Homespun: HUMDRUM, Individual Man

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"

Tonight! AFI at the Pageant + David Bowie Cover!

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AFI
Where: The Pageant
With: Gallows
Sounds Like: Post-everything -- hardcore, punk, electro, rock, pop and goth. The band's new album, Crash Love, rails against the emptiness of fame and shallowness of modern culture, and features some of the catchiest, tightest songwriting of its career.
RIYL: The Smiths, Misfits, Alkaline Trio
MP3: AFI, "Ziggy Stardust" (David Bowie cover)

Tonight! The New Collisions at the Gramophone

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Liz Linder/myspace.com/thenewcollisions

The New Collisions
Where: The Gramophone
With: Team Relevance
Sounds Like: The Boston band specializes in effervescent synthpop full of pitter-pattering beats, zippy keyboards and sassy female vocals. Fans include producer Anthony Resta (Duran Duran, Missing Persons) and Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes, with whom the band has worked.
RIYL: Au Revoir Simone, the Go-Go's, Blondie
MP3: The New Collisions, "I'm Losing"

Pokey LaFarge on Daytrotter Today

Head on over to Daytrotter today, where the featured spotlight artist is Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three. LaFarge dropped by the Rock Island studios and performed *four* unreleased songs. Congrats! His latest album, Riverboat Soul, is also available -- but for now, only if you buy one at a LaFarge concert. (It'll be in stores and on iTunes in January.) Check out three new studio songs here.

Tonight! Brazos and White Denim + MP3

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www.myspace.com/brazosbrazos
Brazos/White Denim
Where: Firebird
Playing With: Troubadour Dali
Sounds Like: White Denim is equal parts Scooby-Doo-esque psychedelic textures and stoner-rock skronk. (Zoinks! They aren't interchangeable.) And as for Brazos, Roy Kasten says: "With a sound somewhere between the jazz-rock fusions of Tim Buckley and the freaked-out folk of Neutral Milk Hotel -- all stacked acoustic guitars, impetuous percussion and meandering pianos -- Brazos dares listeners to dip into a bracing, deep and sometimes turbulent stream of consciousness."
RIYL: Black Angels, Earl Greyhound, Primal Scream (WD); see above (Brazos)
BTW: White Denim is also appearing at Vintage Vinyl at 5 p.m.
MP3: Brazos, "Day Glo"
MP3: White Denim, "I Start to Run"


Homespun: Strawfoot, How We Prospered

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Strawfoot's How We Prospered. He had this to say:

From the start of Strawfoot's second full-length, How We Prospered, it's clear that the ramped-up bluegrass band has lightened its mood. Where its debut album, Chasing Locusts, was scorched by fire and blackened with brimstone, Prospered finds no small amount of joy in the dark folds of its Gothic Americana-inspired songs. The disc kicks off with the jaunty, banjo-driven "Broken Crown," which careens along with fiddle and guitar solos and a knee-slapping rhythm. Singer Marcus Eder has grown into his high-pitched, occasionally pinched delivery, and he inhabits these songs rather than merely performing them. Gone, too, are many of the Civil War-era string band affectations that saddled parts of Strawfoot's debut record; this time around, the band isn't shy about mixing influences, as on the raw, electric guitar-led "Invisible Man."

Read the rest here. Strawfoot's CD release show is (appropriately) on Halloween at Off Broadway. The Monads and Campfire Club are also on the bill.

MP3: Strawfoot, "Churchyard Cough"

MP3: Surtsey, "I Am In Your Name" and "How Time Sorts Things"

Apologies for spacing on this last Friday. Here are two MP3s from the band Surtsey. Although based in Cape Girardeau, the trio has started earning more gigs in St. Louis as of late. (In fact, the next one is Wednesday, November 4, at Cicero's with It's All About the Benjamins and Sink the Bismark.) Surtsey's tunes are wise beyond their years, full of toasty-warm acoustic guitars, faded piano, molasses tempos and Joseph Bassa's sonorous, sometimes-somber vocals. Unlike other groups of its age or style, however, Surtsey makes sure its songs are mature and well-structured -- and its aim is sincerity, not fame at all costs. Get the Broken Beds EP now.

MP3: Surtsey, "I Am In Your Name"


MP3: Surtsey, "How Time Sorts Things"

Tonight! D. Rider, Jon Hardy and the Public, Rise and Fall + MP3 Madness

Enough to do this weekend for ya? Goodness...

