Sue McLean, an independent Twin Cities concert promoter, passed Friday afternoon after a battle with cancer. Any regular show-goer in the region has attended countless shows booked by McLean over the past four decades. McLean is responsible for booking the Basilica Block Party since it began in 1995, the Minnesota Zoo's extensive summer concert schedule each year, the O'Shaughnessy's Women of Substance Series, and dozens of other shows in nearly every club and theater in the Twin Cities. She was 63.

Raised in Dayton, Minnesota, McLean's work in the local music business began after she graduated from St. Cloud State in 1973 with a degree in speech and communication. In her early years she worked for rock promoter Randy Levy, and secured bookings for the Suicide Commandos and Curtiss A before moving on to become a talent buyer for Duffy's Nightclub. Her first booking ever: jazz bassist Charles Mingus at the Bronco Bar in Chanhassen.

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Bassgasm is back for its ninth offering -- the second and final installment of 2013 -- on July 13. The five-stage electronic music event takes over every inch of First Avenue with 70-plus acts to keep those in fuzzy boots and fuzzier moods occupied with nine hours of intestine-rattling action!

The headliners this year include U.K. drum and bass and jungle legend pioneer Goldie, a colorful figure with teeth to match his name and an acting career that landed him in Snatch and Bond film The World is Not Enough. Add New York's dub techno expert Beat Pharmacy, and San Francisco dubstepper Mochipet, who proudly tours in a purple godzilla suit and loves cute cats. As expected, it's a varied lineup with an abundance of local enticements, as well. Check below to see the entire Bassgasm 9 lineup.

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Slideshow: Awesome people of Bassgasm 8 at First Avenue
Slideshow: Awesome people of Bassgasm 7 at First Avenue
Slideshow: Awesome people of Bassgasm 6 at First Avenue
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How do you sum up the extent of the impact and reach that Heiruspecs has had over the past 16 years? The most influential band to come out of St. Paul Central High School and a cornerstone of the original Minneapolis-St. Paul hip-hop scene, Heiruspecs have come to stand for something beyond the music they create. As the band's career has expanded and been cemented in Twin Cities history, Heiruspecs has sought a way to contribute to the culture of their hometown in other ways.

In 2010, Heirupsecs and the St. Paul Central High School Foundation partnered to create an annual scholarship fund for the school. To this day, Heiruspecs has distributed over $12,000 to Central High graduates who are pursuing higher education. To mark this outstanding achievement, as they have done in previous years, Heiruspecs will be putting on a fundraiser show featuring the band, friends, and some very special guests, where the entirety of the ticket sales will be donated to the St. Paul Central High School Foundation.

The Fourth Annual Heiruspecs Scholarship Fundraiser Show will be taking place this Saturday at Turf Club. The bill includes openers Whistlekid, DJ Beatnik, and Sean Anonymous, as well as some recently announced special guests: Dessa, Aby Wolf, and Carnage. Ahead of the show, Gimme Noise caught up with Heiruspecs founding member Sean McPherson to chat about the scholarship fund and its importance.

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Deuce 7 is a different breed of gallery artist. He's too busy to get his picture taken, and he'd rather hop trains across the West. Or head to Vancouver to meet women, or spend an afternoon getting chased around San Francisco by obese pimps or drop DMT in the Mojave desert -- all in a week's time.

Our local South Side kid -- who listens to '90s rap, Norwegian black metal, and outlaw country while he creates -- has gained a national following over the years for his bright, detailed work that demands attention on a canvas or the side of a bridge. He's done collaborations with local poster and design house Burlesque, and could be working with rapper Aesop Rock in the future. Still he remains camera-shy to avoid obnoxious art groupies and law enforcement.

Deuce 7 spends most of his days on the rails or working out of Northern California, but for now he's sitting outside an Uptown coffee shop. While meeting with Gimme Noise, he has a backpack full of Miller High Life, and he finishes a can every five minutes. A catfish is tattooed swimming around his neck, and the rest of his body is marked up from the hard life of being a trainspotter and street artist. Ahead of his curated Art-A-Whirl show at Abstracted Gallery -- its title, "It Was All a Dream," recalls the opening line of Notorious B.I.G's "Juicy" -- we discuss his life, his inspiration, and his fascination with trains.

