tUnE-yArDs, Sudan Archives @ El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles

Sudan Archives

The curtains part at El Rey Theatre, and Sudan Archives stands on stage in front of you. She's tall, wearing a James Brown-esque wingsuit, and she has the largest afro you've ever seen in real life. For a few minutes, you're purely entranced by the magic of her presence on stage. She plays a violin and a drum machine, and you've never heard music like this before. It's R&B with conversational lyrics about eating oatmeal for breakfast, until it slips further into a musical mode with which you're unfamiliar.  Her playing style is not influenced by classical music as you know it, but by Northeast African fiddlers.

You're standing close to the front of the stage and dead center, directly beneath a speaker. Unfortunately, the bass is loud enough to shake your body each time it hits. You picture the surface of your drink rippling like in the T. rex movie, but when you look down it is still. This aggressive bass prevents you from fully enjoying the set, but her enthusiasm leaves you with a positive impression.

The pause between sets is the perfect amount of time to take a bathroom break, visit the bar, find a new spot in the pit, and make a friend in the crowd. Then the curtains open again. The bass player is stage left and the drummer stage right. Merrill Garbus stands on a riser in the middle. She's wearing all black with a white rope wrapped loosely around her neck, and socks on her feet for better control of the pedals. There's a white screen behind her to catch triplet shadows of Merrill from the front lights.

tUnE-yArDs

tUnE-yArDs (and you're aware they don't always stylize it like that, but you like the way it looks) mostly play songs from their latest release, 2018's I can feel you creep into my private life and their breakout 2011 LP w h o k i l l. Sometimes the songs bleed into each other like a DJ set, but most times there are pauses in between while Merrill tunes her ukelele or twists knobs on her pedal board. This doesn't strike you as boring or unprofessional, because you know you are watching the performance before you hear it. When people talk about live vocal looping, Andrew Bird is usually the first name to come up, but Merrill Garbus is just as impressive. She sings background vocals unaccompanied into one of her microphones, and it isn't until it all comes together that you recognize the song. They play all your old and new favorites. The live rhythm section elevates "Es-So" into a hard-hitting stomp.

"What interesting times we live in," says Merrill, "Sometimes I don't know what to say, but I feel like the lyrics speak for themselves. That's not me tooting my own horn, it's just a lot. It's a lot." Her music is often political and cathartic, and the new album is no exception. You listen to her sing about her privilege, her white woman's voice. She encourages you to look at your hands, all the objects in your hands. It is a lot, you think. Sometimes you read the news and feel like you'll have a heart attack. But you're grateful for tUnE-yArDs, and you're grateful that you can talk and dance it out with friends.

A Simpler Sugar - Karate Bikini

St. Louis' own Karate Bikini has just released their second full-length album, A Simpler Sugar, which is currently number two on the KDHX charts. I got to talk to frontman Tim McAvin about the band and the new album. The Karate Bikini's CD Release Show is at Off Broadway on November 15th.

AF: It’s been two years since “Sauce of the Apple Horse.” So what’s new? Any major changes?

Tim McAvin: A lot has changed. The newest thing being A Simpler Sugar. We're all really excited about it. There's also our upcoming show at Off Broadway, Nov 15th. Woo hoo!!. Letter to Memphis and Soma Jet Set will be playing with us. Musically there have been some changes as well. A big change is we added Adam Frick on French horn. He's been a great addition to our sound. Besides the coolness of it being a French Horn, and the instruments beautiful tone, having two horns allows us to get into a different way of thinking about arrangements. Adam and Michelle are really good at coming up with parts. 

I also took over bass duties when Mike Martin was taking a break for school. I love it! I feel like playing bass has really done great things for my personal musicianship. I also like the position of singer and bass player. Strategically, It gives me a lot of control over focusing the melodies and harmonies. 

Another pretty big change is that we've been introducing a lot of slower tempo acoustic songs. I've always loved all kinds of music including folk and country and jazz, but I didn't bring them to Karate Bikini until relatively recently. Not sure why. I just didn't. I'm glad I am now. We're having a great time working on them and they give our shows way more dynamics. 

AF: What were the biggest influences on this album?

