1. Art

St. Louis Art Capsules

Malcom Gay encapsulates the St. Louis arts scene

By Malcolm Gay

Published: March 19, 2008

Opening Exchange: Prints from Nagoya Japan A group exhibit featuring prints by Terou Isomi and Seiichiro Miida. Showcasing traditional printmaking methods as well as emerging...

2. B-Sides

B-Sides catches up with Lou ex-pat Black Spade and finds out how Black Moutain manages to rock so hard

By Ryan Wasoba and Keegan Hamilton

Published: March 19, 2008

Some may use prefixes such as "progressive" or "stoner" to describe the music unleashed by Black Mountain. But the Vancouver quintet is, above all else, a rock band. Its list of influences...

3. Cafe

Building a Better Bistro: Chef Andy White proves there's life after Balaban's at Off the Vine

By Ian Froeb

Published: March 19, 2008

How all of this compares to Balaban's in 1972, 1992 or even last year, I can't say. But I do know that when I return to the restaurant, it won't be because it's Balaban's the "institution,"...

4. Critics' Picks

O'Death/Langhorne Slim

9 p.m. Thursday, March 20. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Boulevard.

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 19, 2008

When Ralph Stanley contributed his bone-chilling version of "O Death" to the watershed O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, it was a stark reminder of the grim, morbid tone that...

5. Critics' Picks

Dropkick the Robot

9 p.m. Thursday, March 20. Cicero's, 6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City.

By Shae Moseley

Published: March 19, 2008

Dropkick the Robot may be the most educated local band around, at least musically: All are graduates of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's well-respected jazz program, and...

6. Critics' Picks

The Showbiz Kids/Shining Star

8 p.m. Friday, March 21. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 19, 2008

Two seemingly disparate '70s acts will become one on Friday night, when the local cover band Groovethang transforms into both Steely Dan (as the Showbiz Kids) and Earth, Wind and Fire...

7. Critics' Picks

Colourmusic

9 p.m. Saturday, March 22. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Boulevard.

By Roy Kasten

Published: March 19, 2008

What to do with a hopelessly pretentious but inarguably catchy band like Colourmusic? Though the Stillwater, Oklahoma, natives claim a bloodline to Sir Isaac Newton and a mission to...

8. Critics' Picks

The Paper Chase

9 p.m. Tuesday, March 25. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Boulevard.

By Shae Moseley

Published: March 19, 2008

Like Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, Paper Chase frontman John Congleton relies on rambunctious vocal melodrama as much as he does lyrical content to set a mood. But unlike Brock's outfit...

9. Critics' Picks

The Starting Line

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26. Pop's, 1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois.

By Jonah Bayer

Published: March 19, 2008

The Starting Line recently announced that it's going to take a break to focus on other projects, meaning that there's more of an incentive to see 'em live. After a tumultuous few years...

10. Critics' Picks

Jill Scott

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26. The Fabulous Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Boulevard.

By Dan Leroy

Published: March 19, 2008

Nearly a decade her ago, Jill Scott's debut album asked Who Is Jill Scott? The answer to that question just keeps evolving. Not only is Scott a Grammy-winning R&B singer who has easily...

11. Drink of the Week

Springboard Ale

LeGrand's Market
4414 Donovan Avenue
314-353-6128

By Kristie McClanahan

Published: March 19, 2008

We'd be rich, but not too rich. And we wouldn't realize it until years later when we'd pass our handsome brick childhood home in St. Louis Hills and realize that it was big and we...

12. Feature

Thousand Dollar Baby: By day Jamie O'Hare studies for a master's in social work. Her night job is anything but.

By Kristen Hinman

Published: March 19, 2008

At 5 a.m. on March 7, Jamie O'Hare clambers out of bed and spits into a cup. She spits en route to an interview with KFNS 590 AM (the Fan) and again on the way to her gym. There O'Hare...

13. Film

Gus van Sant returns to disaffected youth and shoestring budgets in Paranoid Park

By J. Hoberman

Published: March 19, 2008

The pleasing circularity of Gus Van Sant's masterful Paranoid Park is not only a function of the film's narrative structure, but also reflects the arc of its maker's career. Few directors...

14. Game On

Fuzzy Fights: The combat's cuddly in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

By Chris Ward

Published: March 19, 2008

Sometimes it's the terrible ideas — say, a TV show about nothing, or stirring corn into your mashed potatoes — that turn out to be genius. Super Smash Bros. landed on...

15. Homespun

DJ Trackstar Presents

Boogie Bang Vol. 12
(Self-released)

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 19, 2008

DJ Trackstar continues to act as this town's biggest hip-hop evangelist, spreading positive vibes and slick beats in equal measure. In addition to hosting the weekly hip-hop night...

16. Keep It Down

Cruel and unusual punishment: Malcolm sentences himself to Prison Loaf

By Malcolm Gay

Published: March 19, 2008

So there you have it: More than 2.3 million Americans behind bars. That's one in every 100 Americans — five times the population of Iceland, more than 41 times the population...

17. Letters

Readers are still buzzing about those traffic-light cameras

Published: March 19, 2008

FEATURE, MARCH 6, 2008 Camera-Ready Commentary riverfronttimes.com readers are still buzzing about Chad Garrison's feature story "Red Alert" about traffic-light cameras. On the...

18. Music

Dora Magrath was blessed with a beautiful voice. She's gone, but you can still hear it.

By Ian Froeb

Published: March 19, 2008

Meet Dora Emily Holtzman Magrath, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter and University City resident: The young woman sits in front of a Web cam, showing off her ukulele. Like so many amateur...

19. Music

Holy Junkies: Michael Timmins and the Cowboy Junkies release a 20th anniversary edition of Trinity Sessions

By Roy Kasten

Published: March 19, 2008

Most touchstone albums draw on some zeitgeist. Others create their own. Recorded in November 1987 and released twenty years ago, the Cowboy Junkies' second album, The Trinity Session,...

20. News Real

Stripped Bare: Sometimes even Chesterfield CEOs, like Jim Neumann, must stand naked

By Keegan Hamilton

Published: March 19, 2008

On January 7, 2005, Sherry Flotron says she awoke from a midday nap in a Las Vegas hotel room and found her boss, Jim Neumann, naked and on top of her, straddling her legs and masturbating....