Kansas City Music Blog

Just over a year ago, friends of musician Abigail Henderson rallied to help her defray the cost of the expensive cancer treatments she was undergoing. And in true Kansas City fashion, that first benefit show, called Apocalypse Meow, rocked. Now Henderson is cancer-free, and it's time for another round of musical fundraising.

Forester Michael

Abigail Hendson at last year's inaugural Apocalypse Meow

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Taking place Saturday at Crosstown Station with a pre-party tonight at Midwestern Musical Co. (1830 Locust), Apocalypse Meow 2 will raise money for the burgeoning Midwest Music Foundation, which grew out of the first Meow and is bent toward helping musicians with health-care costs.

Beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at Midwestern, Howard Iceberg and the Titanics, followed by Henderson's band, the Gaslights, kick up the dust. Live-music-oriented photographs will be on display and for sale.

Saturday, the party moves to Crosstown for a blowout headlined by the Pedaljets and featuring the Columns, the Grisly Hand, Alacartoona, Sara Swenson and Tiny Horse. Scores of sweet prizes will be auctioned and raffled, including two pairs of Leonard Cohen VIP tickets, an autographed Zach Greinke baseball and a one-year pass to the Riot Room. Get there early for the health fair if you haven't had your blood pressure checked in a while. But watch out -- later, when the bands go on, it's gonna rise.

Go here for more info, plus an hour-by-hour, audio-enhanced schedule.

When Brad Hodgson told me, on a recent First Friday night, that he had left his position as frontman for In the Pines, one my favorite Kansas City bands ever, I would've sliced off his ear with a sword cane. But (a) I had no sword cane and (b) I had heard tracks from his awesome new project, Biarchy.

Matt Naquin

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Launched in early October, Biarchy is a two-man project conceived by Hodgson and fellow former ITP member Mike Myers (who drummed for the band, which, by the way, is forging on toward album two with new members). The duo's radiant, electronic-steeped music is warm and etheric; it filters into the brain's auditory cortex as if through electroencephalography.

Fans of Thom Yorke's The Eraser, Moby's more somber moments, Sparklehorse and/or late-'70s instrumental art-rock compositions in the vein of Brian Eno and David Bowie (see: "Warszawa") will find a lot to sway to in Biarchy. On songs like "Informed" (streaming now on MySpace.com/biarchy) there's even a delightful sprinkling of Sea & Cake.

And of course, this is still a Hodgson project, so you'll traces of that evocative, shoegaze-folk sound that has marked his songwriting. In fact, a Hodgson solo tune I first noticed back in late 2006 has been beautifully repurposed by Biarchy.

MP3: Biarchy, "Runs on Blood"

But music is only half of what Biarchy's about. Hodgson and Myers hope that visual artists -- filmmakers, videogame makers, animators, etc. -- will use Biarchy's sounds to soundtrack their projects. And to that end, they're giving away their entire 12-track album free. Download it at Biarchy.com.

They've already had a couple of video submissions, including this one, by Jordan Kerfeld, set to "The Coldest." View more at Biarchy's Vimeo profile.

The Coldest from biarchy on Vimeo.

Well, we're a little behind on this news, but it bears mentioning nonetheless: Kansas City pop-dance act Queens Club signed to Tooth & Nail, home to MxPx and Underoath, among others.

​And, not only did Queens Club sign to Tooth & Nail, they just released their debut recording for the label, the Nightmarer EP, which dropped back in September. They've also recently tapped Record Machine recording artist Max Justus to remix the title track, and the label has made that available on their blog as November's "Song of the Month."

Download it below, and hear how "Max brings his signature dark vibe to the track giving it a pulsing electronic rhythm through out [and] finds a way to bend and warp the original track into something all together new."

