Reporting from Augusta, Georgia (home of James Brown)...
The "Hardest Working Man in Show Business" is now dead at 73. So we unexpectedly loose another legend. He was apparently even giving out Christmas gifts and turkeys here in Augusta the night before he died.
No word yet on a memorial service. More news to come as developments continue in the Deep South.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Steve Reich concert @ Touhill / Robertson talk @ Loop
The American minimalist composer Steve Reich is 70 this month, and celebrations of his music are going on in the US and Europe. One of them is on Wednesday 10/25 at the UMSL Touhill Performing Arts Center (TouPAC). The London vocal group Synergy is featured, along with SLSO musicians. There is a 50% off coupon for "Zone 1" tickets at this link:
http://www.bigthankyou.org/pages.asp?ID=22
With the new Cross-County MetroLink extension, it's easy to get to the TouPAC by taking MetroLink to UMSL North. The concert starts at 7:30 PM and goes to about 8:45 PM. (No word on whether Reich himself will be present.)
Also, for those who can't get enough of hearing David Robertson, the Symphony's music director, talk, he's going to be at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, across from The Pageant, on Thursday 10/19, from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM, talking on whatever comes to mind. An announcement is at the Symphony's news page, the 10/9/06 link to the pdf:
http://www.slso.org/update/index.htm
http://www.bigthankyou.org/pages.asp?ID=22
With the new Cross-County MetroLink extension, it's easy to get to the TouPAC by taking MetroLink to UMSL North. The concert starts at 7:30 PM and goes to about 8:45 PM. (No word on whether Reich himself will be present.)
Also, for those who can't get enough of hearing David Robertson, the Symphony's music director, talk, he's going to be at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, across from The Pageant, on Thursday 10/19, from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM, talking on whatever comes to mind. An announcement is at the Symphony's news page, the 10/9/06 link to the pdf:
http://www.slso.org/update/index.htm
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
WAVE CHARTS WEEK OF 10/1
1 JUNIOR BOYS So This Is Goodbye
2 CHIN UP CHIN UP This Harness Can't Ride Anything
3 M. WARD Post-War
4 NEW LOU REEDS Top Billin'
5 SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album
6 BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
7 TV ON THE RADIO Return To Cookie Mountain
8 KOOKS Inside In/Inside Out
9 NOUVELLE VAGUE Bande A Part
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS SLAYING SINCE 1996 Suicide Squeeze
11 BECK The Information
12 JIM NOIR Tower Of Love
13 THE KNIFE Silent Shout
14 PERSEPHONE'S BEES Notes From The Underworld
15 CURSIVE Happy Hollow
16 NEW TRAGEDIES VanityVanity
17 DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
18 RAPTURE Pieces Of The People We Love
19 OF MONTREAL Satanic Twins
20 STRAYS Le Futur Noir
21 EMILY HAINES Knives Don't Have Your Back
22 YO LA TENGO I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
23 HOT CHIP The Warning
24 BRAZILIAN GIRLS Talk To La Bomb
25 BUFFALO KILLERS Buffalo Killers
26 SCISSOR SISTERS Ta-Dah
27 BEARS Bears
28 VERT Some Beans And An Octopus
29 LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
30 KASABIAN Empire
2 CHIN UP CHIN UP This Harness Can't Ride Anything
3 M. WARD Post-War
4 NEW LOU REEDS Top Billin'
5 SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album
6 BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
7 TV ON THE RADIO Return To Cookie Mountain
8 KOOKS Inside In/Inside Out
9 NOUVELLE VAGUE Bande A Part
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS SLAYING SINCE 1996 Suicide Squeeze
11 BECK The Information
12 JIM NOIR Tower Of Love
13 THE KNIFE Silent Shout
14 PERSEPHONE'S BEES Notes From The Underworld
15 CURSIVE Happy Hollow
16 NEW TRAGEDIES VanityVanity
17 DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
18 RAPTURE Pieces Of The People We Love
19 OF MONTREAL Satanic Twins
20 STRAYS Le Futur Noir
21 EMILY HAINES Knives Don't Have Your Back
22 YO LA TENGO I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
23 HOT CHIP The Warning
24 BRAZILIAN GIRLS Talk To La Bomb
25 BUFFALO KILLERS Buffalo Killers
26 SCISSOR SISTERS Ta-Dah
27 BEARS Bears
28 VERT Some Beans And An Octopus
29 LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads
30 KASABIAN Empire
Fall Programming In Full Effect
KWUR's fall 2006 schedule is now in full effect.
We're proud to announce syndicated broadcasts of Free Speech Radio News (Mon.-Thurs. 6pm, Fri. 5pm) and Off The Hook (Time TBD). Also, we've completly upgraded our computer systems so look forward to a better auto-rotation during strange hours as well as more stable live internet streaming .
New schedule posters to hit the streets before the end of the week.
Check out the full lineup and as always, stay tuned to KWUR for the very finest in underground radio...
We're proud to announce syndicated broadcasts of Free Speech Radio News (Mon.-Thurs. 6pm, Fri. 5pm) and Off The Hook (Time TBD). Also, we've completly upgraded our computer systems so look forward to a better auto-rotation during strange hours as well as more stable live internet streaming .
