Christmas

Happy Whatever from RFT Music!

Now we're talking: It's finally cold enough to drain the blood from your knuckles and put a sting in your cheeks. Just in time to find some loved ones, fire up some hot beverages and celebrate the things that are important to you in whatever way you enjoy doing that. We're shutting off the fluoresce ... More >>

Lights! Car! Action!

War on Christmas: The Ten Best Songs for the Fight

The War on Christmas is upon us! Time to take sides! Did you know there was a War on Christmas? There is! Us Godless heathens are burning all the mangers, or at least politely asking that they not be forcibly erected (oh, I said it) in public spaces. But you know what? Fine. You want a War on Chri ... More >>

Tell us Your Favorite Christmas Song to Win Jinglefest Tickets

It's nutcrackin' time! Soon all the shows in town will be related to either the Holidays or the apocalypse; we choose to embrace the festivities either way. Starting with tomorrow's Jinglefest 2012 (hosted by WIL 92.3 FM) at the Family Arena. Now in its tenth year, the festivities will include sets ... More >>

Why People Hate Christmas Music

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. I don't hate hearing Christmas music as much as I hate hearing people complain about Christmas music. " ... More >>

Only You Can Prevent Christmas Music From Starting Early on KLOU

Ours is a country divided -- almost precisely in half, it turns out -- between head-in-the-clouds idealists and stick-in-the-mud realists. Of course, we are referring to people who love Christmas music and others who could never again hear a bell jingle, jangle, or rock, and it would still be too so ... More >>

An RFT Christmas Special: Megomaniacal

​Riverfront Times' contributor Mark Fischer felt that this Christmas season has been a little light on inspirational specials dedicated to the true meaning of the season -- making sure you get your kids that one item that they've been hounding you about since ten minutes after Thanksgiving dinner. ... More >>

Four Catholic Masses for Hearing Gorgeous Traditional Christmas Music in St. Louis

Image via​Say what you will about the Catholic faith: It has inspired, over the centuries, some haunting and beautiful Christmas melodies, and our city's faithful know how to do them justice. Here are four masses for tasting the tradition:    St. Margaret of Scotland [map]Best mass for m ... More >>

Where to Eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Image via​For some folks, Christmas is a day of mandatory family time in celebration of some cool old cat's birthday, and for others, it's an ever-annoying nuisance that means little to them except that there's nothing to do. But there's one thing we all have in common: We gotta eat. -Demun ... More >>

Justin Bieber And Boyz II Men Want To Get With You, Girl; Also, It's Christmas

Image via​Hey, girl -- you there, in the reindeer sweater -- I need an object lesson. Come over here and dance up on me while I write this Christmas music-related blog entry. See, Justin Bieber and Boyz II Men have just recorded a new Christmas song, "Fa La La," and, uh, it's kind of about Chr ... More >>

Puttin' the Ass in Christmas

The Black Rep's Gift to St. Louis

Finally! LED Messages on Vodka Bottles!

From the list of things we didn't realize we needed - a vodka bottle with a customizable LED marquee! Medea Vodka has introduced a bottle with a little LED screen above the logo which can be programmed with up to six 255-character scrolling messages. Check out this coolness: Now that we've been ... More >>

Gut Check's New Year's Eve Recommendations

Image viaRaise a glass (or three) to 2011.​This is a sticky post. The latest Gut Check post follows this one.While Gut Check prefers to spend New Year's Eve nursing a bottle of whiskey and another twelve months' worth of accumulated regrets, I suspect more than a few of you plan to ring in 2011 wi ... More >>

How to Eat Your Christmas Tree

Chef Rene Redzepi thinks it's a shame that Christmas trees are used for a few days then discarded, so he writes in the New York Times that perhaps we should considering eating our Christmas trees. "Maybe for us Westerners the Christmas tree becomes, if only briefly, like a beloved pet. And who would ... More >>

Canadian Gingerbread Houses Recalled for Staph Infection

Canadians who got gingerbread houses might not have had a merry Christmas. The Toronto Sun reports that gingerbread houses sold at an Ontario Whole Foods were recalled on Christmas Eve for possible staph contamination.Christmas wasn't great for a would-be French truffle thief, either. According to t ... More >>

Ten shows, concerts and benefits to attend between December 23 and 29

Ten Things To Do in St. Louis: December 23-29

Wikimedia CommonsA scene from Christmas Holidays at Merryvale​For local clubs, the week after Christmas can be rather dead. Out-of-town touring acts take a break for the holidays, while locals tend to rest up, spend time with family and save their energy for New Year's Eve. (The exception to t ... More >>