MP3: Queens Club, "Nightmarer" (Max Justus Remix)

The Central Library has made a Flickr gallery of the ragtime/early-20th-century sheet music covers held in the Missouri Valley Special Collections, and boy is it a hoot!​

Locally themed compositions like "The 12th Street Rag," "Kansas City Blues" and "Somewhere Along the Missouri Tonight" are displayed alongside quirkier offerings, such as "Oh, You U-Boat!" "The Tickler" and the racially specific "It Takes a Long Tall Brown-Skin Gal to Make a Preacher Lay His Bible Down."

From the text on the Flickr gallery:

Kansas City's growing music and entertainment scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries encouraged local music stores to join the ranks of sheet music publishers. Stores like J.W. Jenkins and Sons Music Company, Kansas City Talking Machine Company, and Carl Hoffman Music Company began publishing the work of local composers like Charles Johnson and Scott Joplin and distributing it across the nation.

If you wish to leave your computer and get your history on in person, you can attend a presentation on the history of ragtime in Kansas City at the Central Library on Sunday, November 15, at 2 p.m.

As a journalist, one of the most validating experiences one can have is being quoted by someone else. It indicates that someone finds your words to be worthwhile enough to bear repeating elsewhere. There are exceptions to this, of course. Someone could be using your work as an example of bad journalism, holding you up as the Uwe Boll of writing. ("Seriously, I don't care what the fuck you do. Just don't do this. Please. For the love of God.") Another way to have that validation slapped right the hell down?

When someone dies.

My mom called me five years ago to say that the Star had quoted me in an article about the death of "some kid who was in a ska band." She then asked, "Do you know a kid named Richie Restivo?"

I had to search my brain, and I realized he was a kid whom I'd interviewed via e-mail the previous year regarding his ska band, the Uprights. He'd been nice, and incredibly enthusiastic about ska, and El Torreon, and pretty much everything we'd talked about. He ended up getting stabbed in the throat and dying, the result of a high school parking lot encounter gone terribly wrong.

​The terrible thing is...I never actually saw the Uprights when Restivo fronted the band. I later saw them opening for someone at the Bottleneck, a couple of years later, but they'd become a full-bore reggae act, completely lacking all the 2-Tone influences they sported on their one and only release, the Going Somewhere EP.

This is the song I've always associated with the band. It's a tribute to the all-ages club the band often played, and whether you're a ska kid, someone who hung out at El Torreon or not, you'll recognize the exuberance that comes with having a place where you're welcome and comfortable.

MP3: the Uprights, "31st & Gillham"

The competitors for Farmer's Ball, KJHK 90.7FM's annual battle of the bands, have been announced. In no particular order, the bands and acts are:
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Cloud Dog
Burger Kingdom
Dutch Newman
Katlyn Conroy
Hidden Pictures
The California Craisins
Eagle Us Pets
DJ Avi

Impressive.

Preliminaries are November 20 at the Jackpot, and finals are November 21 at the Bottleneck.

Lawrence kaleidoscopic art pop act Mammoth Life recently returned from a trip to New York and the CMJ Music Marathon. As they're settling back in to life in the Midwest, the group has begun recording new songs in hopes of soon completing their second full-length, An American Movement.

​They are releasing their next single, "Boy Blue, An American Lion" sometime in December or January, in advance of the album's drop in 2010. An American Movement was described thusly in a press release from the band:

A self described 'spaghetti-pop, western opus' about a character that goes by the name of Boy Blue...it is said, 'Boy Blue can do anything that he wants to do.' It is a romantic and introspective account about the author, but also a passionate and fanciful doctrine that asserts individuality, creativity, freedom acquired from knowledge, ego, critical thinking, perseverance and drive, tolerance for diversity, and attainment for this is to be an American movement.

MP3: Mammoth Life, "Boy Blue, An American Lion"

John Bersuch's loft in the West Bottoms was one of the many places to be this past Saturday night. In case you missed it, Bersuch built his own haunted house and even recorded an original soundtrack. Umberto played. We took our magic instamatic into the fray. Click on the snow bunny for a slide show.

