February 10, 2008 - February 16, 2008

« February 3, 2008 - February 9, 2008 | Main | February 17, 2008 - February 23, 2008 »

Coming in April: Unreleased 'Mats Tracks

Filed under: Local Music

Rhino Records announced last week that it will be reissuing the Replacements Twin/Tone catalog this spring. Sorry Ma, Stink, Hootenanny, and Let it Be will be turbocharged and bedazzled with all sorts of extras: demos, cover songs, and alternate versions. Later in 2008, the label plans to give the same treatment to the 'Mats Sire releases. Inside, the complete expanded track listings.

SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH
1. "Takin A Ride"
2. "Careless"
3. "Customer"
4. "Hangin Downtown"
5. "Kick Your Door Down"
6. "Otto"
7. "I Bought A Headache"
8. "Rattlesnake"
9. "I Hate Music"
10. "Johnny's Gonna Die"
11. "Shiftless When Idle"
12. "More Cigarettes"
13. "Don't Ask Why"
14. "Somethin To Dü"
15. "I'm In Trouble"
16. "Love You Till Friday"
17. "Shutup"
18. "Raised In The City"
Bonus Material
19. "Raised In The City" ­ Live, 1980 - Demo*
20. "Shutup" ­ Live, 1980 - Demo*
21. "Don't Turn Me Down" ­ Live, 1980 - Demo*
22. "Shape Up" ­ Live, 1980 - Demo*
23. "You Ain't Gotta Dance" ­ Studio Demo*
24. "Get On The Stick" ­ Studio Demo*
25. "Oh Baby" ­ Studio Demo*
26. "Like You" ­ Outtake*
27. "Get Lost" ­ Outtake*
28. "A Toe Needs A Shoe" ­ Outtake*
29. "Customer" ­ Alternate Take*
30. "Basement Jam" ­ Rehearsal*
31. "If Only You Were Lonely"

STINK
1. "Kids Don't Follow"
2. "Fuck School"
3. "Stuck In The Middle"
4. "God Damn Job"
5. "White And Lazy"
6. "Dope Smokin Moron"
7. "Go"
8. "Gimme Noise"
Bonus Material
9. "Staples In Her Stomach" ­ Outtake*
10. "Hey, Good Lookin'" ­ Outtake*
11. "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" ­ Outtake*
12. "You're Getting Married" ­ Solo Home Demo*

HOOTENANNY
1. "Hootenanny"
2. "Run It"
3. "Color Me Impressed"
4. "Willpower"
5. "Take Me Down To The Hospital"
6. "Mr. Whirly"
7. "Within Your Reach"
8. "Buck Hill"
9. "Lovelines"
10. "You Lose"
11. "Hayday"
12. "Treatment Bound"
Bonus Material
13. "Lookin' For Ya"
14. "Junior's Got A Gun" ­ Outtake - Rough Mix*
15. "Ain't No Crime" ­ Outtake*
16. "Johnny Fast" ­ Outtake - Rough Mix*
17. "Treatment Bound" ­ Alternate Version*
18. "Lovelines" ­ Alternate Vocal*
19. "Bad Worker" ­ Solo Home Demo*

LET IT BE
1. "I Will Dare"
2. "Favorite Thing"
3. "We're Comin' Out"
4. "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out"
5. "Androgynous"
6. "Black Diamond"
7. "Unsatisfied"
8. "Seen Your Video"
9. "Gary's Got A Boner"
10. "Sixteen Blue"
11. "Answering Machine"
Bonus Material
12. "20th Century Boy"
13. "Perfectly Lethal" ­ Outtake*
14. "Temptation Eyes" ­ Outtake*
15. "Answering Machine" ­ Solo Home Demo*
16. "Heartbeat ­ It's A Lovebeat" ­ Outtake, Rough Mix*
17. "Sixteen Blue" ­ Outtake - Alternate Vocal*

* previously unissued recording

Posted by Sarah Askari at February 16, 2008 2:25 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Blend: Outplaying Your Band

Filed under: Local Music

Toussaint Morrison thinks his band is better than yours. It's nothing personal.

That's just how the stars align in his view of local music cosmology. He's not hating on anybody in particular, but don't expect him to back off, either. Morrison is frustrated that The Blend, the five-piece live-band hip-hop ensemble Morrison fronts, seems to be attracting more attention nationally than it has at home.

