Music, Pitch

Burt Bacharach's musical magic is your Memorial Day YouTube project

Dan Lybarger — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:20:00 -0500

The Pitch talked to Kansas City native Burt Bacharach this week, and we came away convinced that the Grammy- and Oscar-winning composer, who turned 85 recently, is as relevant as ever.

Not many songwriters can say that both Elvis Presley ("Any Day Now") and Elvis Costello (who made a whole album, Painted From Memory, co-written with the composer-producer-arranger) have recorded their tunes.…

Kurt Vile headed to Lawrence in August

David Hudnall — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:08:51 -0500

Kurt Vile is one of my favorite guys making music at the moment, and his latest, Waking on a Pretty Daze, is one of the best albums to come out this year, says me. Very exciting, then, to wake up and learn that Vile and his band, the Violators, are hitting up the Granada on Friday, August 16. That will be a tremendous Friday to be alive.…

Soundgarden's sludgy sound, last night at the Midland (review)

Steve Vockrodt — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:53:00 -0500

After the five songs opening Soundgarden's Wednesday-night show at the Midland, frontman Chris Cornell told the crowd that the band was about to play a song it hadn't performed in about 16 years. "Maybe since the last time we were here," he said.…

Rob Zombie is coming to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater

David Hudnall — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:00:08 -0500

We missed this one in the flood of summer concert announcements, but: Rob Zombie is coming to Kansas City in a few months. He'll be at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on Monday, August 5.…

Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper are headed to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater

David Hudnall — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:47:34 -0500

Alice Cooper was a sort of shock-rock pioneer in the 1970s. Marilyn Manson took up the mantle in the 1990s.…

Yo La Tengo is at Grinders tonight

David Hudnall — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:37:44 -0500

Big surprise: Fade, the latest Yo La Tengo record, its 13th, is another gorgeous batch of gently fuzzy, melodic pop songs. (The moment when the strings come in on the chorus of "Is That Enough" is among the most pleasurable things I've heard on an album so far this year.)…

Kanrocksas single-day tickets now on sale

David Hudnall — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:33:33 -0500

Kanrocksas is fast approaching, everyone. As of today, you can purchase single-day tickets to the music festival - held Friday, June 28, and Saturday, June 29, at the Kansas Speedway - for $99.…

Insane Clown Posse fans will be chugging Faygo in Lawrence tonight

David Hudnall — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:12:44 -0500

Are you down with the Clown? The FBI, which recently classified Insane Clown Posse as a criminal street gang, is not.…

Steve Earle to play Crossroads KC at Grinders

David Hudnall — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:08:43 -0500

The rootsy summer lineup at Crossroads KC at Grinders just got a bit rootsier: The venue announced today that Steve Earle will grace the stage on Tuesday, July 9. Tickets on sale tomorrow, May 17, at 10 a.m.

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Tonight in Lawrence: Laura Stevenson at the Jackpot

David Hudnall — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:47:58 -0500

On her new record, Wheel, Laura Stevenson calls to mind Sharon Van Etten and Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell - women singers who preside over expansive, soaring indie-rock songs. But I like Wheel better than anything those two have done, including, yes, Van Etten's Tramp.…

Watch Hospital Ships' kinda-gross new video for "Servants"

David Hudnall — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:44:00 -0500

In print this week, we chatted with Brad Shanks of Replay Records, and rounded up a few recent releases from the the Lawrence label. One of them was a split 7" with the Hips and Hospital Ships.…

Tonight! Ra Ra Riot at, er, the Riot Room

David Hudnall — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:01:11 -0500

My experience with Ra Ra Riot is that each of the Brooklyn-via-Syracuse act's albums has one unstoppably addictive track - "Can You Tell" on the group's 2008 debut The Rhumb Line; "Boy" on 2010's The Orchard - surrounded by about nine inoffensive but forgettable chamber-pop songs. On this year's Beta Love, the group has largely ditched the cellos and violins for a synthier electro-pop sound.…

