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A.V. ClubA year before Toyota's massive recall, we published a lengthy investigation of problems with the Prius.
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Bigger than Shaq and proud of it, the world's tallest dog may be living in Tucson.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 7:25 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 7:19 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 7:16 PM
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 12:25 PM
I'll add my reactions to the farewell Angel in this space tomorrow morning. For now, suffice it to say that
The last episode of "Angel," titled "Not Fade Away," is considerably less upbeat than the conclusion to its sister show, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ended last year with the heroine and her friends closing a gateway to hell.
Yikes! It looks like
will not be going for the happy ending:
(minor spoilers)
http://www.startribune.com/stories/459/4782577.html
Eight Days a Week: May 20-27
Here's what I'm interested in checking out in Minneapolis/St. Paul this week. Hey, look, it's Dylan Days in Hibbing, Wednesday through Saturday, May 19-May 22.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
PICK Flaming Film Festival Wrap Party. With the Keepaways, the Accident, Grace Darling, screening of the short film 'Bending the Equator.' $6. 9:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Ron Sexsmith. With David Mead. 18+. $12. 7:00 p.m., THE QUEST ASCOT ROOM, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
Leon Redbone. $39. 7:30 p.m., ROSSI'S BLUE STAR ROOM, Metro Building (9th and Marquette), Mpls., 612.312.2828
Roy Hargrove Quintet. $30-$35. 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612.332.1010 (ALSO THURSDAY)
Outkast Inklusion at 10P.M. Triple Rock Social Club 21+
The Cans, Matt Kassanchuck Band, Radio On at 9P.M. Star Central 18+ $3/0
Screaming Monkey Boner, Christopher Jewell. $5. 8:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Lurcat Amped: Walker Kong. $3. 9:00 p.m., BAR LURCAT, 1624 Harmon Pl, Mpls., 612.486.5900
God Johnson, Levitt8. 18+. $4. 8:30 p.m., CABOOZE, 917 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.338.6425
The Bridge Club, Three for the Gallows, Swashbuckler, UPTOWN BAR & CAFE, 3018 Hennepin Ave. S, Mpls., 612.823.4719
From Ashes Rise, Damage Deposit, Modern Life is War. All-ages. $6. 6:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
THURSDAY, MAY 20
3. [MENTION DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL HERE?] My Morning Jacket. With M. Ward. All-ages. $15. 6:00 p.m., THE QUEST, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
Terraplane CD-Release Show. $5. 8:00 p.m., URBAN WILDLIFE BAR, 331 2nd Ave. N, Mpls., 612.339.4665
Inebriation CD-Release Party. With Ajoining Seperatists $5, FIVE CORNERS SALOON, 501 Cedar Ave. S (at Riverside Ave), Mpls., 612.338.6424
Clouds in Water Zen Center Benefit. Featuring Billy McLaughlin, Becky Shlegel, Michael Monroe. $15 suggested donation. 7:00 p.m.,, BLACK DOG COFFEE AND WINE BAR, 308 Prince St (4th and Broadway in Lowertown), St. Paul, 651.228.9274
Doomtree, Plastic Constellations, Swiss Army, EPL, Snakebird. 18+. $5/$7. 8:30 p.m., CABOOZE, 917 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.338.6425
Roy Hargrove Quintet. $30-$35. 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612.332.1010 (ALSO WEDNESDAY)
JIMMY BUFFETT AND THE CORAL REEFER BAND $38.75-$72.25. 8:00 pm. Target Center, 600 1st Ave N, Mpls.; 612.673.0900.
VINICIUS CANTUARIA 8:00 pm. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, Mpls.; 612.338.2674.
Sondre Lerche. 18+. $13.50/$16.50. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
Retisonic, New Transit Direction. $7. 9:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Housebreaker, Panel of Experts, Rags to Rejects, UPTOWN BAR & CAFE, 3018 Hennepin Ave. S, Mpls., 612.823.4719
FRIDAY, MAY 21
3. Matt St. Germain's Birthday Party. With Artic Universe, Ova!, Diamonds, Knifeworld, Haunted House, Happy Mother's Day, I Can't Read. $6. 8:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775 ALTERNATIVE SHOWS LIST HAS LINEUP AS: Michael Yonkers / Arctic Universe / Knifeworld / Oval / Happy Mother's Day, I Can't Read / Diamonds / Starving God / Haunted House / White Map / Chips & Salsa at 8P.M. 7th St Entry
4. Mason? The Subdudes CD-Release Party. $19/$20. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
CODE PINK BENEFIT: STEPHAN SMITH $12/$14. 8:00 pm. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, Mpls.; 612.338.2674.
Stephan Smith at 8P.M. Cedar Cultural Center ALL-AGES $12/14
Tiki Obmar at 10P.M. Bryant-Lake Bowl ALL-AGES $5/7
Teitur, Griffin House. $10. 8:00 p.m., 400 BAR, 400 Cedar Ave. S (at Riverside Ave), Mpls., 612.332.2903
Westside. 9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat, 8:30 p.m. Sun, ARNELLIA'S, 1183 University Ave. W, St. Paul, 651.642.5975
Paul Renz & Friends CD-Release Show. $10. 9:00 p.m., DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612.332.1010
Detachment Kit. All-ages. $8/$10. 5:00 p.m., THE QUEST ASCOT ROOM, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
The Thermals. All-ages. $6. 5:00 p.m. U.S.E., Aquaduct. $8. 10:00 p.m. TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Slim Dunlap Band. $4, TURF CLUB, 1601 University Ave. W (at Snelling Ave), St. Paul, 651.647.0486
Pleasure Pause, P.O.S., UPTOWN BAR & CAFE, 3018 Hennepin Ave. S. Mpls., 612.823.4719
Vast, Seconds Before. 18+. $8-$10. 8:00 p.m., URBAN WILDLIFE BAR, 331 2nd Ave. N, Mpls., 612.339.4665
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311101749011308&sql=Bigj9keztkq7q
The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs. 7:00 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
SATURDAY, MAY 22
5. MINNESOTA'S FIRST ANNUAL ROCK & COUNTRY HALL OF FAME INDUCTION SHOW Featuring Bobby Vee; Dave Dudley Tribute; the Trashmen; Sherwin Linton; Marilyn Sellars; the Tornadoes; the Orbits; the Greenmen; the Titans; more. $15/$18. 2:00 pm to midnight. Medina Entertainment Center, 500 Hwy 55 (4 miles west of I-494), Medina; 763.478.6661.
6. Heroine Sheiks, the Stunning, the Stick Up. $8. 8:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL; THRICE $23-$26. 7:00 pm. Target Center, 600 1st Ave N, Mpls.; 612.673.0900.
5 Corners Music Festival with Kanser, Outside, plus many more special surprises, 05/22/04, 9:00 P.M.
21+, 5 Corners, $5.00
Fifth Element Open Mic, 05/22/04, 6:00 P.M., All-ages, Fifth Element, FREE
VINCE GILL; JOE NICHOLS $28-$42. 8:00 pm. Grand Casino Hinckley, 777 Lady Luck Dr (1 mile east of I-35), Hinckley; 800.472.6321.
MARYAM YUSEFZADEH KEER; TIM O'KEEFE; MIRIAM GERBERG Musicians accompany a screening of 'Grass.' $18/$20. 8:00 pm. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, Mpls.; 612.338.2674.