TM: I think the title of the album, A Simpler Sugar, sort of gets at that. I think in general this album is more accessible than the last. We tried to focus on simplifying some things and organizing things better. One of the things about Karate Bikini is that there is no shortage of ideas, and we can all play our instruments pretty well. But sometimes that meant everybody wailing and every idea coming at you all at the same time. We're getting better at keeping that down, picking our spots, and highlighting our better ideas. I think that is the biggest influence on this album. 

AF: Karate Bikini has released four music videos in the past year, and I’ve heard there are more on the way. What’s that experience been like?

TM: Making the videos is fun. For me, there's a bit of surrender involved. For our video Pen A Letter, I was told to get right up in the camera and sing the song. I felt intimidated by that, but just told myself to surrender and do it. Just do it. There are a bunch of different ideas for videos coming up. It's fun. I'm looking forward to that. We don't have lots of money, so we're doing most things sort of on the cheap, and it's a blast. It's also another way for folks to hear the songs. 

AF: This is the third Karate Bikini release and the first one with no Asian girl on the cover. What's up with that?

TM: Yeah... that... Well, we had some Asian Girl ideas and just decided to do something different. There's something campy about Karate Bikini, and that's (at least in my head) sort of what the Asian girl was about for me. But the truth is, our music is becoming less and less campy, so the pictures drawn by my kids kind of get at the idea of simplicity, and they look good, so we went with it. 

AF: So what's next for the band?

TM: A 16 track CD, more videos and shows. There are some bands in town I'd like to play with,  and there are a few new places I'd like to play. One thing I would like to see happen for us this coming summer is to get out of town a little. 

Beck, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger @ The Pageant

Photo courtesy of John Ottenlips

After a six year album gap, Beck is on tour again. I was fortunate enough to experience the show at The Pageant in St. Louis this past wednesday.

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is the creative outlet of Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. I felt that the opening band sounded a lot like their name. Their songs were psychedelic and heavy, mystical and fierce. Lennon was an unexpectedly good soloist.

Beck and his six-piece band opened with "Devil's Haircut," dancing and smiling around the stage like a little kid who gets to play rockstar. They toured the entire Beck catalog with a stunning twenty-four song set.

It was obvious that the entire band was having even more fun than the audience. I think that's one of the key elements of a great concert. Playing the harmonica on "One Foot in the Grave" to the beat of the audience clapping is another one. And "E-Pro," which had the pit thrashing and pumping their arms, ended with the band members murdering each other while Beck put up crime scene tape across the stage.

The defining characteristic of a Beck concert is the way the genre seems to change seamlessly. The show went from hip hop ("Novacane") to folk ("One Foot in the Grave,") dance ("New Pollution,") country ("Blue Moon,") psychedelic ("Chemtrails,") punk ("Minus,") and even weird soul ("Debra.") Beck shows that good song-writing transcends genre.

WHY? @ The Demo

Phone-quality photo courtesy of Stefanie Cook

Three friends and I drove four hours from Iowa City to spend one night in the St. Louis area and see the band WHY?. Was it ridiculous? Illogical? Awesome? Yes to all.

Google maps guided us from my home in St. Charles to the Grove neighborhood downtown. The show was at The Demo, a small club that usually hosts local shows. On this night, it was packed with music fans, approximately half of whom had septum piercings. The opener was a well-known local act called Bo and the Locomotive. They were missing something like 40% of their band. On this night, the group consisted of two guitars, bass, and vocals. The guitar-fest made their songs sound similar, but they had promise. I'd like to see them as a full band.

WHY? is currently a six member group. A rhodes piano, bass, glockenspiel, sometimes guitar, and two drummers with various percussion instruments including xylophone. Then there's Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf, the rapper at the core of the group. On stage, the combination of his curly hair and mustache empowers a weird and alluring swagger. His lyrics are simultaneously personal (in one of the many places you're not, I am / hiding from my friends in the bathroom at Thrift Town to write this tune down) and abstract (good god, what the hell, what the fuck / a white dove on the hood of a two-ton truck.) While the band provides angelic background vocals, everything unifies into a groovy, rhythmic chaos.

