MinneapolitanMusic

This is a picture of me looking totally cheeky and showing off this week's Onion, in which Mark Mallman gave an interview regarding the state of music in Minnesota (among other things), and listed HowWasTheShow.com as one of the best things about the Twin Cities music scene this year! Very exciting.

Photo taken by David de Young. See his whole set from last night here.

Members of HWTS were out in full force last night. I started the evening at the Dakota, where The New Standards played an excellent three hour set. The trio, which consists of Chan Poling (The Suburbs) on piano, John Munson (Semisonic) on upright bass and Steve Roehm (Electropolis) on vibraphones. They played a set that consisted entirely of covers, from old classics to Blur's "Song 2," all in the style of a lounge jazz act. It was surprisingly fun and enjoyable!

Next I shot over to the Turf Club, where a slew of local bands played including my personal favorite, The Alarmists. I may have a slight bias toward the band because I went to high school with the drummer, Ryan Mach, however I thought that they were the best act on the bill last night and they put out a solid, driving wall of sound. I will have to go see them again soon, as Nate and I showed up fashionably late and missed a good chunk of their set. They play next at Big V's on January 13.

At the Turf we joined up with David and Zosia Blue, and had a jolly good time discussing our plans to take over the world.

Yesterday was an arduous journey. It all began when I got to work, clicked on the ol' MNSpeak bookmark button and saw that Diablo Cody's book was being released to the public. And it was available at Borders, of all places. That's like, a real bookstore. Plus she has a bio on the Barnes and Noble website. It simultaneously made me crumble in awe and hide my face at the realization that I am a huge sloth (not entirely bad, since I kinda have a thing for sloths, but still).

In my excited anticipation, (yes, despite my recent public ribbing of Ms. Cody I am a huge fan) I convinced my husband to pick me up from work, armed with a Barnes and Noble gift card, and we began our trek. We started at the Roseville B&N, where a perky young woman looked very concerned that I was looking to buy book by someone named Diablo. She informed me that they didn't have any, they were "on order." Annoying. So then, after a long discussion/argument with my husband over whether there was in fact a Borders in Calhoun Square (there is, and I won) we headed there and I triumphantly grabbed one of only four copies of the book on the front table. How exciting! And it cost more than our dinner!

I've only gotten about 20 pages in and I am already in love. She is such a talented writer, and she truly has her own, er, "style" of writing that she maintains in her book, which is quite admirable. Anyway, it's worth the 25 buckaroos if you are looking for a good read. I can't wait to finish.

Oh yes, and now onto the part where this post actually pertains to its title. Last night, I headed over to the Triple Rock with friends Nate and Taylor to check out The Gleam. I am trying to convince Nate to be brave enough to write up his own review of the show, hopefully he will. I saw him scribbling down some notes, and I managed to scrounge up two set lists and a free CD for the guy, so that should help.

The opener was a band called Your Loving Tiger, and I don't know if I can say I love them back. It was difficult to find any information on these guys, from what I can tell they are a relatively new local band with a lot of soul and no time for singing in tune. I was fairly amused, but also a little pained to listen to their glass-breaking dissident harmonies and their attempts to "wail" on their guitars at varying tempos. Was it a schtick? I don't know.

Middle slot was filled with the truly inspiring Gee as in Jesus. Hailing from Indiana, the legendary Brothers Gee graced the stage with their surprisingly refined bluegrass/gospel music and line upon line of lyrics relating Jesus to Satan. At first, it was hilarious, but then it ventured into something amazingly heartfelt; the band truly embraces their spirituality, even if it is a bit warped. I especially enjoyed a song that was dedicated "to the children," and featured the drummer singing softly, "Jesus loves you, but so does Satan...I know this because the Bible tells me so." Gee as in Jesus has made a religion out of questioning religion, and I think I like it.