KFC Does Christmas Right ... in Japan

What do people in Japan eat for Christmas dinner? KFC, of course. Laos News reports that the American chicken chain has created a Christmas tradition of eating fried chicken in Japan. Their catchy marketing slogan is, "At Christmas you eat chicken."If it's a KFC in Brazil, they'd better get ready to ... More >>

Ten Non-Traditional Holiday Songs To Keep You Sane

We're all force-fed holiday cheer from Halloween through New Year's, and even if you really, really love Christmas music, hearing the same old standards and modern classics over and over again can begin to fill you with exactly the opposite of holiday cheer. To avoid the monotony of those soft-rocki ... More >>

Bud Lights

Serenity Now

Top Ten X-Rated Xmas Treats (NSFW)

10. Naughty Animal Cookies It's not entirely clear what's going on with these cookies, but it's definitely naughty. To wit: It appears that a donkey (or a small horse) speckled in green Christmas sprinkles is mounting a small, red-speckled polar bear. Well, you know what they say: Tis the season to ... More >>

Intercontinental Christmas

Markt It, Dude

Corral a Friend for the Chorale

Train, Train

Reindeer Meat for Christmas? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Image viaThis picture of a baby reindeer just sleighs me.​Then one foggy Christmas eveSanta came to say,"Rudolph with your nose bright,you'll be on my plate tonight."In a PR nightmare that no one could have possibly foreseen, the British supermarket chain Lidl is being blasted for selling reindeer ... More >>

KEZK Wants You to (Oh-So-Softly) Rock This Holiday Season

A still from the "Last Christmas" video.​As of 5 p.m. Friday, November 12, KEZK (102.5 FM) has started programming Christmas/holiday music 24-7 on the terrestrial airwaves and online at KEZK.com. According to a press release, the station "will feature traditional songs from top artists like Bi ... More >>

Christmas Eve…Lives On!

Holiday Jam Countdown '09, All-Star Edition: Mariah Carey vs. Run-DMC vs. the Ramones vs. U2

The big guns come out on Christmas Eve. The classics. The canon. The pillars of seasonal cheer. Have a merry Christmas, if that's your thing. We're not going dark next week, so check back for fun stuff and interviews! MP3: Mariah Carey, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" MP3: The Ramones, "Merry C ... More >>

St. Louis Stage Capsules

Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out St. Louis theater

Dream of A Bright Christmas

Aaron's Thing of the Week, 17th December: Merry Xmas, Everybody

In keeping with the holiday spirit (that's the holiday spirit, not the Holliday spirit, which involves protracted negotiations and ridiculous midnight Twitter visits), I would like to bring you another dose of yuletide cheer. 

Holiday Jam Countdown '09: "Father Christmas" by the Kinks, Figgs and Cary Brothers

Released in 1977, the song "Father Christmas" by the Kinks did not chart(!), although now it's a power-pop staple. Here's the original, a fantastic version by Chicago band the Figgs and a link to stream a new version by LA singer-songwriter Cary Brothers. The latter version of this song comes from h ... More >>

St. Louis Stage Capsules

Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out the local theater scene

The Reason for the Season in Song

The Ten Worst Christmas Songs. Ever.

Wikimedia Commons​Before we get to the list, I want to make clear that this is not a Christmas-bashing article, but simply a piece listing ten Christmas songs that are so awful they should never be played again for any reason. I love Christmas, I love the season and I love the spirit -- and th ... More >>

Show Review: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Scottrade Center, Saturday, December 12

To my knowledge, the slew of vocalists which accompanied the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last evening never sang the word "Jesus." The concert did not feature a denouncement of Santa or the formation of a manger in laser lights on the Scottrade Center's roof. Yet the event felt an awful lot like the ... More >>

Rock the Bells: Get in the spirit with the RFT's annual holiday-album rodeo

G-L-O-R-I-A

Holiday Jam Countdown '09: MU330, "Xmas Card"

(Like last year, A to Z will post a holiday-related MP3 every day of December, leading up to Christmas. If you have any requests, suggestions or files to share, email me.) First, some sad news: There will be no Bert Dax holiday compilation this year, due to Matt Harnish's Bunnygrunt obligations. A ... More >>

Ein echte Deutsche Weihnachten

Here Comes Santa(s)

Bob Dylan To Release a Christmas Album. This Is Not a Joke.

(Via Aimee, via the NY Times, whose headline, "Sleigh, Lady, Sleigh," wins for the day) Bob Dylan's releasing a Christmas album on October 13 called Christmas in the Heart. According to Bob's website, the tracklisting will include songs such as Here Comes Santa Claus," "Winter Wonderland" and "Littl ... More >>

Ski by Night

Let’s meet at midnight

Stocking Stuffing: Ian jots down his 2008 Christmas wish list for the local food scene

Christmas Reimagined

Boone's Lit Road

Don't Hug the Trees

Celebrate them