The Mars Volta

The Six Best References To Cannibalism In Song

On this day in 1847, the Donner Party was rescued from a disastrous trek to the West Coast that caused the survivors to eat their fallen pioneers. In honor of this legendary tale, here are the six best references to cannibalism in song. Let us know your favorites, and we'll think about how delicious ... More >>

Mystikal, Famous Sex Offender / Rapper to Drop New Album in 2013 With Appearances By Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne

Mystikal has been getting a lot of attention for an interview he did with Rolling Stone recently. In said interview, he mentions that lately he's been listening to James Brown, Sam Cooke, Master P, Ludacris, and Eddie Murphy lately, and is in the midst of working on a new album (recent singles seem ... More >>

Lessons Learned From Loving And Hating the Mars Volta

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. Let it be known that this is not a reaction to Drew Ailes' polarizing RFT Music article praising the Ma ... More >>

The Best Part About The Mars Volta Was Their Hair

The Mars Volta was a rock band from California, which a place where rock bands are frequently formed. Other rock bands formed in California include Van Halen, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the band that spawned the Mars Volta, At The Drive-In. At The Drive-In is best known for once having a song ... More >>

Euclid Records' 50 Best-Selling Albums of 2012

Euclid Records -- one of several excellent purveyors of music in this town and our 2012 winner for Best Record Store -- has just released its top 50 sellers of 2012. It's an interesting list for several reasons. It bears almost no resemblance to Billboard's list, of course. But it also speaks to the ... More >>

The Six Strangest Crossover Attempts By Jazz Musicians

About a week ago, our Northwest sister paper Seattle Weekly ran a post about the diminishing popularity of jazz. Watch for a lengthy reply by RFT Music's devilishly handsome resident jazz guitar school dropout later this week. In the meantime, here are the six most bizarre crossover attempts by jazz ... More >>

Six Best Coachella Death Matches

You may know that the Coachella festival begins this weekend, in which Indio, California is overtaken with every type of person from hippies to people who like watching bands outside and camping yet deny being hippies. The impressive lineup has a few notably similar acts who may not be rivals but st ... More >>

Zechs Marquise

8 p.m. Tuesday, December 6. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

The Six Best "Bad" Guitar Solos

Eddie Van Halen demonstrates the exact opposite of this idea.​The guitar solo has become an integral part of the rock and roll formula, either as a melodic counterpoint to a vocal line or an excuse for showing off. But there's a different kind of solo out there. The kind that, by all technical ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of September 28-October 4

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. Avett Brothers - I & Love & You 2. Bottle Rockets - Lean Fo ... More >>

Show Review Photos: The Mars Volta at the Pageant, Tuesday, September 8

When the Mars Volta unleashed its 2002 debut EP, Tremulant, some critics cheekily tagged the band "Punk Floyd." Given that vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez cut their teeth in the castle-storming emo-core outfit At The Drive-In, it seemed natural that "punk" would the ... More >>

Interview: The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

Michael G. Rizzi​ The Mars Volta is far too weird for its own popularity, but somehow Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and their virtual lazy susan of band members have turned virtuosic, psychedelic prog jams into gold records and a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Nobody is m ... More >>

Tonight! Caroliner Rainbow at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

If Titus Andronicus and the Mars Volta are too tame for your tastes tonight, might I suggest heading to the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center for Caroliner Rainbow, Skarekrau Radio and Spunky Toofers? About the first legendary band, Lemp publicity guru and all-around good dude Charlie J. Moneybags says: ... More >>

The Mars Volta

8 p.m. Tuesday, September 8. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

St. Louis Concert Announcements: Week Of July 21

The Pageant *Bow Wow, Saturday, August 22 *The Mars Volta, Tuesday, September 8 *Ben Folds, Monday, September 28 *Hanson/Hellogoodbye, Thursday, October 1 *Ludo/Meese/Ha Ha Tonka, Thursday, October 22 Firebird *Some Say Leland, Wednesday, August 12 *John Nolan (of Straylight Run), Thursday, August 2 ... More >>

So Many Dynamos

8 p.m. Saturday, June 27. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

2009 Bonnaroo Lineup Announced: Phish, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, David Byrne, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Al Green, Snoop Dogg, more!

Bonnaroo just announced its 2009 lineup -- and like Coachella, it looks pretty strong. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are headlining, while Phish is doing two(!) shows. Other notables include Elvis Costello (solo), Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Al Green, Snoop Dogg, Mars Volta and a bunch more. S ... More >>

Sneak Preview Stream of a New So Many Dynamos Song, "Friendarmy"

Sneak preview of the week: Head over to the MP3 page on mixer Alex Newport's website, where he has a new So Many Dynamos song called "Friendarmy" streaming. It's from the band's forthcoming Vagrant album The Loud Wars, which is still due April 7. In case you didn't realize it, Newport -- who's worke ... More >>

Austin City Limts, Day One Review: Dan Dyer, Autamata, Jenny Lewis, M. Ward, Delta Spirit, Swell Season, Jakob Dylan

B-Sides enters the Vortex with Erykah Badu and catches up with Centro-matic lead singer Will Johnson

Blue Mountain explores the Southern-rock roads less traveled while the Mars Volta tries to shed its bad voodoo on the way to releasing The Bedlam in Goliath.

St. Louis Gigantic Concert Calendar, April 7 through August

St. Louis Concert Calendar, March 11 through June

St. Louis Concert Calendar February 26 through June

The Mars Volta: Thursday, April 17 at the Pageant

Minus the Bear

7 p.m. Thursday, October 25. Pop's, 1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois.

Portugal. The Man.

8:30 p.m. Monday, October 15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

2007 RFT Music Showcase

Week of May 31, 2007

Brand New Day

The music awards ballot is online! Plus, meet your Best New Artist candidates.

Move Every Mountain

B-Sides traces Mastodon's surprise world domination from Blood Mountain to easy street.

Sparta

8 p.m. Friday, August 4. Creepy Crawl (3524 Washington Boulevard).

From First to Last

Heroine (Epitaph)

The Mars Volta

Frances the Mute (Universal/Motown)

Thirsty Like the Wolf

Drinking games, zombies, pompadours and fire: the wonderful world of Guitar Wolf

Haute Haute Heat

Rising from the runway

On the Down-Low

Shovel away all that Usher, Prince and Lil Jon youve been jamming and dig this years buried black-music treasures.

Handsome Boy Modeling School

White People (Atlantic)

Kill Me Tomorrow

The Garbageman and the Prostitute (GSL)

Sounds Around Town

Week of October 1, 2003

Plain Spoken

Saul Williams makes music out of language

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age and the Mars Volta

Wednesday, May 7; Savvis Center

SnoCore 2003, featuring Sparta, Glassjaw, Hot Water Music and Dredg

Thursday, March 6; Mississippi Nights