Here are some news from news.weheartmusic.com for this week.

BICYCLE DIARIES
davidbyrne.com ♥ penguingroup.com

While fans will know David Byrne from his music from Talking Heads in the 80s and his solo work, people rarely know that Byrne is a huge bicycle enthusiast. Byrne's bicycle is his main mode of transportation around his home in New York and when he's out on his world tour (throughout Sydney, Manila, San Francisco, etc). He kept a diary and Penguin Books is publishing his book, Bicycle Diaries, on sale September 21, 2009.

Fan will take note that Byrne is recording and reading his own book for the audio book version, although from his journal, it did not go too well the first week:

Did my second audiobook reading of the Bicycle Diaries NY chapter today. My first attempt, last week, was marred by maybe a combination of nerves and a wonky lower lip, as the braces had just gone in and were scraping the inside of my mouth. (I smashed a guitar into my bottom teeth about a week before the tour ended.) There’s less of that slurring and slushing going on now, and perhaps I am more confident and relaxed as well.

What will make this audio book a treat is that Byrne, always the experimentalist, will be incorporating sound recording he's made from the streets and noise in the book.

Look for Bicycle Diaries in September (preorder information), and you can find out more about Byrne's auctioning of his folding Montague bike for the London Cycling Campaign at Byrne's Journal.

ARTIST MUSIC JOURNALS
soundscreendesign.com

Speaking of books, Soundscreen Designs is releasing the third installment of its ongoing Arist Music Journals series, featuring musician/artist Daniel Higgs, former singer of the post-hardcore Lungfish.

About the series:

Artist Music Journals are an ongoing, monthly, limited edition small book series. Each month, a visual artist or musician is asked to create a 24-page book of artworks, drawing inspiration from their connection to music. The different ways in which each artist chooses to represent their connection to music is what makes this ongoing series unique, intriguing and diverse.

Each book is limited to 1,000 copies, printed on thick stock, offset, box-scored and saddle stitched, and comes packaged in a 10" jacket. The jackets for each edition will be identical, keeping the collection's overall outward design aesthetic consistent. However, there is a distinct letterpressed sticker wrapping the opening of the jacket for each installment featuring a replication of the artist's signature, the volume, installment number, and edition.

Information on how to purchase the book is located here ($17). Special thanks to AAM for sending this in.

PARAGRAPHS
myspace.com/paragraphsband ♥ twitter.com

Paragraphs, or vowels-hating "prgrphs", is very excited to play the 7^th Street show this Friday, August 28^th, with Ice Palace and Wheat (hopefully, we will get that much-delayed Wheat review up soon).

Paragraphs describes themselves as "a Minneapolis trio that plays music featuring a lot of delay pedal, toy Casios", followed by "drummer with a goofy smile".

They have a few other shows coming up, including one with Austin's The Calm Blue Sea.

08/28/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
09/03/09 Big V’s St. Paul, MN
09/19/09 Applefest - Abnet Field La Crescent, MN
10/03/09 Augsburg College Minneapolis, MN

Wonder Subtly Crushing Us opens like pure indie rock beatitude; the knee-jerk impulse to look “not happy” and “wearing tiny pants” is overwhelming.  “Phonebook Pillow” is probably the most straightforward track on Wonder.  However, from that point forward things get interesting.  Ice Palace, Minneapolis’s contribution to the lit-pop collective, accomplished what few have endeavored:  to release an album that mutually embraces and excludes their audience.  Who is their audience, you ask.  Pirates, damsels in distress, gladiators, English professors, star-crossed lovers, book collectors, librettists, wayfarers, gothic scribes, steampunks, hipsters—the band has managed to cover all corners of “historical motifs adopted by pale contemporary outsiders.”  It’s kind of weird, kind of impressive. 

When listening to Wonder, I’m reminded of fellow gloomy wordsmith Kid Dakota (Darren Jackson) and his love of a darker, colder American landscape.  Both musicians pen these sprawling, cryptic allegories that seem familiar, but are not (assuming you have not spent significant years in a little house on the prairie).  Similar to Jackson, Adam Sorensen’s off-kilter vocals complement his curious narratives and are well suited for songs like “Lily” that never quite peak.  Where KD traipses pastoral ennui, Ice Palace is interested in casually myth-historical points of reference; or, more specifically, in creating an environment that envelopes the senses, like moth-eaten crushed velvet. 

