"We the Common"
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
Ribbon Music

Thao Nguyen formed the basis of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down around 2004 with drummer Willis Thompson in Falls Church, Va., later picking up (and, since then, dropping) musicians Adam Thompson and Frank Stewart and relocating the duo's efforts to San Francisco.

Toro Y Moi
"Anything in Return"
Carpark

Sometime last year, I tweeted that I'd really like it if someone could send me a list of all possible types of "core" music. I'd heard of grindcore, nerdcore and of course hardcore, but it seemed like the core family tree had the potential to be vast and ridiculous, and I figured the Internet could help. However, like most of what I put on Twitter, this request garnered minimal response.

Chuck Klosterman began writing "Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta" in 1998 while working for a newspaper in Akron, Ohio. In a 2011 interview with the Nervous Breakdown, Klosterman claimed that his intent was to write "Fargo Rock City" from an academic standpoint to legitimize the subject matter, because at the time, there was no "I Love the '80s" marathons on VH1, no reality TV shows attempting to defibrillate the careers of aging rock stars and not all that many people who even admitted to liking heavy metal in the first place.

The Zolas
"Ancient Mars"
Light Organ Records

Oh, Canada. I've always thought that Canada and St. Louis have a lot in common. Both experience frigid winters, both are relegated in popular conscience as being backwaters of significant size and both carry an inferiority complex about their place in that conscience, because both know that they're capable of so much more than anyone gives them credit for producing.

In the fall of 2003, I was living in San Diego and wondering when fall would actually happen. People who leave the idylls of Southern California frequently cite their need for discernible seasons, and I was no different.

I recently moved, which is expensive enough even if you don't hire movers to haul your things with minimal complaint. Like most people who aren't quadrillionaires these days, I didn't hire movers.

Band of Horses
"Mirage Rock"
Columbia

Prior to recording 2007's "Cease to Begin," Band of Horses vocalist Ben Bridwell relocated the band from Seattle to his home state of South Carolina.

The Heavy are allegedly from Noid, England, a mythical town that, disappointingly, has nothing to do with Domino's. Instead, "Noid" is a combination of "noise" and "void," but neither of these is an accurate description of the band.

The remnants of Hurricane Isaac may have rained out most Labor Day weekend barbecues in St. Louis, but Dan Deacon's show at the Firebird turned his brand of orchestral and electro noise into a steamy, collaborative party.

Cat Power
"Sun"
Matador

Chan Marshall has a reputation for being an unpredictable performer, and paying to see a Cat Power show is a little bit like hedging your bets in favor of Guns N' Roses or Van Halen.