

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:10 pm, filed under What's Going On and tagged , , , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Jane’s Addiction at The Pageant, 2/22/12

Sex is at the heart of Jane’s Addiction’s message. Beautiful sex, dirty sex, twisted sex, illegal sex – it’s all there. Wednesday night at the Pageant, as they launched their “Great Escape Artist Tour” off at The Pageant, it was again front and center. From the setlist to the stage design, sex oozed through the show. Being the first night of the tour, fans weren’t sure what to expect. In the Internet age, setlists and stage shows are rarely a surprise to many concertgoers these days, but this was completely fresh to everyone. In true JA style, there were both statues of naked women and actual nearly naked women dancers, in addition to the multiple video screens and even a life-sized stuffed bear. Perry Farrell may be 51 years old, but on stage he has the same presence he’s had since he was half that age. He has the same boundless energy, the same crackling charisma and while father time may have robbed Farrell of some of his range, it’s the same haunting voice, frail and powerful at once. It’s that voice that defines the JA sound, but the swirling guitar from Dave Navarro and hard-pounding beat from Stephen Perkins are just as important and both musicians are in fine form. Navarro is a rock star in every sense of the word, blaring his solos while posed as a rock god to Farrell’s right and Perkins has always been the driving force hidden behind his kit.

As the setlist showed, this is an album that Jane’s Addiction is very proud of. For the first time in years, through multiple reunions and various lineups, they look and feel like a happy, solid band. The brief, 14 song setlist was drawn mostly from the new album, The Great Escape Artist and from the legendary studio albums from their early days, Nothing Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual; 2003’s Strays was represented by only one song, “Just Because”. The show opened with the first track of the new album, “Underground” and ended with the last song “Words Right Out Of My Mouth”. In between, the played the biggest hits, like “Been Caught Stealing” and “Jane Says” and well has the fan favorites, like “Mountain Song” and the show stopping, highlight of the night “Three Days”. In the middle, the band convened at the front of the stage for a 3 song acoustic mini-set that included “Classic Girl, “I Would For You” and the aforementioned “Jane Says”. While the show did feel a little short, time wise, the energy in the crammed-to-the-gills Pageant was off the charts and it did not let down once all night, culminating with the entire crowd belting out the lyrics the “Stop!” with Farrell near the end. And short or not, everyone in the crowd was surely left satisfied.

The Setlist:
Underground
Mountain Song
Just Because
Been Caught Stealing
Ain’t No Right
Ted, Just Admit It…
Twisted Tales

Mini-Acoustic set
Classic Girl
I Would For You
Jane Says

Irresistible Force
Three Days
Stop!

Encore:
Words Right Out of My Mouth

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on February 23, 2012 at 11:08 am, filed under Live and tagged , , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

January’s Issue is online!

Open publication – Free publishing – More 11 in 11

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on January 1, 2012 at 9:00 am, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

A Few Questions With Jay Farrar

Recently, Eleven sat down with Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo fame in a back booth at the St. Louis institution, McGurk’s. The Belleville native talked about his latest project with Son Volt and another with Jim James, as well as his upcoming show at The Sheldon Theater on October 21st and the state of St. Louis music.

Eleven: What are you up to?

Jay Farrar: I’ve been keeping busy the last 6 months writing and recording another Son Volt record, which at this point is pretty much done, but there is another project going on concurrently. Working with 3 other guys, Anders Parker, Will Johnson from Central Matic and Jim James from My Morning Jacket

E: What is that project?

JF: Essentially it’s working with Nora Guthrie; working with Woody Guthrie lyrics. Picking concepts out of his journals. The common misconception out there is that it is some kind of continuation of Mermaid Avenue, that Billy Bragg and Wilco did, but it’s not. Nora Guthrie puts out at least one record a year of different artists coming to be inspired by Woody’s words and artwork. And that’s essentially what we do.

E: Has Jim James been cool to work with?

