Fake Post Sunday

Girl Talk in Chicago on 12/31/07:

Lapush

Lapush is playing a free show at the Biliken Club tonight, read Annie Z's write-up on at the RFT Blog.

Lapush - Rest My Soul

Witch's Hat

The biggest secret to Tenacious D's success is not their lyrics or Jack Black's attention-whoring antics, but the fact that they take their music very seriously. The D's music is what makes them (barely) more than a mere novelty act. They know their craft and they know it well.

The members of Witch's Hat and Fattback realize this. Both bands employ the kitchen sink philosophy of choosing a genre, which is to say, you'll never know what style the next song (or section of a song) is going to be in. And while they may sing about zombies, sorcerers, and dragons, they take the music that supports the songs deadly seriously. They are both playing tonight at Off Broadway. Witch's Hat, who are a part of the Emergency Umbrella collective/label/group in Columbia, MO, love putting on a performance. You should check it out.

If you can't make it out to Off Broadway tonight, you can catch Witch's Hat at an in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl at 5:30 pm.

MP3:
Witch's Hat - Glodyany 1972

Witch's Hat performing "Huzzah" at the Blue Note in Columbia,MO:

Ghost in Light & Stella Mora

Another option in St. Louis this evening is to head to the Way Out Club to see Ghost in Light perform with Stella Mora. I recently wrote about Ghost in Light's most newest release, After Fox Meadow. Stella Mora is another great band hailing from St. Louis. They play straight out of the My Bloody Valentine/Lush/Ride playbook, but they do it well, so you can't really fault them for that. Over time they will, no doubt, find their own unique take on the shoegazer sound, but that shouldn't stop you from checking them out now.

MP3's:
Ghost in Light - The Snow Is Soaking My Shoes
Stella Mora - Lucid Dream

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Bonus:
Explosions in the Sky performing "Welcome, Ghosts" on Conan O'Brien:

Gentleman Auction House are playing at Off Broadway this Thursday with Iowa City's Death Ships and Champaign's Elsinore. All three are playing together this weekend, with a show in Champaign on Friday and Iowa City on Saturday. Of the three the only band I have seen is GAH -- and you know how much I love them -- but, I have really gotten into the Death Ships' album, Seeds of Devastation, so I am excited to see them. Elsinore has great songs, too, so hopefully they'll make it a three-for-three night.

MP3's:
Gentleman Auction House - Everyone Has Taken Their Hat Off But You
Death Ships - Little Mystery
Death Ships - Story Never Gets Old
Elsinore - Antony Mity

Fake Post Sunday

It's been a while since I've done a Fake Post Sunday, but here you go -- Tilly and the Wall at the Paradiso in Amsterdam via Fabchannel:

Local H

Chicago guitar-and-drums duo, Local H, has long been known for its wide range of covers. They've done several studio covers, but they're best know for busting out covers in their live shows.

So, for the hell of it, here are a bunch of their live covers:
Local H - Wolf Like Me (TV On The Radio)
Local H - Toxic (Britney Spears)
Local H - Joey (Concrete Blonde)
Local H - Breed (Nirvana)
Local H - Highway to Hell (AC/DC)
Local H - Static Age (Misfits)
Local H - 25 Or 6 To 4 (Chicago)
Local H - Bloodstains (Agent Orange)

Here are links to two Halloween shows, in which they devote a whole set to covering one band:

Local H covering Oasis (with a random Quiet Riot cover tagged onto the end) at the Double Door in Chicago on October 31, 2004.

Setlist:
01. Fuckin' In The Bushes
02. Supersonic
03. Acquiesce
04. Wonderwall
05. Cigarettes & Alcohol
06. Some Might Say
07. Live Forever
08. Morning Glory
09. Champagne Supernova
10. Cum On Feel The Noize

Local H covering Nirvana at the Double Door in Chicago on October 31, 1997.

Setlist:
01. Intro / School
02. Aneurysm
03. Breed
04. About A Girl
05. Serve The Servants
06. Sliver
07. Been A Son
08. Negative Creep
09. Rape Me
10. Tourette's
11. Lithium
12. Smells Like Teen Spirit
13. Territorial Pissings

The Shins Take Away Show

Blogotheque almost always impresses with their Take Away Show series, which has bands perform while wandering through the streets of Paris, and the recent episode featuring The Shins is no exception. Take a look at Part 1 below, and then head to Blogoteque to see Part 2.

The Shins - "Gone for Good" and "Turn on Me":

The Black Angels

Be sure to come out to the Duck Room this Friday to catch the Black Angels and Vietnam. The Black Angels have played St. Louis a few times in the past year, and, by all accounts, have put on a great show each time.