New schedule posters to hit the streets before the end of the week.
Check out the full lineup and as always, stay tuned to KWUR for the very finest in underground radio...
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Wave charts week of 9/24!
1 TV ON THE RADIO Return To Cookie Mountain
2 BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
3 SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album
4 JIM NOIR Tower Of Love
5 M. WARD Post-War
6 JUNIOR BOYS So This Is Goodbye
7 RAPTURE Pieces Of The People We Love
8 NOUVELLE VAGUE Bande A Part
9 CUT CHEMIST The Audience's Listening
10 CURSIVE Happy Hollow
11 VARIOUS ARTISTS SLAYING SINCE 1996 Suicide Squeeze
12 HOT CHIP The Warning
13 EMILY HAINES Knives Don't Have Your Back
14 BRAZILIAN GIRLS Talk To La Bomb
15 RATATAT Classics
16 NORTH ATLANTIC Wires In The Walls
17 BEARS Bears
18 YO LA TENGO I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
19 BEN KWELLER Ben Kweller
20 LULLABY BAXTER TRIO Garden Cities Of To-morrow
21 OF MONTREAL Satanic Twins
22 THERMALS The Body, The Blood, The Machine
23 THE KNIFE Silent Shout
24 TWO TON BOA Parasiticide
25 KASABIAN Empire
26 DIRTY PRETTY THINGS Waterloo To Anywhere
27 HEADLIGHTS Kill Them With Kindness
28 PETE YORN Nightcrawler
29 GOLDENBOY Underneath The Radio
30 JAY BENNETT The Magnificent Defeat
2 BLACK KEYS Magic Potion
3 SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album
4 JIM NOIR Tower Of Love
5 M. WARD Post-War
6 JUNIOR BOYS So This Is Goodbye
7 RAPTURE Pieces Of The People We Love
8 NOUVELLE VAGUE Bande A Part
9 CUT CHEMIST The Audience's Listening
10 CURSIVE Happy Hollow
11 VARIOUS ARTISTS SLAYING SINCE 1996 Suicide Squeeze
12 HOT CHIP The Warning
13 EMILY HAINES Knives Don't Have Your Back
14 BRAZILIAN GIRLS Talk To La Bomb
15 RATATAT Classics
16 NORTH ATLANTIC Wires In The Walls
17 BEARS Bears
18 YO LA TENGO I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
19 BEN KWELLER Ben Kweller
20 LULLABY BAXTER TRIO Garden Cities Of To-morrow
21 OF MONTREAL Satanic Twins
22 THERMALS The Body, The Blood, The Machine
23 THE KNIFE Silent Shout
24 TWO TON BOA Parasiticide
25 KASABIAN Empire
26 DIRTY PRETTY THINGS Waterloo To Anywhere
27 HEADLIGHTS Kill Them With Kindness
28 PETE YORN Nightcrawler
29 GOLDENBOY Underneath The Radio
30 JAY BENNETT The Magnificent Defeat
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Assembly Series, 9-20, David Robertson / free Symphony tickets
First ever KWUR Classical post (so please be kind). As part of the WU Assembly Series, David Robertson, the new conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, will be speaking on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Graham Chapel at 4 PM.
http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu/robertson.htm
He is an excellent and very enthusiastic speaker, and a really approachable guy. So if you have time that afternoon, I highly recommend checking him out.
In addition, Wash U has some tickets to give away for the "Sound Check Preview" concert of the SLSO's opening weekend, on Thursday, Sept. 21:
"WU students: Free Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra tickets are available for a September 21, 2006 performance. Call 935-5994 for additional information."
If you can't get these free tickets, all tickets for that Thursday 9/21 concert are $10, every seat in the house. If you've never been to the Symphony, this is a great intro to them. This is the music on the program:
David Robertson, conductor
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
SMETANA The Bartered Bride Overture
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453
BARTÓK The Wooden Prince (only the second performance ever in St. Louis)
http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu/robertson.htm
He is an excellent and very enthusiastic speaker, and a really approachable guy. So if you have time that afternoon, I highly recommend checking him out.
In addition, Wash U has some tickets to give away for the "Sound Check Preview" concert of the SLSO's opening weekend, on Thursday, Sept. 21:
"WU students: Free Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra tickets are available for a September 21, 2006 performance. Call 935-5994 for additional information."
If you can't get these free tickets, all tickets for that Thursday 9/21 concert are $10, every seat in the house. If you've never been to the Symphony, this is a great intro to them. This is the music on the program:
David Robertson, conductor
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
SMETANA The Bartered Bride Overture
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453
BARTÓK The Wooden Prince (only the second performance ever in St. Louis)
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Touch and Go's 25th...