The show was strange and danceable. Despite having to pause for a technical problem half-way through the set, the audience did not waver and even encouraged a brief encore. Anyone willing to stick around had the opportunity to meet the band members hanging out in the venue and working the merch table. They were all friendly and grateful for the praise.

Here's their music video for "Strawberries."

Star Trek Into Darkness

I want to begin by saying that I am not a Trekkie. I've seen a handful of episodes from the original series, the 2009 movie, and this one. That's the background I come from as I write this review.

In Star Trek Into Darkness, the crew of the Enterprise searches for a terrorist named John Harrison, who is responsible for blowing up an archive building and assassinating several important Starfleet officers. I don't think I can say more about the plot without giving away too much.

The relationship between Kirk and Spock is interesting and often insightful. They are polarized by their respective beliefs in chaos and order, but they are best friends. This relationship provides many of the philosophical dilemmas of the film as well as most of the witty humor. The struggle between chaos and order was also a major theme in director J. J. Abrams' show Lost.

Evil villains are often stock characters. Common motivations include revenge, insanity, and power. This doesn't happen in Star Trek Into Darkness. The villain is morally ambiguous. I found myself hoping he would win certain fights. Benedict Cumberbatch is so good at being evil that it makes me question his motives as Sherlock in the BBC show of the same name.

It's easy to abuse CGI technology, but I don't think that happens in this movie. The ships, buildings, and planets have a balance of whimsy and realism that makes them beautiful and believable at the same time.

I think this is an excellent science fiction movie for anybody. It requires hardly any prior knowledge of the franchise to enjoy. I hope Star Trek Into Darkness appeals to dedicated Trekkies as well.

Iron Man 3

2008 gave us Iron Man and The Dark Knight, the first in a line of really great superhero movies. They were game changers. So was last year's The Avengers, directed by the magnificent Joss Whedon. It was the first team superhero movie and, amazingly, it didn't feel like it was spread too thin. Iron Man 3 is another solid superhero movie, but it's not going to change the industry.

In Tony Stark's latest adventure, he fights a global terrorist from his past who possesses the technology to rewrite genetic code, giving people the ability to regenerate (and sometimes shoot fire from their mouths!).

The greatest part about this movie is that it contains the secret to all Marvel characters: a human flaw. Iron Man's weakness isn't a space rock or fire; it's anxiety attacks. How awesomely human is that? He's so worried about protecting his girlfriend that it causes him physical pain and often puts him in danger.

Robert Downey Jr. really was born to play this role. I can't imagine anyone else as Tony Stark.

I can promise you that Iron Man 3 has everything you want in an Iron Man movie. Freaking cool suits? Yes. Snappy one-liners? Yes. Epic villains? Way yes. If you like superhero movies at all, you'll probably like Iron Man 3, but don't expect it to change your life.

The Great Gatsby

Much has been written about The Great Gatsby, which many consider to be "the great American novel." It's a fantastic book and that is why I'm not going to speak much about the film's story: it's already been covered by everyone else.

The most recent adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby, contains all of the novel's major themes. It is a faithful adaptation except for the context in which Nick Carraway narrates it. In the novel, he is merely telling the story to tell the story. In this movie, he is in a sanitarium telling the story to his doctor. Apparently he becomes an alcoholic after the events of the novel. This major detail shifted unnecessary focus onto Nick and could easily have been left out.

Leonardo DiCaprio is superb as Gatsby, especially during the high-tension scene in the rented parlor room. Tobey Maguire's performance could have been better, but it's not distracting.

The greatest thing about this film is that it brings the novel into a new generation. Gatsby's parties are not only extravagant and fancy, but youthfully wild and chaotic. The car chases are amped up with a bit of CGI that adds some excitement to a rather dialogue heavy story. These details make the film more appealing to a younger audience and will hopefully introduce them to one of the greatest pieces of American literature.

The soundtrack, which is modern and not period, is surprisingly appropriate and makes the parties feel cool and dangerous. It will undoubtedly become known as one of the best soundtracks of 2013.

Besides the added details about Nick, I don't have any problems with this movie. If I'm not excited, it's because it's just not the novel.

