RECAP: LouFest Music Festival 2011

OK, so let's just forget the fact that this music festival took place at the end of August. All right? Can we kick that elephant out of the room? OK, good.

Now, where was I? Oh, right. LouFest! It's a two-day festival in Forest Park in downtown St. Louis. Now, as a St. Louis native, I'm used to the ol' STL sucking at pretty much anything and everything that isn't baseball or murder rate, so naturally I was excited to hear a legit music festival was coming to town. Last year, the festival boasted She & Him, Titus Andronicus and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, among others. I didn't attend due to being all obsessed with my newfound college freedom and whatnot. But this year, I decided not to miss it — thanks in part to an even stronger lineup. So some friends and I decided to pack up and take the two-hour drive to the Lou, where we found a pretty damn idyllic music festival.

FACE OFF: "Hallelujah"

Welcome to FACE OFF, where you are the Judge Judy and executioner.

It's time for some FACE OFF, and what better way to come back from a recess than with a six seven-entry contest? This week's a little bit different; rather than just doing songs with the same title, we're doing version of the song "Hallelujah." It's a famous song that's been covered a gajillion times, and it seems like everyone has their favorite version. There's Leonard Cohen's, the original; John Cale's, the one from Shrek; Rufus Wainwright's, the one from the Shrek soundtrack; Brandi Carlile's, my favorite; k.d. lang's, the one by the Canadian lesbian lady who looks like a dude and Jeff Buckley's, the one by Jeff Buckley. Which is your favorite? (The Brandi Carlile stream isn't big because it's my favorite but because I couldn't find it on YouTube and it's my favorite.)

If you've got another suggestion, just let me know, and I'll add it in. Vote in the poll on the left!


Jeff Buckley

John Cale

Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile: "Hallelujah" (Live at KCRW.com)
Leonard Cohen

k.d. lang

Rufus Wainwright

Added: Alexandra Burke

Guess who's back?

No silly, it's not Slim Shady. It's me, your fourth-favorite consistently inconsistent music/sports fusion blogger. I won't go into the details of my absence other than to blame the three plagues of temporary wirelesslessness, school starting and general laziness — and most definitely not in that order. So, to make it up to you I'm gonna shove lots and lots of content down your throats this next week or so and keep a steady flow after that.

For example, look out for some (three) concert reviews, that once-promised favorite albums list, a potentially jaded ode to baseball, some fresh FACE OFFs, and a really overdue recap of LouFest. As you will soon see, I'm taking the approach of "better super duper freaking late than never."

Oh, and I have been writing some. You can check out my column How to Dance Real Slow here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here as well as my review of Girls's new album, my coverage of Columbia's Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival, and my profile on the band Sleeper Agent.

It's good to be back.