"I think with the Blend, it's been an uphill battle – because there's nothing to define what we do," he says. "People have an idea of what hip-hop is, and an idea of what rock is, and sometimes we don't fit inside that circle. It's not deemed as 'Minneapolis cool' as we'd like it to be."

In response, they've begun churning out new material. Tonight at the Nomad World Pub, the band plays a release party for three new issues: a DVD and live CD recorded at the Varsity Theater, plus a live acoustic CD recorded at Manhattan Loft pizza place in Dec. '06. The package, Live Sessions 001, foreshadows another EP that will be released in April at the U of M's Spring Jam before the band's latest as-yet-untitled full length drops this fall.

This is a guy who is proud of what he's doing, and frustrated that his group will drive to North Carolina for shows, up to D.C., over to Ohio and then back to the town he's called home since the age of four ... and face a struggle for recognition. This isn't something he's shy about expressing. So stuff like this comes out, even if you didn't ask:

"I do think that the Blend is one of the most talented bands in the country, hands down, and I believe The Blend is the most talented band in the city of Minneapolis."

That's a bold claim.

"It is. One could say it's an outlandish claim," he acknowledges, "but for me it's nothing short of the truth."

Just ask him what he thinks about the local emo rock scene. I dare you.

The charismatic Morrison, who isn't necessarily as brash as these outspoken comments might suggest, got his start as an MC when a teacher at Minneapolis South High School introduced him to slam poetry at the age of 15. He started performing with the Minneapolis slam team in 2003, and in successive years placed highly at the national competition.

To him, the elements of slam incorporated into The Blend's music (they perform at least one poem during each show) add to the live experience.

"There's a lot of people that carry [shows] well. But how many people can survive onstage with no beat? For me, I think that's what it comes down to sometimes. If that guitar wasn't working, who would you be?"

This isn't to say that The Blend's instruments don't work. Musically, the tandem is at their best when finding a particular groove to explore. Take "July" (MP3) off 2005's After What Came Before long-player, which kicks off with a Ben Harper-ish rootsy vibe, and then goes into a hard rock riff. Toussaint describes himself singing on the chorus "like a male Alanis Morissette or some shit."

Though the group has been touring seriously for less than three years, The Blend been around in one form or another for more than five. The two more-or-less original members are Morrison and fellow Minneapolis South alum Linden Killam, who plays sax and piano. True to the name, they incorporate a fusion of styles into their sound, drawing on hip-hop, rock and spoken word.

Between touring, music production and promoting all those upcoming releases, Morrison's scrambling. "It's like a Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom is trying catch all the cups before they hit the ground," he says.

Luckily, he's got more energy than Tom. Not to mention a better way with words.

The Blend play at the Nomad World Pub tonight, Friday Feb. 15 at 9 p.m.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 15, 2008 3:18 AM | Comments (3)

 

Free Times New Viking Show Tonight Feb. 14

Filed under: Music

Times New Viking are in town to perform with the Super Furry Animals tomorrow night at the Varsity Theater, but tonight they're playing a gig where they'll have the spotlight all to themselves. Not literally, though--it's an in-store performance at Treehouse Records, and I don't think they have actual stage lighting there. The show starts at 7 (as long as the band rolls into town on sked), and it's free, though would it kill you to buy something? I've read that TNV are pretty incredible live, and I've also read that you're pretty broke, so maybe this is a match worthy of Cupid, eh? Treehouse Records is located at 2557 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.872.7400.

Posted by Sarah Askari at February 14, 2008 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

 

Phil Hansen's Valentine's Day Goodbye Art

Filed under: Art/Museums

Phil Hansen, the artist we profiled earlier this month, has a charming new piece up. It's a song and video, "the ABC's of Love."

After you watch it, check out Hansen's blog, where he describes getting the idea, soliciting submissions for the original ABC poem, and creating the workspace where he'd film the moving Sweetarts.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 14, 2008 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

 

My Bloggy Valentine: 20 Songs About Love

Filed under: 5 Songs About

Love is a many-splendored thing and all, but it's also dependent upon a relationship's context -- and so is the associated music. You don't want Al Green's "Let's Get Married" to stream through the car speakers during your third date, you don't want your intended to think you stopped listening to new records after "I Love You Just The Way You Are" was released, and you don't want "You Oughtta Know" to come on, well, ever.

