Decibully & Gentleman Auction House

Gentleman Auction House at The Lot/photo: Jim Courrier

It's no secret that I have much love for Gentleman Auction House, who played a great set at The Lot last weekend and are playing with Milwaukee's Decibully at the Hi-Pointe tonight, which will also serve as one of your last opportunities to go to the Hi-Pointe, which is closing next weekend (see previous post). During their performance at the Lot (I will have lots of pictures of it for you in the near future), GAH told the crowd that their debut EP will be coming out in the next month or so. In the meantime, here is an mp3 of the one song that they have widely circulated, and a few from Decibully:

Gentleman Auction House - Everyone Has Taken Their Hat Off But You (Speak Up)
Decibully - Penny, Look Down
Decibully - Tables Turn

R.I.P. The Hi-Pointe

According to about five myspace bulletins in the last four minutes, the wonderful Hi-Pointe is closing its doors next weekend.

In their words:

Hi folks,

We're sorry to report that the Hi-Pointe Cafe will be closing its doors forever after Labor Day weekend due to the recent sale of the building. Unless something changes, the last night we will be open will be Sunday September 3rd.

From Lisa Andris:
'When I fell into the crazy world of the Hi-Pointe (just four months after its inception and transformation from an "old school" old man bookie joint, to a late '80s post-new wave hangout) my beloved son Brian had just gotten his first tooth. It is a bittersweet irony that I bid the Hi-Pointe adieu the same week that I dropped that amazing young man off at college. Both journeys (raising my boy and being fortunate enough to have been the matron of madness at the Hi-Pointe for just shy of two decades) have transformed and enriched my life more than I could ever express. Where in the world does one begin where saying goodbye to the Hi-Pointe is concerned?! To all of the thousands of bands that have graced our stage both local and national we thank you and feel honored to have been a part of your sojourn through the sometimes frustrating but always impassioned rock and roll experience. From the fried chicken-flinging Southern Culture on the Skids (my personal fave) to the moving, angst-ridden beauty of Queens of the Stone Age, to the oftentimes once-reheased "barely out of the garage" eighth grade four piece band, we thank and salute you. To the Monday Night Hip Hop crew who livened up the night of the week most likely to be mundane and humdrum (tell a friend to tell a friend), we thank you. Bonnie and Phil will surely miss serving up those 22 oz. Coronas! To the thousands of colorful characters that have drifted through the front door, whether just once to see a friend's band or those of you that were family, that came in night after night, you will be missed more than you will ever be able to imagine. Much love and thanks to the happy hour coots who held down the fort and kept it real night after night and put me in my place when I DARED to replace a clock, change a wall color or do anything that could've changed that funky, divey vibe everyone grew to love. To those of you who fell in love at the bar, met your lifelong soul mate at the bar, got engaged at the bar, had your wedding party at the bar, thank you and keep us in your hearts always. To Beatle Bob, love him or hate him, thanks for the memories and for the hundreds of shows you attended. For those of you that tracked through snow, rain, or power outages just to share a laugh and a brew with us, thank you. To a few regulars and one former employee who left this world way too early were glad you shared your time in the universe with us. To Brian Henneman for 7 or 8 (we've all lost track) consecutive Christmas nights that will hold a special place in my heart forever, thank you. To all of the music agents and independent promoters who took a leap of faith in our less-than-perfect venue, thank you. For all of the soundmen who have surely lost hearing and or mental stability trying to mix that abominable concrete echo chamber, we thank you. To the ghosts and spirits that have scared and delighted us with their hauntings and antics we will miss you too (no, I'm not kidding!). And now here comes the hard part, the employees. I will never ever be able to express how much you've all enriched my life. From 1987 to the present, I have met some of the most amazing and interesting people imaginable. The amount of talent, humor, intellect, spirit, courage, charm and individuality of the couple of hundred people I've been lucky enough to employ over the years is something I will never be able to fully describe or duplicate in this lifetime. Thank you for your talents, passion and commitment to the time you spent at the Hi-Pointe. I am honored to have been in your company. Where my present staff is concerned, I love you and always will and for what it's worth you'll always be my family (a bit dysfunctional perhaps, but what the hell!). So it is with great sadness and gratitude that I wish you all a very heartfelt goodbye, it's been the most amazing ride ever and one that I don't expect to duplicate in this lifetime. Oh and by the way, "WE STILL DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR!"

