Sub Pop Singles Club: October

Everyone's favorite Seattle institution, Sub Pop records, re-established their well known singles club to celebrate their 20 anniversary. For $75, 1500 lucky subscribers will receive a special 7inch 45rpm record every month for one year. I'll review them all right here on the KWUR Blog.

The October 7inch was, in fact, not orange, but "McDonald's yellow." The single was by hip L.A. all-girl punk band, Mika Miko.

"Sex Jazz (extended)" b/w "Bastard in Love"

This single is definitely my favorite of the three issued thus far. I liked it so much that I went and got 666, the band's single/live compilation.

The band is from the all-ages DIY scene revolving around The Smell, the same venue pictured on the cover of No Age's Weirdo Rippers.

The result is some raw lo-fi girl punk, and in my book, that can't be beat. "Sex Jazz" is a dancy punk song from the outset. It starts with some pounding bass drum, thick bass, and some saxophone. Throw in some Gang of Four guitarwork and dry female vocals and you have a party.

"Bastard in Love" is not nearly as good, mostly a forgettable not-nearly-as-danceable song. However, this isn't necessarily typical of the band, and 666 is certainly worth checking out for a full dose of hip L.A. all-girl noise-punk.

What will Sub Pop have in store for November?

-Klax

The Saturday Evening Post-up (11/8/08)

Hot damn, I nearly forgot - it's Saturday, and I am required by law to post reviews and charts. So here, have some new release reviews in celebration of our newly elected President:

Upchuck - "Gone But Not Forgotten"

Compilation of work by Seattle punk and glam rocker Charles Gerra, whose projects with the most attention were The Fags and Such in NYC. The first three tracks are from his early Seattle glam outfits, the others are almost exclusively Such. Chuck died of AIDS in 1990, but has been cited as a major influence on the Pacific Northwest's music scene that would explode in the late 80's/early 90's.

Play: 4 (industrial, dark), 7 (like some Roxy Music), 1 (late 70's upbeat punkish glam)

Sebastien Grainger - "Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains"



A super-sexy first release for the lone stallion Mr. Grainger. All the seduction of DFA 1979 is poured like chocolate sauce on this album. Good music for a long drive home or a hipster dance party - only, with dancing. Beat-heavy tracks like 1, 2, 3, or 12 are grounded by rock n roll sweetness in tracks 8 and 11 to create a balance that is just right. I really enjoy this album - but I think deep down inside, Grainger misses DFA 1979. I know I do, and it shows in this CD. 9/10

RIYL: Death From Above 1979, The Killers
Play: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

Grampall Jookabox - "Ropechain"

With "Ropechain," Grampall Jookabox leads us into a world of taut paranoia, guiding the way with anxious growls and yelps, far-out lyrics and bizarre, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation. Primal drum beats pound behind honest-to-God freaked-out experimental sound collision. Yet, for as weird as it is, the album is equally funny and substantive - and even accessible.

RIYL: Captain Beefhart, Animal Collective, TV on the Radio (on acid)
Play: 2 (weird but catchy as hell - play if yr feeling hyper and angsty), 3 (vocals on whippits, weird as shit), 4 (chanty vocals, shanty beats, hypnotic), 5 (funky? funny lyrics, gritty), 6 (love the lyrics, tense, good bass line), 11 (title says it all - "I'm Absolutely Freaked Out")

The Streets - "everything is borrowed"

Fourth album by the British hip-hopper. Good, rich beats on most songs, but a few are just fucking annoying. Avoid the annoying ones and you'll be fine. Not the greatest rap I've ever heard, but it's got some moments. 6.5/10

Play 1, 3, 4 (faster rapping), 6, 7, 9

Juana Molina - "Un Dia"

Sounds like folktronica, loopy acoustic stuff. Used to be a comedic actress in South America (from Argentina). Following a military coup in Argentina in 1976, Molina's family fled to Paris and lived in exile there for 6 years.

