52nd City

Retro Weekend

Well, I just had the strangest, music-driven retro weekend. Like, ever. Between interviewing Angelo Moore, receiving dozens of St. Louis CDs in a lump batch, sifting through two years of late-'90s RFTs and the occasional bit of live music and e-mail, it was all a bit much.

1. Caught Aviation Club at Off Broadway. They were fantastic. Really, really great. There was a moment, too, when they had three female dancers on the floor. All were affecting a dance style that I haven't seen since the last time I watched "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion." Which I totally dug. Turns out, one of the groups that spun out of Aviation Club, the Lettuce Heads, will be performing soon: Friday, March 14 at the Focal Point, for an 8 p.m. show. Promised: 23 new songs and seven that were only played once, according to the group's impeccable press kit.

2. The AC show was sponsored by Jet Lag Magazine, celebrating a year on the web at www.jetlagmag.net. Though I love having the zine available in that form, much better is the act of reading originals. I bought 12 copies, in bundled six-packs, from founder John the Mailman. Despite all the years I've known of John Korst, I'd never met him; and, come to think of it, I didn't say "hello," so we're still that way. Love the issues, of which only one was already in my possession. Buying more soon.

3. The same day, I got a note via Myspace from Korst, who has a page for the classic piece of STL wave, "Test Patterns." If you don't have this piece of vinyl, check Record Exchange and plunk down whatever the cost might be. For the life of me, I could swear that I okayed the Myspace friend request, but I can't find it, at all. Please pass along the page, if you would.

4. Lastly, I got a note from Larry Dersch, who played with a classic band from St. Louis, Common Ailments of Maturity. They moved to Boston right around the point that I found myself at clubs, but I enjoyed their vinyl output and still spin a bit of it, for sure. Dersch notes that he has a new band, A.K.A.C.O.D. With two of the group's three members as alumni of Morphine, you can get a quick sense of them through that namecheck. You find more precise info on them at either: www.myspace.com/akacod or www.akacod.com. There's a good chance the band will be in town during mid-February, with one Midtown club a distinct possibility. We'll certainly punch that info up here, when known.