Love and Kisses forever,
Lisa Andris'

Now, the real question is - where's the Man Man show going to take place?

This is just ridiculous -- in the past year and a half three of the coolest places for live music in St. Louis have shut down - the Hi-Pointe, Frederick's Music Lounge, and the Rocket Bar. Throw in the Creep Crawl moving from it's classic Tucker locale and into a sterilized, bad sounding room and the fact that the majority of "cool" bars that have opened recently and appeal to the rock'n'roll crowd - The Royale and the new Atomic Cowboy - do not feature live music, we have a problem. I guess Off Broadway and The Way Out Club are really going to have to pick up the slack.

Or I could open my dream bar. If you fund it, I'll run it. Deal?

The Lot

The day is finally here! Tomorrow is the 2006 Lot Music Festival. For the second year in a row, I am involved with this event and this year, I picked about 90% of this year's performers (notice the wiggle room I left myself in case you don't like one of them?). We have expanded the lineup this year to include 8 mainstage bands from last year's 6. I may be a little biased, but I think this year's lineup is the best one we've had yet.

The event takes place from 4:00 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. on Saturday August 26, 2006 (that's tomorrow!) in the Schlafly Tap Room parking lot in downtown St. Louis, on Locust, between 21st and 22nd streets.

The event is FREE and ALL AGES.

We've gotten some nice press, too - read about it here and here.

Here's the lineup:

• Magnolia Summer
• Murder City Players
• Shame Club
• Gentleman Auction House
• Marquise Knox Blues Band
• Nyquill from the Royal Illete
• Tight Pants Syndrome
• Fertilizer Bomb

Also appearing will be: Mound City Benders, Rebecca Ryan, Typewriter Tim, Aalim Belly Dancers, Capoeira Brasil of St. Louis, Firethrowers and Joia.

You can listen to music from these bands at the Lot myspage. Or you could just download them right here, so you can memorize all the lyrics and sing along with all the bands at the event tomorrow.

Gentleman Auction House - Everyone Has Taken Their Hat Off But You (Speak Up)
Magnolia Summer - Habitrail
Magnolia Summer - Once in a While
Magnolia Summer - Sink or Swim
Tight Pants Syndrome - Your Buzz Is Safe With Me
Tight Pants Syndrome - Your Love Is Hot
Tight Pants Syndrome - Seducer
Shame Club - Rivas Gunna
Mound City Benders - Saddle Up

Split Lip Rayfield

Split Lip Rayfield is playing at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room tonight with St. Louis' very own The Monads. This will likely be Split Lip Rayfield's final St. louis show, as their guitarist has cancer and, having given up on chemo, decided to go out swinging, doing the thing he loves most - playing live music. The Wichita band's music could be best described as bluegrass punk; they feature a guitar, banjo and one string, gas tank bass guitar strung with weed whacker line, for God's sake.

This is from the band's press release:
"For those not familiar with this ill-fated turn of events, Kirk Rundstrom, the guitar player for the aggressive bluegrass outfit Split Lip Rayfield, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer this past February (seewww.kirkrundstrom.com or www.splitliprayfield.com for further information). Although his treatment has unfortunately been unsuccessful thus far and thecancer has spread, Kirk has decided that music is what makes him truly happyand wants to head out to do a few last tours in SLR's key markets - [St. Louis] being one of them. He's opted to quit doing chemo since doctors don'texpect it to cure him and also because it ultimately makes him feel worse. However, he is still trying alternative therapies and is not giving up thefight. Since quitting chemo, he actually feels better and stronger, has been exercising and practicing regularly with Jeff, Eric and Wayne and he and the boys are excited to put everything they've got into these last shows. If you are familiar with Split Lip Rayfield, you'll know that Wayne coming back for these last dates is a pretty big deal as well. Despite the harsh reality of this situation, Kirk wants his fans to know the truth and really wants to blow these tours out of the water if it's the last thing he does by getting the word out that these are their final tours."

So there you go. You have to go.

