Thursday, February 9th

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Harry Bertoia, Untitled, 235, ink on paper, c. 1950s

When taking the metrolink to UMSL, post-departing the platform and hesitantly crossing the tracks, a weary traveller will happen upon Gallery 210 and promptly walk past it. If you have time today, tomorrow, this weekend, whenever… check out the worm hole that is 210. Pocketed carefully by UMSL as a craftly means of capitalizing on contemporary art, as Curator Terry Shure chooses a variety of artists for his disparate galleries. Separated by inches, Galleries acutely labeled A, B, and C house national and local artists in objectively disparate roles. Shure rarely melds his  galleries together. He tends to have them stand on their own as his own means of making artwork.

See Harry Bertoia‘s 40 Years of Drawing, an original permutation of his monoprints, sculptures, and furniture at UMSL’s 210 until March 17th from 11 AM – 5 PM.

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Lone ranger, Dave Beeman.

David Beeman is the poster-child for music St. Louis. He’s fronted numerous bands, most recently Old Lights. There’s a little but of Tom Petty in Beeman’s delivery. The same concentration on the frontal lobe, he nasally woos the microphone. The kinda sound you wanna listen to after a stressful day.

See him play with Kit Hamon (of the recording studio Native Sound and Old Lights), for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, at PLUSH. 8:30 PM.

Friday, February 10th

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From their melancholic "Blue Period"

Before I had seen them, I had read about, heard about, and been bitched at about Little Big Bangs. Suffice it to say, they have penchant for mayhem. And if the rumors are true,  Little Big Bangs might just embody the danger missing from local rock n’ roll both on and off the stage.

Churchill Downs would be equal parts shocked and appalued by this comparison, but the band tears into each song like it’s the last turn before home at the Kentucky Derby. The intensity makes the audience roar louder after every song, push each other around, demand that the band play harder, and the band will return such feral behavior by running itself into an oblivion of muddy grunge riffs and coyote howls. If you want sweaty flanks, flared nostrils, and a drummer that beats. the. shit. out of his ride until it crosses the finish line, you have come to the right place.

Catch ‘em come unbrideled at The Boulder (3200 block of Knapp St.) with Scripts n’ Screwz and 18andcounting. 8PM.

Saturday, February 11th

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She's got leeee-eeeehhhhggggsssss. She knows how to uuussseee ttthhheeemmm!!!

Thought Hollerlujah was a riot? Wait until you see what we have up our sleeves this time around… We’re turning The Skatium into a discotheque complete with faux-70s garb, music, and the right to boogie down.

…and I’m just ganking the rest of this off our Facebook…

“Presented by Eleven Magazine, DJ Invisible Cola, & DJ Boogieman, with special guests M.S.I.F.

It’s cold outside. Stay warm in a pair of roller skates, as Eleven Magazine teams up with the city’s most in-demand disco DJ duo to bring you a night of grooves, moves, and booze.

That’s right, we’re getting down roller disco-style.

Don’t worry though: no previous skating experience necessary, only a willingness to boogie. If you’ve got a bad case of skate-fright, there’s plenty of room for roller-less foxy trot hustlin’. Be sure to wear your finest threads. Sequined and polyester clothes STRONGLY encouraged.

The magic maestros DJ Invisible Cola and DJ Boogieman will lay down the groove sound while you get funky and do the body-to-body boogie. M.S.I.F. will take center-rink at 10 PM for a special music & dance performance guaranteed to get you caught up in a one-night love affair.

Tickets are $8 at the door and include the cost of unlimited skate rental. Once you’re in, it’s $2 beers and $3 well drinks.

This is a 21+ event, so sorry to all the underage groovers and shakers!

M.S.I.F.’s choreography by Jo Morris. Special shout-out to Zoë Scharf for laying down the poster.”