The Gleam played their asses off in another great show, playing several new songs off of their upcoming CD which they will start recording in January. The Gleam emits a charm unlike any other, partly because they don't take themselves seriously at all, and partly because they play amazing music despite (or maybe because of?) their lack of self-respect. They get drunk, they laugh at each other, and they attempt to kick their drummer out of the band at least once every performance, all the while holding it together through breakneck tunes and fist-pumping good lyrics. Lead singer Zachary Johns screams through his shaggy, face-shielding hair while bass player Timmy grins wildly and and his fingers fly nimbly down the fret board of his guitar. Timmy's brother Johnny (is their last name really Bon Bonnie?) does a fine job keeping up with his aggresive drumming, despite the constant grief he gets from the other two members of the band. Even though they self-deprecated all over themselves, I still love these guys, and I really like proclaiming that I just saw the Goddamn Gleam.

• 12/29 The Gleam w/ Gee as in Jesus & Your Loving Tiger, Triple Rock Social Club, 9:00, $5.00

• 12/29 Beau Kinstler with Martin Devaney / JoAnna James, 400 Bar, 8:00 PM $5.00

• 12/30 The New Standards, Dakota Jazz Club

• 1/05 Vicious Vicious / The Slats / The Dials, Triple Rock Social Club, 9PM, $6

• 1/05 Tony Glover & John Koerner followed by The Crown Vics (Ike Reilly cover band), 400 Bar, 7:00 PM, $5.00

• 1/06 This World Fair w/ White Light Riot and Epic Hero, Varsity Theater, 8:00, $5

• 1/06 Copasetic with Joanna James, Sarah Notley and Apryl Electra, Fine Line, 8:00, $6

• 1/07 The Pines plus Willie Murphy & John Koerner, 400 Bar, 8:00 PM, $8.00

• 1/12 Chris Koza w/ Matt Johnson Band & Kubla Khan, Fine Line, 8:00, $5

• 1/13 The Alarmists, Big V’s, 10:00, $5

• 1/13 Molly Maher, 331 Club, 9:00, free

• 1/14 Happy Apple, Cedar Cultural Center, 8:00, $12 advance / $15 day of show

• 1/14 DJ Abilities, Carnage w/ Jimmy2Times, The Battle Royale, The Crest, Triple Rock Social Club, 5:00, $7

• 1/14 The Crime Novels CD Release show w/ Little Man and The Blue Mollies, Nomad World Pub, 9:00, $5

• 1/17 Mighty Fairly, Doc's Kids, Beight; Lee’s Liquor Lounge, Free

• 1/18 Radio K Presents “The Best New Bands of 2005” featuring The Birthday Suits, Chooglin, The Deaf, Digitata, Duplomacy, God Damn Doo Wop Band & Kill the Vultures, hosted by KQ Homegrown’s Dave Campbell & Cities 97’s Jason Nagel, First Ave, 7:00, $7

• 1/22 The Minnesota Choice Coalition Presents “Rock for Roe” Featuring: The Belles of Skin City; All ages show at 5:00 w/ The Have’s Have It, /Unknown Prophets, Dessa of Doomtree; 21+ show at 10:00 w/ Guitarmagedden, Digitata, Duplomacy, Divebomb Honey; 8.00 advance / $10.00 door

• 1/27 The Plastic Constellations Record Release w/ Cecil Otter, Sims, Mictlan & Dessa of Doomtree; All Ages show at 5:00 w/ The STNNNG, Shoeshiners; 21+ show at 9:00 w/ The Hawaii Show, THE STNNNG, Triple Rock Social Club, $8

• 1/27 Murzik w/ Bernie King & Signal to Noise, Terminal Bar, 9:00

• 1/28 The Hopefuls, 400 Bar, 8:00 PM, $8.00

• 1/28 Eclectone Records Showcase Featuring Martin Devaney, Dan Israel, Mark Stockert, Bob McCreedy, Big Ditch Road, Varsity Theater, 8:00, $8

Well, well, looks like I'm back at work again, nursing a mad Christmas hangover. Don't you just love the holidays?

I am gearing up for another round of great local shows, putting together a nice list for January that should be posted soon. I think that this upcoming year will be a good one, lots of great vibes (I hate it when people use that word, it's like, totally tubular dude) pulsating throughout the city and plenty of promising up-and-coming bands that should start to break out in the year ahead. I really agree with Michael Ferrier of Electropolis when he said in a recent interview that, in terms of the Twin Cities music scene, "we think it's about to BLOW UP. There are so many talented people here, and the world is just waking up to it." (By the way, it's a good idea to check out the blog attached to that interview, called Perfect Porridge, they offer interesting local reviews and concert schedules each week, one of my new favorite local blogs.)

