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It's a big week here in St. Louis, with Radiohead stopping by on Wednesday night and then Wilco settling in for a three-night sold-out residency at the Pageant starting on Thursday. We'll have comprehensive coverage of all of these shows, so stay tuned.

First up, though, is Radiohead. You'll want to come back here all week if you're a fan, as I'll be posting video, rare audio and (of course) a show review and photographs (I'm shooting the show!)

The band began its North American tour last week, and the setlists for the shows so far (included after the jump, and courtesy of the reliable At Ease Web, which I think I've been reading since high school, OMG) rely heavily on the quintet's output post-2000: Kid A, Amnesiac and the two-disc opus In Rainbows (with a bit of Hail to the Thief and the (more than) occasional nod to hits from OK Computer and The Bends).

Take a look at this amazing video of "Idioteque," from Tampa, Florida, on May 8. OMG! That light show! Thom Yorke's dancing!

That same YouTube user took video of the show from the second row. Here's "The National Anthem." Commence freaking out with joy.

Now read the setlists and geek out. What do you want them to play in St. Louis (Okay, I'll start: "Just"! "Idioteque"! "Electioneering"! "Bangers and Mash"! "Like Spinning Plates"! "There There"!)

In this week's paper, Jaime Lees talks to the Breeders' Kelley Deal, in advance of the band's Saturday, May 10 show at Pop's. (The Colour Revolt opens.) In the following outtakes, Deal talks about festival shows, the Midwest and how she and sister Kim care for their mom, who has Alzheimer's disease.

(courtesy of thisisfakediy.co.uk)

(Breeders MP3s are streaming, Colour Revolt are downloadable; thanks to the band's management for permission!)

MP3: The Breeders, "We're Gonna Rise"

MP3: The Breeders, "I Just Wanna Get Along"

MP3: The Breeders, "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"

MP3: The Colour Revolt, "Moses of the South"

MP3: The Colour Revolt, "Naked and Red"

Jaime Lees: So, about St. Louis? What do you know? Cause we sort of feel like we have Midwest love with you. We sort of claim you as ours. You know, Ohio, Missouri, whatever.

Kelley Deal: I think it's great. Totally. Oh yeah. Totally. I think that's correct. I think that's absolutely right. I think you guys feel like that, cause i fell like that, too, with bands, if they're from the Midwest. Anyway, I completely agree with you.

Cause we're like "Oh yeah, these are our people."
Exactly! Yeah, I'm glad.

Dude, tell me about Coachella. How did that go? Do you get time to really see anyone else while you're there?
You know, I like the idea of it. The one really good experience with festivals that I've had was with Lollapalooza, 'cause it was like band camp. That was different. You traveled, everybody got to know each other. You all got to see other bands, you started to get used to the idea that you're playing at five o'clock. And it's bright out, and it's hot, and it doesn't feel very rock, and you just get a different mindset on. When you're doing a bunch of club shows that we're doing at night and you can smell the beer and it's dark and you can't really see anybody, when you get used to that and then you go play a festival and you're kind of like "Oh hi, everybody. How are ya?" It feels inappropriate somehow. Like, you're rocking in daylight, it just doesn't feel very rock. But you know, I do like it. and I got to see a couple of bands there and that was fun.

In this week's paper, Ryan Wasoba interviewed Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, the Canadian duo who's playing the Pageant this Sunday night, May 4, with An Horse. I'd advise anyone who's on the fence about going to buy your tickets now. Just trust me.

Anyway, Ryan's feature is here; outtakes are below. While reading, please listen to the RAC mix of T & S's "Back In Your Head."

MP3: Tegan and Sara, "Back in Your Head (RAC Mix)"

Ryan Wasoba: It's been a while since you've played St. Louis, right?
Tegan Quin: Oh God yeah, years and years. I think the last place we
played was the Galaxy.

Wow. I think that closed down in 2003, so i guess it has been a while.
Yeah, I remember we rolled in and we were driving downtown. It wasn't actually me, but our drummer was driving and he woke us up and he said, "Oh my God, it's like a war happened here and nobody told anyone," cause it was right around when we were touring and there was a
lot of war talk around then. There were so many buildings that were boarded up and falling down and decrepit and streets were abandoned and it was like, "Where are we?"