Those of us that relate to normal subjects, like stupid regular love, may very well be scratching our heads half-way through (what simpletons do to denote confusion).  Fortunately, Ice Palace’s capacity for antiquated romance is offset by a strong instrumental backing that’s more grrrunge than, say, the baroque pop of the Decemberists (to whom the band’s been compared).  Once or twice the balance shifts:  “Coliseum” lingers at mid-tempo and fails to grab; “Younger in a Year” is quite pretty-odd, but underwhelming as an album closer (although, the crackled outro is a nice touch).

“Devils Tower” and “Pirate By Thirty,” two of Wonder’s stronger tracks, sound urgent and reveal provocative imagery:  some twisted sweep of waves crashing against jagged cliffs, ballrooms, absinthe, thorny sanctuaries and underground discothèques.  Daring?  Maybe.  Creative?  Certainly.  Intuitive?  Yes!  More than anything else, Ice Palace has found distinction within the murky swamp of indie rock—as a local act and as artists trying to be uniquely approachable.  A “band to watch,” if ever there was.

Ice Palace’s members include Jacob Mullis and Amy Hager of Fort Wilson Riot (a similarly strange little band that produced a rock opera).  Mullis and Hager contribute vocals, bass, keys and trumpet, respectively.  Other players:  Sorensen (vocals/guitar), Jacob Grun (guitar/vocals), and Joe Gaskill (drums).  Refer to the band’s website or Myspace for more information or for a list of upcoming shows (as an aside, on Sept. 9 they’re playing at my favorite Brooklyn bar-slash-bocce arena).  Minneapolis music fiends be(a)ware:  Ice Palace at the 7^th St. Entry, Aug. 28 (with Wheat and Paragraphs)!  Wonder Subtly Crushing Us was released in May of this year.  You can purchase the album via their website.

Zack Hexum has the “Swine Cold,” a terrible mutant strain of the original “Swine Flu.” He’s dangerous and wants to spread the virus by touching people with his hands.  Don’t be fooled by his boyish good looks—ZACK HEXUM IS A MONSTER.  JK, readers!  ROFLCOPTER!* Hexum is wholly sweet and friendly and a real trooper (he played a full set plus duets with Kevin Steinman, all while battling flu-ish symptoms).  Even though he reminds me of a hot soap opera doctor, Hexum has that big boy voice that is always surprising coming from the mouths of such teeny, tiny human beings (see:  Ben Sollee).  Thursday’s show at the 400 Bar was nice and mellow, a bit beachy (if beach jams were played under low lights in dank clubs); maybe one-part pop soul, two parts college rock, and a splash of Hollister “SoCal.”  While Hexum sang confidently, head thrown back, eyes closed, heart showing—which is just, you know, sigh—I’m not sure that his lyrics had me at “hello” (mumbling musicians make me merry mrustrated).  I’d hoped that “Princess of Darkness” would be a cute-sad ode to Kelly Osbourne, but it seems, instead, to be about a gloomy wallflower type (could still be about KO).  Nevertheless, live versions of “Sun Still Shines” and “How Many Times” were enjoyable and people-pleasing (this was a “yeah, dude!” crowd) and very much the style of music that primetime TV drools over.  Zack Hexum paging Zach Braff:  “Writing any interesting screenplays about depressed twenty-something existentialists lately?”

Instead of breaking to set up more instruments, get more beer, and/or allowing patrons to smoke a motherfucking cigarette, Hexum invited Kevin Steinman on stage for a duet.  Here’s some math that you might not be aware of:  male singer + female singer = adorable/ovaries swelling.  Female singer + female singer = sexy (or, conversely, the Indigo Girls).  Male singer + male singer = asexual/mildly homoerotic**.  Watching Hexum and Steinman sing together was like watching Olympic divers—attractive bodies doing impressive things, but nobody’s getting turned on.  Possible repressed sexual urges aside, Steinman said some nice things about his duet partner—he considers Hexum a musical soulmate and they have a code word for calling each other to the stage (the Norwegian term for ‘meatball’).  Fittingly, they covered songs by iconic bands with great creative relationships, including the Beatles (“If I Fell”) and the Everly Brothers (“All I Have to Do is Dream”).  True to Steinman’s word, the pair sounded lovely; their voices complemented nicely and the harmonies were spot on.  A lot of dorky things happened on that stage (Hexum played a clarinet; Steinman played the glock; too much meatball was thrown around), but I couldn’t help smiling through most of it.