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D. Rider
Who: The new band founded by Todd Rittmann of post-rock pioneers U.S. Maple. Think brain-bending percussion, diffracted found sounds and sinewy guitars.
Where: Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
With: The Conformists
RIYL: Cheer-Accident, Bowie's weirdest moments, experimental jazz-rock-skronk hybrids
MP3: D. Rider, "Touchy"

Homespun: Pretty Little Empire, Sweet Sweet Hands

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Pretty Little Empire's Sweet Sweet Hands. He had this to say:

Pretty Little Empire trades in sweet acoustic melancholy, a kind of slow-drip dream-folk that skirts the edges of twang and pop. Singer and guitarist Justin Johnson leads the quartet with a tremulous voice that has both a lonesome quaver and an inviting timbre. His singing style is eerily reminiscent of the Rosebuds' Ivan Howard, and both singers use the magnetic force of their voices to draw the listener into sometimes righteous, sometimes heavy-hearted songs. Theodore's Andy Lasher contributes lyrical, intersecting trumpet lines to standout "Good Morning Early Riser" and uses his bowed saw to add Theremin-like ambience elsewhere on the disc. And like Theodore, Pretty Little Empire loves the sound of dusty, creaking spaces, but chooses to leave them barren and let the echoes resolve unadorned.

Read the rest here. Pretty Little Empire's CD release show is this Monday night at the Firebird. The Sham and Blood Pony are also on the bill.

MP3: Pretty Little Empire, "Good Morning Early Riser"

Interview Outtakes + MP3: Old Lights, "Losing My Mind"


In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer wrote a feature on Old Lights. (Photo above by Jennifer Silverberg.) The band's limited-edition vinyl LP, Every Night Begins the Same, is available today on St. Ives. (Order here.) Schaeffer describes the band's sound thusly:

Old Lights' ascent is first and foremost a product of the band's songs. Built around piano and guitar, a typical live set will touch on jangle-pop, ramped-up folk songs, Brill Building-era standards and a few moments of heart-on-sleeve clarity. As a singer, Beeman pushes his high, sweet tenor without straining it, knowing that the band's easy-to-swallow sweetness belies the emotional heft of his lyrics
.

MP3: Old Lights, "Losing My Mind"

At the moment, Beeman and bandmate/girlfriend Kristin Dennis are in Cottage Grove, Oregon, recording with Richard Swift. (In fact, they happen to be next-door neighbors.) He says he hopes to record two albums with Swift in the time they spend in the Pacific Northwest -- and stresses that Old Lights is not broken up. In fact, he had some kind things to say about the members of Old Lights' live configuration...

MP3: The Union Electric, "You've Been Served"

The Union Electric -- the band featuring guitarist/banjoist/vocalist Tim Rakel, guitarist Glenn Burleigh and drummer Eric Von Damage -- was kind enough to send over a mastered version of "You've Been Served." This will appear on the band's first 7"! It's quite a menacing punk-folk drone; Rakel sounds like someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. I dig. Catch 'em doing the song live at the following upcoming dates:

Saturday, October 17, at the Schlafly Tap Room (with Campfire Club)
Thursday, October 22, at Mangia Italiano (with Bridgeton Air Defense)

MP3: The Union Electric, "You've Been Served"

Phaseone Releases New Mixtape, White Collar Crime

Yesterday, Pitchfork posted news and downloads from Phaseone's new mixtape, White Collar Crime. Like his other releases, this is free (nab it here). Enjoy some downloads at that Pitchfork link!

Homespun: Abi Robins, Conversations with Myself

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Abi Robins' Conversations with Myself. He had this to say:

[Abi Robins'] first full-length, Conversations with Myself, won't knock you down with volume or mind-bending musical and lyrical prowess, but will engage by asking a fair amount of tough questions and disclosing a few hard-won life lessons.At first blush her songs are pretty and unassuming, and a slightly bluesy undercurrent accompanies the folksy strums and sweet vocals. Despite the limitations of this girl-and-guitar configuration, Robins and her cohorts fill out her songs without obscuring their heart. The double-tracked vocals on "The Drive" are slightly staggered, lending the tune a fittingly bipolar effect. An electric piano and some quick-wristed drumming give "If the Shoe Fits" a nice bounce, and the punchy backdrop gives Robins a little spring in her step.

Read the rest here. Robins' next show in town is this Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Maplewood coffee shop the Stone Spiral.