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"Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same." - Emerson

Navigator doesn’t sound like the same band live that they do on their record Bad Case of theVisions. Quiet, confused, and sentimental, when placed in a live setting, the band explodes out of the confines a 7-inch like an atom bomb. They blew the roof off Hollerlujah, changing the molecular chemistry of the night. We’re still brushing the atomic dust off out of our hair.

Accept the radioactivity and watch ‘em level Lemmon’s with Estevan, Potomac Accord, and I.O. Media at 9PM. $5.

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Cayetano Valenzuela licks starburst flavored colors onto canvases with the benevolence of a Lisa Frank spiral notebook. His brushwork is flimsy, his pencil work is flimsier, if not sophomoric. The whole deal is common, colorful, and a little pretentious. It’s almost like his unrefined hand lacks the know-how, or realization of its own rudimentary aesthetic. The only work that hints at formal training is Static Radio Behind the Train Tracks which incorporates acrylic under pencil to delicately maneuvers the folds of the subjects sweater. The clothing is done with such tenderness, it initially appears malleable. With that fraction excellence so confined within the bend of an elbow, Valenzuela eliminates the trivial motifs that charge Aisle 1 Gallery‘s walls. Nighttiming, halos, skulls, stiffly drawn figures are common within the work of uncommon Valenzuela. Overall, the exhibit is unimpressive, but, that minute moment of tenderness caught between the softness of a sleeve’s wrinkles, is enough of a reason to glimpse Valenzuela’s work and ponder its future.

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Presented: the allegorical transformation of Anarbor's extracurricular activities.

Anarbor is, above all things, a pop-rock band. More so, they are a cooperative of five friends who have been playing music together in the badlands of Phoenix, Arizona since middle school. Rare long-term compatability aside, Anarbor also happens to be one of the most potential-ridden bands to access the mainstream in a while. When listening to their major label debut The Words You Don’t Swallow, Cheap Trick charisma, and The Kink’s knack for smirk-inducing subject matter, make for an arresting aural experience.

Lead singer and bass player, Slade Echeverria slings two syllable words like “women” (wuh-mhhhnnn’s more like it) out of his gullet with a wild west passive-aggressiveness that a secure talent can provide. He just sounds like the guy who purrs into your ear all night, then leaves the bed cold in the morning after he’s done cleaning his pistol in the sink. If a one-night-stand had a voice, it’d be Echeverria’s.

When performing live, he brings the same Jesse James-swag to his front-man position while members Mike Kitlas, Adam Juwig, and Greg Garrity comfortably handle the stage terrain like mustangs that have managed to escape the clutches of fun sucking cowhands.

Notes are hit, guitars are swung, fun is had. See Anarbor at The Firebird around 8 PM with these people and ask yourself why they aren’t the headliners.

Sunday, February 12th

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Where's the E?

I watched a lot of the documentary Hoop Dreams when I was trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to quit basketball in my Junior year of high school. The tale of two boys struggling to access the higher floors of the sporting industry was more relatable for me, an underfed-over aggressive giraffe with a daring J, than Basketball Diaries or He Got Game. Given my familiarity with the doc of Chicago players William Gates and Arthur Agee, I never thought I’d see the film’s title, a postcard for their troubles as poor, young African American men become a track for synthful- electronic act Teen Girl Fantasy.

See ‘em for $5, or free if you have the money to attend Wash U, at The Gargoyle. 8PM.

Monday, February 13th

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That poor penguin.

If being previewed in this month’s Eleven wasn’t enough,  it’s time to brace the “why” in “why you need to see” Talkdemonic.

A grind-producing hybridization of folk and electronic, Talkdemonic are a muse for a smokey-night by the pond in summer. Their live show rest lax restraint on the ambient echoes of a slow moving current towards floatation. Get a raft, lay down, mold to it in the water, and you have Talkdemonic’s loving sound.

Check ‘em with locals Navigator (I though fishes could hibernate?) at The Gramophone. 8 PM. $12.

