​This time of year, the imminence of summertime freedom has filled collegiate tummies everywhere with butterflies, something the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota celebrates with Spring Jam, a weekend of mostly music-related events organized by the Student Unions & Activities Department.

Last night's performance from rootsy Duluth outfit Trampled By Turtles was cut short, however, when some door-be-damned youngsters stormed the barn show.

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​The soul of rock n' roll doesn't live in a stadium--it resides in dive bars, in grungy clubs, in run-down venues where the floors are slick with a layer of spilled booze and stale sweat.  Garage rock is a distillation of the spirit that makes rock n' roll so magnetic, and the recent documentary New Garage Explosion!!: In Love With These Times (full video) attempts to construct a comprehensive picture of the garage movement in America out of interviews and live recordings of some of the genre's major players, from rising stars to lifers. 

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BG4: Summer edition at First Avenue

​While all manner of clubbers and ravers throughout this fine state's recent history smile and check their calendars, the inevitable reaction to this announcement from non-dance-music fans will probably be something like, "Really? Another one?"  

But this event isn't necessarily for them (though they're invited).  It's for all the people who like it loud - and we mean loud - from neon colors to the massive "Wall Of Bass" erected by DJ ESP Woody McBride over the last three installments at First Avenue and for that matter, the last 20 years of his internationally-recognized career as a techno DJ.

And so we present Bassgasm 4 on July 22, another brick in the Wall, so to speak.
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Photos by Nick Wosika

There was a time when the so-called nü-metal seemed like it would be crowned the new king, the genre that would create the paradigm shift that grunge once did. Bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were suddenly on the precipice of the Next Big Thing. Deftones were along on the ride, as well, though they never really fit in with the rest of the movement--they were the bookish thinkers amongst a roomful of potheads. Their lyrics actually meant something, they weren't filled with cartoonish fantasies or hackneyed metaphors. The music has always been tight and crisp, not the sludgy miasma of downtuned guitars that became the both the badge and the curse of nü-metal. Ultimately, the genre went nowhere and, like Saturday morning cartoons, is slowly dying off.

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​ Usher in May with new music...lots of CD releases this weekend!

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Photo via Edina Realty

​Pachyderm Studios, best known as the recording site of Nirvana's final studio album, In Utero, as well as the place where dozens of local bands holed up in the early- to mid-'90s to record their work, has gone out of business once and for all and the property is now for sale.More >>

​Two Harbors is not just a city in Minnesota, it's also a hard working rock band from Minneapolis.  Gimme Noise caught up with them as they were preparing to release their new album, Make It Alright, at Cause tonight.

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​At first glance, the Dirty Knobs album Field Recordings from the Edge of Hell seems ordinary enough -- there are 13 tracks, and the record is set up on a Bandcamp page where it is available for download at a pay-what-you-can rate. But upon closer inspection, Field Recordings is something quite extraordinary. The tracks range from 20 minutes up to an hour in length, and stretch endlessly into a sprawling symphony of drones and waves.

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Photo by Carter Grimes for City Pages

White Light Riot

​Spring is always a busy time for album releases, and this is especially true in the Twin Cities. Bands seem to hunker down for the winter, clocking hours in rehearsal spaces and recording studios, only to emerge in April and May armed with new songs, new albums -- and sometimes new bands all together.

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​It's been a while since Sheryl Crow has come through the Twin Cities, and this time through she's performing for a good cause: PACER, a locally based nonprofit that provides training to the parents and families of disabled children, will host Crow at their annual benefit at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

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