Warm Bodies

Producer 1: Man, teenagers really love these vampire romance movies.
Producer 2: I know. Know what else they love? Zombies.
Producer 1: Yeah. What about a zombie romance?
Producer 2: I like it!

And so, with a little money from BMW and Corona Extra, Warm Bodies was created. Two young lovers are forbidden from being together ala Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And if that wasn't obvious enough for the audience, their names are R and Julie, and there's a balcony scene.

I don't think zombie movies need excessive gore to be good, but I'd like to see a little flesh. Colored contacts and mascara do not a zombie make. And what about all those scars on their faces? They must have had those before they got infected, because wounds don't heal on dead people. When the zombies first experience love, their hearts glow. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure the human heart is not located directly in the center of one's chest.

In this film's universe, I can accept the fact that a zombie learns simple words from spending time with this girl. But that doesn't explain how his zombie-friend, who's hasn't met the girl, learns complete English phrases. At one point, a soldier being stalked by a zombie suddenly forgets how to operate his weapon. No matter how hard I try, I can't think of a plausible way in which these scenarios make sense.

If you're going to make a teen romance with a supernatural creature of any kind, don't hire a lead actress who looks just like Kristen Stewart of Twilight. If you're going to make a movie marketed for teens, don't have them casually drink beer. If you're going to make a comedy, make sure it's actually funny. And if you're going to make a zombie movie, let us see a little blood.

Argo

When a film begins with the words 'based on a true story,' we're  drawn even more into the drama that unfolds. Argo is the true story of six Americans trapped in Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis.  The CIA plans to get them home by giving them fake identities as filmmakers scouting locations for a science-fiction film.

The film's story is fantastically absurd, tense, and genuine. Like fellow Best Picture nominee, Zero Dark Thirty, the protagonist is one of this country's unsung heroes. And honestly, it's not super-patriotic. The hero, Tony Mendez, is not motivated by his love of America or his hatred of Iran. He just wants to get six innocent people home safely.

The acting and casting is perfect. During the credits, photos of the actors and the people they portrayed are viewed side-by-side. The resemblances are uncanny. Alan Arkin and John Goodman, who portray Hollywood players, are hilarious together and break some of the film's tension.

I enjoyed this film because it was about the power of words. My favorite scene was when an American diplomat (pretending to be a filmmaker) tells a group of young Iranian guards the plot of his fake sci-fi movie. The film isn't even real, but he tells the story like he believes in it. Because, really, that's what film is: believing strongly in something that you know isn't real.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Every once in awhile there comes an independent film that is completely stunning. They remind people that good movies can be made without stars. Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of those films. It is set in a place called The Bathtub, south of the levee in Louisiana. The residents of The Bathtub are poor, happy, and strong.

Hushpuppy, a young girl who lives with her father, is an incredibly strong character played by the prodigal Quvenzhané Wallis. As her home is lost, she ponders the universe and fights to keep her father and herself safe. Her father, played by Dwight Henry, is aggressive, but does everything to insure Hushpuppy's safety.

This film is filled with images of beautiful destruction. Even covered with detritus, the Louisiana landscape is still beautiful. Not pretty, but beautiful.

This film is inspirational on a few levels. Hushpuppy inspires me to do whatever it takes to protect the things that matter. Quvenzhané Wallis is inspiring as a young actress that is more believable than some Hollywood stars (please, God, don't let show business ruin her life). The film itself is an inspiration to all amateur filmmakers.

This film is about what it takes to survive in this world. As humans, that's something we all must do, and that makes Beasts of the Southern Wild universally appealing.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is another film nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars. It tells the story of a young Indian boy whose ship sinks on his way to Canada. It's a survival story unlike any I've seen before. Most survival movies emphasize how a desperate situation can change a person. In Life of Pi, the protagonist is determined to survive without sacrificing his personal values.

Ultimately, this movie is about faith. What better analogy is there for faith than being lost at sea? You're helpless, your fate is uncertain, and you place your trust in what you can't see. The truly beautiful thing about Ang Lee's film is that it's not about a specific religion. As a young boy, Pi tries out several religions and never chooses just one. He is Hindu, Christian, and Muslim all at once. Pi does not see these beliefs as conflicting. "Thank you, Vishnu, for leading me to Christ," he prays.

