December 2005

Top 10 Albums of 2005

From my Pazz & Jop Poll ballot:

1. I Self Devine - Self Destruction - Rhymesayers (30)
2. Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having - Rhymesayers
(30)
3. United State of Electronica - United State of Electronica - Sonic Boom
(5)
4. Hold Steady - Separation Sunday - Frenchkiss (5)
5. Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor - Warner Bros. (5)
6. Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree - 4AD (5)
7. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan - V2 (5)
8. Low - The Great Destroyer - Sub Pop (5)
9. Mint Condition - Livin' the Luxury Brown - Image/Cagedbird (5)
10. Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Boogaloo - World Music Network (5)

Top 10 Singles of 2005:

1. Legendary K.O. - George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People - mp3
2. Atmosphere - Pour Me Another - Rhymesayers
3. Low - Monkey - Sub Pop
4. I Self Devine - Ice Cold - Rhymesayers
5. White Stripes - Blue Orchid - V2
6. Bob Mould - (Shine Your) Light Love Hope - Yep Roc
7. Kill the Vultures - The Vultures - JIB
8. Ying Yang Twins - Wait (The Whisper Song) - TVT
9. Mint Condition - Luxury Brown - Image/Cagedbird
10. Public Enemy - Hell No We Ain't All Right! - Slam Jamz

On my Pazz & Jop ballot, I shuffled the order of the singles and replaced Bob Mould with: Trama - Praise God - K.E.P.

Ten more albums I loved:

Mary J. Blige, The Breakthrough (Geffen Records)
Lyrics Born, Same !@#$ Different Day (Quannum Projects)
Charlie Parr, Rooster (Little Judges)
Various Artists, One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost & Found (Rhino)
Various Artists, Run the Road (Vice/679)
Danger Doom, The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
Talking Heads, Talking Heads Brick (Rhino)
M.I.A., Arular (XL)
The Go-Betweens, Oceans Apart (Yep Roc)
Birthday Suits, Cherry Blue (Nice & Neat)

Ten more songs I loved:

U2, "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (Interscope)
Madonna, "Hung Up" (Warner Bros.)
Soviettes, "Multiply and Divide" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl" (Interscope)
Geto Boys, "I Tried" (Asylum/Rap-a-Lot)
Bruce Springsteen, "The Hitter" (Sony)
Danger Doom, "Sofa King" (Epitaph)
Flii Stylz, "Rize" (Forster Brothers Ent.)
John Doe, "Mama Don't" (Yep Rock)
Jill Scott, "Cross My Mind" (Sony)

Should have voted for this album and this song last year: U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope Records); J-Kwon, "Tipsy" (Arista)

Should have voted for this album in 2003: King Sunny Ade, Best of the Classic Years (Shanachie)

Should have voted for this song in 2002: Lil' Flip, "The Way We Ball" (Sony)

I obviously put more time into my local albums and singles list below, but nobody will hate me for owning any of the above, I promise. Well, maybe the Ying Yang Twins.

More year-end lists: My friends make mix CDs in the Seattle Weekly. The Star Tribune critics poll. KMOJ's Top 89 Songs of 2005. Radio K's Top 77 albums of 2005. Radio K's specialty-show Top 7 lists for 2005. My local lists and links. Riemenschneider's Year in Music. City Pages' Year in Music and Artists of the Year, in case you missed them. Rex's exhaustive list of year-end lists.

Recently posted elsewhere: My ballot and comment in the Star Tribune critics poll (online now), Artist of the Year: Ant (City Pages today), Nothing says Xmas like revived local art punks (Flamin' Oh's reunion), In Da Club: First Avenue 35th Anniversary Party (City Pages 12/21/05), Contact High: He's collaborated with Lil Jon. He's opened for Young Jeezy. He's worked at the same record store for eight years. For North Side rapper Contac, hip-hop dreams are just around the corner. (City Pages 12/21/05), Local Music Yearbook 2005 (I've gotten good feedback on this), review of Madonna's pretty great new album (and I'm no worshipper), Jordis leaves Liars Club (she's not playing New Year's), Jordis blogs (looking forward to the album, no really), Tina Schlieske: "internet whore" (always better live than on CD), Clear Channel Entertainment quitting Twin Cities? (they've since completely gone), Rex leaves. Want to take over MNSpeak? (this is sad), Get Real to Go (now a handy guide for video rentals), Spin and Vibe for sale (still waiting to see what this means).

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 28, 2005 5:32 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Holidays from the offices of City Pages

Santa's Little Misfits singing Christmas carols at an office party last week, with publisher Mark Bartel on guitar and vocals. This was the day we found out Dylan Hicks was staying. (More cheer here and here.) Have a great weekend, everyone.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 23, 2005 9:25 AM | Comments (2)

First Avenue 35th Anniversary Party

Above: P.O.S. and Craig Finn. Here's a brief review of last Wednesday's show.