Has touring been different since The Con came out?
I think that's the big difference with this record, is that we're consistently playing the same-sized venue, which sounds like the most boring thing ever, but it's a lot better. With every record, every tour is different. One night you're opening for someone the next night you're headlining and every night is different and maybe in certain cities you have a fanbase and another you don't. Sometimes you're playing for 500 people and you feel like the happiest person alive and the next night it's 12 people and you're questioning why you didn't go to the university.

Here are some choice outtakes from the Livers feature running this week. The band plays at the Bluebird tonight, with Yea Big & Kid Static, Robb Steele and Jason and the Beast.

MP3: The Livers, "2 Legs to Dance" (download)

MP3: The Livers, "Autistic Girlfriend" (download)

MP3: The Livers, "She Wolf" (download)

MP3: The Livers, "Humble Plight" (download)

Do you always sing lead on the ones you write? Scot Freeman: Yeah, we do, but there's a lot of universal themes going on. It's kind of a weepy bastard theme, which is really played out but it never really gets tired. Yeah, we've definitely got some hang-ups. Like, everybody has one or two breakup-y things that they'll never get over. And we've written some songs about that shit. But, I don't know. We're trying to, like, ease out of that into a little less obvious territory. Luke Roulston: [teasing] Scot, are you going into Elliot Smith land?

On why they go humorous:
Roulston: Have you ever watched a band where they spend way too much time talking in between their fucking songs? Part of a show is, like, making sure your guitar is in tune and that everything is okay and all that kind of stuff. It's like, "Why not at least make people fucking laugh while you're doing that stupid shit?" It seemed like a necessary element for our stuff to just make funny movies.
Freeman: We have a tendency to go to funny, cause that's what we like to do: to make each other laugh all the time. It's always about poop and pee and whatever, but, uh, we also try to make things that are cool and not just cats and stupid jokes.
Roulston: (joking) Yeah, let's do drama!

In this week's paper, Jaime Lees gets the skinny on the Livers, a RFT 2008 Best New Band nominee and one of the city's most unique groups, a "quartet" who only has two members, Scot Freeman and Luke Roulston.

Read our story to find out how the band manages to pull this off. And below find two exclusive videos from the band, detailing its origins and including elusive, rare live footage of the group. Stay tuned for MP3s and interview outtakes tomorrow.

YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO SEE THE SECOND ONE! CLICK!

DJ duo Sasha and John Digweed will be at Dante's on Monday, April 14, at 9 p.m. Here’s Night & Day's preview, and here's a Q&A with the delightfully down-to-earth, soft-spoken Brit, John Digweed.

Kristy Wendt: Can you tell me what’s different about this tour than your previous one, Delta Heavy?
John Digweed: Delta Heavy took place in larger arenas, while this tour is focusing on smaller traditional rock venues, where there are a lot of live acts. We’ve brought new LED screens, and the stage isn’t as full. It’s very high tech, very modern. We did a show in Montreal that we were very happy with [visually], and we got in contact with those production people. There’s a lot more control, and the main room is dark, while the lights are on the stage in front and behind so that Sasha and I appear as sillouettes; I don’t like to be the center of attention. I want the music to be the center of attention. We see familiar faces that have been with us for many years on tour, and many new, young people, who bring an extra bit of energy. As a musician, you want to make sure you deliver to these new people- keep them coming back. And for the familiar faces, because we don’t come through for a long time, there’s a lot of excitement when we do come through.

When people, including yourselves, describe the “magic” of Sasha and John Digweed, it’s usually in the context of what happens when the two of you are working together, something maybe more typically associated with jazz musicians. And the duality seems to be part of what makes you so progressive. How did it happen?
I’d sent a mix in [to Renaissance Club, in Manchester, U.K.] for consideration and Sasha really liked it and what I was doing, so I did a gig with him and we began working together. He was inspiring to me, and we have a mutual admiration for each other’s work. We’ve got different personalities, and we get a little bit extra when the two of us are playing together, sort of like one plus one equals one and a half.

(Click for more...)