RIYL: Mia Doi Todd, Hanne Hukkelberg
Play 1, 5, 6

and charts in celebration of us playing music:

Rank Artist Recording Label User Supplied Version
1 JAY REATARD Matador Singles '08 Matador
2 KINGS OF LEON Only By The Night RCA
3 CRYSTAL STILTS Alight Of Night Slumberland
4 NIGHTWATCHMAN The Fabled City Epic
5 SLEEPING IN THE AVIARY Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel Science Of Sound
6 GANG GANG DANCE Saint Dympha The Social Registry
7 ZYDEPUNKS Finisterre Nine Mile
8 MENAHAN STREET BAND Make The Road By Walking Daptone-Dunham
9 ANE BRUN Changing Of The Seasons Cheap Lullaby
10 LITTLE ONES Morning Tide Chop Shop
11 PARTS AND LABOR Receivers Jagjaguwar
12 NOAH AND THE WHALE Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down Cherry Tree-Interscope
13 RA RA RIOT The Rhumb Line Barsuk
14 JENNY LEWIS Acid Tongue Warner Bros.
15 TV ON THE RADIO Dear Science Interscope
16 THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES Tail Swallower And Dove Suicide Squeeze
17 PARENTHETICAL GIRLS Entanglements Tomlab
18 XX TEENS Welcome To Goon Island Mute
19 WOMEN Women Jagjaguwar
20 LEOPOLD AND HIS FICTION Ain't No Surprise Self-Released
21 BRIAN WILSON That Lucky Old Sun Capitol
22 BROKEN WEST Now Or Heaven Merge
23 ARMY NAVY Army Navy The Fever Zone
24 HAWNAY TROOF Islands Of Ayle Retard Disco
25 LYKKE LI Youth Novels LL
26 RACHAEL YAMAGATA Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart Warner Bros.
27 LITTLE TEETH Child Bearing Man Absolutely Kosher
28 ALL GIRL SUMMER FUN BAND Looking Into It AGSFB
29 PROUD SIMON Night Of Criminals Self-Released
30 SUBMARINES Honeysuckle Weeks Nettwerk

KWUR HUSTLE WEEK: THE 11TH TO THE 18TH

(image courtesy of jamphat.com/rap)
Hey folks,

From November 11^th to the 18^th, KWUR is conducting its fundraising drive, Hustle Week. KWUR is run on a shoestring budget that has been dramatically cut twice by Student Union in the past two years, and there is no guarantee that the budget will not be cut again in the future. In the past, fundraising dollars have been spent on essentials like shelves for the 45s and promotional schedule posters. If enough money is raised, it can be used to help pay for an improved KWUR Week, a website redesign, or even music acquisitions. If you care about KWUR and appreciate the quality alternative programming KWUR provides every day and you've got five or ten dollars to spare, we'd really appreciate any help you can give us.

If you'd like to donate, you can:

1) Stop by the station whenever there's a show and donate directly to a DJ

2) Call in a pledge at (314) 935-5952 and mail a check made out to KWUR and your gift preference to:

KWUR 90.3 FM

Campus Box 1205

One Brookings Dr.

St. Louis, MO 63130

For a ten dollar donation, you can get five random CDs, lovingly wrapped and decorated by KWUR D.J.s. For a twenty dollar donation, you can get a t-shirt, while supplies last. For a thirty dollar donation, you can get a KWUR totebag. For a hundred dollars, you can get part of the station (any part you'd like, while supplies last) named after you for a year. For two hundred dollars, you can get your own sycophantic this-is-your-life tribute show. All gifts are tax-deductible.

For those of you in the St. Louis area, we're having a couple of special events:

Wednesday the 12th, 12pm - 6pm: Live broadcast from the Danforth University Center!

Thursday the 13th, 12pm - 3pm: Merch/bake sale at the Danforth University Center!