Here are some mp3's to sweeten the deal:

Split Lip Rayfield - Never Make It Home
Split Lip Rayfield - Love Please Come Home
Split Lip Rayfield - All I Got
The Monads - Not Quite Dead

Man Man

Philadelphia band Man Man is playing at the Hi-Pointe on September 20, 2006 with fellow Philadelphians Coyote. Man Man's performances are not to be missed-- they played a set at last month's Pitchfork Festival that received great reviews. The most common musical comparison to Man Man is Captain Beefheart, but you can make your own conclusions after listening the mp3's below and watching some video of one of their live performances.

Man Man - 10lb Moustache
Coyote - Half the Time
Coyote - White Fox

This is Man Man performing "Zebra." The sound quality isn't great, but it gives you an idea of what their live performances are like.

Tapes 'n Tapes

WHOA, Hot Damn! Tapes 'n Tapes are playing at the Creepy Crawl on Wednesday, October 20. It's about time these blog dahlings made their way through St. Louis. You will definitely want to check them out. Their song, "Insistor" is currently safely among my top 5 songs of 2006.

Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor
Tapes 'n Tapes - Cowbell
Tapes 'n Tapes - Omaha
Tapes 'n Tapes - Beachgirls
Tapes 'n Tapes - 50's Parking
Tapes 'n Tapes - Icedbergs

Here's their video for "Insistor":

Kings of Leon & The Stills

Kings of Leon


The Stills

I completely missed the fact that Kings of Leon are playing at Pop's with the The Stills on Thursday, September 7. They are limiting tickets to 200 sold, though, so get on it. Tickets went on sale today.

Kings of Leon - The Bucket
Kings of Leon - Molly's Chambers

You can download The Stills' performance from NPR's World Cafe at B(oot)log

Walkie Talkie USA

Walkie Talkie USA is the new band from Jason Hutto (ex-Phonocaptors, Sexicolor), Jimmy Griffin (ex-Nadine), Bryan Hoskins, Jordan Heimburger, and Joe Meyer. They got a great write-up in the Riverfront Times and have gotten mentions on other St. Louis blogs (here). The band is playing its first show TONIGHT at Off Broadway with Bunnygrunt and Sex Robots (see my recent post on them here).

Walkie Talkie U.S.A. - Devil Dogs
Walkie Talkie U.S.A. - Shoot Me Down
Walkie Talkie U.S.A. - Earth to You
Bunnygrunt - Me and My Vampire Friends

Of Montreal

Of Montreal is playing at Mississippi Nights tonight with The Minders. The show promises to be a blast. I saw them last March (or was it February?) at the Gargoyle, and it was a sold-out night of completely high energy, costume-changing, cover-song goodness. You don't even have to know Of Montreal's songs to enjoy one of their shows.

Here's some footage of them covering Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", which is apparently the hip new thing for the kids to do this summer:



Even though you'll have fun without knowing their songs, here are some MP3's so you can be well prepared:

Of Montreal - Requiem for O.M.M.2
Of Montreal - Wraith Pinned To The Mist (and other games)
Of Montreal - Disconnect the Dots
Of Montreal - Lysergic Bliss
Of Montreal - Know Your Onion (Shins cover)
Of Montreal - Penelope

The band is also releasing Satanic Twins, a limited release album featuring remixes of six songs from their latest CD, The Sunlandic Twins and remixes of six songs from Satanic Panic in the Attic on August 22. The release will be limited to digital downloads and 2000 copies of it on vinyl. You can stream the entire album here.

So Many Dynamos

St. Louis' very own palindrome-happy So Many Dynamos (see their myspace page here) got a great review from the mighty windy-city tastemakers at Pitchfork earlier this week for their upcoming album, Flashlights.

I've been a fan of this band since their debut EP, Are We Not Drawn Onward To New Era?. It was evident then that SMD followed the Dismemberment Plan step by step, but they did it so well and with such conviction, as evidenced on such songs as "Airtight" and "This Can Be Useful In Rocketry," that it was OK. In a town of Uncle Tupelo knock-offs and Nuggets-worshippers, this was a nice change of pace.

With the release of 2005's When I Explode, the band expanded their sound a little, but the Dismemberment plan/Q and Not U/Les Savy Fav comparisons were still too obvious to ignore. There was something about that album that held it back from holding my attention as well as the EP had - was it the dry production values, the excessive use of noise for noise's sake, or the fact that the band seemed extremely self-conscious of its position in its chosen genre? I don't know.

