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Pop queens appropriating robots! Maybe they're trying to dump their hearts and circulatory system so as to purchase a Lilith Fair ticket guilt-free.


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Photo by Stacy Schwartz

​A thousand years ago I was tabling a show at the Dinkytowner for Radio K, where some band named Tapes 'n Tapes had everyone whispering excitedly, nearly jinxing them (it didn't). The demo they gave me that night received a lot of attention in my satellite - it sounded all play and serious and experiment, so nonchalant. It still sticks out to me, all these years later.      More >>

Photo by Stacy Schwartz

Janelle Monae at Stubb's during SXSW 2009

​Janelle Monae was easily one of the best new artists we saw at SXSW in 2009, and we've been anxiously anticipating her next show in Minneapolis ever since. A larger-than-life performer, Monae kicked, danced, and stage dove her way through a set of soul-funk-electo-pop grooves, flailing her tiny body around so hard that her pompadour would come unraveled mid-song.

We caught up with Monae via telephone from her home in Atlanta to ask her about her impressive live show, her new record, and the music scene in her hometown prior to her show tonight at the Varsity Theater.

What are the challenges of putting together such an intricate, grandiose stage show?

Yeah, I mean you run through challenges in life all the time. It keeps you more perseverent, challenging yourself. I mean, I have a support system, so I don't run into the challenges of - oh, you can't try out this, you can't try out that. So that's the blessing. I'm surrounded around people who encourage me to be as artistic and free and thinking as possible.

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Photo courtesy of HSRA

​This week's cover story profiles St. Paul's High School for Recording Arts (aka 'Hip Hop High') and some of the talented students you'll find there. Savage, Dominoe and Lil C are all featured in the MPLS.TV documentary produced for the feature, but we figured you would be craving some more examples of the work they are creating.

Check out the full story here.

Lil C, along with a number of other students, created a song and music video last month in support of the Haitian earthquake victims. The video took off and now has more than 314,000 views on YouTube.

Mike Conway, an advisor and math teacher at the school, says the video is one example of students taking one interest, like helping Haiti relief efforts, and using that experience in a number of different subjects. He used the YouTube hit stats with students to analyze where viewers were coming from and how they could effectively spread their message to more people.

"This school requires me to teach math in a variety of ways," Conway says. "I've learned how to tuck math into a lot of different subjects."

Check out their Haiti tribute as well as a couple songs from Dominoe and Lil C below.

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As a complementary piece to Emily Kaiser's profile of the High School for Performing Arts (aka 'Hip Hop High') in today's paper, City Pages has teamed up with the MPLS.TV film crew to create a compelling short documentary about the school. Watch the video below, and check out Emily's article for more information about the unique school in St. Paul.

City Pages presents: "Hip Hop High" from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

A preview of Greg Gossel's mural in First Ave's Record Room

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First Avenue turns 40 years old this weekend, and over the years it has undergone plenty of changes and faced numerous challenges--outside competition, a changing music economy, change of owners, and the evolving face of downtown Minneapolis. Throughout it all, it has endured as one of the nation's most highly respected venues for touring bands, while constantly adapting and finding new ways to keep patrons coming through its doors. The venerable institution is kicking off its 40th anniversary celebration with a marathon of music, new beginnings for old rooms, and the addition of a bar/restaurant called the Depot Tavern, a nod to the original name of the club, the Depot," when it first opened on April 3, 1970. More >>

​Props to Red Pens frontman Howard Hamilton for making this cool drawing and flyer. The talented artists and rockers (who were also our Picked to Click 2009 winners) will play a free show this weekend with Total Babe, Teenage Moods, and Nice Purse.

Send your suggestions for Flyer of the Week to aswensson@citypages.com.

Photo by Ben Clark

Communist Daughter

​We're entering a season of local CD releases, so prepared to be inundated over the next few weeks as we make our way through all the great local albums coming out this April. This week, we drove down to Prescott, Wisconsin to hang out with Johnny Solomon and his Communist Daughter bandmates as they prepare to release their debut. Here's a link to that article, along with the other music content we ran in the print edition of City Pages this week:

Communist Daughter frontman Johnny Solomon finds a new-old, small-town sound
By Andrea Swensson
Johnny Solomon leaves the big city for small-town life, and finds a new musical direction on his '60s-pop influenced debut with Communist Daughter, Soundtrack to the End.

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​The Twin Cities is continuing its total domination of the Daytrotter site with yet another session by local artists posted today. Doomtree members Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, and Mike Mictlan traveled down to the Illinois recording studio to track a massive 12-song session.

"They come from a city, like many of us Midwest dwellers, that's gratifying and beautiful, but often overlooked because of the many ways it's not like New York or Los Angeles," writes Daytrotter contributor Sean Moeller. "They've known people and they've been people who have been overlooked just as badly and they've taken their responses to all of it and churned them into highly literate, cunningly specific, sincere and sharp as hell pieces of prose that they then apply to beats that somehow bear the same characteristics."

Today's post is one of many sessions by local artists that have been published on Daytrotter recently. Here's a roundup of recent Twin Cities sessions:

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​The lineup for this year's Soundset has been released, and Rhymesayers bigwigs Atmosphere will headline once again with a slew of openers, including Def Jam duo Method Man & Redman, the Hieroglyphics crew (Del the Funky Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Casual, and Pep Love), and Rhymesayers artists Brother Ali, Freeway and Jake One, P.O.S, and Eyedea & Abilities.

Additional artists include Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf, and Fashawn, and indie-rap stalwarts like Murs, Cage, People Under the Stairs, Themselves, and Busdriver. The day will be hosted by Peter Parker, Kevin Beacham, and DJ Snuggles.

Soundset '10 will take over Canterbury Park in Shakopee on May 30. Tickets go on sale this Friday and are $35.