I am a Shit

I've been a shit about posting reviews of shows I've seen this fall, which was one of the main impetuses (impetusi?) for starting this damn thing.

I've not posted about Built to Spill (AWESOME - great cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps), Doves (great show at the Pageant), The New Pornographers (Best show of the fall - check them out on this tour, if you can, while all the members are touring. I love Neko), or the Fruit Bats/Rogue Wave show (Fruit Bats were great - I will see them again without question. Live, they reminded me of The Shins way more than they ever have before - which was almost never. Rogue Wave was a little disappointing). I missed The Decemberists show, which I am still kicking myself for, but I was just TOO tired and it was on a Sunday night. I also missed Sufjan Stevens in favor of Fruit Bats/Rogue Wave - it was a tough call, but I worked very late that night and I work in Clayton. FB/RW was at the Duck Room, and SS was at Mississippi Nights - it was a practical consideration.

I am seeing DeVotchka and The Dresden Dolls on Friday in New York. Woo. Then, on Halloween, I have to make a decision - GWAR or Busta Rhymes... I'm thinking GWAR.

Rock

Emergency Umbrella is a collective operating out of Columbia, Missouri, and putting out great music. On Saturday, October 22, the first ever road edition of an Emergency Umbrella Showcase, featuring The Foundry Field Recordings, Paradise Vending, and Witch's Hat. I was able to attend the shindig, which went down at Frederick's Music Lounge... The Foundry Field Recordings are a great indie-pop band in the vein of Built to Spill, Grandaddy, or The Shins. I saw them about a year ago when they opened for Riddle of Steel at the late, great Rocket Bar, when they were known as Billy Schuh and the Foundry and they were great then. They have only gotten tighter with time. I figured they would be playing last but, alas, they played first at 10. They started things off with a cover of "Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)" as a quick sound check. After that, they play about 40 minutes of perfectly great indie rock. St. Louis needs more bands like this - not garage/punk, not screamo, not alt-country, but just guitar/bass/drums-pop-song-playing-well-executing bands. We're getting there, every day, though, so that's comforting.

I had never seen Paradise Vending before, but was familiar with their songs through various channels. They put on a good show. Probably the most conventional of the three bands that night.

As it turns out, I know two the members of Witch's Hat from college. They were younger than me, and this was a revelation I only made recently as I was randomly checking out bands on MySpace. They played last and drew the largest crowd. Well, the crowd got closest to the stage when they played, at least. They definitely have good stage presence and put on a good show. They were a little 'heavier' than the other bands, with a certain affinity for dungeons-and-dragons-style metal peeking its head through every now and then.

Check all three of these bands out if you get a chance, and be careful when drinking cheap-ass Stag draft beer. It'll leave you feeling like hell in the morning. 'Course, that also could've been been the Uncle Bill's breakfast I had at 2 in the morning....

The Foundry Field Recordings - Buy/Sell/Trade
Paradise Vending - Sea of Tranquility (sample)
Witch's Hat - Space Baby

Short thoughts

So I just got the Hockey Night CD - I know, I know - where have been, right? Anyway, I really like it, despite the fact it sounds exactly like a lost Pavement record. Which is a good thing, even though I can't really sit through an entire Pavement CD. There are some good tracks on here.

I am REALLY liking the new Broken Social Scene. Brilliant. On the whole, I think it is a better album than You Forgot It In People, although there's no "Cause=Time" or "Almost Crimes", it's an overall better album. I never really listened past "Cause=Time" on You Forgot It In People, even though "Lover's Spit" is a great song. But who knows - "7/4 (Shorelines)" and "Fire Eye'd Boy" may make their way into my great-f'ing-song category after a few more listens.

Franz Fucking Ferdinand. They somehow improved on their first record. I like this from beginning to end. Who knew I would like them just as much when they slowed things down, like on "Eleanor, Put Your Boots Back On." And who cares that "The Fallen" is basically "Summer in the City"and "I'm Your Villain" completely takes the riff of "Teenage Kicks" (it's an homage -right???) and sticks it right in the middle of the song like an Eddie Van Halen solo in the middle of a VH song - these songs all rule.

Farewell

Last game at Busch Stadium. Here are some pictures.

10/18/05 Playlist

Playlist for Dividing By Zero Will Get You Nowhere on October 18, 2005:

• The Deathray Davies - The Fall Fashions - The Kick and the Snare
• Hockey Night - Saturday Night Gallop - Keep Guessin'
• Super Furry Animals - Lazer Beam - Love Kraft
• Riddle of Steel - Our Guitars Are Haunted - Got This Feelin'
• Gang of Four - Damaged Goods - Entertainment!
• Franz Ferdinand - You're the Reason I'm Leaving - You Could Have It So Much Better
• Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline) - Broken Social Scene
• The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
• Wake Up. Report. - The Telephone Calls Keep Quiet - Record or Record
• Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers - The Woods
• The Gentlemen Callers - You Oughta Know - Don't Say What It Is
• My Morning Jacket - Wordless Chorus - Z
• My Morning Jacket - What A Wonderful Man - Z
• Spoon - Two Sides/MonsieurValentine - Gimme Fiction
• Built To Spill - Dystopian Dream Girl - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
• Sonic Youth - Kool Thing - Goo
• The Mega Hurts - This is Rock'n'Roll - Split 7" w/ Sex Robots

10/4/05 Playlist

Playlist for Dividing By Zero Will Get You Nowhere on October 4, 2005:

• Doves - Black and White Town - Some Cities
• Wilco - Kamera (alt) - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos
• The Go! Team - Huddle Formation - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
• Nick Armstrong and the Thieves - I Can't Stand It - The Greatest White Liar
• Devo - Gates of Steel - Freedom of Choice
• The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno - Twin Cinema
• John Vanderslice - Continuation - Pixel Revolt
• Doves - Words - Live at SXSW, 3/17/05
• Bloc Party - Banquet - Live at the 2005 Austin City Limits Music Festival
• Rogue Wave - 10:1 - 10:1 single
• Harvey Danger - Wine, Women and Song - Little by Little
• Hockey Night - Get Real - Keep Guessin'
• Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla -Takk