Last night, These Arms Are Snakes, Darker My Love, All the Saints(, and one other band that I unfortunately missed) played to a small crowd at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN. These are some photos:
(These Arms Are Snakes)
(These Arms Are Snakes)
(These Arms Are Snakes)
(Darker My Love)
(Darker My Love)
(All the Saints)
Don’t stop there! We’ve still got many more great photos from this chaotic, noisy night; keep reading… Continue reading
After their First Avenue show was abruptly cancelled late last year due to Martin’s heart complications, many Mogwai fans were left a bit shocked and bewildered. Thankfully, he was quickly on his feet again, and the band has stayed true to their promise to return to the midwest as soon as possible. So far, no openers have been announced for their rescheduled show on May 10th at First Avenue in Minneapolis, and I hope it stays that way. The Hawk Is Howling had some of my favorite songs from last year on it, but I’m definitely in support of giving the band plenty of time to honor their classic albums, as well.
Keep reading for all the dates on Mogwai’s world tour… Continue reading
Via Culture Bully, B96 recently had the the self-proclaimed “hottest thing cooking” in Minneapolis, Muja Messiah, in the studio and he displayed his incredible flow on air for the rest of the city to hear. They discuss a range of topics, from fake and stupid MCs to Muja’s own steadily rising career, and after a few minutes Muja freestyles over his own beat that he brought with him into the studio. Hit play and watch the video to see why this guy’s name never stops coming up in the local hip-hop conversation lately.
While they’re hyping his show at Axis next week, I want to remind everyone about the awesome set that’s planned at Fine Line next week featuring sets of Atmosphere meets Brother Ali, Muja Messiah meets M.anifest, Toki Wright meets St. Paul Slim, and DJ Jimmy 2 Times meets DJ Plain Ole Bill. This is a local hip-hop event for the record books, and you should do everything in your power to make it to this show. Click the flier to read more!
This is just a short update to bring you up-to-speed on one of my favorite mind-expanding metal bands from the area, the young Fargo-ND ethereal post metal/chaotic hardcore innovators in Battlefields. Their debut full-length on Translation Loss Records (Dysrhythmia, Intronaut, Total Fucking Destruction) is now scheduled to be released on March 31, 2009. Listening to some of the goodies from the album that they’ve got on their myspace gives me the impression that (even after several months of waiting with these snippets on repeat) I’m not quite ready for what I’m about to hear. Post-metal truly hasn’t sound this fresh, defiant, and unstoppable to my ears since it first became my drug of choice. It’s too bad the album won’t be available before they play at the Triple Rock Social Club on March 11th with rising psych/prog rockers Irepress, Minneapolis’s Frontier, and our friends in local doomgaze lords Vernal Pool, but that’s no reason to miss this show. With all of these bands supporting unbelievable new material, there’s no doubt in my mind that this will be one of the the most impressive “local” underground metal shows lined up for the remainder of the 2009 winter. Can’t miss!
To round out some great pre-coverage of this show, we’ll have an excellent interview online next week that we conducted with Vernal Pool at their stomping grounds in NE MPLS a few days ago about the show and their forthcoming debut full length album. Also, they’ll will be playing a verrrrry late set on Saturday at the 400 Bar for the Devil’s Work Shop 5 Year Anniversay Party, so metalheads shouldn’t fail to stay around til bar time to be impressed before the Battlefields/Irepress tour sweeps through the city.
And they’ll be a part of the Varsity Theater‘s jam-packed spring/summer concert calendar this April 10th. The billing is a very unlikely one, but there’s no denying this show will be massive and awesome; can’t miss!
Torche is huge on cd, but they are ten times bigger in the live setting. These guys are extremely fun to watch and have never failed to put on a blistering, entertaining show set both times I’ve seen them over the years (once with Jesu in 2007 and at their P4K showcase with Nachtmystium and Boris last year). Personally, I’m very curious to see what kind of set Dredg plays. On their early albums, they had me completely captivated, but I kind of fell off after Catch Without Arms and the show they did at Taste of Choas in 2005. Really, I don’t know what they’ve been up to since, but apparently there’s a new album lined up for release on March 24th. Who knows what they sound like now, but they can’t be doing too much wrong if they’ve lined this gig up.