Tonight's Pusha T-Fabolous show at the Midland has been canceled

David Hudnall — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:49:00 -0500

Refunds available at point of purchase. No word yet on a reschedule.…

Bill Callahan's wild country, last night at RecordBar

David Hudnall — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:34:00 -0500

Despite his car-dealer name, Bill Callahan is a pretty odd dude - I'd argue he's one of the strangest characters in modern American music. Last night at RecordBar, Callahan took the stage with his band - a guitarist and a bassist, both of whom sat in chairs throughout the set - and gave the robust-for-a-Wednesday crowd more or less what it came for.…

Smith Westerns headed to the Riot Room

David Hudnall — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:16:38 -0500

Smith Westerns released its video for "Varsity" today - it's a bit of lush guitar pop from the Chicago crew's upcoming album, Soft Will. (That record, the band's third, is out June 25.)…

Tonight! Bill Callahan at RecordBar

David Hudnall — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:13:10 -0500

Part of me thinks that Bill Callahan is a ghost. Few in the RecordBar crowd, last time he was in town, seemed to even notice that he had taken the stage; the set started both abruptly and unassumingly.…

Conor Oberst's old band Desaparecidos is coming to Lawrence

David Hudnall — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:06:51 -0500

Conor Oberst is best known for his (now-almost-legendary?) emo-folk outfit Bright Eyes and his recent solo work, but back in the early '00s, he also fronted the politically charged Omaha punk group Desaparecidos.…

Trapper Schoepp and the Shades are at RecordBar tonight

David Hudnall — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:59:15 -0500

I caught Trapper Schoepp (who is 22 years old) and his band, the Shades, a couple of months back in Austin, during South by Southwest. The Milwaukee group was playing poppy country-rock tunes - a little bit Exile on Main Street, a little bit Lucero - on a makeshift stage on the patio of a barbecue joint called Freedmen's.…

KC's newest record store, Mills Record Co., opens today on Westport Road

April Fleming — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:01:00 -0500

We don't have enough occasions to celebrate the opening of a new record store in Kansas City, so let's relish it for a moment. Ah, new records.…

KC's Reggie B is on a new track with Rakim (yes, that Rakim)

David Hudnall — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:06:00 -0500

Yesterday, Brooklyn-via-Toronto hip-hop producer Marco Polo dropped a new mixtape, Newport Authority 2. On it, there's a track called "Cur$ed (What's Wrong Remix)" that features legendary NYC rapper Rakim (of Eric B. and Rakim).…

The Sucka Free Producer's Showcase is tonight at RecordBar

David Hudnall — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:49:00 -0500

In print this week, we checked in with Sephiroth, who hosts the Sucka Free Producer's Showcase. It's a night devoted to the city's beat makers and producers, and it goes down this evening at RecordBar.…

U.S Air Guitar qualifier coming to RecordBar in June, and a new KC champion will be crowned

Justin Kendall — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:14:00 -0500

The U.S. Air Guitar Championships will once again be holding a regional qualifier in Kansas City. And, this year, Kansas City will crown a new local faux guitar hero.…

This year's LouFest lineup is pretty impressive

David Hudnall — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:02:33 -0500

The indie-rock-oriented St. Louis music festival LouFest is back for a fourth year, this September 7-8, at Forest Park. The lineup was revealed today, and it's probably worth the four-hour cross-state trip.…

Jonny Fritz, country wiseass, is at RecordBar tonight

Saby Reyes-Kulkarni — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:35:53 -0500

Nashville-based singer-songwriter (and leather strap salesman) Jonny Fritz likes to say things that other people hold back, but his unassuming brand of country makes for a pleasant backdrop to what might otherwise be uncomfortable moments. When he sings about "all the boozers and losers and scratchers-of-their-asses" on his new album, Dad Country, he's lambasting Hollywood, but he may as well be half-joking about the audience, too.…

Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello will headline a Tomas Young tribute at Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet

David Hudnall — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:21:54 -0500

Outspoken anti-war veteran Tomas Young recently made headlines by publishing an open letter addressed to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, in which he announced his intention to end his life and condemned the former president and vice president for their actions in the Iraq War. Young is a Kansas City native, and on Sunday, May 19, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet is hosting "A Tribute to Tomas Young."…