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.

The Dirty Pigeons - The Dirty Pigeons EP

After playing in and around Chicago for about a year, The Dirty Pigeons have finished their first record, an eponymous EP. This four-piece band creates a natural feel that rocks hard with minimal use of effects.

The seven-track release weaves it's way between up-tempo rockers and beautiful songs with a hint of classic country. "The Valley" is serene and pairs well with the soft vocals. It provides contrast to the EP's opening track, "Idle Dollars," a catchy, sort of romping song. The standout track for me is "What's the Point in Changing?" It's dark theme and distorted vocals are emphasized with the surprisingly heavy, epic guitar solo.

The band showcases their versatility with "Sundays Golden Wishes," a beautifully sorrowful country song reminiscing about better times. Although this EP is entirely original material, The Dirty Pigeons pay tribute to their influences on the closing track, "Stills, Young." The obvious Young-ness of the strong, lengthy solo is still genuinely Dirty Pigeons.

On their first official release (out in September), The Dirty Pigeons show that they are a talented band with a strong sound. I hope to hear more from them in the future. Although they're based in Chicago, St. Louis can get a little piece of the action too. The Dirty Pigeons will be playing at the Heavy Anchor on September 8th.

Passion Pit - Gossamer

After 2009's very successful Manners, Passion Pit is back with their sophomore album, Gossamer. Trying to live up to their previous effort, this group might be experiencing a sophomore slump.

"Take A Walk," the opening track, is a beautiful song about dealing with tragedy by taking a walk, getting fresh air and clearing your head. It's one of the few songs on this album that doesn't directly speak about the master theme: love. "I'll Be Alright" is a hyper song about letting go of a relationship. It's my personal favorite on the album. "Two Veils To Hide My Face" is a short, a cappella song that feels a lot like poetry.

Lead-singer/songwriter Michael Angelakos writes lyrics that are very conversational; he's directly speaking to someone in most cases. Many of the songs on this album have group vocals on the chorus, a beautiful technique that grows somewhat old.

Although some tracks have serious lyrics, the pop melody of the instruments prevents me from taking them seriously. There are few exceptions to this rule, including "Constant Conversations."

Passion Pit's first album brought forth the glorious single "Sleepyhead." Gossamer feels as though the band is trying to reach that glory again, but not quite finding the same success. There are several great songs, but none are on the same level of excitement as "Sleepyhead." This album is good, but it's not great enough to be much of anything special. Gossamer is out now on Columbia Records.

The Amazing Spider-Man

It is not unusual for super-hero movies to be restarted and revisited with a new series. It is unusual to start a new one five years after the last one. That's exactly what Marvel did with The Amazing Spider-Man. Needless to say, I was slightly skeptical. Have they really learned anything? What will make this one different?

The plot develops slowly, something that I enjoy. I don't think the super-villain is actually seen until at least halfway through. This gives the characters much more development. When Peter Parker, played by Andrew Garfield, gets his powers, he doesn't master them quickly like in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. In fact, it looks a bit like a bad LSD trip. He freaks out, accidentally breaks a ton of stuff, and almost accidentally kills himself a few times. This happens before he even puts on the costume. Speaking of costumes, this incarnation of Spider-Man actually showed the audience how he made the suit. Before, it was something like, "...and then he made a spider suit." In this version, we get a little more details. For some reason, this was a big deal for me. All things considered, this film seemed more real than the last series.

Garfield's acting is excellent, along with co-star Emma Stone. He believably portrays Peter Parker as a high-schooler. He acts awkward around girls, but not overly so. It's subtle. He's funny when he fights bad guys, but not too funny. And never punny.

The special effects were great, although it sometimes felt as though they were just showing off. Despite this, I was still impressed. The cinematography was also inventive. There were several very cool shots. The camera often told the story in a way that the characters didn't need to speak for the audience to understand.

If you asked me today what my favorite super-hero movies are, I would give you two answers. The Dark Knight and The Amazing Spider-Man. Yes, I've seen The Avengers, and it's great. No, I didn't forget it. It just doesn't compare.

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom is about two kids who fall in love and runaway from their homes on a small island off the coast of New England. Sam, a Khaki Scout, runs away from his troop. Suzy runs away from her younger brothers and their lawyer parents. Fugitives, they plan on surviving together in the wilderness. Soon, everyone on the island is looking for them.

This film takes place in the 1960's and is also made to look like it was filmed in the sixties. The fonts, opening credits, and slightly grainy film set the tone for the movie. The sets, costumes, and music also put the audience comfortably into this time period.

The cast is a bottomless list of talent. Bruce Willis (Die Hard), Edward Norton (Fight Club), Bill Murray (What About Bob?), and Frances McDormand (Fargo) play the leading adults. The kids are played by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman. Relatively unknown, these child actors fit their roles perfectly.

Director Wes Anderson tells the story in unique and quirky ways. I was particularly impressed by the long continuous shots in the beginning of the film. Anderson also co-wrote the film with Roman Coppola, son of Francis-Ford Coppola (The Godfather). The theme, that love can and will overcome great adversity, is well-known, but still relatable. It also bends genres to combine drama, comedy, adventure, and romance.

I don't think I could say anything bad about this movie even if I tried. This is the best film I've seen in theatres so far this year. Speaking of theatres, it's playing at The Tivoli on Delmar, one of my favorite places. Everything is better when you watch it at the Tivoli. Especially Moonrise Kingdom.

Evil Henchmen - An Appreciation

Stormtroopers are a perfect example.

A while ago, I started thinking about bad guys in movies. Not the antagonist, but his minions. They fascinate me. For starters, I wondered how they always get so many minions. Do they post ads in the paper? Kidnap guys off the street? Is there some dark part of Craigslist for henchmen? Or do they just have an army of clones, like Darth does? In most cases, this is never explained.

Then I started to view henchmen from a filmmaker's perspective. They're awesome. I discovered three specific traits of evil henchmen that are particularly cool in my mind.

Budget. If I'm making a violent movie, a lot of bad guys will need to be sacrificed. That means hiring a lot of extras. But if I use the evil henchmen approach, they will all wear full-body uniforms. This way, I can make twenty uniforms and have the same guys play them in every scene. I can hire one actor to die four times on screen.

Audience morality. If your audience is mostly normal, they probably have a conscience. And, if they're mostly normal, they're not a huge of fan of murder. When you're protagonist gets a little trigger happy, he can start to look like a bad guy. But if the audience doesn't see the face of his victim, it's not so big a deal. Let's use Star Wars as an example. The Empire's stormtroopers have their faces covered. They don't seem very human so I don't relate to them. But the rebel soldiers have their faces exposed. I see that they're human and I connect with that. I don't want to see them die.

German army around 1939. Not actually communists, but you get the idea.

Lastly, communism. When everything looks the same, it's scary. Like this example on the right. When everything is exactly the same, it reminds us of communism and 1984 and stuff. You hear that voice in the back of your head whispering "assimilate." Uniformed henchmen have that effect on people.

Next time you're watching some totally awesome movie, think about the henchmen. They're a big part of some films and we often take them for granted.