Minneapolis / St. Paul Music Blog

Here are my least favorite songs of '05. The coming of a new year has a tabula rasa effect on radio, right? Please?

"My Humps" Black Eyed Peas
Fergie turns in this year's least sexy performance, with the nyah-nyah vocal delivery of a prepubescent boy and vernacular that reminds women to schedule regular mammograms. Not a bad PSA, I guess.

"Just the Girl" The Click Five
Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger generally knows his way around a pop song. So why'd he write this groaner about falling in love with a total bitch? The lyrics are particularly maddening: "'Cause she's bittersweet/ She knocks me off of my feet." Dude, it's your feelings, not the girl, that should be described as bittersweet. Buy a dictionary.

"Don't Cha" Pussycat Dolls
Another supposedly sexy song that misses its mark by several lengths of Astrolubed vinyl. Radio's grimiest offering since Xtina's "Dirrty" makes an Herbal Essence shower sound genuinely orgasmic.

"Cater 2 U" Destiny's Child
This one's easy. Every time it comes on the radio, my boyfriend starts up with the "Tie my shoes! Beyonce would!" It's funny. Really. But I guess if a woman expects a guy to pay her "Bills, Bills, Bills," he should be getting something in return. Hey sweetie, pay my rent! Jay-Z would!

"Beverly Hills" Weezer
It's weird how the absolute worst track on an otherwise innocuous album gets picked as the lead single. I'm not sure which is a bigger geek-rock faux pas: recycling a Steve Miller Band riff or the pretend-I'm-not-a-millionaire-and-pity-me lyrics. Makes you wonder just how bad the hundreds of unrecorded River Cuomo songs are.

Today 89.9 KMOJ-FM aired its top 89 most requested songs of 2005, including Mint Condition's "Whoaa" at number 55. Here's the entire list (thanks to Bianca Tebbs for faxing it over):

89. "Like You" Bow Wow f/ Ciara
88. "1, 2 Step" Ciara
87. "Gold Digger" Kanye West f/ Jamie Foxx
86. "I Should've Cheated" Keyshia Cole
85. "Only you" Ashanti
84. "One Wish" Ray J
83. "Victory" Yolanda Adams
82. "Where I Wanna Be" Kindred the Family Soul
81. "Tell Me" Bobby Valentino
80. "1 Thing" Amerie
79. "All Because of You" Marques Houston
78. "U Already Know" 112
77. "How Could You" Mario
76. "Baby Mama" Fantasia
75. "Ain't No Need to Worry" Rueben Studdard
74. "Ain't Gonna Beg You" Fantasia
73. "Jet Lag" Joss Stone
72. "Confessions Part 2" Usher
71. "Trippin'" Toni Braxton...

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is taking applications for shows through Tuesday, January 31, at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Prospective producers have to get the form physically into the office by then, and forms postmarked before the drop-dead date but arriving after it will be burned for fuel in the Fringe's vast late-application-powered energy plant (all true except for the last part). Forms can be downloaded at the Fringe's web site, and the subsequent lottery will take place on February 6, with shows randomly drawn via proxy ping-pong balls. Those prone to artistic indecision needn't fret: show titles and descriptions can be changed after applications are received. So if you're putting the finishing touches on your Marxist tapdancing erotic parlor mystery, act sooner rather than later.

Not since Priceline.com has there been such a deal, or spokesman: The William Shatner DVD Club is open for business. "William Shatner has culled the thousands of films he has seen into a collection of the best Sci-Fi, Horror & Fantasy movies available." And for only $47.99 a year, you can own 12 of them, featuring some of Bill's favorite actors, like Daniel Baldwin and Judd Neslon [sic]. Better still, you can "Get William Shatner's opinion before you go to the theatre or watch it on DVD!" as well as vote on his best Star Trek performance. (ST III: Search for Spock is already checked for your convenience.) Too bad there's no mention of some of Shatner's best films being in the queue, like Incubus, the only film to date in Esperanto, and Want a Ride, Little Girl?, where he wears both a tank-top and a leisure suit.