For more photos and memories, check out: How Was the Show, this full review by Andrea Myers on the same site, her flickr set, her Jayhawks review, David de Young's flickr set, Steven Cohen's photos, Chris Warren's flickr set, Riemenschneider's review, Raihala's review, Tony Nelson's photos, links at First Avenue's DEMO site, this thread at SOMB, and this thread at TCPunk.

Above: The Mighty Mofos with Cindy Lawson; Curtiss A; Allison with a drum stick during the set; Doomtree's Dessa, P.O.S., and Kai (with Jessy Greene behind hand sign). Below: Rifle Sport's Chris Johnson (with Gerard behind him); Mike Watt and Kraig Johnson; Craig Finn and Ed Ackerson; Grant Hart and Mike Watt; Craig Finn and Ed Ackerson; Rita of the Koalas.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 21, 2005 3:44 AM | Comments (1)

"I ain't garbage. I got something for y'all."

Contac photographed by Daniel Corrigan. Read the article here. More background here, here, and here. Read Kandis Knight's 2004 profile at DUNation.com.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 20, 2005 7:06 PM | Comments (0)

Top 10 Minnesota Albums of 2005

1. I Self Devine, Self Destruction (Rhymesayers)

2. Atmosphere, You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers/Navarre)

3. Low, The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)

4. Mint Condition, Livin' the Luxury Brown (Image/Cagedbird)

5. Charlie Parr, Rooster (Little Judges)

6. Stephanie Says, Sex, Socialism and the Seaside (Grimsey) (Nice MPR piece here.)

7. Birthday Suits, Cherry Blue (Nice & Neat Records)

8. Kill the Vultures, Kill the Vultures (JIB)

9. Irv Williams, Dedicated to You (Ding-Dong Music)

10. Halloween, Alaska, Too Tall to Hide (East Side Digital)

Top 20 Local Songs of 2005:

1. Low, "Monkey," from The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)

2. Atmosphere, "Pour Me Another," from You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers/Navarre)

3. I Self Devine, "Ice Cold," from Self Destruction (Rhymesayers)

4. Trama, "Praise God," from Tramagnum the Album (K.E.P.)

5. Kill the Vultures, "The Vultures," from Kill the Vultures (JIB)

6. Mint Condition, "Luxury Brown," from Livin' the Luxury Brown (Image/Cagedbird)

7. Soviettes, "Multiply and Divide," from LP III (Fat Wreck Chords)

8. Halloween, Alaska, "Drowned," from Too Tall to Hide (East Side Digital)

9. Medida, "People," from Yoni, Now That's What I Call Copyright Infringement! Volume One (self-released)

10. Desdamona, "I Don't Stop," from The Ledge (self-released)

11. Terry Eason, "Like Me More," from The Aching of the Household Fly (Gojohnnygo.com/www.jamrecordings.com)

12. Kanser, "Look Love," from Self Titled (Interlock)

13. Ernie Rhodes, "The Works (Get Movin')," from The Orbital Effect (Modern Day/Dialogue Elevaters)

14. Birthday Suits, "Twin Cities Bridge Is," from Cherry Blue (Nice & Neat Records)

15. Contac, "Set It Off," from Anutha All Nighta (Lazyeye Entertainment/ATM Recordings)

16. Boy Girl Boy Girl, "Freak Accident," from Sugar Skull Maker (Spinout)

17. Aphrill, "Schoolyard Bullies," from Various artists, Twin Town High Vol. 7, 2005-2006 (Pulse/Copycats)

18. Cecil Otter, "Mom Song," from False Hopes (Doomtree)

19. American Head Charge, "Loyalty," from The Feeding (DRT/Nitrus)

20. Sims, "Dreamsleep," from Lights Out Paris (Doomtree)

30-Plus More Local Albums Worth Hearing:

Soviettes, LP III (Fat Wreck Chords)

Trama, Tramagnum the Album (K.E.P.)

Vicious Vicious, Don't Look So Surprised (The Redemption Recording Co.)

