Video: Anders Ponders and Minor Kingdom at the Electric Fetus

Photo by Ben Clark

Anders Ponders

​Anders Ponders played a short set at the Electric Fetus last night as part of the store's ongoing MinnEconomy series, and Gimme Noise stopped by the show to capture a few videos of his solo set. "That was my first sober show and I was nervous as hell," Anders joked on his Twitter feed, but you would have never known he was nervous by the way he played (save, perhaps, for the disarming little giggle he let out at the end of each song).

As someone who has never seen Anders play before, I was blown away at how many sounds he was creating and looping on top of each other -- in just the first song, he incorporated plucked and bowed viola parts, clicking drum beats, whistling, an acoustic guitar, and his voice, all created live. Even the songs with mistakes and missteps were impressive in their complexity.





Anders even threw in a cover -- the first cover song he had ever played live, he said -- of the Notwist's "Consequence":



Earlier in the evening I also caught a set by Minor Kingdom. Lead singer Kristian Melom was joined by three backing musicians, including a new accordion player, and they created a muted rootsy vibe that perfectly complimented the hardwood floors and homey feel of the Fetus's interior.



The band even attempted an ambitious cover of Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely," adding in a faint alt-country feel to the brooding chorus and raising a few goosebumps with a wailing, otherworldly synth melody. You can sample some tracks from Minor Kingdom's debut, My Back Will Bend, over on their MySpace page. Minor Kingdom is also playing tomorrow night (Saturday, Feb. 13) at Trotter's Cafe in St. Paul.