After Hexum exited, Steinman and his drummer (Troy Groenke) carried on.  I really like this combo when it’s not the White Stripes.  If a singer-songwriter isn’t ready to go full band, a positive small progression is to add a drummer to the mix; at the very least, this helps discourage the “open mic” feel of so many solo guitar acts.  I had seen Steinman play a couple months back, opening for Joe January, but in all honesty, had very little recollection of the show.  I did remember, however, that Steinman met his wife through Myspace, a fact that’s completely irrelevant and fascinating to me.  As a lyricist, Steinman writes about the romantic side of life—love, heartache, self journey, love, love, love.  In person his mild-mannered spirit and brooding good looks suit the prose; I have a hard time not imagining him tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, scribbling furiously in his moleskin journal.  While it’s difficult to breach the formulaic barriers of traditional love songs, it helps that Steinman’s M.O. doesn’t follow the route of novelty or tacky pretense; instead, he seems at a comfortable place, one where authenticity is measured by dedication to the craft.  Songs like “Home” and “Love Always Wins” (it doesn’t, but thanks) are not going to blow minds, but the whole product—the melodies, the voice, the man—is just so likeable and likeability always wins.  THEN, it was towards the end of the show and Steinman pulled a little trick from his sleeve, a sort of politically-charged, conversational verse with wit up the yin yang.  “55 Year Occupation Blues, or, Mom and Dad Won’t You Please Come Home” questions the implications of stationing American troops all over the world and speaks of Steinman’s experiences growing up in Germany while his parents taught at special Department of Defense-funded schools.  Where did this come from?  Is there more?  These are the questions I’m left with.  (Watch Steinman perform “55 Year Occupation Blues” in Berlin HERE.)

Two things must be noted:  1). I’m getting nicer in my older age, and 2). You can find more information on both artists at their respective websites and Myspace pages (see below).  Kevin Steinman will be at the 318 Café in Excelsior, MN this Friday, May 15.

* Just learned this.  I think it’s a helicopter that is rolling on the floor laughing or something.

** I’m not insinuating anything on the Internet, folks, but the two musicians did close the show with a Bert and Ernie song.  I think we can all guess what that means.

Remember when rock bands had long hair and wore flannel for comfort, not irony, and remember when they’d stumble around doing crazy things like PLAYING GUITARS WITH BEER BOTTLES and SPRINTING FROM ONE END OF THE STAGE TO THE OTHER?  Fuck the 80s revival, the 90s was obviously a superior decade.  Allow me to list the evidence:  fashion-stagnant icons (“grunge”), Winona Ryder’s snatch (been there, done that), glorified nasal tones, and, most importantly, a general dismissal of happiness in favor of talking about doing important things while doing nothing (see “Reality Bites” for reference).

On Saturday, Our Lady of the Lake Church hosted The Greatest Band Ever…to Come out of Minnesota between the Years of 1992 and 1995.  That’s right, mofos, I’m talking about Soul Asylum.  This band not only fulfills every 90s era requisite, as listed above*, but as a bonus singer Dave Pirner still appears to be living in the 90s, as confirmed by his torn jeans and Aquaman t-shirt.  It was—and I’m being completely sincere—an amazing night. 

The Honeydogs at OLL Blast!, Mound, Minnesota (05/02/09) ♥ photo by Kate

The show opened with another local favorite, the Honeydogs, who brought horns for the occasion.  Like many bands of a certain age and ilk, the Honeydogs are best heard live.  As a studio group, their music is straightforward mature rock with an unusual lyrical edge over similar acts (early song themes include race relations and cultural alienation).  Fussy twenty-somethings may not appreciate the band’s tame anthemic style or the crowd draw of mostly L.L Bean-clad professionals, to which I say “fair enough, but how many mid-90s bands can lure hundreds of fans to Mound, Minnesota (population 9,435, birthplace of Kevin Sorbo) and pull off a slim jean designed for men half their ages?”  (The answer is:  at least two.)  I should also mention that the quote of the night goes to Adam Levy who charmed the (presumably conservative) audience with a few deliberate “support your troops” cheers:

Levy:  (after informing us that his once-teenage son had intended to enlist) “By the way, my son never went to Iraq.  He discovered mushrooms instead.”