Extreme Guitar Orchestra, Live! (self-released)

Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs, Last Album (self-released)

Electropolis, Electropolis (Innova Recordings)

Cheap Cologne, Something Random (Broke-Ass Records)

Various artists, Twin Town High Vol. 7, 2005-2006 (Pulse/Copycats)

Various artists, Beaner's Central One Week Live Volume III (self-released)

Plain Ole Bill, Student of the Old, Teacher of the New School (self-released)

Various artists, TC Electropunk Vol. 2 (self-released)

Paul Westerberg, Besterberg: The Best of Paul Westerberg (Rhino)

Little Black Books, Only One Name (In My Little Black Book)

Ant, Melodies and Memories 85-89 (Rhymesayers)

Atmosphere, Headshots Se7en [reissue with label sampler] (Rhymesayers)

Chris Koza, Exit Pesce (self-released)

Happy Apple, The Peace Between Our Companies (Sunnyside/Universal)

The Deaths, Choir Invisible (Go Johnny Go/Elephant Park)

Matt Jennings, Two Become One

Impaler, Habeas Corpus (Root of All Evil)

Mark Mallman, Seven Years (EGT)

Omaur Bliss, Omaur Bliss

Slug (with Murs), Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet (Rhymesayers)

Various artists, The Best of Smoke-Free Saturday Nights Vol. 2

Various artists, The Bootlegs: Celebrating 35 Years at First Avenue

Various artists, City Pages Picked 2 Click (Copycats)

Various artists, Music of China

Various artists, 4th Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop (Copycats)

[This list in progress through early January; sorry the graphics and labels are incomplete...]

Three Albums that Aren't Local, but They're Almost Local, and They're Really Good:

1. The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday (French Kiss)

2. Bob Mould, Body of Song (Yep Roc)

3. The King of France, The King of France (Echo Label)

Top 5 Local Live Acts of 2005:

1. Atmosphere
2. Eyedea and Friends (with Mazta I, Carnage, Desdamona, J.T. Bates, etc.)
3. STNNNG
4. Maria Isa
5. Brother and Sister

More Minnesota Top 10s and Updates: Lindsey Thomas's Top Ten in City Pages (singles and live acts here). Chris Bahn's Top 10 in the Onion. DUNation's local and national Top 10s. David de Young with How Was the Show's Top Ten and more. Andrea Myers's Top 10. More Top Tens at MusicScene.org. Modern Radio thread on best live shows of 2005. Riemenschneider's half-year list from the Star Tribune in June. Radio K's Top 77 of 2005 (coming in '06). The Current's Top 50 albums poll (lots of local music here). Rex's rolling catch-all 2005 list roundup. The Star Tribune's local music critics poll. All the critics' Top 10s. Riemenschneider's Top 10. Raihala's Top 20. Andrew Olson's Top Local Songs of 2005 in the Duluth Reader Weekly.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 19, 2005 6:49 PM | Comments (3)

Lil' Flip: "Y'all f@#ked it up tonight, Minneapolis"

A pool of blood gathers on the floor. A woman cradles a man's head, weeping. Another woman threatens another man in front of the coat-check line. "I'll do you with my brother's shotgun, bitch," she yells. "Shotgun, bitch!" she taunts, over and over. "Shotgun, bitch!"

"Damn, we was having a good time tonight, Minneapolis," said Houston rapper Lil' Flip from the stage of the Quest a few minutes earlier. He looked out at the suddenly cleared floor as crowds began knotting themselves around fights that wouldn't end. "Y'all fucked it up tonight."

That was around 2:00 a.m., Saturday night. At 2:20 a.m., fans rushed back in through the front entrance, taking cover for a minute behind the club's giant pillars. News spread quickly that a man and a woman had just been shot outside. Police later reported that both victims survived. Apparently, so did the man whose head had spilled blood on the floor: He was able to get up and walk out. Police say they haven't heard from him.

Contrary to Sunday's WCCO report, which was picked up by MTV, the double-shooting did not take place while Lil' Flip was performing, and it didn't take place inside the club. (The Quest has metal detectors.) But a number of indoor scuffles preceded the shooting. Flip stopped his Pac-Man-sampling hit "Game Over" mid-song to quell the fight that gashed the wobbly man's head. He tried to follow with "Turn It Up," but it was no use. "Fuck it," he said, cutting the music short at the second chorus.

Flip's DJ turned to the crowd, disgusted. "That shit is 1980s," he said. "Nigga, we in the 2000s. Nobody's fighting in the clubs no more. Come on, Minneapolis!"

On video screens, meanwhile, 1985's hip-hop classic Krush Groove played silently amid the chaos, a reminder of a lost time flickering in the club that Prince built.

Until halfway through Flip's set, actually, it had been a fun show. There were jovial good spirits among people posing for pictures that were then photo-shopped onto the covers of national magazines. Men and women danced to the crunk hit parade between openers, whom they received politely, if not always enthusiastically. Out-of-town acts, including TMF from St. Louis, shared the stage with locals mostly from the North Side of Minneapolis, including Young Pluky (above) with his alt-rock band Meth Lab in tow, between 10:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.--when Flip finally took the stage in a sparkly gold bracelet, watch, and pendant.