My husband asked me if I had any New Year's resolutions, which I usually avoid at all costs because of my monstrous ego-crushing fear of failure. However, just for fun, I suppose I have a few goals for 2006:

1. Let someone read my novel all the way through and allow them to offer "constructive criticism" without balling up on the floor in tears. Take some sort of step toward possibly having it maybe published someday.
2. Stop eating fattening crap. Eat more veggies.
3. Regain traces of original feelings of idealism once embraced by my younger self. Consider doing something proactive for the community and/or world. One person can make a difference after all, even if only a small little dent in the steel armor of oppression and apathy.
4. Work on size of ass.
5. Have at least one music review published at a profit, by a nice respected news source, and, if at all possible, on real paper.
6. Infiltrate Chicago music scene and become famous.
   

That's about all I can think of for now. Happy New Year, a few days early!

This is our friend Nate. Nate was sad, and makes a very good pouty face, as pictured. I don't remember exactly what made Nate so sad, perhaps it was that my purse was way too full of miscellaneous junk and blocking an otherwise good shot.

This photo was taken by David de Young in the basement of the Turf Club last night, where we attended the White Light Riot/TV Sound show and then went downstairs and got drunk instead of listening to Action vs. Action.

I must apologize for my posts being 1) lame, 2) sparse, and 3) not at all related to music lately. The holiday season is kicking my ass, big time. It's only two days until Christmas (a day I tenderly refer to as Christmas Eve Eve) and it's like I can't focus on the holiday. Time is flying by and all I can think about is the future, worrying and wondering about what comes next. I am so incredibly excited about this next year, I really think that my writing is developing into something good, and I can't wait to be in Chicago; it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay in the moment and put my energy into what I am doing RIGHT NOW. This post is sufficient evidence.

When I was a kid, I vividly remember the intense anticipation that came along with the countdown toward Christmas Day. We had this great December calendar that had a little mouse that you could move from day to day as you made your way through the month, and I remember how it felt like it took years to get from 1 to 24. And on Christmas Eve, I would be so excited that I couldn't fall asleep; one year I even convinced myself that I could hear Santa's sleigh bells and the sound of his boots padding across the snowy roof of our house. Where did all the fun go? Now, Christmas is becoming another list of chores for me, shopping and cleaning my apartment and wrapping presents in a stressed-out, grumbling fashion. A part of me just wants it to all be over so I can get back to my life!

I feel like a kid with ADD, I am actually simultaneously writing this post and a review and surfing the internet. Gah! Losing...ability...to focus...

In honor of Festivus, I must air a few grievances. Please excuse my harsh attitude. I wish to start off the new year with this behind me.

Dear annoying girl that rides my bus:

It is not cute or funny that every day you board the bus while chatting on your cell phone, smile at me, and plant yourself on top of me in my seat, swinging your Prada purse in my face. We are not friends, despite the fact that I know excrutiating details about your personal life. You see, while we all have the freedom to talk on our cell phones whenever we want, there is a certain thing called etiquette. In instances such as riding the 17C, where almost all other passengers ride in silence, faced forward, pretending that the other people on the bus don't exist, talking on your cell phone is extremely annoying to those around you.

Please shut up.

Sincerely,
The girl with the headphones who glares at you daily


Dear prototypical drunk guy who is at every concert:

It is not funny or charming that you are wasted. You see, getting drunk doesn't require any talent at all. If you drink cheap enough beer, you can do it for $15-20 maximum, usually less. So why must you come out to a show, where good people pay good money to hear music, and drink yourself stupid in front of hundreds of people? And not only must you ruin your own evening with your mind-blurring intoxication, but you slosh around in front of others, obstructing their view and distracting them with your loud stupid comments. I'm trying to watch the band, dumbass! I don't care that your best friend went to high school with the guy who set up the microphones before the show. You're not interesting!

