Archive for minneapolis

MTV2’s Twin Cities Week continues: Backstage at Soundset 2009; Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S, Tape ‘N Tapes live and interviewed

Posted in Video with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by Ryan Buege

MTV2‘s coverage of the area in Twin Cities Week continues today. A massive video diary of the station’s visit to the Soundset 2009 hip-hop festival and a backyard BBQ with Tapes ‘N Tapes is featured in this round of video offerings..

Vodpod videos no longer available.INTERVIEW VIDEO: Highlights of Sounset 2009 (Part 1 of 8)

The playlist continues after the jump, and area artists Atmosphere, Tapes ‘N Tapes, P.O.S, Brother Ali, and various parts of the city are exposed during interviews and live performances from around the city. It’s a great viewing experience for any local. Enjoy! Continue reading

The Alarmists. The Overhead Left. FREE download!

Posted in Downloads with tags , , , , , , on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by Ryan Buege

The Alarmists new album The Overhead Left is the latest in a string of free/pay-as-you-please releases coming from the Twin Cities. However, unlike some of the other artists, The Alarmists are partnering with the non-profit organization Rock the Cause to make an larger impact with any sales they do achieve. ReadThe Alarmists, The Overhead Left all about the band’s decision to put this hotly debated album out via this partnership and download it for FREE (with an email address) below:

Rock the Cause has partnered with The Alarmists to help create support. awareness and membership for new music and non-profit causes that shape our community. The long awaited new album The Overhead Left by The Alarmists is available to download for free through Rock the Cause.

The Alarmists would like to encourage you to make a donation of what ever you can afford to Rock the Cause or sign up to volunteer with one of the Rock the Cause charitable partners.

Over the past few years Rock the Cause has helped to support emerging musical artists with exposure, publicity, and new fans through concerts. Rock the Cause is a non-profit that works to develop a new generation of awareness, support and new volunteers for other non-profits, like Minnesota AIDS Project, Open Arms of Minnesota, Clare Housing, Free Arts Minnesota, and many more. You can learn about these great causes on the Rock the Cause web site!

Your donation will help Rock the Cause to continue its work of creating a new generation of music and volunteerism! The Greatest Generation is Now!

Cheers!

The Alarmists

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Alarmists, The Overhead Left

KMFDM schedules First Ave. show, Mono schedules Triple Rock show; both on October 5th

Posted in Concert Dates with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on Monday, June 15, 2009 by Ryan Buege

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

Northern Oupost, Episode 11, Summer 2009: The Falcon Arrow

Posted in Video with tags , , , , , , , , , , on Monday, June 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Not too long ago, Minneapolis art-rock duo The Falcon Arrow stopped by the Owl Recording Studio to record an interview and in studio performance for the best TC-based multiple camera music show to ever grace web, and on Friday (June 5) their feature was released for public consumption as Northern Outpost‘s 11th episode. This episode proved to be one of my favorites so far, with a candid interview that emphasized some of the struggles of being an independent band in a city that’s already crowded many good ones and one of the most inventive music sets that’s been showcased yet. Through its sparse rhythm-only arrangement, the music of The Falcon Arrow is far removed from the style of post-rock that many of you are used to, yet it still possesses the same entrancing buildups and soothing come-downs that define the genre’s greatest moments. I pressed play not expecting more than a simple indie rock band, and when the replay screen finally came up I was still trying to comprehend how the looping bass of Matt Reintz was able to produce such a beautiful racket..

