Grace's Posts


Grace's Photo I'm host of Nomadic Reverie every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. CST. Roam with my blog on a trip through sonic nirvana, exploring many different spheres of the lesser-known: both old and new folk, psych, lo-fi, experimental music and much more.

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Arthur Magazine in Hibernation

Yesterday Jay Babcock, editor/publisher/founder of the free bi-monthly counterculture publication Arthur Magazine, announced via a post on their Web site that the magazine will no longer exist in its print form.  Hurryscurry over to Apop Records on Cherokee to pick up a copy while you still can!  

Lauded by everyone from Dave Eggers and Miranda July to The New York Times and Rick Rubin, Arthur established itself as an unabashedly political and musically adventurous publication using guerilla distribution tactics starting in 2002.  Contributors have included such notable musical figures as Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), bluesman T-Model Ford and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.

This isn’t the first time Arthur has stared death in the face.  A 2007 interview with Babcock in The Nation dubbed Arthur “The Little Magazine That Could” when the mag made its return after having closed down its presses several months before.  Fans of the free fringe publication came to the rescue when Arthur‘s livelihood was threatened a second time in July 2008 by raising more than $20,000 in six days so that Babcock and co. wouldn’t go under.  

In times when even big print media are tightening their belts, it’s possible that this is indeed the end of the print form of the publication–but I for one am holding out hope that Arthur will overcome the need for hibernation and show itself to be “The Little Mag That Still Can.” 

From the horse’s mouth:

Hey gang–

I am done with self-publishing Arthur, which I’ve been doing since July, 2007. It’s too much work for one person to edit, publish and manage a national magazine, month after month, year after year.

If/when a publishing partner appears, and so on, Arthur will return to print.

That could be in three days, three months or three years.

Or never, given how the internet plus leveraged capital has hollowed out almost all existing analog mass media in favor of stuff that, in almost all cases, is qualitatively worse for almost everybody.

Anyway, we’re gonna hibernate the mag for the time being, and focus on the stuff that doesn’t have as much financial risk or management burden. Thanks to the work of a lot of Arthur folks, the arthurmag internet presence will upgrade and expand greatly in the coming days. Also, two new cds and a dvd are being prepared, the book(s) are on the way, and so on.

We’re staying busy, staying focused on what we can handle, and pushing homegrown counter-culture forward. We hope you can, too.

And if you need more Arthur mags right now…well, there’s 31 back issues available in the store.

All love and R.I.P. Ron Asheton,

Jay Babcock
editor/publisher, Arthur Magazine
editor@arthurmag.com

Posted by | January 10, 2009 | Culture, Music | 1 Comment 

Concert Preview: Dark Dark Dark @ CBGB on Jan. 5

So. Tom Waits and Yann Tiersen walk into a bar. CBGB, specifically. There they meet a young vagabond queen armed with an accordion. This isn’t a dream or a poorly set-up joke, but a close approximation of what you will experience if you attend the Dark Dark Dark show at CBGB on Monday night.

The Minneapolis band melds gypsy melodies with whiskey-soaked Midwestern grit to create an ominous and slightly off-kilter sound that will win over fans of Gogol Bordello, Beirut and Rasputina, as well as devotees of local bands like The Monads and Strawfoot. Thanks to Dark Dark Dark’s record label, Supply and Demand Music, you can (and should) listen to the band’s debut album, The Snow Magic, in its entirety via YouTube.

Supporting Dark Dark Dark will be St. Louis’ rockin’est blues fingerpicker, Pokey LaFarge, and MayDay Orchestra, whose lineup reads like a Who’s Who of the St. Louis folk scene with members of Theodore and the recently-demised groups Rats and People and Bad Folk (including Tim Rakel of KDHX’s Mystery Train).

Dark Dark Dark/Mayday Orchestra/Pokey LaFarge
10 p.m. Monday, January 5. CBGB, 3163 South Grand Boulevard.