In this week's paper, John Vanderslice was kind enough to share his "hopeful weather jams" with me. The thoughtfulness he exhibited with his choices made me smile. For instance:

LCD Soundsystem, "North American Scum" (2007's Sound of Silver)
Such a cool vibe and energy on that song. The first time I heard it was when I was with Peter Hughes from the Mountain Goats. He has a convertible car. We were driving from one show to another, and we were in his car and I remember our tour van was right next to us. He put that song on and the top was down, it was really sunny, it was last spring. We passed my tour van with my band in it, and we waved at them, and we were listening to that song. I'll really never forget that moment. Of course, that car is so much faster than the van, we [made it to the club] like an hour before [they got there]. [laughs]

Because I couldn't resist, here's a Muxtape of all of his choices:

http://vanderslicehopefuljams.muxtape.com/

The rest of his picks are after the jump. Vanderslice plays the Billiken Club, in the Busch Student Center on the campus of Saint Louis University, 20 North Grand Boulevard at 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 16. The Show is the Rainbow opens. (Photo above by Autumn de Wilde.)

In this week's paper, Shae Moseley interviewed Justin Vernon -- who's better known as Bon Iver. Vernon is playing in St. Louis at the Billiken Club (20 North Grand Boulevard, in the basement of the St. Louis University Busch Student Center, Laclede and Grand) tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 8. Here's the piece in its entirety.

MP3: Bon Iver, "The Wolves (Act I and II)"

When his former band DeYarmond Edison called it quits in 2006, Justin Vernon moved from North Carolina to his home state of Wisconsin, in order to clear his head and be near family. Vernon settled in a hunting cabin located on his father's property, where he spent three wintry months tending to the land, hunting, and writing and recording the music that would become Bon Iver's debut, For Emma, Forever Ago.

What he accomplished there in a few short months was nothing short of extraordinary. With soulful vocal arrangements that call to mind a folksy TV On the Radio and delicate acoustic strums that capture a feeling of forlorn snowy solitude (in a way not seen since Mark Kozelek's early work with Red House Painters), Emma shows that by being alone, an artist can sometimes conjure some of his most universally relatable ideas. B-Sides spoke with Vernon over the phone while his band was on tour.

(photo by Colin Kopp)

B-Sides: Did you decide to move back to Wisconsin with the intention of making the Bon Iver record?
Justin Vernon: I just wanted to go. I didn't want to live with my parents, and I didn't have a place in Eau Claire, so I decided to move up north. It was cheap and easy and I needed the space. There wasn't really any grand illusion of making a record or anything. I mean, I figured I'd work on music or something, but I didn't have any idea what Bon Iver was or anything like that.

That's surprising, considering the short period of time between the move and the completion of the record. What inspired that creative burst?
Well, yeah, it's not even inspiration. When you have time and space you get a lot of room to go through your mind and pull out different things, and it's just amazing when you give yourself that much space what you're able to come up with.

A lot of artists would find it hard to give themselves that much time and space to channel their creativity.
Well, I didn't have a record label and was really on my own. So it was pretty easy to be like, "All right, I'm fucking off now," and to leave and know that no one was going to talk to me — and nobody even wanted to talk to me. So it was pretty easy just to go there and turn off.

After that experience what do you think you had to say that you didn't have to say before?
I don't know exactly. I definitely think that I gained or regained the ability to really examine myself and I find now that I'm out in the real world again, I've even lost a bit of that. And it's not like when I was up there I was, like, this simple-minded Zen person or something. When I really noticed myself feeling better and more on top of things was after I left and I realized how clear my head was.

After recording this album so quickly after moving back to your home state, are you surprised by where you've ended up now?
Oh my God, yes. This is just astronomical, the amount of daily, slap in the face, "Wow, this is where we're headed?" kind of thing. My manager, who was this kid from Chippewa Falls I had a met a couple times, he e-mailed me out of the blue and said, "Look I think you're going to need help because I think this is going to be a big deal and I'm a huge fan of the record." So we met up in St. Paul for coffee. That was probably ten months ago, and we've been working together every day since. Between the two of us we've somehow been able to get this thing off the ground.

In this week's issue, I talked to the Monads, who are releasing their new CD, Ornery, tonight at Off Broadway. Tickets are a mere $7, and the Vultures, Pokey Lafarge and Clownvis Presley will also be appearing.