The casting in this film was particularly spectacular. All three actors that play Pi are believably the same person. The editing is quite inventive, and the computer-generated animals are stunning.

This is one of those films that is so beautiful you could enjoy it without audio. Although it does have strong themes of faith, I'd recommend Life of Pi to people of all beliefs. Even if you don't believe in a higher power, everyone can appreciate a well-told survival story.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I wouldn't call myself a Tolkien aficionado, but I do enjoy The Lord of the Rings. When I first heard about the Hobbit movies, I was skeptical. "Really? Three parts? It's a 300 page children's book!" I can't really say if Peter Jackson made the right decision regarding the overall length of the film trilogy, but I can say that I very much enjoyed An Unexpected Journey.

After his success with The Lord of the Rings, Jackson appears to be using the same strategy for The Hobbit. The New Zealand scenery is beautiful, the costumes are fantastic, and the action is epic.

The Hobbit has so many great themes in it to begin with. There's Bilbo, the reluctant everyday hero, who gives up the safety and comfort of his home for a dangerous, but noble adventure. Everyone must make sacrifices in order to achieve anything. And it's Bilbo, not Gandalf, that the story is really about. The little guy (in both height and importance) becomes the hero.

Although some might find flaws in this film's loyalty to the book, I thought it was an excellent fantasy that maintained the important themes embedded in the book's plot. I'm sure most geeks have already seen this, but I'd recommend it to non-geeks as well. This film in particular is a great introduction to the entire Lord of the Rings series.

Silver Linings Playbook

I went to go see Silver Linings Playbook because it's nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. I had only seen one other film on that list, Django Unchained, and I'm trying to see as many as I can before the Oscars. I'm amazed that more people aren't talking about this movie's cast, cinematography, and script.

This film is about a man being released from a psychiatric hospital after having a violent bi-polar episode. After eight months of rehabilitation, Pat's only goal is to make himself a better person for his wife, whom he hasn't seen since he caught her cheating on him. His ambition is inspiring which only makes his mistakes more tragic.

I would consider this film to be a dark comedy. Many moments had me laughing hysterically, but minutes later I'd be amazed at the intense drama unfolding on screen. The beautiful thing about dark comedies is that, like the protagonist, the high points make the lows even lower.

Every member of the all-star cast delivers a great performance. Bradley Cooper (known for The Hangover) became his character in a way that I never imagined he could. Jennifer Lawrence is stunning and crazy in the best way possible. Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker are also believable.

The cinematography is inventive without being distracting. The soundtrack is great and always appropriate for the scene.

I would recommend this film to anyone. It contains some elements of a predictable drama, but it's something different.

The Three Musketeers

I just watched the 2011 movie, The Three Musketeers. After it was over, my father asked me if I wanted to watch the outtakes. I replied, "I think the entire film was an outtake."

Looper

Rian Johnson's new film, Looper, tells a story that you've never heard before. In the near future, time-travel becomes crudely possible - and highly illegal. Mobs use time-travel to send their victims into the past to be executed and disposed of. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception) plays one of these mob hit-men known as "loopers." When he fails to kill the future version of himself (played by Bruce Willis) they're both wanted for dead.

If that first paragraph was a little confusing, don't worry: the film explains it much better than I do, though time-travel stories can give some viewers headaches. The plot is filled with interesting and well-developed characters. Johnson's vision of the future seems very plausible which helps keep the movie relatable. The special effects were used intelligently, the most notable of which was making Joseph Gordon-Levitt look like a young Bruce Willis.

The acting from both leads is great, but the most stunning performance comes from Pierce Gagnon, a child actor with surprisingly impressive skills. He was able to flawlessly go from innocent and cute to dark and mature.

Writer/director Rian Johnson used this film to combine mob and sci-fi genres, taking the best from both styles. This film asks the question, "What means the most to you and what would you do for it?" The characters all have their own answers which are often passionate, unexpected, and explosive. Looper is one of the most original films I've seen in awhile and definitely one of my favorites so far this year.