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Thursday, January 26

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In the Locals get LOUD feature of last month’s publication, we educated you on the ways of the STL LOUD crew. The LOUD Label is an extension of R&R Music Labs, a home-grown studio with its hand in the cookie jar of accessibility. Every so often they put together these compilations of unreleased music by local artists and have a release show per compilation. These local advocates have a goal to give St. Louis peeps and outsiders a taste of the music STL has to offer. Well, their latest release is up and ready to be celebrated. Look for Rum Drum Ramblers, Rev. Matt, and The LuLus can be found at Off Broadway. 7:30 PM. FREE!

Friday, January 27

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Last shows are always kind of a bummer, but at least this one brings hopes of a rekindling. Jailbox‘s Andy Tranz and Joseph Bassa have a relocation in the works, so they’ll be absent from the St. Louis music scene for a while.  Favoring “more slow songs than fast songs” (or so their FB says), tracks like “Baltimore” favor fragile guitar and a sweet vocal delivery. See ‘em at Plush. 8 PM. $5.

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I’m confused and frightened by this image.

Promising what seems like fun, “down and dirty drunken rock & roll from SPACE”, to be exact, The Browncoats‘ music certainly alludes to the extra terrestrial. “Space Age Loser” takes on Beck‘s token theme of loneliness and loser-dom and turns it into a reason( littered with grunge-inspired classic guitar riffs) to celebrate. See them at The Crack Fox with Gold Tooth and The Krank Daddies. Show 9 PM. $8.

Saturday, January 28

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I bet that thing still flies…

The enigmatic band formerly known as Ping Pong, Pillow Talk describe themselves as “noisy, weird, weird”. Good enough for me. The Winchester. Shaved Women. Black Panties.

See ‘em at Lemmons. 8:00 PM. $5.

QUICK QUESTION: Who, when they read “Black Panties”, thinks about this scene from 10 Things I Hate About You? BB JGL 4 LYFE!).

//3//

The hat and pallid epidermis seal it for me.

Our Editor Tara has been blasting Michael Franco all afternoon after interviewing venue mate Cartweel for Eleven’s blog. From what I’ve gleaned, he’s worth a look and listen. Ambient hip-hip beats under Billy Holiday vocal samples? Heck yes! Watch him work at Off Broadway (and in this video) tonight at 8:30 with Adult Fur and Cartwheel. $7.

Sunday, January 29

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Nice space, Adam!

With a unique set of pipes (think a restrained Tim McIlrath), flowing acoustic guitar, and a base of ambient tones, Adam Arcuragi is a nice reprieve from the cloying clutches of most singer-songwriters (with the exception of Drake Bell, dang it!).

See him at Cicero’s. 8PM. $8.

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“Farfetched is an independent music and art imprint based out of St. Louis, MO. We specialize in creating thought provoking, honest, and innovative content for all.”

via FarFetched’s Tumblr

OFFICIALLY. FREAKING. OUT. ABOUT. THIS. PARTY.

No, really. I am. In order to properly celebrate to release of FarFetched’s {Prologue}, we’re throwing a jubilee.

The acts featured will be: 18 and Counting, Adult Fur, Standing Sleep, Scriptz n Screwz, Thelonius Kryptonite, Helen Marie, Scrub, Whiteout, and Blank Generation.

FarFetched also incorporates other forms of art, such as the tactile. An example would be the installation from Matt Strom and Davis which will also be in attendance at the party.

You can catch the show, for free, January 20th. Festivities will commence within the space of2720 (2720 Cherokee) with doors opening at 9 PM and music starting at 10 PM.

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Julien Denoyer

New art? Don’t mind if I do…

Los Caminos, the brainchild of Cherokee wunderkind Francesca Wilmott, is having a one-night-only exhibit. Catch undergrad art students (think of this as the preview for epicness to come) question the real world (post-St. Elmo’s Fire and pre-graduation style).