Friday the 14th, 5pm: KWUR DOES KLASSICAL! Meet at the station to head over to Powell Symphony Hall and hear the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra perform Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring!

Saturday the 15th (really Friday night), 12am - 6am: All night marathon broadcast! We'll be playing some weird and wacky shit, KWUR's greatest hits. Stop by the station and say hey, and heck, maybe we'll put you on the air!

KWUR Hustle Week. Wait till we get our money right.

Women-- Women

FANTASTIC.
PLAY IT.

Really great early-90s style lo-fi, with lots of psychelic 60s pop influence on some tracks
CZECH OUT:

1-- Mostly just an intro segue into 2, very short.
2--good spaced-out feel, i like the layered guitar parts
4--******PLAY PLAY PLAY******** bells, guitars, fantastic vocal melody, very 60s, play play play!
5--beautiful instrumental, "Sag Harbor Bridge," arpeggiated guitar, very evocative
6--great pop song, very Zombies/Kinks/60s melody and chord progression, i like it a lot. pretty short though.
7--The start of the noisy part of the album. almost post-hardcore. tense guitar, punky bass.
8-- mellow pop interlude, nothing special
9-- dissonant guitars and chanting, ebbs and flows, builds and releases
10-- very noisy jam.

Play it, please. It is wonderful, it has so many different styles while remaining coherent and recognizable as one piece. CZECH IT OUT!

Broadcast Law on Election Day

Today, as Americans head to the polls to vote, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in FCC vs. Fox Television Stations. Up for review is whether or not the FCC can fine broadcasters for "fleeting expletives," the non-repeated use of words deemed indecent or basically dropping a few of George Carlin's Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television. In the past few years, the FCC has been increasingly capricious in its regulation of fleeting expletives, suddenly deciding to step up to the plate and dole out some fines while in other cases not fining by claiming that the expletive use has artistic merit. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the FCC because of this arbitrariness.

Are we likely to see a sweeping decision today from the Roberts Court, greatly expanding what we can say over the air without getting in trouble with the FCC? I wouldn't be surprised if it went either way. Several former FCC chairs have submitted amicus briefs on behalf of the broadcasters, and the recent policy shift on fleeting expletives has been quite puritanical. Yet ideologically, the Court has shifted to the right. So who knows?

Please keep in mind, as you go to the polls today, that our next President will be appointing several Justices to the Court, unless a Ponce de Leon emerges and discovers the Fountain of Youth, and our highest court could very likely be hearing several more broadcast law cases of interest to KWUR and our audience.

Album Review: School Of Seven Bells, "Alpinisms"

Lush vocal harmonies over glitchy, fuzzy electronic rhythms. Spacey, atmospheric stuff: think Air, Psapp, M83 or a more harmonious Bjork. When the vocal harmonies build, this record goes to some special places. Really fantastic!

Play all, esp: 1+++(stacatto), 3+++(pretty vocals), 5, 9, 10++

The Saturday Evening Post-up (11/1/08)

Hope everyone had a spOoOoOoky Halloween. DJ reviews of what we're spinning:

These Arms Are Snakes - "Tail Swallower And Dove"

Intriguing post-hardcore that fulfills expectations set by their previous releases - but full of surprises in every track. Intense and moody, but not over-the-top, cliche, or monotonous in any way. Solid drums establish dance-y beats that are fun yet not pop-happy or sugary. This CD is like a ten course meal - so good, you want to eat it over and over. Track 2 is awesome, despite disclaim. Makes me wish my arms were snakes.

RIYL: The Blood Brothers, Frodus, Minus The Bears
Play: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9

Kings Of Leon - "Only By The Night"

"Only By The Night" starts off as a fairly solid album, with some nice and slow but catchy songs. Sounds like mellow bluesy rock, starts off good but fails to hold my attention after the first few songs. The vocals can get a little too whiny.