The Black Angels - The Firs Vietnamese War

Vietnam - "Too Tired":

Tonight

You will be doing one of two things in St. Louis tonight: Going to see Andrew Bird at The Pageant or seeing Tapes 'n' Tapes at the Creepy Crawl.

Andrew Bird - "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left":


Andrew Bird - "Skin, Is My":

In Which I Briefly Review This Saturday's Decemberists' Show

The Decemberists played at the Pageant on Saturday with My Brightest Diamond opening up for them. The Decemberists were great, even if they didn't really do any fun audience participation type things they are getting known for. Well, they did do a crowd sing-a-long on 16 Military Wives, dividing the crowd into four groups and directing each group to sing "da-dee-dah, dee-dotty-dotty-dah" on cue. They freaking started off with The Tain, all 25 minutes of it. Then into The Crane Wife, Pt. 3 and then Yankee Bayonet. The aforementioned 16 Military Wives was awesome, as was Sons and Daughters, a completely rocking version of The Island..., and show closer Mariner's Revenge Song.

My Brightest Diamond opened. Singer Shara Worden often reminded me of Bjork and, at times, Tanya Donelly. Worden flung herself around the stage and stomped and shouted and yelped her way through a great set. So much so, that at one point, she slipped on the stage and fell -- HARD -- on her back, in mid-song. She hopped right back up and kept on playing, like a true trooper. This was the second time I had seen them; the first was when they opened for DeVotchKa last fall, and they impressed me even more. The second to last song of their set was a spot-on cover of Led Zepplin's "No Quarter" that was far better than it had any right to be.

Low

Low, the slow-core stalwarts of Duluth, MN, have just release a new album, called Drums and Guns, an album ostensibly about the Iraq War. The album is darker than 2005's The Great Destroyer, which was, itself, a huge departure from the band's minimalist past.

A song, "Always Fade," from Drums and Guns:
Low - Always Fade

A video for "Breaker," from Drums and Guns:


Here is the band performing some of the songs from The Great Destroyer in Amsterdam in 2005, via Fabchannel:

Tool

Tool is playing at the Saviskielscott Center on Friday, June 21st. I have seen them twice, and they truly are great live. But if you're a fan of them, I presume you are well aware of that already.

Here's a smorgasborg of Tool stuff for you:
Tool - Stinkfist


Tool - Prison Sex:


Tool - Aenima:


Tool - Sober (live from the '93 Reading Festival):


Tool - Vicarious (live):

Slobberbone

Slobberbone - "Josephine":

Hi There

Ben Kweller - Penny on the Train Track

Tonight at The Pageant: Playback's 5th Anniversary Show

Be sure to come out to The Pageant tonight to celebrate Playback:stl's 5th Anniversary with a show from Gentleman Auction House, Troubadour Dali, Omaha's Go Motion, and The Daybreak Boys.

Hot Damn!

Lots of new St. Louis shows announced in the newest RFT Blog post: Lily Allen, The Rapture, Minus the Bear, Chin Up Chin Up, Ben Harper, Deftones, and KING KONG, a sentimental favorite of mine from college.

This one, in particular:
King Kong - Scooba Dooba Diver

In-Store Performances at Vintage Vinyl This Week

Vintage Vinyl is hosting a few great in-store performances this week I thought you should know about. The first is a performance by the Silversun Pickups on Wednesday, at 5:30 pm. They are playing a sold-out show later that evening with Snow Patrol and OK Go. Then, on Saturday at 4:00 pm, John Roderick of the Long Winters will be doing a solo, acoustic performance at Vintage Vinyl. They will be playing later that evening with The Broken West at the Duck Room. Unfortunately, I will be out of town for that show, but you should definitely check it out if you're in town.

Here's the reason Silversun Pickups cancelled their show last fall with Wolfmother at The Pageant, a performance of "Lazy Eye" on the Late Show with Letterman:


Here's the song's proper video:


The Long Winters - "Fire Island, AK":

Hey, Look At Me!

I am going to be DJ'ing at The Royale on Wednesday, April 4th. I am assuming you already know and love The Royale, but in case you don't, let me take this oppotunity to promote one of the cooler restaurants/bars/public houses in St. Louis. It's on Kingshighway, just south of Tower Grove Park. I will be playing primarily "indie" rock and, depending on the crowd, ma delve into deeper hipster waters and throw out embarrassing songs from my past that may or may not be ironic selections. Anyway, I need some company, so come out and hang out with me.

What: Me as your drinking soundtrack
When: April 4, 2007
Where: The Royale
Why: Because.