Is it just me, or are there many more Christmas records and EPs this year than usual? I'm not complaining, because I love Christmas music, but it gets hard to find the good ones when even Enya is getting into the act. Minnesota's own Haley Bonar quietly put out a Christmas EP recently, and I'm glad I found it. It's got some old favorites as well as a couple of new ones. Haley Bonar - Only Xmas. I had a hard time choosing a song, so I figured the title track of the Only Xmas EP would suffice. It's a...
It's been a good year for Minneapolis' Doomtree crew: there was the self-titled debut from the crew itself, solo records from Cecil Otter and Mike Mictland & Lazerbeak, and a great Blowout. With the release of P.O.S's first record since 2006's great Audition, 2009 is looking pretty good as well. P.O.S - Goodbye. Audition and P.O.S's previous record, Ipecac Neat, had a kind of artsy weirdness to them that I don't hear on this song, so I'm hoping this slick track doesn't signify a shift in tone. But slick as it is, this track is good, and I'm so glad...
Our friend Farika (from Trophy Bar and Stay Gold Gallery fame) has an excellent new house and disco DJ-mix up over on the Trophy Bar podcast page (over here!) that you should download immediately - you should really subscribe to the podcast as well, since all the best regular Trophy Bar DJs have sets available (the DFA crew, the Fools Gold crew, etc.). It will definitely help get you through this frozen Winter workday. Speaking of Trophy Bar... Come Friday night, we're back at Trophy - this time David and I are getting down winter-style! We all need a...
Yer Cronies - Apollo. I interviewed Yer Cronies last night in their womb-like rehearsal space, surrounded by the bashing and clatter of lesser bands. We talked about a lot of things, but one thing I brought up a few times was the way the songs on their record When I Grow Up seem to fluctuate between looseness and intense focus. They kind of bristled at this thought, and reasonably so - what sounds like looseness is actually meticulously arranged; I think it's that majestic reverb that makes things sound dreamier than they are. Aside from some accolades - most...
So I've got this rule: no Christmas music before Thanksgiving. It's not because I'm a scrooge who hates the stuff, it's the opposite - I love Christmas music when it's good, and if I listen to it before Thanksgiving, I hate it by Dec. 25th. One must pace oneself when it comes to cheer and joy. Jason Collett - A Beguiled Christmas In Sales. So today I broke out Peace On Earth, Vol. II, the new holiday compilation from our colleague Caleb Palma at Hard To Find A Friend. Not only is it good, it's for a good cause: proceeds...
Oh god, this song! Now, Now Every Children - Not One, But Two. This is easily one of my favorite songs of the year. It's from the Minneapolis band Now, Now Every Children, whose first record Cars just came out digitally (it will get its for-real release on Dec. 9). The band also released the Not One, But Two EP a few months back. I like that the song is one of the best tracks the Yeah Yeah Yeahs never recorded. It's got that slow-burn feel to it, like it's running down a fuse that leads to an inevitable explosion....
International Jetsetters - Never Slows Down. There's something to be said for pacing when you're making art. Whether it's a movie, a book, a record, whatever - if there's no build, there's no point. I love the way this song starts with that simple guitar chugging, then that hi-hat, then it all kicks in with Fi McFall's passionate vocals. Awesome. Interational Jetsetters also includes bassist Bert Audubert, drummer Loz Colbert, guitarist Paul Crozer, and singer/guitarist Mark Crozer (formerly of the Jesus and Mary Chain). They're based in Oxford, England, and this is from their new record Heart Is Black....
Robot Blair - A Mix for a November day What else do I have to say but that I made another little mix for you guys - pretty straight-forward here, weird house and disco stuff, showcasing some new material from DFA, some French favorites, some local buddies, etc. All good stuff. Granted, some mistakes were made - though I'm a Robot DJ I'm no robot-DJ - hopefully it doesn't detract too much from the good-time party-feel of the music, and you'll enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed playing it. Tracklisting after the jump... PS: We've got...
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which Way To Go I've heard some stories about these guys, and how they strive to keep their cultural footprint small. They could easily be selling out massive halls in Australia right now, but choose to do smaller shows and keep things intimate. As a fan, I couldn't be happier with that behavior. Too many bands scramble up that ladder too quickly and have no idea what to do when they reach their final rung. Eddy Current Suppression Ring have decided they like the view they've got right now and are going to continue to...
Let's get this out of the way: Secret Dakota Ring is a really, really awesome name for a band. You wish you had a band called Secret Dakota Ring, or you wish you at least thought of it, and impressed your friends with this band name over beers and cheese curds (look it up, people outside the midwest. Cheese curds are God's gift to calorie enthusiasts). Secret Dakota Ring - The Fade To Black. But anyway. Know how there are times - days, weeks, months, whatever - when you need a beat to keep going? How you're having such a...