Westside. 9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat, 8:30 p.m. Sun, ARNELLIA'S, 1183 University Ave. W, St. Paul, 651.642.5975
The Blend, Atlas Dusk, 05/22/04, 9:00 P.M., 18+, Red Sea
$5.00
Balls Cabaret at 1159P.M. Southern Theater ALL-AGES $5
local hardcore showcase at 6P.M. The Fallout Art Center ALL-AGES
Pat McCurdy, Sometimes Y. $8. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
Orgy, Classic Case. All-ages. $15. 6:00 p.m., FIRST AVENUE, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
The 11th Annual Senior Foodshelf Chili Cook Off. Featuring Nathan Anderson Project, Orange Whip. Free. 3:00 p.m., MAYSLACK'S MUSIC LOUNGE, 1428 4th St NE, Mpls., 612.789.9862
Minus 3, Manic Euphoria, Point of View. 18+. $5-$8. 8:00 p.m., URBAN WILDLIFE BAR, 331 2nd Ave. N, Mpls., 612.339.4665
Ol' Yeller, Grickle Grass, Triangle Park, UPTOWN BAR & CAFE, 3018 Hennepin Ave. S, Mpls., 612.823.4719
CANCELED: MF Doom. All-ages. $12. 5:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Orange Goblin, Origin, Lamont. $10. 10:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Noise Ratchet. All-ages. $8. 5:00 p.m. THE QUEST ASCOT ROOM, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
SUNDAY, MAY 23
7. Tortoise. With Beans. 18+. $15. 7:00 p.m.,
8. Smooth Jazz Jam featuring Kim Waters. $15/$20. 8:00 p.m., ESCAPE ULTRA LOUNGE, 600 Hennepin Ave, Mpls., 612.333.8855
MOODY BLUES $21-$35. 8:00 pm. Grand Casino Hinckley, 777 Lady Luck Dr (1 mile east of I-35), Hinckley; 800.472.6321.
Jack Norton's Wizard Oil Vaudeville Company at 7P.M. Acadia Theater & Cafe ALL-AGES $10/6
Spider John Koerner, VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
The Legendary Pink Dots, Gotterdammerung. $8/$10. 8:00 p.m., FIRST AVENUE, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Westside. 9:30 p.m. Fri-Sat, 8:30 p.m. Sun, ARNELLIA'S, 1183 University Ave. W, St. Paul, 651.642.5975
Benefit for Wayne Teubert. Featuring music by Junkhead, Slow Children, Sidewalk Preacher, Chainsaw featuring Happy, raffle, prizes. Donations accepted. 2:00 p.m., MAIN EVENT FRIDLEY, 7820 University Ave, Fridley, 763.502.0056
Wolfbrigade. All-ages. 5:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Urban Sprawl Contest. $3. 8:00 p.m., URBAN WILDLIFE BAR, 331 2nd Ave. N, Mpls., 612.339.4665
MONDAY, MAY 24
9. Mason? Roberta Gamborini. DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; 612.332.1010$17-$22. 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm, ALSO TUESDAY
Hip Hop Night at The Loring Pasta Bar, 05/24/04, 9:00 P.M., 18+, Loring Pasta Bar, $5.00 18+, $7.00 21+
French Kicks, On the Speakers, Joggers. $10. 8:00 p.m., 400 BAR, 400 Cedar Ave. S (at Riverside Ave), Mpls., 612.332.2903
Freedom From presents: NTX / Turquise Diamonds / Haunted House at 9P.M. Big V's
The Saw Doctors. $10/$15. 7:00 p.m., FIRST AVENUE, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Riddle of Steel, No More Lies. $6. 9:00 p.m. TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Willie Murphy. 7:00 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
TUESDAY, MAY 25
10. Voltage: Fashion Amplified. Featuring Faux Jean, Revolver Modele, the Melismatics, Shadow Box, Friends Like These, Coach Said Not Too, Luke's Angels. $5/$8. 7:00 p.m., FIRST AVENUE, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Fifth Element & Undercinema present ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS with P.O.S (Doomtree), EPL, King Otto, DJ Nikoless, screening: Juice (starring Omar Epps & 2pac), Hosted by Toki Wright, 8:00 P.M., 18+ , The Dinkytowner, $5.00, Ladies free til 10:00 P.M.
Roberta Gamborini. DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; 612.332.1010 $17-$22. 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm, Mon-Tue:
Poets Grove, with Desdamona, Kevin Washington, 9:00 P.M. 18+, The Blue Nile
FREE!
HERE'S THE ONLY ONES I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT:
MATOS OR PATRIN:
U.S.E. (United States of Electronics) / Aqueduct @ 10PM Triple Rock Social Club 21
ROD SMITH:
Fri: Matt St. Germain's Birthday Party. With Artic Universe; Ova!; Diamonds; Knifeworld; Haunted House; Happy Mother's Day, I Can't Read. $6. 8:00 pm
SCHOLTES? I LIKE THIS ALBUM
Thu: Sondre Lerche. 18+. $13.50/$16.50. 8:00 pm
JOHN DUGAN: HE'S AT dugan.j@comcast.net
Sun: Tortoise. With Beans. 18+. $15. 7:00 pm
ANDERS (THEIR NEW ALBUM IS AMAZING! IF ANDERS CAN'T WRITE IT, I'LL DO IT, JUST LET ME KNOW)
Thu: My Morning Jacket. With M. Ward. All ages. $15. 6:00 pm
KEITH HARRIS:
Fri: The Thermals. All ages. $6. 5:00 pm
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 12:25 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 12:19 PM
I Hate 1984: Bob, You Knew It Was Coming
Greg Norton, Grant Hart, and Bob Mould in 1983
No album will ever have quite the impact on me that Zen Arcade did in 1984. I'm not sad or wistful about that fact. Like I said, I don't want to be 14 again. But there's no denying that circumstances will never quite pile up on each other in that same way again to produce an experience that equals hearing Husker Du's best double album for the first time.
If you want to imagine what it was like, think of any moment in your life when you met something radically new that seemed to instantly fill a gap you didn't know was there in your mind.
I was an adolescent, first of all, and so I welcomed Zen Arcade's crazed depression into my self-absorbed mood. "What's going on!/What's going on!/What's going on inside my head?!" struck me as a funny, sensible meditation. The smeared, blue look of the cover was the world as I felt it.
Then there was the music going on inside my head. Not long after Mom and Dad decided to get divorced in 1978, both parents moved from the west side of Madison, Wisconsin, to the east, keeping joint custody of me and my younger brother. Dad bought a stereo, and over the next couple years, he got me most of the Beatles records from Revolver onward. The White Album, in particular, got heavy play in my living room when I was 9. I loved two other double LPs before Zen Arcade: London Calling, from about age 12, and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, from about age 13. (The first album I ever bought was also a double album: the Star Wars soundtrack.) Hardcore punk reached my stereo that same year, in 1983, and was still an open book for me when my friend Joel Paterson played me Zen Arcade. In many ways, the new album seemed a culmination of all the others.
To back up for a second, Joel had already initiated me into hardcore: As I wrote here, I had already been to shows, and was wearing what I thought were punk clothes. The DJs at the local listener-sponsored station, WORT-FM, were clueless about hardcore, with the sole exception of Pete Rabid--Husker Du's biggest champion in Madison. Before Zen Arcade, it seemed like most '77 punks didn't take hardcore seriously. That might explain why Husker went from gigging at a club (Merlyn's) when they came to town to playing a tiny all-ages community center (Wil-Mar), then a gymnasium (Turner Hall, site of my first and last Husker show, in 1985, with Soul Asylum opening).
Joel had also gotten me into psychedelia (as well as Jimi Hendrix and the Clash, by the way). Later in 1984, I remember Joel playing me the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" and then the Husker Du cover version, back to back, and me having trouble deciding which was better. I didn't figure out until years later that both recordings, as well as much of Zen Arcade, owed a lot to John Coltrane. You can hear bop not only in the modal scales of "Reoccurring Dreams," but also in the way the way Bob Mould screams around a melody, sax-style, varying it the way Coltrane did. Listen now to how he does the same thing on Zen Arcade's "Chartered Trips," where he repeats the whole "I thought I earned myself a trip away" refrain, but makes the words virtually incomprehensible the second time.
