Max Tundra Interview

For fans of London’s Ben Jacobs, aka Max Tundra, six years is worth the wait. That’s because his new record, Parallax Error Beheads You (P.E.B.Y.) finds him meshing textured electronic music with slyly edited cut-and-paste soundscapes. All of this is then glazed over with catchy lyrics.

Every song on the record has its own life span which, when taken as a collective whole, makes a beautiful record of blippy lushness and lyrical emotion.

Max Tundra will be performing this Saturday night at the Billiken Club with Junior Boys.

KDHX: Why did it take so long (6 years) to record the new album?

MT: Because the music is very layered and complex, and I use very old-fashioned means to create it. Also London is a very distracting city, so it’s very easy to switch off my machines and go out to the cinema, the park, a restaurant, a show, or to see friends and family. And the songs themselves emerged very gradually – one pops into my head every six months or so.

KDHX: Do you make your music with software and computers?

MT: I really don’t! I use a computer from 1985 with a $1 piece of software for sequencing, and everything else is done on real synths, samplers and real instruments. I have absolutely no clue about the current music software and technology scene.

KDHX: Discuss your creative process. How do your songs come about?

MT: Very infrequently. They usually appear in my mind when I wake up in the morning. Then I hurriedly switch on a keyboard or two, and record a basic demo version of the song. Then I think about arrangements over the next few months, deciding whether a song might benefit from trumpet, banjo, drums, piano, bass guitar or whatever. The recording of one song takes six to nine months from start to finish.

Read more

Posted by | April 22, 2009 | Music | 2 Comments 

KDHX Rings Lady Sovereign

Photo courtesy of Ladysovereign.com

Photo courtesy of Ladysovereign.com

I’ll be chatting with Lady Sovereign this Wednesday, April 22, 10:20 pm CST on Beep Beep Boop Boop. From her Def Jam debut, Public Warning, to her latest release, Jigsaw, Lady Sov has proven herself outstanding – she was even the first British artist to reach #1 on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL) with the video for her song, “Love Me or Hate Me.”

You may have heard “I Got You Dancing” or “So Human” (which heavily samples the Cure) recently at KDHX – we’re digging the new album and are excited she’s taking the time to talk with us! Tune in at 88.1 FM (Saint Louis area), live online, or if you miss it live – stream the show up to two weeks later.

Posted by | April 21, 2009 | KDHX, Music | Comment 

Jason and the Rough Shop Scorchers

It’s not every day, hell not every year, that you get to hear Jason Ringenberg, one of the true godfathers of alternative country, play a loud, fast and loose live set backed by a band. While the Scorchers have a new record in the works (release date likely this fall), Jason has been largely hitting the road solo, or rather as a duo, with alter-ego Farmer Jason. But after a few house concerts in town, playing with St. Louis veterans Rough Shop, he liked the sound enough to have the band support half of his set at Off Broadway this past Friday. The results, documented briefly below, were terrific. No one will mistake Andy Ploof for Warner Hodges, but that’s little matter. Ploof and John Wendland (host of Memphis to Manchester on KDHX), dug in on electric guitar, and the rhythm section of Spencer Marquart and Anne Tkach swung every song like they’d been holed up in a barn for a winter-long practice, when in truth they hadn’t played with Jason for a year.

Ringenberg has always been an underrated singer: He’s so high and nasal and twangy that he should come off like a shyster of the highest order. Instead, he sings with great soul and wit and warm humor. His material can be inconsistent, but when it’s great, as on “Bible and a Gun,” or when covering Guadalcanal Diary, he transcends his legend.

Read more

Posted by | April 20, 2009 | Concerts, Video/Film | 1 Comment 

Stuff To Do

This is the perfect time of year. The weather picks up, baseball starts and audiophiles become deluged with great music. There also are more bands coming to and fro our metropolis and the ones that don’t often are not that far away.

It is a complete sensory overload and I haven’t even talked about books and comics…

I’ve seen some concerts.

