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In this week's paper, Ryan Wasoba interviewed Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, the Canadian duo who's playing the Pageant this Sunday night, May 4, with An Horse. I'd advise anyone who's on the fence about going to buy your tickets now. Just trust me.

Anyway, Ryan's feature is here; outtakes are below. While reading, please listen to the RAC mix of T & S's "Back In Your Head."

MP3: Tegan and Sara, "Back in Your Head (RAC Mix)"

Ryan Wasoba: It's been a while since you've played St. Louis, right?
Tegan Quin: Oh God yeah, years and years. I think the last place we
played was the Galaxy.

Wow. I think that closed down in 2003, so i guess it has been a while.
Yeah, I remember we rolled in and we were driving downtown. It wasn't actually me, but our drummer was driving and he woke us up and he said, "Oh my God, it's like a war happened here and nobody told anyone," cause it was right around when we were touring and there was a
lot of war talk around then. There were so many buildings that were boarded up and falling down and decrepit and streets were abandoned and it was like, "Where are we?"

Has touring been different since The Con came out?
I think that's the big difference with this record, is that we're consistently playing the same-sized venue, which sounds like the most boring thing ever, but it's a lot better. With every record, every tour is different. One night you're opening for someone the next night you're headlining and every night is different and maybe in certain cities you have a fanbase and another you don't. Sometimes you're playing for 500 people and you feel like the happiest person alive and the next night it's 12 people and you're questioning why you didn't go to the university.

More

Opening up for Dan Deacon on Saturday night at the Billiken Club is the Pragmatic. "Who's that?" you might ask. Well, it's the electro-pop project of Andre Anjos of the RAC (see my story here) and his roommate, Karl Kling.

Fans of Daft Punk's smooth funk and retro-new-wave synthpop with a desire for authentic, analog sounds will enjoy the Pragmatic's tunes. Behold:

MP3: The Pragmatic, "Rendezvous"

MP3: The Pragmatic, "Circles"

MP3: Justice, "Phantom Part III (Pragmatic mix)"

-- Annie Zaleski

So, Radiohead is holding a remix contest where you can download the raw material of its track "Nude" and make your own version. The public can vote on their favorites at that Web site, although there aren't any prizes to be given out (besides the fact that Radiohead might listen to your work -- which is actually a pretty cool honor). The top ten mixes, according to votes, will remain on the front page of the Web site as well.

And uber-Radiohead fan Andre Anjos of the Remix Artist Collective -- hey, who I wrote about a few weeks ago -- remixed "Nude."

Download the MP3 here. (Hotlinking will go away once I upload the MP3 at work.) Vote below!

-- Annie Zaleski

What didn't go into my cover story this week on the RAC is that like Scott Vener, music supervisor of Entourage, I knew about the agency long before I knew that Andre Anjos lived in the area -- because of its strong Internet presence. I have had the RAC web site bookmarked for almost a year now, and while perusing my work computer, I found the following MP3s, which I had downloaded randomly throughout the year.

I'll be adding to this post when I get back from SXSW, so be sure to check back. But for now please enjoy some more music.

MP3: The Shins, "Sleeping Lessons (RAC mix)"

MP3: The Comas, "Red Microphones (RAC mix)"

-- Annie Zaleski

As I write in this week's Riverfront Times cover story, another band that Andre Anjos of the RAC has remixed is Tokyo Police Club. This young Toronto quartet actually played St. Louis a few years back, opening for Enon at the Creepy Crawl. (Who's still upset that she skipped it? That would be me.) Hopefully the band will come back to town -- even though Elephant Shell, its April 8-released debut on Saddle Creek, should send its profile into the stratosphere. Dreamy, romantic, danceable and catchy, Shell is the perfect soundtrack to a starry-eyed summer.

TPC is playing at 1 a.m. on Saturday night, March 15, at the Dirty Dog bar, headlining the S.C. showcase -- and it's playing a slew of day parties all four days. But for now here's the RAC's take on the band's "Be Good":

MP3: Tokyo Police Club, "Be Good (RAC remix)"

-- Annie Zaleski

On Wednesday afternoon, my story on the Remix Artist Collective (RAC) will hit the Riverfront Times' main homepage. The RAC's founder and main remixer, Andre Anjos, attends Greeville College.

One of the group's he's remixed is Ra Ra Riot, whose heartfelt, string-laden indie-rock has started to earn it some serious attention in music circles. The band is also playing a ton of shows at SXSW:

Wednesday March 12th: Austin Convention Center, 5 p.m.
Wednesday March 12th: Todd P Party @ Ms. Beas, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday March 13th: Saddle Creek/Arts & Crafts/The Onion/Canvas Media Party @ Emos, 1:55pm
Friday March 14th: Soundcheck Magazine Party @ Emos Annex, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday March 15th: Diesel Party @ Saengerrunde Hall 8:50 p.m.
Saturday March 15th: Park the Van/Daytrotter Party @ Emos Annex, 10 p.m.

For your listening enjoyment, here are two MP3s:

MP3: Ra Ra Riot, "Can You Tell (Live on WOXY)"

MP3: Ra Ra Riot, "Each Year (RAC mix)"

-- Annie Zaleski