Consumer Cyclicals

Local Record Store Day Wax from Tim Rakel's Extension Chord Records, Cassie Morgan, and More

It's one of the perks of this gig that, sometimes, Record Store Day comes a little bit early. The Vinyl Fairy has been making stops at my doorstep and leaving advances of this weekend's local wax offerings, which are every bit as exciting as, oh, the 1,000-quantity Todd Rundgren picture discs (or wh ... More >>

Disappearing Ink: What will happen to all the books?

Adventures with Santa and Co. in Rise of the Guardians

8-Bit Pale Ale and Wreck-It Ralph

Finally, Walt Disney Animation Studios is taking a page from Pixar's illustrious animation board. On Friday, November 2, it released Wreck-It Ralph in theaters nationwide, spurring Gut Check to make a trip to Ronnies 20 Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; 314-843-4336) in south county to catch the ... More >>

IKEA! Why Hast Thou Forsaken Us?

Dear IKEA, You bastard! String us along. Tell us how you know we'd make a good market for your crappy furniture stores. Say how flattered you are when we express our love for you on Facebook. And then, what? Shit all over us by announcing you've chosen Kansas City over us!?

Searchable Database Released Today Lists 50,000 Bands Owed $31 Million in Royalties

SoundExchange is a not-for-profit entrusted by the Library of Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for bands. That includes SIRIUS, Pandora and more. So far, it's found the rightful owner of some $1 billion in royalties, but paying up has proven a challenge. The organizat ... More >>

[Kim Dotcom Arrest Video: Update] The Eight Most Eyebrow-Raising Elements of the Megaupload Shutdown

Editor's Update, 8/9/12: Video of the raid on former Megaupload CEO Kim Dotcom's enormous New Zealand home in January has just emerged -- you can watch it above. The report, from 3 News in New Zealand, includes testimony from Dotcom -- who is accused of the largest copyright infringement in U.S. hi ... More >>

Eleven Things Every Independent Artist Should Work On

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Brave is the rare family film about courage that actually has some

City Alderman Wants to End Booze Sales at Gas Stations

"One for you. One for me!" That was Homer Simpson's fantasy of an alcohol-fueled car, and according to 24th Ward Alderman Scott Ogilvie, the city's current laws allowing liquor sales at gas stations is providing a similar temptation. "Right now, you can walk into a gas station, you can buy prepack ... More >>

Fudging The Numbers With Last.Fm

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 was thrilled five-ish years ago when I found out about Last.fm, the music recommendation service that d ... More >>

Ellen Back Again: Arnie Robbins steps down as editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and RFT checks in with his predecessor

Amazon Agrees to Pay Sales Tax in Texas; What About in Missouri?

On Monday, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Amazon jointly announced they had struck a deal for the internet retailer to begin paying sales tax in the Lone Star state. Amazon has a distribution center in Irving, Texas, but has never paid sales tax for products shipped from the facility b ... More >>

Ten Years Later, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is Still Wilco's Masterpiece

Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is rightfully associated with excellence, a piece of work commonly heralded as one of the best albums of the 2000s. It's the type of record with enough depth, lyricism and experimentation to get people interested in serious music, no small feat for any band, and this one ... More >>

A Comprehensive Guide to Record Store Day 2012

This just in: Vinyl is BACK! Now in its fifth year, Record Store Day has made its international mark, recognized by labels, bands, and collectors worldwide. Celebrating the cultural impact of the independent record store, RSD offers everything from live performances to special discounts to limited e ... More >>

Damn the Man - Save the Empire

Six Most Exciting Record Store Day Releases

It's April and the smell of vinyl is in the air. Record Store Day is this weekend, that annual celebration of those places where the things you illegally download live. This equates to a wealth of exclusive releases and reissues, some of which are made in such small quantities they are practically o ... More >>

Possible Alternative to Illinois "Skin Tax": Annual License Fee for Strip Clubs

​Instead of trying to tax strip clubs $5 per patron in order to fund aid to sexual assault victims, Illinois state senator Toi Hutchinson may instead propose raising the funds by levying an annual licensing fee against the clubs. This update comes from Micheal Ocello, president of the VCG Holdings ... More >>