Please throw up and pass out.

Sincerely,
The girl who is too polite to give you the smack in the face you deserve


I will now take offers for participation in the Feats of Strength. Hopefully, I won't be matched against someone too big, I am fairly weak. If you will please excuse me, I have to go put up my Festivus pole.

Before I begin, I must give a disclaimer: I hate year-end lists. I think they are pretentious (is my opinion really that important that I should give a definitive list of the year's best and people will care?) and biased (I only am going to list things I personally witnessed/heard). That being said, I created these lists, I have never done this before, and please don't kill me if you think I have bad taste.

Local Albums of the year:

1. Dan Israel, “Dan Israel"
2. Coach Said Not To, “PE EP"
3. Cloud Cult, "Advice From the Happy Hippopotamus"
4. Atmosphere, “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having”
5. Mike Nicolai, “God Fatigue in the Post Atom Age”
6. The Pines, “The Pines”
7. Electropolis, “Electropolis”
8. Spaghetti Western String Company, “Quiet Mob EP”
9. Jeff Hanson, “Jeff Hanson”
10. Robert Skoro, “That These Things Could Be Ours”

Local Songs of the year:

1. “Outside Looking In,” Martin Devaney, “Best of Smoke-Free Saturday Nights”
2. “Smart Went Crazy,” Atmosphere, “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having”
3. “Shadow Puppets,” Coach Said Not To, “PE EP”
4. “Luna Marinara,” Spaghetti Western String Company, “Quiet Mob EP”
5. “Transistor Radio,” Cloud Cult, "Advice From the Happy Hippopotamus"

Local Live act of the year:

1. Little Man
2. Curtiss A
3. Trampled by Turtles
4. Mason Jennings
5. Martin Devaney

Well, I guess that wasn't so bad, now was it? I also must mention that I attended the First Ave party last week, had a blast, and wrote this review of the show.

The Jayhawks played an incredible set Wednesday night at the First Ave Anniversary Party, which was only topped by members of Goldon Smog (including Gary Louris and Kraig Johnson, shown here) who kicked some serious ass together.

In case you were wondering why I haven't been blogging quite as frequently as usual this past week, it's because I went to a bunch of shows and wrote four reviews in the past seven days. It was delightful. Please read them:

• Electropolis
• Curtiss A and Friends John Lennon Tribute
• Reticence w/ Bill Mike and Cloud Cult
• Mason Jennings w/ Jeff Hanson

Some people in my life have been insinuating that I am insane for writing so much, however, as I have attempted to explain, I am making up for lost time here. Because of a variety of circumstances and life changing events, I have not written in any serious quantity for about the past three years. So I have a lot to talk about!

I am hoping to continue at this clip for a while (why stop now?) and perhaps if I write enough I will eventually start earning money. That would be cool.

Over the weekend someone asked me a question that sent my head a-spinning: Why do I want to be a music critic?

Of course, I have some prefabricated answers already cooked up and ready to serve in my head, and I don't remember exactly what I said but it was probably something along the lines of "music is life, blah-di-blah-di-blah." But the more I think about it, the more complex my answer becomes, as I consider what it really is about music that makes me so damn crazy about it.

Now I know that there are plenty of you lurking out there who read my blog and then whisk away unnoticed, so I want to open this topic up for discussion and invite interested parties to contribute their thoughts in the comments section (you don't need a blogger account to do so, and you don't even have to leave your name if you are too chicken) because this relationship we are having needs to become a two-way street. Either that, or I am going to have to start blogging other people.

So here it is, the ultimate question: What do you LOVE about music?

To break the ice, I will go first.

One of my very first clear memories as a child is riding in the car with my dad, I think we were going to the circus or something, and we were listening to what must have been The Early Beatles, because I distinctly remember singing along to "Love Me Do." It was my favorite song for about the first four or five years of my life. I remember nodding my little head to the harmonica fills and thinking that the words, which seem simple and trivial to some, were extremely meaningful for me. The song always made me break out in little goofy dances and smile at the sheer happiness that comes with being loved.