MP3: Abi Robins, "The Blue Waltz"

MP3: John Henry and the Engine, "I Don't Wanna Know"

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Apologies to the band: I spaced on posting this MP3 last Friday, before its CD release show at Off Broadway. Here's a new song from John Henry & the Engine, "I Don't Wanna Know," which is the title track to its new vinyl EP. The band is playing the Bluebird Music Festival in Columbia this weekend.

MP3: John Henry and the Engine, "I Don't Wanna Know"

MP3 Bonanza for Tonight's Shows! Lou Barlow and Dinosaur Jr, The Action Design, The Shaky Hands

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The Shaky Hands

The Shaky Hands
Where: The Firebird
With: The Mhurs
Sounds Like: "If Mott the Hoople and Dr. Dog had a baby, it would be called Tom the Poodle, and it would sound like the Shaky Hands. The Portland band's no-frills, all-boogie presentation reclaims the spirit of the blues-jamming early '70s -- without relying on girl jeans and mustaches. On the group's fourth album (second on Kill Rock Stars), Let It Die, the fidelity is low, and the swagger is high, making gems such as the groovy "Caught in the Storm" and deliriously catchy, Petty-could've-written-that "Allison and the Ancient Eyes" sound more like lost gold than obscure indie-rock trinkets." (link) -- Jason Harper

Dinosaur Jr/Lou Barlow
Where: The Pageant
Sounds Like: "With grunge-era staples such as "Freak Scene" and "Out There," Dinosaur Jr. specialized in bittersweet compositions, where even the sad songs were love songs and even the love songs were sad. But they were no crybabies: An impermeable wall of screaming guitar concealed much of this melancholy. To the delight of fans, not much has changed over the past twenty or so years. The older songs still ring true, and the live shows are still a pulverizing avalanche of sound." (link) -- Jaime Lees
Other links: Lou Barlow interview

MP3: Lou Barlow, "Gravitate"
MP3: Dinosaur Jr., "I Want You to Know"

Tonight! Brookville, The Postmarks, Pretty Little Empire and Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps at Off Broadway; Nico Vega at the Firebird

Monday, Schmonday: Tonight's a great night for music in St. Louis, if you're feeling adventurous.

First, at Off Broadway is a pretty dynamic quadruple bill featuring the Postmarks, Brookville, Pretty Little Empire and Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps. The latter act hails from Minneapolis and is fantastic; I fully expect the band to be opening for someone at the Duck Room or Pageant within the year. Take a listen to its August Daytrotter session, where its literate lyrics, Smith's evocative croon -- which has hints of old-time jazz and cabaret, a la Fiona Apple or Adele -- and solid songwriting are on full display. Dig Samantha Crain and Elizabeth and the Catapult? You'll dig.
 
Pretty Little Empire, meanwhile, is a newish local band making waves in recent months. thanks to Bon Iver/Fleet Foxes-ish acoustic murmurs, which are perfect for the early autumn chill. The band's debut album, sweet sweet hands, is due October 26, the same day as the band's Firebird release show.

The Postmarks -- although also perfect for this wool-sweater weather -- hails from Miami and specializes in winsome, wall-of-sound indie-pop. And last but not least is Brookville. Fronted by Andy Chase, the NYC act was great opening for Trashcan Sinatras in August and has a fabulous new album, Broken Lights, out now. RIYL: Go-Betweens, Ivy, Prefab Sprout, Talk Talk.

MP3: Brookville, "Great Mistake"


Homespun: Syna So Pro, make two people happy

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Syna So Pro's make two people happy (i.e. the solo project of Stella Mora bassist/vocalist Syrhea Conaway). He had this to say:

...she takes on a variety of instruments herself -- resulting in classical-inspired violin passages, skyscraping guitar chords and layered harmonies where Conaway is singing with herself. make two people happy is very much an album, meant to be experienced in sequence: These twelve songs are stitched together not with overt messages or recurring themes but with subtle, borderless dynamics, which give the disc a dreamlike quality.As befits someone coming from the swirling, amorphous world of shoegaze, the first few songs have so much gauzy, ambient set-dressing that it's hard to make out Conaway's words. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; the vocals melt into the rest of the instrumentation to create plangent sheets of sound.

Read the rest here. Syna So Pro's CD release party is this Saturday night at the Luminary Center for the Arts. Glass Waves and A Light Sleeper are also performing. Tickets are $10.