Posted by | January 4, 2009 | Concerts | 2 Comments 

KDHX Sponsors Release Party for New Animal Collective LP

Animal Collective

Between leaked MP3s, the Web Sheriff / Grizzly Bear incident and an alleged e-mail hack, Animal Collective’s 9th full-length album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, is already set to be one of the most anticipated releases of 2009. Thanks to both KDHX and Vintage Vinyl, St. Louisans will have a crack at being some of the first to hear the album in its entirety.

On Saturday, January 3 at 3 p.m., Animal Collective fans should make their way to Vintage Vinyl for an exclusive listening party for the vinyl release of Merriweather Post Pavilion, which will be released early on deluxe 2xLP 180 gram gatefold vinyl with full album download (WAV or MP3) on January 6th, 2009 in North America. The CD & digital release date will remain January 20th (Jan. 12 UK/Europe).

KDHX and Vintage vinyl are sponsoring the event in conjunction with Domino Records and Terrorbird Media. The release party will feature pre-orders, exclusive goodies including giant posters and download cards for rare Animal Collective tracks, ticket giveaways and grand prize giveaways of ‘The Domino Years’ prize packs.

KDHX will also be giving away posters, download cards and and 2 copies of Merriweather Post Pavilion on air–plus featuring an exclusive live track from the album that is only available radio stations sponsoring the listening parties–so don’t touch that dial!

Posted by | December 19, 2008 | Music | Comment 

Concert Preview: Vetiver @ Off Broadway on Dec. 15

Given the company they keep, it’s no surprise that Vetiver gets lumped in to the “freak folk” genre. Devendra Banhart is a good friend and frequent member of the band, and Joanna Newsom, Noah Georgeson and Vashti Bunyan have all contributed as well–but these recent Sub Pop signees definitely has a sound that distinguishes them from their peers.

True, Vetiver’s warm, summery sounds frequently feature the finger-picking so common to the new folk revial, but with each successive album, it becomes evident that much like the aromatic East Indian grass from which the band takes their name, Vetiver’s roots grow deep. Their sound has stretched beyond the folk tradition and been flushed out with bass, drums, keyboards, banjos and cellos, echoing the pop and country songwriting of yesteryear.

The band’s fourth most recent release, Thing of the Past, is made up entirely of covers of some of band leader Andy Cabic’s favorite artists. Using the work of such legends as Townes Van Zandt and Derroll Adams as their canvas, Vetiver meld past and present seamlessly with their dreamy, gentle brand of folk.

Vetiver will perform with Brandon Eckert on Monday, December 15 at Off Broadway. Doors are at 8 p.m.; the show begins at 9. Tickets are $10 and available online or at the door.

Recommended if you like: Devendra Banhart, Phosphorescent, The Pernice Brothers, Michael Hurley, Vashti Bunyan

Posted by | December 10, 2008 | Concerts, Culture, Music | 1 Comment 

Concert Preview: Pontiak @ The Wedge on Dec. 19

Don’t let their looks fool you.  While the three blond, bearded brothers of Pontiak look like they fell off of Will Oldham’s family tree, they would actually probably be more comfortable at a Sabbath show.  

And yet Lain, Van and Jennings Carney have taken “heavy” in a direction that would leave Ozzy scratching his head.  They’ve got fuzzed out guitars, proto-metal precision drumming, echos of prog, plenty of reverb, dark but delicately-phrased lyrics and a slight country tinge that hints at their roots in small-town Virginia.  The closest contemporary comparisons are probably Black Mountain and Dead Meadow, but there’s no way to lump the band into just one genre–Pontiak’s sound is completely their own.

The band recently signed to Thrill Jockey, who rereleased the band’s 2006 album Sun on Sun this September to much critical acclaim.  

You can catch Pontiak performing at The Wedge on Friday, December 19 with supporting acts Ashes & Iron and I Am the Flood Waters.  Doors are at 7; the show begins at 8.  Tickets are $7, and there’s a $3 surcharge for minors. Click here for a map to The Wedge!

Recommended if you like: Dead Meadow, Black Mountain, Sabbath, the Doors, Neil Young, beards

Check out Pontiak’s “White Hands” video:

Posted by | December 3, 2008 | Concerts, Culture, Music | Comment 

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