Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New M.I.A.: Born Free







Sunday, April 25, 2010

Guitar Wizard

How did I stumble across this wonderful clip of Roy Clark absolutely shredding his acoustic guitar? And a clip of it all happening during an old Odd Couple episode?

And then I wonder what Roy thinks about his Hee-Haw days, a show I vividly remember enjoying as a kid, but not exactly putting the country 'yokels' in a great light.

The guy can play guitar, and that may have gotten eclipsed with all that extra hooey. he came to one of the casinos here in the last year or so. I should have gone.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

What's Your Wu-Tang Name?

Click here to find out.
Mine's 'Insane Observer', bee-aytch.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Saturday: Record Store Day

I'm not sure how this day, designed to spotlight the importance and magic of the dwindling number of independent record stores that dot this vast land, does in other cities. But it's become a fun day here in the STL area. I'll be spending most of my time at Euclid Records, but Apop and Vintage also have some great stuff going on. Here's the schedule of events, with some lifting off of the wonderful A To Z RFT Blog:

Apop Records
2831 Cherokee Street
*Free beer thanks to New Belgium
*BBQ (veggie included)
*A photobooth
*Freezerburn Industries' Mr. Ben's RSD-only music zine, with a DVD of local Lepers TV footage
*Between-band DJs Jeff Hess (KDHX's Wednesday Afternoon Delight) & Jeremy Kannappell (Ghost Ice)
Performances!
1 p.m. Pretty Little Empire
1:45 p.m. SKR (SkakreKrau Radio)
2:30 p.m. Burn The Mute
3:15 p.m. .e
3:45 p.m. Bob Reuter
4:15 p.m. Egg Chef
4:45 p.m. Half Gay
5:30 p.m. Maximum Effort
6:15 p.m. Shaved Women
6:45 p.m. Strangulated Beatoffs
7:30 p.m. Glowdick


Euclid Records
601 East Lockwood
*A store-wide sale, with 10 percent off "virtually everything in the store," they say
*A sidewalk sale
Performances!
Noon: Luca Brasi
1 p.m.: 33 on the Needle
2 p.m. Adoring Heirs
3 p.m. Art Majors
4 p.m. Finn's Motel
5 p.m. Sleepy Kitty
6 p.m. Troubadour Dali
7 p.m. The Bottle Rockets

Vintage Vinyl
6610 Delmar Boulevard
In addition to the limited-edition "Don't Quit Your Day Job!" employee compilation for sale, VV will have free PBR and Monster Energy Drink.
Guest DJs:
12 p.m. Kevin Johnson (Post-Dispatch)
1 p.m. Christian Schaeffer (Riverfront Times)
2 p.m. Donnie Fandango (KPNT)
3 p.m. DJ Coreyography
4 p.m. Tom "Papa" Ray (KDHX, Vintage Vinyl)
5 p.m. Sylvester The Cat (KDHX)
6 p.m. Eric Hall (www.myspace.com/ehallstl)
7 p.m. Anacrusis (http://anacrusis.us/)

Live music under the store's marquee:

12 p.m. Felili
1 p.m. Blondiegrunt (St. Louis)
2 p.m. Kentucky Knife Fight (Edwardsville, IL)
3 p.m. Hooten Hallers (Columbia, MO)
4 p.m. Nomo (Michigan poly-rhythmic, danceable goodness)
5 p.m. Beat Street (DJ Needles, DJ Alejan, DJ G-Wiz, Da Fly D-Ex)

Slackers (various locations; check its website)
*The stores will have live performances at the following stores:
St. Charles, Missouri
12 p.m. Serapis
1 p.m. Models Need Sleep
2 p.m. Ockum's Razor
3 p.m. Building Rome
4 p.m. Jailbox
5 p.m. Spelling Bee
7 p.m. Steve Ewing (of the Urge)
8 p.m. Aaron Mansfield

Glen Carbon, Illinois
5 p.m. Descending New Angels
6 p.m. The New Translation
7 p.m. Super Fun Yeah Yeah Rocketship

Columbia, Missouri
1 p.m. the Hanukkah Jones Band
5 p.m. Nonreturner
7 p.m. Steven Carrel & The Goldbugs
8 p.m. Warantula

P.S. As a special preview, go to the Marketing28 web site to see the artwork I designed for the new CD by The Adoring Heirs! They'll be selling a limited number of CDs at Euclid, as they get ready to have a mass pressing in the near future!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Return Of BOB


Not sure if I should put this one in the work blog, or the music blog. here's a poster that was done by my marketing company, Marketing28. Thanks to Wil Mowrey, intern extraordinaire for his design on this one. Bob is a band that has been around for a while, and will be back at Cicero's on May 1 opening for my brother's band, The Adoring Heirs. See you there.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Do It For Frank.

