Audio and Video Devices

The Great MP3 Compromise: Credits Where Credits Are Due

Art and life co-habitate, informing, imitating, and enriching each other constantly. Each week in Better Living Through Music, RFT Music writer Ryan Wasoba explores this symbiotic relationship. For the average music listener, Mp3s are a compromise. Sound quality is traded for portability. For the ... More >>

Does Spotify Mean the End the iPod and Your Music Collection?

When I bought my first iPod--this was the first iPod, when the scroll wheel actually spun around--it was a severe blow to my nerd-cred, which I guarded pretty jealously at the time. (It was the only cred I had.) Relying on iTunes and its untouchable database to maintain my MP3 collection, instead of ... More >>

Fleeing Burglar Points Gun at Cops, Who Respond With a Barrage of Bullets

Last night at 10:42 p.m., police say, a 92-year-old woman living in the Hill neighborhood was awoken by noises in her basement. She soon discovered three burglars, described in the police report as three black males, ages 17, 17 and 21. One of them pointed a weapon at the old lady. But they then fle ... More >>

The Six Best Rock Songs With Turntables

Remember when the turntable was considered a legitimate instrument in a rock band? Neither do I. But there are rare instances where DJ scratches are not a dealbreaker in a non hip-hop context. Here are the six best rock songs featuring turntables. Let us know your favorites and we'll REEEEEEEEEEEEMI ... More >>

St. Louis' Ten Best Sports Bars

Late March is a magical time of the year, isn't it? We're midway through the NCAA Tournament (with St. Louis hosting the Midwest Regional this weekend); baseball's Opening Day is right around the corner; the NHL playoffs (featuring the Blues for the first time in three years) start in a few weeks; a ... More >>

Steve Jobs' Six Best Music Innovations

Apple (the Beatles record label) once sued Apple (the computer corporation). After initial squabbles over the right to name their companies after the same fruit, the two agreed that all was good as long as Steve Jobs and crew never entered the music business. As you can probably guess, as you likely ... More >>

Classic Vinyl & Media Sale in Carbondale September 10 & 11

image viaYou can get both vinyl records and collectibles at the Classic Vinyl Sale.​On the weekend of September 10, the University Mall in Carbondale, Illinois, will play host to the 4th Annual SIRIS Classic Vinyl & Media Sale. The Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS) and the WS ... More >>

St. Louis Stereo, a new high-end audio store, brings out the best in music

Last Collector Standing: DJ Mahf on the Relationship Between Hip-Hop & Art, His Formative Years and His Brother Jim Mahfood's Influence

Jon Scorfina​When not out competing in national DJ tournaments, DJ Mahf (a.k.a. Dan Mahfood) can be found scouring local record stores for hours on end, sometimes with a portable record player by his side. A life-long fan of funk, soul and hip-hop, Mahf used to use a fake I.D. to sneak into Bl ... More >>

Review Preview: Copia Urban Winery

Jennifer SilverbergThe dining room of Copia Urban Winery​When a restaurant is closed for two and a half years, it almost always stays closed. Not so with Copia Urban Winery, which returned this summer 30 months after an arson fire gutted it. Get a sneak preview of my review after the jump.

iHelp for Autism: The iPad opens up new worlds for autistic children

Last Collector Standing: Nicole Peterson on Bowie, Beatles and Bands Who Love Vinyl

Jon ScorfinaNicole Peterson, this week's Last Collector Standing​Nicole Peterson has worked in many facets of the music industry, including retail at Slackers CD's and Games and (currently) at Suite 100 at the Pageant handling merchandise and ticket sales. After looking through her modest reco ... More >>

St. Louis Cop Avoids Jail Time in Corruption Case

Brezill will be able to play Wii on probation!​A rookie St. Louis cop was spared jail time today for stealing electronics from an arrestee -- who happened to be carting the loot around as part of her "work" as an informant for the feds. U.S. District Judge Donald Stohr today sentenced 25-year-old ... More >>