JF: Oh, he’s been great, yeah! It’s a great dynamic, being able to step away from our normal projects and work in different environment with a different sort of camaraderie.

E: Is that happening in New York?

JF: Yeah, she recently moved out the city to somewhere up on the Hudson.

E: When will that be out?

JF: It’s slated for release in early 2012

E: St. Louis tends to produce these bands like Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, John Hartford in the 60’s and Pokey LaFarge today with a tie to the past. What do you think it is about St. Louis that brings that out in musicians?

JF: St. Louis has character, St. Louis has soul and if anybody doubts that they just need to read Kevin Belford’s book Devil At The Confluence. St. Louis is steeped in musical history. It was a major conduit for musical ideas flowing up the Mississippi River and later Highway 61.

E: St. Louis has trouble promoting itself like New Orleans or Memphis, as someone who has been a working musician in St. Louis for 25 years, you see (other cities) promote themselves, what does St. Louis do differently from those other cities that hamper that?

JF: It’s the age-old inferiority complex that St. Louis has. I guess St. Louis, once Chicago got all the railroads; St. Louis was always the real second city. I don’t know, I think slowly things are changing. I just heard the mayor say last night that St. Louis has the most of a certain demographic, like 25-28 year olds, moving back into the city than anywhere else in the country. That’s a good sign.

E: What do you think of the St. Louis scene right now? Do you follow it much?

JF: Um… not really (laughs). I have two kids that keep me busy, but I get out occasionally. I poked my head in to see Pokey play a little bit, but beyond that, I play! Another thing I’ve been doing to stay busy is playing with (the band) Colonel Ford, playing pedal steel guitar.

E: That’s the band with your brother?

JF: Yeah, Dave (Farrar) is in the band and Gary Hunt and a revolving cast of characters

E: Do you enjoy playing the pedal steel?

JF: I do enjoy it. It’s like trying to tame a monster. It’s a very expressive instrument you know? You can be expressive with the bar, you can be expressive with the volume pedal or you can have your own individual tuning that no one else has. It’s a bear to control but it keeps me busy.

E: With Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers getting all this mainstream airplay, it seems like every 20 years or so, America remembers where their roots are or England figures out where America’s roots were and serve it back to us. And whenever there is an article written about alt-country or Newgrass, your name comes up. Do you think about your legacy?

JF: My primary mode of operation is to keep moving forward, keep writing and keep recording, not to look back.

E: In that vein, you have written and recorded with a wide range of musicians from many different styles, whether it’s The Flaming Lips, Death Cab For Cutie or Jim James. Do you have a process when you write to get you out of your comfort zone to keep things evolving?

JF: Yeah, I think there was an element of that, that started with the Son Volt Record Wide Swing Tremolo where I started just be more inspired to write with alternate tunings on guitar and that kind of carried through to a couple solo records where I got heavily into it because it has a different sound, a different voicing. It’s the one way to be sure that you are not traveling over ground you’ve been over before is to actually make up a new tuning. It’s a way to be inspired. But uh, for the last Son Volt record American Central Dust and the most recent thing I recorded I’ve kind of gone back to central tuning so now that’s a new quest.

E: Making that change affects when you return to the basics, right?

JF: Yeah, it’s part of the process, just trying to keep things fresh.

E: And your soundtrack work does much the same?

JF: Absolutely. (On) The Slaughter Rule soundtrack I did more acoustic finger picking inspired by some Hawaiian guitar I was listening to. It was something I felt I could do on a soundtrack but not much on a Son Volt record.

E: Currently you are playing with St. Louis musician Gary Hunt (of Colonel Ford), how’s that been going?

JF: It’s good, you know, I guess in the live set we’ve been able to incorporate his multi-talented, multi faceted playing. He can play fiddle, he can play mandolin, electric guitar, so being able to incorporate the mandolin and the fiddle more in the live set recently has been a good thing.