Live is where the Monads shine: Unlike many groups, the quartet strikes a united front – all four players stand in a straight line during performances. (In person the quartet also strikes a unified pose: For the St. Patrick’s Day interview, all happen to be wearing various shades of green.)

(photo by Tammy Leahy)

Please enjoy a few interview outtakes and some MP3s from Ornery below.

MP3: The Monads, "Spit Fire"

MP3: The Monads, "The Flood"

MP3: The Monads, "Evil Donkey"

How Jenna Schroeder came to play upright bass...
Jason Matthews: It was cool, ‘cause Jenna never picked up an upright bass in her entire life. She had just got let go of one band – and I could tell she was just pissed about it. So I was like "Here, take this upright bass." Two weeks later, we had our first show with her in the band.”
What’s the difference between playing upright bass and regular bass?
Jenna Schroeder: Well, there’s no frets…
Matthews: How about three feet?
[all laugh]
Schroeder: It’s about a foot taller than me, there’s no frets on it. And you really gotta work up some calluses that you don’t need on a bass guitar. It is a different style, you pluck it completely different. And you look a lot cooler!

What got you guys into music?
Matthews: I was a big new-waver and then a punk rocker.

Schroeder: My mom’s side, there’s a bunch of musicians. My uncle’s an awesome banjo player. My mom plays mountain dulcimer, so [during family reunions] it’d be like a hoe-down. [laughs]

Matt Shivelbine: I’ve kind of got a musical family, we own a music store in Cape Girardeau. So I was always around it. One of my first memories is learning how to play violin when I was like, four years old. I played classical music all the way through college, did a lot of string quartet stuff to get scholarships and make money playing weddings and stuff to get through college. Then once I got out, I had wanted to play, but I was sick of being in orchestras and stuff. I played classical music, but I always listened to rock and punk and all kinds of different music. When I met these guys and saw what they were doing, I was like, "I can do this, this is what I really wanted to do." I started learning some of their songs when they didn’t even know about it.

Patrick Eagan: I picked up guitar [in the] summer between eighth grade and freshman year of high school – you know, to meet chicks. I’m still waiting for it to work. [laughs] I just kind of bummed around for awhile, played in some bands in college, cover bands. Got out of college and was playing in a punk-rock band. That band and the monads had the same bas player, and that’s how I came into this band. This fits way better than anything else that I’ve ever done.

-- Annie Zaleski

In this week's issue, Jaime Lees talks with Edward Anderson of the 1900s, who will be opening for British Sea Power on Saturday, March 29, at the Billiken Club. The Chicago band's latest album, Cold and Kind, is a pop treat, mixing Swedish-lite hooks with Echo & the Bunnymen-influenced darkness. The show, as always, is free. Here are some interview outtakes.

Jaime Lees: How are you getting around? Are there seven of you still?
Edward Anderson: Yeah, there's seven.

I mean, do you have a van? Do you have a bus? Is it tight?
It was stress. We bought a van this summer, a 2004 Econoline, and it's been sitting on my street since we got back from New York. I went to start it and, apparently, the battery died. And then we got a ticket for no city sticker and all of this horrible shit is going wrong. And the heat doesn't work so it's kinda fun. You know, it's a good time. We even have personalized license plates.

Shut the door. What is it?
[laughs] Uh, HUNDOS1.

That is precious.
Yeah, isn't that cute? That wasn't really my doing, but, uh, I supported it.

[sarcastic] Oh sure, the van's outside your house but you didn't make the plates?
Naw! Actually, I'm kind of the default person that needs to care for the van because as soon as we bought it, my car got totaled so I pretty much was driving this fifteen-seater van around for months. Like, going to get groceries and stuff. It was totally ridiculous.

We're you like "I'm going to buy a table because I can"?
[laughs] "I'm gonna help you move!"

MP3: British Sea Power, "A Trip Out"

MP3: British Sea Power, "Waving Flags"

MP3: The 1900s, "Acutiplantar Dude"

MP3: The 1900s, "Two Ways"

-- Annie Zaleski

In this week's paper, Shae Moseley interviewed Explosions in the Sky drummer Chris Hrasky, in advance of the band's Saturday, March 29, Pageant show. Tickets are just $15, and the show starts at 8 p.m. Below find some interview outtakes.

