Sufjan Stevens

The Six Best NPR Theme Songs (In Honor of Talk of the Nation's Cancelation)

If you are like me, you drive a car with a broken cd player. So you have to listen to the radio while driving, and you end up on NPR most of the time because you are sick of Adele on the commercial stations and your favorite independent music channel always seems to have a zydeco show on when you're ... More >>

Ten Songs for Celebrating President's Day

It is that time of year again. That special time after Mardi Gras, in the middle of Black History Month, when we drop our Valentine's Day chocolates and honor the past and present Presidents of the United States of America (for the shortest month of the year, February seems to really be collecting h ... More >>

The Six Best Songs With Ridiculously Long Titles

Last week, Kieran Hebden from Four Tet announced a new single entitled "The Track I've Been Playing That People Keep Asking About and That Joy Used in His RA Mix and Daphni Played on Boiler Room." It's an okay track with an awful title, but you have to give Hebden props for taking the plunge. Here a ... 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 >>

Rosie Thomas

8 p.m. Wednesday, March 21. Old Rock House, 1200 South Seventh Street.

Mikey Wehling's Tape Trilogy Opus Gets its Live Debut Tonight

Bryan Sutter​In this week's feature, Ryan Wasoba tells the story of Mikey Wehling's tumultuous year. A key member of the now-defunct Messy Jiverson, Wehling found meaning and solace through hard times in a four track and a kitchen sink of musical ideas. The resulting trilogy of Reverb tapes, o ... More >>

Six Indie Rock Songs That Sound Like Christian Rock Songs

Image via.​A plethora of compelling music has come from indie rock's complicated relationship with Christianity: Sufjan Stevens' folk hymns, David Bazan's tormented crises, the Thermals' blasphemous pop punk. These are the polar opposite of today's contemporary Christian rock, with its overt p ... More >>

St. Vincent At Old Rock House, 10/6/11: Review, Photos, Setlist

St. Vincent | Cate Le Bon Old Rock House October 6, 2011 St. Vincent songs do not politely proceed from verse to chorus. They circle, predatory and lithe. Annie Clark's astral voice folds pleasant-sounding words into sinister sentiments, and her guitar whips like a fat coil of cut live wire shower ... More >>

Emperor X Buries Tape In St. Louis: "Look Under Mutant Picnic Tables" [Update: Found!]

Ed: The St. Louis node has been found! Thanks to the enterprising work of some local explorer, we can all hear our very own buried b-side: "Lagos Comdec." So far, of the 41 nodes buried around the country, only six have been found. Original post follows. These are exciting times for Chad Matheny, ... More >>

Emperor X Buries Tape In St. Louis: "Look Under Mutant Picnic Tables" [Update: Found!]

Ed: The St. Louis node has been found! Thanks to the enterprising work of some local explorer, we can all hear our very own buried b-side: "Lagos Comdec." So far, of the 41 nodes buried around the country, only six have been found. Original post follows. These are exciting times for Chad Matheny, ... More >>

St. Vincent's Strange Mercy Comes Out Today; Win Tickets To Her Show At Old Rock House

Tina Tyrell​St. Vincent's Strange Mercy came out today (though it has been streaming for a while now, through NPR's First Listen and other outlets). To celebrate, we're giving away a pair of tickets to her October 6th show at Old Rock House. Go to our Facebook page for details. St. Vincent i ... More >>

St. Vincent Is Coming To Old Rock House

​Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, is coming to St. Louis. She'll play the Old Rock House on October 6th -- tickets are $16 and not on sale yet. St. Vincent will release its third LP, Strange Mercy, on September 13th on 4AD. Her previous effort, 2009's Actor, saw Clark continue an impressive ... More >>

2011 RFT Music Awards Winners: Best New Band: Dots Not Feathers

Sarah Palin's Paul Revere And Three Mostly Accurate History Songs

by Bob Weinstein; Wikipedia. ​Note to self, as a future historical-figure-ghost: If Sarah Palin and Paul Revere are any indication, the best way to trend on Twitter 200 years after your death is to have someone controversial give a particularly strange recounting of your life's work, as inform ... More >>

William Fitzsimmons

8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 1. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

The Lighthouse and the Whaler

8 p.m. Tuesday, January 25. Cicero's, 6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City.