The bad news first: a new film based on Charles Bukowski's Factotum, which was shot around town and even guest-stars a City Pages writer, has been dropped by its theatrical distributor right before its American premiere. Picturehouse, a distributorship owned and run by New Line and HBO, made the announcement just as the film was scheduled to be shown at Sundance. (Matt Dillon plays Bukowski/Chinaski, and it was directed by Scandanavian filmmaker Bent Hamer-- both have been singled out in the positive European reviews.) The good news is about another indy film with Minneapolis roots: Hoop Dreams, the 1994 documentary, was one of the 25 films added to this year's National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Films are added "because of their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance." It's always a good list, and you can see this year's picks here.

With 2005's best concerts still looming large in the rearview mirror, I'm already prepping my 2006 list. (An Archers of Loaf reunion at the 400 Bar?!?) Here, in chronological order, are my top 10 favorite shows by out-of-towners. I'm predisposed to the indie rock, so feel free to throw your own suggestions in the comments.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 400 Bar
Menomena - 7th St. Entry
Stars - 400 Bar
Weezer - First Avenue
The Hold Steady - Grand Old Day
Eels - Pantages Theater
U2 - Target Center
The Arcade Fire - First Avenue
M.I.A. - Fine Line Music Cafe
Metric - Quest Ascot Room

Spin Magazine is reporting that St. Paul-born comedian Mitch Hedberg died accidentally in March of "multiple drug toxicity," including cocaine and heroin, citing reports obtained from the New Jersey medical examiner's office. Hedberg was 37 when he was found dead in a hotel room in Livingston, New Jersey, while on a club tour. Hedberg had been diagnosed with a heart defect, and the initial belief was that he died of heart failure. Hedberg cut his teeth at Acme Comedy Co., which led to numerous stints on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and Howard Stern's radio show, as well as a small role in the Cameron Crowe film "Almost Famous."

Jim Walsh previews tonight's Flamin' Oh's comeback in City Pages. And this just in our email from Rich Mattson: "This Friday, December 23rd, a very special event: Flamin' Oh's--CD Release Party! with special musical guests: 11:30 Flamin' Oh's, 10:30 Ol' Yeller, 9:30 Blame, 8:30 The Hard Left at the FINE LINE, 318 1st Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401 612-338-8100. Now, let me tell you all a little story about my love affair with the Flamin' Oh's. Way back in the summer of 1980 I was a 13 year old rock and roll fan without a clue in tiny West Eveleth Minnesota. I was listening to Ted Nugent, Van Halen, Kiss, and just starting to find bands like the Cars and the Police. I was leaving my friend Timmy Leseman's house one day and heard this punchy, poppy, completely infectious rock and roll music playing out of his neighbor's window. The neighbor was one of the big bullies of the village, of which there were so many back then..

Here are the top-selling DVDs heading toward Minneapolis just in time for Christmas, according to Amazon.com:

1. Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)
2. Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition with Comic Book)
3. March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition)
4. Firefly - The Complete Series
5. Madagascar (Widescreen Edition)
6. Lost - The Complete First Season
7. Arrested Development - Season Two
8. Cinderella (2-Disc Special Edition)
9. Bob Dylan - No Direction Home
10. Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story

2003 saw the oddly inexplicable reappearance of Wire, influential British abstract thrashers from the late '70s who had resurfaced for a time a decade later as an unsatisfying electronic band. Odder still was the fact that the album they came up with was quite good. Now stockings can be stuffed with Return the Gift by the Gang of Four, in which another batch of late '70's Brits return. This time out they take the step of re-recording a batch of their best early stuff, which is either nicely inspired or appallingly cynical. Anyway, it sounds good. And this is the time of year when a Marxist rant set to a tricky funk beat laced with buzzsaw guitar can do the trick. Click here for a vintage interview with the Gang of Four.