St. Louis Music Blog

The mere existence of this documentary should send post-punk fans, synth dorks and music historians into spasms of ectasy. The BBC's Synth Britannia examines the rise of the UK's early '80s synthpop movement. More specifically, it's a 90-minute, thorough examination of the genre's roots, major players and nascent bands -- all placed into historical, economic and pop-culture context. Musicians and labels featured are first-rate: OMD, Fad Gadget, Visage, Mute Records, Throbbing Gristle, Human League, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode...

Eight of the doc's nine parts are on YouTube. Below is part four, which features a small bit about the Silicon Teens, a fake band dreamed up by Mute founder Daniel Miller. The act's shtick was synthed-up versions of classic rock & roll songs, a roster of songs which included Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee." Check it below in the middle of the clip. (But keep watching: Right after this segment ends, Gary Numan gives make-up tips.) Hat tip to the awesome retro '80s blog Slicing Up Eyeballs for blogging about this.

NWS, back in the day, circa 1997

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On January 16, New World Spirits -- one of many St. Louis bands which earned a record deal in the '90s -- will be doing a reunion show at the Pageant. Tickets go on sale this Friday and are $20.

Judging from comments at this reunion post, the return of NWS is a welcome one. The warm feelings make sense, though: Back in the day, the band fit in easily with the feel-good roots-rockers of the '90s, and its music aligned well with Rusted Root, Black Crowes and the Tragically Hip. (One of the Amazon reviewers of the band's major label debut, Fortune Cookie, is not a fan, however: He describes them as "sort of a poor man's Dave Matthews Band minus the chops." Ouch.) Cookie, incidentally, can be had for a mere penny at Amazon.com, although the price for 1997's Spark is a bit higher: $88.45 new?!

As the quartet begins practicing again for the show, two of its members took time to answer some email questions about the reunion.

1. Who are you, and what is your role in NWS?
Mike Kociela, bass
J. Chambers, singer and rhythm guitar.

2. Why is 2010 the right time for a NWS reunion?
Kociela: No real reason. It just finally made sense for all of us and our fans kept up the pressure for the last ten years. I just can't wait to see everyone again and to feel the sense of community we used to share.
Chambers: I don't really know that there is a right time. Or that this is it, for that matter. We haven't approached it like that at all. The opportunity to do this came about very spontaneously, and the decision to play was made within minutes. There was very little thinking involved.

www.brcohn.com

​Musicians and wine go together like, well, a nice chardonnay paired with brie. Maynard James Keenan of Tool is perhaps the most famous musician vintner, although Chuck Berry released blackberry wine a few years ago via Missouri's Crown Valley WInery.

Now you can add classic rockers the Doobie Brothers -- which once featured St. Louis native Michael McDonald among their ranks -- to the music-branded wine pack. Sonoma, California's B.R. Cohn Winery (the establishment founded by Doobie Brothers manager Bruce Cohn) has been producing wines with a Doobies theme for several years now.

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.

​​Sesame Street's 40th birthday is today November 10. (See the comments below from Sesame Workshop Director of Media Research James Williams-Ness.) Forty years is hard to believe, right? Heck, the show doesn't look a day over age five. The show continues to educate preschoolers on the joys of the alphabet and counting, thanks to beloved characters such as Big Bird, Elmo and Cookie Monster.

Of course, music is an integral part of the show -- and due to the show's reputation, it is able to entice many, many famous musicians to head on down to Sesame Street for a spell. Clips from the Goo Goo Dolls, R.E.M., B.B. King, Paul Simon and more are on YouTube (the show has a great archive of videos). Here are a few famous musician appearances on the show.

Billy Joel and Marlee Matlin. Oscar the Grouch totally disses Billy, ha.

Johnny Cash!

The members of Duran Duran are a cheeky bunch. Why, even when Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor formed a side project, Arcadia, they insured themselves against obsolescence by writing a song called "Election Day." Which is an appropriate choice for today.

Why not? Here's the eight-minute version.

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Veteran Bay Area post-hardcore/post-punk/post-goth/post-whatevers AFI are at the Pageant on Wednesday, November 4. (Buy tix!) The quartet is touring behind its latest, Crash Love. A to Z has a pair of tickets to give away -- which will also entitle the winner to a meet-and-greet with the band! To enter, leave your full name and a valid email address in the comments, with why you should win. This contest ends NEXT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 at noon. The winner will be notified soon after. Check out the new single, "Medicate," right here!