Swapping out these embarrassing moments takes planning. Have you just hooked up or are you on the cusp of something more? Are you a hip-hop head who just hasn't found the right tracks to put on that gift CD? Or are you just looking for some sweet songs to sip hot cocoa by as you stare into each others' eyes?

Whether you're making a mix for that special someone or just looking for a soundtrack for the day, here are 20 timely tunes to consider for your personal "Favorite Love Songs" list.

FIVE SONGS ABOUT VALENTINE'S DAY

Let's start with holiday-appropriate fare. Given that roughly 92.3 percent of all songs written are in some way about love, it should comes as no surprise that songwriters have produced a depth of material about Feb. 14.

5. Various Artists, "My Funny Valentine"
Classics usually become so for a reason. This sultry standard originally performed in a 1937 musical has been exhorting Valentines to stay for more than 70 years in the voices of various jazz legends (and more modern artists). The video is a version by Chet Baker and Billie Holiday. For an updated take, try the piano-and-voice version by Ohio duo Over The Rhine.

4. The Get Up Kids, "Valentine"
This tune by the now-defunct emo band is as precious and bittersweet as you would expect. The fact that this YouTube video set to the song was evidently made by a sensitive high school student is also unsurprising and appropriate.

3. Califone, "Black Metal Valentine"
Experimentarians Califone make music that challenges, intrigues, sometimes displeases but never bores. This collection of joyous bumps, bells and bruises mutters along into a memorable groove, and the very notion of a Valentine's song by a black metal band (which Califone are most decidedly not) can't help but amuse. Sample it at eMusic.

2. Carissa's Wierd, "All Apologies And Smiles, Yours Truly, Ugly Valentine"
If you didn't spend a chunk of the 1990s on the West Coast, you might have missed out on the pleasures of the intentionally-misspelled Carissa's Wierd. Lucky you, it's Valentine's Day, and now is your chance to experience their melodic pop -- which is as unlike the so-called "Seattle sound" as it is unlike the Band of Horses, the group Mat Brooke and Ben Bridwell of the Wierd went on to form. Download the MP3 and read an encomium to the band here.

1. Outkast, "Happy Valentine's Day"
If you have the Outkast double album Speakerboxx/The Love Below, you're aware that this Andre 3000 masterpiece is the funkiest track ever to celebrate Cupid. If you don't have it, we all forgive you: now go and get it, even if you're sick of "Hey Ya!" But listen to this first, since Andre just wants to say one thing:

The funk is strong with this one. But so many love mixes are either utterly unfunky or rely too heavily on 70s soul. To remedy this, I propose the following:

FIVE HIP-HOP LOVE SONGS
Growing up in the Golden Age, I've always loved hip-hop. Being a bit of an emo, I also venerate great love songs. For most of my life, I've been searching for that perfect blend of the two.

Here are my favorite five. This list is also a response to the Houston Press' "10 Great Hip-Hop Breakup Songs". Look, in a macho and often misogynist genre, those are easy. Finding authentically sweet hip-hop love songs that aren't cheesy is a challenge. Complicating matters: many hip-hop songs that seem to be about love are about love of music, or love of one's children.

I love a challenge, and I love these tracks.

5. Handsome Boy Modeling School, "If It Wasn't For You"
This somewhat breaks the "it's gotta be about adult love" rule, since one verse is about a baby and one is about fame. But the sentiment is unabashedly romantic, the chorus is charming without being cloying, and the beat interacts with the rhymes expertly. Worth it for the introductory sample alone. Listen to it, you won't be sorry.

4. De La Soul, "Eye Know"
In 1989, LL Cool J broke ground by releasing the tender ballad "I Need Love" as a single. LL took an immediate ration of undeserved shit for exposing his sensitive side, and an everlasting ration of deserved shit because that song was and remains wack. Two years later, Three Feet High and Rising changed hip-hop, and this under-appreciated song is to my ear the first classic hip-hop love song.

3. Jean Grae, "My Angel is You"
Most recently released of all these tracks, it's a testament to Ms. Grae's talent that this is actually a b-side. That's right, one of her leftovers is one of the best five hip-hop love songs ever released. Featuring fluid rhymes and subtle singing on the chorus, "My Angel" doesn't overwhelm but does get under your skin. Sample it on eMusic.