To understand the impact Zen Arcade had, you have to imagine loving all these different kinds of music. Loving the Dead Kennedys, loving R.E.M.'s second album, loving Hendrix guitar trips, loving '60s folk-pop--but never hearing any of this stuff combined in the way Husker Du did: Like two adolescents giving in to an I-hate-the-world-from-pole-to-pole-and-myself-along-with-it screaming match.
Greg Norton's bass was a melodic blur
I had never heard, for example, Husker Du themselves: I somehow missed their Wil-Mar show, and hadn't bought their albums. So the voice on Zen Arcade's first track, "Something I Learned Today," was entirely new to me. It was an almost abstract combination of scat and scream: Bob Mould's "Something I learned today/black and white is always grey" became "Su tin ah Urgh te-tay! Arghkawan-ah Ur! Tur! Tur!" Though not as fast as most thrash, the music was still speeding. It kept jerking you around, too--and CRASHSHSHSHSHING into itself. Grant Hart's drumming was one long fill. Greg Norton's bass was a motorized, bouncing blur. When the band jumped, they jumped together. It was the tightest imaginable mess.
What struck me as much was that the scream gave way to a wail whose melody sounded straight out of the '66-'67 pop I'd been soaking up that summer. Minor Threat had covered "Steppin' Stone," but this was something else. When Mould sang, "I'm not inside--iiiih iiiiiiihde--your braaaaain! Aaaaai-aaai-aai-aaain," he really sang it, square on key, and with resulting chords that reminded me of the pastoral "miles and miles" stuff of the Who, the Byrds, and, of course, the Beatles. This wail didn't soften the way those old voices did, though, and it didn't mock itself the way most punks would. "Hardcore R.E.M." was what I called the sound in the high school newspaper that year, writing my first record review. But it was more like a long soul shout without any blues intonation: This was white folk delivered with black R&B's intensity.
Can you believe this '84 flyer?
Grant Hart's singing arrived only at the end of "Something I Learned Today," and made me laugh. Joel and I looked at each other. What is this? The backing voice was downright pretty, his ay-ay-ay even more startlingly than Mould's ai-ai-ain. Years later, I felt Husker Du lost something when Hart started screaming more and Mould began screaming less. On Zen Arcade, though, the drummer was a feminine foil for Mould, a Mick Jones to Mould's Joe Strummer. (I have a feeling they will both hate me for saying that.) The Hart moment everyone remembers comes on Side Three, which Joel skipped to right away: "Pink Turns to Blue," the most eerily lovely thing on the album. Whole genres were contained in its falsetto feedback. When I learned years later that Mould was openly gay, and Hart openly bi, I began to see the pink as well as the blue in Zen Arcade. "The Biggest Lie" claws at some kind of closet: "Back to your day job/back to your girlfriend/back to your hometown--the biggest lie!"
from a recent Bob Mould gig in NYC
Zen Arcade was no more autobiographical than most punk albums: It dealt with issues, and appeared to follow a narrative. "Broken Home, Broken Heart," the second track, had a title that was self-explanatory: "Your parents fight/You don't know who's wrong or right/have to cry yourself to sleep at night."
Still, I couldn't help but feel something of myself in that song. I should say right now that my parents' breakup ended with two happy families. But the definition of a trauma is any swift, severe delivery of evidence that the world is not as you think it is (or think it should be), and watching my mother and father fight their way out of love fits the bill. I don't remember any band before this song tackling the subject of divorce in such a straightforward way. I wonder why not? Maybe because no music before punk seized on conflict as its richest subject, or because the tone of most punk up to that point was to sneer at pain rather than wallow in it. Or maybe it was just that more parents were getting divorced by then.
Husker Du wallowed with the best of them. And "Whatever," the album's emotional climax three sides later, had a Mould character even blaming his parents' fights for the alienated dreamlife he made out of adulthood. "Mom and Dad, I'm sorry/Mom and Dad, don't worry/I'm not the son you wanted, but what could you expect/I've made my world of happiness to combat your neglect." Then he turns the end of that "neglect" into one of his punk-melismatic abstractions: "eehhh-eh-eh eh...eeeh-eehh, eeh-eehhhhhhhhhh." Whenever I hear that, I feel like I'm back in 1984, wallowing with him.
Bob Mould's Wall of Flying V
I won't continue any kind of track-by-track analysis, in part because Bob Mould himself is due onstage at First Avenue at 7:00 p.m. tonight (here's David DeYoung's review of the show--Shit, I guess I missed the relevant fact that Mould moved to D.C. three years ago. It was nice, if extraneous, of Walsh to mention this blog).
Track three, "Never Talking to You Again," seems a good place to stop, anway: a strummy 12-string acoustic number sung by Grant Hart (with Mould's weird, froggy backing vocals) that might have been a welcome study in contrast for the first 50 listens to Zen Arcade, but is now one of the three songs I skip over every time I play the CD. (The other two being the instrumental "Reoccurring Dreams," unless I'm in the mood for extended meltdown, and "The Newest Industry," which feels like too little melodically too late in the album.)
What the song misses is what I go back to Zen Arcade for: the guitar (which nobody seems able to write about without describing in the plural). Where some fans favor the boss sheen of that Flying V on subsequent albums, namely 1985's New Day Rising, and seem to bond over vilifying Spot's production on Zen Arcade, I think the sound here is better for the songs (Greg Norton's crucial bass melodies are buried from New Day Rising on), good to the voices (just above or below the noise roar than thrust out front), and great for the guitars, which take on multiple textures without you ever mistaking them for anyone else's. The two-note patterns that mark the end of "Whatever" have a droning quality that I will now forever associate with desperate misery and fast rock 'n' roll catharsis. The Who have nothing on this moment.
And speaking of the Who, while I've been calling Zen Arcade a rock opera all my life, I never quite saw the story, and now I wonder if using classic rock terminology wasn't a plot by Who fans-turned-critics to tame an entirely unprecedented and unaccountable masterpiece into something more familiar. (I seem to remember the band guffawing on Rabid's radio show about the running "theme," the implication being the only connection was, you know, drugs.)
1994 tribute album on Synapse by various artists
Comparing Husker Du to the Pixies, whose tantrums seem to me to be entirely free of pain, seems equally reductive. I won't bore you with the old saw that Zen Arcade birthed modern rock as we know it ("hardcore R.E.M."), or talk about the way the band's non-punk appearance, obscured on album covers, changed the way punk looked at itself. ("They look like truckers," Joel said. "I always imagined they'd have Mohawks.")
The point is that unlike virtually everyone they influenced, Husker Du wrote complex songs that moved. This was the influence of hardcore at work, especially fellow labor-of-love-till-you-drop SST bands Minutemen and Black Flag. Contrary to another old saw--that Husker Du burst free from the constricting limits hardcore set for them to create "indie rock"--the national teen punk scene was the best thing that ever happened to Husker Du. It freed them, allowing more chords per minute ("Broken Home, Broken Heart" is all over the place), and encouraging two new voices to see where trusting themselves took them. Zen Arcade was a journey into born-again Bo Diddley beats ("Hare Krsna"), jazz screams ("Standing By the Sea"), and the Clash-like affirmation that tuning into the world is better than tuning out ("Turn On the News").
It was the best album ever from Minneapolis, and I couldn't have placed it on a map in 1984.
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 18, 2004 6:45 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 4:40 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 4:05 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 4:04 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:53 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:51 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:41 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:41 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:39 PM
By Jenny Woods
Purely on a visual level, This Is Spinal Tap was hilarious right off the bat, from the umlaut in the title to that first shot of Michael McKean's crimped coiffure. Growing up in a small northern Minnesota town where metal was the primo party music, I welcomed the spandex satire of "Big Bottom": "The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'." At least the anatomical references were equal opportunity: "My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo, I like to sink her with my pink torpedo." Ah, those halcyon velvety-cheek days.