2010: The Year In Music

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of December 6-12, 2010

* = local, = coming to town ​Vintage Vinyl 1. T.I.---No Mercy 2. KANYE WEST---My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 3. CHARLIE WILSON---Just Charlie 4. ERIC BENET---Lost In Time* 5. QUINCY JONES---Q: Soul Bossa Nostra 6. NICKI MINAJ---Pink Friday 7. TEMPTATIONS---Give Love At Christmas 8. ANGEL ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 22-28, 2010

* = coming to town, = local ​Vintage Vinyl 1. KANYE WEST---My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2. THE NATIONAL---High Violet (Expanded Edition) 3. NICKI MINAJ---Pink Friday 4. RIHANNA---Loud 5. LATIMORE---All About The Rhythm & The Blues 6. NELLY---5.0 7. LIL WAYNE---I Am Not A Human Being 8. ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of October 18-24

* = coming to town, = local ​Vintage Vinyl 1. LIL WAYNE---I Am Not A Human Being 2. ELTON JOHN & LEON RUSSELL---Union 3. SUFJAN STEVENS---Age Of Adz 4. BELLE & SEBASTIAN---Write About Love 5. KINGS OF LEON---Come Around Sundown 6. JOHN LEGEND & THE ROOTS---Wake Up! 7. AVETT BROTHERS---Vol. 3 ... More >>

Show Review Photos Setlist: Blonde Redhead Pantha du Prince Are All Business at the Pageant, Monday, October 25

Jon GitchoffBlonde Redhead at the Pageant​There's a certain paradox that comes with being a fan of a band: You either have to put your faith in its efforts without questioning its all-important artistic vision, or you become one of those people who eschews the new and whines that "it's just no ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of October 11

* = coming to town, = local ​Euclid Records 1 Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love 2. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest 3. Of Montreal - False Priest* 4. John Legend/Roots Wake Up! 5. Neil Young - Le Noise 6. Old 97's - The Grand Theatre 7. Eric Clapton - Clapton 8. Fistful Of Mercy - As I Cal ... More >>

New Release Highlights for October 12: Antony and the Johnsons, Belle and Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens and Lil Wayne All Back With New Records

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Antony and the Johnsons' Swanlights​*Antony And The Johnsons, Swanlights NPR said of Antony's latest release, "If Hegarty's first few albums find him searchi ... More >>

Interview: Bryce Dessner of the National on High Violet and Talented Pals

Keith KlenowskiThe National. Bryce Dessner is on the far right.​Tonight, the National returns to St. Louis for the first time since a (very-sold-out) show at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room in June 2007. Owen Pallett - who we interviewed yesterday - is opening. The National is touring behind High V ... More >>

10 Things to Do for $10 This Weekend in St. Louis, July 30 to August 1, 2010

​This weekend's entertainment is a tale of opposites - short plays and towering monsters, psychedelic pop and underground emcees, art from prison inmates and musicals from Broadway stars. Let's see what we've got. Memphis Pencils (Friday)Reviewer Roy Kasten described the Memphis Pencils sound as " ... More >>

Memphis Pencils

9 p.m. Friday, July 30. Foam, 3359 South Jefferson Avenue.

Feel the Illinoise: Stace England and the Salt Kings educates SLIFF attendees about forgotten filmmaker Oscar Micheaux

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 2 to November 8

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 1 Lightning Bolt: Earthly Delights 2 Leonard Cohen: Live Songs ... More >>

Homespun: Pretty Little Empire

Sweet Sweet Hands
(self-released)

Show Review: The Bad Plus at Jazz at the Bistro, Friday, January 9

The audience present for the 8:30 p.m. Bad Plus set last evening leaned more toward curious observers than diehard fans. It was difficult to suspect the sort of crowd that would take interest in the piano, bass, and drum trio, and even harder to guess what aspect of the group appealed to whom. Some ... More >>

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category.Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic F ... More >>

Castanets

9 p.m. Wednesday, November 19. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Tonight! Clare and the Reasons opening for My Brightest Diamond at Cicero's

Basia Bulat

9 p.m. Wednesday, March 12. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

The Ghost of the Forest

9 p.m. Friday, December 28. Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Kick Out the (Holiday) Jams

Here are ten holiday releases to deck your halls.

Okkervil River

The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)

Last Night's Show: The Decemberists

Field Music

Tones of Town (Memphis Industries)

This Just In: Tuesday, January 30

Deck the Halls with Christmas Albums

B-Sides reviews the year's crop of holiday cheer and talks to Dweezil Zappa about his dad's legacy.

Local Motion, Weekend Edition

Half-Handed Cloud

Halos & Lassos (Asthmatic Kitty)

Hello, Moon

Gather 'round, children — we have a story to tell about some new indie rock for kids

Andrew Bird

Wednesday, February 15, at the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard)

My Favorite Things

2005's best and brightest albums

They Did What?

2005's Top WTF? moments

Stace England

Friday, December 16; Frederick’s Music Lounge (4454 Chippewa Street)

Sufjan Stevens

Thursday, September 22; Mississippi Nights (914 North First Street)