2. Method Man and Mary J. Blige, "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need to Get By"
Classics are classics for a reason, and Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need to Get By" will always be in the pantheon. Even classics need a jumpstart, though, and the combination of Meth and Mary J. is enough to defibrillate a stalled heart. Delightfully, it's almost free of machismo, and though it doesn't celebrate wedlock exactly ("Word life/You don't need a ring to be my wife"), it's a song the celebrates commitment as much it does sensual exchange.

Embedding has been disabled, but check out the full video here: music starts about 45 seconds in.

1. Josh Martinez, "Just a Dood."
One of the most prolific and slept-on indie rap artists in North America, Vancouver B.C.'s Josh Martinez creates tuneful, diverse and listenable hip-hop that's subtle and creative. Most of his canon is composed of summer-day, windows down, good-time jams. On this track he takes it down a notch. Wait for the hook. It's simple, it's silly, it's irresistible.

That's the "genre" list. Moving along to the "where's the fire?" category:

FIVE SWEET SONGS THAT DON'T GO TOO FAR

Good mixtapes, like good relationships, should leave you feeling warm, comfortable and smiling. Over-reaching is verboten and morbid is right out.

To wit: you might love Death Cab, but in the name of Cupid Valentino The Modern Day Cupid, if you put "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" on that CD then you absolutely deserve to get dumped. In fact, after your paramour gives you the look of horror and drops you like a dope beat, I will come over and dump you myself, just to be sure it takes.

Don't let this happen to you. Go just far enough, with these.

5. The Weakerthans, "The Reasons"
I wholeheartedly endorse everything the Weakerthans have ever done. This song is a wonder for all occasions to show that person -- love interest or otherwise -- that you appreciate them. The chorus acknowledges its cornball qualities ("I know you might roll your eyes at this/But I'm so glad that you exist"), deflecting the eyeroll onslaught and turning it into harmless giggles. Reading the lyrics isn't enough. Listen to the song.

4. Amadou et Mariam, "Je Pense a Toi"
But why even bother with English lyrics that Convey The Deep Feelings You Have For Your Dear One? French is never a bad choice. It sounds sexy, and unless the object of your desire is bilingual, you don't have to worry about them understanding it. When the music is as rich as Malian masters Amadou et Mariam's, it doesn't even really matter that the title means "I'm Thinking of You." They'll know it.

3. Beulah, "If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart"
Judicious use of strings, horn and piano can add a lot to a rock song, and the parts in this tune show that. Melodic and multi-instrumental, this track is a journey as implied by the length of the (awesome) title, which appears nowhere in the lyrics. "All we need is a pretty song," they say: indeed.

This live version has its charms, for sure, but it's the studio sound you want.

2. The Pixies, "Here Comes Your Man"
Above I noted that you don't want to be the guy who stopped listening to music when Christie Brinkley divorced Billy Joel. Conversely, you want to show some appreciation for the indie music that has stood the test of time. There's only one candidate that compares to the Pixies, and Sonic Youth is not going to get you over.

1. Viva Voce, "Mixtape = Love"
The best ending choice to a mixtape ever. I will not brook dissent on this point. Lovely vocal interplay between man and woman, supple harmonies, and a message that wraps things up perfectly. Sample it at Last.FM. Plus, the band is a husband and wife, and you've gotta love that.

Speaking of nuptials ... now we come to the payoff.

FIVE SONGS ABOUT MARRIAGE

Mere weeks ago, my marine biologist friend donned dive gear and descended into a shark tank thinking she was taping an educational program. Instead, her musician boyfriend popped a most memorable question. Watch the video of the proposal here.

Aside from being sickeningly sweet, this offers an apt metaphor: if you're not willing to jump into a shark tank for somebody, maybe you ought to reconsider the commitment.

Ready to jump into the shark tank? Already taken the plunge? These are the songs for you.

5. Old 97's, "Question"
Country-rock troubadors the Old 97's penned lots of memorable tunes, but none so memorable as the one about a "question that you should say yes to/once in your life." This video has a creepy Half-Life deal going on, so you ought to just listen with the window minimized, or try this live version (with French lyrics! Remember what I said about French?).

