Minneapolis / St. Paul Blog

If you've seen my votes in other forums you know I'm prone to changing my mind, plus there will inevitable additions as things I haven't heard yet blow me away in the coming months. All that said, every one of these discs offers superb music that I won't be ashamed to claim a decade from now.

1. Ghostface Killah, "Fishscale," Def Jam.
2. Bob Dylan, "Modern Times," Sony.
3. Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplan, "Lost John Dean," Compass
4. Ornette Coleman, "Sound Grammar," Sound Grammar.
5. Christina Aguilera, "Back To Basics," RCA.
6. Greg Brown, "The Evening Call," Red House.
7. The Hold Steady, "Boys and Girls in America," Vagrant.
8. Delfeayo Marsalis, "Minions Dominion," Troubadour Jass.
9. Ali Farka Toure, "Savane," Nonesuch.
10. Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, "Dizzy's Business," MCG.
11. Nas, "Hip Hop is Dead," Def Jam.
12. Los Lobos, "The Town and the City," Hollywood.
13. Lupe Fiasco, "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor," Atlantic.
14. Jane Bunnett, "Radio Guantanamo:Guantanamo Blues Project, Vol 1," Blue Note.
15. Big City Rock, "Big City Rock," Atlantic.
16. Bobby Previte, "The Coalition of the Willing," Ropeadope.
17. Pearl Jam, "Pearl Jam," J.
18. Dave Douglas, "Meaning and Mystery," Green Leaf.
19. Gomez, "How We Operate," Red Ink.
20. Roy Hargrove, "Nothin' Serious," Verve.
21. Tool, "10,000 Days," Volcano.
22. Branford Marsalis Quartet, "Braggtown," Marsalis Music.
23. The Coup, "Pick A Bigger Weapon," Epitaph.
24. William Parker, "Long Hidden: The Olmec Series," AUM Fidelity.
25. Bassdrumbone, "The Line Up," Clean Feed.
26. My Chemical Romance, "The Black Parade," Reprise.
27. Gnarls Barkley, "St. Elsewhere," Downtown.
28. Paul Motion Band, "Garden of Eden," ECM.
29. Michael Franti & Spearhead, "Yell Fire!" Anti.
30. Classical Jazz Quartet, "Play Rachmaninov," Kind of Blue.
31. Dave Holland Quintet, "Critical Mass," Dare2.
32. Deftones, "Saturday Night Wrist," Maverick.
33. Corinne Bailey Rae, "Corinne Bailey Rae," Capitol.
34. Sonny Rollins, "Sonny, Please," Doxy.
35. Jaco Pastorius Big Band, "The Word Is Out," Heads Up.
36. Van Hunt, "On The Jungle Floor," Capitol.
37. Chris Smither, "Leave the Light On," Signature.
38. Phil Woods Quintet, "American Songbook," Kind of Blue.
39. Madeleine Peyroux, "Half the Perfect World," Rounder.
40. Drive-By Truckers, "A Blessing and a Curse," New West.
41. Joe Lovano, "Streams of Expression," Blue Note.
42. Remy Ma, "There's Something About Remy," Umvd.
43. Ray Davies, "Other People's Lives," V2.
44. Carolina Chocolate Drops, "Dona Got a Rambling Mind," Music Maker.
45. John Legend, "Once Again," Sony.
46. Irma Thomas, "After the Rain," Rounder.
47. Scott Hamilton, "Nocturnes and Seranades," Concord.
48. Christian Scott, "Rewind That," Concord.
49. Elton John, "The Captain and the Kid," Interscope.
50. Cedar Walton, "One Flight Down," Highnote.

"Music you can dance to" is about as inspired a gimmick as "food you poop out later." The fact that Dance Band pulls it off without seeming utterly ridiculous is a testament to their unstoppable charm. That's not to say they don't look ridiculous--I mean, isn't that the point of dancing in the first place?

by Mikael Wood

These local boys have had a heck of a year, rocketing from indie-rock obscurity to, um, indie-rock renown on the back of The Loon, re-released this year on XL Records. We tracked 'em down in Australia and requested some reflection.

City Pages: Describe the biggest change the band experienced in 2006.

Erik Appelwick: We got tighter as a band. Now I always know when Jeremy [Hanson] is going to rush a drum fill, and I know when Matt [Kretzman] is going to come across the stage and try to make me fuck up by hitting me with his tambourine.

Matt Kretzman: At the beginning of the year, playing out of town meant Madison or Chicago. Now, later today, I might be jumping into the Indian Ocean!