Jason Harper

Click for slide show.

There were even more amazing costumes at the Power & Light District .

We've recently clued you in to the upcoming Deastro performance opening for Max Tundra at Cazr Bar. We've also given you the skinny on Sam Billen's new album, Headphones and Cellphones.

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What in the hell does a Kansas City electro-pop artist have to do with a touring electronic artist named after a GI Joe character? Not only do they both bring indie to electronic music in beautifully crafted songs, but the Record Machine was kind enough to provide for us a meeting of those two amazing characters, with Sam Billen's cover of Deastro's "Spritle."

MP3: Sam Billen, "Spritle" (Deastro Cover)

In other Record Machine news, also of a fantastic nature, Record Machine artist Capybara were featured in a Sound Advice mixtape put together by Spike Jonze and assorted other folks as sort of an unofficial Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack part two. A gentleman over at MTV was cool enough to single out Capybara for praise over artists like Girls and Times New Viking.

Way to go, Capybara!

In what we hope is the master list for your Halloween shenanigans, there's a lot to get through. For one thing, since the holiday falls on a Saturday, some folks are getting it started a little early Friday night.

​For instance, Fourth of July is at the Eighth Street Taproom (801 New Hampshire in Lawrence) Friday night with Sultan Sea. As you can see from the flier (by Pre Sense Form and Zaguar Collages, featuring the sexy Brendan Hangauer from last year's Halloween), costumes are not only encouraged, they are mandatory. Does that mean they'll bar your entry if you're not wearing one? Best not to tempt it, I think.

Also on Friday night is "Trick or Treat '70s Style" at the Brick (1727 McGee). Solid Gold Easy will provide the sweet sounds of the '70s before Everywhere: A tribute to Fleetwood Mac takes the stage. The best '70s mustache will win you money, too, so anyone rocking a porn 'stache a la Thomas Magnum or the Bandit should attend.

Now, on to All Hallow's Eve proper.

​At the Power and Light District (downtown KC) is a big ol' free show, co-sponsored by the Pitch, kicking off with Company of Thieves at 8pm. Our Lady Peace is on the KC Live! Stage at 9 p.m., and Pomeroy closes things out at 11:30 p.m.

There will be a huge-ass costume contest, with the grand prize winner walking away with $1,000. Second place is nothing to sneeze at, either: $750, and third place gets $250. The contest judging starts at 10:30 p.m. Admission is free, but as with all Power and Light concerts, it's 21 and up.

Hearts of Darkness and Ad Astra Arkestra provide the freak-out experience of the night at Davey's Uptown (3402 Main). Both bands are epic in numbers, and the music will certainly be a pleasant change from the innumerable cover bands out there. Hearts of Darkness' Afrobeat will have a potent counterpart in Ad Astra's rhythmic experimental jams. There is also a costume contest at 11:30 p.m., with a $150 first prize, $50 second prize, and a tantalizing Mystery Goodie Bag third prize.

Stone in Love, Kansas City's premiere Journey tribute act, will be at the Record Bar (1020 Westport). The band, featuring such Kansas City music luminaries as JD Warnock of Ultimate Fakebook and Hipshot Killer's Mike Alexander, will give you all the lovin' touchin' squeezin's you'll need for the night starting at 10 p.m.

If you want your Halloween to be a little brutal, Circle of Trust brings their brand of hardcore to Swagger, at 85th and Wornall. There will be a costume contest, and the first prize is a trip to Vegas. Rock starts at 8:00 p.m. sharp.

​Also brutal is the Haunted Creepies CD release party at the Riot Room (4048 Broadway). Not so much for the Haunted Creepies, who will rock and roll you, but for Hammerlord, who are metal as fuck. DJ Chadillac and Clockwerk will be spinning out on the patio for those not inclined to loud rock music.