Children of the End of the World Present: Are We There Yet? is slated for 7-10 PM. Remember: this is exhibit is ONE NIGHT ONLY.

PS. I have a wicked crush on Andrew McCarthy circa ’85 because of that movie. Long live the love-jaded writer!

Saturday, January 21st

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This looks legit. Yeah.

I always wanted to listen to live music in a basement…

Harmonies and acoustic guitar galore: Falsetto Boy, Kid Counselor, Heavy Weather, and Tommy and Sam of Family Might (all homies) play at the Bowen House (4107 Bowen St). 8 PM. Free!

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Melvin Theater? Do you have to go down a rabbit hole to find this place?

Whether waxing with his guitar on Success or strumming gaily on a track like Barriers, Owen Pye has enough of an innocuous vocal delivery and a practiced tepid style that could have him rubbing elbows with Ben Kweller. See him at the Melvin Theater with Sons, So Save Me, and Palace. 7PM.

Sunday, January 22nd

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Did you say… String Cheese Incident?

“Chances are if you’ve been to a bluegrass festival, the memories most prevalent in your mind are not so much that of the “scheduled” performers but more of the impromptu jams and unscheduled collaborations. It’s with that spirit that the McCoury family decided to embark on a traveling bluegrass festival that they are calling The Bluegrass Ball. Ask most string musicians young or old and they will mostly likely tell you that sharing a stage with the McCourys is at or near the top of their list…if they have not already. The McCourys are known for not only their ability to play with just about anyone but also for actually doing it! Anyone who has attended the McCourys’ highly acclaimed DelFest can tell you that the McCourys are on stage all throughout the day and night playing with many of the bands in attendance. These jams are what make DelFest unique, and The Bluegrass Ball will be akin to the epic late night jams that have become a DelFest highlight. Along for the ride are mandolin player extraordinaire Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), Billy Nershi (String Cheese Incident), and bluegrass up and comers Mountain Sprout. With this particular line up there are sure to be some phenomenal collaborations and each show will certainly be unique from the next!”

via Do314.com because I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything as succinct.

7pm. Old Rock House. $25.

Monday, January 23rd

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IS THAT A F*ING VELVET JACKET?!?!?!

Say what you will about Nickelodeon/Disney stars-cum-musicians, but this cat is the real thing. Drake Bell put out what has to be the most entirely underrated and under-heard pop album of ever 2006. If you added up It’s Only Time‘s hitgrediants (see what I did there?) you’d get the sweetest, most lovingly made carrot cake with non-fat frosting EVER. Additionally, that album could literally make you want to adopt Bell over orphan baby wombats. It’s THAT cute.

Not to mention, it’s THAT good and THAT self-aware. Bell knows he’s creating pop songs. For Christ’s sake, he can’t stop smiling when he performs. Lyrically, Bell has enough dexterity as a pop-rock musician to name drop his influences (Fallen For You), make Yellow Submarine allusions (Up Periscope) as he details his usual morning after with a lady-of-the-moment, and cash in for writing the catchiest theme song to ever grace a television show centered around two odd ball brothers with nothing in common but a penchant for mischief (Found a Way). Please click that not only to listen to the song, but watch the sweetheart give his sweaty towel to a fan.

So, with all those credentials I just listed and hyper linked the shizz out of, it’s safe to say that I’m totally championing the hell out of this cat. Catch Drake Bell and all his well-manicured, and coltish glory at the Old Rock House. Doors at 7 PM. Show at 8PM. $17.50 in advance and $20 day of.

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Thursday, January 5th

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Esoteric impressions of sunrises, noon skies, sunsets, haystacks, and landscapes are all bound permanently to his canvases. Even within the walls clothed with ivy, he found inspiration inside of his garden at Giverny. Now, for the first time in 30 years, Claude Monet’s monumental Lilies exhibition has found its way back to St. Louis. Present until the 22nd of this month. Almost a century after his death, Monet remains one of the most prolific painters, not only of the Impressionist epoch, but of all time. Presented by SLAM against gray walls, his paintings vibrate with an intensity only true passion and genius can create.