I never was a "metal chick," contrary to my boyfriend's speculation on our sort-of first date. [Editor's note: I still don't believe you.] Instead I was inspired to watch the film by a former boyfriend, who some of my friends affectionately referred to as "a LARPer" (a.k.a. Live Action Role Player). Yes, he was into Dungeons & Dragons, the Renaissance Festival, the Society for Creative Anachronism, and Spinal Tap, most of all for the song "Stonehenge." I'd actually been to the famed ancient rock group(ing) in England, so I could appreciate even more the scene where the Stonehenge prop is delivered to a concert at 18 inches instead of 18 feet.
I usually have a poor memory for quotes from movies, but Tap's classic lines are indelible: "None more black"; "These go to 11"; "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever." The actors sported spot-on British accents, and excelled in improvisation: Christopher Guest's Nigel Tufnel marked the beginning of his "mockumentary" brilliance. (Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show join Tap on my best comedies list.) I loved the scene where Marty DiBergi (real-life director Rob Reiner) films Nigel tickling the ivories with a pretty ballad, then asks him what the title is, with Nigel's answer: "Lick My Love Pump." Or the scene where Nigel, in typical star fashion, complains about the size of the bread on the snack tray, folding it to illustrate its inadequacy, and telling his manager, "If you keep folding it, then it breaks." (Then he turns to the olives: "And these... these are just a disaster.")
Tap deserves its spot on the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Comedies list. Rob Reiner never topped the comedic genius of his directorial debut. (Though I do love The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally also made AFI's list.) The fictional band found a cult following in the real world, making live appearances as Spinal Tap. Their songs got some airplay, and MTV showed at least one of their videos. In 1992, Guest, McKean, and Harry Shearer gathered for a reunion special.
The film's brilliance lies in its finer details: the greedy label executive named Sir Denis Eton-Hogg; the fact that on "Big Bottom" all three guitarists play bass guitars; and the band's (is it 12th?) drummer wearing a Poison T-shirt. What makes the movie unique is that it succeeds in making you feel affection for these guys, portraying the pathos of an aging group trying to regain its former fame. You have to pity the musicians when, after a slew of canceled shows, they play the last gig of their U.S. tour at a theme park, billed under a puppet show. But the band members don't lose hope. Nigel talks about being a salesman in a "haberdasher" or "chapeau shop," and when David St. Hubbins is asked what he'd do if he can't play rock 'n' roll, he says, "I'd be a full-time dreamer." Wouldn't we all.
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:30 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:03 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:01 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 2:59 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 12:15 PM
The Detroit Cobras perform early tonight (Wednesday) at First Avenue
Okay, here's what I'm interested in seeing this week in Minneapolis/St. Paul, culled from CP, TC Shows List, and D.U. Nation. Enjoy!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
PICK THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, DETROIT COBRAS, and SPLITLIP RAYFIELD. I've never cottoned to the Reverend, myself, but the Detroit Cobras are always the CD that people ask about when I put it on at a party. Just a rocky, Detroity, girl-groupy great time. $10 adv, $15 dr, 6:00 p.m. 21+ID members free + 1. FIRST AVENUE, 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
The Boss Martians, Triple Rock Social Club
Joe Firstman. $11. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
Bachelor Boy Entertainment and Colossus Enterprises present: ESCAPE WEDNESDAYS, with B96 Beat Masters, 9:00 P.M. 21+ Escape Ultra Lounge $5.00
K102's Irresistible Ladies Night. Country. Ladies free. 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 am, RODEO, 7359 W Point Douglas Rd, Cottage Grove, 651.458.0636
The Rockin' Pinecombs. With Dan Ramsey, Steve Kaub. 6:30 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.425
PICK Trailer Park Queen (CD-Release Show), Plate O' Shrimp, Pistolwhipped, Faggot. I missed TPQ at Geek Prom (here's pictures!), but they sound great. $5. 8:00 p.m. 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
PICK WAM Bash, free festival at the Weisman Art Museum 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. For art lovers and others interested in becoming a regular, the Weisman opens its doors for an evening of food, drink, music and art. With Fog. Plus local artists working side-by-side with you to make take-home creations in printmaking (Highpoint Center for Printmaking), beadwork (Sheri Moe), and photographic reproduction. Become a Weisman member that night and receive: a one-time 20% discount in the Weisman store, a free gift, a year's worth of exciting benefits. Special to WAM members: Bring your friends to WAM's member get-a-member event and receive a free gift if any of your guests join! Call 612-626-5302 to reserve a spot for you and your guests.
James Moody. $25. 7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. ROSSI'S BLUE STAR ROOM, Metro Building (9th and Marquette), Mpls., 612.312.2828
Exhumed, Uphill Battle, Anal Blast, Teratism. All-ages. $8/$10. 6:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Tim Easton. $10. 8:00 p.m., 400 BAR, 400 Cedar Ave S (at Riverside Ave), Mpls., 612.332.2903
Missing Numbers, James Apollo, LEE'S LIQUOR LOUNGE, 101 Glenwood Ave N (at 11th St), Mpls., 612.338.9491
Shawn Pittman, Famous Dave's
DJ Pappy GaNuga, Slim Doogan, TBA Live Hip-Hop Group. Hey, live hip hop at the Kitty! 9:00 P.M. 21+ Kitty Cat Klub
Project 86. With Dead Poetic, the Pits. All-ages. $10/$12. 5:00 p.m., THE QUEST ASCOT ROOM, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
GB Undisputed Records Presents BIG $$$ MC Battles Weekly w/ TBA Performances 05, 13, 04 9:00 P.M. 18+ Red Sea $7.00 (Men)/$2.00 (Females)
DUTTY VIBEZ, Dancehall For The People, Real Caribbean Vibez 9:00 P.M. 21+, First Avenue, (VIP Room)/$3 (9 p.m. - 11 p.m.)/$6 (11 p.m. - 2am) Birthdays & Members Free +3
Charles and Ed Play Blues. Free. 7:00 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
Bill Mike, Ben Connely, Travis Henspeter. $6. 9:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
FRIDAY, MAY 14
Dick Dale and "Jagrah," his pet Jaguar
PICK Dick Dale, Jack Knife and the Sharps. The surf guitar god is only gonna be around so long, and he always puts on an awesome show. $15/$18. 8:30 p.m., CABOOZE, 917 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.338.6425SATURDAY, MAY 15
PICK Art-A-Whirl festival. This huge three-day art and music festival in Northeast Minneapolis is an essential springtime event, check out that site for more details, but here are a couple related lineups: Honigman, The Infestations, The Bootdraggers, Trailer Park Queen, Umbrella Bed, Michael Young, U Joint, Gordon Globe, Reve du Faun, 11:30 AM ArtaMotive ALL-AGES $0. Wait a second, here's a more detailed Artomotive lineup: 11:30am - Honigman, 12:30pm - The Infestations, 1:30pm - The Bootdraggers, 2:30pm - Trailer Park Queen, 3:30pm - Umbrella Bed, 4:30pm - Michael Young - acoustic, 5:30pm - U Joint, 6:30pm - Gordon Globe, 7:30pm - Reve du Faun. And here's the Spot Art Gallery lineup, 1828 Marshall Street, NE Minneapolis. Noon -11:00pm, Live music 8:00pm-11:00pm by: Kruddler, Milhaus. And here's After-Whirl: (I believe this starts in the evening) featuring Walker Kong, Work of Saws, We Invented Tornadoes, LatchHook, TVSound. Free, SPRING STREET BAR & GRILL, 355 NE Monroe St, Mpls., 612.627.9123
PICK FELIX DA HOUSECAT 21+. $10/$15 at the door. Escape Ultra Lounge, 600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612.333.8855.