The Brick's tenth anniversary is on Halloween, meaning this is a double-shot of awesome. The Brick is also your old-people-punk-rock headquarters for the holiday this year, as they'll play host to Blood Feast, the Misfits tribute act fronted by Faster Than Hell's Kriss Ward, alongside Switchhitter and the Sex Offenders.

Up the street at the Czar Bar (1531 Grand) is the mock-public-access-TV show Whoop Dee Do's Halloween party featuring the Ssion, Nomathmatics , Max Justus and games such as bobbing for eyeballs and zombie body shots. Costume contest? These people invented the costume, what are you talking about?

If you want to hang out with the new-school punk rockers, hit the Newsroom (3740 Broadway) for a massive free show. Under Ogre, Demon Horse, Burger Kingdom, Hanna Barbarians, and Wrong Crowd will bring shoegaze, garage, punk, and assorted distortions to your ear holes starting at 10 p.m. Donations are appreciated at the door.

Groove Pilots will perform a combination of rock, funk, and blues covers (with a few originals thrown in) at Kelly's Westport Inn (500 Westport Road), starting at 10 p.m. Kelly's will also play host to a costume contest and grand prize giveaway (although there are no details on what prizes will be awarded).

Going down the highway, you can catch all the shows in Lawrence after the jump.

Man, the hip-hop scene is putting all other camps of local music TO SHAME these days as far as videos (and, by extension, actually enjoyable online self-promotion) goes.

Peep Steddy's P's new one, "No Matter How," from his Style Like Mind album. We gave the album a not at all bad review a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't good enough for commenter Kevin from Colorado Springs, who called it the "most disorientating, unfocused, ignorant display of writing" he's "EVER" seen. And then he went on to give his own 1,600-word review. Do we begrudge Steddy his passionate fanbase? No sir, we do not. Carry on, Steddy P.

Key lyric: I'm tryin' to change the city that booted out DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Trivia question: Can you name the storefront featured in the video?

Challenge to other recording artists: Quit sending show texts and direct Facebook e-mails and make a freakin' video.

Show tie-in: Steddy P. performs Friday, November 13, at the Record Bar with CES Cru, Stik Figa and DJ G-Train.

Kansas City MC Greg Enemy now has a video to go with his signature song -- an illustration, if you will, proving that he is indeed a cool little dude with some fly-ass glasses.

Ah, but he is more than a diminutive gent with fancy specs. He is a talented rapper and, some would say, even better producer, having lent beats of late to upstanding locals such as Stik Figa (who seems not to have a primary web home anymore, WTF?).

Greg has just dropped The Protocol, a three-song EP containing the above single, plus "The Protocol" and "Red Chuck Taylors." Download it below via Mediafire.

ZIP: Greg Enemy, The Protocol EP

We really enjoyed the last release from experimental electronic musician H Stewart, the downloadable Letters to Kansas City.

​Stewart's new album, Dora Elizabeth, is out now via Moving Furniture, and is the musician's first physical release. You can stream the entire album online, as well as purchase it.

The album is a tribute to Stewart's maternal grandmother, and, in a press release, Stewart had the following to say regarding the inspiration she gained from her:

"There are those of us lucky enough to have encountered the gods of our own time, the people who helped create and shape us into what we are and what we give the world. I was but clay in her loving hands. Let us all take this opportunity to ensure that she and all of those who have shaped us never really die."

People in this community take care of their own. Shortly after Anne Winter's death became public knowledge, some local goodhearts in and around the music scene began setting up a donation site at AnnieWinter.org. The people behind it wish to remain anonymous. They are reportedly working on setting up a non-profit status for the fund.​

If you go to the page, you'll see a long list of donors -- lots of local businesspeople and artists. Should you decide to donate, email donation@anniewinter.org with specifications on how you want (or don't want) your name to appear.

