Musotik Blog

Since I'm posting again

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:08:55 -0400

My current musical crush? Digitalism.

Free shows in Saint Louis

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:30:01 -0400

You shouldn't have to pay for a quality show -- so we don't make you.

Alas, Saint Louis University's Billiken Club could keep their website (which was apparently made on a Mac) better updated, but perhaps it's best to keep this place a secret. It's a great place to see local and national indie bands for the affordable price of nada. Save your door money to buy a beer or a burrito or a CD instead.

The MySpace page is kept up-to-date. Among the upcoming acts worth not shelling out for:

9/11: David Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion, although I was always under the impression he more or less WAS Pedro the Lion)

10/2: Do Make Say Think

10/5: The Twilight Sad

10/11: Dan Deacon

As always, if you want to know more about the above musicians, Musotik is here for you.

Bloc Party

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:31:54 -0400

Bloc Party will be at The Pageant in St. Louis on September 14th. tickets are $22. I'll update when I know when tickets go on sale, until then enjoy this video.

Tue, 5 Jun 2007 18:40:03 -0400

I had to check the calendar to make sure it's June because this weekend sure felt like Rocktober. Saturday was the South Side Rock & Roll Rave and Sunday was the RFT Music Showcase. I saw:

Casey Reid: acoustic junkyard blues-rock, rotating lineup of backing musicians
Bunnygrunt: fun pop rock, fun stage banter, jaywalking guitarist
That's My Daughter: pop punk, Minigrunt
The Hibernauts: rock & scissors!
Gentleman Auction House: multi-instrumental energetic rock
Berlin Whale: catchy hooks, obtuse lyrics, very energetic live show, Casio!
Jumbling Towers: esoteric music, vocals to match
The Bureau: New Wave-ish, very danceable
Say Panther: pop rock, with cello & trumpet
The Conformists: like laughing so hard milk comes out your eyes blinding you
Tim Session: one-man band using guitar, bass, and vocal loops
So Many Dynamos: math rock that you'll want to dance to (but you'll fail)

I saw other bands this weekend, but these are the ones I can recommend. All these bands are best experienced live. Support St. Louis music.

Supergrass: Everyone's Second Favorite Band

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 11:49:02 -0400

This morning, I have been listening to Supergrass' In It For the Money.

"Late in the Day" is a sad song, but for some reason, I can't help but think of pogo sticks whenever I listen to it.

Loud shots from the big spud gun

Thu, 31 May 2007 16:44:29 -0400

This is a Devo kind of day. If you only know of Devo as "The Whip It Guys," you have much to learn. I've been into Devo since I was a wee fripling and first saw their videos on the MTV, back in, oh, 1983 and the first song I knew was "Through Being Cool" from their New Traditionalists album. The video celebrates the rise of conformist, preppy Reagan youth.

I told my friend Jenn today that seeing and hearing "Beautiful World" at a single-digit age may be responsible for my sarcasm and led to my love of retro-kitsch and ironic juxtapositions. (Speaking of ironic juxtaposition, Devo later re-recorded this song for a Target ad. You may call this selling out, but the band considers using their cynical song in a store ad to be an essential part of devolution and thus it is good. Eventually we will become spuds.)

A lot of messages about consumerism and conformity are common in Devo songs. For example in "Freedom of Choice" the band closes by chanting, "Freedom of choice is what you've got, freedom from choice is what you want" while a small army of Gap-wearing youth march down a city street, assimilating people as they go. (The video also has a stop-motion sequence with donuts,, if you need more incentive to watch.)

Perhaps the second-best thing Devo is known for is their odd cover of The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction", which I like a thousand times better than the original. But then, I don't like The Rolling Stones, so I may be biased here.

This live performance of "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" is also worth watching. It opens with the band presenting the Devolutionary Oath:

Lay a million eggs or give birth to one.
The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live.
Be like your ancestors or be different, it doesn't matter.
Wear gaudy colors or avoid display. It's all the same.
We Must Repeat.

Official band homepage, news, lyrics and more at Club Devo.

Fri, 25 May 2007 10:28:15 -0400

Last night I saw an awesome show at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room: Holy Fuck and !!!.

Holy Fuck is recommended if you like bands like The Liars or Lightning Bolt. The telling slogan on their Myspace page is "Find something in the trash, plug it in." The instrumentation included many toy synthesizers and magnetic tape loops over live drums and bass. A Musotik search yields some cool video clips on YouTube of the band playing live. More information, including live MP3s can be found on Holy Fuck's homepage

Many of you are no doubt familiar with !!! (and know that it is commonly pronounced chk-chk-chk). I hate summing up bands in a single sentence and winced at my first thought (which, you must know, is coming to me in a hungover state), which was "disco funk with attitude." Okay, perhaps not, but it's hard not to dance to this music -- at least it was for me and my friends. If you haven't heard them but like indie electro, they're worth giving a shot. See more on the official !!! Website.

I am totally sore today.

Train of thought

Wed, 23 May 2007 17:17:29 -0400

Matt shared Freezepop's "I Am Not Your Gameboy" with us today...

Which made me think of another electro-pop outfit, Figurine (featuring the Jimmy Tamborello, also of Dntel and The Postal Service)...