Ethan Rose - On Wheels Rotating. The other night I had a simple dream in which I was driving a truck down some dark snowy roads up in Maine. It wasn't about obstacles, or about escaping. It wasn't about tension or fears. It was about the pure enjoyment of the act. It was about finding your way to no place in particular at a pace just north of neutral. Had I known that a few days later I would receive word of this new Ethan Rose album, I guarantee that it would've been my soundtrack. Ok, let's take a step...
I didn't know what to expect when I put this one on. With a name like Boy Eats Drum Machine, I guess you can expect some beats, maybe some nice melodies. But it could also have been terrible - this could have been some half-assed emo kid who just bought a used Alesis. It's not, not by a long shot. Boy Eats Drum Machine - The Crack In The Sea. The promotional materials with this record say it's a cross between Morphine and David Bowie, and you know what? That's not far off. It's just weird enough to be interesting,...
VS Since both these parties are my buddies gigs, I feel it is only right to post about both of them. You've got a Hercules & Love Affair DJ set at Prime Time (Eamon Harkin & James F!@#$%^ Friedman's party) which goes down at Santos; versus DJ Falcon (Roule) with Justin Miller & Jacques Renault at Le Poisson Rouge. Really, either party will be a winner, but you should probably try for both, like me! And don't forget to come to Hugs tonight to hear me and Dave rock it with the Working The Knobs crew!...
The People Don't Dance No More DJs are going to rock some spooky disco at the Working the Knobs party Friday night at Hugs - 106 N. 6th Street - 10pm to the grave... Our homeboys Cousin Cole, Rezound, and Project Matt have been throwing this musically diverse, disco encouraged party for awhile now and we are super excited to share the decks. Costumes, disco, and debauchery. Just like a normal Friday Night 1979... Get your costumes on and get ready to do the zombie! Mark your calendar for the next People Don't Dance No More at Trophy Bar...
Frightened Rabbit - Old Old Fashioned (live) My relationship with Frightened Rabbit is a complicated and deep one. I remember first getting their album, Sings The Greys, in the mail in a hand-drawn paper sleeve and just being blown away. It was everything I wanted in an album at the time, with its familial urgency and foggy interludes. And combined with the first Twilight Sad ep it was just a one-two punch of scottish indie rock that the world didn't know it desperately needed. And then we had the second album, Midnight Organ Fight. My connection with that record was...
You can probably guess from the album cover over there that this post is long overdue. Remember summer? Me neither - it snowed in Minneapolis yesterday. Ugh. All Girl Summer Fun Band - Looking Into It. Actually, Looking Into It came out only a few weeks ago, as the first release on All Girl Summer Fun Band Music. The band hails from Portland, OR, and consists of Jen, Kathy (also bassist in the Thermals), and Kim. This record is well played, well sung, and well arranged. It's also really fun. The track we're allowed to post happens to be the...
Robot Blair - She Walks Like She Just Don't Care (DJ Mix) I realized recently that it has been months and months since I actually posted a mix I recorded at home, then I got real busy elsewhere (see above), and I "had stuff do to" and did that stuff instead of recording a mix. The other night I went to Santos to hear Greg Wilson, and I realized that was the first time I'd been out when I wasn't DJ-ing myself in far too long, and I finally said enough is enough. So here, I present to you...
Oh man. One of those weeks, you know? I meant to post this on Monday, and here we are on Friday... oh well. It happens. Pale Young Gentlemen - The Crook Of My Good Arm. Pale Young Gentlemen hail from Madison, Wisconsin. I really like their new record, Black Forest (Tra La La), which came out on Oct. 7. It's part rock, part folk, part Eastern European darkness. It's also strikingly creative, if that's not too vague a term. I love bands who find interesting ways to make tight, focused music, and with their arsenal of string instruments, Pale Young...
Re-edits: a big part of dance music, and an ever-growing part of this particular DJs playlist and many others' as well. One of the masters of the edit is the UK's Greg Wilson - for those of you not familiar with Greg Wilson, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Credit to the Edit compilation, which came out a couple of years back on Tirk, and is totally essential. The best news? Wilson is coming to play at our pals Eamon Harkin & James F!@#$%^ Friedman's party, Prime Time, this Saturday night. Eamon interviews Mr. Wilson...
Walter Meego - Baby Please It's been a cliche that the nicer a band is, the worse their music is. And honestly I've seen that happen more than once. And it's fine, when they're nice dudes you can put up with their music. The funny thing about Justin, Colin and Andrew in Walter Meego is that they're nice guys and they make good music. They're the exception, not the rule. And we've been able to see their live performance grow by leaps and bounds over the last year (things like opening up for the Presets will help with that). They've...
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