Back in January I caught the Staves live as they opened up for The Civil Wars. I went to their show without much prior knowledge about their music, and was pleasantly surprised when the three sisters began singing their ever so lovely harmonies. Their voices are the center of their music, but they also often play their ukuleles or guitars to add texture to their melodies. 

The Staves will be playing on Sunday, June 10, at “The Great Taste Lounge Brewed By Miller Lite” at 6:40pm. Be sure to catch them! Listen to their song “Mexico” below or their newly US released EP The Motherlode EP on Spotify

Thursday night I had the pleasure of seeing Active Child with Balam Acab and Superhumanoids supporting. 

Superhumanoids, a foursome from LA, kicked off the night with some pretty rad keyboard and synthesizer playing, as well as the lovely voices of Sarah Chernoff and Cameron Parkins. Since they had two lead vocalists, they each were able to focus on their instruments while the bassist/keyboardist and drummer laid the beats down in the back. The band tried to get the audience to dance and loosen up a bit a couple songs into the set by telling us we were going to play a dancing game, but despite this, the crowd still stood mostly still. Their music is very danceable in the right setting, but it’s just a tad slower than the average dance music. I think that combined with the fact that they were an opening band is why people didn’t get super into them. Even though they didn’t pull the crowd in immediately, they still put on a fantastic show that was quite pleasing to the ears. Download “Too Young For Love” on Soundcloud (and a couple other songs)- it was my favorite from the night, it employs some really sweet drone synthesizer sounds- and is especially great live.

Next up was Balam Acab. Let’s first start off with his attire, which was a pretty good indicator of his overall persona. He was wearing the classic Teva Sandals, glasses, some sort of 90’s graphic tee with Dinosaurs on it, jeans, and an old ball cap. He looked like he should be hanging out in a comic book store or maybe just taken straight back to the 90’s. He never spoke while on stage, except for a couple muffled words in the middle of his set when he thanked us for coming. Balam Acab, AKA Alec Koone, takes samples and sound bytes and remixes them into well blended songs. When reviewing his See Birds EP, Pitchfork pointed out that he plays his music around 65 beats per minute, while the average BPM for a fast techno song can be anywhere from 120-180 BPM. The slowness of Balam Acab’s music became ever so apparent when watching him work live. About ten minutes into the his set, I began to realize how repetitive and soothing his music was- in a very unconventional way. Since he doesn’t play actual instruments, he was just hunched over his table full of knobs and buttons the entire time, in a completely dark room while onlookers tried to figure out what the heck he was doing. Even though he didn’t really even do that much, the sounds he created entranced the audience. His set was rather long, and after a while, I was ready for Active Child take the stage. In what seems to be a very Balam Acab style move, he pressed his last couple buttons without a word, and walked off stage. 

Pat Grossi of Active Child is somewhat unassuming- he’s a good looking guy and dresses fairly conservatively in comparison to some musicians, but the music he creates is anything but conventional. On record, Active Child’s music is pretty low key and most certainly, as I figured out, a watered down version of his live performance (not to say his recorded music is bad, it’s just is a whole new sound and experience when performed live).

Thursday night he was accompanied by two bandmates, a drummer who not only had the traditional drum set but also an electric drum set, and a bassist/keyboardist. Grossi rotated between playing a small harp and his own keyboard. The moment Active Child played their first note, I was completely mesmerized. For a smaller show, they had the absolute best lights and effects I’ve ever seen. The smoke machine was in full use- the pulse of the drum somehow queued the smoke and lazers and drew everyone into the transcendental atmosphere of the show. Grossi’s voice sometimes sounds unnatural as he uses his falsetto about 90% of the time, but it works, adding balance to the beats and synths in the background. 

I spoke with Grossi after the show, and maybe it sounded bad, but I went into the show knowing it would be good, but I didn’t have any incredible expectations. I told him that the show far exceeded whatever expectations I did have going into it in the best way. Probably one of my favorite shows of 2012 so far. 

So I must apologize to Kathleen Edwards and any of her fans, because back in September when I saw her open for Bon Iver I wasn’t too keen on her sound. I didn’t want to write her off completely after the show though because she was mostly enjoyable, there was just nothing that blew me away immediately. 

Fast forward to this past January when her new album Voyageur came out. Surprise, surprise, it just so happens that I loved it. At first I thought she was too simple and therefore not very impressive, but I’ve come to realize that the beauty in her music lies in it’s simplicity. Her new record is full of texture and depth, it makes the traditional girl with a guitar music eighty times better than the average girl with a guitar sound, if ya know what I mean. 

I am thrilled to see Kathleen again and listen to her live from a very different perspective I had when I first heard her, it’s going to be an excellent show. Bonnaroo just released the schedule for the weekend, and she will be playing two sets on Sunday, June 10. The first set will be at “The Other Tent” at 1:30pm and the second set is at the “Sonic Stage” at 3:45pm. 

