Subject: Indie Rock and Indie Pop

• We made you a mixtape! 2008: The year in music.

  December 17, 2008

• D.I.Y. Now for the Future: The Undertow Collective and Magnolia Summer are using technology to modernize their D.I.Y. creative vision

  November 5, 2008

• Homespun: Target Market

  June 10, 2009

• Jenny Lewis

  June 10, 2009

• Santigold/MSTRKRFT/Trouble Andrew/Amanda Blank

  June 10, 2009

• Show Review Photos: MSTRKRFT, Santigold, Trouble Andrew and Amanda Blank at the Pageant, Saturday, June 13

  Around 1:10 a.m. or so, MSTRKRFT dropped bits of Daft Punk's "Da Funk" into its DJ set. The crowd - or what was left of it - at the Pageant naturally went apeshit, fueled as much by free Bacardi drinks as it was by the French techno-funk. And sure, at that hour, nothing is better than hearing an awesome dance jam.(View a slideshow of the concert.) Photo: Egan O'Keefe MSTRKRFT. More photos here.But aesthetically, it highlighted the shortcomings of the Canadian duo's 90-minute DJ set. Dropp

  June 14, 2009

• Ra Ra Riot, Maps and Atlases and Princeton at the Firebird, Sunday, September 20

  After selling out the Billiken Club in March, Ra Ra Riot and Maps and Atlases are returning to town on Sunday, September 20, at the Firebird. Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 day of show and go on sale on Friday, June 19! Here's a clip of RRR's "Dying is Fine," as a bunch of stuffed bunnies -- a.k.a. the members of Death Cab for Cutie, no, really -- break it down around 'em.

  June 17, 2009

• Dinosaur Jr at the Pageant, Wednesday, October 14

  Gee, ask and ye shall receive: Dinosaur Jr is confirmed to play the Pageant on Wednesday, October 14. Tickets go on sale July 10. All info TBA. HUZZAH! Farm is out June 23.

  June 19, 2009

• The 2009 RFT Music Awards Winners

  June 17, 2009

• Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of June 22-28

  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: Euclid Records 1. REGINA SPEKTOR: Far 2. DINOSAUR JR.: Farm* 3. ELVIS COSTELLO: Secret, Profane & Sugarcane 4. SUNSET RUBDOWN: Dragonslayer 5. PATTERSOON HOOD: Murdering Oscar 6. BOB DYLAN: Together Through Life* 7. GOD HELP THE GIRL: God Help the GIrl 8. WHITE RABBITS: It's Fri

  June 29, 2009

• Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of June 29-July 5

  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: Vintage Vinyl 1. WILCO: Wilco (The Album) 2. MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller 3. MICHAEL JACKSON: Off The Wall 4. MICHAEL JACKSON: Essential Michael Jackson 5. MICHAEL JACKSON: Bad 6. MICHAEL JACKSON: Dangerous 7. MICHAEL JACKSON: Number Ones 8. MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller - 25th Anniver

  July 6, 2009

• Bad Veins/Dead Confederate/The Domani International

  July 8, 2009

• Adam Franklin

  July 8, 2009

• Indie Rock Ice Cream Social

  July 8, 2009

• All Forked Up: Pitchfork Music Festival Day 1

  That's Doug Martsch of Built to Spill behind that hat.It's the end of Day 1 of Pitchfork Music Festival here in Chicago, which by Sunday, should see 40 bands play and welcome 50,000 -- ahem, hipsters -- through the fences of Union Park. More than a few bands who have made their way through St. Louis in the past year -- and some who will be here later on -- are scheduled to play this weekend.

  July 17, 2009

• Matt and Kim, Beirut at Pitchfork Music Festival

  Here's an unlikely duo from today's performances at Pitchfork Music Festival: Brooklyn's hyper-kinetic Matt and Kim battling for attention with the dreamy melancholy of New York's Beirut.Beruit at Pitchfork Music FestivalBeirut -- masterminded by Zachary Condon -- played with presence on the Pitchfork stage, eschewing confidence with its brass trumpets and tubas, mandolin strings and accordion keys. Barely into his mid-twenties, Condon acted like a veteran on the stage, although he did admit tha

  July 19, 2009

• Interview and Photos: Vivian Girls at Pitchfork Music Festival

  Kickball Katy of th Vivian Girls.Brooklyn-by-way-of-New Jersey's Vivian Girls seemed at home on the festival stage at Pitchfork today, although the young trio showed a few signs of being new to the game during its set, at one point asking the audience to all lift their arms in the air ("It looks so cool," said Kickball Katy, the group's bass player.) And who can blame them for being happy about their relatively early success? With the faceless chatter on the interwebs reaching a fever-pitch

  July 19, 2009

• Over the Weekend: Sonic Youth, Chris Isaak, Pitchfork Music Festival and Beach Bodies

  It was a music-heavy weekend, and here's what you might have missed.Sonic Youth at the ArchPhoto: Todd OwyoungIndie rock godfathers, and godmothers, Sonic Youth played a free show under the Arch on Friday. See more photos.Music editor Annie Zaleski called this show on Friday "one of the best concerts in St. Louis so far this year. Thanks in no small part to perfect weather, a healthy-sized crowd gathered underneath the Gateway Arch for the free Sonic Youth show, the first Live on the Levee conce

  July 20, 2009

• 2009's Pitchfork Coverage: Videos, Interviews and Photos of Flaming Lips, Vivian Girls, Fucked Up, Black Lips, M83, more!

  Last weekend, Nick Lucchesi headed up to Chicago to cover this year's Pitchfork Music Festival. In case you missed his reports, here's a handy-dandy list of links to his photos, interviews and reviews: *A Flaming Lips photo essay *A video interview with M83's Anthony Gonzalez *Black Lips and the National

  July 20, 2009

• Aaron's Thing of the Week - 22/07/09: The Saturn Suicide Show

  A couple of years ago, there was quite the competition among the major car companies, and it led to a true golden age for us all. It wasn't some sort of race to see who could make the safest car, or the most fuel efficient, or even the most stylish. No, the war I speak of was a quieter sort, a war of sounds and images, a war waged over the airwaves of television. I speak, of course, of the Indie Rock Ad Campaign Wars. 

  July 22, 2009

• Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of July 20-July 26

  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: Vintage Vinyl:1. MAXWELL: BLACKsummers'night2. MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller3. MICHAEL JACKSON: Essential Michael Jackson4. MICHAEL JACKSON: Number Ones5. MICHAEL JACKSON: Bad6. MICHAEL JACKSON: Dangerous7. MICHAEL JACKSON: Vol. 1: Greatest Hits8. WILCO: Wilco (The Album)* 9. MICHAEL

  July 27, 2009

• Peter, Bjorn and John and Dr. Dog Open Gargoyle's 2009 Season

  The Gargoyle just announced its first two shows of the fall: Swedish popsters Peter, Bjorn and John on November 13 and indie-rockers Dr. Dog on October 13. The latter show is $10 for the public; the former is $15. As always, the shows are free for people with a Wash U ID.

  August 4, 2009

• Reminder! @rftmusic Tweetup This Sunday at Off Broadway!

  We're a mere two days away from the first-ever @rftmusic Tweetup, where the music geeks and dorks of the Lou's Twitterati will gather before Matt & Kim and Gentleman Auction House and...be awkward together. Woo! The fun starts at 6 p.m. -- when you get to the door, tell 'em you're there for the Tweetup. I'll bring nametags and nerdiness. Who's in?

  August 21, 2009

• Show Review Photos: Matt & Kim at Off Broadway, Sunday, August 23

  Photo: Egan O'KeefeMatt and Kim last night at Off Broadway.​Matt & Kim's way-sold-out show at Off Broadway felt more like a bumping Friday than it did a school night. (The fair amount of toddlers and kids running around, rocking out and/or looking tired contributed to the festive mood -- albeit made for strange bedfellows with the drunken, sweaty hipsterati.) And the Brooklyn duo, perma-grins slapped on their face, did its part and whipped the excited crowd into a frenzy.(See 30-photo slid

  August 24, 2009

• Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of August 24-30

  Every Monday, A to Z publishes the best-selling releases from area independent record stores from the preceding week. (Vintage Vinyl will be added once it arrives!) An asterisk after an album name indicates that the act is coming to town. And so without further ado: Euclid Records 1. Bottle Rockets: Lean Forward* 2. Arctic Monkeys: Humbug 3. Modest Mouse - No One's First, And You're Next 4. Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs - Under The Covers Vol.2 5. Son Volt: American Central Dust* 6. Mew: No More

  August 31, 2009

• Two Cow Garage

  September 2, 2009

• Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of August 31-September 7

  Every Monday, A to Z publishes the best-selling releases from area independent record stores from the preceding week. (Vintage Vinyl will return next week -- they had catastrophic email problems last week.) An asterisk after an album name indicates that the act is coming to town. And so without further ado: Apop Records Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong Faust: So Far Tortoise: Beacons of Ancestorship* Faust:C'est Com...Com...Complique Six Organs of Admittance: Luminous Night Nightmares: s

  September 8, 2009

• PLAY:stl Music Festival Takes Place September 17-19, Features Atlas Sound, Owen, The Antlers, Samantha Crain, more!

  ​ For the third year running, the PLAY:stl Music Festival and Conference will descend on the Delmar Loop for three days of live music and industry panels. (Think of it as a smaller, more manageable South By Southwest or CMJ Conference.) About 90 acts, both national and local, are scheduled over the three-day event, which takes places from September 17 to 19. Highlights include indie acts such as Owen, the Antlers the Atlas Sound (yes, the alter-ego of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox) and Saman

  September 10, 2009

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

  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: Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong Tortoise: Beacons of Ancestorship* Faust: C'est Com...Com...Complique Health: Get Color Six Organs of Admittance: Luminous Night Nudge: As Good as Gone Blank Dogs: Under and Under Silvester Anfang: Silvester Anfang 2 Cave: Psych

  September 14, 2009

• Ra Ra Riot

  September 16, 2009

• Brookville and the Postmarks at Pop's Blue Moon, October 12

  Well, here's something I never expected to see: Brookville -- the Andy Chase-lead indie-pop band that opened for Trashcan Sinatras here in August -- and Camera Obscura/Beach House-esque indie-rockers the Postmarks just announced a show in St. Louis on Monday, October 12. The venue? Pop's Blue Moon, on the Hill. No more info as of yet, except that these two bands are so worth going out on a Monday night to see. Both specialize in gentle, fluffy-clouds music full of sweet, blissful melancholy. Bro

  September 18, 2009

• Built to Spill

  September 23, 2009

• Homespun Syna So Pro make two people happy

  October 7, 2009

• Show Review Photos Setlists: Brand New and Manchester Orchestra at the Pageant, October 6, 2009

  Brand New means business during its shows. The goal of its live experience is to exorcise demons, to provoke thought and, above all, produce catharsis. Looking for a night of frivolous entertainment? Go see another show instead. These Long Islanders are kicking out the post-hardcore, post-grunge, post-goth jams - angst and aggression firmly at Def Con One. This emphasis on weightier matters was obvious during Brand New's sold out Pageant show. The quintet spent much of the night bathed in dim

  October 7, 2009

• Interview: Lou Barlow

  Eric Fermin Perez​ Lou Barlow has indie cred out the ass. As the bass player for Dinosaur Jr (which is playing at the Pageant on Wednesday, October 14), Barlow (alongside guitarist J Mascis and drummer Murph) has been at the forefront of the "alternative" scene since the early '80s. And if playing with Dinosaur Jr. wasn't enough, this dude started college radio gods Sebadoh as a side gig. A side gig! He needed another outlet for his songwriting and -- whoops! -- he accidentally started f

  October 8, 2009

• Sunset Rubdown

  October 14, 2009

• Weatherbox

  October 14, 2009

• Light My Way: Old Lights' David Beeman gets by with a little help from his friends

  October 14, 2009

• MP3 Bonanza for Tonight's Shows! Lou Barlow and Dinosaur Jr, The Action Design, The Shaky Hands

  The Shaky Hands​ The Shaky Hands Where: The Firebird With: The Mhurs Sounds Like: "If Mott the Hoople and Dr. Dog had a baby, it would be called Tom the Poodle, and it would sound like the Shaky Hands. The Portland band's no-frills, all-boogie presentation reclaims the spirit of the blues-jamming early '70s -- without relying on girl jeans and mustaches. On the group's fourth album (second on Kill Rock Stars), Let It Die, the fidelity is low, and the swagger is high, making gems such as th

  October 14, 2009

• Show Review Setlists: Dinosaur Jr and Lou Barlow and the Missingmen at the Pageant, Wednesday, October 14

  The signs on the doors of the Pageant box office and entrances said it all: "Earplugs are available for purchase at the bar and soda areas." The occasion? Dinosaur Jr. was in town last night, and the band is notorious for being loud. How loud? Well, friends who saw the trio's show in Columbia a few years back swear it was one of the loudest shows they've ever been to. And during the show, bassist Lou Barlow said that somebody called the venue last week and swore they were going to kill the band

  October 15, 2009

• Show Review: Ghostland Observatory and DJ Lord at the Pageant (SoCo underCOVER show), October 15

  marqueemag.com/tag/ghostland-observatory/​Few indie bands are as divisive as Ghostland Observatory. For every fan and critic who fawns over its catchy dance punk grooves, there are others who decry tthe band as "robot rock for the flyover states" or, as Pitchfork infamously panned "Daft Punk for frat boys." Ghostland is officially in the same league as love 'em or hate 'em acts like Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective. That in mind, the folks at Southern Comfort know how to ensure a packed v

  October 16, 2009

• Homespun: Pretty Little Empire

  October 21, 2009

• Jenny Owen Youngs

  October 21, 2009

• Brazos

  October 28, 2009

• Tonight! El Ten Eleven, Julie Peel

  Benjamin Wahiche/myspace.com/juliepeel​ Julie Peel Where: Off Broadway With: Joe Purdy Sounds Like: The crispness of autumn. Songs from Peel's debut, Near the Sun, sigh with winsome acoustic guitars and soft-glow percussion -- and are the perfect gentle accompaniment for her husky alto voice. RIYL: Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Joni Mitchell, Land of Talk MP3: Julie Peel, "Unfold"

  November 10, 2009

• Tonight's MP3 Bonanza! Holiday Shores, King Khan & BBQ Show, Failures' Union/Cheap Girls

  King Khan & BBQ Show Where: Off Broadway Playing With: Those Darlins, Jesse Irwin Sounds Like: What Keegan Hamilton said here and here. RIYL: Chuck Berry, Black Flag, psych-rock/garage-soul MP3: King Khan & BBQ Show, "Third Ave."

  November 12, 2009

• Tonight! El Perro del Mar. Tomorrow's MP3 Bonanza! RJD2, Into the Light Carol Anne

  El Perro del Mar Where: The Gargoyle Playing With: Peter Bjorn and John Sounds Like: "The 2009 release Love Is Not Pop furthers Sarah Assbring's deconstruction of pop and indie-folk forms -- the melodies linger, the grooves float, the themes sigh -- but a sonic laboratory of dubby delay and electronic glimmer and glitch catalyzes her songs. Mood pieces such as "Let Me In" and "It Is Something (to Have Wept)" -- the latter featuring a lyrical assist from writer G.K. Chesterton -- languidly unfold

  November 13, 2009

• Show Review Photos: Peter Bjorn and John and El Perro del Mar at the Gargoyle, Friday, November 13

  Todd McKenzieBjorn!​ Peter Moren and Bjorn Yttling are a study in contrasts. Bjorn, disheveled and in black, lumbers slowly across the stage. When he approaches the microphone, he drapes his mustachioed upper lip directly on the device, as if it would be too much effort to step back a few inches and project. He's aloof, unperturbed and totally chill. Bjorn is the bassist, naturally. Peter, meanwhile, is the showman. Clean-cut and buttoned-up in a dapper beige jacket -- later discarded in

  November 14, 2009

• Headlights/Pomegranates/Fractured Army

  November 18, 2009

• Review Setlist: Harper Simon and the Pernikoff Brothers at Off Broadway, Thursday, November 19

  Last night, Harper Simon wasn't received as the lauded prodigal son of a folk-rock and songwriting legend. He was another unknown, paying his dues in an empty room. Although he played to an indifferent audience, Simon led a group of top-notch players in extended rock breakdowns of his recent debut album's folk- and alt-country-tinged songs. With unhurried confidence, Simon displayed solid songwriting skills and musicianship--as well as the ability to place the right people around him, ones who c

  November 20, 2009