CP: Best tour meal?

EA: The best I can remember would have been in Nottingham, in the U.K.: mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette, incredible beef stroganoff, and a fresh-baked cheesecake for dessert. By all accounts, this was a complete fluke, because the food in the U.K. categorically sucks ass.

Josh Grier: We were in New York in July when we were on Letterman, and after the show we went out to celebrate. I had the best steak I've had in my life.

CP: What's up in 2007? More touring? Recording? Catching up on Lost?

EA: We might be touring again as soon as April. In the winter we plan to get a heaping helping of new songs on our plate and then take said plate into the studio and make the best record we can. Lost was on TV last night when I got to the hotel after our show in Melbourne, and watching it proved that I do in fact need to catch up, because I had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on.

Mere hours after the conclusion of this interview, Australian hoods robbed the Tapes' tour van, making off with, among other things, two laptop computers, a few guitar pedals, and several personal effects. Help dull the memory of their loss as Tapes 'N Tapes come home to First Avenue on Friday, Decemeber 29, with Dosh and Halloween, Alaska. 18+. $10/$12 at the door. 8:00 p.m.

James Brown died of congestive heart failure resulting from pneumonia Christmas morning in his hometown of Atlanta. Variously known as the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, JB, and a dozen other nicknames, Brown's influence is difficult to overstate. Indeed, perhaps the best way (or at least the only way this stunned brain can manage) to pay him tribute during this holiday season is to imagine, a la "It's a Wonderful Life," what the world would have been like had he never existed.

The development of funk music would be severely retarded if it existed at all. All the seminal funk acts, from George Clinton's P-Funk to Sly Stone's saucy fatback to Chic's chicka-chicka thrumbeat, to Prince's purple paisleys, owed significant chunks of their sound to JB's blueprint.

Brown was arguably the greatest musical showman of the past 50 years, with some of the most revered and galvanizing stage performers--Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson come immediately to mind--overtly copying his moves.

Race relations would have been more violent and more volatile without Brown's input. His 1968 hit, "Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," became a topical and self-fulfilling catchphrase. In April of that year, he saved the City of Boston from what would almost certainly been a damaging race riot by having his concert televised there on the night after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

This musically addled white boy, and millions like me of all races, wouldn't have experienced the thrill of hearing "Sex Machine," "Cold Sweat," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "Night Train," "This is a Man's World," and literally dozens of other songs that involuntarily had us grinding our ankles and feet into some spinning, mashed-potatoed moonwalk, hitting the orgasm scale on the geek savant meter, and not giving a shit who was laughing at us. For these and so many other things, Thank God for the life of James Brown.

Just got five "Beautiful Ballads" collections from the Legacy label that dip into Sony/BMG's endless storehouse of classics, scheduled for release a day after Christmas and promoted with an eye toward Valentine's Day. Four of them--by the Isleys, Patti LaBelle, Earth Wind & Fire, and the O'Jays--are fine, and, never one to look gift horses in the mouth, I'm happy to have them.

But I'm doing backward somersaults over the "Beautiful Ballads" from Gladys Knight & the Pips. As with any great 70s soul act, GK&P, has had their hits regurgitated in a dozen different compendiums. But "Beautiful Ballads" is the very first to execute the fondest wishes of iPod illiterate folks like your truly, stacking the four blockbuster singles (tracks #3-6) that defined Knight as the quintessential female counterpart to Al Green, melding classic gospel-style testimony (with the Pips chiming in on the call-and-response) with soap operatic romance. I'm talkin' 'bout a goosebump chorus line of "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me," "Midnight Train To Georgia," "If I Were Your Woman," and "Neither One of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)," back-to-back-to-back-to-back! This is the holy grail of sacred swooning, 15 minuts and 59 seconds of incomparably bittersweet bliss. If you're not rockin', bobbin' and spinning around the room while belting out the lyrics along with Gladys, I'm not sure I want to know you.

Told you we read it for the articles: Playboy.com's "A-List" (we swear we called dibs on that name long ago) lists Minneapolis's own First Avenue as one of the ten best rock clubs in America. The big black bus station joins the likes of the Empty Bottle in Chicago, Emo's Austin, and the Mercury Lounge in New York on the list.