PICK TRAILER TRASH. From the press release: It should be a fun night of retro country and reality drinking, not to mention the extra plethora of Buckle Bunnies. For those of you who missed it last time, this is your chance for countrified fun on a BIG SCALE. Come see the Twin Cities' only real Cow Palace. It's our answer to Gilley's, or Billy Bob's, or the Saddle Rack--straight outta Urban Cowboy. RODEO NIGHTCLUB, Hwy 61 South, Cottage Grove, MN 651-458-0863 Music @ 9:15 til 1:15 AM, Cover $5, Parking: Free
THE TEMPTATIONS $39.50-$49.50. 8:00 p.m. State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Ave, Mpls., 612.339.7007. All-ages, State Theatre, $37.50
Mezcal Brothers (click here for more), the Silvermen, Safety Last. Great national rockabilly lineup. $5, LEE'S LIQUOR LOUNGE, 101 Glenwood Ave N (at 11th St), Mpls., 612.338.9491
Velvet Revolver. (Here's why you've heard of 'em. Here's their web site.) All-ages. $21. 6:00 p.m., THE QUEST 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
Fifth Element Open Mic, in-store w/ Big Wiz & Tony Bones, 6:00 P.M. All-ages Fifth Element, FREE!
Jonathan Kennedy, Seth Valentine (split cassette release show), Tora! Tora! Torrance! 7 P.M. Metric House ALL-AGES
Belfast Cowboys (Van Morrison Tribute). $6. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
Bob Dylan Tribute Show. With the New Primitives, Stu Allan & Jones Gang, Tangled Up in Bob, Kung Fu Hippies. $6. 8:30 p.m., CABOOZE, 917 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.338.6425
Fab and Disko Cabaret. With hosts Giancarlo, Kode, percussionist, drag shows, magicians, bellydancers. $8, THE LOUNGE, 411 2nd Ave N, Mpls., 612.333.8800
Filthy Divine, Thoughtcloud, B! 9 P.M. Star Central 18+ $5, 8
Umbrella Bed, Deals Gone Bad, Fred Savage and the Unbeatables. All-ages. $8. 5:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Positive Mood Ent. Presents Disco T, Dan Speak, CLUB FEVER 10:00 P.M. 21+ Red Sea/$10.00
Apocalypse Theater, Ghoultown. $6. 8:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Battle of the Bands, THE ROCK, 2029 Woodlynn Ave, Maplewood, 651.770.7822
Long Neckin' and Two Steppin' Country Party. $5. Dance lessons at 7:15 p.m., RODEO, 7359 W Point Douglas Rd, Cottage Grove, 651.458.0636
Bridge Club, Volante, Twin, the Accidents. All-ages. $5. 9:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Martyr A.D., Comeback Kid, Hope You Choke. All-ages. $6. 5:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Paul Bollenbach With Chris McNulty. $10. 9:00 pm Fri-Sat; 8:00 pm Sun. May 14-16, 2004
SUNDAY, MAY 16
PICK KING'S X Named one of the "100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists" of all time by VH1 in 2000 (along with Led Zeppelin and Fugazi), Houston's one-of-a-kind power trio King's X have been reinventing their Beatlesesque metal since 1988, influencing the low-tuned throb of grunge along the way, and earning such ardent fans as Nile Rodgers, Gene Simmons, and Eddie Vedder. So why haven't you heard of them? Maybe because their rep as "Christian" and "progressive" has obscured the group's more recent, groove- and harmony-based songwriting (think Meat Puppets more than Rush). Bassist-singer Doug Pinnick's coming out as gay also must have alienated what few bigots could stomach his being black. True fans, of course, are here for the fucking music, and King's X are better than ever in that department. With Down & Above and Seratone. 21+. $12/$15 at the door. The Rock, 2029 Woodlynn Ave., Maplewood; 651.770.7822. PICK Art-A-Whirl festival. Like I said, this huge three-day art and music festival in Northeast Minneapolis is essential. Skip everything else if you must. Here's one event among many: Lonesome Dan Kase & Crush Collision Trio, Hi Fi, James Apollo Trio, Levitt8, Homeless Moses 12 P.M. ArtaMotive ALL-AGES $0
PICK Rhymesayers Presents: "CHAMPION" EP RELEASE PARTY w/ Brother Ali, One Man Army, Psalm One, DJ Nikoless 5:00 P.M. All-ages & 9:00 P.M. 21+ 7th Street Entry/$8.00 Adv/$10.00 Door
Flaming Film Festival Party with All the Pretty Horses at their studio.
Southern Culture on the Skids, the Paybacks. $10/$12. 8:00 p.m. FIRST AVENUE 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Heart & Soul Sundays featuring the Sounds of Blackness. $??? 9:00 p.m., ESCAPE ULTRA LOUNGE, 600 Hennepin Ave, Mpls., 612.333.8855
The Honeydogs, The Hang Ups, Faux Jean Pizza Lucé (Duluth)
Paul Bollenbach With Chris McNulty. $10. 9:00 pm Fri-Sat; 8:00 pm Sun. May 14-16, 2004
Jack Norton, Acadia Cafe
MONDAY, MAY 17
The Cardigans play the Fine Line Monday (photo by Jonas)
PICK THE CARDIGANS. Led by the iciest of pop Mona Lisas, the Cardigans are a great live band whose virtuoso blend of genres (cocktail metal anyone?) makes every show an event, with or without their recent five-year absence from our shores. Still, fans of the Swedish band's early days will be disappointed by a forthcoming fifth studio album, Long Gone Before Daylight (Koch), which recasts Nina Persson's "Lovefool"-era elusiveness against a soft-rock soundscape so inoffensive, it makes Sheryl Crow sound like Yoko Ono. With Johnathan Rice. 18+. $15. 8:00 p.m. Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.338.8100.
PICK "2004 Ann Arbor Film Festival Tour." This free City Club (Grumpy's Downtown) screening of short films from the Ann Arbor film festival is national in scope, with four must-see masterpieces among them: Diane Cheklich�s Late sets amazing found audio of an evangelical radio call-in show against lonely neon "vacancy" and lotto signs in Anytown, late-night America (presumably Cheklich�s own Royal Oak, Michigan). As the female minister speaks in tongues (dispensing such advice as, "See, everybody�s married, God didn�t put them together. Sometimes people went and got their husband or wife and just married themselves, and God didn�t have nothing to do with it."), the camera spots, but doesn�t linger on, signs such as, "If you�re in pain, come right in." It�s a hilarious, moving juxtaposition that shows how simple the avant-garde can be. Just as effective is Cheryl Park�s experimental documentary Pilots Are Baddass, a grainy character study of an Asian man from L.A. who says he joined the Air Force to help his libido--another case of finding the right subject. Lori Hiris�s The Invisible Hand is an animated chalk drawing about the Enron scandal that could have benefitted from a more straightforward, Schoolhouse Rock approach, but it�s fascinating nonetheless. And the similarly dreamy polemic Not Too Much Remember, by Tony Gault, turns vintage classroom films (endlessly entertaining sources of raw footage) into a meditation on child abuse and CIA mind control--not bad for 11 minutes.