This isn't quite music-related, per se, but since Nintendo music is a big part of this blog, I'm going to roll with it. This charming link made the rounds last night: A man proposed to his girlfriend by programming "Lisa, will you marry me?" in gold coins within a level of the old SNES game Super Mario World. Of course, he filmed it -- and it's even sweeter when you see her reaction.

Every band worth its salt attaches a premium to a new album -- whether it be bonus tracks, interviews or videos. But leave it to Bunnygrunt's label, Happy Happy Birthday to Me, to make dolls for each band member. Not creepy, will-stab-you-in-your-sleep, unblinking-eyes dolls -- but cute, cuddly, lumpy, beanbag-type entities. (Hey, kind of like Bunnygrunt itself! I keed, I keed, cause I love.) As of Tuesday, they had three sets left, at $30 each, so if you'd like to try your luck, email here (and remove the spambot protection). Check 'em out below -- and, of course, Bunnygrunt's new album, Matt Harnish and Other Delights, is out now. (Review, with MP3!)

happyhappybirthdaytome.blogspot.com

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Noisemongers A Place to Bury Strangers are playing at the Firebird on Sunday night with All The Saints. If you like Jesus and Mary Chain, you'll dig the latter band; if you like nuclear-reactor noise, effects pedals and smoke machines, you'll dig APTBS. (Check our preview for proof.) Local shoegazers Stella Mora are also on the bill. And I have five tickets -- that's individual tickets, not pairs -- to give away, along with a T-shirt for each winner! 

Congrats goes out to photographer Scott Spychalski, whose photo of Tom Waits graces the back cover of the forthcoming live album, Glitter and Doom. The best part about this? Spychalski shot the photo right here in St. Louis at the Fabulous Fox last June. Here's our review, and a whole slideshow of his photos from the concert. Check out the chosen photo below! (H/T to Jason Harper for sending me the link)

As I was perusing the music blog of our sister paper in Kansas City, I noticed a familiar face in the "featured posts": Clownvis Presley. Intrigued, I scrolled through the entire post and discovered that my colleague, Jason Harper, noted a list of out-of-town musicians who garnered votes in the Pitch's "Best Sexy Musician" category in their best of issue. And who came in number one in out-of-town votes? Why, our own Clownvis! Congrats is in order -- it's now official that the entire state of Missouri recognizes his sexiness.

Today marks that most significant of festivals: National One Hit Wonder Day. It's time to celebrate "The Macarena" and "What I Am" and "Come On Eileen" and "I'm Too Sexy" and "Afternoon Delight" and "'She Blinded Me With Science" and my own personal bête noire, "Barbie Girl."



A question to ponder as we observe today's holiday: Why are so many one hit wonders so annoying?

Does this really need any explanation? I imagine this is what tonight's Motorhead show is going to be like for many.

The Twitter of our pals at the Houston Press linked the following video, of a metal version of the Super Mario Brothers theme song. Commenters -- a mix of metalheads and video game nuts, a dangerous combination -- pointed readers toward Powerglove, another band fond of covering video game music. (Among many others, such as the Minibosses and the Advantage.) Lo and behold, Powerglove's version of the Tetris theme is epic. View it, and a few other cool game themes, after the jump. ASIDE: Why hasn't anyone done a Battletoads theme cover yet? Get on it.

Cicero's seemed like the place to be last night: Grey Market, Say Panther, the Antlers, Thom Donovan, the Starters DJ's and the Hood Internet performed for an excited crowd. (Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship performed nearby -- no room can contain him.) Take a look at Egan O'Keefe's slideshow of photos here. Did you go -- how were the bands? Tell Old Lady A to Z, who was too tired to go out last night. Here are some snapshots of the night:

Egan O'Keefe

The Antlers. Entire set of photos here.

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Daryl Hall (left) and John Oates (right). Seriously, that facial hair can totally fuck you up.

​A to Z's love and admiration for the credo and mission of the American Mustache Institute -- okay, okay, who are we kidding? We mean the AMI itself -- is well-documented here. But the lads behind the endeavor may have outdone themselves with this year's 'Stache Bash, its annual charity event. Because on Friday, October 30, at the Roberts Orpheum, none other than the '80s Mustachioed Marauder himself, John Oates, will be there.