In Flames @ First Avenue

From today's A-List: "These four heavy acts span both the globe and metal's stylistic spectrum; not sure how they ended up together, but each is worth checking out. Headliners In Flames are heavyweights in Sweden's Gothenburg scene, which means they thrash with sensitivity and tune. Alongside At the Gates, they've influenced every young metalcore band ever. Italy's Lacuna Coil were doing the melodic female-fronted goth-metal thing long before Evanescence. Their latest, Karmacode, isn't as good as Amy Lee's new one, but it does feature a deliciously gloomy cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence." The Sword, from Austin, churn out hipster-approved, Sabbath-indebted sludge that manages to swing every once in a while. And similarly sludgy Seamless are fronted by Jesse Leach, who used to play in Killswitch Engage."

All ages. $21/$25 at the door. 5:00 p.m.

Elsewhere

Roe Family Singers @ 331
Bizarre @ Station 4

Check out the A-List.

Mr. Dibbs & DJ Abilities @ Triple Rock

From Saturday's A-List: "Dibbs: Cincy native, occasional Atmosphere DJ, metal as fuck, recruited by El-P to provide scratches on his upcoming album I'll Sleep When You're Dead, co-founder of the annual hip-hop geek-fest Scribble Jam, and owner of the most vicious goatee to ever hover over the wheels of steel. Abilities: Reps Minneapolis, regional champ at the DMC DJ battle contest in '99 and '01, turntablist half of local super-scientific battle-rap monster Eyedea & Abilities, recruited by El-P to provide scratches on his last album, Fantastic Damage, mixtape fiend, and possibly a ninja. Both DJs on the same bill: Batten down the hatches, for the love of God."

With Jimmy2Times & Plain Ole Bill and Espada & DJ Mike the 2600 King. 21+. $10/$12 at the door. 9:00 p.m.

Elsewhere

Saturday

Shadow Cabaret @ Patrick's Cabaret
Melvin Taylor @ Famous Dave's
Bee Gee's Tribute @ Turf Club
Robert Robinson @ Benson Great Hall
Robin and Linda Williams @ the Fitz
Three Days Grace @ Myth
Irv Williams @ AQ
Doomtree Blowout Jr. @ Triple Rock
JoAnna James @ 400 Bar
Scream Club @ Big V's
The Brass Kings @ 331

Sunday

Allen Toussaint @ Dakota
Fuck Party @ 7th St.
Disney on Ice @ Xcel

Go to the A-List!

Imogen Heap @ First Avenue

From today's A-List: "Something of a P.J. Harvey for the PG-13 set, Imogen Heap is a British beauty who first made stateside waves as half of the electro-folk duo Frou Frou (Americans will recognize "Let Go," their contribution to the Garden State soundtrack). The other half of that group was Madonna producer Guy Sigsworth, and popular perception held him responsible for Frou Frou's luscious sound while disregarding Heap as simply the pretty singer. Her bitter response was 2005's Speak for Yourself, an entirely self-produced, self-released affair that contained the single "Hide and Seek," easily the best a cappella radio hit since Shai's "If I Ever Fall in Love." She returns to the Twin Cities in support of her re-released debut, 1999's I Megaphone, which serves as proof that she's as adept with a grand piano as she is with Pro-Tools. Opening is loopy San Francisco beat-boxer Kid Beyond, who sounds like he's got a 12-piece orchestra and a couple of turntables inside his skull."

18+. $20. 7:00 p.m.

Elsewhere

Jessy Greene (CD release) @ Triple Rock
Cowboy Curtis @ Turf Club
Dakota Dave Hull @ the Cedar
Trashy Little Christmas @ Lee's
Dance Band @ 7th St.
Quarter Acre Lifestyle @ BLB

Go to the A-List.

Gogol Bordello @ First Avenue

From today's A-List: "'Gypsy punk' is an evocative distillation of Gogol Bordello's aesthetic, but it's also just the tip of the iceberg. When frontman Eugene Hutz left the Chernobyl-damaged Ukraine in the '80s to make his way to Brooklyn, he picked up along the way an impressive repertoire of cross-cultural styles and a busload of musicians who shared his passion for Romany-rooted, international-minded wedding band/performance group/wild-ass party music. Though Hutz has a singing voice somewhat reminiscent of an Eastern-European Joe Strummer, the typical Gogol Bordello record makes Sandinista! sound downright provincial. Their live shows are lunatic spectacles of debauchery that resemble an Iggy Pop show done in immigrant vaudeville style."

With Valient Thorr and Dan Sartain. All ages. $15/$16 at the door. 6:00 p.m.

Elsewhere

DJ Lady Miss Kier @ Foundation
Koerner & Glover @ 400 Bar
Lura @ the Cedar

More at the A-List.