As the site's writer puts it so well:

Anne's journey has ended. But the journey for her young children, and for those generously taking responsibility for them and forced to take responsibility for the catastrophe left in the wake of our collective loss has just begun. Their grief will not end. It will only subside until it doesn't interfere with everyday living. Please find it in your heart to contribute what you can to ameliorate some of this long, protracted burden -- financial and otherwise.

If you pick up this week's Pitch, you'll find my own take on the community's loss in my Wayward Son column. Read it online here or after the jump.

And don't overlook this week's Shut Yer Foxhole comic (page four of the print Pitch), in which Travis Fox gives his own take on Winter's support for local artists and activists.

Since it's Halloween this week, I figured I would go in two directions for this week's Throwback MP3. That means that you get two MP3s. Not only do you get one really creepy, scary metal number, you also get an epic, Halloween-themed cowpunk number, as well.

​The first track is from Wormwood. Originally from Lawrence, the gothic black metal band made a name for themselves by being scary as hell in their music, using lots and lots of organ in a way that sound like they were soundtracking a black mass. They moved to Seattle in 2000, and that's where they played their final show last summer. This track's off their self-titled debut 7", released back in 1998 on Arm Records.

MP3: Wormwood, "Circus"

Boot Hill was a band that was originally a three-piece with Gary Cloud and his wife, Allegra. To avoid telling a story that is probably more conjecture on my part than actual fact, let's just say that the two parted ways, and the band had broken up before that. In addition to Boot Hill's first album, the Laudenum full-length, they recorded a little-heard EP entitled Spook Light, which not only contained a cover of the Five Blobs' "The Blob" (theme song to The Blob), but also yielded this tale of a zombie hippie trying to steal beer from a Punk Rods party. The line-up for Spook Light featured former Honeywagen drummer Jason Meier, as well as Last Call Girls bassist Liz Schoch. It was recorded by Lou Whitney, too -- a strong-ass pedigree for a CD that was burned to CD-R and barely saw the light of day.

MP3: Boot Hill, "Creepy Hippie"

Mouth has been making these amazing text fliers for their shows, and I've been meaning to showcase them for a while. Most text-only fliers are ugly as sin, but Mouth's Jeremy Anderson -has the ability to do more with a little bit of color and a simple image than most people can do with the whole Photoshop suite. You can check out a whole bunch of his past work over at the band's MySpace.

​This show has a pretty swank concept. Anderson explained in an e-mail:

"The idea for the show was for us to pick five of our favorite local emcees, come up with live arrangements for two or three songs by each one, and make the night in to something like a giant live mix tape. We'll also be playing a short set of our own tunes and hosting an open mic for emcees at the end of the night. PopFreeRadio will be broadcasting the whole thing live."

David George, former lead singer of Moaning Lisa, returns to KC for an acoustic performance at the Record Bar on Tuesday, November 24.

​George is finishing up his first full-length solo CD, due out next year. A press release described the album as a "collection of pop/folk/acoustic material, showing a whole different side of David."

Moaning Lisa formed in Kansas City in 1999 and relocated to Los Angeles in 2004. They received a modicum of fame when the cover to their debut, Wonderful, was called one of the "Top Twenty Sexiest Album Covers of All Time" by Playboy in 2002. It was in L.A. that George and Moaning Lisa's lead guitarist, Desmond Ramos formed Culture Killers. They have since released an EP and have a song featured in the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas.

Creed reunited after five years and decided to release a new album. It's called Full Circle. There is no God.

​In what has to be the biggest release in Kansas City today, we get the tenth studio release from powerhouse rapper Tech N9ne, entitled K.O.D.. The title stands for "King of Darkness," and as you might expect, the album continues Mr. Yates' plumbing the depths of the human soul. The album also has appearances from the Oscar-winning Three 6 Mafia, in addition to the usual Tech N9ne collaborators Kutt Calhoun and Krizz Kaliko.

