Pattern Is Movement + Justin Timberlake = My Love

I read a Myspace bulletin that Pattern Is Movement was only covering songs for their New Year’s Eve show and only in dreams had I wished such a thing would ever come to be. Well obviously, I did not go to the show because it was in Philly and I was in St. Louis, but I still wondered what lovely songs would my favorite dudes be covering. Beyonce’ and Kanye? But to great enjoyment I found that the performance is up on youtube! So here is all your dreams come true.  Check out the covers of JT and D’Angelo which is an especially sexy track.

Don’t Stay In the Dark Dark Dark!

Dark Dark Dark is a quartet consisting of a cello, bass, banjo and an accordion and basically all the lovely sounds that I love. Their music similar to the sounds of Beirut, Bowerbirds, and Breathe Owl Breathe (which all strangely enough all start with the letter B).   They hail from Minneappolis and New York and will be gracing St. Louis with a performance at CBGB on January 5th with Pokey Lafarge and Mayday Orchestra. If you are still not convinced by my vague words then please check out the video below!

If You Happen To Be Around

If you guys didn’t already know, but I pride myself from being the Chicagoland town of Elgin.  Yes, it is a suburb, but way better.  I mean such great things from Elgin include the creator of Jimmy John’s, Max Adler (Adler Planetarium), the actor that played Barney, and mostly all my favorite bands.

Well starting today and going on till Sunday is a little local showcase of Elgin bands as well as many from around the Midwest area.  It is called Ian’s Party and will be taking place in downtown Elgin at Gasthaus and Mad Maggie’s.  The little showcase includes 53 bands including Ohtis, Black Ladies, Strawberry Pegasus, Sass Dragons, Prizzy Prizzy Please, and Heart Shaped Hate just to name a few. Haven’t heard of any of those bands? Well what are you waiting for? The show is mostly a punk driven showcase, but a few other kinds of music are interspersed in.  So I’m saying if you are anywhere near the Chicago area ie. my hometown then make your way to Ian’s Party because it’s probably one of the best things you are ever going to experience.

Click on the poster for more info on schedule, bands, tickets, map, etc.

God Warrior of the YEAR!

God Warrior of 2008!

Robert Kelly aka R. Kelly, Kellz, The Pied Piper

You knew this was coming.  We were thinking that we would choose the best god warrior out of the list that we already had, but we truly have yet to honor this man.  He has made many appearances on our blog although his moral standings may seem suspicious and skeptical, we love him for the mere fact of his great tunez and insane persona.  Sir R. Kellz of Chi-Town, please continue being completely out of yo mind. For without you, we would not be able to experience such great classics as “Trapped in the Closet” (all parts).  If you haven’t seen the series, I highly recommend you go do it now, or even better is to go buy it on DVD and watch it on HD TV. R. Kelly, you truly are one of a kind and may you continue to protect the name of GOD. Favorite videos of TT&SC below.

R. Kelly – Real Talk

R. Kelly – Trapped in the Closet Part 1

Please check out some R. Kelly mashups by The Hood Internet

Our Favorites include I’m A Flirt ( Shoreline),  Endless Hookup, and Kellstone for the Painfully In Love

Best of 2008 – Concerts

Sanita’s Best Concerts of 2008

1. Radiohead -August 1st – Lollapalooza -Grant Park – Chicago
2. Deerhoof with Experimental Dental School and Flying – October 22nd-Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza – New York City
3. Mahjongg with Make A Rising and Skarekrauradio – March 16th -Camp Concentration – St. Louis
4. Health with Shooting Spires and Cold Bear Scout – February 18th -The Billiken Club – St. Louis
5. Wolf Parade -November 8th- The Gargoyle – St. Louis
6. Bon Iver  with Collection of Colonies of Bees- April 8th – The Billiken Club – St. Louis
7. Dan Deacon with Ad Astra Per Aspera and The Pragmatic -  April 12th – The Billiken Club – St. Louis
8. The Octopus Project with Pattern Is Movement – March 1st -The Gargoyle – St. Louis
9. Caribou with Fuck Buttons – May 1st – The Billiken Club – St. Louis
10. Rage Against the Machine – August 3rd- Lollapalooza - Grant Park – Chicago

Links lead to concert reviews

Best of 2008 – Albums

Sanita’s Choices of 2008

I absolutely love making lists, but narrowing them down to 10 (with extension)! Almost impossible considering I lost my music about 3 times this year and have no idea what music came out when.  So here is my attempt to remember all the amazing music that came out this year.

