Ben Gibbard

Best of Coachella 2013: Weekend Two

The Visual Stimulations for People Who Were High Coachella's art installations -- the ones designed to impress you while you're high, aka all of them -- were particularly impressive this year. There was the tesla coil, the crane that was formerly a flower but now a praying mantis, the giant floresce ... More >>

Best of Coachella 2013: Weekend One

Editor's Note: Coachella Music Festival split into two weekends for 2013. Read on for the best of Weekend One, from writers at our sister paper, the LA Weekly.Karen O's Outfit Karen O's wardrobe on Friday night was bad ass. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's front woman appeared on the main stage in a technicolor ... More >>

The Six Most Factually Inaccurate Lyrics In Songs

Songs exist in a general realm of fiction, even when they are theoretically true. Still, every once in a while a lyric comes along that makes you tilt your head and say "Wait a second..." Here are the six most factually inaccurate lyrics in songs. Let us know your favorites in the comments, and plea ... More >>

Homespun: Ryan Wasoba

Music for No Reason
ryanwasoba.bandcamp.com

Ryan Wasoba's Music for No Reason: Read the Homespun Review and Listen

It probably comes as no surprise that about half of your music critic friends here at Riverfront Times have, at one time or another, performed in working bands themselves. The same drive that leads to critical analysis or championing/deriding new music dovetails with a desire to write and play music ... More >>

The Six Best References To Drunk Driving In Song

The trifecta may be sex, drugs, and rock & roll, but at some point you have to get from point A to point B. Against its better judgement, rock & roll has gotten behind the wheel while intoxicated several times. We are not endorsing such an activity, but the risk factor of driving while intoxicated h ... More >>

Six Indie Rock Songs That Sound Like Christian Rock Songs

Image via.​A plethora of compelling music has come from indie rock's complicated relationship with Christianity: Sufjan Stevens' folk hymns, David Bazan's tormented crises, the Thermals' blasphemous pop punk. These are the polar opposite of today's contemporary Christian rock, with its overt p ... 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 >>

Death Cab For Cutie At The Pageant, 10/2/11: Review, Photos and Setlist

Photo by Jason Stoff​Death Cab For Cutie The Pageant October 2, 2011 Ben Gibbard has left us. The melancholic Ben Gibbard we once knew is gone, for all intents and purposes. He's skinny now, having swapped drinking for running, and he's got a new, Jordan Catalano haircut. He's visibly bouncy, ... More >>

Death Cab For Cutie Is Coming To The Pageant

Brent Holzapfel​Death Cab For Cutie is coming to the Pageant on October 2nd. Tickets go on sale August 5th at 5 p.m -- they're $35 for general admission and $40 for reserved spots on the balcony. Death Cab needs little introduction -- Ben Gibbard's bone-deep delivery has helped ensure the Wa ... More >>

Hear a New So Many Dynamos Song!

​Photographer Ryan Russell has probably shot one of your favorite musicians. (His client list is too long to print, but some of this notable subjects include Tegan and Sara, Underoath, Ben Gibbard and Paramore.) Russell has also worked with locals So Many Dynamos; in fact, he shot the cover fo ... More >>

The Lonely Forest/Margot & the Nuclear So & So's

8 p.m. Wednesday October 13. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

An Under Cover Weekend Night One: Union Tree Review, Sleepy Kitty, Bruiser Queen

​An Under Cover Weekend kicked off last night in fine fashion promptly at 8:30 p.m., with the Union Tree Review on stage at the Firebird covering the Postal Service. Thanks to a steady schedule of live shows, the young indie-folk band has improved mightily in recent months. Its set only solidi ... More >>

An Under Cover Weekend returns for more cover-song shenanigans

Jay Farrar

9 p.m. Thursday, June 17. The Old Rock House, 1200 South Seventh Street.

Review: Freelance Whales and Peter Wolf Crier Hover and Thrash at Off Broadway, Tuesday, June 8

Freelance Whales​If not an outright winner, Freelance Whales is certainly a contender for indiest of indie rock bands at this very moment. (That statement is purposefully ambiguous, or meaningless.) Last night at a surprisingly populated Off Broadway, the launchpad excitement for its first vis ... More >>

Owl City

8 p.m. Wednesday, May 5. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

Heligoats

9 p.m. Wednesday, March 3. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Elsinore

9 p.m. Saturday, February 27. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of January 25

As always, asterisks indicate bands coming through St. Louis... Vintage Vinyl 1. MURPHY LEE---You See Me 2. BEACH HOUSE---Teen Dream 3. VAMPIRE WEEKEND---Contra 4. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG---IRM 5. ANVIL---This Is Thirteen 6. SPOON---Transference 7. MAGNETIC FIELDS---Realism* 8. TEDDY PENDERGRASS---Ess ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of December 14 - December 20