​The Swell Season's Strict Joy not only comes in a regular compact disc, but a limited deluxe version includes the CD, as well as a live CD and DVD entitled One Step Away - Live from the Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI. May 8, 2008. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova came together during the making of Once, and the relationship in the movie turned into something real and beautiful. Now they're broken up, and still making music and touring. This should be interesting.

MP3: the Swell Season, "Low Rising"

​Los Lobos Goes Disney is an Amazon exclsuive, meaning you'll have to order it from the online retailer to get it. On the bright side, the album features their cover "I Wan'na Be Like You," originally release in 1988. It also has some very nice, not obvious covers. The two songs from Robin Hood, "Not In Nottingham" and "Ooh-De-Lally," pretty much make this worth buying in and of themselves. "Heigh Ho," "Bare Necessities," and "Cruella De Vil" are just icing on the cake at this point.

Lastly, the movie I exhort you to buy this week is Night of the Creeps. Fred Dekker's first movie -- the one that allowed him to make the also-fantastic Monster Squad -- is finally seeing a DVD release after being unavailable for years, except in Internet bootlegs. A large portion of James Gunn's Slither took its plot from the film, as well as its tongue-in-cheek delivery. It's one of the most fun horror comedies ever -- I ranked it number six on a list I did for Scene-Stealers last Halloween.

The Get Up Kids just announced via Twitter that they will donate all the money from their upcoming Record Bar shows on November 20 and 21 to the Anne Winter Fund:

our friend anne winter has died. all proceeds from our shows at record bar in kc will go to the fund for her children. we miss you anne!!!

When news of Anne Winter's death yesterday began circulating through the scene, it was like a lake freezing. Lives came to a halt, all energy being redirected toward remembering and paying tribute to a person who touched so many lives in Kansas City's musical, artistic, cultural and just-plain-human realms.

​Winter died yesterday in her home at the age of 45. For 18 years, Winter and her husband, Kurt von Schlemmer, owned and operated Recycled Sounds.

Until it closed in 2006, the midtown record store was a haven of both good taste in music and undying support for the local music scene. To just about anyone who came of age in the '90s in Kansas City and sought out or played underground, indie, alternative rock, hip-hop, punk, singer-songwriter -- you name it -- the place was, if not personally significant, at least well known.

Earlier this afternoon, friends and former employees stopped by the old storefront (now occupied by Clint's Comics) to pay respects, adding flowers, cards, mardi gras masks and the like to a makeshift memorial shrine set up for Winter. The picture taped inside the window showed Winter in her regalia as queen of a recent 18th Street Mardi Gras parade.

Update: Some local musicians have set up a fund to collect donations to help Anne's family. It's at AnnieWinter.org.

It was announced earlier this month that the Get Up Kids had stopped by the Daytrotter studios and recorded a session. Well, that session has finally been posted. You can go right over there and listen to, as well as download, four song​s.

There are two songs you've probably never heard before: a new song called "Your Petty Pretty Things" and a cover of the Vitreous Humor's "Sharin' Stone," as well as versions of Something to Write Home About's "I'm A Loner, Dottie, A Rebel" and "Overdue" from On A Wire.

Sean Moeller had this to say about the band, and why they were -- and continue to be -- so important:

[T]here was never any argument about what was inside the songs that the band brought to life - these earnest snapshots of simple and natural ferocity, the most understandable and constructive angst bursting out of young men familiar with the wilds of it, pounding through the dark chambers of what it means to really hurt and be hurt for the first times ever.

The concept of a video flier intrigues us here at Wayward Blog. The possibilities inherent in the form offer a lot more than just words and a carefully chosen picture on a photocopied 8.5x11 sheet of paper.

This video flier for local electro-poppers London Transit's show with Springfield's Black Box Revue and We Are Like The Spider at Cazr Bar this Saturday, October 24 shows all sorts of electronic things, and has a bit of the group's music playing as it shows. Simple, but effective. It's not to be confused with a music video, as there's no performance footage, nor do you even hear an entire song. It's a short, highly visual way of grabbing someone's attention -- not quite commercial, not quite music video, thus a video flier.