Soul Asylum at OLL Blast!, Mound,   Minnesota (05/02/09) ♥ photo by Kate Soul Asylum - Runaway Train Soul Asylum

I think you know you’ve “made it,” or in Soul Asylum’s case, “made it, lost it, and re-made it,” when you have a man whose sole responsibility is to hand you your guitar (or in Soul Asylum’s case, physically position the guitar in your arms).  Dave Pirner has (re)made it.  Another testament to your lasting fame is the number of women available to carry your child (at least one; she knocked me in the head while frantically waving her arms in what I determined to be code for “please infiltrate me with your love tool”).  Dave Pirner still has it.  Regardless of the holy location, Soul Asylum rocked the Devil’s music in a hard way, pulling out all the stops; never have I seen middle-aged men attempt—and almost succeed at—sweaty, dated stage acrobatics like Pirner’s hip gyrations (still sexy) and Dan Murphy’s awkward guitar slide.  At one point I turned to my friend and said “I feel as though I’m having a childhood experience that I never actually had” (this was likely during “Misery”).  And yes, I know what you’re wondering:  they still play “Runaway Train.”  In fact, despite years of heavy substance intake, Pirner’s voice sounded pretty good.  He looked pretty good too; moving about in a youthful manner, as I mentioned earlier, as well as telling some jokes, smiling, acting gracious and friendly…it seems that the bratty rock star grew up. 

The band played a full set plus encore, where Kraig Johnson, formerly of the Jayhawks, joined in for a few crowd-pleasing covers (“My Generation,” “Should I Stay or Should I Go”).  Johnson made a hasty exit after some trashy bitch threw a plastic beer cup at him (don’t worry, Tommy Stinson was ready with a hug**) and the show concluded with Pirner inviting his roadies onstage to play a few notes and later to pack up the instruments.

I have no idea if Soul Asylum are touring.  Their website hasn’t been updated since 2008, but feel free to dream.  The Honeydogs are a bit more prolific, with local shows later this summer (go HERE or HERE for more information).

UPDATE:  Soul Asylum has a handful of upcoming shows, as per their Myspace.

* Dave Pirner had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in “Reality Bites”
** Stinson (The Replacements) joins the band on bass and Michael Bland (Prince) replaces former drummer Karl Mueller, who passed away in 2005.

(Note: no, not still celebrating 4/20, the majority of the article was written and was meant for yesterday's publication. Just pretend today is Wednesday.)

Earth Day
It's April 22nd and everybody knows today is Earth Day, "merry Christmas, happy birthday to whoever’s being born". For some reason, I thought the concept was fairly new (in the 80s), but apparently the hippy-peace-inspired movement’s been around for forty years now.

Last Sunday, I attended the annual Wishes for the Sky on Harriet Island in Saint Paul. Despite the rain, people still turned out for some kite-flying action. All the kites were hand-made, with messages ("wishes") written on them - and you had to return them once you were done flying them. I thought there was supposed to be music, but they might have left due to the rain... the only music seems to be by the wind chimes on these bamboo structures.

To keep with the environmental and music theme, here are two digipaks releases:

Margo Reymundo
margoreymundo.com ♥ myspace.com/margoreymundomusic

The CD presentation is in a cardstock foldout, slipped in a pink tissue-like envelope, with bold letters in the back: "ORGANICA RECORDS". So yeah, it was an attractive package.

As her record label and her trademark brand, "organica" suggests, her music is the opposite of "electronica". With her Ella Fitzgerald-ish sounding vocals and pop-sounding music, she does just that on her album My Heart's Desire.

I think the first thing you'll notice about the record is that Reymundo made this record a very personal album for you. The record is best experienced as a whole, not as random songs. This is done mostly through really short snippets, from the brief 10-second "organica (laughs)" introduction, to the random "strap in", and "still rolling?", to the outro "thank you". These mini-clips will only make sense throughout the album and nowhere else.

Cover lovers, such as myself, will be drawn to her saucy jazzy version of Bill Withers's "Ain't No Sunshine", a flamenco version of Carly Simon's "You Belong to Me" (she managed to sneak in a few Spanish lyrics in the song too), and The Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger". Of all the covers, I was impressed by the Police song, because although it still maintains an 80s-sounding feel to the song, it still sounds fresh and new with it's slow-winding guitars and Reymundo's woman vocals.

It would be unfair to suggest a cover song, so I would recommend her original "I Saw You". This pop song is all about making someone notice her, except he's too chicken to do anything about it. It's a fun song, perfect for radio.

You can pick up My Heart's Desire at her website. I should point out that her amazon lists this CD as "content/copy-protected CD" - which means one thing to me: you will not be able to play this on your computer or sophisticated car stereo.* So be warned.

[* UPDATE 5/2/09: I am told from an official source that the amazon listing is for a "PROMO CD" and that consumer CD are not copy-protected.  This cleared up my confusion with why amazon flagged this CD as content/copy-protected.]