FREEDOM FROM PRESENTS: YELLOW SWANS, Clip'd Beaks, V9R9D, Red Market. From the press release: Yellow Swans are a one year old duo from Portland, Oregon. They feature, under various alias', Peter Swanson (formerly of Mur*der, Silentist) and Gabriel Mindel (formerly of Boxleitner). Between them they play a mixture of improv, noise, hardcore, and IDM. Their music draws few clear comparisons, touching on the early industrial howl of Throbbing Gristle, the science fiction beats of Timbaaland, and the societal critique of Crass records. Wolf Eyes, Crack:WAR, and Metalux are among the few peers who are exploring similar territories. On tour with legendary post-punk Sharon Cheslow!!! (who can't make this show unfortunately) This is their first US tour after which they are relocating to San Francisco. Their debut CD is due out on Narnack Records, home of Coachwhips. CLIP'D BEAKS MPLS' own fire truck apostles lay down the low end ass grabbing serial jam. Like a tornado in torn tank top. V9R9D Two-piece action knockers in the realm of the bass/drum Lightning Bolt progressive composition suits. Sure to make you stand up and stare hard. Everyone's been talking. RED MARKET Howling guts young boys and ride till the morning or the herd dies. Free pork chops for attention. A sort of Wrong for the new ages. BIG V'S, ST-PAUL, 9:30 PM. More info.
Clutch. Don't know much about the band, to tell the truth, except they seem like a cool metal group that's no longer corporate-backed, hence this under-the-radar show. They have a hardcore fanbase, though (More here, and here.) 8 P.M. First Avenue $5/15
Doin' It To Death... with Bingo. With DJs Marvel, Disco Thew, Natural Ice. $3. 9:00 p.m., LE CIRQUE ROUGE DE GUS, 327 2nd Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.2991
Hip Hop Night at The Loring Pasta Bar, MC BATTLE NIGHT 9:00 P.M. 18+ Loring Pasta Bar $5.00 18+/$7.00 21+
Glen Phillips (the guy from Toad the Wet Sprocket). 18+. $12/$14. 7:00 p.m. Ascot Room
Willie Murphy, VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
TUESDAY, MAY 18
PICK Bob Mould (Q & A session + solo acoustic performance!) Twenty years after Husker Du's Zen Arcade, and 12 years after Sugar's Copper Blue, singer-guitarist Bob Mould is busy carving, rather than hacking, his way through the contemporary pop consciousness. The former St. Paul resident makes routine flights from NYC to D.C. for the modest purpose of sharing DJ sets with kindred rocker-turned-electronicat Rich Morel (a studio collaborator). Mould also keeps an online blog (modulate.blogspot.com) where he dispenses low-carb diet advice and opinions on same-sex unions. So why get excited over this rare local acoustic set (preceded by a rare Q&A)? Because Mould still shows an unparalleled gift for melodic catharsis, as proven on 2002's widely overlooked indie comeback Modulate (Granary Music). And he still sings like he's vomiting his heart. 21+. $10/$12 at the door. 6:00 p.m. First Avenue, 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775.
PICK Roy Hargrove Quintet. $30-$35. 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612.332.1010
PICK Twista. 18+. $30. 9:00 p.m., THE QUEST, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
Playboy 50th Anniversary Club Tour. $65/$146 VIP. 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., VIP reception at 7:00 p.m.
Blink-182, Cypress Hill With Taking Back Sunday. $31.50. 7:00 p.m. Target Center, 600 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.673.0900.
PATTY GRIFFIN (more here) With Craig Ross. $27. 7:30 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E Exchange St, St. Paul, 651.290.1221.
Joy Division tribute show: Copterboy, Gone Out Gone, Reception 9 P.M. 7th St Entry $5
Poets Grove, w/ Desdamona, Kevin Washington 9:00 P.M. 18+ The Blue Nile, FREE!
Brides of Destruction. With Amen, Living Things. 18+. $12/$14. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
PICK Dylan Days in Hibbing May 19-May 22
PICK Flaming Film Festival Wrap Party. With the Keepaways, the Accident, Grace Darling, screening of the short film 'Bending the Equator.' $6. 9:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Ron Sexsmith. With David Mead. 18+. $12. 7:00 p.m., THE QUEST ASCOT ROOM, 110 5th St N, Mpls., 612.338.3383
Leon Redbone. $39. 7:30 p.m., ROSSI'S BLUE STAR ROOM, Metro Building (9th and Marquette), Mpls., 612.312.2828
Roy Hargrove Quintet. $30-$35. 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB & RESTAURANT, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612.332.1010 (ALSO THURSDAY)
Outkast Inklusion at 10P.M. Triple Rock Social Club 21+
The Cans, Matt Kassanchuck Band, Radio On at 9P.M. Star Central 18+ $3/0
Screaming Monkey Boner, Christopher Jewell. $5. 8:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave. N, Mpls., 612.332.1775
Lurcat Amped: Walker Kong. $3. 9:00 p.m., BAR LURCAT, 1624 Harmon Pl, Mpls., 612.486.5900
God Johnson, Levitt8. 18+. $4. 8:30 p.m., CABOOZE, 917 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.338.6425
The Bridge Club, Three for the Gallows, Swashbuckler, UPTOWN BAR & CAFE, 3018 Hennepin Ave. S, Mpls., 612.823.4719
From Ashes Rise, Damage Deposit, Modern Life is War. All-ages. $6. 6:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave. S, Mpls., 612.333.7399
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 11:56 AM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 11:45 AM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 10:12 AM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 10:12 AM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 10:01 AM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2004 5:34 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2004 5:25 PM
That song, along with the jangling "Back on the Chain Gang," marked the band�s comeback. But they were also my introduction to Punk and New Wave. Growing up in small town Indiana, I�d felt fortunate when local rock radio would occasionally sneak a Rush mini-epic into the sacrosanct Seger/BTO/Journey rotation. But suddenly I needed to hear something more urgent. Something that could keep pace with my worked-up hormones. And with those first false start kicks of Martin Chambers�s drums, I found it in "Middle of the Road." The Pretenders were instantly my new Favorite Band.
Those slashing Fenders and Hynde�s jaded snarl ignited pubescent lusts I�d mistakenly thought could only be stirred by stolen glances at Playboy centerfolds. Knowing Hynde played one of the guitars was almost more than my erotic imagination could fathom. After I picked up Learning to Crawl, "Time the Avenger" and "My City Was Gone" also won my affections.
That the latter has become bumper music for Rush Limbaugh saddens me. But I�m used to it by now. Chrissie Hynde has broken my heart plenty of times in the two decades since "Middle of the Road" first rattled my head. First she left Ray Davies of the Kinks for Jim Kerr of Simple Minds. Then mediocre album followed mediocre album. And she discarded more bandmates than Mike Love. Over the years, the band's name has come to fit it all too well.
At least I�ll always have Learning to Crawl and the Pretender�s first two albums. That�s more than I�ve been left with after most failed relationships.
(Brian Beatty's reviews appear in the latest editions of The All Music Guide to Jazz and The All Music Guide to Blues on Backbeat Books. He's also written for Blues Revue, Guitar World Acoustic, Minnesota Monthly, The Rake, and Seventeen.)
Taken yesterday in Minneapolis by Karl Pearson-Cater
I told Toasty that the clouds looked like all butts and tits, round and beautiful.
Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2004 12:50 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2004 12:46 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 7, 2004 3:59 PM

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 7, 2004 3:39 PM
The Replacements Were Funny, Heavy, and Better Musicians Than You Think
Text by G.R. Anderson Jr., photos by Daniel Corrigan
For all the legend of ramshackle shows fueled by booze and snot, the lip service paid to Paul Westerberg's clever, poignant lyrics, and the bawdy pathos that informs the Mythology of the Replacements, one fine detail is almost always overlooked: The 'Mats were a tight little unit.
And by tight, in a sort of musician�s parlance, I mean the guys could play, that they were--and still are--underrated in that regard. But then again, this is how it is with most great bands: Folks are aware of, say, Dave Grohl�s ferocious drumming, or McCartney�s lock-groove melodic bass playing, or even Malcolm Young�s bump-n-grind rhythm guitar work, but it�s hardly the first thing they think about when listing the attributes of the bands those fellows happen to have played in. (At the same time, nobody talks much about how a Steve Vai record saved lives. And if you do, get the fuck away from me, you wank.)