The group is planning to release an EP follow-up to its debut full-length, The Digital Kid, in a few months. Here's an early demo.

MP3: London Transit, "Trees"

In a mail crate on my dining room floor is a stash of compilations I've discovered in the clearance racks of every store that sells CDs from Kansas City to Topeka. There are punk comps, ska comps, rockabilly comps, and everything in between. Every so often, I dig through to figure out what I've got, and usually come up with a gem to keep me company while I'm sitting on the couch, reading through whatever I've recently snagged from the library. I'd forgotten about the Doowopin' with the King, Federal, and DeLuxe Vocal Groups Volume 1 - "Dynamite Darlings" compilation on West Side until it came up last week, and was surprised to discover that it featured three tracks by a group from Kansas City, MO, called the Carpets.

​The Carpets recorded one session for the Federal label, and had the misfortune to have their debut single, "Why Do I," see release at the same time the label put out James Brown's "Please Please Please." The second single, "Lonely Me," saw release a few months later, and went nowhere. The Carpets were let go from Federal, and that was the end of them while several of the members joined the armed forces. The Carpets reunited in 1961, and renamed themselves the Derbys.

However, the lead singer of the group was a tenor by the name of James Gadson. When the group stopped in Florida, Gadson quit the Derbys and joined the Midnighters (Hank Ballard's group, famous for their hits "Work With Me, Annie" and "The Twist"). From there, he went on to be part of the original line-up of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, as well as drumming on Bill Withers' Still Bill. There's a stellar interview with Gadson in the September 2007 issue of Modern Drummer that's well worth reading for the full story of his career, which is nicely supplemented by Marv Goldberg's R&B notebook on the Carpets.

However, it was as a young man in Kansas City that Gadson started on his career in music, and his voice is stellar in this unreleased alternate take of the Carpets' second single. It's amazing to think that Gadson was just 16 when he recorded this track.

MP3: the Carpets, "Lonely Me" (alternate take)

S'ar Lavoe is a local hip-hop supergroup that contains Approach, Royce Diamond, and Smoov Confusion. Their debut, Ashes, is due out as a free download on Datura Music. In the meantime, you can enjoy the first single off the record, "The Same," produced by Ill Poetic.

Alright, we'll get right to the gravy: Submit the best remix of Capybara's "The Wimp," and you will win your own World's Largest Gummy Bear!​

"The World's Largest Gummy Bear is the lion of the candy world. There is no candy more magnificent or more powerful. This five-pound beast is the equivalent of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and packs a whopping 12,600 calories," says authorized WLGB retailer Vat 19.

"I want to go to there," says you.​

The details: To celebrate the release of the brilliant indie-poppers' new album, Try Brother, Capybara's label, the Record Machine is asking fans to remix "The Wimp." The Wav files needed for the remix are provided here. To the pimpest jammer goes five Record Machine releases, the mighty WLGB, and an in-van listening session.

Ignoring the unstated rule that employees of the company are ineligible to win, Rec Machine artist Sam Billen (whose latest album, Headphones & Cellphones, we reviewed this week) has entered his own remix.

Download it below, and then devise one better. If it helps, chant "You're going down, Billen!" as you're firing up the ProTools.

MP3: Capybara, "The Wimp (Sam Billen remix)"

Shout out to Credentials Hip-Hop for drawing our attention to the latest video from Irv da Phenom, who is quickly becoming one of the city's most exciting hip-hop entertainers. The short-and-sweet single is off Irv's new album, Tire Shops and Night Clubs (which we reviewed in last week's Pitch) and features guest versification from Strange Music protégé Big Scoob (who is really too massive a man to be called anyone's protégé).

We don't expect this cat to remain underground long. Irv can not only nail his own harmonies when he sings on the chorus (a feat few rappers can accomplish), he can write a hella catchy hook. Download the song below, and call in to Hot 103 Jamz and demand more Phenom!