In two weeks Northern Outpost will be back with Episode 12 with Speed’s The Name, and I’m very excited to see that my buds in Empires will be showcasing their epic, ethereal doom metal for Episode 13. If you enjoy the highest quality music the Twin Cities have to offer, it looks like Max Becker and Northern Outpost have a stellar summer lineup in store for you. Stay tuned to find else what else is on the horizon…

Sunn O))) schedules Varsity Theater show

Posted in Concert Dates with tags , , , , , , , on Monday, June 8, 2009 by Ryan Buege

The mysterious and bizarre cult of drone known as Sunn O))) has just made plans to grace Minnesota with a rare performance next month during their brief tour of the Midwest. On July 5, 2009, Sunn O)) (featuring Stephen O’ Malley and Greg Anderson) will be at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown for a incredible sonic experience like no other during a small tour supporting their new full-lenght album Monoliths and Dimensions. Keep reading for all their tour dates… Continue reading

Sunday Metal Video: Mayhem, “Freezing Moon (live at Wacken)”

Posted in Sunday Metalhead Minute with tags , , , , , , , on Sunday, June 7, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Blackened Fest is here! Weak-minded fools would do best to stay away from Station 4 on Tuesday, when the black metal lords and their legions come out to lay siege to Minneapolis for the first time in over a decade.

LIVE VIDEO: Mayhem, “Freezing Moon (live at Wacken 2004)”

Mogwai in Minneapolis: Barry Burns’ Radio K in-studio, live First Ave. bootleg online

Posted in Audio, Downloads with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Friday, June 5, 2009 by Ryan Buege

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:

LISTEN: Barry Burns (Mogwai), DJ Set/Interview

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!

DOWNLOAD: Mogwai, Live at First Avenue, 5/10/09 (FLAC Audio Bootleg)

Album Review: Power of 2, Power of 2

Posted in Music Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on Thursday, June 4, 2009 by Ryan Buege

From my point of view, there are only two reasons why any instrumental rock band would choose to remain vox-less these days: 1) they are Power of 2frightened that vocals would destroy the aesthetic they’ve developed, or 2) they don’t have time for a fucking vocalist! ¶ Power of 2, a Minneapolis based prog-rock band featuring Max Becker on drums and Joe Clark on guitar, clearly falls into the latter school, as evidenced by the new self-titled album of driving, explosive, ball-bustin’ rock ‘n’ roller coaster rides they’ve nailed down for release on Friday.  It’s a guitar centric album (vocals finally make an extremely brief appearance on the final track, “Eight Chupacabras”)  that simply has no room for a third wheel to disrupt the charging energy that pulses between the two, one jperson seemingly acting as a anode and the other as a cathode . Continue reading

Concert Recap: Victims, Trap Them, and Black Breath @ the Triple Rock Social Club

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Victims live at the Triple Rock

Victims, Trap Them, and Black Breath stormed through Minneapolis yesterday evening with what could easily be called the most vicious hardcore tour making rounds in the U.S. early this summer, and all bands displayed an overwhelming presence despite the underwhelming crowd size (..for better or worse, I’m speculating that a local concert calendar that is more saturated than usual with hardcore shows courtesy of the ENR 15th Anniversary and tightening working class budgets are to blame..). However simply put, Victims were on top of their game, Trap Them proved to be more than worthy of the praise that has been thrown of them by some of extreme noise music’s most respected names (these days Napalm Death and Disfear even cite them as influences, to give you an idea), and Black Breath, while young, introduced the crusty part of my evening with a heavy swagger rocking through their dirty modern hardcore. Personally, I just felt lucky to be one of the few who got to pit it up to the live tornado of chaos contained within the cavernous club in west bank Minneapolis for one night; and lucky for you lazy punks, I brought my camera and captured some guerilla style videos and photos from the show which follow below:

VIDEO: Victims, Live at the Triple Rock Social Club, 6/1/09

Victims live at the Triple Rock(Victims)

Victims live at the Triple Rock(Victims)

Trap Them live at the Triple Rock(Trap Them)

Trap Them live at the Triple Rock(Trap Them)

Black Breath live at the Triple Rock(Black Breath)

More videos from Trap Them and Black Breath and photos from all the sets I attended last night available for you after the jump… Continue reading

Concert Recap: Santigold, Amanda Blank, and Trouble Andrew @ First Avenue

Posted in Concert Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on Saturday, May 30, 2009 by Ryan Buege

Santigold live at First Avenue

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….

VIDEO: Santigold, “Creator”, Live at First Avenue, 5/28/09

Santigold live at First Avenue(Santigold)

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