Minneapolis / St. Paul Music Blog

Dangerous chemicals, eye droppers full of water, intense fear of bugs—these are just a few of the things competitive rose growers deal with on a daily basis. In Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Obsessive and Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening master gardener Aurelia Scott describes a click filled with intense competitiveness; a world where gardeners hoard products for fear they will soon be banned from the country due to toxicity, where people attempt to train wild birds to eat beetles off of roses, and where improper pruning techniques could be the end of a season. City Pages took a moment to talk to the author about her experiences with rose enthusiasts in the floral underground.

Fans of local neo-soul band Black Blondie have noticed a conspicuous absence recently: Co-singer and rapper Sarah White is no longer in the group. Meanwhile, her MySpace page features a new song about "leaving to Brooklyn." Reached by phone, White confirms that she plans to relocate to the New York borough in August, along with her boyfriend DJ Don Cuco, of the Current's The Rhythm Lab (89.3 FM). "There's not exactly a huge scene here for black women," says White, who spent six years as one of the few female African American MCs in local hip hop. "Women, we've all kind of competed with each other and not supported each other. I've had people say I make music like a white girl—I got that a lot when I first started. People thought I was trying to jump into a scene that wasn't supporting my race, which maybe it isn't." As the sole woman in the Interlock crew, White recorded an excellent 2004 CD with the group Traditional Methods, Falling Forward (Interlock). She plays her last local show on July 21 at Musicapolis 2007, in the parking lot of the Minnesota Center for Photography, opening for I Self Devine, Kanser, and Omaur Bliss. Update: here.

The Black Keys / The Fine Line / June 28, 2007

Text by Pat O'Brien

Better Than: R.L. Burnside being brought back to life

Ohio seems to be a place where, if you're a band, you want to be from another place and time altogether. Devo wanted to be from the future, Guided By Voices seemed like they would have been more at home in Mod '60s London, and now the Black Keys seem as though they could have sprung whole from the Mississippi Delta, circa 1950.

Melt Banana / 7th St. Entry / June 24, 2007

To a packed house crackling with energy, noisy Japanese art-punks Melt Banana took the stage and tore into their set without introduction. Soon bodies were flailing and flying into each other to the beat of rapid fire rhythmic twists and turns.

Read more of Christopher Matthew Jensen's review, and view more of Daniel Corrigan's photos, in our gallery section!

Rek the Heavyweight / Station 4 / June 24, 2007

Sometimes I read cats wondering whatever happened to Jarobi from A Tribe Called Quest or Arabian Prince from N.W.A. And sometimes I used to wonder myself whatever happened to Spawn: ten years ago, Atmosphere dropped their debut Overcast! as a two-MC outfit, but Spawn—already a veteran—was out of the group by the time their second album came out. After changing his name back to pre-Atmosphere alias Rek and adding "the Heavyweight" for good measure, he basically hit the reset button and started back on the road to making his name all over again.

So while Slug gets the SuicideGirls.com crowd going berserk from coast to coast in big open-air festivals, Rek is pacing the stage in front of a dozen people on a Sunday evening in a venue better known for its metal shows. And even though he rocks a short set—about 20 minutes, wrapping everything up by quarter to 10 (man, everything closes early in downtown St. Paul)—dude gives it his all, looking like he just stepped in off the street with something to prove.

Ever wondered what would happen if the UN invaded the U.S., and France occupied the Upper Midwest? Plymouth resident Michael Mannske has. In fact, he's written a book about it—a "novel of freedom," to be precise—that's set to hit Amazon.com (he's self-publishing) on July 4th.

Inspired by "talk radio" and "history," the author explains, he has set his high-stakes thriller "in the near future," during "the coming US-UN war." Although the book is Mannske's debut, it is part two of a planned trilogy. As we join the action, the nation's president has ceded power to the UN via the "Declaration of Dependence" and the evil internationalists have invaded our shores. A rebel force of true patriots in the "Middle States" (read: Bible Belt) is doing its best to repel the foreign intruders.

Sadly, Minnesota, just a little east of center, is a French protectorate.

"I'm trying to ask a lot of questions," Mannske says, explaining the thinking behind Foreign and Domestic: Campaign II - Battle of the Middle States. "The revolutionaries reached their tipping point at a 14 percent tax on tea. Are there still people out there like that? Where is our tipping point?"

