Holiday Season

The Future Is Fine: Streaming music isn't evil, it's just different

Honk If Your Goose Is Cooked!

Want to try something old and new for Christmas dinner? Sassafras Valley Farm -- located in Morrison, on the southern bank of the Missouri River midway between St. Louis and Jefferson City -- has the answer: Goose! But you have to act fast and order it by tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18.

Lights! Car! Action!

St. Louis Hanukkah Celebrations: Hipster or Hasidic?

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah (or Chanukah, if you can manage that guttural "ch") starts Saturday night at sundown. A few weeks ago, Jimmy Kimmel ran a segment on his show called "Hipster or Hasidic" in which the audience had to determine whether a series of beards belonged to Brooklynites of the ... More >>

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 >>

A Holiday Miracle: The Tale of the Ted Drewes Mistletoe

Just so y'all know, the word mistletoe is Anglo-Saxon for "shit-on-a-twig." (Probably.) Does that still make you want to put on a Santa hat with a little sprig attached to the top and sidle up to your sweetie, lips all a-pucker? If so, you will be distressed to hear that 2012 was almost The Year Wi ... 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 >>

A Christmas Tree Grows in Maplewood

Holiday Overload

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 >>

Holiday Cocktail Countdown #3: Xmas in December at the Crow's Nest

Like any red-blooded American, Gut Check uses liquid medication to cope with holiday stress. Not only does a good winter cocktail make it possible to tolerate family members, say, inquiring about your procreation plans, it helps keep you warm, too. From now until Christmas, we're calling upon local ... More >>

St. Louis Hills Holiday Light Display Keeps Growing and Glowing

Kholood Eid​Misplaced your Christmas cheer? Hop in the car and head to St. Louis Hills after sundown, because the denizens of the south city neighborhood have plenty to go around. View a slideshow of St. Louis Hills holiday lights. Every November to December, the 6500 block transforms into ... More >>

Funky Butt Brass Band Holiday Brasstravaganza: Voodoo Christmas

Courtesy of Funky Butt Brass Band​The Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis' finest purveyors of second-line struttin', is about to unleash its annual holiday throwdown on Saturday night at Off Broadway. Now in its third year, the Holiday Brasstravaganza gives the six-piece a chance to thoroughly f ... More >>

A Very Bert Dax Christmas, Volume Nine: All Twelve Tracks, Streaming with Commentary

Roughly what we will look like after attending four Bert Dax Xmas release shows.​A Very Bert Dax Christmas, Volume Nine has now officially been released. The ninth annual X-Mas compilation, a joint release by Rob Severson from Pancake Productions (subject of a recent music feature) and Matt Ha ... More >>

Black Nativity: A Holiday Celebration, the Grandel Theatre, closes December 18

Holiday Lights, the Easy Way

Every Bert Dax Christmas Volume Nine Track, Streaming with Commentary: Part Four of Six

Krampus!​A Very Bert Dax Christmas, Volume Nine has now officially been released. The ninth annual X-Mas compilation, a joint release by Rob Severson from Pancake Productions (subject of this week's music feature) and Matt Harnish of The Bert Dax Calvacade of Stars, features a pool of truly d ... More >>

St. Louis Grocers Provide Holiday Cheer for the Less Fortunate

http://commons.wikimedia.org​It is twelve days until Christmas. You've finished your holiday shopping, put up your Christmas lights, and perfected your mother's gingerbread recipe, yet you still feel your holiday mission is not complete. Well, a quick visit to your local grocer may be the answ ... 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 >>

Six Better Things To Do This Christmas Season Than Listen To Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Now a Christmas tradition, Trans-Siberian Orchestra will make a trek to St. Louis next month. I've been an outspoken critic of TSO for years now, and admit that my disdain toward the band has bred some unintentional negativity. This holiday season, let's explore the positive alternatives -- here are ... More >>

The Black Rep's Gift to St. Louis

Here Comes Santas

Training for Christmas

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

Up and Down the Hill

There's something for everyone in these new holiday albums, even for Wilson Phillips fans

Ten Essential 2010 Holiday Albums

​For many musicians, the lure of the Christmas songbook is hard to resist. Despite the challenge of reworking well-worn (and, in some cases, worn out) songs, each year a few dozen acts try to make something fresh out of these seasonal favorites. This year's crop is heavy on female-fronted pop, ... More >>

Floors of Florals

Markt It, Dude

City of Many Santas

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 >>

Christmas Eve…Lives On!

Dream of A Bright Christmas

G-L-O-R-I-A

Ein echte Deutsche Weihnachten

Mary Little Christmas

Here Comes Santa(s)

Holi-Daze

Christmas through a cracked lens

Christmas with the Chorale

Yule love it

Wine and Weihnacht

Gettin' German in Hermann

Here Comes Christmas

Ready or not

Road to Tradition

Claus with Claws

Unreal chats up a brave Santa, rebels against the holidays and shops for porn.

Boone's Lit Road

A Tree for You and Me

Bombshells over Soulard

Blah-liday

Happy Xmas

(War is onscreen)

Christmas Eve Has Found You