4. Lou Reed, "Think It Over"
Post-Velvet Underground, Lou Reed was always at his best when effectively doing spoken word material ("Coney Island Baby," "Walk on the Wild Side," "Harry's Circumcision"). So it is with this slow, restrained approach, which somehow manages to keep the emotion percolating just beneath the surface. Yes, this song is about Lou's at-the-time-lover, a transvestite. What's your point?

3. Nellie McKay, "Cupcake"
The best song ever written about gay marriage, this piano ditty is catchy enough to get even your homophobic relatives toe-tapping. Especially if they listen to the lyrics, but not too closely. Hummable hooks and an irresistible vocal breakdown ensure this one will win your heart, gay, straight or wherever you fall on the Kinsey scale. (Nellie's other marriage song, "I Wanna Get Married," isn't nearly so suffused with romance. Stick with this one.)

2. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, "As Long As the Grass Shall Grow"
Alone among these songs in that it is a retrospective about a particular, real marriage, it gets an easy nod. Alluding to the authentic hardships suffered by the famous duo, it also sends a positive message: if they can make it, maybe we can, too. Man, do I miss Johnny Cash.

1. The Magnetic Fields, "The Book of Love"
Everyone should own The Magnetic Fields' magnum opus, 69 Love Songs. They're so inspiring that multiple local bands are joining forces to perform the record in its entirety, and there's truly something for everyone in there. Only if you're serious about someone, though, do you want to break out "The Book of Love," which builds to an emotional crescendo before the matrimonial end. If this doesn't get the ring on that finger, look elsewhere. Sample this and the other 68 Love Songs at eMusic.

No thanks are necessary. I am merely a humble servant in the cause of love. Although if any of these selections helps you in the cause of wedlock and procreation, remember -- "Jeff" is a great name for a boy, "Jefferina" for a girl.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 14, 2008 4:35 AM | Comments (1)

 

Romeo Castellucci: Driving Theater Arts With Imagery

Filed under: Theater

Trained as a visual artist, Romeo Castellucci's work on stage draws on the rich legacy of Italian painting in creating images for the audience. But he doesn't stop, always reaching to challenge perceptions -- of what's appropriate, of what's traditional, of what's being perceived from moment to moment.

Variety has called him "contemporary theatre's most audacious and inventive image-maker," and the visuals from his work are what make an immediate impression -- nudity, simulated violence, audacious character presentation. Yet significantly more than audacious sights populate his performances, including Hey Girl, which opens at the Walker on Friday and runs through Sunday.

The performance follows a girl's journey through birth and adolescence to womanhood. Inspired by a moment where he saw a random group of young women waiting for a bus, Castellucci began conceptualizing a way to incorporate their imagined experience into his work.

"Their silence and the space around them inspired the title. It's such an impersonal way of addressing someone, 'Hey Girl,'" Castellucci says. To the director as a passerby, these women were anonymous. The unnamed woman in the title contrasts with modes of address that invoke someone's name, whether a friend or a symbolic historical figure (such as the Virgin Mary, Joan of Arc and Shakespeare's Juliet, whose images all appear during the show).

Contrary to the artist's customary process, elements were added one at a time. "Usually, I meticulously plan everything out. This time, we began with an idea, went to the stage, and improvised from there," adding more material each time it was rehearsed, he said. "It was like working on a sculpture, the way Hey Girl came together."

And how does he expect audiences to react? Despite the play's startling visuals, Castellucci says to shock is not his instead. Instead, he says he merely wants viewers to permit themselves traffic down all potential emotional avenues. The United States has been more rewarding in this respect.

To Castellucci, performances don't need a unified message or a political program, and in his opinion, recent European theater has been overly programmatic. "In Europe, there is almost a pedagogical expectation in theater. American audiences are more open to experiment, to letting a piece just make them feel," he says.

Much is made of Castellucci's latest effort as a meditation on femininity. It is that, but much more. A musing on the seductive peril of symbols, a rich visual tapestry -- but more than anything, he says, this is meant to be the portrait of a real person.

And the artist is in there, too. Castellucci quotes Flaubert: "'Madame Bovary, c'est moi.' -- and Hey Girl, it's me."

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 13, 2008 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

 

Missed Connections: Cat Power at First Avenue

Filed under: Concert Review

Cat Power
Feb. 11, 2008
First Avenue
Review by Sarah Askari
Photos by Daniel Corrigan

Chan Marshall can hold herself together onstage, finally. But she hasn't yet learned how to hold the audience's attention.