Arise, and Be Knighted

St. Louis Cops Indicted in Federal Sting; Colluded to Keep Stolen Electronics

Officer Jackson to Officer Brezill: "Wii are in trouble now."​St. Louis police officers Ronald Jackson and Christian Brezill have been indicted on charges of theft of government property, after allegedly stealing stolen merchandise after an arrest, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap ann ... More >>

Apple Announcement a Big YAWNER

​So, my guess was wrong about Apple releasing the Beatles catalog on iTunes. I'm not ashamed of that. It was a long shot. But I did get some things right about the Apple announcement and I was surprised by quite a few things, too. I was right about iTunes 9. That wasn't hard to guess. I haven't ha ... More >>

9.9.09 Beatles or Not? Apple's Big Announcement is Today

​Today is the day when we find out if my prediction that Apple will be the first to release digital versions of the Beatles catalog at the "iPod event" comes true. I'm sort of leaning against my prediction since Apple named the event for a Rolling Stones song; "It's Only Rock'n'Roll" Whe ... More >>

Revolution 9.9.9: Will New Media Formats Bring the LP and The Beatles into Digital Age?

Photo by Crabchick via Flickr​Record companies have been dragged kicking and screaming by consumers (and Apple) into the digital age in the last ten years. And predictions are that 2010 will mark a tipping point where music purchased digitally via download will account for more than half of all mu ... More >>

Ten Tech Releases to Look for this Fall

Photo by Marcin Wichary via Flickr​It's August. The economy is bad. Things are slow, but technology marches on. In spite of the global economic slowdown, there will still be plenty of new high-tech products to look forward to this fall. A lot of them will actually be cheaper (even Apple has lowere ... More >>

Can't Install Your Digital TV Converter? Call the Fire Department!

flickr.com/photos/zzilchWe all know how the fire department will rescue kittens from trees, but this one seems to go beyond the call of duty. According to an FCC press release, the St. Louis Fire Department is now teaming up with KETC (Channel 9) to provide in-home D-TV installation for inept city r ... More >>

Light Write

Face the Nation

We find out what rocked across the country in 2007.

Daily Web Crawl

Oscar Mayer Fast Franks
Beef Frank In A Bun

$2.99
Schnucks
6600 Clayton Road
Richmond Heights

Beat Down

This DJ simulator is nothing to rave about.

Art Attack

Stand clear: A young St. Louis sculptor named Moses has entered the building

Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1999

A new generation of ravers takes the beat back to the warehouse

Three Artists, No Waiting

The 2006 Great Rivers Biennial

Sweet and Lo-Fi

Bill Streeter's vlog is how others see us

Love Park

Mr. Night and Ms. Day grab iPods for an iPopping tour of Forest Park

Head Over Feet

We sip java with Alanis, investigate podcasting and figure out what those concert tickets are really worth

The Sporting Crowd

No Final Four tickets? No problem -- just grin and bar it!

Hot Wheels

Walter Fields wanted a Bentley. He wound up with two lemons.

Best Place to Buy Vinyl

Record Exchange

Various Artists

Billy Martin Presents the Turntable Sessions (Amulet)

iPod, youPod

Digital music lets us carry our personalities in our pockets

Erykah Badu

Friday, February 20; Pageant

Best Place to Play Pool

Saratoga Lanes

Best Measured Response to an Irrational Crackdown

Intimate Warehouse Parties

Lip Service

Steven Drozd talks about a decade's worth of weirdness with the Flaming Lips

Russell Gunn

Ethnomusicology, Vol. 2 (Justin Time)

Best Place To Buy (and Sell) Stereo Equipment

Alpha Tech Electronics

Champing at the Bit

The Fucking Champs wage their solitary war on the wuss hegemony, the indie-rock cabal, the bass and soundmen

The X-ecutioners and the Souls of Mischief

Thursday, November 2; Galaxy

Unplugged

The music stops when Nathan Tumulty deserts his Arcanum Festival

Boom in the System

Shattering records and eardrums at the Autosound Challenge

Cheetah Clubbed

The Washington Avenue nightclub loses its spot

Mix Master Mike with Rahzel

Friday, March 24; Firehouse

Able Hands

Meet the Beat

Hip-hop's here. Deal with it. Check the local MCs and DJs moving up from the underground.