Advertisements

MUSIC

Playing inside the box

The question has been perplexing electric bands since the advent of the garage: Where can we practice on the cheap without catching static from annoying relatives and neighbors?

MUSIC ARCHIVES

Playing inside the box

Local bands “store” their aspirations in 8x15 foot units

The question has been perplexing electric bands since the advent of the garage: Where can we practice on the cheap without catching static from annoying relatives and neighbors?

Red, White and Booze

Our national anthem’s unexpected origin

Tottering British hooligans wailing about women, wine and lechery isn’t exactly the image that comes to mind when someone mentions the “Star-Spangled Banner.” But maybe it should be. We’ve recently cracked open the history books and discovered how a lawyer’s poem set to the tune of a British drinking song became the national anthem of the United States.

Blues sister

The Megan Boyer Band adds a little rock to its blues

Megan Boyer isn’t fooling anyone. Rock ’n’ roll spills into every area of her life: In her beige MU office, Boyer’s mic has been replaced with a desk, but her colors bleed through. Her glasses are rebellious black frames streaked with bright yellow, and there’s a lime green shirt peeking from behind her Mizzou Tigers hoodie. But the real clues are on the walls.

Hear This

Wilco (the album)

Start saving up for June 30 because on that day the same band that dropped the acclaimed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002 is back with their seventh release: Wilco (the album). Wilco, who graced Ninth Street two years ago at Summerfest, resurrects its supercharged guitar and drum medleys in this new album, which is musically as good as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and lyrically on par with their last album, Sky Blue Sky.

Instru-METAL

The Windy City’s Russian Circles is ready to play loud. Very loud.

Carrying the moniker of an obscure hockey drill, Chicago’s metal-infused, instrumental rock trio Russian Circles began in 2004 with guitarist Mike Sullivan, his former band mate and bassist Colin DeKuiper and drummer Dave Turncrantz. After mutually agreeing to depart with DeKuiper in 2007, the band recorded their second album, Station, with former Botch and current These Arms Are Snakes bassist Brian Cook, whom they had met on tour.

Hear This

New releases from British Sea Power and Ha Ha Tonka

Album review: Spectravox--Spectravox

(Web Exclusive)

Wild honey

Lucinda Williams sweetens The Blue Note on June 15th

Showcasing both her freshest songs and early award-winning work, Lucinda Williams will cool down Columbia on Monday at The Blue Note. Williams has a reputation as one of music’s most uncompromising and fascinating writers and performers. Her latest album, Little Honey, debuted in October at No. 9 on the Billboard charts and peaked at No. 1.

Hear This

Four bands, one studio

Producer/musician Wil Reeves serves Columbia artists in a nonstop recording schedule

There are busy musicians, and then there is Wil Reeves. The Columbia musician plays in not one, not two, not even three, but four bands and operates the Centro Cellar Studio where he records and produces music from numerous acts. “I pretty much use every minute of my day to do stuff,” says Reeves, 31.

Cuttin’ it old school

Columbia’s Cavetone Records rocks the vinyl

Scott Walus stops in the kitchen on his way to the basement and takes out a small wooden box. The lid opens, revealing what looks like a turntable and needle. When he is finished with his latest record, a venture with local garage act Monte Carlos, that small box will cut grooves into a wax cylinder and create a mold from which vinyl copies of the record will be pressed.

Spicy salsa

Band members in exile form local band with a hybrid sound

By producing a rare sound and music you can dance to, Los Desterrados isn’t just another undistinguished group of musicians.

Music Mix

When three music genres converge, it can only be Los Desterrados. Here’s how they do it.

Festivals with flair

The Show-Me state’s obscure music fests offer a different twang

The secret’s out: National and regional music festivals can be time-consuming and pricey (tickets to Bonnaroo cost as much as $250). Missouri hosts a slew of great music events for all tastes. Although they might not have Bob Dylan or any Phish reunion sets, these outings make for a better time than watching summer TV reruns.

The Woodstock Playlist

Rockin’ out to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the festival

Hear This

Album review: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South

(Web Exclusive) Forget trying to pick a favorite member of the Mystic Valley Band. Although Conor Oberst might be the obvious choice, he is not the only one with talent that stretches beyond one musical instrument. The group’s debut album, Outer South, provides a mix of genres for people with short attention spans.

Pop-rock jocks

Taylor Hanson and friends drop debut album

Tinted Windows might dethrone Asia as the new king of supergroups. The band is composed of Taylor Hanson of the pop group Hanson, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, and Bun E. Carlos, the 57-year-old drummer of Cheap Trick.

New Album Releases — 5.5.09

(Web Exclusive)

Build-a-banjo

Local artisan shares his homemade hobby

Andy Smith’s fingers pluck the classic folk tune “Sally in the Garden” as sound reverberates from the belly of a gourd and drowns out three barking dogs in a closed back room.