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In Which I Very Briefly and Very Belatedly Review Last Month's Of Montreal Show at The Pageant

So, one month ago tonight, I saw Of Montreal at The Pageant. They put on, as they are wont to do, a great show. I have seen them play here in St. Louis three times, the first being just two years ago. Their progression through the venues of St. Louis in a two year stretch is indicative of their reach in pop-culture at large over that time period; the first show was at the tiny Gargoyle, then Mississippi Nights and now The Pageant. Their latest album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, is easily my favorite album from the band one one of my favorites on the year (Best of 2007 list coming soon, I swear!).

We got to the venue right after MGMT played, but the reviews I got from friends that had been there on time were mixed. Eh.

We did, however, get to see Grand Buffet. Wow, they were bad. Two white guys rapping as if the only band they had ever listened to was the Beastie Boys, but somehow managed to completely disregard the quality production and craftmanship of the backing tracks. They were entertaining for - maybe - one song. After that, it got old fast. A band like that really needs to be funny, or at least charming. They were neither. There were two rappers, and for ease, I will refer to one as the skinny guy and one as the fat guy. I consistently wanted to punch the skinny guy in the face. The fat guy could actually rhyme every now and then, had decent flow, and actually had a good voice. I breathed a sigh of relief every time he took over the mic from the skinny guy. They put me in a bad mood leading into Of Montreal, but I was at least aware of this issue and tried to not let it affect me going into the main event.

The stage setup for Of Montreal was way more elaborate than anything I had ever seen them utilize before. The trade-off, apparently, was fewer costume changes for the night. Alas. The band is known for its live covers, and this night was no exception, with the band opening the show with Prince's electro-ballad classic "I Would Die 4 U". Without missing a beat, they headed straight into another Prince song, "Baby, I'm a Star". It was a great way to start the show and made me forget all about the disaster that was Grand Buffet. The show was great, with the set leaning heavily on songs from the bands two newest albums. Much to my chagrin, but not to an excessive amount of surprise, the band did not play "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" which they have been apparently playing on this tour. The other main, but minor, thing I notice about the show was that the set was more drum machine-heavy than previous shows I had seen. Some of their best songs feature the drum machine, but in a live setting, live drums add a layer of immediacy that is both welcome and flattering to the band's sound.

Todd of IShootShows has some OUTSTANDING (as usual) pictures of the show up.

I guess this review didn't end up being that brief, after all.

Additionally, I have mp3's of the two Prince covers from that night below.

MP3's:
Of Montreal - I Would Die 4 U (live Prince cover)
Of Montreal - Baby, I'm A Star (live Prince cover)

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BONUS

The Main Drag's cover of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" has absolutely no right to be as good as it is. Seriously, none at all. Thanks to cokemachineglow.

The Main Drag - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem)

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Double Bonus:
In Which I Belatedy and Briefly Review The Black Angels Show I Saw A Few Weeks Ago

So I went down to San Antonio two weeks ago to go to the Big XII championship football game. Yeah. That went well.

Anyway, flights to SA were around $1200, so a friend and I flew through Dallas, which worked out well for me since my parents live there and I saved about a thousand dollars. On that Friday night, we went out to eat sushi at Blue Fish on Lower Greenville, which was, incidentally, great. As we left the restaurant around 10:30, we noticed that The Black Angels were playing at The Granada Theater, which was directly across the street. Telling my parents that we would cab it home later, we let them be on their way and headed over to the show. Very unexpected.

The Strange Boys were opening and were very... 60's. They were good, but their set only really needed to be about 15-20 minutes long. The Black Angels, on the other hand, were great. A band that plays the sort of music that they play has to be tight, and they were certainly tight. Unfortunately, we had to duck out a bit early due to a 6 am wake-up call before the four and a half hour drive down to San Antonio.

I will see them again.

That review was actually brief.

A Very Merry Christmas Spektacula!

This weekend, there's a whole lotta Christmas going on at Off Broadway, as Tomko Bomb Co. presents the 3rd annual installment of A Very Merry Christmas Spectacular this December 21st and 22nd. Featuring four bands each night and the visual artistry of Columbia, MO's VIDEOLOGY, the full weekend's lineup looks like this:

Friday, December 21st:
The Bureau
The Hibernauts
Witch's Hat (Columbia, MO)
The Makeshift Gentlemen
& VIDEOLOGY

Saturday, December 22nd:
So Many Dynamos
Gentleman Auction House
Light Pollution (Dekalb, IL)
Laite
& VIDEOLOGY

Be sure to get there early, as last year's AVMCS was named by Spin Magazine as one of the three things that you MUST do in St. Louis in December.

A new feature to be included in this year's event is VIDEOLOGY from Columbia, MO, who in one form or another has worked with The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Elliot Smith, The Polyphonic Spree, Pavement, etc. VIDEOLOGY will be adding a unique visual layer to AVMCS by surrounding Off Broadway with four giant video screens to provide visualizations for all of the bands and to VJ in between the sets.

Both nights will start promptly at 9:00pm and are 18 and up shows. Tickets
can be purchased online at www.offbroadwaystl.com and at the door for $7.

MP3s:
The Hibernauts - Into the Storm/Out to the Sea
Witch's Hat - Bomb Squad
So Many Dynamos - In Every Direction
Gentleman Auction House - Your Days and Our Nights

New St. Louis Shows Announced

A to Z is reporting shows this spring from Drive-by Truckers, Dan Deacon, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, among many others. Check out the link to find out more.