As time went on my taste in music changed, and I now (hopefully) understand lyrics a little deeper than "love, love me do," but I continue to be drawn to music that is emotional, or as some would say, music that has "soul." There is a certain release that I can depend on getting from music that is poetic and beautiful, almost like taking a drug or having that first drag off a cigarette.

There have been points in my life (mostly in the past few years) when I have had to make decisions about where my last few dollars will go, and more than a few times I have opted for a new CD or a cover charge into a concert over the more sensible choice of one of those industrial-sized packs of ramen noodles or some other form of dietary sustenance. I guess I always felt like music fed me, quelled my hunger in a way that food never could. Much like a geek craving knowledge, I am kept fulfilled in my pursuit for more and more music because it keeps my mind active and my plate full.

For me, music is like that old friend who never judges you, the one you can pick up conversation with after five years of separation as if no time has passed at all. Music is that soul mate you always hoped you'd find, the one that seems to infiltrate your brain and read your thoughts back to you in a way that actually makes sense. Music is that drug you take to numb the pain or heighten the excitement or accentuate the nuances of your daily life to keep it interesting, the one that sprinkles color around the edges of the greyness of winter to keep you warm in the depths of your seasonal depression, to get you out of bed and on your way to work so you can earn that paycheck and buy those concert tickets and build up to another great release.

Music is life.

Blah-di-blah-di-blah.

Your turn.

I'm sitting here trying to sort out exactly what happened last night at the Curtiss A Lennon Tribute show at First Ave. Since the music lasted for about four and a half hours straight, it's a bit of a daunting challenge to sort it out into a thoughtful music review.

I am making the insane attempt to construct a set list for the evening. According to my (very messy) notes there were 63 songs total! This may take a while...

Probably one of my favorite parts of writing reviews of live shows is trying to dissect my notes the next morning. Thoughts that felt significant or profound at one moment can appear smudged and irrelevant the following day. For example, here are some bullet points I made of my "initial impressions" of the evening last night:

1. The guy next to me is so impressed his mouth is hanging open. I'm serious, it's literally gaping open like he can't believe it!
   
2. It smells like pot. A lot.
3. "You guys peakin' yet?"

All in all I thought the show was really impressive. Apparently, according to a few guys next to me, it wasn't as tight as in past years, but I don't know that a whole lot of people were there to hear Lennon's songs played in absolute top technical form. There was a lot of emotion flowing through the room, and I don't know that the songs could have sounded as breathtaking on any other night. Being the age that I am, the closest I have gotten to seeing the Beatles was an amazing Paul McCartney show a few years ago at Xcel and a Ringo show at Taste of Minnesota (silly Ringo). The Beatles songs last night were played at least at the same level, if not better at times than when I saw McCartney and his touring band.

And hearing "Imagine" sung/screamed Zach de la Rocha-style by a guy that's probably older than my dad? Awesome.

Dan Israel has been receiving a lot of good press lately, and in no way is that going to prohibit me from going on a little bit about him myself (no offense to Mr. Hicks at City Pages and others, but just lumping him in with Dylan and Luke Zimmerman doesn't quite do him justice). The man deserves every little morsel of praise that is sent his way, as a musician who is consistently described by critics as one of the most under-appreciated, hardest working guys in town.

In my very humble opinion, Dan's new eponymous release is the best work he has done since his introspective gem "Dan Who?" from 2000; it's a raw, heart-on-his-sleeve set of tunes that were recorded in his basement and performed entirely by himself.

The album picks up right where his previous solo album left off, introducing the listener back into his life with "Good Times," explaining that he is older and more weathered but not necessarily wiser. A gritty, static electric guitar plays in the background over a banging drum and his voice is a bit distorted, like an old record spinning 'round for the hundredth time.

I work at a job now
A nine to five
Sometimes you pinch yourself to make sure you're alive

I have to admit I was a bit surprised and delighted by the presence of more electric guitar in his solo work. In past Dan-only albums (he also has a handful with his band the Cultivators) he has relied very heavily on acoustic guitar and introspective lyrics to flesh out his songs. The new songs seem to meld together the elements of his bare-bones solo structure with the driving honky-tonk rhythms of his band, and it works quite well.