Which is not to be confused with Denmark's indie-rock Figurines. Check out the video (and song) for "I Remember" -- no, it's not playing incorrectly. It was made to look like that.

RFT Music Awards

Mon, 21 May 2007 23:40:56 -0400

The 2007 RFT Music Awards are coming. The last chance to vote will be at the RFT Music Showcase in the Loop June 3rd, but you can vote online right now.

For those of you who are feeling indecisive, here is Dave's Big Voter's Guide to the RFT Music Awards.

Best Americana/Folk: Bad Folk, Jesse Irwin, Magnolia Summer, The Monads, Rats and People
Dave picks: Jesse Irwin. He deserves every award he can get for coining the word "Laduesier".

Best Blues Artist: Bottoms Up Blues Gang, Big George Brock, Tom Hall, Marquise Knox, Casey Reid
Dave picks: Casey Reid. Also check out his music video at Lo-Fi St Louis.

Best DJ: DJ Foster, Adrian Fox, Flex Boogie, Rob Lemon, Scotty Mac
Dave has no opinion.

Best Eclectic/Uncategorizable: Conformists, Ghost Ice, Eric Hall, Skarekrau Radio, Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship
Dave picks: The Conformists. But if they're too "hard" for you try Eric Hall, he's good too.

Best Funk/Soul/R&B: Dogtown Allstars, Lamar Harris, Arvell Keithley, Kim Massie, Nite Owl
Dave has no opinion.

Best Garage Band: The Gentleman Callers, Johnny O & the Jerks, the Nevermores, Long John Thomas & the Duffs, The Vultures
Dave picks: Long John Thomas & the Duffs

Best Hard Rock/Metal: Cross Examination, Harkonin, Head-On Collision, Shame Club, Spark Thugs
Dave has no opinion.

Best Hip-Hop DJ: Crucial, Needles, Mahf, Trackstar, Charlie Chan
Dave has no opinion.

Best Indie Band: Berlin Whale, Bunnygrunt, Ghost in Light, Say Panther, So Many Dynamos
Dave picks: Bunnygrunt. Musotik Bunnygrunt.

Best Jazz Artist: Willie Akins, Hamiet Bluiett, Erin Bode, Dave Stone Trio, Brian Sullivan Quartet
Dave has no opinion.

Best Live Act: Berlin Whale, Femme Fatality, Riddle of Steel, 7 Shot Screamers, So Many Dynamos
Dave picks: Berlin Whale. I've seen their shows for over a year now, and not only are they really good, they seem to get better each time I see them.

Best Local Release (on a label): Blinded Black, Under the Sunrise (SideCho); Finn's Motel, Escape Velocity (Scat); Casey Reid, Cephalclog (Big Muddy); Sex Robots, Sex Robots (Roadhouse Tunes); So Many Dynamos, Flashlights (Skrocki); Target Market, No Thrills (Afternoon)
Dave picks: Casey Reid again. If they had a category for best sandwiches served at a concert Casey Reid would win that one too.

Best Local Release (self-released): Gentleman Auction House, The Rules Were Handed Down; Ghost in Light, After Fox Meadow; Jumbling Towers, Jumbling Towers; The Linemen, Through Side One; Nite Owl, Now You Can Boo Me; Red Water Revival, In the Frostbidden Years
Dave picks: Jumbling Towers.

Best New Artist: Daybreak Boys, Heroes of the Kingdom, Huey, Humanoids, Stella Mora, Walkie Talkie U.S.A.
Dave picks: Heroes of the Kingdom

Best Punk/Hardcore: The Cuban Missiles, the Humanoids, Lye By Mistake, the Pubes, 7 Shot Screamers
Dave picks: Lye By Mistake. Not punk. Hardcore though.

Best Pop Band: Gentleman Auction House, the Hibernauts, Ludo, Sex Robots, That's My Daughter
Dave picks: That's My Daughter. If TMD is too prurient for you, The Hibernauts are also good. Actually, all these bands are good. St. Louis has a lot to offer in this category.

Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Earthworms, Family Affair, Midwest Avengers, Ruka Puff, Toyy
Dave has no opinion.

Best Reggae Band: Dub Kitchen, Dubtronix, Murder City Players, Yard Squad
Dave has no opinion.

Best Rock Band: The Bureau, Finn's Motel, Riddle of Steel, Team Tomato, Walkie Talkie U.S.A.
Dave picks: The Bureau. I'm not familiar with them but they sounded good on myspace.

Best Vocalist: Kevin Butterfield (Linemen), Joe DeBoer (Jumbling Towers), Kim Massie, Casey Reid
Dave picks: Joe DeBoer.

That's all! Go to http://blog.myspace.com/rftmusicawards2007 where they have more information on the awards, the showcase, the official ballot, and convenient links to band websites so you can listen to samples of all these great groups.

musotik updates

Thu, 10 May 2007 15:47:30 -0400

Musotik got another round of updates today. Including pictures from flickr and news from technorati. Other updates are minimal but you'll notice the tool tips on the albums and related artist are now much easier to view. The updates category from this blog are now displayed on the front page of Musotik. Again a lot of these features do not work correctly in IE. Especially IE versions under 7. I highly recommend upgrading to firefox. I really have no plans to make it work in IE 6.

scissor sisters - Filthy/Gorgeous (ATOC vs. Superbuddha remix)