Youa Vang

Members of Me and My Arrow are no strangers to the local music scene; the band is often playing shows or supporting other local artists almost every weekend around the Twin Cities.

Beginning this Friday and ongoing throughout the summer, the group will be experimenting with a new project. Lead singer and main songwriter, Jacob Grun, came up with the idea to release a single every other week rather than an album.
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Photo by Alex Uncapher

For Andy Elwell's fourth album, Brave Soul, the traditionally old-school artist takes some brave steps forward, breaking out of his singer-songwriter box and delivering a sound that's deliberately folk-pop. The Minneapolis-based Elwell's latest single, "Back to Me," is a prime example of Elwell's style and talents: catchy, sweet, and just a little sad -- just in time for a summer fling.

Gimme Noise is proud to debut this irresistible track with exclusive download privileges for our readers. We chatted with Elwell about the single, the first from his soon-to-be-released album (out June 1).

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Bird Sounds' upcoming New 7" was four years in the making, sort of. While they'd like to say they spent that entire time honing their craft, it was more accurately time spent honing the band itself.

Relocations, graduate school, more relocations, and the usual interferences from real life (time, money, work, etc.) have made their upcoming release substantial. "We were waiting for the trend to go back to grunge rock," laughs vocalist-bassist Jason "Zabby" Zaborowski, "but we got tired of waiting."

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Photo By Pedro Atkins

​Local indie-rock quintet Big Lake have captured the hearts of Twin Cities music fans in rather small doses, releasing one all-too-brief EP after another, in addition to their captivating, but all-too-infrequent, live shows. But while fans of the band wait patiently for a full-length album from Big Lake, the group has released a brand new single called "Eight Weeks," a highly-evocative song which should keep everyone satiated until their debut record eventually comes out.

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​The sonic experimentalism of Halloween, Alaska has always lent itself well to potential remixes. And while the latest effort from the Minneapolis quartet, All Night The Calls Came In, is a more refined, focused album than their more expansive past work, the musical groundwork has been laid for these textured songs to be considerably reworked.

February 28 will see the digital release of Fake Mistakes: Remixes, which features the recent songs of Halloween, Alaska reimagined by some stalwarts of the local music scene. Lazerbeak, Grant Cutler, Graham O'Brien, and Now, Now's Bradley Hale, as well as S. Carey from Bon Iver, are just some of the talented musicians giving the music of Halloween, Alaska their own unique twist on this inspired new collection.

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​Fresh off of bringing Wednesday night's Best New Bands showcase to a triumphant close at First Avenue, local MC MaLLy gives his fans a taste of what his hotly anticipated forthcoming LP will sound like with the brand new track "Future's Classic." The fresh, throwback beats were laid down by Miami producer Rem', but MaLLy truly carries the track with his spirited, emphatic verses and clever wordplay, giving everyone lyrical proof of why he was tabbed to be a big part of Atmosphere's sold-out Welcome to Minnesota Tour in February.

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Photo By Mike Vorrasi

​After recently signing with Chris Walla's Trans Records, local trio Now, Now have released their first new batch of songs today with the digital EP Dead Oaks. The catchy but fleeting "Dead Oaks" has been floating around since we reported on the band's signing to Walla's label back in December, while the wistful "School Friends" was shared earlier this month. Both tracks are set to feature prominently on Now, Now's forthcoming full-length, Threads, due out on March 6.
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​Thankfully, Clear Heart Full Eyes, the debut solo album from the Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn, doesn't signify a fracture between him and his regular bandmates. It just represents a temporary musical diversion for Finn from the wild, late-night hi-jinks that are prominently featured in his celebrated main band. And while Finn's familiar talk/sing vocal style remains the focus of his solo songs, the musical makeup of the tracks are quite a departure for Finn. The new tracks sway from restless blues, to plaintive, countrified Americana, to relaxed, keyboard-laden pop songs. Some of these new numbers certainly work better than others, but Finn's dedicated fans are unquestionably excited about the prospect of hearing him play these solo songs live, as his upcoming Triple Rock show in February sold-out weeks ago.

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​Brother Ali sure is keeping busy until his new record, Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color, comes out later this year. The feisty MC gets a bit jocular on this new track, "Sweet (Potato Pie)," dropping in over the top of Common's booming instrumental, "Sweet," with some culinary-themed rhymes. It's a bit lighter in nature than his recent "Writer's Block" track, but his dynamic wordplay is still in full effect. If Brother Ali keeps putting out spirited, boisterous tracks like this in the meantime, it surely will hasten the arrival of his highly-anticipated new full-length.

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​James Mercer has had no shortage of creative outlets over the last few years. But his main band, the Shins, have kept remarkably quiet since 2007's Wincing The Night Away, other than announcing that they were leaving their longtime label Sub Pop in '08. Mercer has now formed his own record label, Aural Apothecary, which will release Port Of Morrow on March 20, the first album from the Shins in nearly five years. Mercer plays most of the music found on the record, assisted by former Shins members Dave Hernandez and Marty Crandal (who no longer feature in the touring aspect of the band), Janet Weiss of Wild Flag, Eric Johnson of the Fruit Bats, and Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse. Mercer just made the first track from the album available, the plainly titled but still evocative "Simple Song." Give it a listen after the jump. More >>