The Rake: Hear, Hear

Kid Dakota at Triple Rock

Erin Roof — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:42:29 -0500

One might think it is Sting or the second coming of KISS, I mean Christ, or some other hugely popular international act packing the Triple Rock this past Saturday night. The room is awash in colored patterns, setting the evening up for a fierce Stripes v. Plaids / Sharks v. Jets rock and roll rumble. But the cocktail-clutchers and the Pabst-proffers are anxiously awaiting four local bands. The Minneapolis music scene is geared for explosion, and it's hard to believe one of the masterminds is a gentleman quietly hunched over an acoustic guitar.

Rock the Garden

Erin Roof — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:36:49 -0500

A small army of bicycles standing guard outside the Walker Art Center glints like miniature sunbursts while lines stretch like anxious snakes down the sidewalk. The sold out crowd of 7,500 brave hour long entry waits, sunburns, and sweat for Rock The Garden and a chance to see indie pop's brightest talents.

Warlocks Cover the Turf

Max Ross — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:12:30 -0500

The music filled the room. Emanating from a trio of guitars, chords resonated with chords and dispersed throughout the Turf Club on Wednesday night, thick and palpable as the fog that periodically came out from the fog machines. Steady percussion from bass and drums crept under the noise to make it danceable (or at least head-nod-able). Though many were sitting stoic at the bar or in the venue's booths, no one could ignore it: The Warlocks were playing.

It's a Mystery

Erin Roof — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:07:24 -0500

Very occasionally, this critic can get it all wrong. Looking at the bespectacled electronic trio (black rectangular frames, black rectangular frames, and '80s nerd chic frames) with their unobtrusive fashion (jeans, jeans, and khakis), I drew a few conclusions. Later, I asked keyboardist Ryan Olcott whether I had Mystery Palace figured out.

Erin Roof: Are you vegans?

Ryan Olcott: No. We're conscientious about what we eat, but no.

ER: Do you drive hybrid cars?

Sci Fi Nerds and Bee Gees' Love Children

Erin Roof (photos by Denis Jeong) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:54:59 -0500

Forget what the press says. Devonte Hynes does not look like AIDS.

"It's pretty harsh," Hynes says about the cruelest comment published about him. "'You look like a terminal illness. You look like death. I don't know what AIDS looks like."

Orchestra Baobab: Made in Dakar

Britt Robson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:17:43 -0500

Here's another seamless, masterful mix of Latin and African pop music from Orchestra Baobab, proving that their phenomenal comeback album, 2002's Specialist In All Styles, was no fluke. Baobab was the house band for Senegalese government officials during the 1970s, and was renowned throughout Africa before splitting up in 1985, beset by dissension and the onslaught of more modern, uptempo mbalax musical style. If their reunion 16 years later didn't pack the commercial wallop of the similarly reconstituted

John Hiatt: Same Old Man

Britt Robson — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:50:10 -0500

Same Old Man indeed. This is between Hiatt's 15^th and 25^th release — depending on how you count best-ofs, live recordings, and groups like Little Village — and the reliability factor remains high. He's an ersatz curmudgeon, a faux eccentric, a dilapidated Everyman with an undeniably big heart and an equally undeniable knack for songwriting. He can jangle a slant-back country blues song or ambush you emotionally by confessing for redemption.

Here’s One for the Open Road

Erin Roof — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:54:37 -0500

Jason Shannon likes to think of his band as a car.

"A car Steve McQueen drove," he says. "An old '60s or '70s hot rod. Not a badass car. Just a car with good integrity. Something that's built to last, but not showing itself off. A Classic.

"Something like that," he laughs.

A Hit and a Miss for Ellis Marsalis

Britt Robson — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:00:15 -0500

Irvin Mayfield and Ellis Marsalis
Love Songs, Ballads and Standards
Basin Street Records

Bowie’s Brouhaha

Erin Roof — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:59:05 -0500

The howling is deafening. The screaming. The hooting. The pumping legs and shaking hips. Is it... the real David Bowie onstage? The Thin White Duke himself?

For the first three chords of "Ziggy Stardust" it's hard to tell it is the house band Kitty Stardust playing and not the rock icon. The crowd is losing it in high-decibel ecstatic moaning. The pair of women in glow-in-the-dark earrings look like they might faint. And everyone is shrieking the lyrics.