Eulogies - Two Can Play Eulogies Tour Dates 04/26/09 Echo Los Angeles, CA 05/01/09 Bell House Brooklyn, NY 05/02/09 Valentines Albany, NY 05/04/09 Bowery Ballroom NT 05/05/09 Johnny Brenda’s Phila, PA 05/07/09 Black Cat Washington, 05/08/09 Diesel Pittsburgh, PA 05/09/09 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio 05/10/09 Skully’s Columbus, Ohio 05/11/09 Magic Stick Detroit, MI 05/13/09 Lakeshore Theater Chicago 05/14/09 Mojo’s Columbia, Missouri 05/16/09 Hailey’s Denton, Texas 05/17/09 Warehouse Houston, Texas 05/18/09 Parish Austin, Texas 05/21/09 Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ 05/22/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 05/23/09 Echoplex Los Angeles, CA 05/24/09 Independent SF, CA 05/26/09 Douglas Lounge Portland, OR 05/27/09 Crocodile Cafe Seattle, WA *with the Dears Discography [2007] Eulogies [2009] Here Anonymous

Eulogies
eulogiesmusic.com ♥ myspace.com/eulogiesmusic

The first thing I noticed about Eulogies's sophomore album, Here Anonymous, is that the digipak by Danger Bird Records is absolutely gorgeous. The artwork consists of black and white charcoal-like stencils, with splashes of dirty colors. The center that holds the actual CD is also worth checking out, it's entirely form-fitting with only two tabs to hold in the CD. I may have to scan it to show you how great this is.

So, Eulogies is an indie-rock band from Los Angeles, that seems to be mostly driven by guitarist and singer Peter Walker... who previously existed as a solo artist. I think Walker's vocals is pretty mellow, almost lazy and won't ever reach those high-energized vocals. The closest Walker comes on singing at the top of his voice is "Out of Character", which is easiest the rockiest song on the album. Ironically entitled "out of character", too.

The "tired" sound fits perfectly with the type of music that Eulogies writes, often self-introspective, personal, and a wee bit depressing, I'll have to admit. "How to Be Alone" finds itself teaching you how to do just that, while "Goodbye" is just a real tear-jerker with its depressing lyrics: "so I'll go home alone, everything's fine. I'll have you all in my thoughts tonight". "Goodbye" is the song you secretly listen in your room, while weeping....

Still, my favorite song on the album is actually quite cute and upbeat. It is the duet with Nikki Monninger from Silversun Pickups, called "Two Can Play". This is just a really cute song. You can actually get the song for free if you sign up on their website.

The trivia about "Two Can Play" was that it was previously available on their four-track EP Tempted To Do Nothing (all four songs appeared on Here Anonymous). What made that EP special is that there is a special "VinylDisc" edition. The release combines CD and vinyl together! I've never heard of such a thing, but apparently one side is CD, while the flipside has vinyl grooves. Cool, huh?

Anyway, Eulogies are about to embark on their North American tour with fellow label-mate The Dears, starting in May. You can pick up the album at the show, or if you can't make it, order it from Danger Bird Records.

PS, I just added Eulogies on twitter, which is getting a lot of exposure since Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher came on board. I have noticed a ton of bands on twitter, too.

Final Thoughts
Some may argue that the ultimate environmentally friendly music package should be all-digital, but don't you have to take into account the energy to keep the computer running to read and transfer the files?

Happy 40th Anniversary Earth Day!

Blame rush hour traffic, but the drive to St Paul took me nearly an hour to get to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. I got there a little late, but was very impressed at the sheer size of the venue. My floor ticket was just great, I never understood those people that pay for the balcony seated tickets, but there were plenty of people up there.

Ra Ra Riot started the show exactly at seven and went off the stage by 7:20pm. What a brief set list.

Cold War Kids came on around 8 and did about forty-five minutes of music. They did their big hit songs ("Hang Me Up To Dry", "Hospital Beds") early in their set, but failed to get the audience to move along. I suspect this has more to do with the youth crowd to be mad Death Cab fans, because when Cold War are in their elements (headlining with their fan base), they perform exceptionally well.

I am speaking from experience because I recently saw them headline and the audience loved and the energy they gave off, fed into Cold War Kids and they sweated and teared through their setlist. Watch the video! Unfortunately, not tonight. Tonight mostly saw the band singing songs and heading right into the next without so much as pauses for applauses.

The last three songs, singer Nathan Willett snuck behind his piano and did three piano-type songs and basically away from center stage view.

Also, whoever was working the lights, they must've really had it in for Cold War Kids.  The lights was either white, yellow-ish, or none at all.  This is in huge contrast to Death Cab, who enjoyed a variety of reds, blues, and smoke machine...  The lighting really made a huge difference, if you ask me.