Mike Jones has had many jobs throughout the years—professional masseur, nude model for a local art school, fitness trainer, and body builder. Yet he is best known as the male escort who exposed his client, anti-gay Reverend Ted "Completely Heterosexual" Haggard. Today, Mike Jones can also call himself an author. In I Had to Say Something: The Art of Ted Haggard's Fall, he details his three-year sexual relationship with the religious heavy-hitter—from the timid early years to the meth-fueled end. Jones also discusses the whirlwind of media that followed, as well as how his personal life and temperament enabled him to excel in his many careers. City Pages took a moment to speak with him.

Ryan Adams / Cedar Cultural Center / June 18, 2007
Text by Andrea Myers | Photos by Daniel Corrigan

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals played a low-key set at the Cedar Cultural Center Monday night. At least, I think that was Ryan Adams. Unfortunately for those hoping to see the alt.country star live and in person, Adams requested that the Cedar's lights be kept painfully low, making it difficult to see his face or even where he was on the stage. Adams joked about the lighting throughout the set, peering out from behind his sunglasses and pretending to shoot at the barely-glowing spotlights above the stage.

Read more of Andrea's review and view photos by Daniel Corrigan in our gallery section!

If the guitar isn't actually there, does the player make a sound? Minnesotans have the opportunity to find out Saturday night when the U.S. Guitar Championships come to the Varsity Theater. No rinky-dink operation, the tour have been to places like Washington DC and New York, and will continue on to Los Angeles and Houston, culminating in the prestigious World Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, Finland. City Pages took a moment to chat with Kriston Rucker, cofounder of the U.S. Championships.

It was fairly dark inside the Foundation, and I don't entirely trust my judgement in this particular department, but if I were to hazard a guess at the median age of the attendees at Thursday night's Slick Rick show at the Foundation, I would have to aim for roughly 30. You could be half the headliner's age and still get in to the 21+ show, and most of the people there who knew all the lyrics to "Children's Story" (more on that shortly) were closer to the kid's age than Uncle Ricky when the song first dropped in 1988.

So the overall vibe for the show was aimed in a general "old school" direction, though the specific delineation of said oldness (and schoolness) grew a bit confused over the night. A psychedelically distorted print of 1982 hip hop cinema classic Wild Style was projected on the makeshift bedsheet screens flanking the stage, but the between-sets DJ stuck to the typical '89-'96 timeframe, and Slick Rick's warmup DJ presented a chronologically-jumbled succession of '80s hits—including "King of Rock," the track where Run-DMC declare that they're "never ever old school."

Nelly Furtado / Xcel Energy Center / June 13, 2007
Text by Geoff Cannon | Photos by Daniel Corrigan

Nelly Furtado was positioned as the pop star with a little earthiness to her; remember her first album cover, lying down in the grass with that green sweater on, underneath the 60's throwback font, looking out at us wistfully? Her Latin-ness (she's Portuguese-Canadian) and rags-to-riches bio signified realness and accessibility; she could be an around-the-way girl, whether you're from Sao Paulo or St. Louis Park.

Read the rest of Geoff Cannon's review and check out more photos by Daniel Corrigan in our gallery section!

Duluth writer Paul Lundgren rounds up the Minnesota music websites at MNArtists.org., and comes up with a bunch I've never read before. But inevitably, I have some additions: While Drive 105's Homegrown is currently without a home on the air (see our May post), local-music shows continue elsewhere with Cities 97's Minnesota Music, Radio K's Off the Record, KFAI's Local Sound Department, and the Current's the Local Show. We'd also include MNVibe, TCPunk, Modern-radio.com, Musicscene.org among crucial local music forums. That said, thanks to Paul for mentioning Complicatedfun, where I hope to finally update the local-music links soon.

A legendary yet semi-legal local music venue is about to be torn down after hosting underground shows for more than 16 years. I first went to The Church, at 26th and Chicago, to see punk bands in 1991, and was told the place had been there for years. Since then, and especially over the past ten years, I've seen multimedia performances, live painting, puppet shows, 20-piece percussion bands, noise, hip hop, and weird acts from all over the world in this deconsecrated house of worship. Now, according to this TCPunk thread, the hospital has bought the property, and the building is slated to be razed. Saturday is the last show, with Skoal Kodiak, Noise Queen Ant, Last Legs, Hot Tony, Ghostface Cow, Panoramic Handcrank Painting Machine, and Shahs. Jason Wade, of Faggot, emails about tonight's show: "DON'T MISS THIS HISTORIC OCCASION! This Friday you have the opportunity to be a part of a truly historic event in the underground Minneapolis scene. The Church, a milestone in the underground music scene for over a decade is going to be closing it's doors for good after this weekend! This is your LAST CHANCE to party and enjoy one of Minneapolis' most beloved DIY venues. LET's get together and go fucking nuts and FUCK! Send this place off right! EVERYBODY'S getting laid tonight! FRIDAY, JUNE 15th: THIEVES, FAGGOT, DIRTYARD, SLOVEN, MALEDICERE, DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN, 10PM, $5 (benefit for the Hard Times Cafe) THE CHURCH." UPDATES: More discussion at MNSpeak and Modern Radio; the property's tax info.

