Air - Alpha Beta Gaga

Team Tomato CD Release Party

Team Tomato, a great rock band from St. Louis, and a band I have been a fan of for a while, are celebrating the release of their self-titled, second full length album at Off Broadway on Saturday, June 30th, with The Monads and Bravo Company. The album was self-produced (something they're quite good at, having won a Best DIY Album of the Year award in 2005, for their debut CD, Lie Down With Dogs). As the band itself says, "Like Lie Down With Dogs the songs span almost
a decade of music, even though most of the older songs were re-worked. Unlike Lie Down With Dogs we include a lot of friends on this album, so the album is more diverse". You can make up your own mind:

MP3s:
Team Tomato - Bill
Team Tomato - Last Lesson
Team Tomato - Run Again

Patience.

Lots of posts coming soon.

The Polyphonic Spree at The Pageant

The Polyphonic Spree have just announced a show at The Pageant on Saturday, August 4th. The band released their third (fourth if you include the Thumbsucker soundtrack) album, The Fragile Army, earlier this week. No matter what you think of the band's uber-happy (zoinks! I said uber), over-the-top theatrics and histrionics on CD, you should definitely give them a chance in a live setting. I have seen them live only twice - once at the Austin City Limits Music Festival and once at one of their annual (but no-longer occuring) Christmas shows in their hometown of Dallas. They truly are a sight to behold live.

MP3:
The Polyphonic Spree - Running Away

The Polyphonic Spree - "Running Away":


The Polyphonic Spree - "Light and Day":


The Polyphonic Spree - "Lithium" (live):


Bonus:
Tripping Daisy - "I Got A Girl":

The Drams

The Drams are playing this Friday at Off Broadway. St. Louis has always been kind and generous to Brent Best, always packing the house when his previous band, Slobberbone, would come through town. They rewarded that loyalty with a slot on the band's final six city tour of the cities that had traditionally supported them the most. I remember that show well, just as I remember plenty of other great Slobberbone shows here in St. Louis -- playing on the Landing during 4th of July celebrations in 1999, numerous shows at Off Broadway, including a show on the night the war in Iraq began. I have only managed to catch The Drams once, and that was before their debut album, Jubilee Dive was released, so I am really looking forward to seeing these songs performed live now that I am familiar with them.

MP3s:
The Drams - Hummalong
The Drams - You Won't Forget
The Drams - Crudely Drawn

The Drams - "Unhinged" (live):


The Drams - "Hummalong" (live):


The Drams - "You Won't Forget" (live):

Bloc Party is coming to St. Louis

Sometime in September. Annie Z has the scoop here.

Camper Van Beethoven at Mississippi Nights

No, not a new show (obviously), but some great old footage form a show they played at Mississippi Nights on November 5, 1987, thanks to the wonderful world of YouTube.

"Wasted" (Black Flag Cover):


"Turqoise Jewelry":

The National

The National are playing tonight at the Duck Room. I will definitely regret it, but I can unfortunately not make the show. That doesn't mean you should miss it, though.

Here's a little documentary on The National:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

Twangfest

Twangfest starts off this evening with a bang and a great show by Centro-matic at the Schlafly Tap Room. After that, the festivities head on over to the Duck Room.

Here's the schedule of evnts:

Wednesday, June 6:
Schlafly Tap Room
11:00 PM: Centro-matic
10:00 PM: Backyard Tire Fire
9:00 PM: William Elliot Whitmore

Thursday, June 7:
Duck Room
11:30 PM: Blue Mountain—special reunion show!
10:15 PM: Tim Easton [backed by Two Cow Garage]
9:15 PM: Carrie Rodriguez
8:00 PM: Two Cow Garage

Friday, June 8:
Duck Room
11:15 PM: Graham Parker [with special guests The Figgs]
10:00 PM: Dolly Varden
9:00 PM: Elizabeth Cook
8:00 PM: The Linemen

Saturday, June 9:
Duck Room
11:30 PM: The Figgs
10:15 PM: Wussy [featuring Chuck Cleaver of the Ass Ponys]
9:15 PM: Slaid Cleaves
8:15 PM: The High Strung

There are also a bunch of In-store performances in conjunction with Twangfest:
At Euclid Records:
Thursday, June 7, 6:00 PM - Blue Mountain
Friday, June 8, 4:00 PM - Graham Parker

At Vintage Vinyl:
Thursday, June 7, 4:00 PM - Two Cow Garage
Thursday, June 7, 5:30 PM - Backyard Tire Fire
Friday, June 8, 5:00 PM - Elizabeth Cook
Saturday, June 9, 5:00 PM - Wussy

Gentleman Auction House Tour

Gentleman Auction House are heading out on their first tour of the American southwest later today as they make their way to the TapeOp Convention in Tuscon, AZ next weekend. If you live in any of these towns, you'll definitely want to head out to catch their Bright Eyes-meets-Arcade Fire take on indie pop.