Atoms For Peace Look Like They May Be OK!


Mauro Refosco.
Joey Waronker.
Nigel Godrich.
Flea.
Thom Yorke.

"Supergroup." Feh. Most of these highly touted groups can not compare to the original source bands. But there are exceptions, and this may be one of them.

Here's a fan-shot video of their song "Cymbal Rush". After watching, or hearing about, Radiohead's DVD "Meeting People Is Easy", where Thom especially seemed morose the entire time, it's a joy to see him enjoying himself. Hell, he's even shimmying across the stage, shaking that skinny English ass.

I'm looking forward to hearing the forthcoming release, and an opportunity to see the group live?

Supergrass Breaks Up

Yet another highly touted British band that never seemed to take off in the States, Supergrass have called it quits after nearly two decades. It's unfortunate, but it gives me an opportunity to share with you two songs that have been dear to my heart from their debut release, I Should Coco. First up are some versions of their first single, "Caught By The Fuzz". I'd play you the official video, but those dicks at the record company won't let me. Hey, dicks, maybe if you would have let bloggers share videos of Supergrass, they would have had more success. Anyhoo, here's a live version, and an acoustic one. The official version can be found here.


Their big single was "Alright", from the same album, and it's another good one. This one comes from the Youtube Underground Railroad, I can't believe that embedding was not disabled. The video's a bit too much like the Monkees with either a young Mick Jagger or that guy from Flight of the Conchords singing, but it's still a good one:

I wish I could say with great conviction that I'll miss the band, but they have always been like a fly trapped in amber for me, with these two songs always sounding punky pop fresh. And after that, nothing seemed to stick. Still, two songs more than either you or I will ever have. So thanks for that, Supergrass.

I'm Surprised Her Fingers Didn't Start Smoking. Or Crack Off From The Sheer Force And Speed.

Here is a version of "I've Got Rhythm" that you have never heard before. And I doubt anyone could duplicate it. Listen to the whole thing. About 3 minutes in things go off the path and into some amazing/startling playing:

Monday Morning Blues

Let's get this Monday going the way most folks feel, with Howling Wolf singing the blues. Specifically, 'How Many Years', a great live track from 1966. Sing it, man::

Sunday, April 11, 2010

A Night Out With Doctor Atomic


Last night I took Mrs. Old Skool for a night on the town to listen to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and experienced quite a musical treat.

The evening started with a recognition of a local music teacher and a quick piece played by her third grade violin students See photo). I can't imagine being that young, standing there on the stage of Powell Hall, with a practically full house to play to. What a surreal experience that must have been for them, and they sounded great.

So, sorry, I'm going to sidebar here. The story has application to the Symphony performance, so we'll circle back to that soon. A few years ago I saw the Flaming Lips for the first time. It was in a tent, at SXSW, and I was about three feet from them. It was the first night of the festival, and little did I know how that performance would be the best of the nearly 5 days and nights of musical gluttony. It was a great experience, but we had peaked way too soon, still disoriented from landing on somewhat foreign soil, priming ourselves for a barrage of BBQ and Lonestars, not realizing that we were about to be blown completely away in a matter of hours, instead of days.

And so it happened when i heard the first piece of the night, 'Rapture' by Christopher Rouse. The best musical experience is when you know nothing about an artist, and you get completely blindsided with something you never expected to be so good. And man, I like me some 'Rapture'. Starting out sounding like Sigur Ros, and changing into a kaleidoscope of a joyous lost movie soundtrack, with some driving percussion, that was a complete surprise.

The next two pieces were enjoyable, but I was still thinking about 'Rapture', to tell you the truth.

The final featured piece, John Adams 'Doctor Atomic' symphony, was last on the bill, and the piece has somewhat become synonymous with the orchestra. They hosted the American debut of the final piece in 2008, and the composer dedicated it to conductor David Robertson. And the weekend concerts were warm-up as the symphony loads up the Econoline van and takes these pieces on a California tour. It's a modern piece without being a dissonant dose of 'it's good for you' medicine. The flow tells the story of the first testing of the atomic bomb and is lyrical enough for even this classical novice to follow along with.

The whole night was also part of the Saint Louis Symphony 'blogger night', bringing together disparate musical tastes and giving us the privilege to experience world-class music, to expand our range a bit. It's a great way for them to reach out and remind us that there are many forms of great music out there, and any one of us is welcome to join them.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Cindy Und Bert Cover Der Black Sabbath

Und it is funny. What's up with the little dog?