MP3: Explosions in the Sky, "So Long, Lonesome"

At what point did you realize that you weren’t going to include vocals in your music?
It was kind of just a decision from the beginning for a number of reasons. I think we were really influenced by bands like Mogwai at the time, and the idea that you don’t have to have a singer. We just kind of all decided that we wanted to be in a band where everyone involved was a key ingredient instead of having a guy who was a songwriter with the other three guys backing him up.

You guys composed the music for the Friday Night Lights movie. Do you think that expanded demographic is related to you doing music for movies and television?
Yeah, the story with Friday Night Lights was something that we were all familiar with -- especially the other three guys since they grew up in Midland/Odessa where the story is set. I think it has been one of many ways that we’ve gained a pretty diverse audience that we’re pretty excited by.

Do you feel like you might be influencing kids the way you were influenced by bands outside of the mainstream like Mogwai and Sebadoh because of your diverse appeal?
Yeah, I don’t know. I hope so. That would be amazing if kids who are listening to the radio or whatever might hear us and that would lead them to find other much crazier bands. That would be great to have that kind of influence.

You guys have always had a reputation for being nice guys. Do you think that helped you get through that time and further your success?
We definitely try to be nice guys and we very much appreciate that people care about and listen to what we’re doing. I guess I hope that it’s something that we never take for granted. I mean, we’re still surprised by the places we end up playing and we started off in a kind of unassuming way with no particular ambitions.

-- Annie Zaleski

I would be remiss if I didn't post the following YouTube links to Ian Froeb's lovely piece on young local musician Dora Magrath, who took her own life last month. (See our previous blog entry here.)

Dora Magrath: Amazing Grace

CD release advertisement from YouTube

A clip from Magrath performing on Halloween, 2007

What didn't go into my cover story this week on the RAC is that like Scott Vener, music supervisor of Entourage, I knew about the agency long before I knew that Andre Anjos lived in the area -- because of its strong Internet presence. I have had the RAC web site bookmarked for almost a year now, and while perusing my work computer, I found the following MP3s, which I had downloaded randomly throughout the year.

I'll be adding to this post when I get back from SXSW, so be sure to check back. But for now please enjoy some more music.

MP3: The Shins, "Sleeping Lessons (RAC mix)"

MP3: Bloc Party, "Hunting for Witches (RAC mix)"

MP3: CSS, "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (RAC mix)"

MP3: The Comas, "Red Microphones (RAC mix)"

-- Annie Zaleski

On Wednesday afternoon, my story on the Remix Artist Collective (RAC) will hit the Riverfront Times' main homepage. The RAC's founder and main remixer, Andre Anjos, attends Greeville College.

One of the group's he's remixed is Ra Ra Riot, whose heartfelt, string-laden indie-rock has started to earn it some serious attention in music circles. The band is also playing a ton of shows at SXSW:

Wednesday March 12th: Austin Convention Center, 5 p.m.
Wednesday March 12th: Todd P Party @ Ms. Beas, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday March 13th: Saddle Creek/Arts & Crafts/The Onion/Canvas Media Party @ Emos, 1:55pm
Friday March 14th: Soundcheck Magazine Party @ Emos Annex, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday March 15th: Diesel Party @ Saengerrunde Hall 8:50 p.m.
Saturday March 15th: Park the Van/Daytrotter Party @ Emos Annex, 10 p.m.

For your listening enjoyment, here are two MP3s:

MP3: Ra Ra Riot, "Can You Tell (Live on WOXY)"

MP3: Ra Ra Riot, "Each Year (RAC mix)"

-- Annie Zaleski

This was probably not the best video for an impressionable adolescent to watch, but perhaps it sent me on my uber-feminist path.

Fun fact: My calculus teacher in high school used to reference this song, vaguely, when mentioning us doing math on our TI-82 calculators. It wasn't creepy; it was just hilarious.

Even more fun facts: According to Wikipedia, "'Rump Shaker' is also notable for featuring a verse (performed by Teddy Riley) written by a young Pharrell Williams, who, along with fellow future-Neptune Chad Hugo, contributed additional production work as Teddy Riley's then-protégés."

Williams and Hugo, of course, are in town at 8 p.m. this Sunday night at the Pageant with N.E.R.D. See our feature here.