MP3: Syna So Pro, "Walk Away"

Tonight! The Rosewood Thieves and the Dead Trees at the Firebird

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mike mabes/myspace.com/therosewoodthieves

The Dead Trees (who Roy Kasten digs a lot) and the Rosewood Thieves are playing tonight at the Firebird. The latter is new to me, but has released a bunch of things since 2006 -- including a disc of Solomon Burke covers. (The legendary bluesman penned the liner notes for the band's latest, Heartaches By The Pound.) However, the trio isn't your garden-variety neo-blues-revival band: Judging by MySpace, the band incorporates hints of shoegaze-pop, desert-twang and psych-folk. Eminently listenable and bewitching, in fact. Take a listen below.

MP3: The Rosewood Thieves, "Home In Your Heart"

Homespun: Steddy P, Style Like Mind

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviewed Steddy P's album Style Like Mind. First, though, a few corrections: DJ Mahf didn't contribute the beats and scratches -- it was Ben Bounce, who we profiled here. And Steddy's last name is Pierce, not Price. (Apologies -- we're fixing it on the web.)

As a rapper, Steddy P is quick, clever and, like most underground MCs, obsessed with establishing himself as an outsider. On "Format," Steddy proudly proclaims to the unnamed masses that he "don't fit in a box, working in their format." Luckily Steddy P has the goods to back up his claims. His rhymes are lightning-quick without seeming forced, giving the album a vibe that's both laid-back and tough to ignore. His Missouri drawl isn't so countrified as, say, Nelly's is on Country Grammar, but his well-rounded R sounds give him a distinct diction only matched by REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin.
Read the rest here. Steddy's having a release party for Mind next Friday, October 2, at Atomic Cowboy's Fox Hole. Facebook event page here!

MP3: Steddy P, "No Matter How"

In the Studio: Thom Donovan

(Welcome to In the Studio, a section on A to Z that spotlights -- what else? -- local artists in the studio. If you are also recording/recently recorded -- or are a studio engineer/producer and working with people -- email me, with the phrase "In the Studio" in the subject heading.)
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Egan O'Keefe
Thom Donovan. Still more photos from last Thursday's show!

Who: Thom Donovan
Where: His home studio, and the studio of Urge drummer John Pessoni
With Whom: He and his crack band (see below)
Sounds Like: Demos posted on Donovan's website reveal a mature, more realized verson of what Donovan is known for: dreamy, emotional pop music with hints of shoegaze, psych-pop and Britrock.

MP3: Thom Donovan, "Leave the Light On"

Although Donovan's former band, Lapush, dissolved, he's assembled another group of talented musicians around him: bassist Kevin Bachmann (Lapush), guitarist Andy Dwiggins (Greenwheel) and drummer John Pessoni (the Urge).

Buy: Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, featuring The National, Thom Yorke, Ben Kweller, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr, more!

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myspace.com/markmulcahy
Mark Mulcahy isn't a household name, but he should be. In the '80s, the singer-songwriter fronted Miracle Legion, a Connecticut jangle-pop act that managed to transcend early comparisons to R.E.M. and evolve into a pretty solid original rock band. In the '90s, Miracle Legion -- or, rather, Mulcahy and the band's then-rhythm section-- morphed into Polaris, who you might know as the house band on the Nickelodeon cult show The Adventures of Pete & Pete. (Fun fact: RFT writer Mike Appelstein had a hand in programming the music for that show. Really.) Mulcahy has since released several solo CDs and opened for some pretty big names in the northeast.



But like many fine singer-songwriters, Mulcahy has toiled in obscurity -- even though he has many famous fans. Which brings us to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

Tonight! Building Rome, This Is Energy and Without a Face at the Pageant

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Deborah Best

As I first hinted at in an interview earlier this summer, Building Rome's Jon Heisserer has come a long way from being an earnest kid fond of Jimmy Eat World's sweet love songs. His new album, Nightmare -- based loosely on Jacob's Ladder and recorded at Jason McEntire's Sawhorse Studios with producer Steven Haigler -- is quite a diverse (and even somewhat sophisticated) outing

"Streetlights" resembles the askew power-pop of Fountains of Wayne, while the acoustic-guitar-driven "Tired of Waking Up" and string-centric "Bring Me Home" (the latter of which features angelic female vocals as well) are sincerely affecting tunes. Less successful are some of the more rock numbers, which hew very close to Alkaline Trio's dark-punk (specifically, the album Crimson) and come across as too generic. Still, due to the presence of Ludo members here and there, Nightmare never falls too far into the emo abyss -- cheery vocals, layered harmonies and brief Moog lines ensure that.