MP3: Irv Da Phenom, "How I Feel (feat. Big Scoob)"

Our friend and rapper extraordinaire James Christos was kind enough to call the Wayward HQ and give us the skinny on a public forum of sorts that went down last night between representatives from Hot 103 Jamz and a bevy of Kansas City rappers and DJs.

​The focus: Why the area's leading urban station plays almost no local hip-hop. It's not a new question by any means, but it's something that continually frustrates and inspires local artists to act.

Summary: KPRS continually takes heat for maintaining a format that the station feels works -- a format that has no room for up-and-coming KC artists. In short, the station doesn't play local artists because local artists aren't big enough. Artists, in turn, complain that they (and by extension, Kansas City's reputation nationwide) can't get big without local radio support. It would have the makings of a stalemate -- except that many in the hip-hop community aren't interested in backing down.

According to Christos, the impromptu summit was held at Jaz Brewer's 64111 Studios on 17th and Summit St. and that, in fact, it came about because of a Twitter campaign launched by Brewer. Read back over the past few days of tweets @Jaz64111studio to catch up.

Christos says some 40 people participated in a public conference call that included several KPRS DJs. Kenny Diamondz, host of the station's only local music program, Underground Heat, was present in person, as were about 20 livid locals ("Everybody who's anybody in rap in Kansas City," was how Christos put it). According to Christos, the Hennessey flowed and so did the honesty.

And in the end, he says, no accord was reached between the station and the artists.

Now we want to hear from you: Were you there? What happened? What should happen next?

We want to hear from both sides of the debate. And, please, include your name with your comment.

Hey, I know this isn't exactly "local." When it comes to Springfield, we're probably moving into the realm of "regional" at that point.

​But the Jeff Bilberry-designed flier is just badass, right? Very Japanese horror, while at the same time conjuring up images of H1N1 and hiding in your basement. The green adds some nastiness to it, as well. The newsprint background of the guy with the syringe gives the whole thing an underlying sense of authority.

This is a full-bore punk show. Outbreak is touring in support of their self-titled release on Think Fast! Records, due out November 10. Soul Control is on Bridge 9, while Only the Brave and This Above All hail from Springfield and Joplin, respectively. It's gonna be a hardcore show!

If you've got the gas, money, and time, head on down to Springfield. Seems those cats know what's going on as far as punk shows go. Why do the cool little bands always play the places like Springfield?

MP3: Outbreak, "Human Target"

Okay, so Matt Pryor of the Get Up Kids told a story to Spinner earlier this month about the tour they did opening for Weezer back in 2001 (it played Memorial Hall, and Ozma also played, and it was fucking AWESOME). So, in it, Pryor said of the Weez that they were "the only band I've toured with for a month that I've never spoken to. They're jackasses."

Well, Rivers Cuomo is telling his story and making overtures towards healing via Twitter:
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Aw. How sweet. If anyone is going to be in NYC around that time, let us know it goes down, okay? In other news from that story...the Get Up Kids played with the guys from Cheap Trick?!?! Is there footage of this?

We love music here at Wayward Blog (duh). We also love fliers, especially the eye-popping, visually intriguing ones that we feature as part of "flier of the week."

​Now, it's come to our attention that 1819 Central Gallery is going to do a show entitled "Mid America Manifesto," a poster artists' exhibit of work from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Nebraska. They've put out a call for artists, as they're taking on 30 or so poster designers and print makers for this show, and already have 15 signed on. The show will feature over 60 original pieces of work.

"Free shows, DJ parties -- all that will accompany it throughout the whorish winter months, too," says the Gallery's Scott Burnett. A limited edition poster will be available featuring all artists in the exhibit, as well.

E-mail a website link or attach several lo-res jpegs to contact@1819central.com

The complete exhibit will be announced by December 10.