She's touring behind her latest release, a covers album called Jukebox. The musicians who backed her on that disc, the Dirty Delta Blues Band, are with her at First Avenue, but I kind of wish she'd left them at home. I guess she can't, 'cause the singer known as Cat Power doesn’t really have a home. Despite apartments in several cities, Marshall is a born wanderer. She doesn't get comfortable anywhere -- even up on stage, where, despite her smiling, she paces and fidgets the entire evening.

Cat Power's performances drew a "meh" from Sarah Askari. More photos by Daniel Corrigan.

Marshall's trick on this tour should be to stun us all with the hair-raising mournful beauty of her voice as she shows off her interpretations of songs by Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra -- stuff we all know the words to. But I'm feeling more strained than stunned. It's impossible to catch the nuances of the vocals over the Dirty Delts. Each organ swell washes away Marshall's voice like a tsunami taking out a fishing village. All the subtle secrets that come out on the album are missing here. And that connection that an artist forms with the audience--that charisma that keeps all mouths shut and all eyes on center stage? Also missing. She's got it in her, that power to hold the attention of a thousand people--for proof, check out this YouTube clip. Perhaps she can't just turn it on and off at will.

There are a few times when the crowd's noisy chitchat and the band's bossy blues die down enough to let Chan shine: a cover of Patsy Cline's "She's Got You," and her only original track on Jukebox, "Song to Bobby." Even with the band in full force on "Aretha, Sing One for Me," she holds her own. Still, I cut out before the gig was finished. There might be a few more songs to play, but it's clear there isn't going to be a climax.

Posted by Sarah Askari at February 12, 2008 5:21 PM | Comments (6)

 

Goodbye Blue Monday: Dean & Britta at the Cedar

Filed under: Concert Review

Dean & Britta
Feb. 11, 2008
Cedar Cultural Center
Review by Jeff Shaw
Photos by James Tran

"For us, it's the coldest day of the year," began Dean Wareham. "Maybe of our lives."

As a member of Galaxie 500 and Luna, Wareham crafted practically perfect atmospheric pop, spacey lounge-act fare suitable for cocktails and candles. For the past several years, together with former Luna bandmate (and current wife) Britta Phillips, Wareham generates gentle, melodic music with a nod to the retro. Monday night at the Cedar, he was nodding to the weather.

This isn't to say Dean & Britta were nonplussed to be in Minneapolis. "Mary Tyler Moore was one of my first crushes," he quipped after bringing a few guitar-pop tunes into the Cedar Cultural Center. And we fared better than one East Coast town. When Wareham finally shed his fetching striped sweater midway through the evening, he was wearing a "Boston Sucks" t-shirt, and wryly asked the crowd not to YouTube him sporting the inflammatory apparel.

Boston might suck in Dean Wareham's eyes, but Dean & Britta's music doesn't, and neither do these photos by James Tran.

The warm guitars and vocals as contrast to the cold night outside. Phillips' honeysuckle voice melding with Wareham's, which ranges from a throaty croak to a soaring harmonic instrument depending upon the occasion, created many of the fine distinctions found in each song. Dean & Britta's music lends itself well to nighttime listening and an close-in venue, and the intimacy of the Cedar was perfect for their sound and aesthetic. Wareham's idiosyncratic, bittersweet lyrics never risked getting lost in the mix.

Theirs is a sound that draws upon much that came before it, psychedelia and lounge rock, on Serge Gainsbourg and the Velvet Underground. Also on Lee Hazlewood and Ann-Margret, whose song "You Turned My Head Around" Dean & Britta transformed into a crowd-pleasing call-and-response delight.

The evening ended early, sending us back into the world just after 10 p.m. with two nods to the past. The main set was sealed off with the high-register "Tiger Lily" from the Luna canon -- a song the band recorded before Phillips joined. Fittingly, it was an encore cover of Joy Division's "Ceremony" (by request) that sent us out the doors. With that, we were all on our way home a little warmer.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 12, 2008 7:20 AM | Comments (0)

 

Over the Weekend: 2/7-2/10

Filed under: Over the Weekend

Cold though it be outside, our warmhearted crew is ever vigilant for goings-on. The dance of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker came to the Walker accompanied by the music of Steve Reich, fusing the divine with the mechanical. Up north at this year's Arctic Blast, Vikings fans, players, and alumni gathered in Mille Lacs for some snowmobiling, drinking, and fundraising for the Vikings Children's Fund. The slideshow includes photos of a man with autographs on his face. In permanent marker. Eric Refsland's full review will be up later today.