...But I do know that their new CD, Flashlights, sounds just great. Their sound has opened up considerably and the production is much warmer. The band is monster touring machine -- something only a few St. Louis-based bands can boast of -- so they are likely to come through your town in the coming months. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they have any St. Louis shows lined up anytime soon, so you'll just have to do with these mp3's:

From Flashlights:
So Many Dynamos - Search Party
So Many Dynamos - In Every Direction
So Many Dynamos - In Our Sleep

From When I Explode:
So Many Dynamos - Heat/Humidity

From Are We Not Drawn Onward To New Era?:
So Many Dynamos - Airtight
So Many Dynamos - This Can Be seful In Rocketry

Click here Buy Flashlights at Vintage Vinyl

Bishop Allen

Bishop Allen has just made their latest EP, July, available on their website. They've also made available one of its songs, "Click Click Click Click". The song starts off slowly and quietly, but manages to morph into a wonderful three-minute pop song. You can purchase July at their website. The band is going on a mini-tour in August, but will, unfortunately, not be playing in St. Louis.

Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click

Sips and Sounds

...or something. This Thursday, August 10, Metropolis teams up with St. Louis Magazine to bring you "Sips and Sounds for the Summer at the Mad Art Gallery from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. The event serves as the official preview party for the 2006 Lot Festival (which takes place on Aug. 26th at the Schlafly Tap Room - I will have a post on that next week) and features live music, beer and, most importantly, I will be the DJ. Now, when I say "DJ" I mean I will be plugging my iPod into the PA, but such details are really inconsequential.

The event costs only $10 to get in, and after you pay your $10, you get ALL THE BEER YOU CAN DRINK.

There will also be live music from Team Tomato and Full Day Affair. So come out, drink some beer, listen to some music, and fawn over me. It'll be good times.

WHAT: "Sips and Sounds for the Summer"
WHEN: Thursday, August 10, 2006
WHERE: Mad Art Gallery in Soulard, 2727 S. 12th Street


Here's an mp3 for you, too:

Team Tomato - Newlywed Deception

The Sounds

Here is a torrent of a video of The Sounds' show at Mississippi Nights last April (registration required):

The Sounds - Mississippi Nights, St. Louis - 4/25/05

...and here's an mp3:

The Sounds - Song With A Mission

Stuff

The new Drams CD, Jubilee Dive, is in constant rotation in my car CD player right now. Good, good stuff.

Here's some video of them playing the album's first single, "Unhinged", at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX earlier this summer:

Southside

Take a video tour of South City with Steven F. Smith here.

Sparta

Tonight's Sparta show at the Creepy Crawl has gone almost completely unnoticed by any media I've paid attention to. I didn't even know about it until last week and I forgot about it until today. That being said, if I wasn't going out of town tonight, I would definitely be at the show. They have a new CD called "Threes" coming out on October 10.

There's a new song at their MySpace page.

Sparta - Vacant Skies (via Kevin at So Much Silence)

Lollapalooza

...as in, "I'm a looza." I had tickets and a hotel room booked when I was reminded by Ms. Dividing By Zero that we have a wedding this weekend, so I can't go to this year's Lollapalooza. I went last year, and had a great time, despite it being the hottest day in Chicago in a decade. I was actually excited that Kanye and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were headlining, because that meant I would be able to leave the festival at 8:30, make it back to the hotel to shower up and have enough energy to hit the town each night. I also thought that, aside form the headliners, this year's lineup was superior to last year's. Can You See the Sunset From the South Side? has a ton of mp3's from the bands playing at this year's Lollapalooza. Check it out.

Eric Bachmann & Richard Buckner

Eric Bachmann & Richard Buckner will be playing at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room on Septmeber 27. Bachmann -- singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Crooked Fingers -- has a solo CD coming out on August 22 called "To the Races" on Saddle Creek Records. Buckner's new CD, "Meadow", comes out on September 12.

I'm a huge Crooked Fingers fan and both times I've seen them, they have put on a great show. Bachmann has an incredibly magnetic stage presence, so I am sure he will do just fine with a new set of musicians (or just himself).