Mystery Mix Monday

This week's Mystery Mix is a Christmas Mix, of course (Christmastery Mix?).

MYSTERY MIX, VOL. 23 - The Christmas Mix

Here's last week's playlist:

Vol. 22

1. The Lodger - Watching
2. Riddle of Steel - Quiet Now
3. Sunparlour Players - Dyin' Today
4. Destroyer - Foam Hands
5. Iron & Wine - White Tooth Man
6. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Keep On Looking (Kenny Dope Remix)
7. Lacrosse - Sunshiner
8. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great

Fiery Furnaces

Here is some footage of the Fiery Furnaces at The Paradiso in Amsterdam. You can see the whole concert at Fabchannel.com.

Update and Stuff

I've got a couple things to let you know about...

First, I've got a bit makeover for the blog coming up in the New Year, as it's been over two years with the same layout. That and I don't know how to use a computer or the Interweb. Before that, though, you can expect to see my and others' "Best of..." lists for 2007. Joe already has his lists up over at Music Sucks. Check it out.

I will also be starting up the radio show again in February on KWUR. It looks to be on Tuesday nights and will focus on Local St. Louis music. I've got big plans for it. Speaking of Radio, every morning I wake up to the sweet sounds of KDHX. My favorite two morning shows have always been Darren Snow's Rocket 88 on Monday mornings and Cat Pick's Emotional Rescue on Thursday mornings.

Well, a few weeks ago, my radio work me up to the sounds of Mudhoney's cover of The Dicks' cult classic "Dicks Hate the Police"... It's a song I love but not one I expect to hear on Rocket 88, though. To make a long story short, it turns out that the KDHX morning lineup got a little bit of a rearrangement due to Cat Pick's retirement from the radio station. It's a shame, but she deserves some time off after serving the public good for so long. Rocket 88 moved to Thursday mornings and a new show, Green Eggs and Sam. Sam's playlists are kind of all over the place, but his show is a great addition to the KDHX mornings.

And I finally got to listen to Annie Zaleski's new(ish) show, International Pop Overthrow, on KDHX the other day. Being that it is on Mondays from 12-2 p.m., it's kind of tough for me to listen to while at work. If you are a fan of the music I feature on this blog or are familiar with her taste through her writing on A to Z, you will love her show.

Mystery Mix Monday

MYSTERY MIX, VOL. 22

Here's last week's playlist:

Vol. 21

1. The Hives - Hey Little World
2. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
3. The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - I Never Thought I Could Feel This Way For A Boy
4. The Mohawk Lodge - Everybody's on Fire
5. Luna - Straight Up
6. Names & Titles - Already Know
7. Sun Kil Moon - Neverending Math Equation
8. Rademacher - Stunts
9. M83 - Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun

Explosions in the Sky at The Pageant

HOLE LEE SHIT NUT, A to Z is reporting that Explosions in the Sky have confirmed a show at The Pageant. No details, but check in with A to Z for updates. Is it just me, or does that seem like an outrageously large venue for a band that, by all accounts, has no track record in St. Louis and still, for all of their awesomeness, exists on the periphery of the popular music landscape? As far as I'm aware, they have not played a show in St. Louis since all of their big Friday Night Lights exposure. I would think Off Broadway would be way more appropriate....

...or maybe they're opening for another band, which would be pretty cool since any band willing to have them open is bound to be pretty cool.

MP3s:
Explosions in the Sky - Welcome, Ghosts
Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine
Explosions in the Sky - A Song For Our Fathers

Explosions in the Sky - "The Birth and Death of The Day" (live):


Explosions in the Sky - "Great Death" (live):


Explosions in the Sky - "First Breath After Coma" (live):


Explosions in the Sky - "The Only Moment We Were Alone" (live):


Explosions in the Sky - "Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean" (live):

I Am DJing at The Royale Tomorrow Night

I will be spinning music from 6 - 10 p.m. at the finest Public House on Kingshighway, The Royale. Dividing By Zero partner in crime, AJS, will spinning from 10 p.m. until close. It'll be a full night of Dividing By Zero. Oh yes I did.

Click here for directions.

Mystery Mix Monday

Well, I've made it through 20 Mystery Mixes, which is kind of crazy to me, considering how ADD I am. My idea all along was to never repeat an artist in order to keep things interesting and to prevent me from settling into my musical comfort zones. This strategy has worked well; through 20 weeks, I have featured 165 songs by 164 DIFFERENT BANDS (!)... I accidentally repeated Wilco once. But after five months, I think it's OK for me to loosen up this rule. As anyone who has followed these mixes knows, I follow a rough pattern in putting the mixes together -- the first couple songs are spanking new songs, in the middle I will feature some older, perhaps "classic" songs and I will usually end with a relatively modern (but not always) long song. The first reason for this change in policy is winter time is a slow time for new music, so I would really be stretching to include new songs that are good or that I like. Second, some of the bands that I used for the "older songs" are now releasing new material and I would hate to not include some great new songs because I had previously included a song by that band.

Not that any of you care about all of this, so, here's Vol. 21:

MYSTERY MIX, VOL. 21

Here's last week's playlist:

Vol. 20:

1. The Little Penguins - Say It Once
2. Stars - The Ghost of Genova Heights
3. The Finns - Superstar Suicide
4. The Livers - Sinking Feeling
5. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I'm Loving the Street
6. Mike Watt - I'm Burning For You
7. Shame Club - I Ain't Surprised
8. The Dismemberment Plan - The Ice of Boston
9. Battles - Tonto