St. Louis Music Blog

His lyrics combine wordliness, wisdom, sly self-deprecation, biting sarcasm and the righteous rage of an Old Testament prophet, sometimes all at once: Who else could pull off a line like, "Everybody knows what you've been through/From the bloody cross on top of Calvary/To the beach of Malibu"?

No matter how many people he knows at a St. Louis Son Volt show, Jay Farrar will always be the guy who played a big part in creating the "alt. country" genre. Twenty years after Uncle Tupelo's heyday, Farrar and the current Son Volt line-up stay true to their roots without being strangled by them, presenting a set that sometimes rocks, sometimes twangs, and always remains heartfelt and honest.

Son Volt's Friday night show opened with the twang-free "The Picture." Without the horn section from the album version, the band compensated with Farrar on harmonica and a wall of guitar that announced the presence of a rock band -- a rock band that, over the course of a few songs, melted into the pure country of "Dust of Daylight" from this year's American Central Dust. Lap and pedal steel guitars had gradually been added through the set, creating a seamless transition.

Hard to believe this day is finally here, but tomorrow night is Leonard Cohen's appearance at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. We'll have a review on Sunday. In the meantime, check out a feature I did on Cohen's road manager, St. Louis native Joey Carenza.

Friday, November 6
*Son Volt/Peter Bruntnell, The Pageant
*Nelly's Birthday Party -- Pajama Jam, HOME Nightclub
*Tech N9ne/Slaughterhouse/Stevie Stone et al, Pop's
*Breathe Carolina/Cash Cash/more, Fubar
*Buddy Mondlock, Focal Point
*Tenement Ruth, Lemmons
*Poor Historians, Way Out Club
*Eric Moeller And The Strummalongs w/ Scene Of Irony, These Old Ghosts, Firebird
*Elastik Soul/The Luvher Boys, The Gramophone
*Jake's Leg, Cicero's

Photo: Todd Owyoung

Neko Case last night at the Pageant. See more photos from last night's show.

​Neko Case's show last night at the Pageant wasn't that different from her September 2008 appearance at the same venue. However, the comfortably crowded show was, shall we say, loose. Not musically - oh no, Case throws her head back, shakes her tomato-red mane and out pours her sweet, unadulterated voice, like clockwork. And her backing band - which includes long-time vocal foil Kelly Hogan and pedal-steel wizard Jon Rauhouse - helps her gently replicate the studio versions of her songs.

But Case was clearly in a goofy mood, from the second she stepped onstage, wearing simple blue jeans and a T-shirt. The show began with the big reveal that she and the band were comparing bad song lyrics before the show started. The winner? According to Case, it's the line, "I feel the horses coming gallopng," from Hole's "Malibu" - which she shared via a bellowed Courtney Love imitation.

See more photos from last night's show.

​Per an email received just now, Jay-Z will be performing next year on March 19, 2010 at the Scottrade Center. Tickets are on sale Saturday, November 14, and prices are TBA. Nice! He's in Champaign, Illinois, next week -- and so anyone who doesn't feel like driving, you don't have to.

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews HUMDRUM's CD, Individual Man. He had this to say:

If you were to break a certain folksy dictum and judge HUMDRUM's CD by its cover, you'd be right to assume that space is the place for this local quartet. The artwork for Individual Man features a hand-drawn image of an astronaut adrift in the cosmos, and the track list features titles such as "Hide and Seek in the Universe" and "Outerspace [SIC]." But for all the celestial reveries, vocoder freakouts and ambient soundscapes - the band cheekily thanks their delay pedal in the liners -- HUMDRUM's music is solid, two-guitar indie rock. While the band certainly pulls from space-rock heroes (and possible namesake) Hum, other prominent touchstones include Weezer's garage-pop, Spacehog's effervescent rock & roll and even the Foo Fighters' power-chord crunches.

Read the rest here. The band is doing an in-store at Vintage Vinyl on Thursday, November 12, at 8 p.m.

MP3: HUMDRUM, "Kaleidoscope"

Earthworms just unearthed (get it?) a new single, "Circles," which was produced by Ben Bounce and features Raashan Ahmad. The song is a taste from the band's forthcoming album, Midnight at the Capricorn. You can download the single and pre-order the album at earthwormshiphop.com.

Also, grrl-punks the Midtown Thieves disbanded earlier this year, just after finishing a seven-song album with Peter Dycus at Shine Studios. The band uploaded it to MySpace, however, along with some snazzy album art. Check it out!
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British garage-rock queen-bee Holly Golightly is returning to St. Louis for the first time since August 2005 at the Firebird on Tuesday, December 1. Details forthcoming.

Also, John Mayer has announced a show with Michael Franti and Spearhead at the Scottrade Center on Saturday, March 20, 2010. Ticket info also TBA. Mayer's Twitter is the stuff of legend, and his interview style, well, makes me both nervous and in awe. Behold:

What do you think about guys with seventies mustaches?
I don't give a fuck about who wears their face what way. If I could grow a beard, I'd have some nutty things going on on my face.
You can't grow a beard?
It's a pituitary thing. I know you're not that much of a moron.
These are questions my editor wanted me to ask. I'm trying to build my journalistic career here. You're not building a journalistic career. You're making yourself look like a moron and you're not a moron. Who's your editor?

Just got word that Yo la Tengo is returning to the Pageant on Sunday, January 24, 2010. Tickets are on sale next week; no word yet on price and openers. The band's new album, Popular Songs, is out now.