Cutting to the Heart of Horror with Professor Adam Lowenstein

Speaking on behalf of decent society, a recent IMDB message-poster sketched the basic terms of the so-called torture porn debate in his Hostel Part II-inspired headline: "What is happening to us?"

As you may know, the latest Splat Pack sequel's many horrors include that of a geeky young woman being hung upside down naked and ritually tortured to death with long knives. Scary times, these. No surprise that the online moralist—who imagined karma catching up with writer-director Eli Roth—was severely beaten in a virtual torrent of fanboy deathblows.

Whatever is "happening to us," horror is unmistakably the genre du jour—this despite the fact that Part II's sixth-place showing at the box-office last weekend compelled commentators to proclaim, many with glee, the genre's violent demise. Hasty (and brutal) judgments abound, but horror scholar Adam Lowenstein, an associate professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh, prefers to take his time with this frenzied genre, arguing that it's "still too soon" to determine whether the Splat Pack films engage the "post-9/11 moment" as meaningfully as the classic American shockers of the '70s—The Last House on the Left, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, et al.—addressed the Vietnam War and other atrocities of their era.

Various Artists / Super Cool California Soul 2: Raw and Rare Soul from
the West Coast 1966-1982 / Ubiquity

Text by Dave Segal

In the '60s and '70s, nearly every major American city-and many minor ones-had thriving funk and soul scenes. And if they didn't have hotbeds, then these towns at least produced a handful of acts that could convincingly approximate the special sonic sauce of James Brown or the Meters. So it's unsurprising to discover that the state of California has warehouses full of obscure 45s that have been and are still being excavated for insatiable collectors and aficionados. In the past decade, Costa Mesa's Ubiquity Records has been among the foremost curators of soul and funk musicians who somehow slipped under radio's and print media's radars. Case in point is the Super Cool California Soul series. While this second volume boasts nobody with the marquee luster of such Golden State stars as Sly and the Family Stone or War, this 16-track disc radiates enough soular power to warm the coolest hipster's constricted heart.

Young participants in this Saturday's hula-hoop contest at the Juneteenth Festival in Theodore Wirth Park might be unaware that Saturday, July 7 is World Hoop Day. Twirling hoops around your body is nothing new, of course: The practice predates Wham-O's introduction of the plastic hula-hoop in 1958 by thousands of years. But full-body hooping as an adult pastime has only recently enjoyed a vogue among urban grown-ups. Last week, a dozen or so adult hoopsters gathered at Celebration Hall in Minneapolis to hoop under black lights, with a DJ spinning music.

"Kids grow out of it because it's mostly waist-hooping and neck-hooping," says Jessica Reiter, who helped organize the event, and has taught hooping in Minneapolis for the past year. "With a plastic hoop, it can be repetitive. But we make our own hoops—heavier and larger, so they're nice and big and slow." She says the new hooping is a mix between a massage, dance, and circus acrobatics. (Call it hoop hop.) Anyone interested in joining the emerging hoopoisie should visit Reiter's website at www.harmonyhoops.com, or tribes.tribe.net/mnhoopers.

The Pipettes with Smoosh / 7th St. Entry / June 8, 2007
Text by Steve McPherson | Photos by Daniel Corrigan

In true old school girl-group fashion, The Pipettes' band, The Cassettes (clad in T-shirts and sweater vests with sloppy monograms), come out first. The group's Phil Spector, guitarist Monster Bobby, triggers a sampled intro and onto the stage bound, according to their theme song, "the prettiest girls you've ever met." Check.

Read the rest of Steve's review and view photos by Daniel Corrigan in our gallery section!