Mayor Alvin Parks Rethinks ESL's Late-Night Liquor Sales in Wake of Shootings

​East St. Louis native and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin last month urged Mayor Alvin Parks to end the city's late-night liquor sales in the hopes that it would cut down on violent crime. As he had done in the past, Parks rejected the notion. But after two separate shootings long after midnight thi ... More >>

Megaupload Goes Down: Five Lost Music-Stealing Technologies

It's true: Megaupload has been gone an entire week, and for the millions of people who used the site because they like their totally legal for-pay cloud storage to come equipped with fake download links and massive flash banner ads I'm sure things have been difficult. For copyright holders, massiv ... More >>

The Eight Most Eyebrow-Raising Elements of the Megaupload Shutdown

This FBI notice is all the content that remains on the now-shuttered Megaupload.com domain.​SOPA and PIPA have been the talk of the internet for weeks, if not months now. Several major websites blacked out their content in opposition to the controversial bills this past Wednesday. On Thursday, ... More >>

Spy Games and Celebrity Sightings at St. Louis-Area Bookstores

image viaWatch out, she may be packing an iPhone.​As everybody knows, the Christmas-shopping season is the most hectic time to be in retail -- as both a seller and as a consumer -- and this year, there's an extra frisson of excitement in St. Louis bookstores, thanks to some corporate espionage ... More >>

CDC Identifies Source of E. Coli Outbreak

​Romaine lettuce sold at an area grocery chain and sourced from a specific farm was the source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened dozens in Missouri and several other states earlier this fall, according to a report published yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The report ... More >>

The Ideal Gift for the Couch Potato Who Has Everything

What more can we say, besides to add that it is Cyber Monday so it would be practically un-American not to take a few minutes out of your workday and purchase a case of genuine Dunder Mifflin copy paper for your Office-loving loved one? It also happens to be the cheapest brand of paper Quill is offe ... More >>

Missouri Supreme Court to Strip Club Owners: "Tough Titties!"

Justices uphold Missouri's nudity ban for strip clubs.​The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday handed strip club owners yet another loss in their legal fight to overturn a sweeping law regulating "adult-oriented businesses." The law passed in 2010 prohibits exotic dancers from displaying their genita ... More >>

Jack Dorsey: Can He Take Over Steve Jobs' Role as High Priest of Geek?

The bigger question: Can Dorsey pull off the mock turtleneck? ​Will Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter and Square) become the next Steve Jobs? That's the question that tech site gigaom.com recently tackled in an article comparing the St. Louis native to the late Apple founder. The website notes that ... More >>

Music That Sticks to Your Ribs

Audit Blasts Tour of Missouri, Peter Kinder

Peter Kinder​Lt. Governor Peter Kinder voted to give $2.5 million in taxpayer money to the non-profit company running the Tour of Missouri bicycle race -- even while he served as the company's chairman.And that's a conflict of interest, says the state auditor. In a newly released audit of the Miss ... More >>

Just How Does a Dead Body Go Unnoticed for 12 Days in a Casino Parking Garage?

In its defense, Ameristar says its parking garages are big ones. Well, yeah, but...​A casino patron leaving the Ameristar St. Charles made a grisly discovery early today in the casino's parking garage.Hattie Bradley, 62, lay dead inside a white Ford Mustang. Authorities say surveillance footage sh ... More >>

How the Rams "Snookered" St. Louis: Details of the "Most Scandalous" Stadium Deal in History

The Rams could leave the Edward Jones Dome if the stadium isn't a top-tier facility come 2015.​Neil Demause, author of the book Field of Schemes, penned an article last week on his favorite subject: stadium-financing. The story, which originally ran in The Nation and was re-purposed on NPR, begins ... More >>

Borders: The Fallout

image via​Borders has finally decided to put itself out of its misery and allow itself to be liquidated. By the end of September, all the remaining 299 Borders stores (including the six in the St. Louis area) will be gone, leaving 11,700 booksellers, baristas, store managers and corporate empl ... More >>

The Last Space Shuttle Launch And Obsolete Music-Delivery Systems

​Friday morning's scheduled space shuttle launch, the last of 135 missions flown by the orbiters, marks the exact moment at which a space-travel technology from 1981 finally becomes obsolete. That's right: If you'd just overbuilt your music collection like NASA did with Atlantis, you could s ... More >>

Spotify's US Launch Approaches; Which Music Service Are You?