Eric Bachmann tour dates:
9/2 - Club Congress Anniversary Party - Tucson, AZ
9/3 - Casbah, w/ Richard Buckner - San Diego, CA
9/4 - Knitting Factory, w/ Richard Buckner - Hollywood, CA
9/5 - Swedish American Hall, w/ Richard Buckner - San Francisco, CA
9/7 - Wow Hall, w/ Richard Buckner - Eugene, OR
9/8 - Doug Fir Lounge, w/ Centro-Matica and Richard Buckner - Portland, OR
9/9 - Neumo's, w/ Centro-Matic and Richard Buckner - Seattle, WA
9/10 - Richard's on Richards, w/ Richard Buckner - Vancouver, BC
9/13 - Cedar Cultural Centre, w/ Richard Buckner - Minneapolis, MN
9/14 - Schubas - TWO SHOWS, w/ Richard Buckner - Chicago, IL; TWO SHOWS - 6PM EARLY DOORS, 10PM LATE DOORS.
9/15 - Kraftbrau, w/ Richard Buckner - Kalamazoo, MI
9/16 - Horseshoe Tavern, w/ Richard Buckner - Toronto, ONT
9/17/ - Petit Campus, w/ Richard Buckner - Montreal, QC
9/19 - Club Passim - TWO SHOWS, w/ Richard Buckner - Cambridge, MA; Early Show at 7PM, Late Show at 10PM.
9/22 - Local 506, w/ Richard Buckner - Chapel Hill, NC
9/23 - Grey Eagle, w/ Richard Buckner - Asheville, NC
9/26 - Mercy Lounge, w/ Richard Buckner - Nashville, TN
9/27 - Blueberry Hill, w/ Richard Buckner - St. Louis, MO
9/28 - Sokol Underground, w/ Richard Buckner - Omaha, NE
9/29 - Walnut Room, w/ Richard Buckner - Denver, CO


Eric Bachmann - Carborro Woman
Eric Bachmann - Lonesome Warrior
Crooked Fingers - Call to Love
Crooked Fingers - Under Pressure
Richard Buckner - Town

Captain's Dead has a live show Buckner did ten years ago in Chicago ready for your downloading pleasure here.

---

Arthur Lee of Love passed away yesterday. Howard at Last Sound of Summer has some Love songs to dowload here.

Modest Mouse

While cruising the YouTube archives, I found these videos of what is supposedly a Modest Mouse documentary filmed while they were recording "Lonesome Crowded West." It would seriously benefit from some editing, as Isaac himself points out at the very end. One way or another, it's some pretty cool footage. It features appearances by Doug Martsch, Elliott Smith, and Calvin Johnson. I can't get over how young Issac looks; he was about 22 when this footage was taken.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:

...Trail of Dead and The Blood Brothers

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead will be playing at "Washington University", which I take to mean the Gargoyle, with The Blood Brothers on October 29. If it is the Gargoyle, this will be a loud, sold out show.

Trail of Dead has a new album coming out on October 3rd and The Blood Brothers' new CD, Young Machetes, is coming out on October 10

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - It Was There That I Saw You
The Blood Brothers - Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers

In the Morning

Um, Yeah.

Here's the video Built to Spill did for "In the Morning."

Sex Robots

After reminiscing about about my punkier roots in my review of Rancid's show at Mississippi Nights last weekend, I figured a post about the Sex Robots would be appropriate today. Sex Robots hail from St. Louis and feature some of the busiest dudes in the St. Louis music scene, including Mario Viele and Maysam Attaran of The Pubes and Roadhouse Tunes.

The band's self-titled debut was recently released and features short and catchy, punk-influenced rock'n'roll songs that bring to mind the Zero Boys, the Descendants, and Born Innocent-era Redd Kross. They just returned from a west coast tour and have a couple shows around St. Louis coming up in the next few weeks:

Aug 3 - The Creepy Crawl
Aug 15 - Off Broadway
Aug 19 - The Schlafly Tap Room

Sex Robots - I Won't Say I Love You Back
Sex Robots - Take Me Out Dancin'
Sex Robots - Jet Awesome


Go to one of the shows, buy some beer and buy their CD. If you just can't wait, you can buy their CD from the Roadhouse Tunes website, too.

---

Bonus: Tel Aviv - About Hysteria