Canada is known for loving their strong bier and the sport of hockey. Lately, I have been loving the electronically hip music that they have been sending south of the border through the airwaves. Purity Ring is one of these bands that has been making my ears go fully erect. They are out of Montreal and have been slowly seducing their fans by releasing a single here and there over the past few years.
Their debut album, Shrines, comes out on July 24th but I was able to get my hands on it at their show this past Sunday night at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The album adds 7 fresh tracks to the previous 4 singles that have been floating about the worldwide web. Throughout the 11-track full-length album the elctro-pop duo provides a perfect blend of new wave digital beats along with beautiful lyrical melodies. Continue reading →
Wow, from the start of the new album Country by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad I am amazed and I am astonished. I first heard of this band while attending a G-Love and the Special Sauce show at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Their live show was an unreal jam session filled with plenty of energy that got the crowd dancing. Country may get your foot tapping a bit while you are sipping a whiskey down at your local saloon.
Country is an album with an acoustic, slowed down blue grass sound with folk and reggae roots. They describe their music as folk and that the fans should know that there is just good music and there is just bad music. The band said they hear so many people when asked, “what kind of music they like?” reply with the answer, “everything but country.” GPGDS wanted to break the mold that all country music is not typical country and that folk is in all forms of music. It is funny because I am one who has said, “I am into everything but country.” I am also on the record saying that, “I like Johnny Cash but do not consider him to be country but more of a folk artist.” This means I understand fully what Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is talking about.
Now, saying all that I can appreciate this album even though at times I am not sure that I am listening to GPGDS. At other times I am reminded of the elements that made me fall in love with this band. In the track “Kids in the Square” they pick up the tempo a bit and make for a blue grass jam that could get you dancing. Next, the song “Healing” which has a reggae feel in a blue grass song reminds you of GPGDS of past. “New Speedway Boogie” has the softest sound with the loudest vocals on the album and again reminds you of classic Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. This little section of their new album is my favorite especially after the slow start with the first four songs.
I suggest you head over to the website and give the new album a listen before forming an opinion. It will help you decide if you want to support this new project for the group from Rochester, NY or if you want to take a break so the music is more refreshing when the next album comes out. I know I am going to support GPGDS and can appreciate the new sound off of Country.
I missed this fucking show because I was an idiot. My friend Aaron told me about Rock the Bells being at First Avenue awhile back. I didn’t even know that Rock the Bells was coming through Minneapolis until mid-July, and by that time it was just too late. It seems like all I do is miss out on shows that I want to go to, I really need to make some changes so I can see some more live music. Here is some live footage of the Slaughterhouse Machine performing at the First Ave. Rock the Bells stop in Minneapolis. On the above video you can catch the track “Fight Club”, and you can follow me after the jump to catch “Onslaught”. Continue reading →
That’s right, Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle is going to be coming to First Avenue on August 26th. You can expect to see Freeway performing as well. The show is 18+ and the doors open at 8PM. If you want more information you can go to Red Bull Big Tune for more details. It’s too bad this is my first day back to class, I’d love to go. I sure hope the Audio Perm crew is going to be at this one…
Oh good lord, it appears as though two of the most revered emcees at this time will be at First Avenue on August 1st. Might Mos Def and Jay Electronica will surely be tearing up the Main Stage that Saturday night, and I can honestly tell you that I’m going to do everything in my power to be there. Culture Bully also mentioned that these two will be doing a whole album entitled Sympatico together in the near future. I think if these two put out an album it might change the way that people look at the game. There will be more tour dates to come as well.
Why, oh why, am I being asked to choose between the Japanese post-rockers in Mono and industrial music’s pioneers in KMFDM? Sure, the bands obviously share more differences than similarities, but I can’t be the only one who jumped for joy a little bit the moment that I saw the announcement of each of these shows, can I?
.. that is, until I realized that they are both scheduled on the same night across town from each other, that is.
Sometimes this city does that to you though (just like I was forced to decide between the Acid Mother’s Temple show at the Entry and the FMTM/Torche/Dredg show at Varsity earlier in the year), and I guess I should just be glad that area booking agents are at least giving me 4 solid months to debate the positives and negatives of attending either gig.
Right now, I’m leaning towards attending the KMFDM gig purely because I’ve never had the chance to see these legends at work. While industrial music’s definitely not my forte, I’ve got a special place in my heart for the noise rock and underground electronic scenes in New York, Germany, and other niches throughout the world which birthed KMFDM and their contemporaries during the early 1980s. The abrasive electronic sounds that were spearheaded by KFMDM and a few others have seemed to eventually seep into the DNA of pretty much every band I enjoy, and though I don’t know much of their output, I’m pretty sure I’d still be fascinated to see a band that has indirectly had so much influence on my musical taste. Really though, I just want to see THE band who former La Crosse, WI vagabond Pete Missing continuously mentioned when we’d stop by his art gallery some years ago..
KMFDM, ANGEL SPIT
First Avenue
Oct. 5, 2009 | 7 PM
$20 ADV | $20 DOS | 18+
However, post-rock shows are my favorite kind of concerts to attend, and (with very few exceptions) nobody executes better than Mono. Seeing these dedicated musicians playing their soul-stirring psychedelic epics live at top volume is typically a can’t miss event for me, and this time they’ll be playing with Maserati. Considering that they also only visit the U.S. every few years, that I’ll have many more friends in the crowd with me here, and that Mono’s new album Hymn to the Immortal Wind is one of my favorites from the year, I feel like I’d be especially stupid for for missing this one, as well.