For those caught somewhere between the poles of "modern dance" and "drunk Vikings fans," Friday and Saturday, Bar Fly's inaugural Cityscene festival showcased some musical gems. We've got this full report from Andy Mannix:

CITYSCENE FESTIVAL AT BAR FLY

Friday marked the beginning of the two-night, local indie Cityscene festival at Bar Fly's Loft venue. The twenty-four band lineup ranged from those presently forging the Twin Cities scene to those merely perpetuating it, and everything in between.

Tim Rivard, co-founder of Street Fusion, the booking company that dreamed up Cityscene, told me he chose the bands primarily based on Myspace popularity. Rivard said the idea was to gather the best of the scene into one weekend long event that he hopes to put together annually.

The most memorable performances of Friday came from psychedelic revivalists First Communion Afterparty and experimentalists Fort Wilson Riot. At first listen, First Communion Afterparty sounded like a Brian Jonestown Massacre cover band. But as their harmonies took shape, so did their unique, refined approach to a kaleidescope-folk style you wouldn't
expect to see amidst the neon lights of a Minneapolis bar. Decked out in vintage sun dresses and toting tambourines, they certainly looked the part. And as a testament to a dire commitment to their style, they were selling their music solely on vinyl.

First Communion Afterparty. Photo by Andy Mannix.

Early in the night, when I asked Fort Wilson Riot's Amy Hager what she thought of another band, she prefaced her opinion by telling me that she is a “voice person.” But the binary meaning of that didn't quite hit me until I actually heard her sing, which was as compelling, delightful and incomparable as the band's sound. FWR has an authentic energy and subtle hopefulness that reminded me of why I hear strangers raving about the Twin Cities music scene on the bus. They gave me hope that adjectives like “experimental” are more than just empty equivocations put in place to appeal to confused hipsters.

Fort Wilson Riot. Photo by Andy Mannix.

The only downside to FWR's performance was that only nine people were standing in attention – and I couldn't help but get the impression that most of them were friends of the band. Another handful watched from distant tables, but I think they would have been at Bar Fly regardless.

That was the scene Friday. The enormous warehouse feeling of the venue would have made almost any crowd look small, but I'm not sure those in attendance could even account for the night's combined band members. But for the most part, the bands didn't seem to mind – or at least didn't show it.
--Andy Mannix

SALTY STORIES FROM A SWEET SPOT

The Northstar Storytelling League hosts an evening of tales once a month at Java Jack's cafe in South Minneapolis. The first hour features a trio of professional tellers and their host. The second hour is an open mic. This month's host was Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux. The featured performers were Heatherlyn, Sara Boyle Trautner, and Noel Labine, and we bring to you a piece from each of them:

* A story of love and salt, told by Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux.
* An original song called "Home With You," by Heatherlyn.
* A story of a wedding ring and a very large fish, from Sara Boyle Trautner.
* A story called "Lovebirds," told by Noel Labine.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 11, 2008 5:04 AM | Comments (0)

 

Good Dancing! Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker at the Walker

Filed under: Dance/Performance

Listening to the early music of minimalist composer Steve Reich is a bit like standing next to a mechanical device that hums and bangs in repetition and just happens to sound a little bit like beautiful music. Watching Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker dance to that music is a little bit like lifting the lid on that mechanical device and peering in at the spinning and pounding parts. If you ever wondered how a person sits through a Steve Reich composition--and you know who you are--Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker has the answer: watch her dance to it.

It’s not that she makes it any less raw. She’s an incredibly raw performer. Her eyes dart about and her brow furrows when the rest of her is still. She hisses and punches the air when the rest of her is unmitigated grace. It’s like Lionel Hampton groaning and grimacing his way through Flying Home or the torn and bent cover of a perfect book.