The Houston star instantly set the proletarian-playa tone he's known for, urging one sideman to pour Moet into the upraised cups down front, tossing t-shirts and CDs to the upper balconies and floor. "I need the whole club drinking," he said. He sniffed the air. "Y'all 'd think you was in Amsterdam, smoking that weed an' shit."

In fact, a cloud of smoke hung in the air above Flip and his crew, with some members openly smoking cigarellos in holders--in blatant violation of Minneapolis's indoor smoking ban. It was an emboldening signal that the rules were giving way at this 18+ show, and slowly it seemed the party began to outstrip anyone's ability to police it. When shoving matches broke out, escalating into swinging fists, the expected swarm of security failed to materialize.

Most fans probably didn't notice, at first. "If you've got more than ten dollars in your pocket, make some fucking noise," yelled Flip, and the crowd screamed back. One female fan jumped onstage, flashed her tits, and was handed a poster for her troubles.

During "Sunshine," the first tussle broke out between two groups of women near the stage. "We from the hood, yo, we ain't gonna stop the show," said Flip, his DJ nonetheless rewinding the music. "We used to this shit, man. See, we going to let everybody get this shit out of their system right quick."

The speech didn't work. By the time the fights got worse, nobody was looking at the stage. One woman, Terry Lewis's 40-year-old cousin, said she received an inadvertant punch to the face, knocking off her glasses. (She also said she returned blows.) Soon the house lights were up, and Flip began announcing his after-party, as another voice came over the PA: "Ladies and gentlemen, your evening at the Quest is over."

"Shotgun, bitch!" "Shotgun, bitch!" "Shotgun, bitch!" shouted the woman in back.

As others waited for coats, trapped, one woman turned to another and shook her head. "I'd rather be at home watching cable with my kids."

For more discussion of violence at shows, see this thread at DUNation.com. Anyone who has information about the shooting can reach the Minneapolis police via their tips line, 612.692.8477 ("TIPS").

Updates: The Star Tribune report quotes club management and offers a detailed account. More reactions at MNSpeak.com. A thread at Farc. More discussion at MusicScene.org. Riemenschneider on fights at rap shows. On Dec. 20 the Star Tribune reports that the Quest has closed pending payment of fee for a security camera.

A note to new visitors: I've been going to hip-hop shows for nearly 20 years, so it's sometimes hard for me to read my articles through the eyes of people who might never have been to a rap show, never mind a Lil' Flip show. For some, it's probably as hard to imagine that I never once felt in danger or uncomfortable Saturday night. It was a good vibe ruined by fights. And I'm the biggest white geek you ever met.

I'll be honest, most of the comments sparked by this article are deeply depressing to me. I won't even include the vilest racist posts we've had to delete--12 last I counted. I guess I can see the comic aspect of that "Shotgun, bitch" lady (people at the show sure recognized it at the time). But if you're using this blog as propaganda against rap music, the rap audience, black people, or any other category of humanity, I only ask you this: Please consider that your disdain is a convenient mask for fear.

I've been to plenty of "ghetto" events and never seen anything like this.

For more good reading about hip hop in Minnesota, check out:

One Nation, Invisible: Minneapolis hip hop from Prince to the Rhymesayers (City Pages 8/18/04), School of Funk: Jimmy Jam was a DJ. Morris Day was a drummer. Prince was a kid with a huge afro. Before they changed popular music, Mom told them to turn that racket down. (City Pages 7/14/04), First Love: An Oral History of First Avenue (City Pages 9/3/03), Armell Antonio Pate, R.I.P. (City Pages 12/16/98), Boogie Nights: Admired by rappers and ravers alike, DJ Boogie brings X-rated "ghetto house" to Minnesota (City Pages 8/9/00), Papa Said Knock You Out: The C.O.R.E. (City Pages 2/5/03), Blazin' on $20 a Day: Five Nights in the Life of Local Hip Hop (City Pages 9/17/03), Freestyle Fridays at Digital City Music (Culture to Go 10/24/05), Give Me the B-Boys and Free My Soul: 20 Weird Moments from the 4th Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop (City Pages 8/31/05), Your Bad Self: I Self Devine (City Pages 8/3/05), What's the Big Eyedea? (City Pages 9/12/01), Here Comes a Regular: Slug and Ant bring Atmosphere back home (City Pages 11/9/05), A New Orleans funeral for Katrina in Houston and Minneapolis (City Pages 9/14/05), Contact High: He's collaborated with Lil Jon. He's opened for Young Jeezy. He's worked at the same record store for eight years. For North Side rapper Contac, hip-hop dreams are just around the corner (City Pages 12/21/05). More here.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at December 5, 2005 7:15 PM | Comments (86)

« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »