Gimme News Weekly Wrap-Up: Feb. 20-26

Friday, Feb. 20:
-- Blitzen Trapper play First Avenue
"Originally scheduled to play the Cedar, Blitzen Trapper instead performed at the First Avenue Mainroom. Though you could tell the audience was rooting for the band, the show was not without its problems."

Monday, Feb. 23:
-- Romantica, Kid Dakota debut new material at the Cedar
"Romantica picked up the pace with their more upbeat, rollicking Americana songs, and kept the momentum up for an astonishing 19-song set, including 8 new songs."

Tuesday, Feb. 24:
-- Heliotrope lineup announced
"It's Heliotrope's sixth year already, which means that, after clearing the five year hump, it's just a hop and a skip to an even decade of celebrating the bold type and fine print of the Twin Cities experimental music scene."
-- Reporter's Notebook: P.O.S. transcript
"In this week's print edition, freelancer Steve McPherson profiles Stef Alexander, aka P.O.S., who is performing this weekend at First Avenue in celebration of his sophomore Rhymesayers release, Never Better. Steve was kind enough to provide us with his full conversation with the local hip-hop powerhouse, complete with a discussion on Canadian bacon, bonus tracks, and an inside look the intricacies of his new album."
-- Atmosphere skips Minneapolis (gasp!) on new tour

Wednesday, Feb. 25:
-- Element nightclub closes
"There's something about 10 South 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis that causes every inhabitant to close its doors soon after opening."
-- STNNNG release out-of-print 7 inch for free download
"As much as they audibly appreciated one another on pressed wax, their fans appreciated the effort even more, and in a heartbeat, the fleet-footed disc sold out, and, until recently, there were no announced plans to re-press it."

Thursday, Feb. 26:
-- Aw Naw Hell Naw: 50 Cent vs. Rick Ross
"This week, we're gonna look at 2009's most entertaining and yet probably most inconsequential rap beef: the saga of 50 cent and Officer Ricky, aka Rick Ross."
-- McNally Smith announces hip-hop diploma program
"Beginning with the September 2009 semester, St. Paul-based music college McNally Smith will offer the nation's first hip-hop oriented diploma program. Led by MC and community organizer Toki Wright, the program will span three semesters and cover music theory, spoken word, music history, rhythm studies, recording technology, and business."
-- TML 2nd birthday interview: Spankrock's XXXChange & Soviet Panda
"One of the coolest things I've seen at a dance night happened in 2008 at Too Much Love when LCD Soundsystem kicked off the school year in September."

From the City Pages:
-- P.O.S. finally comes into his own with Never Better
"He's a little kid trapped in the body of a grown-up trapped in the body of a skater, a punk, a rapper."
-- Zen and the Art of Fingerpicking
"It's rare--and strangely refreshing--to meet someone who is quite so ambivalent about why he does what he does, why he loves what he loves. Everything is simply okay, just as it is."
-- Spiritual Mansions Touched Review
"Like an old Nuggets LP on slo-mo, most of the album tries to rally from slumber, dragging listeners through hazy tracks with the mellowest of tender crescendos."
-- The Songs We Can't Escape feat. Lars Horntveth, Cryptacize, Black Dice, Junior Boys & 50 Cent.

Slideshows:
-- Month In Music: February 2009
-- Gary Louris and Mark Olson get back to Jayhawkin' at the Varsity
-- The Pretenders' performance in Minneapolis becomes talk of the town

Next Week's New Releases (March 3):
-- Bosque Brown Baby [Burnt Toast Vinyl]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- Neko Case Middle Cyclone [Anti- Records]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- Grandmaster Flash The Bridge: Concept of a Culture [Strut Records]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- Marissa Nadler Little Hells [Kemado]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- The Prodigy Invaders Must Die [Cooking Vinyl]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- The Soundtrack of Our Lives Communion [Yep Roc]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- U2 No Line on the Horizon [Interscope]
(Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)
-- The Whip X Marks Destination [Southern Fried Records]
(MySpace) (Wikipedia)