Here are the dates:
Jun 4 2007 - Stillwater, Oklahoma - Mike's College Bar w/ The Legend of Junior Sapp & the Sherree Chamberlain band
Jun 5 2007 - Dallas, Texas - FineLineLive.com Summer Party @ The Cavern w/ Chris Garneau and Raised By Tiger
Jun 6 2007 - Austin, Texas - FineLineLive.com Summer Party @ The Mohawk w/ Spain Coloured Orange, The Hunnies and Finally Punk
Jun 7 2007 - Tucson, Arizona - TapeOp Convention
Jun 8 2007 - Tucson, Arizona - TapeOp Zydeco Party @ Club Congress
Jun 9 2007 - Tucson, Arizona - TapeOp Convention
Jun 10 2007 -Tucson, Arizona - TapeOp Convention
Jun 11 2007 - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Space Maybe! w/ TBA
Jun 12 2007 - Denver, Colorado
Jun 13 2007 - Lawrence, Kansas - The Replay Lounge w/ The High Violets and April Skies

MP3s:
Gentleman Auction House - Everyone Has Taken Their Hat Off But You
Gentleman Auction House - A Hospital or Heaven

RFT Music Awards Showcase

The Riverfront Times' big shindig is going down on The Loop today, starting at 2pm. Spread out across two outdoor stages and eight clubs, the RFT's Music Awards Showcase features tons of bands that were nominated for their annual Music Awards. The weather's looking good, so you have to go. For serious.

Here's the lineup, with each band playing on the hour after the starting time:

Main Stage (Leland and Delmar), starting at 2 p.m.: Rats and People, Magnolia Summer, Gentleman Auction House, 7 Shot Screamers

Market in the Loop (outdoor stage), starting at 2 p.m.: The Vultures, Casey Reid, Johnny O & the Jerks, The Daybreak Boys

Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, starting at 6 p.m.: Shame Club, Heroes of the Kingdom, Ghost in Light, Spark Thugs, Target Market, The Conformists

Blueberry Hill's Elvis Room, starting at 6 p.m.: Toyy, Midwest Avengers, DJ Needles, Nite Owl, DJ Mahf, Earthworms

Cicero's, starting at 6 p.m.: Say Panther, Jumbling Towers, The Bureau, So Many Dynamos, Berlin Whale

Riddles, starting at 8 p.m.: Dave Stone Trio, Tom Hall, Jesse Irwin, The Linemen

Brandt's, starting at 8 p.m.: Dub Kitchen, Brian Sullivan Quartet, Lamar Harris, Marquise Knox

Delmar Lounge, starting at 8 p.m.: Dogtown Allstars, The Monads, Bad Folk, That's My Daughter, Bunnygrunt, Walkie Talkie U.S.A.

Halo Bar, starting at 8:30 p.m.: Stella Mora, Finn's Motel, Team Tomato, The Humanoids, Eric Hall

Pin-Up Bowl, starting at 7 p.m.: DJ Foster, DJ Trackstar, DJ Crucial, Scotty Mac, Rob Lemon, Flex Boogie

Southside Rock and Roll Rave

There's a great event going on tonight in south city called the Southside Rock and Roll Rave that features a ton of great St. Louis-area bands, including Bunnygrunt, Gentleman Auction House, Walkie Talkie USA, The Deserters, the Adversary Works, The Hibernauts, and Bob Reuter.

Here's the scehdule for the evening:

8:30-9:15 - The Adversary Workers (main stage)
9:15-9:30 - Jon Bonham (acoustic stage)
9:30-10:15 - The Hibernauts (main stage)
10:15-10:30 - Jon Bonham (acoustic stage)
10:30-11:15 - Gentleman Auction House (main stage)
11:15-11:30 - Bob Reuter (acoustic stage)
11:30-12:15 - Bunnygrunt (main stage)
12:15-12:30 - Tim Session (acoustic stage)
12:30-1:15 - Walkie Talkie U.S.A. (main stage)
1:15-1:30 - Tim Session (acoustic stage)
1:30-2:15 - The Deserters (main stage)