Anyroad, before we get to Death Cab for Cutie, I have to explain that I've seen the band before in 2001 at the 7th Street Entry for $5. People who live in Minnesota knows that the 7th Street is a tiny venue. We reckon it can only hold about 200 people without choking itself. So that was then, a very nice and smokey and not to mention intimate setting to see Death Cab.

How far they've come! They are now doing 5,000 capacity sized venue. And although it didn't sell out, I would hazard at least 60% of tickets was sold, based on my asian math perception skills (that didn't even make sense, it's 1:30am as I'm writing this). Anyway, floor tickets are the cheapest - at a whopping $49-ish a ticket. The guy next to me said with all the fees involved (this is why I hate ticketmaster), he paid $98 for two tickets online!

For the fans, it was worth every penny... they sang (yes, they all sang along) to every song. HUGE reception to "I Will Possess Your Heart" with its 300-minute epic music intro. This is followed by everyone's favorite acoustic-only song, "I Will Follow You into the Dark", followed by "Cath...", followed by the ba-ba song of "The Sound of Settling". Ben Gibbard had the audience eating out of his hands.

For the encore, they did three songs, I'm sure one of them was brand new from their new EP and the other was "Transatlanticism".

It looks like they're continuing on their very successful, mostly sold-out tour. So even if you wanted to see them, you're probably already out of luck - but of course, if you're a huge fan, you probably have your tickets in advance.

Cold War Kids' latest album is called Loyalty to Loyalty from Downtown Music (get a copy at amazon) and the very popular Death Cab's latest is called Narrow Stairs from Atlantic Records. Not sure what their current relationship is with Barsuk, but Ra Ra Riot is on it and it's still one of my favorite record label :)

PS, no photos for this show, because of the strict anti-camera from the security people.

I like to begin reviews with a clever anecdote to draw in my readers.  It’s fun for everyone, but especially fun for me because I consistently amuse myself.  When Farewell Milwaukee played the Fine Line, I knew singer Ben Lubeck looked really familiar; not in the sense that I had stalked him on Facebook or met him IRL (In Real Life) or even that I’d seen the band perform before (I had).  The reason why he looked familiar is because he is Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.  I kid you not, readers; Ben Lubeck is tall, lanky, shaggy-haired Shags.  The resemblance is uncanny, although I sincerely hope that he doesn’t take offense by this comment (I don’t know why he would since Shaggy drove an amazing green van AND solved mind-boggling mysteries). 

Farewell Milwaukee may not frequent haunted houses searching for ne’er-do-wells and secret treasure maps or whatever, but they do make sprawling roots rock, which is basically the same.  The band was born “Montreal” about five years ago, released one album, briefly split to dwell and deliberate, reappearing in 2008 with a new name and a new direction.  “Farewell Milwaukee” is homage to the boys’ Midwest loyalty (interestingly, I like to call Milwaukee the “Montreal of Wisconsin,” for its diversity of things to do and the fact that there are things to do).  The band is comfortably settled in, going so far as to state that “while most bands are fleeing their homes for the coastal cities of New York and Los Angeles, [they embrace] the role that their Midwestern towns have played in shaping them artistically.”  As artists, their music has a slight twang that could probably be attributed to that indefinable Midwestern panache.  A friend of mine, who lives on the East Coast, is always quick to point out that Minnesota’s music scene is comprised of bands with a distinct, unifying sound; regardless of whether a musician labels himself as “indie rock” versus “Americana” there’s something, some common connector, that appeals to everyone.

Farewell Milwaukee at Fine Line, Minneapolis (03/20/09) ♥ photo by Kate

Farewell Milwaukee has this something in spades.  I’d say that their crowd-draw feature is beautiful, flawless harmonization.  Seriously, these fellas know how to drop a jaw.  There was a moment during the show when all five musicians took the mic, a capella style, and a sort of a collective hush grabbed the audience, as if everyone was unconsciously holding their breath (I’m 99% certain there was at least one person doing the eyes-closed-in-the-groove sway).  This mass stimulation speaks highly of the band’s chemistry, not only on stage, but as technical artists.  At the risk of sounding like an after school special “moral of the week,” I want to point out that even the casual music fan can tell when a band has a positive relationship—they’re either in sync or off balance; no amount of practice can mask ambivalence (obvious, right?). 