But trust me, the Replacements--Stinson, Stinson, Mars, Westerberg--could play. Any other talk is simply a disingenuous DIY ruse.
This was never more evident than on Let It Be, a record that carries so much life affirmation and emotional heft for me that I can barely write about it in anything other than technical terms. It�s hard to imagine drunken punk heroes sitting in a concrete room, plunking away at tunes, hammering away on mundane music-class things like tempo, harmony and arrangement. But, sports fans, I�m afraid that�s exactly what the band did before entering Blackberry Way Studios to record the best record to ever emerge from the indie underground.
Case in point: "Seen Your Video." A quasi-surf instrumental, for criminy, that says as much as any wordplay Westerberg came up with (and that�s quite a lot, thank you very much). The tune seems like a toss-off, an in-joke designed to lend an air of devil-may-care attitude. The song is anything but, however, and Bob and Paul�s two-guitar give-and-play not only constitute a deft piece of writing, but offer anything as great as Mick Taylor brought to Sticky Fingers. Back-cover liner notes hint at the seriousness of it all, for anyone keeping score at home: "Paul on 12-string electric, piano." Actually, on the sleeve it says "acoustic" rather than "electric," which may be an attempt to dismiss the so-uncool notion of musicianship. But I�m not fooled: It�s a masterpiece.
The rest of the album rumbles and soars with the kind of intensity and confidence that results from men at work. I�ve been playing in bands playing Replacements songs for damn near 20 years, and I can honestly say that in all the times I�ve been a part of covering "I Will Dare"--probably no less that 300, but who�s counting--all the various combos I�ve played with have really nailed the song maybe five times. That song is a bitch. The rest of Let It Be, wisely, I�ve rarely ever tried.
Which is pretty frustrating, I must confess. Who wouldn�t love to take a serious stab at "Favorite Thing," or "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out," or even "Unsatisfied"? Imagine the catharsis. But no dice, I�m afraid; these songs are not made to be broken. ("Black Diamond," it should be said, is eminently coverable, but only if you settle for doing Kiss�s original version. Kiss couldn�t play at all, and the �Mats absolutely destroy Simmons, Stanley, Frehley and Criss.)
And the guitar work on "Sixteen Blue" or "Answering Machine"? Good luck, sucker.
Warning: Analysis of life affirmation and emotional heft I previously declared I couldn�t write about.
None of this was apparent to me when I first heard Let It Be 19 years ago. (I was a little late to the swingin� party.) My friend Jean, who, alas, was decidedly not my girlfriend at the time (Fifteen Blue, anyone?), was also in the throes of a mad crush on Tommy in early 1985, which I found pretty damn annoying, frankly. For this, I dismissed the record every time I hung out in her bedroom and she put it on.
It sounded tinny and grating, and what the hell was with the half-assed ending of "Androgynous," anyway? Tommy this, Tommy that, Jean would say, blah, blah blah. So, in a fit of jealousy, I swiped the cassette out of her boom box one day, hoping to never hear--or never let her hear--the record again. At least that�s how I remember it. But a funny thing happened on the way to my adolescent envy: With Jean being frustratingly unavailable, I fell in love with the 'Mats.
And for good reason. For starters, Let It Be was full of adolescent humor. "Gary�s Got a Boner" is funny enough for the Beavis and Butthead set, and it rips off the Nuge�s "Cat Scratch Fever" to boot. (A songwriting credit was given to the Motor City Madman in later pressings of the record.) But the line, "Gary�s got a soft-on/But not for long, long, long" will likely crack me up well into middle age, when I�ll sadly be popping Levitra and relating all too well.
Then there�s "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out," a scathing indictment of the medical profession that rings even more true in today�s mad, mad world of healthcare. ("Let�s get this over with/I tee off in an hour/I didn�t wash up/Yesterday I took a shower � My Cadillac�s running!") And songs don�t come more wry than "Androgynous," which probably wouldn�t pass the sniff test with today�s PC police.
So the record's fuckin' funny. But it�s no joke; it�s also really heavy, man. The pedal steel alone on "Sixteen Blue" is enough for make a dead man weep, and any machismo underpinnings found elsewhere on Let It Be (see "Favorite Thing," for example) are undercut by the most honest confession of sexual confusion ever plied to wax: "Brag about things/You don�t understand/A girl and a woman/a boy and a man." Yeah, meathead, Westerberg�s talkin� to you. And when Paul intones that "Your age is the hardest age/Everything drags and drags/It ain�t funny/You ain�t laughin� are you?" he's hardly speaking to only those among us waiting for our driver�s licenses.
The same could be said for "Unsatisfied," with its self-explanatory title and self-examining lyrics that could provide the excuse for a mid-life crisis at any age. In other words, Let It Be is probably the most timeless record to come out of the 1980s, the most dated of any decade. That is no small triumph, my friend.
And there�s no resolution by the end of the record, no absolutes or blacks and whites to jibe succinctly with the era of Just Say No. Westerberg has accrued a nice stable of tearjerkers--"Within Your Reach," "Here Comes a Regular," and "If Only You Were Lonely" come to mind--but the not-at-all concealed anger in "Answering Machine," the album�s final scene, makes it the most resonant of all of Paul�s lonely hearts club songs. Westerberg�s alone again, and he�s pissed that you�re not around. He even hints that he misses you, and that�s somehow not enough to get you to pick up the fucking phone.
The song ends with a loop of that friendly phone lady offering, "If you need help, if you�d like to make a call �" that�s slowed down and distorted. It�s chilling. And it�s also comforting, beyond any rationale. To this day, it rings true, and at least once a month, I find myself alone in the dark, listening to "Answering Machine." I can�t say that about any other song that came out in the remarkable year of music that was 1984.
1984: (in Mondale Muppet voice) Where's the Beef?
Okay, sorry to leave you hanging for a few days. For various reasons I won't bore you with, I Hate 1984 will be extended again, into next week, so keep the letters coming. We'll go out with a bang, kids, I promise. Oh, and here's another "Eight Days a Week," abbreviated for lateness, with the local events I'm interested in (for more, go to the Twin Cities Alternative Shows List, D.U. Nation, and the City Pages A-list):
Seven Days a Week: May 6-May 12
Goings On About Minneapolis/St. Paul
PICK HEY, HERE'S A PREVIEW OF CINCO DE MAYO EVENTS on Friday and Saturday.
PICK And here's the Homegrown Music Festival in Duluth, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. (Here are my highlights from last year's festival).
THURSDAY, MAY 6
PICK Homegrown Festival in Duluth (here's a complete schedule)
Okkervil River, Shearwater 10 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club 21+ $6.50
Signal & Report, Blitzen 9 P.M. 7th St Entry $5
RITMO CALIENTE, salsa night (DRINK SPECIALS UNTIL 11:00 p.m.) 9 p.m. / 21+ID $3 (9pm - 11pm) $6 (11pm - 2am) Free with College ID Birthdays & Members Free +3
All Mighty Senators 8:30 P.M. Cabooze 18+
Rocky Vololato, Roy 5 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club ALL-AGES $6
Kataklysm, Misery Index, Cannie, Through the Discipline, Every Hour Wounds, Necromis, Demonicon 9 P.M. Station 4 (formerly 4th St. Station) 18+ $10
Midtown, Your Enemies' Friends, Armor for Sleep 8 P.M. The Quest - Ascot Room 18+
Bill Geezy & the Promise Breakers (CD release) 730 P.M. Ginkgo Coffeehouse ALL-AGES $8
FRIDAY, MAY 7
PICK HOMEGROWN FESTIVAL IN DULUTH. (Here's a complete schedule.)
PICK The Films of Sarah Jacobson (whom I wrote about here) at 5:00 p.m. Here's a link with all the info.
PICK Cinco de Mayo Lowrider Car Competition and Festival in St. Paul, with Los Nativos hosting. Here's a complete schedule (festival continues Saturday).