MP3: Building Rome, "What Are We Fighting For"

Building Rome's CD release party is tonight at the Pageant, along with a few other bands -- who have stories of their own...

Homespun: Machree, Whiteout

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Machree's album, Whiteout. He had this to say:


Genre tags are reductive, absurd and generally misleading, so we'll skip trying to pigeonhole Machree. The sextet takes the six-stringed dexterity of metal, the constantly shifting tempos of math-rock and the reverb-laden meandering favored by space-rock/Radiohead acolytes and ties it all together with to-the-hilt vocals. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but the band knows how to play to its strengths with well-constructed songs. While many bands of its ilk try to cram in as many power chords and drum fills as possible, Machree knows the power of white space and leaves room for the songs to expand and contract. "P Crusher" is a fine example of this technique: The song begins with a maelstrom of spidery guitar licks and thunderous crash cymbals, but every so often a shimmering keyboard line or echoing guitar note is allowed to resolve itself and evaporate into the ether.


Read the rest here
. Machree's next show in town is Sunday, September 27, opening for the Felix Culpa and the Dear Hunter.

MP3: Machree, "Meteo"

Tonight! The Antlers, Hood Internet at Cicero's

Buzzy Brooklyn band the Antlers is playing tonight at Cicero's. The genesis of the band's album, Hospice, is quite interesting, as Todd McKenzie noted in this week's paper:

For nearly two years, Peter Silberman stowed away in a New York apartment and wrote a devastatingly beautiful record centered around death and loss. This narrative of the artist -- toiling in monkish isolation with the Big Questions in life -- has colored much of the reception to Hospice, the second album by Silberman's band, the Antlers. The personal, however, cannot be excised from a record as nuanced and meditative as Hospice. The compositions paint vast interior landscapes, where crackling swirls of noise shift to reveal redemptive peals of brass and tube-bell harmonies. But where the music is post-rock in structure, it's confessional folk in delivery.
MP3: The Antlers, "Two"

As an added bonus, Chicago mash-up DJ duo the Hood Internet is now also on the Cicero's bill. (The Antlers play at 9:05 p.m., and the Hood Internet headlines at 11:50.) Also, here's a few more important schedule changes from our blogpost last week about Playstlfest: The 560 Music Center is no longer a venue on Thursday and Friday night, so the Republic Tigers will be at Cicero's on Friday night at 10:35, and Owen is now performing on Saturday night at 10:55 at the same venue. Check the latest info here.

Homespun: Sheila Shahpari, What Is Real

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews Sheila Shahpari's album, What Is Real. He had this to say:
What Is Real never settles on one style, a few elements guide most of these songs: forceful acoustic guitars, exploratory piano-playing, intuitive tempo changes and, most of all, Shahpari's strong voice. At its best, it evokes Janis Joplin, Joanna Newsom and Nellie McKay -- and even though her upper-octave wanderings don't always hit the mark, her vocal control is exemplary. She can summon the low-end piano exorcisms of early Fiona Apple on a song like "Stale," which mixes jazzy swing, start-stop cabaret melodrama and urgent rock rhythms with a stream-of-consciousness tour of a grand piano's 88 keys. It's neither an artfully sewn together song-suite nor something carelessly strewn together; it's simply a tour de force that shows the singer's strengths in a four-minute tempest.
Read the rest here. Shahpari's CD release show is Saturday night, September 12, at Off Broadway. It starts at 8 p.m., and she'll be joined by several musicians, including: Clayton Kunstel (So Many Dynamos), Chris Turnbaugh (Groupthink), Phil Ring (The Gorge), Asako Kuboki (S.L.S.O.) and Ranya Iqbal (Serenade Strings). Beth Bombara and Phil Stendek open the show.

MP3: Sheila Shahpari, "Stale"

In the Studio: Cameron Matthews, a.k.a. Bear Ceuse

(Welcome to In the Studio, a section on A to Z that spotlights -- what else? -- local artists in the studio. If you are also recording/recently recorded -- or are a studio engineer/producer and working with people -- email me, with the phrase "In the Studio" in the subject heading.)