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The 331 Club's music lineup at Art-A-Whirl
Art-A-Whirl 2013 music lineups at 612Brew and Indeed Brewing announced
STNNNG and ft (the Shadow Government) to debut STNNNGVRNMNT at Art-A-Whirl
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Never doubt the power of the Walker Art Center to bring together one of the most intriguing assortments of performance art in the region. The gallery's 2013-14 season is no exception.

Some of the highlights among the music performances include a collaboration between filmmaker Sam Green and indie rock innovators Yo La Tengo, an electronic pairing of Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never, and Jherek Bischoff's Composed (above), feauring Polica's Channy Leaneagh, Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche, and Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier. As per expected, this is an opportunity to see myriad talented artists flex beyond a typical show to something interdisciplinary in the inviting confines of the Walker -- or partnering venues around town. More music highlights follow below.

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Walker Art Center announces its 2013-14 performing arts season
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Photo By Emily Utne

After the overwhelming success of Dessa's intimate show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts back in February, the talented songstress is now set to bring her entire boisterous Doomtree crew to perform at the MIA's Summer Party on Saturday, June 1.

On an evening where the venerable art museum will be celebrating the Minneapolis music scene, they have also tapped the legendary Morris Day and the Time for a rare live performance at the outdoor event, ensuring that both the classic and modern sounds of the local scene are going to be well represented.

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Doomtree at Roosevelt High School, 4/26/13
Slideshow: Legendary Morris Day & The Time tear up Treasure Island

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Photo by Erik Hess

No Bird Sing are playing 612Brew's Art-A-Whirl Bash

The stellar music lineup at the 331 Club this weekend certainly isn't the only thing worth seeking out at this year's Art-A-Whirl. In addition to the fine locally created original artwork on offer as well as art studios opened up for tours, there are plenty of other terrific lineups that should keep area music fans plenty busy over the next few days.

The local independent breweries 612Brew and Indeed Brewing Company have both announced wonderful Art-A-Whirl events that have something special in store for connoisseurs of art, beer, and music alike.

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Art-A-Whirl: 7 things not to be missed
STNNNG and ft (the Shadow Government) to debut STNNNGVRNMNT at Art-A-Whirl

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Local Frames is a weekly column spotlighting the best new music videos featuring musicians and directors with Minnesota ties.

We kick things off this week with the soulful, impassioned new video for "Lady, You Shot Me," from Har Mar Superstar, which finds the unabashed crooner taking his sound in an adventurous direction on his stellar new record, Bye Bye 17. We also have a stirring MN Original performance from the local neo-soul outfit, Southside Desire, drawn from an episode that just aired over the past weekend.

In addition to those fine clips, we've got rousing new videos from Hardcore Crayons, the Farewell Circuit, and Multiple Cat, as well as a live TV studio performance from Color Pharmacy, fantastic clips from both Caroline Smith & the Goodnight Sleeps and Prof recorded live at First Avenue, and a wild Oreo spot soundtracked by Owl City. We also shine a spotlight on a really cool new video and performance concept by Jake Schaefer called Standing Room Only, which kicks off with a spirited collaboration between Murs and Fashawn. Enjoy!

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Top 10 must-see Minnesota music videos this week (Is/Is, Marijuana Deathsquads, the 4onthefloor, and more)
Top 10 must-see Minnesota music videos this week (The Ocean Blue, Colin Stetson, A Firm Handshake, and more)

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Photo by Lindsay Kimball

Rodriguez
Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul
Wednesday, May 15, 2013

This historic week in downtown Saint Paul continued at the Fitzgerald Theater as a sold-out audience paid witness to the first public concert locally from Rodriguez. The now-famous Detroit singer/songwriter finally became a household favorite last year due to the miraculous story told in the Oscar-winning Searching for Sugarman film.

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Rodriguez: "They made love to my music, but they also made war to my music"

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Photo by Tony Nelson

Of Montreal
With Wild Moccasins
Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis
Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Most bands tour the country stocked up with all of their gear and a collection of merch. Of Montreal also packs as many costumes as a Broadway show.

From the skeleton-faced clowns who joined the band on stage during the first song, "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse," releasing a never-ending string of balloons for the crowd to devour, to the small reptile people in armless red jumpsuits during "Girl Named Hello" who eventually revealed their robust fake breasts into the eager faces of front-stage viewers, the band did not hold back on the theatrics. Oh, and at one point, someone dressed as Hercules battled a skeleton guy before they fired off leaf-blowers full of feathers.

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Slideshow: Of Montreal at the Cedar Cultural Center, 5/15/13

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