Euclid Records 1. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures 2. Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live 3. Neil Young - Dreaming Man Live '92 4. Bob Dylan - Christmas In The Heart 5. Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP 6. Norah Jones - The Fall 7. Vince ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of December 7-13

Vintage Vinyl 1. THEM CROOKED VULTURES---Them Crooked Vultures 2. CLIPSE---Til The Casket Drops 3. MELANIE FIONA---The Bridge 4. GUCCI MANE---State Vs. Radric Davis 5. BLAKROC---Blakroc 6. JOHN MAYER---Battle Studies* 7. VARIOUS ARTISTS---Daptone Gold 8. TOM WAITS---Glitter & Doom Live 9. PASSION PI ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 23 - November 29

Euclid Records 1. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Live Anthology 2. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures 3. Bob Dylan - Christmas In The Heart 4. Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live 5. Bottle Rockets - Lean Forward 6. Swell Season - Strict J ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 16-22

Vintage Vinyl 1. ALL TIME LOW---Nothing Personal 2. BOYS LIKE GIRLS---Love Drunk 3. JOSH GOLDEN---Josh Golden 4. 50 CENT---Before I Self-Destruct 5. THEM CROOKED VULTURES---Them Crooked Vultures 6. JOHN MAYER---Battle Studies* 7. RAKIM---Seventh Seal 8. NORAH JONES---The Fall 9. BOYS LIKE GIRLS---Bo ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 2 to November 8

Every Monday, A to Z publishes the best-selling releases from area independent record stores from the preceding week. An asterisk after an album name indicates that the act is coming to town. And so without further ado: Apop Records 1 Lightning Bolt: Earthly Delights 2 Leonard Cohen: Live Songs ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of October 26 - November 1

Euclid Records 1. Rosanne Cash - The List 2. Jay Farrar/Ben Gibbard - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone 3. Swell Season - Strict Joy* 4. REM - Live At The Olympia 5. OST - Where The Wild Things Are 6. Tegan And Sara - Sainthood* 7. Chuck Prophet - Let Fr ... More >>

Relient K

8 p.m. Saturday, October 24. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard Set Tour Dates

Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard are playing four shows in October, to celebrate the release of their Jack Kerouac-inspired collaboration, One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur. The closest tour date is October 26 in Chicago at Lincoln Hall -- and judging by the band backing the pair, a road trip m ... More >>

Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard's Jack Kerouac-Inspired CD Out This Fall

When I spoke with Jay Farrar a few months ago, he mentioned that the Jack Kerouac-inspired project he recorded with Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard was "in the works, and it could possibly come out in the fall, like around October." Good estimate: A press release just landed in my inbox stating t ... More >>

Interview Outtakes: Son Volt's Jay Farrar

In this week's paper, I interviewed Son Volt's Jay Farrar. SV's latest, American Central Dust, arrived in stores last week. He spoke about song inspirations (and a forthcoming project with Ben Gibbard) in print; below find more talk about side project Gob Iron, and the connection between Uncle Tupel ... More >>

Telekinesis

8 p.m. Sunday, June 21. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Homespun: The Pragmatic, Circles EP

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews the Pragmatic's debut EP, Circles. He had this to say: On its self-released Circles EP, it's hard to miss the influence of the Postal Service, the collaboration between Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard that opened many ears to the beauty of sculpted ... More >>

Homespun: The Pragmatic

Circles EP
(self-released)

The Sham

9 p.m. Saturday, January 3. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Review Photos Setlist: Death Cab for Cutie and Fleet Foxes at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, St. Louis, Monday, October 13

On tour for Narrow Stairs, Chris Walla and Death Cab for Cutie bring musical gems and political smarts to the Fabulous Fox

Show Review: Death Cab for Cutie in Columbia, Missouri, Saturday, May 30

Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs Review: A First Listen, Track-By-Track Analysis

Mark Kozelek Releases New Sun Kil Moon Album, April on April 1

Jesse Lacey / Kevin Devine

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 8. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Local Motion: So Many Dynamos / The Ghost of the Forest / Berlin Whale

8 p.m. Saturday, December 9. Saint Louis University's Billiken Club, Busch Student Center (20 North Grand Boulevard).

Jenny Lewis

Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love)

Beat Happenings

Music news you can use

Death Cab for Cutie

Plans (Atlantic)

Being There

We talk movies with Allison Moorer and pit the Moz against Nick Carter

Death Cab for Cutie with Pearl Jam

Tuesday, October 5; Fox Theatre

Play the Horn

The Unicorns strike it rich with their unique brand of sloppy pop

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Death Cab for Cutie

Transatlanticism (Barsuk Records)

Postal Service

Thursday, April 10; Rocket Bar