Albums

1.

Fleet Foxes - S/T

Absolutely breathtaking music that will make any girl swoon.

2.

Mahjongg – Kontpab

Most overlooked artist of 2008 and have you seen them live yet?

3.

Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow & Blue

A great release after the EP hype.

4.

Pattern Is Movement – All Together

Pure magical genius at its best.

5.

Lykke Li – Youth Novels

How could I have not jumped on this bandwagon?

6.

Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

Definitely no Apologies to the Queen Mary, but still a great sophomore release.

7.

Catfish Haven - Devastator

Absolutely hideous album art, but those soulful croons just keep me coming back for more.

8.

Deerhoof – Offend Maggie

So catchy and awesome.

9.

Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III

Mostly for hip hop cred.

10.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Heard this album way before 2008, but we’ll be technical anyways.

Finals = Procrastination!

Indeed I should be studying for my two finals tomorrow, but in search of the best study music I have found music that is not good for studying..at all.  Here are amazing videos of the artists that I wish I could see in person.

El Ten Eleven

Two man post rock band  from LA knows how to blow your mind. “Hot Cakes” is probably the jam of my day.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band

The name alone was what drew me in and little did I know how epic and awesome would they actually be.  Check out the groovetastic vid.

Well back to studying! and Best of 2008 lists will be coming soon! YAY! 2008! AMERICA! AMERICA!

God Warrior Alert!

Yes, you will be able to find fellow God Warrior, Spencer Krug at the Gargoyle tonight with his band, Wolf Parade!  Tickets are a bit pricey, $20 for the public.  Show starts at 9pm and most likely will not start on time.

SOLLY! TT&SC Updates!

I know we have been lacking on our duty as Best St. Louis Music Blog, but I guess being a student, managing a rock venue, and working at the radio station has shown to be a lot more work than we had expected. So alas we have been lacking in blog updates and we are completely sorry. Another reason we have been missing in action is that we have been in New York City for the past week for CMJ Music Marathon and we had a blast!

Women at The Cake Shop for the Terrorbird Showcase

Well also if you would like to see us in person come out to The Billiken Club tomorrow! It’s Open Mic Night and everyone is invited.  Event starts at 7PM and ends at 10PM. As always it’s FREE, Open to the Public, and All Ages.  I hear that the our free jazz group, Scat Cats will be making an appearance!  See you tomorrow, everyone!

VOTE FOR KSLU for an mtvU 2008 Woodie Award!

KSLU – St. Louis University Radio has been nominated for the ‘Best College Radio’ award by mtvU!  Alison and I both work at the station, thus that may be the reason why such an honor has been bestowed on KSLU.   But the winners are peer-chosen (read: BY Y’ALLS) and we would love it if you guys could help us out! Here’s an excerpt on how we were chosen:

“For the first time ever, mtvU is honoring 20 pioneering college campus radio stations committed to bringing students the latest indie and emerging music. Lauded for championing artists before they achieve mainstream success, these student-run radio stations represent the new music vanguard long since abandoned by traditional FM radio. The top stations were chosen based off accolades from CMJ College Radio Awards, Princeton Review Nominations, and independent questionnaires completed by a cross-section of record labels. One station will bring home the inaugural Woodie for Best Campus Radio Station, as voted on by their peers.”

Please vote for KSLU at http://woodies.mtvu.com/nominees/college_radio!

Thanks and let’s hope we take home the gold!