Email Author Diana Benanti

2011 Stories by Diana Benanti

• After 52 years, the New Music Circle still lives up to its name

  published September 15, 2011

  As more and more of the human experience goes online, it gets easier to assume you're not missing out, so long as you're plugged in. But... More >>

• Black Moth Super Rainbow's Tobacco On The New Album (Maybe), Drugs and Prank Calls

  published Sep 12, 2011

  For a guy who makes some of weird sounding shit, Tom Fec is a pretty normal dude. He exercises. He dreams of giving up, getting fat and going bald. He loves the '80s, but not in a lame, ironic way. B... More >>

• Grave Babies, Ume Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Sep 07, 2011

  The next generation of lo-fi is Grave Babies, the drone pop hellions from Seattle who sound like they hate themselves, which is all we really require from guys who sound like Jesus and Mary Chain. Ume... More >>

• Black Moth Super Rainbow

  published September 8, 2011

  Black Moth Super Rainbow is as close to experiencing LSD as you can get without dosing your orange juice. The Pennsylvanian collective crafts... More >>

• Rebecca Black, Kreayshawn and Tyler the Creator: Hype Hounds from Hell

  published Sep 01, 2011

  Behold the three biggest page-view generators of 2011: Tyler the Creator, Rebecca Black, and Kreayshawn. This trio has come to represent the holy trinity of overhype -- with each one famous for dubiou... More >>

• Lupe Fiasco, Rhett Miller Leads This Week's Show Announcements

  published Aug 31, 2011

  For all the meritless bravado in today's hip hop, it takes a real MC to admit when he's jumped the shark, as Lupe Fiasco did with his latest disc Lasers. No matter, we won't fault him for that poppy m... More >>

• Loufest Interview: Jumbling Towers On New Stuff And Being In A Long Distance Band

  published Aug 25, 2011

  Hopefully Jumbling Towers doesn't need an introduction at this point. The foursome crafts tense, funhouse pop that's sort of mindblowing in its ability to transport you to a mercurial plane of alien w... More >>

• Best Weekend Ever: The LouFest Guide For Out-Of-Towners

  published Aug 25, 2011

  So, you're driving in for LouFest and all you really know about St. Louis is there's an arch, some dude who makes bangin' frozen custard, and the various tourist traps we're known for: the Landing, th... More >>

• The Sheepdogs, Fishbone Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Aug 24, 2011

  One can only imagine that Almost Famous scene come to life when ever unlucky band The Sheepdogs finally caught the break they were looking for -- landing the cover of Rolling Stone and beating out fif... More >>

• The Kardashian Wedding: Six Songs We Wish Had Been Played At The Reception

  published Aug 23, 2011

  So, it's been a few days, but everyone is still talking about Kim Kardashian's wedding. The publicity stunt to end all publicity stunts, the reality TV talking head/professional giant ass haver marri... More >>

• !!! (DJ Set)

  published August 25, 2011

  We'll be honest: We weren't really cognizant of dance music prior to our 21st birthday, so we can't say for certain if the indie celebrity DJ set... More >>

• High Places at the Old Post Office Plaza, 8/20/11

  published Aug 22, 2011

  Perhaps it's time for St. Louis to swap the official motto, Gateway to the West, for it's unofficial one, "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes," with the addendum "and then leave the house... More >>

• LouFest Interviews: Lost In The Trees' Ari Picker On Classical Music And More

  published Aug 19, 2011

  Ari Picker is as genuine and unfailingly heartfelt as his music would have you believe. His folk orchestra project Lost in the Trees is winsome and soft, but imbued with wrenching emotion and cathart... More >>

• High Places' Rob Barber and Mary Pearson on Moving West and Ditching Nostalgia

  published Aug 18, 2011

  High Places' Rob Barber and Mary Pearson are sonic soulmates who finish each others sentences and have found a common ground despite their disparate backgrounds--Pearson grew up in rural Michigan pla... More >>

• Joe Lally and Tandoori Knights Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Aug 17, 2011

  All hail shirtless wonder King Khan, for he is headed back to St. Louis with his homey Bloodshot Bill as Tandoori Knights. The wild duo will be at Off Broadway on November 25. Allegedly, they started... More >>

• The Drug Cocktails That Might Fuel Five Of Our Favorite Musicians

  published Aug 12, 2011

  Did you hear the one about the rapper who got busted for Ecstasy and Viagrar Earlier this week, Outkast rapper Big Boi got pinched for MDMA powder, Ecstasy pills, and an illegal prescription of the li... More >>

• London Calling's Five Year Anniversary Is Tomorrow Night

  published Aug 12, 2011

  Once a fortnight for the past five years, London Calling's DJ Clockwork and DJ Nick O have entertained the PBR swilling, dance partying St. Louis public with their high-octane video sets. That kind o... More >>

• The Vaccines, Curren$y Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Aug 10, 2011

  You'd be hard-pressed to find a buzzier buzzband than The Vaccines. The Brit four-piece's fuzzy pop confections have won over legions of fans, and in true hip-with-it fashion, the band is crowd-sourci... More >>

• The Ten Worst Music Tattoos

  published Aug 10, 2011

  The mainstream ubiquity of tattoos is nothing new, but it does make for some pretty hilarious/horrendous Google searches. We chatted with two local tattoo artists to see what regrettable tattoos St. L... More >>

• Melt-Banana And The Black Angels Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Aug 03, 2011

  Japanese anti-heroes Melt-Banana embark on a U.S. tour this fall, and guess where they're gonna ber Cicero's. Guess where they're not gonna to ber New York City. Bah, that rules. If we're keeping sco... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Finsta and DJ Sno Dish about the End of STL Home Jamz

  published Aug 01, 2011

  Last night marked the end of a five year run for STL Home Jamz, the Hot 104.1 radio show that promoted independent local hip hop artists. The show went off the air less than 18 hours ago, and already ... More >>

• Glass Teeth's Matty Coonfield Talks About The Band's Breakup And Final Show

  published Jul 29, 2011

  Tomorrow night, there are no fewer than four major local shows vying for your weekend attention. Two of them are sad occasions -- Dynabro Griffin Kay's final performance with So Many Dynamos, Glass Te... More >>

• Mates of State And Caroline Smith Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Jul 27, 2011

  Fresh off an appearance at New Orleans' Voodoo Experience, husband and wife duo Mates of State head to the Firebird for a Halloween show. The band's first original disc since 2008, Mountaintops, is du... More >>

• Preview: 360 Bar at the Hilton Opens Monday, July 25

  published Jul 22, 2011

  Gut Check was feeling a little poor yesterday. $5 parking seemed an unnecessary expense, so we parked on the street, surrendering our last quarters to the meter. As we sweated our way down the sidewal... More >>

• The Joy Formidable, Skrillex, Bad Brains Lead This Week's Show Announcements

  published Jul 20, 2011

  The broken glowsticks and prepubescent sweat have barely dried on the Pageant floor from last week's epic Skrillex show, but the man, the myth, the haircut is returning for an encore performance on No... More >>