PICK Heaven & Earth Ent. w/ B-boy Reason and SPSTYLE.com presents... Unity Battle IV: 3 on 3 B-Boy/B-Girl Dance Competition DAY ONE, 7:00 PM All Ages, Preliminary Rounds + DJ D.Mil, special guests, Hamline University (Hutton Arena), 1536 Hewitt Ave , St. Paul, MN CONTINUES SATURDAY.
PICK Swiss Army CD-Release party, Signal to Trust, Start Destruct, Kid Vengeance.
PICK Supersuckers 8:00 PM $15, 400 Bar, 612.332.2903
Oxes, V9R9D 10 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club 21+ $7
Juliapalooza Festival (click for details) with Hydrophonics, Ded Walleye, Dialogue Elevators, Roger, Inebriation, 7th St Coin, Bad Mojo, 3 Pill Morning, The Locals, Search for George, North to Emerson, Common Ling, Hooch, more 2:00 P.M. Powder Ridge Ski Resort (Kimball, MN) $30/40
Try-D, Knonam, Out of Bounds, Sonra w/ L.O.M Crew, DJ Anton, Jimmy2Times, DJ NaSp, Clark Bent, 9:00 PM, 18+, Red Sea $7.00
Murge 6:00 P.M. ArtaMotive ALL-AGES $0
Bob Schneider, Charlie Mars, Endochine 9:00 P.M. Cabooze $15/18
Big Fuckin Skull, A Bomb Nation, No Compliance 5 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club ALL-AGES $6
Trailer Trash 9 P.M. Lee's Liquor Lounge $6
Dan Israel & the Cultivators, The Humbugs 9 P.M. Terminal Bar
2024 Records label showcase: Fitzgerald, The Plastic Constellations, Valet, Romantica, Olympic Hopefuls 9 P.M. Turf Club
Staija, On a Pale Horse, Section Hate 9 P.M. Urban Wildlife Club 18+ $5/8
SATURDAY, MAY 8

PICK Willie Walker & the Butanes (CD release) 8:30 P.M. Music at 9:30 p.m. Cabooze, Fresh off the rerelease of many of his revered old Memphis soul recordings on Goldwax (the import The Goldwax Story Vol. 2 is available at the Electric Fetus last I heard), Willie Walker has a new album, Right Where I Belong, that sounds like just about the best local old-school soul record I've ever heard--I hope to review it more fully in the paper. In the meantime, here's Jim Walsh's A-List, and here's Chris Riemenschneider's excellent profile in today's Star Tribune (along with some audio samples). You can easily hit this concert after even the Peaches show or Cinco de Mayo, and before any number of other shows, so I recommend you do. Here's more about Walker.
PICK HOMEGROWN FESTIVAL IN DULUTH. (Here's a complete schedule.)
PICK Heads and Bodies will be playing with Fourth Rotor (Chicago) and the April Epidemic at a house in Southeast Mpls. email H&B for the address at headsandbodies@yahoo.com
PICK Heaven & Earth Ent. w/ B-boy Reason and SPSTYLE.com presents... Unity Battle IV: 3 on 3 B-Boy/B-Girl Dance Competition DAY TWO: Finals + Manifesters, DJ Dudley D, RDM, Dancin' Dave, 5:00 PM, All Ages, The Quest, $10.00
PICK Peaches, All the Pretty Horses, followed by special cameo appearance by Telephone 6 P.M. First Avenue $10/12 21+ID members free + 1
LOS NATIVOS next door in the 7th St. Entry
PICK Coach Said Not To (CD release), Lady Hard On 9 P.M. 400 Bar $6 TURF CLUB 1601 University Ave W (at Snelling Ave), St. Paul, 651.647.0486
Juliapalooza DAY TWO: Atmosphere, Quadrophonic, Unknown Prophets, Hydrophonics, Levitt8, Common Living, Crazy Betty, Sue Generis, The Locals, Flavor, LG, Leroy Smokes, Deuces Wild, 7th St Coin, more @ 1 P.M. Powder Ridge Ski Resort (Kimball, MN) $30/40.
PLYMOUTH ROCKS 2004 CONCERT Featuring the Hundred Flowers; Smilin' Liar. All ages. $10. 8:00 pm. For tickets call 952.352.9231. Proceeds benefit public music education. Wayzata Central Middle School, 305 N Vicksburg Ln, Plymouth.
Revolver Modele CD release, Thunder in the Valley, the Idle Hands. $5. 9:00 p.m.at the Turf Club.
Dieselboy, the Quest
Barfly, Tim Casey and the Martyrs, Moonmaan, Max Cough
Curtiss A & His Jerks of Fate, Dahlias featuring Gini Dodds, Mayslack's, 1428 4th St. NE, Minneapolis; 612.789.9862 www.mayslacks.com
The Voltz, Red Eyed Legends 9 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club
Roxxy Hall 9 P.M. Lee's Liquor Lounge $6
The Rhubarb Show - cabaret hosted by Garrison Keillor : Mike Gunther, Marlee MacLeod 9 P.M. Fitzgerald Theater ALL-AGES
Benefit for Life's Missing Link - Women Educating Women: Eric Addington, Welmore Mile, John Hermanson, Justin Roth 6 P.M. The Fallout Art Center ALL-AGES
Menstrual Tramps 9 P.M. Urban Wildlife Club $5
Renee Austin, Bunker's
Gawker Slowdown (CD release), Dan Israel, Diedrich Weiss, James Coxxman 8 P.M. Acadia Theater & Cafe ALL-AGES $5
Silent Rain, Fading Through, Donkey's Jawbone 8 P.M. Segue Café ALL-AGES $0
SUNDAY, MAY 9
PICK Sun City Girls, Neung Phak 9 P.M. Triple Rock Social Club $7
In the Garage: The Butchies, Kimya. All ages. $7. 6:00 p.m.DINKYTOWNER CAFÉ 412 1/2 14th Ave SE, Mpls., 612.362.0427
Allister 5 P.M. The Quest - Ascot Room ALL-AGES
American, D.T.S., Messing With Texas 9 P.M. Urban Wildlife Club $3
Engelbert Humperdinck 7 P.M. Mystic Lake Casino 18+
MONDAY, MAY 10
PICK Angie Stone, Van Hunt, Lyfe. FINE LINE MUSIC CAFÉ 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100 $25/$27. 8:00 p.m. Angie Stone, Van Hunt, THC 9 P.M. Fine Line $25/27
Days and Nights in the Skeleton Crew, The Stunning 6 P.M. Metric House ALL-AGES
TUESDAY, MAY 11
PICK Ex-Girl, Skeleton Key, Pilot to Gunner 9 P.M. 7th St Entry $8/10
PICK The Offspring, Melissa Auf der Maur, The Start 5 P.M. First Avenue ALL-AGES $27.50
Great High Mountain Tour: Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ralph Stanley, The Whites, The Cox Family, Norman & Nancy Blake, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Tim Eriksen, more 730 P.M. Northrop Auditorium
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
PICK THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, DETROIT COBRAS, and SPLITLIP RAYFIELD, $10 adv, $15 dr, 6 pm 21+ID members free + 1
The Boss Martians, Triple Rock Social Club
Joe Firstman. $11. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100
Bachelor Boy Entertainment and Colossus Enterprises present: ESCAPE WEDNESDAYS, with B96 Beat Masters, 9:00 P.M. 21+ Escape Ultra Lounge $5.00
K102's Irresistible Ladies Night. Country. Ladies free. 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 am, RODEO, 7359 W Point Douglas Rd, Cottage Grove, 651.458.0636
The Rockin' Pinecombs. With Dan Ramsey, Steve Kaub. 6:30 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259
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Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 6, 2004 4:20 PM

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