All the Torche/Dredg spring tour dates are… Continue reading
These Arms Are Snakes are pushing the art of the split release like no other these days, and have announced plans to put out a limited split 7″ with upcoming tourmates, All The Saints. This is the fifth split they’ve planned in the last two years, and right now it’s one of two that are expected this year (the other is the Minus the Bear split that was already announced). Despite releasing an amazing new album at the end of last year entitled Tail Swallower and Dove that provides enough furious and progressive post-hardcore to satisfy those looking for new material, TAAS still isn’t able to sit still and just tour like normal musicians.
On this split with All the Saints, These Arms are Snakes side of the split features the track “Washburn” (a Japan-only bonus from the Tail Swallower.. album) in addition to artwork from Alicja Trout. Apparently, Touch and Go Records will be releasing the split within the next month or so, but there’s no word whether the massive (and very sad) cuts that Touch and Go announced today will hold up this release. My guess is that the vinyls have already been pressed, but who knows?… Hopefully it will be available in time for when TAAS comes through Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis with All the Saints and Darker My Love this Thursday, February 26th. Either way, it’s been a few years since I’ve had the chance to catch their gig and I’m looking forward to a wild show.
Keep reading for all the band’s upcoming US tour dates… Continue reading
Sound Verité has been hitting it out of the park this week with some great finds from one of our beloved show-stopping favorites, the local Minneapolis electro-rockers in Solid Gold. There’s no sense talking too much about this; you know what to do!
Video: “Bible Thumber” (directed by John Carlucci & Suzanne Dyer)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Download: “Who You Gonna Run To? (Mel Gibson and the Pants Remix)”
ps. Solid Gold just signed to Rough Trade in the UK. Congrats to them!
Our favorite local web tv show, Northern Outpost, has just aired their fourth episode, and this week they’re at the Owl Recording Studio with Minneapolis-based acoustic crooners Windmills. As we said before, the quality of this fully independent, local music show is pretty impressive, and it’s greater proof of the extremely awesome, organic, and supportive scene that exists in the Twin Cities. On this week’s episode, Windmills compare playing in a band in Boston and Minneapolis, talk about the quality of the local music scene, and play some of their upbeat, relaxing, spacey electro folk rock in the Owl Studio. Visit Northern Outpost on NorthernOutpost.net to stay up-to-date on future shows, and watch Episode 4 below!
Watch the priceless brand new video for The Bronx‘s “Past Lives” (via Switchblade Comb) from their newest album, read our review of the release, and then try tellin’ us you have something better to do than come out to the dance with The Bronx and friends on a certain night this April …I dare you! This is rock ‘n’ roll that is too damn good to pass up. The band has firmed up their spring tour plans with Trash Talk, and they’ll be entertaining a crowd in Minneapolis at the Triple Rock on April 12th. Keep reading for all the tour dates… Continue reading
After more than 25 years in operation, the University of Minnesota’s Recycling program was proven to be slightly ineffective during a demonstration that kicked off the national RecycleMania competition. For the event, a fully loaded garbage unloaded its days collection in the middle of the University’s Coffman Memorial Union for sorting to draw attention the large recyclable waste stream that makes it into the trash everyday.
In total, 6 tons of waste were released onto the sidewalk, a mere 17% of the U’s total daily output. However, the most interesting statistic related to this awareness demonstration was not simply how much total waste the campus generates, but about how much of the stuff that is thrown away could actually be reused. According to program employee and U of M student John Weissert, after sorting all of the garbage from that days events, it was found that only 38% was actually garbage! In fact, nearly 38% of the waste stream also consisted of recyclables and another 24% was compostable organics. While the University has actively promoted their recycling program for many years, numbers like this can be a bit disconcerting to those who are involved in programs such as these. Especially in a time of economic stress, the money saved from diverting these valuable materials such as aluminum and paper to a recycler could be enormous, and yet the percentage of total waste recycled for the University continues to fall. To Weissert, these numbers were a clear indication that the custodial staff needs to be trained more adequately to improve access to recycling, and old programs need to be reviewed and updated to improve problem areas.
In either case, the Recycling Program sponsored trash dump at Coffman was a pretty eye opening site to see; one thing I came away with: our trash is really a very personal thing, and it is our responsibility to guarantee that it will leave our hands in the most beneficial way possible. Recycling(/composting) begins with you!
(photo courtesy of Conor Shine)
MIND INVERSION 