E: Will you be playing any pedal steel at the Sheldon?

JF: Me? No! I don’t want to scare people away!

E: Have you played the Sheldon before?

I have not as a solo artist or with Son Volt but I can’t say with absolute certainty that Uncle Tupelo didn’t open for someone there back when I was a Belleville guy and I wasn’t completely familiar with all the theaters around town. I have some vague recollection of opening for a band at a small theater like that. I heard a lot of great things about it though. I’ve heard the acoustics are good, especially for more acoustic-style stuff. I’m looking forward to it.

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on October 19, 2011 at 9:59 am, filed under Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Live Review: Wilco at The Peabody Opera House 10/4/11

Wilco played the first non-Gala show at the Peabody last night, and all that can be said is WOW!

Eleven has discussed the Peabody itself at length both in the magazine and here on the website, so I’ll skip saying too much on the venue, except to say it was this reviewer’s first visit to the theater, and it is as awesome as the hype says. The acoustics are perfect, and the restoration is amazing.

Before Wilco even hit the stage, the Peabody welcomed a legend. Nick Lowe, alone with an acoustic guitar, opened the show. “The Jesus Of Cool” showed everyone why he is so beloved by his fans and fellow musicians. Lowe has aged rather gracefully; his brown shaggy hair has turned grey, and he wore a pair of glasses inspired by his close friend and collaborator Elvis Costello. His voice sounded great as he rolled through a short setlist incorporating classics like “Cruel To Be Kind” and “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding,” with songs from his latest album The Old Magic. Of course, “Peace, Love & Understanding” was made most famous when the aforementioned Costello covered it on his Armed Forces album in 1979, so in return, Lowe covered Costello’s “Alison,” a song that he produced for Costello. Lowe left the stage to great applause, but it would not be for the last time.

As the lights dimmed for Wilco, the stage design, which when not lit looked like someone TP’d the beautiful new venue, came to life. Using color projections, it created an almost psychedelic, Allman Brothers-type light show. It felt perfect for the song selection, which relied heavily on the noise-making, feedback-generating version on Wilco – as opposed the singer-songwriter version. The opening tune was, appropriately, a song that is dedicated to fellow St. Louisan Jane Smiley’s boyfriend. The long, winding number sounded crystal clear in the room. The crowd remained silent and seated to truly appreciate the long key nature of the song. That would be the last time most of the crowd would sit down as Jeff Tweedy led the band through rocking set of both new and old. The new songs from Wilco’s latest The Whole Love were intense and tight. For all the lineup changes that Wilco has gone through, the current band has been together for 8 years now, and it really shows. Listening to the songs live, it is hard to escape the feeling that The Whole Love completes a trilogy that started 10 years ago with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and continued with 2003’s A Ghost Is Born. Even the songs the band plucked off the last two records, Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album), were the noisier tracks.

Reaching back, Wilco touched on all eight studio albums over the band’s now 17-year career and even further back to Tweedy’s old band that used to play weekly in the basement of the old Cicero’s (now the Duck Room). Uncle Tupelo’s “New Madrid” was warming received by all the old school fans in the crowd. The biggest cheers of the night were saved, as they often are, for the songs from 2000’s seminal Wilco record Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. YHF will always be the touchstone album for many Wilco fans and it was well represented in the setlist. Songs like “Jesus, Etc…”, “I’m The Man Who Loves You,” and I’m Trying To Break Your Heart reminded the concertgoers why. Even the most casual Wilco fans in the crowd could sing along with the band to those and in the encore, when the band played “Heavy Metal Drummer”, cheers erupted for lyrics about heavy metal bands playing “On the Landing in the Summer.”

Before Wilco finished, Jeff welcomed opener Nick Lowe to the stage for two songs. Both songs came from Lowe’s solo debut record The Jesus Of Cool. The first was a cover of the Jim Ford song “36 Inches High,” and the second “I Love My Label” – sang as a duet between Lowe and Tweedy, which Wilco included on the deluxe version of The Whole Love.