Yes, John Oates. Let this sink in. No matter that he shaved off the facial hair in 1990, according to a recent interview. His facial hair is so iconic that it's spawned a crime-fighting cartoon, JSTACHE!, featuring the dynamic duo of Oates -- and his mustache. He just might have the most recognizable '80s hair this side of A Flock of Seagulls. Tickets for the 'Stache Bash are on sale next Friday, September 18, at 10 a.m., and they benefit Challenger Baseball, a baseball league for children and adults with disabilities. And hey -- he looks pretty good now! See below for the pic and some Hall & Oates goodness.

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Ra Ra Riot packed the Billiken Club in March, and now the orchestral indie sweethearts are returning to St. Louis on Sunday, September 20, at the Firebird. (Maps and Atlases and Princeton are also on the bill.) Courtesy of Barsuk Records, I have a pair of tickets to give away to its show! To win, leave a comment with your real name and a valid email address, with why you should get the pair. The contest closes on Thursday, September 17, at noon; winners will be notified soon after.

Last year, the calendar gods smiled upon us with the uber-nerdy date of August 8, 2008 (see Happy 808 Day! in honor of the drum machine). In 2009, however, we have the awe-inspiring date of 9-9-09 -- which, among other things, inspired Threadless to put its entire line of T-shirts on sale for $9! OMG! (I recommend this Cure-inspired music tee -- it's what I'll be rocking this fall.) Of course, there are plenty of tunes, bands and musical elements indebted to the numeral -- like Daft Punk's rave-tastic "Revolution 909" and plenty of video demos and performances involving the Roland TR-909. Here are a few of my favorite videos.

First, here's R.E.M.'s "9-9," the song which seemed to singlehandedly spawn Pavement's career:

Yes, it's that time of year again when Mike Tomko coerces local bands into becoming their idols for a night of cover-act debauchery! The fun goes down tonight and tomorrow night at the Firebird.  Tonight's roster includes Science Hill (311), Via Dove (Rolling Stones), Left Arm (Ramones), The Orbz (Pixies) and Echo Bravo (Nirvana), while Saturday's slate of bands includes the Monads (Andrew WK), Fattback (Talking Heads), John Henry & The Engine (CCR), The Dive Poets (John Mellencamp) and The Sham (Tears for Fears). Will this work? Christian Schaeffer posits here. Here's Fattback doing its version of Huey Lewis' "Hip To Be Square," taken from New Year's Eve 2008.

Jets Overhead - No Nations from Transmission2 on Vimeo.

Earlier this week over at the Daily RFT, Bill Streeter penned a great, thought-provoking post about several issues concerning digital music now. Among other things, he discusses the competing versions of a new digital album -- one dreamed up by Apple and the other dreamed up by the Big 4 major label axis of Sony, Warner Brothers, Universal and EMI -- and his theory that the Beatles catalog might finally being released to DSPs.
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Apple is reportedly holding a September 9 meeting -- agenda unknown -- which just so happens to be the same day as the release of the remastered Beatles catalog. Again, this is all rampant speculation, so we're going to have to wait until closer to the date to see if information leaks. In town, however, Vintage Vinyl has confirmed some pretty cool events to commemorate the Beatles remasters anyway.

Do you like shoegaze music? Do you like the Afghan Whigs? Do you enjoy pop hooks? Well, you're in luck: The Jovian Chorus -- a.k.a. the new project of ex-Ghost in Light drummer/RFT scribe Shae Moseley -- is holding its CD release show tonight at the Firebird. Also on the bill are Making Movies, HUMDRUM and Hope and Therapy. The first 100 people through the door receive a card for a free download of the Jovian Chorus' self-titled album. (Those who slack on going to the show can still purchase it via the web.) Snag an MP3 below as enticement for the show.