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courtesy of Cameron Matthews

Who: Singer-songwriter Cameron Matthews, who's now going by the name Bear Ceuse
Where: Multiple places, including Lexington, Kentucky
With Whom: Several people. The song "Marxist Marriage" was recorded with producer Duane Lundy (Ben Sollee, Chico Fellini) and the band These United States -- who happen to be at the Firebird tonight. (Grab this MP3 after the jump.)

"Within the song, we wanted to fight everything that a normal ballad consists of: the constant crescendo, big vocals, big sound," Matthews says. "We instead held back and created a more intimate aesthetic, which at times can feel almost uncomfortable and claustrophobic. But Duane worked his genius and turned the single into one of my most memorable and enjoyable recording sessions."

Tonight! Hot Cha Cha and the Natural Selection at Cicero's + MP3 Fun

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Bryon Miller
Hot Cha Cha, in the flesh


Cicero's hosts a riotous bill of epic proportions tonight. First up are long-distance-locals the Natural Selection. If you missed our feature a few weeks ago -- or missed the band's show then -- here's your chance to catch the act's funk-da-fied dance party again. Also on the bill is Cleveland's own Hot Cha Cha. The band makes the Yeah Yeah Yeahs look like a coffeehouse acoustic act. Says D.X. Ferris in last week's paper:

The all-woman quartet's fuzzed-out guitars, can't-sit-still beats and Teutonic-angel vocals are accurately classifiable as ethereal indie-garage pop, melodic punk or raw-nerve alternative. Singer Jovana Batkovic says you check them out if you want to "cry, laugh or masturbate -- but mainly to actually see a live show and be entertained." The group's set is always a hot-and-bothered experience, and they throw in covers such as the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry."
MP3: Natural Selection, "Down Elevator"

MP3: Hot Cha Cha, "Ticket Away from Prague"

Tonight! Titus Andronicus and the So So Glos at the Firebird

Local favorites Titus Andronicus -- seriously, this is the third time the band's been in town already this year! -- are at the Firebird tonight. Although the group's records are rather o-fi indie-pop, Keegan Hamilton's recap of last year's Pitchfork festival set and Mike Appelstein's review of TA's February appearance with Los Campesinos! draw the same conclusion: Titus Andronicus are a fantastic live act.

MP3: Titus Andronicus, "Titus Andronicus"

Openers the So So Glos are a good match for TA, if its Daytrotter session is any indication. Think that same dirty, garage-pop vibe, as if the '60s came back now all disheveled and covered in moss after being dormant for decades.

MP3: The So So Glos, "My Block"

The show's at 9 p.m. and tickets are just $8 (with a $2 minor surcharge).

Stream! The New Heathers, "Agatha"

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Who are the New Heathers and why are we streaming them on this blog, you ask? Well, it just so happens to be a Ludo side project featuring Moogist Tim Convy, guitarist Tim Ferrell and drummer Matt Palermo. The forthcoming EP was recorded with Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studios and features songs penned and vocalized by Ferrell. Although Convy's distinctive Moog and peppy tempos certainly resemble Ludo, the New Heathers are certainly its own thing -- thanks to Ferrell's pure, choir-boy vocals, blazing guitars, and classic-rock/prog flourishes (i.e., stacked choruses and harmonies). "Mr. Green Blades"might be the world's only sludge-rock power-pop song -- it veers from piano-sparkled choruses to hefty, metal-lite verses -- while "Start" sounds like the Dead Milkmen crossed with They Might Be Giants. (That's a good thing.) There's a lot more going on with Ludo I'll report on next week, as soon as I snag the entire EP and chat with Ferrell.

Stream: The New Heathers, "Agatha"

In the Studio: Syna So Pro

(Welcome to In the Studio, a section on A to Z that spotlights -- what else? -- local artists in the studio. If you are also recording/recently recorded -- or are a studio engineer/producer and working with people -- email me, with the phrase "In the Studio" in the subject heading.)

Syna So Pro

Album: Make Two People Happy
Sounds Like: Loop-based indie-pop with violin, guitar, bass and Syrhea Conway's ethereal, angelic vocals. RIYL Imogen Heap, Lush.
Recorded At: Yellow Hat Studios
With Whom: Elshua Evans, Shae Moseley drums, Will Jones drums engineer)
CD release show: October 10, at the Luminary Center for the Arts, with Glass Waves and a Light Sleeper

MP3: Syna So Pro, "Santhem"

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