Still 80s After All These Years

Max Ross — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:06:46 -0500

^{Originally written for Realbuzz}

The True Powerhouse Behind KISS

Erin Roof — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:05:57 -0500

When the glitz and the flash and the devilish showboating are stripped away, Ace Frehley shines as the true powerhouse behind KISS. In his legendary band, the "spaceman" often got swallowed by Gene Simmons's fire-spewing antics and Paul Stanley's notorious onstage preening. But it was Frehley's axe-wielding that gave musical credibility to the band's campy allure. He is

American Idle - Achin' Aiken - [Insert Pun]

Max Ross — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:49:52 -0500

Originally written for Realbuzz

Rising Down

Max Ross — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:25:19 -0500

^{Originally published on Realbuzz.com}

Magic Minnesotans

Erin Roof — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:19:49 -0500

The Cloud Cult experience can be called many names. It is captivating. It is overwhelming. It is bone-chillingly pure. It is beautiful. And it is raw in a way that exposes many facets of emotion.

It must be the string section.

There is something about a lush cello and violin washing over a room that cuts right to the core. It strips away any posturings and pulls at those feelings hidden deep inside.

Or maybe it's Craig Minowa's painfully delicate tenor.

Passing the Torch

Erin Roof — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:11:55 -0500

Four kids are sauntering toward Jeff Allen. Their arms are crossed and they look a little scared.

"Hey guys," Allen says, affecting a cool older brother tone. "When do you go on?"

"Eight minutes," says one of the boys.

This is why they're scared.

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

Max Ross — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:06:13 -0500

^{first published on realbuzz.com}

Hip Hop at the Fitz

Max Ross — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:40:07 -0500

^{first published on realbuzz.com}

Big Moments with Ryan Montbleau

Erin Roof — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:56:43 -0500

Ryan Montbleau's shoes may need a shine, but that's a tough thing to do when you're a travellin' man. Montbleau and his band play an average of 200 shows a year, bringing their eclectically influenced soul across the country and back again on a nocturnal circuit only the hardest working bands feel compelled to journey.

Perched on a stool, tapping a foot wildly to the beat, Montbleau seems poised and natural in this setting. Performing didn't come about so comfortably from the start, however.

Taking His Time

Britt Robson — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:48:14 -0500

Be it his folk-blues amiability or his pervasive wide-brimmed hats, Eric Bibb favors Taj Mahal. His voice is less basso and gravelly (more reminiscent of Spearhead's Michael Franti), and his musical palette less diverse and worldly than Mahal's 'round the globe hybrids, but Bibb is the superior songwriter.

Crescent City Brass

Britt Robson — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:52:09 -0500

Having already tackled the legacies of Duke Ellington and Count Basie at medium-sized band concerts at Orchestra Hall last June and August, trombonist/curator Delfeayo Marsalis returns tonight with a tribute to Louis Armstrong, and wisely decides to deploy two musicians—Nicholas Payton and Kermit Ruffins—as stand-ins for Satchmo.

Somi Preview

Britt Robson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:42:24 -0500

The singer Somi, who will be performing at the Dakota tonight and Thursday, is like a cool glass of pink lemonade, a titch more sweet than citrus, yet still refreshingly tart on the tastebuds. Born in Illinois to parents of Rwandan and Ugandan heritage, Somi (actual name L.

Walk It Off

Max Ross — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:18:01 -0500

^{first published at www.realbuzz.com}

Tapes 'n Tapes
Walk It Off

Not Enough Sugar to Make It Addictive

Britt Robson — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:15:22 -0500

Brian Blade Fellowship
Seasons of Change
Verve
Release date: April 1, 2008

Riding on the Tail of a Cloud

Britt Robson — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:27:11 -0500

Charles Lloyd Quartet
Rabo de Nube
ECM

Monotonix Leaves Its Love Bruises on the Twin Cities

Erin Roof — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:11:21 -0500

A wide stance is key to surviving a Monotonix show. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms ready to brace the incessant shock waves of bodies crashing into you. Never lose focus of the strange looking man with a bad perm and pervy mustache. He is not a cast-off from a Starsky and Hutch fan club. He is the singer—a moving target who neglects social graces, like keeping his sweat to himself. The most important rule is to put as much distance

The Durable Roots Lexicon of Ray Bonneville

Britt Robson — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:25:43 -0500

Like most all country-blues artists, Ray Bonneville doesn't try to knock your socks off so much as fit you into a comfortable old pair of shoes. But the Canadian native separates himself from singer-songwriter cliches with a slow but steady revelation of his myriad talents. His (mostly electrical) guitar and harmonica work is economical and wise, abetting vocals reminiscent of JJ Cale for their fine-sandpaper tone and conversational aplomb.