It pleases me to emphasize that Shags and the gang sound every bit the handsome gentlemen that they are, even when lying to ladies (“Liar”).  Dressed like average dudes, their tunes are accessible, with a comfortable, familiar base appeal (music like this is timeless; perhaps it’s called “Americana” because there will always be a place for rustic, dirty-pretty rock in American culture, East Coast naysayers be damned).  I think that the climactic quality of “Liar” sticks the most, but “Make ‘Em Smile” is an equally strong track, from its stark opening to Lubeck’s wistful vocals.  Lyrically, the songs don’t deviate much from love, heartbreak and life woes (the holy triptych of songwriting), but sincerity lends itself to unanimity—we can all relate to these themes—and the live presentation is what’s going to solidify the band’s talents.

Farewell Milwaukee is Ben Lubeck (vocals, guitar), Adam Lamoureux (vocals, Hammond, Wurlitzer, piano, Rhodes, mandolin), Aaron Markson (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Brad Fox (drums, percussion), and Kyle Magstadt (bass).  The band has local shows this month, playing April 16 at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis.  For more information on shows, or to stay updated on the release of their first full-length album, “Autumn Rest Easy,” visit their website at www.farewellmilwaukee.com, or Myspace and Facebook.

Paper Route played with Copeland, This Providence, and Brooke Waggoner at Minneapolis' Varsity Theater last night. This is an all-ages show, which means it started early. Wow, like 5 o'clock early.

The turnout was really good, mostly underage kids.... so the three bartenders were really lonely. The young photographers were out in droves as well... capturing every movement made by Copeland. Seriously photographers, take it easy.

Anyway, of course I got there late, caught a bit of Nashville's Brooke Waggoner (official/myspace) on stage with her women band of strings and cellos. Most of the songs toward the end was mostly Waggoner and her keyboard... I did end up downloading her free 2007 EP called Fresh Pair of Eyes if you sign up for her mailing list.

Seattle's This Providence (official/myspace) (formerly known as Sunday Best) did their high energy rock set, I had a feeling I would like them when lead singer Dan Young did Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" song during their brief soundcheck. They did a lot of songs from their new 2009 album Who Are You Now?, such as: "Sure as Hell", "Letdown", "That Girl's a Trick", "Keeping on Without You".

Florida's Copeland (official/myspace) started off their set badly (sorry I'm not familiar with the band enough to tell you what song they started, but it was two keyboard-driven songs). Singer Aaron Marsh started singing the first song again on their second song. He realized this right away and pulled the song to a halt and made it an inside joke about time travel and ABC's "Lost" or something. I think he was really embarrassed about it and claimed that he was "really drunk". (I think he was kidding though).

Paper Route at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/11/09)

Like Waggoner, Paper Route are also from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of dueling vocals between J.T. Daly (keyboards) and Andy Smith (guitars). Although this sounds cool, it was kind of hard to hear their vocals for this show - perhaps it was the overpowering guitars and drumming or something.

Although I'm complaining, listening to their latest EP Are We All Forgotten (you can hear the entire EP on their official website ), they are sort of going for that distorted vocals-kind of thing.

Already hailed by Filter, Daytrotter, and Paste, as a band to watch out for, they certainly must be excited to launch their second album Absence on April 28^th. I ran into Greg (I've been running into a lot of local bloggers lately - it's weird because I never recognize anyone), who seems very excited about Absence and complains that no one is talking about the album. Well if you pre-order now you get one downloadable song, "Carousel" and a 7-minute documentary tomorrow (April 13^th). Plus buttons.

The Drones came a long way to be here at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. I have previously mentioned that singer Gareth Liddiard had a "heavy, heavy" accent. I have to correct that by adding that I did not understand a word the man said.

The Drones at 400 Bar, Minneapolis (04/09/09) The Drones - Six Ways to Sunday Read More The Drones View site

Kidding aside, but it was seriously hard to understand the man. They were also surprisingly louder than I thought, lots of distortion and odd feedback (probably unintentional). Listening to their Havilah album and seeing them live are two very different experience. I have concluded that this is a LIVE band.

There was no set list, I think the song order were all given out by bassist Fiona Kitschin. They started out with "Nail It Down", followed by some song, and then "The Minotaur". Right after Minotaur was an amazing bass-y song "Six Ways To Sunday", from their first album Here Come the Lies (and also their very first EP). Clearly one of the band's favorite song to play live.

I also caught "She Had An Abortion That She Made Me Pay For", from their third album, so basically their set is a mix-mash of new and old songs - making it for an effective playlist.

There were no encores, which didn't surprise me, as it was a work day and there was a moderate turnout for the show.

They have a few more US dates left, so be sure to catch them in Seattle and Portland if you can. Their latest album is called Havilah and it is available for purchase at ATP Recordings.

Opening up for The Drones is Little Man. I'm actually embarrassed to admit talking to singer Chris Perricelli before the show that I didn't know Little Man the warmup band. Andrew seems to know all about Little Man and filled me in about how there was a local television commercial that showed Little Man playing while some student explained how he got his degree in video editing (apparently the 'acting' in the commerical really stunk).

Little Man ♥ 400 Bar, Minneapolis (4/9/09) See Also T.Rex http://weheartmus... For those who don't know T.Rex, they are a wildly popular glam rocker from the 70s, whose lead si...

Anyway, Little Man played a pretty full set, which is a relief since I was so used to the 30 sets from SXSW. Sometime they would pause for applause and sometime each song leads directly into the next.

Halfway into the set, Perricelli picks up his acoustic guitar for two songs (I think "Seal Of Secrecy" and "Love Of All Time"), before going back to electric for the rest of the set. The acoustic was a nice treat, especially with the harmonica (which sort of made me think of Bob Dylan).

You can tell right away that Perricelli is an excellent guitarist with his left hand moving quickly up and down the neck of the guitar. It's no surprise why the City Pages called Little Man the Next Big Thing on their cover story for February 27^th, 2007. I did ask Perricelli the story behind this and he told me that they had sent someone over the house to interview and take some photographs. He honestly didn't know it was going to be a cover story, so he was a little shocked when he learned about it.

Anyway, I have their latest album Of Mind And Matter since early February, but haven't had a chance to give it a listen. (If you've ever seen my ridiculous pending review pile, you can understand why it takes me so long to get to things).

Listening to the album post concert, I did recognize many of the songs on the album. This is evident on songs like "Everyone On The Floor", which is my personal favorite. Slower/sensitive songs like "Did You Now" was left off the setlist, probably for pacing.

"Tarots And Arrows" is catchy, although I felt was kind of repetitive with the lyrics at the end, but hearing this live, it made sense. The repetitive lyrics of "she's into tarots and arrows" suddenly comes to a halt, by the way.

The majority of the album feels very 60s, early 70s to me. Some people cited that they sound like T.Rex, and I can see where they are coming with that. In some songs, I thought I hear Beatles influence ("Don't Pray To Fantasy") and even a bit of The Zombies (check out "Talisman" with that "ch-ch-ahh" sound). So if you like "classic rock", you need to check out "the next big thing" Little Man.

Clicking on the 'discography' images on the sidebar will take you to websites to buy the album. You can find out more about his record label at Eclectone Records.

PS, when I talked to Perricelli, he was generally really excited about being interviews by life-sized muppets. So I leave you with part one of the Buzz Show:

It's official: I'm now accepting live music assignments, now that it's not snowing.

First Communion Afterparty (myspace) looks like a pack of gypsies doing spacerock for their hippy listeners, at least they tried to bring some 'sun' into Minnesota with their two opening acts: Daughters of the Sun (myspace) and Sleepy Sun official/myspace). It should be noted that Daughters of the Sun are also from Minneapolis and actually have no women, which makes it doubly ironic.

Since I was there for San Francisco's Sleepy Sun, I did manage to listen to their album, Embrace to get an idea of what to expect. I think I prefer their slower songs, such as "Duet With The Northern Sky" and "Lord" - mostly for clearly hearing the vocals, but as expected, these don't make for good live performances (since it seems the key here is to make people rock out to their psychedelic space rock).

Surprisingly, they had a pretty short setlist (as did Daughters with I think only four or five songs), but they seem to stretch out each song to about 6+ minutes, especially with the drone-like guitar and experimental effects usually reserved towards the end of each song. I particularly liked how "White Dove" and "New Age" ended on their live set.

Sleepy Sun at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (04/02/09) ♥ photo by Vu

If they're not singing (and sometime harmonica), Bret, with his tongue out, and Rachael thrashing her head in the picture pretty much sums up what the band is about: just having a great time.

They're heading to Fargo tomorrow (today), which I thought was still a flood disaster zone? They're also heading into Europe and Italy, so be sure to catch them if you're in the UK. Incidentally, the album won't be released in the UK until May 2009, presumably because they're landing in the UK just time time for the ATP Festival in early May. Details of the UK records be seen on ATP's website.

By the way, iTunes spotlighted the band as "Indie Spotlight Best of 2008" among not-so-indie Radiohead and Deerhunter, so they are in great company, and it would be interesting to see where their music takes them in the future.