Friday, January 6th

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Every Friday Cafe Sebastienne posts a new menu for The Kemper Musuem’s patrons to feast on. This Friday prepare to mange on starters like Moroccan-spiced carrots and beets, gorge on an entree like the lamb and duck sausage cassoulet. Prior to eating to quell your tummy’s desire, stroll through the Kemper’s Companion Pieces exhibition. You’ll see the likes of platonic and romantic couples whose art inspired one another. Willem De Kooning and his wife, Elaine, are presented in addition to artwork by Neil Welliver and Alex Katz, and colleagues Jules Olitski, David Smith, and Kenneth Noland.

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The Bad Plus have been combining uncompromisingly pretty piano strings, harmonious upright bass, and energetic drums for a decade. Catch them at Jazz at the Bistro around 7:30 PM.

Saturday, January 7th

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Andy Leicht is a St. Louis based painter whose artwork will be ending its exhibition tonight at Fort Gondo. The series, Recent Paintings, is comprised of oil on canvas work mostly incorporating abstract and figurative subjects.

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Eleven brought you news this month’s issue about PLUSH, the next big venue in STL. Get a feel for the place by checking out Bay’s Bash. Celebrating the end to his corporate matters, Bay is focusing on what he loves (KDHX) and inviting you all to come kick it for free. From 8 PM until whenever, expect music from Beth Bombara and Karl Eggers, beer at half price, and party hats.

Sunday, January 8th

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Featured artist Buzz Spector

Kick back and listen to Bad at Sports. BaS is a weekly contemporary art talk podcast. Featuring national and local artists, BaS is an approachable glimpse to the art world. This week’s guest is local writer, artist, and the founder of San Francisco’s WhiteWalls urban gallery, Buzz Spector.

Spector’s work is currently on exhibition at The Bruno David Gallery.

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I never could quite comprehend the fascinating nature of Jack White until I saw The Raconteurs at Bonnaroo a few wet and HOT summers ago. Even when he appeared on stage, and my eyes appeared to cloud over in awe (was it really ‘awe’? The world may never know), I still pondered the irreverent position he took on stage. Maybe if I had watched Under Great White Northern Lights, the White Stripes documentary following them during one of their final tours, I would understand. Well, now I have the chance to comprehend, as do you. Schlafly Bottleworks is hosting the film at 8 PM tonight. Be aware, you might be tempted to dress like a peppermint.

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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.

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

Troubadour Dali

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Jesse Gernigin is a full time traveling magician and hypnotist who on September 3rd will be putting on his show ‘A Series of Wonderful Events’. The show runs for one night and is in Edwardsville, Illinois at the historic Wildey Theater. ‘A Series of Wonderful Events’ will start at 7:00 p.m on September third and the show will run until 8:45 p.m with a fifteen minute intermission. ‘A Series of Wonderful Event’ showcases Jesse’s ability to read and control minds. During the show Jesse will read the minds of the audience, influence volunteers to forget events, use social control to affect volunteer’s decision and promises, in his words, ‘To have an ending that no one can see coming’. Jesse will also include various effects of magic from swallowing razor blades to linking borrowed keys to one another and much more. For an unforgettable night in a beautiful theater come see Jesse Gernigin’s show ‘A Series of Wonderful Events’! Tickets are $12.00, seating is first come first served and tickets are available at Wildey’s ticket office out front of the Wildey theater the night of the show or you can pre-purchase them online at www.wildeytheater.com.

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Starting today, Eleven staffers Tara Pham and Nelda Kerr take San Francisco’s Outside Lands 2011 by storm. Follow their Golden Gate Park adventure online via @elevenmag #osl11. Following the festival, see blog coverage here!

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