Wrapping up, they launched into the St. Louis classic “Casino Queen.” Tweedy talked about the venue and how they are really looking forward to returning. Likewise, St. Louis can’t wait.

10/4/11
Peabody Opera House
St. Louis, MO

Setlist:
One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)
Poor Places
Art Of Almost
I Might
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Bull Black Nova
One Wing
Handshake Drugs
Impossible Germany
Born Alone
A Shot in the Arm
Shouldn’t Be Ashamed
Rising Red Lung
New Madrid
War On War
Standing O
Jesus, Etc.
I’m The Man Who Loves You


Encore:
Via Chicago
Whole Love
36 Inches High (with Nick Lowe)
I Love My Label (with Nick Lowe)
Heavy Metal Drummer
Casino Queen
Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on October 5, 2011 at 12:23 pm, filed under Live, Review and tagged , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Santana brings his big production to The Fox

For fun, I’m including the notes I made on my phone as the show went on…

Off the top, Michael Franti’s opening set was a lot of fun. His setlist consisted completely of songs from his most recent couple albums, but his hippie/reggae/hip hop got the crowd up and dancing for the full 45 minutes of his set and there is something serious to be said for an opening act of a classic rock show at The Fox to be able to do that. Usually that kind of crowd is what we like to call “militant sitters” – in that they will actively and angrily insist that everyone in front of the SIT DOWN!

After his fun and energetic set, it was time for the main event. Carlos Santana is a legend, right? He played Woodstock! I could sit and listen to Carlos play guitar for hours. His silky smooth playing is mesmerizing. His rhythm section is still the stuff of legends; Karl Perrazo and Raul Rekow are both amazing players. The Fox is one of the best concert venues in America. What could possible go wrong, this show is going to rock! Right? RIGHT???

Well, it went wrong almost right off the bat. Opening with a weird soft rock/rap cover of AC/DC’s Back In Black, I was immediately confused and kind of upset. Um, Carlos – YOU ARE A LEGEND. You have decades of your own music. Why are you playing a watered down crappy version of an overplayed song that has no connection to your playing or your generation? Is this some sort of weird attempt to stay relevant? Maybe this is what the kids today are listening to? Seriously? It became crystal clear that the wrong people are influencing Santana. I don’t know if it’s his American Idol-looking singer, complete with a faux hawk or if it’s some record company exec that is equally out of touch, but it was almost painful to watch at times.

There were some moments of brilliance. The 1-2-3 combo from the great album Abraxas that followed the weird AC/DC cover was great. “Singing Winds, Crying Beast”, “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen” and “Oya Como Va” formed a classic Santana medley that turned out to the be the highlight of the show. From then on, it was a bizarre mish mosh of covers (everything from Michael Jackson to Cream to Eric Burdon & War), the more recent radio hits Santana has scored with younger pop acts and the typical mystical and political speeches from Carlos. Most of his 40+ year career was ignored in favor of only the stuff he’s done over the last 10 year or so. After he played Jingo and Michael Franti joined for tune, we had had enough. It was time to go. I heard we missed “Smooth”. Damn. I also heard Tony LaRussa played congos or something on “Sunshine Of Your Love”. I don’t feel like I missed a seminal moment there either.

In the end, I will always love Carlos Santana’s playing. I just wish he would go back to his psychedelic soul blues roots and stop trying to recreate American Idol in what comes across as an over-produced desperate attempt to stay relevant.

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:11 pm, filed under Review and tagged , , . Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

A couple of Pictures from LouFest ’11

We’ll add a few more later, but here is a little taste. Look for more great pictures in the upcoming September issue of Eleven!

John Henry & The Public were the first to take the stage

Troubadour Dali

This entry was written by Scotty, posted on September 1, 2011 at 11:15 am, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

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