Grouplove @ The Pageant

Photo courtesy of Adrienne Franke.

English band Alt-J opened up the evening of 10/7. The group had a unique sound that blended genres. It felt like the singer/guitarist was in a folk band while the other three members were in more of a dance and electronica mood. Surprisingly, this fused naturally into something that was equally beautiful and danceable. Their drummer had a very tight, precise style that made him a human drum machine. "Tessellate" sounded particularly great.

Grouplove started with "Itchin' on a Photograph." With only an album and an EP to their name, the American band played through almost all of their recorded material throughout the set. Although they're by no means the most ground-breaking band, their simple pop-rock songs were catchy, blissful, and even uplifting. I would argue that everyone in the room was having a good time. How can you not smile when you hear songs like "Naked Kids" or "Lovely Cup"? Their lyrics aren't political or angry, they're about youth and having a good time. Sometimes that's all we need to hear about.

About halfway through the show, bass player Sean Gadd interrupted the song "Chloe" after a few chords. It was drummer Ryan Rabin's birthday. The audience sang "Happy Birthday" to him and Alt-J came out holding a cake with lit candles. Audience participation can sometimes be obnoxious, but this was cool and it made the show a little more special.

This concert was not a life-changing experience, but it was a genuine evening of entertainment with great friends. Never Trust A Happy Song is out now on Atlantic Records.

Hobo with a Shotgun

Remember when Tarantino and Rodriguez made the Grindhouse double-feature? Death Proof (favorite car movie ever) and Planet Terror (her leg is a gun)? Leading up to the release of those two amazingly gritty action movies, a contest was held to make the best fake trailer in the spirit of Grindhouse. The winner was Hobo with a Shotgun, directed by Jason Eisener. In 2011, it was released as a full-length movie. It's technically the fourth film in the Grindhouse series (the third being Machete).

The plot is gloriously simple. Hope Town has been over run by The Drake and his two sons. Criminals run everything, the police force is completely corrupted, and public executions are a regular event. One traveling homeless man can't stand it.

Great cinematography is used throughout the film and the color palette is beautiful. The villains are completely evil, but they have great style. You might catch yourself thinking "I should dress like that... but then I'd look like a bad guy." It makes me despise them even more.

The best thing about this movie is how easily the audience can relate. Have you ever been in a room full of people that are completely wrong while you're right? Have you ever lost your temper? Wanted to be a vigilante? Wanted to kick a bully's ass? This film evokes all of those feelings and satisfies them.

Despite the garden sprinkler blood spurts and a gratuitous amount of crude sexual slurs, this film has a great message: you can't wait for someone else to fix a problem; you must fix it yourself. If you are a fan of hardcore justice, epic action, snapping bones, homeless people, or any of the above, Hobo with a Shotgun is worth a shot.

Cat Power - Sun

The Queen of Indie Rock returns with her ninth album, Sun. A slightly different direction, more independence, and years of work make this one of her best releases thus far.

The album's opener, "Cherokee," is bitter-sweet. It's a reminder of Chan Marshall's uniquely beautiful voice and her remarkable skill of providing her own backing vocals. "Ruin," the lead-single, has a catchy piano riff and poetic lyrics about wealthy countries complaining. My favorite song, "3, 6, 9," is, frankly, badass. Its based on a stomp beat and Marshall's pretty vocals are as pissed as they can be. The finely written lyrics point out that the freedom to use drugs can, in some cases, ultimately take away more freedom than it gives.

One of the amazing things about this album is that Marshall recorded it almost entirely by herself. There are a few exceptions, however, including Iggy Pop's guest vocals on the 11-minute epic "Nothin But Time." This album also features more synths and drum machines than previous Cat Power albums. This is managed in a way that still feels natural and nothing like traditional electronica music. Even though drum machines are used occasionally, the beats are always inventive and even syncopated on a few songs.

Cat Power has never been associated with electronic music and this album still doesn't feel very electronic. Her beautiful song-writing, voice, and true style stay powerful with every release. This is easily one of my favorite Cat Power albums and also a great introduction for new fans. Sun is out now on Matador Records.

Sunday - LouFest 2012

The Flaming Lips. Photo courtesy of Nicole Pruess.