Play: 1, 2

Jay Reatard - "Matador Singles '08"

Garage-synth-punk done right. Goes from exciting and upbeat (1-6) to dark 'n moody (7-9) to chill and cool (11, 12); but manages to stay awesome and fit together. Reatard is a freakin' genius. You're weird if you don't like the loopy beats and the DIY/garage echo of this album. It's so awesome. A perfect mix of everything synth-punk should be.

RIYL: Fucked Up, The Ponys
Play: all, but especially 3, 7, 8, 9

Gang Gang Dance - "Saint Dymphna"

NYC sample-pounders traipse their way through labrynthine synth layers on an adventure through eclectic rhythms of the world. Glimpses of reggaeton, West African, and Indian (tabla) appear, but all under one dancey, dreamy hot tin roof. This group has definitely made a move toward appeal & accessibility, in tune with Black Dice or Animal Collective. "Noise" is rare here, but catchy, audible guitar lines guide delay-drenched femme vox that fluctuate between XXY and 2nd grade squeals.

Play: 4 (slower, thickest), 6 (RIYL Tortoise + amphetamines), 8 (dancey, but sequencing is deliberately off = dreamy), 10 (standout, heavy on vocals, rock sensibility)

Crystal Stilts - "Alight Of Night"

This album is a fascinating combo of surf rock, western and no-wave, filtered through a fuzzy psychedelic filter. That is to say, the vocals are detached and remote, the guitars at once choppy and lilting, and the drumming muted. Think a Joy Division approach (circa Unknown Pleasures) to garage-surf, and you're getting there. Yet, not once does it sound derivative - everything clicks beautifully. Strange and wonderful, dreamy and detached - play the hell out of this.

RIYL: early Jesus + Mary Chain, Velvet Underground, Raveonettes, Sunset Rubdown
Play: 1 (folksy but tense, great bass line), 2 (muted surf-y guitar), 3 (western-esque), 5 (a little peppier), 6 (reminds me of a lost Joy Division single, standout), 10 (ambling psychedelia)

Charty goodness:

Rank Artist Recording Label User
1 KINGS OF LEON Only By The Night RCA
2 SHY CHILD Noise Won't Stop Kill Rock Stars
3 BEN FOLDS Way To Normal Epic
4 ANE BRUN Changing Of The Seasons Cheap Lullaby
5 RA RA RIOT The Rhumb Line Barsuk
6 THESE UNITED STATES Crimes United Interests
7 MENAHAN STREET BAND Make The Road By Walking Dunham-Daptone
8 TOBACCO Fucked Up Friends Anticon
9 BLACK KEYS Attack And Release Nonesuch
10 SUBMARINES Honeysuckle Weeks Nettwerk
11 PORTUGAL. THE MAN Censored Colors Approaching AIRballoons-Equal Vision
12 PROCLIVITIES Handguns And Dancing Shoes Self-Released
13 HOSPITAL SHIPS Oh, Ramona Graveface
14 AVETT BROTHERS The Second Gleam Ramseur
15 LEOPOLD AND HIS FICTION Ain't No Surprise Self-Released
16 RACHAEL YAMAGATA Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart Warner Bros.
17 OASIS Dig Out Your Soul Big Brother-Reprise
18 WOMEN Women Jagjaguwar
19 ALL GIRL SUMMER FUN BAND Looking Into It AGSFB
20 XX TEENS Welcome To Goon Island Mute
21 STARFUCKER Starfucker Badman
22 HOTEL LIGHTS Firecracker People Bar/None
23 NEW YEAR The New Year Touch And Go
24 BROKEN WEST Now Or Heaven Merge
25 LENKA Lenka Epic
26 MINIATURE TIGERS Tell It To The Volcano Modern Art
27 JEALOUS GIRLFRIENDS Jealous Girlfriends Good Fences-Last Gang
28 ETTES Look At Life Again Soon Take Root
29 JENNY LEWIS Acid Tongue Warner Bros.
30 OF MONTREAL Skeletal Lamping Polyvinyl