Another great tune is "Cold Cold Winter," which seems to be relevant these days. In a state like Minnesota with its high rate of seasonal depressives, Dan reflects on the effects of cold air on one's psyche and provides us a warm and fuzzy blanket to curl up in once the deep freeze sets in. The song flows nicely into a more upbeat song called "Turn it Down," which has a great strumming electric guitar part that reminds me of some of the middle-period Beatles songs, particularly "And Your Bird Can Sing."

What works the best for Dan on this album is the fact that he sounds the best when he is stripped-down, almost flaunting his vulnerabilities and inviting the listener right into to his world. As anyone who has read or heard anything about Dan Israel lately will know, he recently became a father and the experience has opened up a whole new level of intimacy in his music.

The most charming track comes at the very end, a tribute to his son called "Every Single Day" that must have been added at the last minute, as it doesn't appear on the track listing. The song is accompanied by a muffled piano part and discusses the pure joy and nervousness that comes with being a new parent. What may sound sappy coming from some people is the kind of honest sentiment that Dan is best at:

When I hold you, it feels so soft
Rock you all night till my legs fell off
We've got so much good ahead
Love you with every hair on my head

When I've got you, I feel so fine
Don't care much about the grapevine
All that I can feel is bliss
Cause my whole life led up to this

If I were to compile a list of the best local albums released this year (which I'm not, because I don't like those lists and there are too many of them out there already anyway), this record would probably be near the top.

If you missed Dan's show last weekend like I did, you should check out the pictures that David de Young took of the evening, and then you should join me at the 331 Club next Tuesday, December 13, where Dan will be playing solo and covering material off his new album. There is no cover charge and the music starts at 9:30.

Apologies for the brief hiatus, I just about burnt out from all of the November writing and then took a trip to Chicago over the weekend (an absolutely amazing trip to visit my brother-in-law and his adorable family). But it's time to pull the ol' blog off the back burner and jump back in for some more concerts and musical fun.

First of all, there are some excellent shows approaching quickly so it's time for the monthly notable concert rundown (and yes, something can be monthly if you've only done it twice):

• 12/5 Electropolis, Intermedia Arts
• 12/8 John Lennon Tribute Show w/ Curtiss A, First Ave, 5:30 p.m.
• 12/9 Reticence CD Release w/ Bill Mike and Cloud Cult, Triple Rock, 10:00 p.m.
• 12/10 Mason Jennings solo show w/ Jeff Hanson, First Ave, 6:00 p.m.
• 12/13 Dan Israel solo show, 331 Club, 9 p.m.
• 12/16 Haley Bonar w/ Michael Morris, 400 Bar, 9 p.m.
• 12/22 This World Fair w/ Thrush and Joanna James, Fine Line, 8 p.m.

This week is especially packed, I am really looking forward to all the shows and hope to have a handful of reviews published by the end of the week.

After much consideration (well, mostly just the time it took us to drive from Chicago to Madison) Mark and I have decided that we are getting married...to Chicago. We had such an amazing time visiting and we have been considering trying out another city for quite some time. We expect the transition to Chicago to take place in approximately one year, and will last for about a year. At least, that's the very rough concept that we have for now. I think it will be interesting to experience life in a new place, seeing as how I have never left Minnesota for more than a week at a time, and we know that we want to really "settle down" in Minnesota once we decide to shack up in a real house and start having kids. We are probably going to wait until about August or September of next year, enough time to wrap up things around here and really get prepared for the new city.

I probably just floored a few of you, if I haven't talked to you in person yet and you happened to check the blog. Sorry about that. I know that even if it is just for a year, and even if we visit often, I will miss a lot of people very much. However, it seems like one of those decisions that you have to just make and run with, because there will always be a whole set of excuses for why we should just stay put. And I am really good at making excuses, let me tell ya.

Here, read something funny.

Amusing quotes from the weekend-
Demian: I was driving on LSD and there were Christmas trees falling everywhere! (LSD = Lake Shore Drive in Chicago)
Andrea, to Mark: I'm sorry, sweetie, I can't set up the Christmas tree tomorrow, I have to go to Electropolis.