1. Art

St. Louis Art Capsules

Malcolm Gay encapsulates the St. Louis arts scene

By Malcolm Gay

Published: May 7, 2008

Opening John Armleder and Olivier Mosset Making good on its new curatorial team's promise to present more artist-centered exhibitions, the Contemporary has handed over its main gallery...

2. B-Sides

Sweet Honey: B-Sides defends Radiohead's Pablo Honey and dishes dirt on new local rock & roll bar the TRADE

By Annie Zaleski

Published: May 7, 2008

It's next to impossible to choose a favorite album among those in Radiohead's catalog. After all, the UK quintet has a release to fit almost every mood: alienated (1997's OK Computer),...

3. Cafe

The Pla Song Kruang Remains the Same: Basil Spice puts the newest Thai twist on South Grand

By Ian Froeb

Published: May 7, 2008

As I ate lunch at Basil Spice, a slow, bittersweet melody played over the restaurant's speakers. I hummed along with the climactic passage: hum HUM hum hum hum hum. It was my fourth...

4. Critics' Picks

The Hood Internet

9 p.m. Friday, May 9. Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

By Jaime Lees

Published: May 7, 2008

The two dudes in the Hood Internet are multitasking experts. In addition to the occasional remix, the Chicago DJ crew pumps out frequent mash-ups, which layer beat-filled songs on...

5. Critics' Picks

MU330

3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue

By Ryan Wasoba

Published: May 7, 2008

If the third wave of ska is over, either nobody told MU330, or it simply doesn't care. The latter option must be true; in the fourteen years since their first album, the greatest hyperactive...

6. Critics' Picks

The Coke Dares

9 p.m. Sunday, May 11. Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

By Shae Moseley

Published: May 7, 2008

The three members of the Coke Dares have logged time in fellow Bloomington, Indiana, rock outfits Magnolia Electric Co. and the Impossible Shapes. But its latest album, Feelin' Up,...

7. Critics' Picks

The Black Hollies

8 p.m. Sunday, May 11. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue

By Matt Sullivan

Published: May 7, 2008

First, melt down your favorite Who, Kinks, Stones, Motown and regular ol' Hollies records, run them through a blender and toss them in your freezer. Wait 30 years to pull them out...

8. Critics' Picks

The Brakes

9 p.m. Tuesday, May 13. Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Boulevard, University Cit

By Roy Kasten

Published: May 7, 2008

The dark, sweet piano march that opens the Brakes' Tale of Two Cities, a collection of precisely choreographed live recordings, snakes into trumpet blats and other sadistic pleasures:...

9. Critics' Picks

Ill Bill/Tech N9ne

8 p.m. Tuesday, May 13. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard

By D.X. Ferris

Published: May 7, 2008

Growing up in '80s Brooklyn, Ill Bill heard something common in Slayer and Public Enemy — and not just the sampled guitar riff that linked the dissimilar Def Jam artists. "The...

10. Critics' Picks

The Mary Onettes

9 p.m. Wednesday, May 14. Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

By Shae Moseley

Published: May 7, 2008

The Mary Onettes' music is unabashedly '80s in every way; the Swedish new-wavers borrow from bands such as New Order, the Cure and the Jesus and Mary Chain. But as the cliché...

11. Drink of the Week

SmartWater

By Kristie McClanahan

Published: May 7, 2008

Here's a very short list of smart things we did last night: We walked from bar to bar during our mini pub-crawl through our Dogtown neighborhood. And that about sums it up. Everything...

12. Feature

Radio Active: What has Patty Wente done to create such a meltdown at KWMU?

By Chad Garrison

Published: May 7, 2008

The University of Missouri-St. Louis is looking into questions surrounding the management and accounting practices at its radio station KWMU (90.7 FM). News of the university investigation...

13. Film

Fast Track to Nowhere: It's anime on overdrive in the Wachowski brothers' souped-up, tricked-out Speed Racer

By J. Hoberman

Published: May 7, 2008

Converting a fondly remembered cartoon series — one of the first Japanese animes syndicated on American TV — into a prospective franchise, the Matrix masters, Larry and...

14. Game On

There's more of the same in Mario Kart Wii, and that just might be plenty

By Chris Ward

Published: May 7, 2008

This year marks the 16th birthday of Mario Kart, the landmark Nintendo franchise that consists of eight identical racing games and legions of fans who buy every one of them. And 16...

15. Gut Check

To Market, To Market: It's May, and farmers' markets are bustin' out all over!

By Ian Froeb

Published: May 7, 2008

The month of May heralds many things: the end of school, the beginning of barbecue weather. At Gut Check the big news is that area farmers' markets have begun to open for the season. The...

16. Amazing Facts & Beyond

Crazy Talk

By Ted May/usscatastrophe.com

Published: May 7, 2008

Click here for the full-size version....

17. Letters

Joe's Café: A love-hate relationship revealed in letters

Published: May 7, 2008

NEWS REAL, APRIL 24, 2008 Joe's has Left and gone away Good riddance: Thank God! I live down the block from Joe's and have patiently waited for this place to close down ["Say It...

18. Music

She's Crafty: The Breeders' Kelley Deal talks knitting, nudity and Steve Albini's bodily functions

By Jaime Lees

Published: May 7, 2008

Kelley Deal co-leads the Breeders with her sister Kim, who's best known for being a member of the Pixies (and later, the Amps). The Dayton, Ohio, quartet first found fame in the early...

19. News Real

Stage Fright: The Ivory is turning into a horror show for some St. Louis theater companies

By Aimee Levitt

Published: May 7, 2008

Marble Stage Theatre's artistic director, Greg Matzker, recently learned that after lengthy discussions — and what he considered a verbal agreement with the Ivory Theatre's managing...

20. Stage

Harlem Duet: What we talk about when we talk about interracial love

By Paul Friswold

Published: May 7, 2008

Djanet Sears' Harlem Duet is a prequel of sorts to Shakespeare's Othello. Here Othello is a college professor in late-'90s America who is in the process of leaving Billie, his African-American...