Check out “Change The Sheets” from Voyageur below, or listen to the whole album on Spotify. 

I’ve seen SBTRKT’s (pronounced ‘subtract’) name thrown around on the internet quite a bit, but never did take the time to really check him out until recently. SBTRKT started out his career as a DJ and consequentially, is heavy on the electronic side, and almost borderline dub-steppy. With all the electronics going on, many songs still manage to have guest vocals- most commonly added by a musician named Sampha. SBRTKT isn’t music I would listen to all the time, but everyone needs dance music when you get in those dance-tastic moods. Many of the bands playing at Bonnaroo don’t exactly play “dance” music, so I think SBTRKT will be one of the sets where people will be putting their dance pants on to get down in the Tennessee heat.

Check out “Wildfire” featuring Little Dragon below or listen to SBTRKT’s self-titled album on Spotify.

This band has blown up in the last year. They are topping charts and building their fan base very, very quickly. I’ve never been into blues rock/soul music, so upon first listening to them, I’m not exactly drawn to their sound. However, I still definitely want to see them at Bonnaroo because they certainly do seem to deliver a soulful set. 

I think with all the excitement and praise surrounding the Alabama Shakes, this could be one band I end up loving after having the chance to see them play at Bonnaroo. 

Listen to “Hold On” below, or listen to their new album Boys & Girls on Spotify. 

Nickel Creek has been one of my favorite bands for quite a while now, but they sadly broke up back in 2007. Each member’s musicianship is not something I can easily ignore or forget, so I like to check in and see what the three members are up to every now and then. 

My favorite member to keep up with though has to be Chris Thile. He’s worked with so many people (including Yo-Yo Ma) in the last couple years making fantastic music all while cranking out great albums with his band the Punch Brothers. 

In 2006, Chris helped start Punch Brothers, a progressive bluegrass band with all the traditional bluegrass instruments; upright bass, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. Their third album Who’s Feeling Young Now was released in February and it has definitely been an album I’ve really enjoyed this year.

From all accounts I’ve heard, they put on an incredible show, simply because their talent becomes even more apparent as you watch them live. The last time I saw Chris Thile perform was on the closing Nickel Creek tour in 2007 and I could not be more excited to see him perform again with the rest of the Punch Brothers.

“Movement and Location” has been one of my favorites from their new album, check it out below or listen to the album on Spotify. 

I’ve been waiting a couple years to hit up a music festival, and it’s finally happening. The lineup for Bonnaroo is pretty stellar this year, so I couldn’t pass this one up. As I research and listen to bands who are playing at Roo this year, I hope to share those bands with you all. If you’re going to Bonnaroo, I hope this will help you figure out your lineup and prioritize who you plan to see. 

If you’re not going to Bonnaroo, no worries because oftentimes, many of the bands who play festivals tour in the areas around the festival. Since Bonnaroo is in Tennessee, St. Louis is probably going to be fortunate enough to get some bands rolling through town the week prior to and the week after Bonnaroo, so keep an eye on tour schedules and venue calendars around town. 

For whatever reason I wasn’t anticipating this collaboration to be something so grand and exciting, but after seeing fan videos and listening to bootleg recordings from the the song cycle, I promptly rethought that misconception. 

The trio (backed by drummer James McAlister, the Navarra String Quartet, and the New Trombone Collective which consistes of 7 trombones!) has created this song cycle with a song for each planet. My favorites are Jupiter, Mercury, and Saturn. The songs are sort of similar to that of Sufjan’s last album Age of Adz in theme, but a bit less electronic and more orchestra heavy. Lately Sufjan has been on the biggest autotune/vocoder kick known to indie music, so be prepared for autotune if you listen. Some people seem to have complaints about the use of autotune in these pieces, but really, a song cycle about outer space warrants a bit of autotune in my opinion.

The Fuck Yeah Sufjan Stevens tumblr put up a bootleg of one of the performances of the song cycle last night and I’ve been listening to it all day…the sound quality is actually pretty decent. As of right now there hasn’t been any info about an official recording or release of this collaboration, so for a while these recordings will have to do. 

The Head and the Heart is a band that makes music you can’t shake from your brain, most likely because you’ve been singing along with their tunes for a couple hours. Their genuineness and down to earth feel certainly comes through their music full force. About a week and a half ago, they stopped by for a show in St. Louis (which I couldn’t go to unfortunately…) but they also recorded video for a new, unreleased song “Virginia” atop a St. Louis building. Check it out above, and if you haven’t yet had the opportunity, check out their 2011 self-titled album on Spotify. 

I know 99.9% of you all have Facebook, so go ahead and “Like” The Pickup! I’ll be posting more frequent little updates there and letting you all know about new blog posts in case you don’t check Tumblr as much. If you feel inclined…go ahead and reblog this! 

Thanks!