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!

Hide Your Dollar Bills: Living Things Coming To St Louis

You may have read my post about seeing the Living Things play an afternoon show at SXSW. They were very good, in the vein of T-Rex, or perhaps Louis XIV, and they were wearing all leather, even though it was a fairly warm Texas afternoon. The thing that got everyone talking was when singer Lillian burned a dollar bill in front of the stage, talking about how the government was taking his tax money for the rich no more. It was effective, but then when it was reported that he did the same thing at their next show, maybe a little less so.

But, hey, they really bring a good rock show, so it would be a shame to miss them when they come to STL. Even though they are from here, they haven't actually played a show here in years. They'll be at Off Broadway on May 12, and also playing a free show earlier in the day at Vintage Vinyl, at 4 PM.

As a little background, the Living Things formed in 2003 and consists of three brothers, Lillian Berlin on vocals and guitar, Eve on Bass, and Bosh on drums. Rounding out the group is Corey Becker on guitar, who is not related to anyone else in the band, and is NOT, contrary to the arbitrary rumor that I decided to start here, the love-child of Steely Dan's Walter Becker and gravel-voiced Marianne Faithfull. Their new release is Habeas Corpus, and they have toured with Velvet Revolver and the Vines.

Blitzen Trapper: Live At Vintage Vinyl STL

So I couldn't make Blitzen Trapper's proper gig opening up for Stephen Malkmus at the Pageant on Saturday night due to a wedding, but was excited to see that they would be playing a short in-store set at Vintage Vinyl Sunday at 1 PM. I showed up right at 1 PM and was surprised that the band was ready to go. Note to self: If a band plays an in-store the afternoon of a gig, they will show up 45 minutes late and play about a half hour after that since the van broke down, or they got lost, or some other story. If it's the day AFTER a show, the band has someplace to get to, so they are going to start pretty close to on time.

So on to the set, and Blitzen Trapper. Seeing them live, even at a record store, cemented a couple of things for me:
1. The band is really good, and bring more keyboards to the mix than I expected. They also have a lot of nice twin guitar leads that are melodic and toothy all at the same time. They have real songs that stand up, sounding like a combo of Gram Parsons, CSN&Y, and Pavement, with dashes of prog and Dylan thrown in for spice.
2. Listening to the band live also confirmed something that I have been thinking for a while: I think the band's latest, "Furr" is my favorite release of the year. It resonates with me, both lyrically and musically with a feeling of classic stories in a contemporary setting.
3. It was fun watching the 2 or 3 year old rugrats rocking out and playing with their hot wheels just a foot away from the band. Blitzen Trapper didn't mind, and the kids were cool as long as they listened to their parents and didn't go past the cords.
4. I really need a better camera than the crappy point and shoot that I was using. The pic above was the only one worth posting from about 8.

Pick up "Furr" and tell me what you think. These guys are the real thing.