After a seven-year absence, skankin' rockers 3 Minute Hero are reuniting for a couple of shows in Minneapolis this weekend. (Dear readers in St. Peter, MN, can catch a preview tonight at Patrick's on 3rd.) Formed in Fargo in 1995, the eight-piece band was a popular fixture on the Minneapolis scene, releasing three CDs before folding in 2000. 3 Minute Hero's chanteur, the Reverend Colonel J.R. Nelson, tells City Pages all the major players are going be back, including current members of Go Jimmy Go, Rasputina, and the Secondhand Ska Kings. Show highlights will include the opening of a 1997 time capsule, and we can only hope, a rousing rendition of their smash hit "We're So Happy! (We're Going to Pee in Your Pants!)" 3 Minute Hero will be playing Bunkers on Friday, June 8, and the Fine Line Music Café on Saturday, June 9.

Gwen Stefani / Xcel Energy Center / June 5, 2007
Text by Geoff Cannon | Photos by Daniel Corrigan

Whatever you think of it, give Gwen Stefani credit for building a totally unique aesthetic. Imagine a Venn diagram of Thrasher magazine, William Gibson's Idoru, an aerobics class, and the dream you had of Cyndi Lauper joining Salt-N-Pepa, and you're close. Stefani and her crack team of dancers and musicians brought it all to life tonight at the Xcel to a near-capacity crowd that was 10-1 female with an average age around 16.

Read the rest of Geoff Cannon's review and check out more photos by Daniel Corrigan in our gallery section!

Rock photo fans take note: the exhibit Daniel Corrigan Music Photography: The Analog Years opens Thusday, June 7 at the Mill City Museum and runs through September 30--a bonus for anyone who missed the photographer's one-day exhibition of classic '80s photos last year, or who wants to see an expanded version. Corrigan shot the cover of the Replacements' Let It Be (more here and here), and otherwise documented the Twin Cities music scene from 1980 onwards. He'll speak at the June 7 opening, which starts at 6:00 p.m., and kicks off the museum's free outdoor live music series with acoustic blues and folk group the Brass Kings (plus a cash bar and food).

Also: Former CPer Mary O'Regan interviews Corrigan in the Downtown Journal

Battle of the Underage Underground / First Avenue / June 3, 2007
Text by Christopher Matthew Jensen | Photos by Daniel Corrigan

An annual event boasting some of the best high school-aged talent in the metro, Radio K's Battle of the Underage Underground gave seven musical acts a chance to take First Avenue's Mainroom by hellstorm in front of a mostly exuberant crowd comprised of guestlisted boosters, and a panel of musicians, critics and Radio K staffers.

During the first month of Brother Ali's 2007 U.S. tour, road manager Randy Hawkins somehow kept graffiti taggers away from the Minneapolis rapper's trailer--that is, until the first spray paint appeared in Charlottesville a few weeks ago. "Since then, it's been tagged about 8,000 times," says Hawkins, speaking last Friday via cell phone from somewhere between San Luis Obispo and San Francisco. "It looks like I parked in New York for a week." Fans hoping to make their mark might not realize the downside of a graffiti-covered trailer hitched to a shiny silver Ford van: vehicular profiling. Twice in May, the Rhymesayers have been pulled over by authorities: once in Texas, where police were looking for stolen band equipment; once by an unmarked squad car in Mississippi. In the latter incident, Brother Ali and friends were asked whether the trailer contained rocket launchers, grenades, machine guns, cocaine, or marijuana. They said no, and the police declined to search the trailer after getting permission to do so.

Ali's tour winds up June 8 and 9 at First Avenue, but if you miss that, he returns to the venue July 31 and August 1 as part of the touring Paid Dues Independent Hip-Hop Festival, which also features Felt, Living Legends, and others. On that tour, the rappers will dispense with the van and trailer to use a bus.

If you've been to a dog park recently, chances are you've noticed a bizarre trend among pup owners: They've taken to calling themselves "pack leaders" and admonishing their charges' bad behavior with an air compressor-like "tsst" noise. Thank Cesar Millan, a.k.a. "The Dog Whisperer," for this development. No really, thank him: Through his much-loved National Geographic Channel show The Dog Whisperer, Millan—pet trainer to the stars and founder of L.A.'s the Dog Psychology Center—has done more for problematic pet behavior than a landfill of choke collars (which he disavows in favor of exercise and assertive leadership). Millan is in the Twin Cities filming new episodes, and he appears tomorrow at PETCO in Maplewood for a question-and-answer session. He was kind enough to answer CP's questions in advance.