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Recent Articles By Roy Kasten

  • The Campbell Brothers
    8 p.m. Friday, February 15 and 11 a.m. Saturday, February 16. Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Boulevard
  • Nina Nastasia
    8:30 p.m. Saturday, February 9. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.
  • Richard Thompson
    8 p.m. Monday, February 11. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard
  • Parachute Musical
    9 p.m. Friday, February 1. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.
  • Giant Bear
    9 p.m. Wednesday, February 6. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Recent Articles By Paul Friswold

Recent Articles By Dean C. Minderman

  • B.B. King
    7:30 p.m. Wednesday February 13. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St. Charles.
  • Chris Botti
    8 p.m. Friday January 18 and Saturday January 19. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Boulevard.
  • Smooth Operators
    Schoolhouse Rock's songwriter celebrates a few special birthdays in St. Louis while we pit Kenny G vs. Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a fight to the holiday death.
  • Preservation Blues

    Local niche labels keep the music coming.

  • Backstoppers Benefit
    7 p.m. Sunday November 4. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

Recent Articles By Andrew Miller

  • Tesla
    7 p.m. Saturday, February 16. Pop's, 1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois
  • Oh, Sleeper
    6 p.m., Monday, January 7. Creepy Crawl, 3524 Washington Boulevard.
  • Light This City
    6 p.m. Monday, November 26. Pop's, 1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois.
  • The Action Design
    8:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 28. Cicero's, 6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City
  • Xasthur
    Defective Epitaph

Recent Articles By Alison Sieloff

Recent Articles By Christian Schaeffer

Recent Articles By Brooke Foster

Recent Articles By Annie Zaleski

  • Sleep State
    8 p.m. Saturday, February 9. Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue.
  • Soft
    9 p.m. Tuesday, February 12. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.
  • Lloyd Dobler Effect
    9 p.m. Monday, January 14. Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.
  • Career (Remix)
    The trials and tribulations of R. Kelly.
  • The Aviation Club
    9 p.m. Friday, January 4. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Recent Articles By Jaime Lees

National Features

  • Phoenix New Times
    Canine Crusaders

    That drug-sniffing dog up ahead? He may not be your best friend.

    By Ray Stern
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times
    The Muscle Men

    Thanks to a string of Florida "anti-aging clinics," baseball's steroid scandal isn't limited to superstars.

    By Michael J. Mooney
  • Miami New Times
    Picked On

    Farm workers earn nada in America's green-bean capital.

    By Janine Zeitlin
  • Village Voice
    "Why I'm No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal"

    An election-season essay from one of America's greatest playwrights.

    By David Mamet


Finn's Motel Escape Velocity (Scat) www.myspace.com/finnsmotel
 2006 was the year that Joe Thebeau stepped back into the spotlight, taking time away from his role as trusted sideman (in Magnolia Summer, among other bands) to reintroduce his considerable songwriting talents to this city. Escape Velocity deals with middle-age and suburban stasis through references to the myth of westward expansion (specifically the Arch, as heard on "Eero Saarinen") and the promise of scientific advancement. Like a more hi-fi version of Guided by Voices, Finn's Motel stuffs clanging guitars, tossed-off hooks and moments of pop brilliance into these seventeen tracks. (CS)
Halo Bar, 9:30 p.m.


Casey Reid Cephalclog (Big Muddy) www.myspace.com/caseyreid
 Casey Reid is nothing if not authentic — or rather, to be more specific, the wizened blues and folk tunes on his debut are as heartfelt and genuine as music gets. Crafted with a merry band of junkyard misfits, Cephalclog resembles a joyous religious revival. Washboards scrape, a patchwork choir harmonizes, sparse guitars pluck, and Reid's sandpaper voice intones tales of heartbreak and hope — creating a collection that's nothing short of a total-spirit catharsis. (AZ)
Market in the Loop Outdoor Stage, 3 p.m.


Sex Robots Sex Robots (Roadhouse Tunes) www.myspace.com/sexrobots
 Here's the best (and most appropriate) way to listen to the Sex Robots' self-titled album. Pick the next sunny, insanely warm St. Louis summer day. Insert the trio's CD into the car stereo. Roll down the windows — all the way. Find the nearest freeway on which to go juuust above the speed limit (in other words, avoid 64-40). Crank the volume as far as it'll go. Enjoy the catchy-as-flypaper tunes, which span ragged power-pop, old-school-punk and bar-band bluster. Repeat as needed. (AZ)


So Many Dynamos Flashlights (Skrocki) www.myspace.com/somanydynamos
 Perhaps it's a clichéd statement to make, but one might need a crowbar to remove So Many Dynamos' second album from the CD player. For that matter, one might need a crowbar to extract the quartet's songs from the brain. Whether it's the nonchalant paranoia of the danceable "Search Party" or the motor-mouthed chants driving "Home Is Where the Box Wine Is," Flashlights is a little bit unhinged post-punk, a little bit chaotic electro-prog — and always a whole lotta fun. (AZ)
Cicero's, 9 p.m.