​Music fans in the United States don't have a lot to envy of their European brothers and sisters, at least unless they're big fans of Abba or the kind of sticky, glitter-covered dance-pop that usually just makes me really want to leave the youth hostel and brush my teeth. One exception: Spotif ... More >>

Just When You Thought You Were Free of Zhu Zhu Pets...

image viaDespite appearances, it's not a horror movie.​Warning to anyone who has a small child or has to spend a lot of time in the presence of a small child: Zhu Zhu pets, the scourge of a couple of Christmases past, are back! Well, they were never actually gone -- except for the 2009 holida ... More >>

"Gentleman" Jim Gates still knows a hit when he hears one

Record Store Day 2011: Hot Sellers, Highlights from St. Louis

​As we have already mentioned, Record Store Day 2011 was a massive success, with a couple local stores suggesting it may have been their biggest sales day ever. Most places did plenty to give back to their rabid patrons, offering free food, beer, live music and local celebrity DJ sets througho ... More >>

The Ten Best Things To Do This Weekend in St. Louis: April 15 to 17

​It's the most wonderful time of the year: Record Store Day! For us at A to Z, it's like Christmas, only we're receiving special gifts from Wayne Coyne and Thom Yorke, and enjoying DJ sets and live performances by the best in local music. Which, as far as we're concerned, beats the pants off o ... More >>

This Weekend is Record Store Day in St. Louis

​If your Friday routine doesn't have you checking out our weekly listing of Weekend Best Bets over at our music blog, A to Z, for shame! You're missing out on some great entertainment suggestions.This weekend, it's is all about Record Store Day with radio personalities and DJs spinning their favor ... More >>

Record Store Day Announce 2011 Releases, Ozzy Osbourne Commands Your Attendance

​Record Store Day is a relatively new and relatively awesome Holiday. It's like Christmas for music nerds, only better -- rather than forcible family-togetherness and buying gifts for other people, record collectors are lured with live music, beer and shiny new wax into spending the day with t ... More >>

Missouri Latest State to Push for Online Sales Tax

Local retailers want to wipe that smug smile off those Amazon.com boxes. ​Two state representatives held a press conference today in the University City Loop, calling attention to legislation that would add sales tax to purchases Missouri residents make over the Internet. State representativ ... More >>

Repudiated upon its 1961 release by the tough-talking clergyman who inspired it, The Hoodlum Priest remains as obscure and intriguing as ever

The Cover of the March 10 Print Edition

Last Collector Standing: Kate Eddens on Working at Thrill Jockey and Vintage Vinyl, and Her Musical Education (and Evolution)

Jon Scorfina​As major record labels have struggled to adjust to the new digital landscape, independent labels have thrived by sticking to the tried and true demand for vinyl. We caught up with Kate Eddens, a former employee of both Thrill Jockey records and Vintage Vinyl, at her south city hom ... More >>

Yeah, Pomplamoose sold out to Hyundai, but this indie duo just might revolutionize the music business

Neither Baller Nor Shot Caller

YouTube Removes Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Motorola Video

Two weeks ago, we told you about the local activists who busted out an anti-Motorola song-and-dance routine at the Best Buy and AT&T stores in suburban Brentwood -- and we posted a video of the performance. That video quickly drew more than 35,000 hits.Last week, however, YouTube unceremoniousl ... More >>

AG Chris Koster: 'Tis the Season for Online Scamming

Don't let this guy steal your Christmas.​Hacktivists! Gawker Attacks! Operation Payback! It's a scary cyberworld out there, and you, too, could be a victim of Internet crime. Especially during this season of light, joy and online credit card information. Luckily, we Missourians have an attorney ... More >>

Left Bank, Subterranean Books Now Selling Google eBooks

​As of this morning, two of St. Louis's proudly independent bookstores have joined in the digital revolution: Subterranean Books in the Delmar Loop and Left Bank Books in the Central West End and downtown are now offering Google eBooks on their respective websites. Both stores have been selli ... More >>

Unwrap This

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Circulation Plummets

The latest circulation numbers aren't miraculous at all.​Across the country, the rate of decline at America's largest newspapers has begun to slow. For the last six months, they averaged a drop of 4.99 percent Monday through Friday, and 4.46 percent on Sunday, according to a report just out today ... More >>