Mariza

Mariza’s show at The Sheldon was amazing and may be the best concert of the year. She is huge internationally and having her play The Sheldon is a coup for our city.

The Ting Tings

Their stage show transferred well to The Pageant. I wish the set would have been longer. It was almost the same as the Bluebird set they played on their last visit through town. Still the show had a lot of energy and the crowd ate them up.

Morrissey

The Pope of Mope returned to The Pageant on April 8th.His last show here was such an event that topping it would be impossible. “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” and “Death of A Disco Dancer” worked well within his set of solo material. The new material sounds amazing live and he has a terrific band behind him.

It is a great time to be a radio programmer because your sonics expand in so many ways. That is because there is a lot of really exciting new releases out across the musical spectrum. Lately I have become symbiotic with two of them.

Read more

Posted by | April 18, 2009 | Concerts, Music, Video/Film | Comment 

Audrey Auld In-Studio @ KDHX

Photo by Sara Finke

Photo by Sara Finke

If like me you missed Audrey Auld‘s opening set for Fred Eaglesmith at Off Broadway, you’re in luck: the Americana-by-way-of-Tasmania artist stopped by the Magnolia Avenue Studios to tape a session for Songwriters Showcase, which will air in toto on Sunday, April 19 at 11:00 am.

Here’s a teaser mp3 (which hits a little too close to home) from the session, and check out Sara Finke’s photos here.

40

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Posted by | April 17, 2009 | KDHX, Music | Comment 

Video: Fred Eaglesmith @ Off Broadway

I showed up late to Off Broadway this past Tuesday, but not that late. Fred Eaglesmith had sized up the packed room, noted the average age, and apparently decided to make it an early night. But the 1/2 hour I did catch was classic Fred: Funny, random, soulful, and a better guitar player than you’d guess. And his young band is tightening up considerably. We’re lucky the Ontario native makes Saint Louis a regular stop.

Here’s the last song of the night, the classic “Drive-In Movie,” with opener Audrey Auld singing along.

Posted by | April 16, 2009 | Concerts, Video/Film | 3 Comments 

Twangfest 13 Line-Up Update

Twangfest 13, a four day musical festival in Saint Louis presented by KDHX, will be June 10-13, 2009. It’s going to be another doozie of a week.

Information about advance tickets and 4 day passes here.

Wednesday June 10 (Pageant)
Alejandro Escovedo
Hot Club of Cowtown
TBA

Thursday June 11 (Duck Room)
Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys
Bruce Robison
Eileen Jewell
Brothers Lazaroff

Friday June 12 (Duck Room)
Andre Williams
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
TBA
Jon Hardy and the Public

Saturday June 13 (Duck Room)
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Daddy (with Tommy Womack and Will Kimbrough)
The Deep Vibration
Theodore

Stay tuned to Twangfest.com or follow Twangfest on Twitter for news on pre- and post-Twangfest parties, Saturday BBQ, the Twangfest eBay Auction, advance ticket sales and four-day passes!

Posted by | April 14, 2009 | Concerts | 2 Comments 

KDHX Vodpod

What the heck is a Vodpod? My favorite internet doohickey, that’s what. Vodpod is sort of like Flickr for videos: It provides a slick, cross-browser, cross-site way to share and distribute your favorite videos. So if you have a Myspace, Word Press, Blogger or other web site, you can build a library of videos, with playlists, and then embed them on your own page. You can see the results over in the side bar of the KDHX blog.

Another nice feature is a free Vodspot home page, which allows you to organize and present videos in a fairly elegant, user-friendly fashion, with comments and tags. Check out the KDHX Vodspot, which features 17 of our most recent in-studio performances from artists like Tight Pants Syndrome, Scottie Miller and Mark Olson and Gary Louris.

And speaking of videos, you can explore all the KDHX live performance videos (2007-2009) at KDHX.org. Here’s a blast from the archives: Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles (who will be appearing at Twangfest 13 in June), live in the KDHX studios:

Posted by | April 14, 2009 | KDHX, Video/Film | Comment 

← Previous Page — Next Page →