Email Author Mike Appelstein
Pussy Riot's incarceration was one of the most remarkable musical sagas of 2012.Editor's Note: The end of 2012 is upon us, so we thought we'd put a cap on things by sharing some of our personal favo... More >>
Sen. Daniel Inouye, who passed this week, was present for some of the 20th Century's pivotal events. Born in Hawaii in 1924, he witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack as a medical volunteer. He enlisted in... More >>
It's a story as old as the music business itself: A fanatical record collector jumps at the chance to bring some favorite tunes to a wider... More >>
The Magnetic Fields | Gal Musette Sheldon Concert Hall, 11/14/12 Since the Magnetic Fields last played St. Louis, it has completed its synth-free trilogy (2010's Realism was the last puzzle piece), l... More >>
Huge news today: Jeff Mangum is touring again after the New Year, and his itinerary includes a St. Louis date. The semi-reclusive singer/songwriter, whose unique twisted visions propelled Neutral Milk... More >>
You can't hurry power pop. It's been 25 years since the dB's last released a proper album. However, with Falling Off the Sky, this North... More >>
Being robbed sucks. Being robbed of your record collection - especially if you are a music fan - is worse. But how about if your collection was robbed selectivelyr If it wasn't merely the work of a de... More >>
There's very little middle ground with Nardwuar the Human Serviette. This plaid-clad Canadian DJ, musician and celebrity interviewer has been causing havoc for more than twenty years. His interviewin... More >>
If there's one thing the Pussy Riot trial has taught us, it's that protest music can still be a dangerous, subversive tool. By performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" during a guerrilla action at a Rus... More >>
Sad news out of Wisconsin: Dennis Flemion, one half of the Milwaukee-based sibling duo the Frogs, disappeared over the weekend during a weekend family boating trip, and is currently presumed drowned. ... More >>
Both in its original 1995 novel form and its 2000 cinematic counterpart, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity is a poignant, riotously funny... More >>
Grass Widow | The Langaleers The Vault, Farmington, MO June 5, 2012 Sometimes showgoing throws you a curve ball. I drove an hour and a half to Farmington with the intent of catching Grass Widow, a g... More >>
Here's a show worth a weeknight road trip: acclaimed Bay Area trio Grass Widow is playing in Farmington at The Vault (204 South A Street, Farmington, MO, 573-783-0173) this Tuesday, June 5. Touring ... More >>
For the average American indie-level band, one motivator to keep writing and playing is the chance to tour Europe. Every aspiring musician has... More >>
Schwervon!'s Nan Turner and Matt Roth legendarily met at a New York City "antifolk" night, but there's very little that's folkish about the... More >>
Back to Rockville: A Tribute to R.E.M. And 88.1 KDHX Benefit Off Broadway April 27, 2012 When R.E.M. announced its breakup last September, the music world was shocked but not really surprised. After ... More >>
Pierced Arrows | Doom Town | Alley Ghost The Gramophone April 24, 2012 Ever have one of those nights when leave a concert thinking, "man, I am getting too old for thisr" Sure you have, and Fred Cole... More >>
Chain and The Gang | XXO | Little Big Bangs Pig Slop Studios April 21, 2012 Back in the mid-1990s, there used to be an Indie-Rock Flea Market in Arlington, VA every summer. These events would attract... More >>
Mission of Burma | The Conformists The Firebird April 4, 2012 One-third of a century isn't too long to wait for a band to come to town, is itr Mission of Burma - the band that basically invented Amer... More >>
In the past decade, there have been so many indie-rock band reunions, and so many song-by-song recreations of now-classic albums, that the whole scene threatens to take on the tacky air of a 1950s or ... More >>
The Hive Dwellers | Woodsman | Sleep In Sundays Luminary Arts Center, 3/27/12 It is hard to underestimate just how influential Calvin Johnson has been over the past three decades. Since 1982, he has... More >>
It's mid-March, which means it's once again time for South by Southwest. A couple of RFT scribes are currently soaking up the atmosphere (read: getting copiously drunk on Shiner Bock), but the rest o... More >>
The Del Fuegos Old Rock House | March 1, 2012 It's tempting to lament the Del Fuegos as one of the Bands That Never Made It. Indeed, after an compelling start, it was this Boston band's fate to becom... More >>
In 1983, the New Jersey punk band Detention recorded "Dead Rock 'n Rollers," a list of ill-fated musicians climaxed by this indignant shout:... More >>
Elizabeth Mitchell didn't set out to sing children's songs -- or, more specifically, "all ages folk music." Along with husband Daniel Littleton, she was best known as the main voice of Ida, a NYC-base... More >>