MONO, MASERATI
Triple Rock Social Club
Oct. 5, 2009 | 8 PM
$12 ADV | $15 DOS | 21+
Keep reading on the next page for all of KMFDM’s and Mono’s scheduled 2009 tour dates… Continue reading →
Minneapolis is showing some love for Mogwai. It’s been a month since the Scottish post-rockers came to play the mainroom in First Avenue, and in the meantime some great audio from their stay in the city is slowly leaking from the city.
Before Mogwai took the stage on May 10th, Barry Burns stopped by U of M’s Radio K for half an hour to take over the dials and give an exclusive interview to our fine University during the broadcast of nowlikephotographs. Check it:
And the best find of all? Empty’s Tapes linked to an exclusive live audio bootleg at The Trader’s Den that captures the band’s First Avenue performance in glorious clarity. It’s worth the download for any fan of the band; all you have to do is register for free and you can start torrenting!
Nothing was really catching my eye as far as brand new metal media this week (..maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough?), so I’ve decided to dig back into my vault for this week’s Sunday Metal Minute. In addition to acknowledging my deep love of doom metal, this post serves to honor the date that Buried Inside hasscheduled w/ Battlefields at the 7th St. Entry on July 16th (which we announced earlier this week); download below and listen in to Buried Inside’s “Time As Imperialism” from 2004’s earth-shattering Chronoclast opus.
Besides the fact the the lineup is rounded out by a who’s-who of must-see local doom metal acts (Battlefields, Frontier, and Lungs), the appearance by Buried Inside alone will make this a metal show to sonically annihilate all other metal shows this summer, and I believe is pretty solid evidence.. Enjoy, and I hope to see you all at the show!
There isn’t much that could be said about the lovable enthusiastic crowd-pleasing performance from Santigold at First Avenue this Thursday (May 28, 2009) that wasn’t recapped already. Santi’s main man Jon Jon (..same dude that got that extended shout out from the stage; seriously how’s she know know that well, man?) compiled a great list of links of people who have already reviewed the night, so I’m doing my best to bring something unique to you all.
As such, here’s my view from the night via video and photos, right from the middle of the dance floor; somewhat out of my element, I’ll just say that I was made to feel right at home amongst the flailing arms and sweat bodies by the time the show hit full stride. We’ll start things off with “Creator”, and get this MPLS internet dance party started like no other….
We still have more Mind Inversion exclusive live video of the hit “L.E.S. Artistes” and more photos from the dancefloor at First Avenue after the the jump. Just click the link… Continue reading →
Famed Scottish post-rock quintet Mogwai were in Minneapolis to play First Avenue this Sunday, May 10th, and we were there to witness the maddening bliss. Though the band were kind enough to devote ample time to songs from each phase of their illustrious career, they focused on their recent album The Hawk Is Howling, injecting each song they touched with live intensity and jazz-like freeform emotional energy that no other post-rock band can match so confidently.
Not surprisingly, the performance was a vocally quiet one, with Barry only stepping out from behind the keyboards for unaffected vocals on one song and little on stage banter other than a ‘thank you’ here and there. Instead, ‘Gwai played to their strengths by delivering a set that boldly emphasized the aural extremes at which they excel. For me, the most engrossing moments of the set were both the most reserved and the most bombastic. Whether it was the reserved cadence of “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead”, the epic buildup of “Killing All the Flies”, or the oppressive heaviness of “We’re No Here”, each song was alive with an other-worldly, surging energy that true musicians live to create, and the crowd was receptively feeding off it every second of the night.
Additionally, it was Stuart’s birthday that night, and the band was in notably high spirits throughout their performance; sometimes maybe even a little bit too much so, as there were some miscommunications that resulted in a light-hearted, alcohol induced fumble or two (namely when they veered off the planned setlist without letting Dominic know what key they were changing into). Nevertheless, the crowd was in such good of a mood to finally see the band after their late cancellation last September that any mishaps were quickly forgiven. In fact, the adoring applause enticed the band to return to the stage for two whole encores before Stuart received a ceremonial birthday pranking and the lights came on to send us on our way back out for a post-concert brew.
The fuzzy, lo-fi psychedelic Canadian indie rockers in Women did an excellent job building anticipation for the headliners. Never having seen them before, I was very impressed with the way in which they were able to transform a simple little ditty into an explosive psychedelic brain melter within a matter of seconds. With their jagged rhythms and pounding beats, they inject something very fresh and different into the lo-fi sound that I’ve been hearing proliferate through the indie scene in the last two years. Truth-be-told, the only band that I’ve seen capable of similar feats is our local boys in Vampire Hands, and from my point of view a comparison to Vampire Hands is just about the best compliment you can give to a modern experimental indie rock band.
As always, we were fortunate to capture a slew of exclusive Mind Inversion media at the show. Among the goodies we collected are 3 live videos from Mogwai’s set, 1 live video of Women, and too many photos to count right now. It’s all below!
Epic a/v content after the jump! I’ve still got another video excerpt of “Like Herod” from the first encore (which I’ll give a C on visuals, but a B+ on audio) and tons of photos… Continue reading →
Minneapolis is showing some love for 
(Santigold)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Mogwai)
(Women)
(Women)
(Women)
MIND INVERSION 