Joy Division

The Six Best Greatest Hits Albums

This week, RFT announces the winners of this year's Best Of St. Louis issue. To celebrate - and give a break from the local overload to ensue - here are the six best "Best Of" albums, plus a few bonus picks at the end. Let us know your favorites in the comments, and we'll put the comment in our vaul ... More >>

The Ten Best Shows In St. Louis This Weekend: June 29 to July 1

This weekend (Friday, to be specific) St. Louis will play host to the record releases of three of its finer bands: CaveofswordS release its debut offering on Friday at Heavy Anchor (click here for a profile of the band by Christian Shaeffer), Aquataine (formerly Supermoon, then Super Maroon) release ... More >>

The 33 1/3 Series is Accepting Submissions

​Earlier this month, Spin announced that it is moving most of its album reviews to Twitter. Music writing is getting shorter, not longer, and yet the 33 1/3 Series, which has the gall to publish entire books on albums that aren't even current, soldiers on. There are 85 installments in print n ... More >>

Donnie Darko Soundtrack Extends Reach into Rock Band Universe

Donnie Darko is one of those films with much more staying power than anybody expected, especially to folks who are constantly followed around by giant rabbits. The movie isn't exactly everybody's cup of tea, but there's no question that the 2001 Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle managed to develop a cult fol ... More >>

Belleville's Trauma Harness Brings Post-Punk Gloom to the Midwest

Mabel SuenTrauma Harness dismisses the stage and performs on the floor at Illegal Tone in Belleville. ​ The Wicked Witch of Belleville likes to throw musicians into a dirty black cauldron. She vigorously stirs the pot, concocting odd bands that creep and slither their way into nearby cities. T ... More >>

Billy Brown on Sonic Youth, Record Store Day, and Drunk Reggae Fans

Photo by Jon Scorfina​In early January, Rolling Stone reported that vinyl sales had increased fourteen percent over the previous year with around 2.8 million units sold, making 2010 the best year for vinyl in recent memory. DJ Billy Brown is part of a new generation of music fans choosing rec ... More >>

Review: Interpol and School of Seven Bells at the Pageant, Friday, February 11

Todd OwyoungPaul Banks of Interpol​Paul Banks isn't chatty. He's not big on smiling, or doing that gross thing where a rock star cracks a joke that simultaneously gets the crowd a little moist in the drawers and makes them hate the guy for being so damn winning. And just to be clear, that's no ... More >>

Rehashing Mizzou's Loss to Nebraska, a.k.a. Attempting to Find New Meaning in Life

Ian Curtis, clearly haunted by the specter of a future Nebraska victory. ​I'm pretty bummed about Mizzou getting knocked off by Nebraska Saturday. I've been showering in the dark, listening to my Joy Division records and weeping. A lot. I think my cats are beginning to grow weary of my despondency ... More >>

Anton Corbijn turns the tried-and-true thriller inward in The American

Interview Outtakes: Cary Brothers on DIY Music, the Hotel Cafe's Magic, Katy Perry's Hidden Past and Why the Thompson Twins Rule

Heidi RossCary Brothers​Tonight, singer-songwriter Cary Brothers will be performing at the Old Rock House with fellow troubadour Greg Laswell and up-and-coming band Harper Blynn. (The latter is also functioning as the house band for the night.) The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets are $12. ($ ... More >>

Silversun Pickups avoid the sophomore slump with Swoon

Islands, Active Child, Steel Phantoms at Firebird, Friday, July 9

Bryan SutterIslands at Firebird on July 9​A decent-sized crowd turned out at the Firebird last night for the infectious energy of the polymorphous pop group Islands. Openers Steel Phantoms were almost shockingly good. Though the Brooklyn band has been playing as a foursome for less than a yea ... More >>

Elm Street Remake Is No Dream

Why won't you DIE?!

Recap: Record Store Day at Vintage Vinyl and Euclid Records, Saturday, June 17

Dana Smith​As we stood in the slightly elevated perch of Vintage Vinyl's DJ booth, I asked store co-owner Tom "Papa" Ray if Record Store Day was his version of Christmas morning. He thought about it for a second and said, in his inimitable drawl, "You know, I think I like Record Store Day bett ... More >>

Apropos of Nothing: LEGO David Bowie, New Order Autograph Forgeries and New-Wave Kids

*The video game LEGO Rock Band is due out later this year. And two of the artists included in the game are Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Why yes, you can totally play "Let's Dance," as a plastic model of Bowie croons along. The game's attention to detail is incredible: Iggy's abs are killer, and the blo ... More >>

The Future's So Bright: Despite a criminally ignored body of work, Tommy Keene remains optimistic

Last Night: The Rosebuds at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, Beach House at the Billiken Club

Raleigh, North Carolina's Rosebuds made what it said was its first stop in St. Louis (really? wow) last night opening for Megafaun at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. The quartet's set was loose and house party-like, as it ran through a short set of gothic synth-folk. Annie Zaleski K ... More >>

The Top 10 Reissues of 2008

It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scene ... More >>

Breaking: Hundreds Fall Victim to Fatal Boredom After Linehan Speech

Second Spin: Cock Robin, Cock Robin

Antibiopic: What We Do Is Secret sanitizes the Germs' punk-rock tragedy

Nine Inch Nails: First Live Appearances, Covers and Oddities

Film School at the Bluebird, Tonight, July 15!

British Sea Power and the 1900s at the Billiken Club, St. Louis University, Saturday, March 29

Nada Surf and Sea Wolf at the Gargoyle, October 22

New-Wave Arcade

The Bureau files.

Interpol

8 p.m. Wednesday, August 1. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

Peter Hook No Longer with New Order -- So Why Does the Band Play On?

Homespun: Jumbling Towers

Jumbling Towers (self-released)

Our top DVD picks for the week of October 31:

Letters Column

Week of June 22, 2006

In With the New

New releases we didn't throw out with the old

Dance, Dance

B-Sides talks wardrobe with Roxy Epoxy, gets the lowdown on Jason Ringenberg's farmer alter ego and goes down swinging with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz

Good Advices

We have an intervention for An Angle, talk baseball and Moz with Joe Pernice, and learn some rock rules by which to live

Hype Goggles

What will the beloved bands of '05 look like when the buzz wears off?

Magnetic South

We fatwa Magnet, chat up Ken Bethea and wonder what exactly is going on with Todd Rundgren's Web site

I Want to Hear You Like an Animal!

We check out NIN's latest album and wonder (again) about R. Kelly

Marrying the Mainstream

White men learned to dance, and the emoting was as thick as the eyeliner on the years best pop-rock records.

Finding Your Religion

Pick your personal Jesus, plus three questions for a pop princess and the poetry of heavy metal

Ultimate Rock Fantasy

Forget the office-football draft, dude. Here's a far cooler way to waste your time and your employer's money.

The Bands of Summer

Here are ten hot, not-to-miss local acts

The Fall

Monday, April 26; Creepy Crawl

Doves

Lost Sides (Heavenly)

Best FM Radio Personality

Bob Reuter
KDHX (FM 88.1)

Take Small Bites; Chew Thoroughly

Tastes of Tilles and Central West End

Squarepusher

Do You Know Squarepusher? (Warp)

Interpol with Dozemarypool

Wednesday, September 25; Rocket Bar

Rebel, Rebel

The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club may be indie rock's Next Big Things, but, like a little black dress, they're also perfectly classic

Tristeza

Dream Signals in Full Circles (Tigerstyle Records)

Country Cookin'

Local rapper Nelly takes his Country Grammar to No. 1