Unfortunately, I missed the first two acts of sunday. I got there just as Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin was starting. This band was originally from Springfield, Missouri and their catchy pop rock was irresistible. The songs were well-written and sounded great outside.

Wild Nothing, who just released a new album this week, was a last-minute replacement. They had a very Cure-inspired sound. Surprisingly, they were one of the best bands to dance to.

Imagine a pop band from the fifties and sixties. Imagine they have all of today's pedals and effects. That band is Cults, one of the groups I was most excited for this weekend. Originally a two-piece, they bring in several extra members for live shows. Singer Madeline Follin delivered an impressive vocal performance and the rest of the band was spot on.

Dawes brought kinda-folky-alterna-rock to a whole new level this weekend. These truly gifted songwriters quickly became many people's new favorite band. Unfortunately, they were cut about ten minutes short due to the rain. Uh oh.

It began to really pour. I mean, seriously pour. Lightning taunted us in the distance. A large group of us were waiting to see Dr. Dog. After twenty minutes of horror, the rain stopped. Fifteen minutes after that, the band started. "The rain is falling / It's after dark," begin the lyrics to "Shadow People." It was perfect. Their groovy, strange rock was everything I had dreamed it would be. It made me forget I was dripping wet.

"Fuck the rain," shouted Wayne Coyne, the charismatic frontman of the Flaming Lips. If you don't know anything about the Flaming Lips' live performances, let me say this: it will blow your mind. You will see things that you didn't think were possible. Magic stardust shot out of a dragon's ass will rain on you from above. It's a bit of a religious experience. Needless to say, they didn't disappoint me. They never have. Although their set could have been longer had it not been for that treacherous rain, I'm not complaining. There is no happier way to end a weekend of great music than with the Flaming Lips.

Saturday - LouFest 2012

Sleepy Kitty. Courtesy of Nicole Pruess.

For the third year in a row, LouFest has been the end of summer highlight for many St. Louis music fans. The well-organized festival presented one of their best lineups yet. Unfortunately, I missed several bands (sorry Little Barrie, Pernikoff Brothers, and THEEsatisfaction), so I'll just talk about what I personally saw.

The festival was kicked off by local favorite Sleepy Kitty. Since this band has only two members, they needed a little help from their friends. Several guests appeared throughout the set. Their fun, energetic music was a great way to start the weekend. At a Sleepy Kitty show, anything can happen. They may play songs from a seven-inch released that very day. They might play a song about the Batman ride at Six Flags. They could throw handmade shakers at the audience. Anything can happen.

King Tuff played most of the tracks from their 2012 debut during their set. The garage-punk band made up for their lack of songwriting prowess with high-energy rock. This made for some fantastic head-banging that my neck complained about the next day. Totally worth it.

Cotton Mather was definitely the wild card at this year's LouFest. In the late nineties, this powerpop band was on everybody's list to be the next big thing. In 2003, the band broke up and pretty much disappeared. Now, they're back together, re-releasing their 1997 hit album, Kon Tiki, and possibly recording new material. Their smooth melodies brightened the day a little, despite the gray clouds.

The hometown heroes, Son Volt, played a beautiful country set. Although they really sounded quite perfect, they were a down-tempo break in a series of rocking sets. My adrenaline was going a little too fast to really focus on their entire set.

It's hard to describe Phantogram to someone that's never heard them. They combine rock, electronica, and R&B in a seamless fusion. The combination of man and machine on drums made their strange beats come alive. The slight drizzle of rain during their set only added to the mood.

Dinosaur Jr. is the loudest band I've ever seen in concert. This is the second time I've seen them, and they're still loud. A little too loud, in my opinion. Their songs sound quite different live than on the album. The verse of "Feel The Pain" sounds just like the album, but the chorus is played as fast as they can possibly play. It's an experience, though not always a pleasant one.

What's a DJ to do in concert? If you ask Girl Talk, the answer is "mix as much as you can live and throw the biggest party you can." The LCD screens on stage showed strange combinations of graphics that felt like subliminal messaging. People danced on stage, shirts came off, and toilet paper filled the air. This was the birthday party you've always wanted.