Photo: Tina Ruisinger

If, at the Walker last week, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker seemed to own this dance piece called FASE: Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich its because she does--and she has for more than a quarter of a century. She was barely 22 when she choreographed Violin Phase, one of four parts that she would assemble into FASE at the end of a transformative year at New York’s Tisch School of the Arts. It was 1982. She took it home with her to Brussels. Jean-Marc Adolphe, editor of the French magazine Mouvement, writes of her return home with the seed of what would be her career-defining masterpiece: “A year, fifteen minutes; what was in Anne Teresa de Keermaeker’s luggage when she came back from New York? Undetectable at customs control, in her muscles was a quarter-of-an-hour solo, constructed on the music of Steve Reich.”

What Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and did at the Walker Art Center for three nights last week was exactly what she did on a Brussels stage almost 26 years ago, when she first performed FASE : she animated the rote patterns of early Steve Reich compositions with deceptively complex movement. And she had a partner--dancer Tale Dolven, who was just one year old when FASE premiered and earned Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker an international audience.

The two, looking every part the teacher and the pupil as they stood still and the music of Piano Phase started. The moment they began to move they were a mechanically perfect match--it looked and sounded like this:

The next piece, Come Out, had them stomping to their positions dressed in what can only be called a fascist contrast to the pale sanitarium gowns of Piano Phase. Reich composed Come Out for the Harlem Six in 1966. It was a commission by a civil rights activist consumed by the cause of the six black youths arrested during the Harlem Riots of 1964 and charged with murder. The piece Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker picked for FASE is a loop of excerpts from a taped interview with Daniel Hamm, one of the Harlem Six. “I had to, like, open the bruise and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them,” he says. “Come out and show them” is looped and eventually piles upon itself until his voice is virtual static. All the while, this is happening:

The contrast and mystery and repetition of it all is cold chaos. Then comes Violin Phase. It’s Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker dancing alone to the brisk bowing of a violin. She dances around and inside a circle. It is a childish dance--she slaps the floor and nearly skips. Then it is a playfully seductive dance--she dances away from the audience and repeatedly, maybe even spontaneously, flips up her gown to reveal her silken underwear underneath. Then she is the child again. She is so comfortable in this piece that she seems to be making it up--there is no suggestion at all that this is a creation jotted down in a notebook (it is).

Photo: Herman Sorgeloos

All night there is a man seated somewhere in the middle of the dark theater who grunts and coughs as he applauds longer than anybody else between the pieces. At one point, when the rest of the theater is silent, he growls: GOOD DANCING!

He has said it all.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at February 11, 2008 12:52 AM | Comments (2)

 

Local-Connections Grammy Roll Call!

Filed under: Music

I kinda think the Grammys are like Katherine Kersten -- as objectionable as they are, giving them any attention (including negative) will only encourage their existence. The only proper response is to completely ignore them. But sometimes I just like sharing in our common cultural experiences. So I watched the Gramcast. Of course, Herbie Hancock's big win for River: The Joni Letters in the Album of the Year category was a forgone conclusion. I mean, after one of the songs from River appeared in an iPhone commercial, and another of the songs from River was played during an episode of The Hills, downloading sales went through the roof, and you couldn't go anywhere in 2007 without hearing that one track off of River: The Joni Letters. So!

Let's move on to the local Grammy roll call!

Prince: Won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Future Baby Mama." Showed up right at the beginning looking crisp in scarlet and white, unnecessarily sunglass-ed.

The Time: Performed "Jungle Love," received audience love, looked a bit stiff, the sound was kind of dampened and muffled. Everyone keeps saying they haven't played together in 18 years. What does that mean, exactly? That Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were not accompanying "Morris Day and the Time" at Taste of Minnesota last summer? Why did they all reform now to do this weird medley with Rihanna? Oh-ee oh-ee oh!/Ella ella ella/Oh-ee oh-ee oh!

Jessy Greene: After two hours of on-and-off nonsense from this beastly show, I turn away for a second and miss Minneapolis' own violin-playing Gasthoff's-waitressin' every-damn-local-band collaborating Ukrainian-blooded beauty Jessy Greene up on stage with the Foo Fighters. She's been touring with them for awhile now, and apparently Dave Grohl even said her name as he was in the hyper thank-you-name-string phase of accepting their award for Best Rock Album. Everybody in town knows Ms. Greene, and this is a cool and exciting development. Damn. You got to me, Grammys.

Posted by Sarah Askari at February 10, 2008 11:43 PM | Comments (0)

 

« February 3, 2008 - February 9, 2008 | Main | February 17, 2008 - February 23, 2008 »