A face made for radio and a voice made for newspapers

I have the good fortune of living a half a mile away from the Record Exchange on Hampton Ave, which is an old library building converted to store and sell rows and rows of vinyl. I was in there today, getting lost in their 45 loft*, which is pretty close to heaven for me. You know on "Duck Tales" where Scrooge McDuck would go swimming in his vault of gold coins? It's like that, only replace "swimming" with "browsing" and "gold coins" with "45s of the Commodores 'Lady' (You Bring Me Up When I'm Down)".

Anyway, as I'm ready to check out, a long-haired clerk asked me if I used to work for KSLU. I said yes, that I used to have a show 3 or 4 years ago (Sound Salvation, motherfuckers!). I asked if he went to SLU; he didn't, but he recognized my voice from listening to KSLU over the internet. I'm not entirely sure that the station's web radio worked back then, and even if we did, why in the hell would anyone listen to my show unless I begged them to? Furthermore, I tried to talk as little as possible on that show. Furtherfurthermore, is my voice that recognizable that, four years hence, some dude recognizes it while I'm buying AM Gold 7-inches? Was I the Rick Dees of KSLU and didn't know it?

Obviously more questions than answers at this point. I haven't ruled out the possibility that someone put him up to this, but who?

*Purchased recently:
Looking Glass - "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)"
Dusty Springfield - "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"
Crowded House - "Private Universe" (colored vinyl)
Lulu - "To Sir With Love"
King Harvest - "Dancing in the Moonlight"
Chicago - "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"
Mike + The Mechanics - "All I Need Is a Miracle"

A Dues-Paying Member of the Nite Club

I just found out today that I am the new Clubs Editor for the Riverfront Times. I'll tell you more about it when I actually get a grasp of what that means, but for the time being it involves going to and writing about live music venues and changing my ringtone to "In Da Club."

Things

Hi! Back in St. Louis, back in school, back to the blog, however briefly. I've updated some clips on the right and hope to be writing more often. In the meantime, check out our our lady in Madrid.

He don't know Dick

In today's Times, A.O. Scott invokes the name of former Missouri congressman Dick Gephardt (and name I haven't thought of in a long time) in the review of Miami Vice:

"Mr. Farrell, however, is a movie star only in the sense that Richard Gephardt is president of the United States. He’s always looked good on paper, and he’s picked up some endorsements along the way — from Oliver Stone, Joel Schumacher and Terrence Malick, among others — but somehow it has never quite happened. Here he squints and twitches to suggest emotion and slackens his lower lip to suggest lust, concern or deep contemplation, but despite his good looks he lacks that mysterious quality we call presence."

MattyFred, isn't there a framed picture of you shaking Dick's hand?

Why I'll miss Chicago*:

The ridiculous musical gear that shows up on this city's Craigslist. Yesterday's browsing yielded four different pieces that I've coveted at different points in my life. One guy was cleaning out his studio and was selling a Yamaha CS-15 analog synth and a super rare Maestro Universal Synthesizer System, a unit that sells for over $1200 when they pop up on eBay. Later, a seller offered a Yamaha CS-50 synth (pictured), and another listed a Yamaha CP-25 electric piano (sensing a theme here? I've loved Yamaha keyboards ever since I bought my YC-25D combo organ in 2000. They're not as flashy a brand as Moog or Vox, but they're built like tanks).

I passed on all of these - I've got about two weeks left until I descend into poor grad student status, so blowing money on outdated keyboards is unwise. But damn, with enough money I could faithfully recreate Howard Jones' Dream Into Action just through Craigslist!

In a side note, last night I dreamt that I was going to be a TA for a class on the genius of Hal David (Bacharach's songwriting partner). In this dream I was excitedly detailing each nuance of "Walk on By" (that harsh guitar chord on the downbeat! The rolling piano arpeggios in the chorus!) to a rapt classroom. I was a little disappointed to wake up from that one.

*See also: Pequod's Pizza, Dusty Groove, bike lanes, the lakefront, mass transit, culture.

Swamp Boogie Badass

My interview with Quintron and Miss Pussycat went up today (second item). Bummed I'll be missing the show in StL (no Chicago show this tour), as I still haven't seen them play. Their Spellcaster Lodge will reopen in September, in their same 9th Ward neighborhood, so maybe I'll get to see them in their element.

Watch out Gerber strained squash, she'll chew you up

How to be a good uncle, Part 1: Create novelty bibs at trendy iron-on stores.
Celia Frances demonstrates:


















I'm just glad that she didn't get any food on that nice bib; it looks like she's saving some for later.

Remember the day when I heard you say "we can make it if we try"?

I'm always wary of festival shows - not just for the suspect layout (not ideal for listening or watching a performance) but for the possible pandering of the setlist. The Costello/Toussaint show at Ravinia last night wasn't a festival per se, but the set up ($65 auditorium seats, $15 lawn seats) invites a more casual audience. For most it was a picnic with friends with a few recognizable tunes in the distance. I only caught a few other people in our area mouthing the words or getting visibly into the music, which was weird. It's Elvis Goddamned Costello - put your sangria down and pay attention.

For all that, it turned out to be a great evening, if a bit chilly (thanks for the two weeks of summer, Chicago). My fears of pandering were seemingly confirmed when the band, unannounced aside from a hip-hop/gospel intro track, launched into "Peace, Love and Understanding," which is normally saved for later in the set. But after that, it was a perfect mix of songs from River in Reverse (which is his most solid collab to date; listen to bits of it here) and older tunes from both men. Costello knocked me out by dusting off "Tears Before Bedtime," a favorite from Imperial Bedroom and a song I thought I'd never hear live. Toussaint played "A Certain Girl" early in the set, and later on did "Working in a Coal Mine" (no "Mother-in-Law," unfortunately).

One of my favorite aspects of EC is his never-ending scholarhip of all music; however the results turn out (and it's rarely great), his forays into jazz, classical, and ballet show that he never coasts. At his best, he introduces his audience to other artists whose work has been maligned as schmaltz (Bacharach) or ignored by many (Toussaint). I became more aware of Toussaint's work after living in New Orleans, but that was mostly his production work with The Meters and other NOLA funk bands. He wrote the lion's share of River in Reverse (many of them from his songbook, a few written recently with EC), and he's as great a lyricist as he is a producer and arranger.

As an arranger, he reworked a few of Costello's old tunes with new horn charts ("Clown Strike," the one-two punch of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down/High Fidelity,") and the horns never crowded the rest of the sound. The best example of this was "Bedlam," the best song of his from the past 10 (15?) years. Read the lyrics to get an idea; the mix of Biblical allusions and Israel/Palestine references collide into a travelogue into hell. Musically, its closest analogue is "Toyko Storm Warning," the horns' brazen punctuations and Steve Nieve's theremin explosions tore the roof off the sucker.

The show ended (after three encores, including the requisite "Alison," which Krissy said sounded like Disney number) with the newbie "The Sharpest Thorn," a sort of "Auld Lang Syne" for all year round. I'll throw a setlist up here if I can find one.