MP3: The Jovian Chorus, "Juna"

In June, power-pop darlings Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs released the second volume in their covers series. Under the Covers, Vol. 2 focuses on the '70s -- which means the album spans prog (Yes' "I've Seen All Good People"), sappy folk (Carly Simon's "You're So Vain"), power-pop (the Raspberries "Go All the Way") and rock royalty (Tom Petty's "Here Comes My Girl"). Sweet rocked the Duck Room in June -- and Hoffs is playing the Illinois State Fair this weekend in Springfield with the Bangles -- but a few weeks ago, the pair took time to chat with me about their new collaboration. Read on below to find what rock icon nearly produced a Bangles record -- and how Sweet felt about his trip to the Lou.
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Annie Zaleski: How on Earth do you whittle down what songs you want to cover for these?
Susanna Hoffs: It's difficult, because after making the Under the Covers, Volume One, which was all '60s, we thought, "If we ever do a volume two, we'll just keep doing the '60s," because we sort of identified the '60s as the most influential music [decade] for us. And that's something Matthew and I shared. But then when it came time to do volume two, we started exploring the '70s and we realized there is this insane amount of amazing songs that actually were sort of life-changing songs for both of us. So it was like, as Matthew says, [a] haphazard process of randomly coming up with different songs as they crossed through our minds.

It's like making a mix CD of all your favorite stuff.
SH: Yeah! Exactly like that.
Matthew Sweet: Very free for us, though. We don't plan the whole list. As we think of something we might want to try, we just add it on then.

Lately, I've been waking up early -- in other words, normal-person time -- in time to catch the morning shows on KDHX. Just now, Darren Snow of Rocket 88 told me that today is the birthday of angry young man-turned-debonair piano man Joe Jackson. He's 55 today. You really can't touch Jackson's first few albums -- and Look Sharp! and I'm the Man both came out in 1979 -- in terms of classic pop sensibilities. The videos below should give you an idea.

"Steppin' Out"

When not blogging over here on A to Z, you can find me on the @rftmusic Twitter, posting tunes, retweeting links, pimping out this blog and chatting idly with all of you kind STL folks. And even though meeting people from the Internet is scary, I've decided to throw the First Annual @rftmusic Tweet-up (RFTweet-up, if you're nasty). Before the Matt & Kim show at Off Broadway on Sunday, August 23, the music Twitterati of the Lou will gather to awkwardly make small talk, joke about Internet inside jokes and generally bond over beer. Time TBA, full details forthcoming -- and I'm hoping that we'll have party favors and other special surprise goodies. Which you can only discover by being pals with us on Twitter.

Todd Owyoung

The Boss at the Scottrade Center last August.

​Yes, it's true that Bruce Springsteen won't be coming to town until October 25 and tickets don't even go on sale until Saturday. That, in theory, should give you plenty of time to get your lungs in shape for an evening of shouting "Bruuuuuuuuuce!" and maybe score the perfect vintage Stone Pony t-shirt off of eBay.

But still, you may find time weighing heavy on your hands. JamsBio is that rare magazine that has actually managed to anticipate the needs of its readers. One intrepid reviewer, known only as JBev, has taken it upon himself to go through the Boss' entire catalog and rank 200 of his songs in a project called No Retreat, No Surrender. (Yeah, that was John Kerry's campaign song. Don't let that little fact discourage you.)

savemolives.com/HEAT

They're comin' for ya

​Hey two-bit scoundrels: think you can horse around on Missouri highways this summer and get away with it? 

Think again. THE HEAT IS ON!!!!

(Click here to be terrified. Or just watch below.)

State, county and local governments are currently instituting a 70-day crackdown on drunken highway driving. Here are the deets.

But I think this video will tell you everything you need to know.

(Like, I don't know, maybe a bit more information on - let's say - that frosty little can of WHOOP-ASS that John Q. Law will crack open on your face if you cross him.) Glenn Frey, what do you think? 

Having a crush in the digital age is even more confusing than it was before we had Twitter, Facebook, text messaging and email. I mean, if someone doesn't respond to your direct message, is he not interested? That flirty Tweet directed to that one girl in California -- does it mean anything? A cryptic Facebook status update alluding to shenanigans -- are you totally in the friend zone?​Thankfully, I Blame Emily -- who some of you might know as long-time local rocker Adam Reichmann -- understands the heartache, anxiety and uncertainty associated with love and romance in the social networking age. The loping twang of "Facebook Friend" details the longing of a chap who wants to transcend the digital realm and "do some real-life poking." Anyone who's ever wasted time at work on the site will completely relate to the tongue-in-cheek laments of the song's protagonist.

All credit goes to Jason for finding this and making sure I saw it. Why yes, this is DJ Morgoth's conflation of Nelly's "Country Grammar" and "Redemption" by Massachusetts thrash-metalheads Shadows Fall. METAL UP YOUR ASS, LOU-STYLE, BITCHES. More mashups can be found at Morgoth's website, which is linked above.