This year Chicago based indie label Touch and Go will be celebrating 25 years. While not as old as KWUR, this label has been around for a while for an alternative independent label. They are the real deal and KWUR has gladly been broadcasting their output since their birth.To celebrate their age and liveliness they are having a 2.5 day music festival in Chicago from September 8th-10th. This isn't just any music festival however: a bunch of awesome kick-ass bands from the past have agreed to reunite on this one-time special occasion. Bands that have long gone on "indefinite hiatus" (such as Big Black, Man or Astro-Man?, Scratch Acid, and, Girls Against Boys) will be at the event giving us all one last chance to check them out. I'm particularly excited about Man or Astro-Man? since a personal friend of the band once told me they would never play together again. This may be your last chance...make the short trip to Chicago in September.
Advance 3-day tickets can be bought for $35 bucks starting August 18.
Check out the lineup...
-Klax
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
I Gave into The Buddha Machine
So I finally did it. I bought a Buddha Machine.If you haven't heard yet the Buddha Machine is a hardware loop machine.
Basically FM3, an electronic group from China, programmed 9 of thier loops into a little handheld radio looking device (colors shipped randomly--awesome). You can select one of the 9 loops and play it through the attached lo-fi speaker or through the headphone jack. The droning loop will play continously until you turn the device off.
When I first heard of this thing and I figured it was just another hipster fad. After I read glowing reviews of the device time after time I went on ahead and threw down the $23 bucks this thing costed.
Apparently "Alan Bishop bought twenty-four of these on sight and Brian Eno bought eight". Add Klax to the list. It sounded like an interesting venture into mass produced experimental music. Plus there is nothing like having a take anywhere droning loop machine.
Full review to come when it arrives on Friday. Can't wait to see what color I get.
A new KWUR backup (droning) auto-rotation possible...
-Klax
Thursday, July 13, 2006
CAVEFEST!
From Mr. Jazzface...
"I just opened up my local newspaper and read about this weekend's "CAVEFEST", which is a festival held in a local saltpetre cave with country rock and "light metal" bands, including Facd Forward, Misfire, and Adam Tanas. Who is Adam Tanas? He is proudly a former member of the seminal Krokus! The festival also includes a bikini contest, which will probably be the best part of the weekend..."
That's right folks, former member of Krokus. At KWUR we love Krokus. For those of you who are ignorant, check it out.
Thanks for the news Mr. Jazzface.
Note: I've never actually listened to Krokus, but I like the idea of Krokus.
-Klax
"I just opened up my local newspaper and read about this weekend's "CAVEFEST", which is a festival held in a local saltpetre cave with country rock and "light metal" bands, including Facd Forward, Misfire, and Adam Tanas. Who is Adam Tanas? He is proudly a former member of the seminal Krokus! The festival also includes a bikini contest, which will probably be the best part of the weekend..."
That's right folks, former member of Krokus. At KWUR we love Krokus. For those of you who are ignorant, check it out.
Thanks for the news Mr. Jazzface.
Note: I've never actually listened to Krokus, but I like the idea of Krokus.
-Klax
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Syd Barrett Is Dead
The best member of Pink Floyd is dead.
I hate when pitchforkmedia (of all places) delivers this news to me.
I hate when pitchforkmedia (of all places) delivers this news to me.
Sunday, July 9, 2006
KWUR Welcomes Free Speech Radio News
KWUR is now one of 94 stations world wide to broadcast Free Speech Radio News. We are the only station in Missouri that currently broadcasts it. You can check it out every weekday (Mon-Fri) here on KWUR at 6pm CST.
"Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) is an independent media organization that produces a 30-minute Monday-Friday radio newscast. With a network of over 200 freelance reporters around the world, FSRN serves over 100 radio stations and a growing cadre of Internet outlets. FSRN brings the world to the U.S. in first-hand reportage of every continent by independent reporters: coverage that CNN can only dream of. Our diversity of voices, in ethnicity, age and class, outstrips every other news organization and we’re proud to be a progressive daily news outlet for those without Internet access. "
[UPDATE: We will begin broadcasting FSRN once our Auto-Rotation program is updated. Should be pretty soon.]
-Klax
"Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) is an independent media organization that produces a 30-minute Monday-Friday radio newscast. With a network of over 200 freelance reporters around the world, FSRN serves over 100 radio stations and a growing cadre of Internet outlets. FSRN brings the world to the U.S. in first-hand reportage of every continent by independent reporters: coverage that CNN can only dream of. Our diversity of voices, in ethnicity, age and class, outstrips every other news organization and we’re proud to be a progressive daily news outlet for those without Internet access. "
[UPDATE: We will begin broadcasting FSRN once our Auto-Rotation program is updated. Should be pretty soon.]
-Klax
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Best (Wave) Albums of 2006 Thus Far
So it's July 5th which means that we have 178 days remaing in the year. That means we are more then halfway done with the year. I thought I would give a little summary of the best albums of the first half of 2006. In no particular order...
- The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
- The Lips finally returned after sucking all they could off of Yoshimi. Luckily they didn't let anyone down and once again created an album with a (relatively) different sound that was still uniquely The Flaming Lips.
- Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
- The always respected Sonic Youth also finally returned releasing their 15th album (depending on how you count). They went back to the classic 4 piece (Moore, Ranaldo, Gordon, Shelley) lineup after loosing member Jim O'rourke. That's OK though since this album might be one of their best ever.
- The Black Angels - Passover