May 2004

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Madvillainc111

Filed under: Imported

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

 

doompage111

Filed under: Imported

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

 

MF Doom111

Filed under: Imported

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 7:16 PM

 

*SEE "THE MASK" 5/23/01!!!!

Filed under: Imported

*SEE "THE MASK" 5/23/01!!!!

MADVILLAIN SITE!!!

MF DOOM SITE!!!!  RELATED CITY PAGES ARTICLE: "IN THE COMPANY OF FLOW"!!!!!   LIFESUCKSDIE!!!!!!    (If you're in Minneapolis, buy the album at the Fifth Element, the Electric Fetus, or Cheapo.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 12:25 PM

 

Angel Gone

Filed under: Imported

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

 

Madvillain

Filed under: Imported

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2004 12:19 PM

 

I Hate 1984: Bob, You

Filed under: Imported

I Hate 1984: Bob, You Knew It Was Coming

   Greg Norton, Grant Hart, and Bob Mould in 1983

By Peter S. Scholtes

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

 

Duhuskers

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

 

Huskerposter11

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

 

Husker trio

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

 

Eightmileshigh11

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

 

Greg

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

 

Zen Arcade

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

 

Mould11

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

 

Mould

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Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 17, 2004 3:39 PM

 

I Hate 1984: Smell My 'Spinal Tap'

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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

 

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Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2004 12:15 PM

 

Eight Days a Week: May 12-19

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    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

THURSDAY, MAY 13

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., 612.338.6425  PICK Art-A-Whirl festival. Taking over Northeast Minneapolis the way Mardi Gras takes over New Orleans, this huge three-day festival leaves thousands feeling as if they could wander in any direction and discover something wonderful. Art, live music, aerial performances, fashions, palm reading, kid's activities--they're all spread out among scores of participating studios, bars, backyards, and galleries. The fest has grown into a music event to beat the felled Cedarfests and Lyn-Lakes of old: Among the free musical highlights are the lineups at ArtaMotive (208 13th Ave.NE, G3), Old Science Restoration (1317 Marshall St. NE) and Saturday's After-Whirl celebration, with Walker Kong, Work of Saws, and more, at the Spring Street Bar and Grill (355 Monroe St. NE, 612.627.9123). Free. 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday; noon to 8:00 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 612.788.1679 or visit www.art-a-whirl.org. Northeast Minneapolis. ALSO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY Here's Friday's Artomotive lineup: 6:00 pm - Friendly No One, 7:00 pm -  Citizens Banned, 8:00 pm -  Monolo, 9:00 pm - Danny Commando y Los Guapos, 10:00 pm -  The Mighty Mofos http://www.artamotive.com And here's the Spot Art Gallery lineup, 1828 Marshall Street, NE Minneapolis. 7:00pm-11:00pm Live music by: Crush Collision Trio featuring Lonesome Dan Kase, Bill Patten, John Wills  "GREENDALE" (film opens at Oak Street Cinema and screens nightly at 7:30, 9:30; also Fri. & Sat. at 11:30 p.m., and Sat and Sun at 5:30 p.m.) It�s no small praise to say that the 2003 soundtrack to Neil Young�s grainy, feature-length homemade rock video is his best album since 1989�s Freedom: To my ears, his anthemic male-female chorus on "Be the Rain" is the most affecting environmentalist prayer ever composed. What�s more impressive, though, is that this music makes the ill-conceived film it accompanies bearable--a good excuse, even, to hear Young�s loosely woven, stream-of-consciousness rock opera in real time, with a crowd of strangers in the dark. With an ensemble cast lip-synch Young�s lyrics, and no other dialogue, Greendale harkens back to nothing so much as the grunge godfather�s early-MTV days before "This Note�s For You" (remember 1983�s "Wonderin�"?). This is the kind of charmingly literal music video excercise where if Young sings, "Meanwhile Granny�s got her bifocals on/the sunshine in her eyes," you can bet the camera will show us Granny with her bifocals on, the sun shining in her eyes. Slightly less painless is the awkwardly spectacle of actors pausing before each line of Young�s lyrics, not seemingly knowing what to do. But that would be forgiveable if Young, who shot the film, and Bernard Shakey, who directed, had any knack for creating a compelling internal reality within their small-town drama about a family torn apart by murder and the media spotlight. Mostly, the filmmakers preach for the bleachers. Where Young�s songs merely ask listeners to believe, for instance, that a post-Patriot Act FBI agent would shoot a cat in a war protester�s house during a search--out of anger at getting scratched--the film asks us to believe that a reporter would continue pointing a mic in an old man�s face once he collapses. That�s the kind of screaming satiric detail that even Golden Earing or Greg Kihn would have rejected as too obvious.  1966 Tribute. Featuring the Beatifics, Raven, Ol' Yeller, the Autumn Leaves. Free, HEXAGON BAR, 2600 27th Ave S, Minneapolis, 612.722.3454  HELIOTROPE MUSIC EXHIBITION Featuring over 20 underground, underexposed bands. $7/$12 for both days. 8:00 p.m. Fri, 1:00 p.m. Sat. Franklin Art Works, 1021 E Franklin Ave, Mpls., 612.872.7494.  MINNESOTA RESOPHONIC GUITAR FESTIVAL BLUES BASH Featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart, Pat Donohue, Mike Dowling, Joe Price, Larry Beam, Dakota Dave Hull, Matthew Fox, Dan Phelps, Baby Grant Johnson. $18/$20. 8:00 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.338.2674.  Paul Bollenbach With Chris McNulty. $10. 9:00 pm Fri-Sat; 8:00 pm Sun. May 14-16, 2004  Discotek and B'Soul. With hosts DJ Kee, Pradeepa, Chamindika, bellydancers, magicians, drag shows, music. $8, THE LOUNGE, 411 2nd Ave N, Mpls., 612.333.8800  May Mahem w/ DJ Brother Jules 8:00 P.M. 21+ Bon's Buffet 1652 Hwy 52 N $5.00  Pete Schmidt, Bryant Lake Bowl  Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Famous Dave's  Jason Mraz, Orpheum Theatre  Devil Inside, the Blinding Light, Cabal. $7. 10:00 p.m., TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB, 629 Cedar Ave S, Mpls., 612.333.7399  Sweet J.A.P., Zodiac Killers, the Fuck Yeahs. $6. 8:00 p.m., 7TH ST. ENTRY, 701 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.332.1775  The Honeydogs, the Hang Ups, Jessy Greene, the Vestals. $10. 8:00 p.m., FINE LINE MUSIC CAFE, 318 1st Ave N, Mpls., 612.338.8100  The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs. 7:00 p.m., VIKING BAR, 1829 Riverside Ave, Mpls., 612.332.4259  Jo-Roke Ka-Roke. Karaoke with DJ Josette Winterfeldt. Free. 9:00 p.m., TUBBY'S BAR AND GRILL, 2500 4th St NE, Mpls., 612.789.7301  Stigma, Facecage, Identical @ 9 P.M. Urban Wildlife Club 18+ $5/8  Alexisonfire, Ascot Room, Quest Club  Emery, Silverstein, The Higher, Ascot Room, Quest Club

SATURDAY, 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.