Target Market No Thrills (Afternoon) www.myspace.com/targetmarket
 Like their buds (and kindred stylistic souls) So Many Dynamos, Target Market is skilled at making math-rock accessible to those who start sweating at the mere mention of calculus. Last year's No Thrills is bursting at the seams with spinning time signatures and criss-crossed melodies, all rendered with precision and a clear sense of purpose. Think the noisy comet-trails of the Pixies, with the brainiac edge of Talking Heads and the melancholic moments of Smoking Popes. (AZ)
Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, 10 p.m.



Best Local Release (self-released)


Jumbling Towers Jumbling Towers www.myspace.com/jumblingtowers
 Jumbling Towers' self-titled album contains no fat and very little over-indulgence in studio trickery. Mixing the taut rhythms of post-punk with nearly psychedelic keyboards, the quartet writes unhinged rock & roll songs with no shortage of dramatic movements. Singer Joe DeBoer yelps and shouts through cryptic songs like "Pure Jew" and "He's a Cop Now" in a style that mixes the menace of the Walkmen with the detached gaze of early Pink Floyd. Debut records rarely come so fully formed. (CS)
Cicero's, 7 p.m.


Gentleman Auction House The Rules Were Handed Down www.myspace.com/gentlemanauctionhouse
 The seven members of Gentleman Auction House cram an album's worth of possibilities into their debut EP. These six songs reflect the modern state of American indie rock — specifically in their use of orchestral flourishes, sing-along choruses and hushed harmonies. Rules begins with the title track, a nod to the gentle folk of Bright Eyes (a reference point for the rest of the EP), while the next track, "A Hospital or Heaven," adds some Brill Building-esque piano and a modest trumpet solo. Somehow, amidst all the instrumentation, the band remains modest and humble, engaging in a kind of selflessness in supplication to the songs. (CS)
Main Outdoor Stage, 4 p.m.


Ghost in Light After Fox Meadow For a certain kind of music geek, the concept of song-sequencing makes or breaks an album. The members of Ghost in Light certainly believe this to be true, if After Fox Meadow's seamless transitions between spaced-out reflection and brazen chord-bulldozing are any indication. Buzzing keyboards, harmonic latticework and spidery riffs abound — conjuring the yawning noisebursts of Explosions in the Sky, early Smashing Pumpkins and Hum's burnt-sugar sheen. Perhaps most important, there's no shortage of heart stitched into Meadow's proficient musicianship. (AZ)
Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, 8 p.m.


The Linemen Through Side One www.myspace.com/thelinemen
 There's nothing "alt" or "insurgent" about the Linemen's brand of country music. Singer and songwriter Kevin Butterfield sings in a gentle, quavering croon, backed by an able band of musicians that knows how to keep the focus on the singer and his songs. On the band's debut, Through Side One, Jodee Lewis adds some sweetening with her background vocals, and Scott Swartz's pedal steel lends an ethereal grace to these rooted, rootsy songs. (CS)
Riddle's Penultimate Café & Wine Bar, 11 p.m.


Nite Owl Now You Can Boo Me www.myspace.com/nitroowlious
 Last year, LaMore Maclin hit a confident stride with Now You Can Boo Me, an old school, heavily soul-influenced, sometimes minimalist hip-hop record that matched spare, languid beats with cutting and satirical wordplay. "My attitude's like Andy Kaufman," he lays down on "Jump On It." He continues: "My head is like a sharkskin/But my flow is like the skin of a dolphin." Nite Owl's slick all right, but he's also soulful, and he doesn't just talk the talk: He works as a counselor at a children's shelter. (RK)
Blueberry Hill's Elvis Room, 9 p.m.


Red Water Revival Under the Frostbidden Years www.myspace.com/redwaterrevival
 If Red Water Revival was based in Brooklyn, every single NYC-centric music blog would be salivating over the stomping psych-blues tunes on its debut, Under the Frostbidden Years. As it is, the quintet gives both stalwarts (White Stripes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and upstarts (the Ponys, Earl Greyhound) a run for their bombastic money — as on "Fairest of Seasons," which smokes and snarls like a howling, swamp-blues exorcism. (AZ)



Best New Artist


Daybreak Boys
www.myspace.com/thedaybreakboysband
 It's about time that a band from St. Louis took its cues from the shaggy, sexy garage-rock youthquake popularized by the Strokes. Enter the Daybreak Boys, a trio that's quickly become a live favorite around the city — as much for its ragged riffs as for frontman Ryan Sears' scruffy looks. Be sure to pick up the band's recent The Bowery EP, which contains four songs suitable for your next impromptu hipster gathering. (AZ)
Market in the Loop Outdoor Stage, 5 p.m.


Heroes of the Kingdom
www.myspace.com/heroesofthekingdom
 Collinsville-based power-rockers Heroes of the Kingdom prove that Craigslist is good for more than just finding an apartment or posting missed connections; after all, the quartet found its drummer by posting an ad on the site. Naturally, the scope of Heroes' music matches its mighty name: Think Cheap Trick-style pop bombast, with dinosaur-size thumps of Led Zeppelin and prog complexity the Mars Volta would kill to have. They have the power! (AZ)
Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, 7 p.m.

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