1. Art

St. Louis Art Capsules

Malcom Gay encapsulates the St. Louis arts scene

By Malcolm Gay

Published: March 26, 2008

Openings Discerning Palette: Jerry O. Wilkerson Retrospective Like many of his contemporaries in the pop art movement, Jerry Wilkerson, who died of cancer in 2007, took his inspiration...

2. B-Sides

B-Sides gets epic with Explosions in the Sky and chats up Chicago pop wunderkinds the 1900s

By Shae Moseley and Jaime Lees

Published: March 26, 2008

When I Explode On the surface, it's surprising that Explosions in the Sky — a Texas band known for its moody, extended post-rock instrumentals — would be able to amass...

3. Cafe

Asia, Lumiere Place's Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Japanese chow parlor/sushi bar, is all over the map

By Ian Froeb

Published: March 26, 2008

Asia, the continent, encompasses more than 50 countries and some 4 billion people. It stretches from Istanbul to Vladivostok, from the Arctic Ocean to the islands of the South Pacific....

4. Critics' Picks

Mike Doughty

8 p.m. Thursday, March 27. The Gargoyle, on the campus of Washington University at Forsyth and Skinker boulevards

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 26, 2008

It tells us something about the mid-'90s alt-rock boom that a left-field band like Soul Coughing landed a major-label deal. The New York quartet blended bizarro samples, avant-rock...

5. Critics' Picks

Patty Larkin

9 p.m. Thursday, March 27. Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Boulevard, University City

By Roy Kasten

Published: March 26, 2008

Her hair spills in flames and her guitar work — a fusion of flamenco and the Mississippi delta — follows suit, but Patty Larkin's voice has the cool, clear sweetness of...

6. Critics' Picks

One Ring Zero

7 p.m. Thursday, March 27. Vintage Vinyl, 6610 Delmar Boulevard and 7 p.m. Friday, March 28. Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park

By Mike Appelstein

Published: March 26, 2008

You don't have to live near Park Slope to appreciate One Ring Zero, but it helps to know the subway map. Led by former St. Louisans Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, this Brooklyn collective...

7. Critics' Picks

School of Language

9 p.m. Friday, March 28. The Billiken Club, 20 North Grand Boulevard

By Jason Harper

Published: March 26, 2008

Hailing from Sunderland, UK, Field Music is one of the few bands to come out in recent years that's pleasing to both aristo-pop snobs who like their music smart and to fun-loving types...

8. Critics' Picks

Anti-Flag

7 p.m. Saturday, March 29. Pop's, 1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois

By Jonah Bayer

Published: March 26, 2008

Sometimes it's difficult to remember that punk rock was initially born out of a spirit of dissent and rebellion. The political punks in Anti-Flag are one of the few bands keeping that...

9. Critics' Picks

Xiu Xiu

9 p.m. Monday, March 31. Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 26, 2008

While major-label bands can always look forward to the career-spanning greatest hits cash-in, bands that labor in the upper limits of indie-dom have their own brass ring to reach for:...

10. Critics' Picks

Clue To Kalo

9 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

By Kristyn Pomranz

Published: March 26, 2008

Clue to Kalo's music should be the soundtrack to a spiritual retreat for the information age: His network of salty strings, sustained harpsichords and tender tambourines is ideally...

11. Feature

Hot Contender: If looks count, Sarah Steelman may be your next governor

By Kathleen McLaughlin

Published: March 26, 2008

For a politician looking to connect with the camouflage set, this would seem an ideal photo opportunity: fishermen standing shoulder-to-shoulder along the banks of an Ozark river,...

12. Game On

Who said first-person games need a second person?

By Gary Hodges

Published: March 26, 2008

Developers seem to believe that their first-person games are required to include online modes. Blame it on the few narrow-minded gamers (and critics) who constantly hammer away with...

13. Gut Check

Dead Red?

Spring has sprung, and the restaurant scene's abuzz with change.

By Ian Froeb

Published: March 26, 2008

The saga of loft district restaurant and bar Red (1130 Washington Avenue) continues. As my colleague Kristen Hinman reported ("Seeing Red," March 5, 2008), onetime partners Derek Onstott...

14. Amazing Facts & Beyond

Leon Beyond Travels the Trivia Landscape

By Dan Zettwoch / www.usscatastrophe.com

Published: March 26, 2008

Leon experiences synaethesia and myopia. Click here for the full-sized version....

15. Letters

The end of "Mamalogues" brings on many RFT blog monologues

Published: March 26, 2008

STLog, March 14, 2008 blogs.riverfronttimes.com lit up with dozens of responses to the Post-Dispatch's decision to discontinue Dana Loesch's online "Mamalogues" column that appeared...

16. News Real

The Cards aren't likely to challenge for the pennant this year. In a way, that'll make them all the more interesting to watch.

By Aaron Schafer

Published: March 26, 2008

Cardinal baseball. It's as much a part of summertime in St. Louis as ice-cold Budweiser, soul-crushing humidity and egg yolk-fortified ice cream. If you were raised in this city, you...

17. Rotations

Stephen Malkmus & Jicks

Real Emotional Trash
(Matador)

By Dan Weiss

Published: March 26, 2008

Popular thinking goes that Stephen Malkmus recorded his best work when he was fronting indie-rock heroes Pavement. But just listen to "The Hook," from Malkmus' 2001 self-titled solo...

18. Rotations

Goldfrapp

Seventh Tree
(Mute)

By Michael D. Ayers

Published: March 26, 2008

Starbucks, your parents and people who make car commercials will lap up the new direction Goldfrapp takes on its fourth album. The British electronic dance duo has traded its kinda-cheesy...

19. Rotations

She & Him

Volume One
(Merge)

By Mark Keresman

Published: March 26, 2008

"She" is indie-movie cutie Zooey Deschanel, who played Will Ferrell's love interest in Elf. "Him" is indie-rock auteur M. Ward. But Volume One isn't another one of those records by...

20. Rotations

Atlas Sound

Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel
(Kranky)

By Michael Gallucci

Published: March 26, 2008

The debut solo album by Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox travels the same electro-experimental path he often traverses with his full-time band. But where Deerhunter occasionally dips...